Kaelen stumbled out of the alleyway into the open road and his breath ceased.
All around him, he could see pale pink-skinned two-legged animals walking around.
Their eyes had various colors, unlike the normal purple possessed by demons.
He had learned of these entities from the archives in the Royal Castle.
'Humans? Is this some slave breeding ground for them?' Kaelen walked around looking intently at each and every single one of them.
Some humans ignored him while some threw him curious glances, often lined with disgust.
"How dare these horrendous things show disgust in my presence?" He hissed with clear disdain.
"How are these things even here? I thought all gates between the human and the void realm had been destroyed." Kaelen kept an eye out for other demons.
People turned to look at him as he spoke before looking away.
"Either way, I need to find someone and get back to civilization before I kill one of these horrid creatu-" His external monologue was interrupted when a man bumped into him.
"Out my way!" He grunted before walking away.
Kaelen gritted his teeth. He wouldn't stand for such disrespect!
He threw his hand forward, palm wide open, yet nothing happened.
The man who had bumped into him turned around briefly before scoffing and walking off.
Kaelen tried to use his powers again but couldn't. He couldn't even feel void energy coursing through him.
And so, for the first time since his escape from his father's killer's grasp, he looked at his hands, hoping to see what was wrong.
His mouth widened and he screamed.
Just like the humans around him, he had pale pink skin, albeit more pale than theirs.
His fingers were slender and bony with black fingernails covered in grime. "How had I not noticed this?!" He yelled.
Some passersby threw him disgusted glances before continuing on their path.
Kaelen noticed a puddle of water close to the road and ran to it.
His reflection was vastly different from what he remembered. There were no horns, grey skin, thick facial muscles, or purple eyes.
In their place were a thin, bony face, sunken eyes, black hair, and bright blue eyes.
How body was extremely bony and thin. Even his royal armor and garments were now dirt-riddled rags.
He felt disgusted with his new body. How had a mighty prince fallen from the height of power to a mere human?
'There is only one thing I can do and that is to find a way back.' He furrowed his eyebrows.
Not only had he lost his powers, but he couldn't feel any void energy. He was stranded in another realm, and in another body.
'I believe this is because of Ash. Her life force only wanted to carry me to safety… or so I thought. It might have tried to eliminate me but failed.' Kaelen's look hardened.
He stood from the puddle and started walking around, perhaps he could find something to help him.
Kaelen walked around slowly and took in his environment.
There were a lot of cottages and small houses made with cobblestone. It was an extremely small settlement and he knew because he had run into a few people more than once.
'These humans are lucky that the gates between our realms were shut off for whatever reason, because we would have been ruling over them by now.' Those were the thoughts running through his head.
"I can't believe how quickly humans age. This body is basically considered an adult in this world." He was recalling all the information he had read on humans.
Before the unfortunate incompetence of his father, he had been made to learn everything he could from the archives.
Because as he had come to learn, knowledge is synonymous with power.
A sweet, supple aroma wafted up his nose and his stomach rumbled, a sharp hunger pang hitting him.
Kaelen cursed the human body again.
If it were his own body, the small creature he had eaten would have been enough to fill him for days on end, but in mere hours, his body was craving more food.
He traced the source of the mouth-watering aroma to a small shop with the word 'Bakery' written in cursive.
"[Ba-ke-ry.]" Kaelen said in his best human accent.
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Author's Note: I put '[]' to show that he finally started speaking Sitronian, the language of humans. He was previously speaking in his original tongue.
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He approached the bakery and entered through the front door.
His eyes ignored everything around him and went straight to the wooden counter with fresh cakes on it.
Kaelen walked swiftly to it and reached for them.
His fingers barely grazed it when someone grabbed his hand.
He tried to rip his hand out of the grasp of the person but he failed.
Kaelen's eyes looked at the dark skinned, muscular man wearing an apron who was holding him.
"Let go of me, you vermin!" He yelled in his original tongue and the man only tightened his grip on him.
"The money for the cakes." The man demanded, "Your dirty hands have made it impossible to sell them."
Kaelen wanted to throw the man off but remembered his current powerlessness.
His eyes trailed to the difference between the thickness of muscles on their arms and he quickly deduced that the human could break his arm in an instant.
"I'm sorry," Kaelen spoke in Sitronian, his eyes tearing up.
'I read that humans are pathetic, sympathetic creatures. These 'tears', as they are called, should work.' He thought as tears streamed down his dirt-stained face.
A heavy fist collided with his chest, forcing all the air out.
Before he could gasp, a knee collided with his crouching body and he fell to the ground.
He had withstood massive amounts of battle damage, yet he was about to die because of cakes.
Blows landed on him and his bones snapped and popped.
Another fist was quickly dropping to his face when a voice called out, "STOP!!"