“Yes, you are.”, the king’s voice resounded through Res’s head. He couldn’t think through the implications as the crowd erupted into angry shouts. Two elite royal guards materialized next to him.

One guard leaned in and whispered: “Resistance is futile. Follow us.” Like a sheep to the slaughterhouse, Res was led off the stage. In the confused cries of the nobles, he thought he heard the outraged shout of his mother.

“Where do we take him? He has destroyed a national treasure. Seems like death by hanging to me.”, the taller of the elite guards asked.

“The king’s brother will be mad if we interrupt his massage session. Despite that, he will handle this better than the commander.”

Res’s palms sweated as he was led down long-deserted hallways. The voice of the first king spoke again in his head: “I am so excited to see my descendants. I know I had over 1000 children, but I hope it is one of Alina’s. She was my favorite, you know.”

Res doubted his sanity but still talked in his mind: “Did you possess me?”

To his great surprise, an answer was forthcoming: “Yes, or at least I tried. I didn’t know you had such a powerful technique up your sleeve, bro. The possession was incomplete. In other words: I wasn’t able to overtake your mind when you retreated into that little shell of yours. Guess we are inseparable now. We should dub ourselves the siamese twins.”

Res groaned, but determined he would deal with the implications later: “Now that we are both in trouble, can you tell me how to get out? I doubt that they will understand my reasoning and the standing of my family is shaky at best.”

“If I were you … Guess that fits … I would jump through a window and run as fast as I could. If you say pretty please, I can aid you somewhat with your muscle atrophy. By the way, what are those muscles for?”

Res felt a twitch in his groin and his private bit lifted a bit into the air. He stumbled and hissed in his mind: “What are you doing?”

“Testing out stuff. Don’t worry, I can’t use your body like a marionette.”

The comment had the opposite intended effect. Before Res could push the issue further, a teenager stepped in their path. His blue eyes and slick blonde hair had an air that Res detested. The elite guards next to Res snapped off a salute. “Prince Robert, this is the boy who destroyed the initiation crystal.”

His frantic thinking was brought to a halt when he smelled sulfur. For some reason, an enormous stench permeated out from him. The surrounding guards had to take a step back, but the prince continued like before. “Let him come to me, I will teach him a lesson he will never forget. Peasants need to be shown their place. Take this … ”

The prince made as if to strike Res but gagged on the rotten smell that now engulfed the entire room. Res was confused at first and asked: “Did you do something, Mr. King?”

“My name is Jason and I am detoxifying your body. Now, run!”

When he saw that the moment of hesitation was about to pass, he dashed away with all his non-existing might. Leaving the usual way wasn’t an option, so he had only the king’s option remaining – The window. Res had imagined crashing through the window would be an epic leap that would stay in his memory forever. The memory would stay, but for a different reason – Crashing through a window hurt. A lot. Thousands of small and large glass splitters cut his flesh. Luckily, he was on the ground floor and only fell for a brief moment. Despite having the cards stacked in his favor, his lack of exercise still made him tumble like a rolling barrel.

“Dude, holy shit that was sick. That could be in an action movie. That roll at the end was worth being in a James Bond movie.”, the excited voice of the former King, Jason, shouted in his head.

“What are you talking about?”

“Never mind. RUN!”

Behind Res, the elite guards were already clearing away the glass shards to follow him. The prince’s head had turned red with rage and he was shouting childish insults. Without another glance back, Res ran for his life.

“You can’t outrun them for long, bro. What the fuck did you do to reach this level of muscle atrophy? You run like a girl. I can already hear some of their angry shouts coming closer.”, Jason spoke in Res’s head.

“You can use my senses? I must talk to you about that. I need to hide.”

“What are you stupid? Turn and fight them like a real man. Do some kung fu or something.”

Res gave up on enciphering all the unknown words and concentrated on the best hiding spots. After he turned a sharp corner, Res dove into the opened door of a servant apartment complex. The clunking of footsteps passed by and his erratic breathing slowed down. He left the building through the back entrance.

“The gate isn’t an option anymore. As long as they don’t ring the alarm bells, I should be able to climb to one of the guard towers and jump down. Let’s hope that I don’t sprain my ankle.”

