Dream

The clock strikes midnight.

Listening to the bell humming for how many times he doesn't know anymore, he gives in and looks outside the window.

There's no moon today. The sky is without clouds, but the moon has hidden away. Although, the dark color of the night isn't as black as usual. Today, the night is bright.

Is it because of the light that he can't sleep? Maybe. Maybe because of the light that his soft pillow suddenly annoys him. Maybe because of the light that his blanket suddenly makes him sweat. Maybe because of the light that his bed suddenly becomes as hard as rock. Maybe because of the light, that he feels like the only thing he wants to do is to run away from every responsibility that will sit on his shoulders once he opens his eyes and welcomes a new morning, entitled as king.

...He is only 16, is it really necessary for him to take the throne?

He raises one hand and slaps himself. Such filthy thoughts cannot arise no more.

But they continue to laugh into his face, so he comes by the window and screams on top of his lungs.

Yes. That does it. His desperate screams always manage to eliminate every thoughts inside his head.

Maybe because of the light that they continue to laugh tonight.

"Young man, can't sleep tonight?"

He jerks his head up in surprise. Two bright eyes stare at him, fascinated, peeking at him through one of the bare windows in his room. A smile on his lips, the newcomer puts his chin on his palm, long fingers tapping softly. One two three four, one two three four.

"...Why aren't you answering? That's a bit impolite, you know. Oh wait, aristocrats don't usually like strangers intruding into their houses from the windows, do they?"

On the contrary, he feels like he would still not have any feelings even if he suddenly grows wings and fly away. Maybe the stranger is but a dream. A beautiful dream. His hair is as white as the white horse father has gifted to him last year, only prettier. Cheerful eyes brightly lit as two gold marbles, not vivid as the sun but gentle as a touch. He has a healthy body, slender waist and clear lines of muscles behind his dark outfit. His clothes is of an adventurer.

"Are you a ninja?" The young prince blurts out. The adventurer chuckles. His laugh is clearer than any laughs the prince has to listen to everyday.

"Well... you can say so," The stranger replies, his smile even brighter than before, "But, boy, aren't you scared? Ninjas are expert at murdering people. What if I've come to kill you?"

Murder. Death. The boy tries to imagine him being killed. This man's knee pressing down on the boy's chest, hand holding a knife soaked in his blood. Life slowly retreats from his eyes while weak moans like a lost puppy tries to escape his throat, choking sounds in between.

"Just kill me then."

It's just a dream anyway. Maybe because it's a dream that he isn't scared at all. He's even a little happy.

"Ha ha... How can I kill you if you say that?"

"But you've come here to kill me, right? Or did you just come to rob?" The boy steps one step closer to the stranger, the light of the night lighting up a part of his face. "You can steal from a different room, can't you? Just one item in this place can give you a comfortable life. What obligates you to come up here?"

"...You really wanna die?" The stranger doesn't answer his questions. He leans closer to the boy, their noses almost touching. "How old are you? 15? 16? Future king? Tomorrow, you're going to marry a wife and become the new king, aren't you? An ostentatious life is awaiting you. Why do you want to die?"

The prince looks beyond the stranger, at the wide field of grass and even wider sky. He sees the gates, tall as a gigantic knight, shielding him from every danger, shielding him from happiness. His gaze returns to the stranger's face, peculiar eye color, straight nose, pink lips still curving.

"If what I want to look at will be taken away from me for the happiness of others, what meaning is there to live?"

He cut the stranger off before getting his response. "This is merely a dream anyway. I want to try vanishing from this world. A king should know the flavor of death."

The stranger laughs. "You don't look like you want to try dying for the sake of being a king." He jumps in, his hands creep up the prince's neck. "If this is a dream, you should embrace it more. Someone like this is standing in front of you, and everything you want is death? Anything else? I can do everything."

He's almost half a head taller than the boy. He covers the light from the boy, like the gates covering him from the outside world. But standing in the stranger's shadow, he feels as if he can see the entire universe.

So he puts his hands out, embracing that universe.

The stranger lowers his head, his lips softly touching the prince's. He places kisses on the prince's lips, adoringly, gently, he places a kiss on the prince's forehead. Everywhere he touches, the prince's skin crackles with fireworks. The prince holds him tighter.

"Take me away." Putting his head on the stranger's hollow place right above his chest, the young prince tries to keep himself from crying. "Take me away."

He can hear a low chuckle in the stranger's chest. The stranger carries him like a princess, but not to the window. He puts the prince down onto the bed the prince has already been fed up with for a long time.

"Don't ask anyone to take you away." He brushes the prince's hair. "Especially me."

The stranger caresses the boy's flushing cheeks. "Once we're out of this place, I won't be a dream anymore."

The stranger hops to the window as fast and lightly as a cat, glancing back one last time. "I hope we never meet again."

"After all, I can't kill someone who doesn't want to live."

The prince runs to the window, tears streaming down his face. But the beautiful stranger is already gone. His dream is over.