Reynolds watched as Alrick was lost in thought, wondering what was wrong with this prince again. He had been relatively quiet since after he had jailed the physician and maid.
He was quite surprised when he heard the two had been poisoning his master for a very long period of time, and he as his personal guard hadn't even noticed.
Not like he would have cared if he had died, but knowing that it would have been because of his negligence, left a very bitter taste in his mouth.
He had even been expecting his master to use his negligence as an excuse to find trouble with him but the prince hadn't done such at all. He hadn't thrown such a fit, and was leisurely talking about a play with him.
Something was definitely off.
"Reynolds, you're free to leave. Thank you for your time.", Alrick waved him off, Reynolds bowed and was soon out of his room.
As soon as Reynolds left, Alrick quickly got up and slowly shuffled to the bed, some maids had moved the furniture in his room by a bit. Someone was going to pay for that.
He laid down on his bed and closed his eyes, "Hey Lucien, I need to talk to you. Pull me back into the mindscape", Alrick whispered. hoping that that guard with the sharp hearing hadn't heard him.
When he received no reply after a while, he began to doubt whether what he saw earlier was just a bad dream. As if! He was sure that the idiotic prince was ignoring him!
'Fine then! If you don't want to open up then I'll just break in!'
Now how he was going to do that was an entirely different thing. But he was going to figure it out!
If that space was really his own mindscape, then he should have a key in as well.
Maybe if I just think about being there...
Just as the thought crossed his mind, he was back in that foggy realm again. He almost jumped in excitement when he figured it out as well but he remembered his reason for being here.
"Lucien? Lucien?!", He called out, his voice vibrating through out the whole space but there was still no response.
He walked around for a while, calling out his name. His frustration had grown to the point that he was about to scream like a maniac.
That was when he finally came across something other than fog. It was the door to their hangout spot.
He stepped in to find Lucien still binge watching the kid show from earlier with another big bowl of popcorn and a few cans of sodas; half emptied out.
"I have been calling you non stop, why the heck weren't you answering?", Alrick asked as he plopped down beside Lucien.
"It's not like I'm your babysitter, you can take care of yourself.", Lucien muttered, tossing a can aside.
Alrick became frustrated from the way Lucien had been behaving, "Why are you behaving like this? Ever since we saw that task, you've been acting like I did something wrong. If you're gonna be in my head all the time, can't we at least get along?!"
"What do you want from me?! I should be okay about someone literally taking over my identity? I mean it's not like I would be too bothered but you don't even know anything important about me, only the surface level of what people already think of me.", Lucien snapped back.
Alrick had gotten a realization and somewhat understood what was bothering Lucien, but he was still annoyed by the way he was reacting.
"Do you think I'm happy with the situation? I've lost everything back in my world and now I'm stuck here with no body to return to, loving your crappy life!", Alrick couldn't stop the words from coming out and as soon as he said them he instantly regretted. "No wait-"
"You see what I mean?!", Lucien cut him off and got up from the couch, the Tv turning off abruptly. "You think you're the only one with problems? I understand what you're saying , you've been through hell and back this short amount time. But I've been through my own struggles."
"… I understand you as well… And I realize I'm being insensitive to what ever your problem is, but… I need your help Lucien… Please.", Alrick silently pleaded, trying to get through to him.
"You don't get it!", he wasn't even listening at this point, his breathing getting heavier as he ran a hand through his hair.
"Then let me understand you", Alrick grabbed his shoulders and forced Lucien to face him. "Tell me… what's really wrong?"
Lucien breathing slowly hot stable before he sighed, shrugging Alrick's hands off his shoulders as plopping back in the couch behind him.
"You really wanna know? Fine! I don't need someone who doesn't understand my life for the last seventeen years to live as me!"
"You don't seem like you want to tell me anything about yourself, and your memories aren't complete either.", Alrick answered, his frustration building up.
"That's why I'm even looking for you in the first place, to know 'more' about 'you'! I think I already understand what the system meant by accepting you as me, but I can't really move forward without the necessary", he explained.
Lucien became quiet, like the topic of his story wasn't something he wanted to share in the slightest.
"Come on, if you behave like this we'll never move forward! I thought you were here to help me!"
"I am here to help you, it's not my fault you didn't receive my full memories. Is me not wanting to relive them a bad thing?", Lucien snapped again.
Alrick threw his arms up in frustration then covering his face with his palms. After a while of silence, he spoke again. "Lucien… you might not have seemed to understand what's happening so I'll tell you. You and I? We're in this mess together."
His words made Lucien look up at him, but Alrick continued. "I don't know why the entity responsible for all this decided to leave your sentience in this body and make this task so much harder to accomplish, but the task wouldn't be there if it was an impossible feat"
"I feel like you have a goal you want to accomplish as well, a goal unknown to me. But guess what? So do I. If we want to move forward, there needs to be some kind of understanding between us."
"Alrick…"
"Lucien… I'm gonna trust you with my life, so please trust me with yours", Alrick reached out a hand to him.
Lucien on the other hand was hesitant.
For as long as he could remember, he had to be in guard against every tiny thing, even the tea cups he drank from and the bed he slept in.
Trust was not something he often received or gave, only contempt and pity was what he felt from everyone around him.
And now, the guy trying to take over his life was asking him for his trust and entrusting his with him.
He didn't think it was something he could accept.
"Lucien… I need you to trust me.", Alrick repeated, his hand still outstretched.
Lucien just scoffed, "We don't know each other that well, I can see you're thoughts but you can't see mine. How do you know I wasn't placed here for something that would be a problem for you in the future?"
Alrick knew all too well that that could be a possibility. Why would the entity leave Lucien's sentience and make him the codex instead of its using a normal bot or something?
That made the third task even harder to complete, it was like it needed Lucien to still be here. But that wasn't a problem now.
Whatever the case may be, they would deal with it when any problem arose.
"We don't have a choice either way, we're stuck together. Regardless of what may happen in the future, let's get there together.", Alrick said still holding his hand out.
Lucien scoffed, bewildered by what Alrick was saying. Even if it might cost him his life one day, the idiot still wanted to trust him wholeheartedly. But then again he understood that if they continued being the way they were now, nothing would change.
Alrick really had no choice but to trust him despite there being a chance for betrayal in the future.
Lucien sighed at Alrick's still outstretched hand, laughing at himself as he ran a hand through his hair. "You're really something… bootleg."
As soon as he said that, he reached out his hand towards Alrick.
**Condition Met!!
Due To Certain Conditions Being Met, You Have Received Some Of The Remaining Fragments Of Former Host's Memories…**
Lucien's eyes widened in surprise and he pulled his hand away and getting on his feet, "What the… what is this?! Stop it right now!", he yelled at the holographic screen that had popped up before them but it didn't seem to listen. "I wanted to tell him myself!"
Alrick was a bit startled by Lucien's reaction and stood up as well, "What's happening? Why isn't it listening to you?"
Before Lucien could respond again, the space they were in collapsed and everything turned dark.
**… Simulation Complete. Entering Memory Now.**