“Damn bro, you have serious brainpower.” His estimation of the king’s intelligence shrank farther and farther. While Res was jogging to the closest guard tower, he tried to clarify the situation.

“After this, can you please leave my body?”

“Nope, I couldn’t even if I wanted to. We are destined to live together in a symbiotic relationship, bro. I don’t like it, but at least I am not dead.”

Res stopped dead in his tracks. “You are joking. You have to be joking.”

“Nope”

“Does that mean, I have to endure your brainless babble for my entire life?”

“Hey, don’t insult my intelligence. In my previous world, I watched the Discovery Channel daily and …”.

Despair the likes which he had never felt crashed down on him. His most private space, his mind, was now occupied by one of the dumbest people he had ever met. “I didn’t want this to happen, bro.”, the now soft voice of Jason, the king, spoke in Res’s mind. “If the possession would have worked your soul would be with HIM. We are in a shitty situation, but let’s make the best out of it.”

On a deeper level, there was a fundamental truth in that sentence. Fretting over something he couldn’t change only led to depression. Even though it hurt, he accepted the fact that a ghost was now inhabiting his body.

“You aren’t intelligent, but you are wise … I can’t guarantee that I won’t ignore you all day.”, Res chuckled and continued his jog towards the guard tower.

“Hey, that’s not cool, bro.”

The closer he got to the palace wall, the more servants were going about their duties. They were carrying sacks of grain, loading up carts or running errands. When he thought he would get out without incidents, the alarm bell rang. The deafening bell signaled the guards to let no one leave or enter the palace grounds. The two stone-faced guards guarding the ladder up to the wall drew their shortswords at the noise.

“Think Res, think. How can I get up there?”

“Bro, I have a perfect idea. You could throw a pebble in one direction and the noise will make them go over to where the pebble hit. Then you clamber up the ladder.”

“You aren’t the sharpest tool in the shed, Jason. I don’t know how you managed to run a kingdom.”

“Actually I …”.

Before Jason could finish his sentence, Res was already out of cover and waving his hands around. “I have an urgent message for the lookout!”

The guards eyed him suspiciously at first, but one of them recognized Res as a noble: “Are you from house Coventry?”

“Yes, I have an urgent message for the lookout. There might be an attack on the palace.”

The fact that Res was a noble and the palace grounds were at stake, convinced the guards to let him pass.

“Whoooa bro, that was neat. Have you ever thought of being a spy or something?”

Res didn’t bother answering and continued his climb. To the great surprise of the lookout on the wall, Res ran towards the edge. He stepped on the railing and pushed off. The slope of the terrain and the grass softened the impact, but he still tumbled end over end. With a dull thump, he landed on the main street. Above him, the lookout blew into a horn and threw a round object at Res. His bad reflexes were only enough for him to get a protecting hand in front of his face. In a shower of tar-like yellow goo, the object exploded. His senses were assaulted with a mix of rotten meat and his stench from ‘detoxifying’.

Jason’s comment: “Get your ass off the ground”, tore Res out of his stupor. He continued his mad dash into the direction of the poorer district. No one knew him there. The yellow goo solidified and Res had to stop himself from vomiting.

“What is that goo?”

“Crushed spider babies. The concoction was my idea and now it comes to bite me in the ass.”

“Am I going to die?”

“No, it’s not that bad. Once you get the stuff on you, they can find you for the next five years. Even if you were to grow wings and fly away. They have little mother spiders on leashes who will pick up your trail no matter what you do.”

“Water?”

“No”

“Can I burn it off?”

“No”

“How can I remove it?”

Restaurants, expensive blacksmiths, and jeweler shops flew by in a mad dash. Before Jason could answer, laughter resounded through the main street. When he risked a short glance back, he could see the prince pursuing him. Judging by the way the dust formed a sand storm behind the prince, he was fast.

“Res! Jump in the sewer’s entrance to your right, now!”

Without thought, he followed the advice and the prince’s glowing fist missed him by an inch. The air displaced by the blow shattered a nearby window and he was flung back. The last thing that Res could see before he plunged into the dark sewers, was the surprised face of the prince.