"Mmmm, pistachio tastes so good," Alexei remarked as he licked and enjoyed the frozen dessert. The young man was enjoying it so much as he paid half attention to his friend's rant.

"Are you even listening to what I'm saying right now, Alexei?" Baron snapped his fingers in front of the guy and then rolled his eyes. "The least that you could do for tagging along here just because you were bored is listening, you know?"

"You said something about your scarf and shoes?" Alexei said with a shrug.

It was mostly something about Baron's clothes and modeling gig now that they were in Italy so he couldn't be bothered to pay attention to any of it. Another thing that humans liked to pass their time with.

"No." Baron gave him a flat look. "Well, actually yes. The fashion designer wants me to wear this scarf from water hyacinth fibers? It's really interesting how innovative these people can be, but a literal weed? They're an invasive aquatic species."

.

Alexei wasn't really giving his entire heart to listening and was just hoping they could get back to their hotel. He was already tired of Italy.. the world was so small sometimes.

Why couldn't there be anything new that would change things?

"Are you really not going to say anything?" Baron sighed and then also started to eat his own gelato.historical

"Wait, hold up. Do you feel that?" Alexei stopped in his tracks and grabbed Baron's shoulder.

Baron's gelato dropped on the street, but Alexei no longer cared about anything else except for the sensation in the air.

"Feel what? The air?" Baron frowned at his friend. "Are you messing with me again, Alexei? I already got dragged out here to have gelato with you even though I shouldn't be eating anything past six in the evening--"

"Gelato won't make you fat." Alexei rolled his eyes and knew that Baron's body wouldn't change one bit even if he were to eat a thousand pounds of ice cream. "Could you shut up for a moment?!"

Baron finally realized that Alexei picked up on something important enough to drop his easy going attitude. He ran his fingers through his hair and tried to look around as well.

Alexei closed his eyes and tried to trace where it came from.

There was this sensation that made Alexei pause and feel something change in the air around them. Compared to Alexei, Baron was a little less aware of their environment as his speciality was elsewhere but Alexei recognized the energy.

It was something that was born out of Cretea.

Earth was a dry husk to Alexei.

The days where it was vibrant and every place was filled with power, magic and a sense of wonder was already long gone. So another person who was filled with magic, a being of magic or simply more than what seemed on the surface was easily noticeable.

Similar to that one time in New York.

It wasn't everyday Alexei went out of his way to help another person. However, when the person was like him, he wouldn't mind lending some helping hand. Alexei was willing to help them out especially when they needed it.

Elise was interesting and Alexei wondered where she came from.

The energy that Alexei could feel was the energy that was similar to Elise back then, magic and power.. and there was also something else too.

But that was impossible.He crinkled his nose, as if sniffing the air could give him an answer.

Alexei practically knew everyone who was worth noting in strength but this was unlike anything he experienced before. An unimaginable strength coursed in the air and Alexei opened his eyes to look around but didn't find anyone who matched that profile.

There were several other pedestrians like himself and Baron, but none with a power that rang with immortality.

Alexei rubbed his face and sighed.

"I lost it."

"Lost what?" Baron raised a brow at him.

Alexei rolled his eyes. "Is the only thing that you're good for is your pretty face? Didn't you detect the change in the atmosphere earlier? There was someone else besides us. Someone like us, if you catch my drift."

"Well, now that you mentioned it.. I thought I did feel something." Baron replied with a frown, but then he shrugged. "But why should we care? Most of us prefer to keep to ourselves or hide amongst the people and blend in. If they prefer to be alone, why bother them?"

"You don't get it." Alexei mumbled underneath his breath.

"Get what?" Baron narrowed his eyes at Alexei and then started walking forward. "Don't try acting like a smartass when you're more of a brat than me."

Most of the individuals that Alexei and even Baron encountered were beings who were already at the pinnacle of their powers. Stronger than anyone in the world with power beyond normal and mortal humans' dreams..

But it was so rare to find someone like Elise who was clueless.

This made Alexei a little more troubled than he let on. But Baron was right, if someone like Elise decided to stay low and not bother anyone else then it was possible to live a peaceful life and pretend they were an ordinary person, right?

The same could be applied to this immensely strong person that Alexei just noticed.

"I didn't only detect one person like us, there were two of them," Alexei explained. "One of them was almost hidden because the other one's energy was stronger, but I thought I recognized one."

"You mean you've met someone else like us and haven't told me?" Baron raised a brow. He threw Alexei an accusing gaze.

.

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************

Thank you so, so much to Fantasylove3471, Margaritas680, and Adriyanna for being the Top 3 Golden Tickets Contributors in September '21 for <The Cursed King>.

I am grateful for your support. Picture attached in the comment. To everyone who has supported this book with your chapter unlocks, comments, reviews, and golden tickets... THANK YOU SO MUCH. xx

- Vina (Missrealitybites)