Writer Note: Edit: I added a bit more to this first part, making the brothers' conversation longer for more story and the battle scene having more action. Hello, and welcome to my first Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch Fanfic, centered around my favorite human characters of the game, Swaine and Marcassin. Some spoilers if you haven't played through the Hamelin arc of the game. If you have or not, hope you enjoy the story otherwise. The first bit is rather short just to see how this goes, but anyway thanks in advance for reading!

Hamelin, inside the palace

The prince was busy pouring over a map of Autumnia in order to find ways to improve the Empire. He hoped to be a better prince after gaining his belief back thanks to Oliver and his friends, and also to be of use against the bigger feat of defeating the dark djinn, Shadar. He was so absorbed on the map that he failed to hear a knock on the door.

"Ahem!" a voice speaks up as the Prince finally notices he had a guest. It was his brother Gascon, who actually goes by the name Swaine now. The two had been reunited during the recent events since Swaine had joined Oliver and his friends, originally to get to Hamelin, and now officially in their quest to defeat Shadar.

"Swaine, what a pleasant surprise. I didn't know you and your friends had come to visit Hamelin again so soon. How goes your journey?" Prince Marcassin greeted his older brother with a warm smile.

"Oh it's going fine," Swaine responded rather vaguely, "And actually I came alone."

Marcassin looked at his older brother with more surprise, "You did? What for? Does Oliver and the rest know you came here?"

"I told them I had some business in Hamelin I had to take care of," Swaine shrugged and gave a smile that often hid some deeper truth. "They insisted on tagging along, but I told them I would just be a jiffy and they'd hardly miss me."

"Really...you're always up to something," the prince crossed his arms. "What are you up to this time dear brother?"

"Easy, don't go pointing your royal fingers at me, I'm not here to steal anything. Rather I came to tell you something important," Swaine looked down at his worn out shoes as if he was at loss for words at the moment. He looked up to Marcassin with a serious look on his face, "I...I actually came to say goodbye."

"Goodbye?" the prince suddenly became alarmed, "What do you mean brother? You mean to say you're leaving Hamelin, again?"

"For good yes. But don't worry I haven't forgotten about our promise. I'll still be able to watch over you no matter where I am. But now that you're able to believe in yourself and the people of Hamelin again, I'm sure you wouldn't want someone like a petty thief like me around."

"You're not simply a petty thief, you're more than that, you're my brother! And we just started to be together again since father passed, joining forces to defeat Shadar and rebuild our Empire."

"I appreciate your feelings, but this is the best for the both of us, and for Hamelin. The Empire only needs you to lead them towards peace into the future. It's what father would want," Swaine assured him. "I only came back because you were in trouble, and now that I know you are safe and well, I can move on back on my own path."

"But I was only able to become a great sage for Hamelin thanks to you and your friends," Marcassin reminded him. "I couldn't have become who I am now without you. Don't you see that your path has brought you back home? Father would want us to work together, to build Hamelin's future together, and take care of each other side by side."

"You may be right...but I've spent too long wandering around places, becoming a thief and learning tricks in order to get by. There's no real place for me here."

"Yes there is! You're my brother, my only family. There's always a place for you here, Hamelin is your home too!" The prince tried to convince Swaine, grabbing his shoulders. "Remember what I said when I was younger? I wanted to make Hamelin a proud empire so that you would come back after you had left. I had kept my belief you would come back, even though it was stolen once. But you did, no matter what reason brought you here, Gascon...you DID come back."

"It was a mere passing feeling...a hunch," Swaine tried to make up an excuse, but Marcassin saw through him.

"No it's not, you're just pushing yourself away again without truly thinking about your feelings," Marcassin argued, "I may be younger than you, but I've had my fair share of growing in knowledge and experience while you were away."

"Marcassin...I'm sorry," Swaine looked away. He couldn't bare to see Marcassin's expression. It reminded Swaine too much of the past when he left the first time. "Look don't worry about me anymore, I'll be okay," Swaine lied, even if he knew it would hurt Marcassin and himself.

"Please don't do this...Gascon!"

"This is goodbye. Take care," Swaine turned his back without another glance at his brother and ran out of the room.

"Wait! Gascon!" Marcassin was too shocked from the news to run after him. Once he came to his senses, he banged a fist on his table. Why, he thought, we just started to become closer to each other again. Just when...just when I thought I could fight alongside my brother proudly as a proper sage...

Marcassin wondered if Swaine had left the city by now, or if it was still possible to catch up to him. No doubt that Oliver and the rest would start to worry if Swaine doesn't plan on returning to their traveling group. Was Swaine planning to journey alone again, just like he did when he was younger? What could have made Swaine think like this? It didn't make sense.

As Marcassin was muddling over with worry about his brother, there was a yell from just outside the room. It was Swaine's voice; he sounded like he was in trouble.

"Swaine?" The prince ran out of his room in worry and haste. Oddly enough there weren't any guards around even though there was always at least one on duty. Marcassin ran to the domed fountain room, just in time to see Swaine's body fall to ground in defeat against a large monster. Apparently he had been trying to fight it alone, as his familiar Gunther disappeared to its owner upon defeat.

"How did that thing get into the palace! Nevermind, I need to get to Swaine!" The prince summoned his own familiar out to face the monster, "Go! Attack!"
Marcassin's familiar could hardly do much alone against the beast while keeping an eye on his brother's body.

"Plasma Ball!" the prince instructed his familiar as it shot out a blast of magic. Marcassin hastily tried to figure out its weakness, but it seemed to be immune to most of his familiar's attacks. It started to charge up for a big move, and Marcassin tried to put up defense, but the monster's attack was so high it knocked back the prince and his familiar. The damage caused Marcassin lose half his health, but he quickly used a healing spell. He knew he couldn't fight this alone, and he wished his brother was up and fighting alongside him. The beast prevented him from reaching his brother, so he had no choice but to fight alone.

Halfway through the battle, before Marcassin could attack offensively, it started to fade away in a mysterious mist that filled the room.

What is this mist?" Marcassin got distracted for a crucial minute, that he failed to realize after the mist faded, the beast was gone.

"Gone...but how?!" The prince desummoned his familiar and immediately ran to his brother's side. Swaine appeared to be unconscious and wasn't waking up.

"Swaine! Swaine!" Marcassin immediately tried to use Healing Hand. When it didn't appear to change anything he then tried a Phoenix Feather, hoping it would be enough to awaken his brother. Nothing.

"None of my healing provisions work? But why?! Come on Swaine, wake up, WAKE UP! GASCON!"