A loud squeak left the child's mouth as he was roused from his deep slumber. Papers, open books, and practice tests littered the large oak desk he sat at, some of which were covered in small splatters of drool due to his having fallen asleep on them. Genius had been studying not long ago for his entrance exams into the Vareth Magic Institute, not that he needed it of course. He had long since been assured that he would pass with excellence. He had passed his first practice test with flying colors and each subsequent essay based test was better than the last. But Genius kept studying. He would take no less than perfection and leave no possibility for anyone to ever usurp his position as humanities most intelligent child.
Genius yawned widely and rubbed a small fist into his tired eyes, knocking his glasses askew. Despite having a mind vastly beyond his years however, Genius still suffered from the physical drawbacks of being a young child. The seven year old found it terribly difficult to stay awake through the day and late into the knight, forcing himself to function on the most bare minimum of sleep. But bed time was wasted time and Genius refused to squander a single moment of progress.
"Big brother." a tiny voice sounded next to him. He readjusted his spectacles and blinked in surprise at the small blonde girl, his five year old little sister.
"Leona what are you doing here? I told you not to bother me when I'm working." He scolded, though his tone held no anger or impatience. The girl fidgeted briefly with the leather bound book in her tiny arms before holding it up to her big brother.
"Read me a story please?" She pleaded quietly. Genius looked at the old worn fairy tale book before taking in his sisters yellow and white lace trimmed nightgown. He didn't need to look at the clock to know it was getting late and she was most likely headed off to bed soon. No doubt she had already asked their parents and older brother, only to be shooed away with the excuse that their attention was taken up by their work or studies.
"Leona I can't," he felt bad saying no, still being young enough to at times feel the pain brought on by their families negligence. But they were a family of geniuses , Leona included, and one day she would understand.
"Please." Leona begged, tears beginning to form in her large hazel eyes. "You can read me one of your textbooks if you like." When faced with such a sad and lonely look, Genius felt his resolve begin to evaporate. With a sigh he slide out of his chair and took hold of the book the smaller girl was carrying.
"No, I'll read you this. Only one though, then I have to get back." The smile that spread across Leona's face was worth the frustration he felt over lost study time. He supposed humanity could live with the minor set back if it meant his sister, for a moment, could smile gleefully like a normal child should.
Leona leads her brother, by the hand, out of his room and down the hall to the families large private library. On the way they pass by their pre-teen brother, his face buried in a book as he travels back to his room. Leona pauses briefly, as if expecting him to say something as he passes, but he takes seemingly no notice of them. Genius is used to it, he hardly remembers having any conversations with him that comprised of more than a handful of sentences. He pulls on Leona's small hand to bring her attention back to him and smiles warmly. She seems to forget about the snubbing for the time being and skips the rest of the way to the library.
With little hesitation, she climbs into the large plush arm chair in the back corner of the room. Genius knows enough about his sister to know she spends almost all of her time here. Even at her young age, she has most likely read at least a third of all the texts available to them.
Genius settles into the open spot next to her, the chair being wide enough to fit both small children. Leona prompts him on which fairy tale she wants from the collection and he begins to read. He's not good at doing silly voices and he has a hard time keeping his voice from falling into a boring lecturing tone, but Leona doesn't seem to mind. She cuddles up to her older brothers side and gleefully listens to the words he reads.
Genius thinks it's silly, there are dozens of things he should be doing that are more productive, but he can't stop the smile that spreads across his face when he sees his sweet little sister yawn and start to doze off. It makes him realize how tired he actually is. Genius never finishes the story, falling asleep with Leona's head rested on his shoulder and the large book still open in his lap.
"Dammit!" Genius slams his fists down on the hard stone table. Papers wrinkle and a pen snaps under the force of the impact but he hardly cares as the reality of his research finally and fully sets in. He slams his arms against the table again and angrily sweeps everything off. Old tomes fall open against the dirty damp ground and papers flutter in every direction.
With an angry huff, he turns to one of the three fresco's lining the stone walls. An ominous shadowy dragon glares unsympathetically down at him, reminding him how he is helpless to do anything in the face of humanities ultimate fate. For once he laments his intelligence. Rues his decision to decipher these cursed portraits. Regrets torturing himself with the knowledge that everything will soon come to an end and that there is most likely nothing he can do to change it.
The sound of the stone doorway sliding open rips him from his internal jeremiad. He turns to the sound and is relieved to find it is only his little sister. He still has yet to figure out how she found his hide away, or rather he has yet to put effort into figuring it out. She's down here every few days with food and water. He doesn't much like the idea of Leona wandering around the sewers alone, but he is still grateful, even if he doesn't say so. He's not sure what his health would be like at this point if she hadn't found him.
Leona is smiling sweetly as she approaches, a paper bag of supplies clutched in her small arms. The look quickly fades to concern when she sees the mess across the floor.
"What happened? Are you alright." Genius stares down at her, mouth pressing into a thin line as he debates over whether or not he should explain his findings to her. In the end he decides not to, there's no reason anyone else should have to suffer what he has found out.
"I'm fine. I was just a little frustrated over something. It's not important." He can tell by Leona's expression that she knows there is plenty he's not telling her. She doesn't call him out on it though and instead carries the bag over to the large stone table to unload it's contents. Genius watches her intently, suddenly nostalgic over a time when they were both little and things were so much simpler, at least by his standards. He misses those "wasted" moments of reading his little sister bed time stories and falling asleep from his own exhaustion.
"Leona," He calls, placing a hand on her small shoulder to stop her from trying to pick up any of the papers strewn about the place. The last thing he needs is to have her reading his notes and drawing her own conclusions. "I have a story for you. Would you like to listen?" She raises an eyebrow at him and scrunches her face in confusion. It's been a long time since he's read to her and even then it has always been at her behest. So he really can't blame her for being put off by the odd request.
"I'm not sure if I have time." She explains, sounding so much like every other member of their family. "Plus I'm a bit old for that kind of thing now." Genius smiles down at her, the expression looking tired but amused.
"Then humor me? It's lonely down here and I suppose even genius' need some kind of interaction every so often." The excuse seems to work, judging by the smile that spreads across Leona's face, making her look very much like the little girl who would beg him for bedtime stories as children.
The only semblance of furniture he has down here is an old lumpy cot that he uses when he's too exhausted to process information anymore. They sit side by side with their backs against the stone wall. Genius searches his memory for something comparable to the fairy tales he used to read Leona not even a decade ago. He remembers a conversation on Elven mythology that he had with Mikey not too long before the war.
He immediately describes the story of a regal Elven king so powerful he could control the weather and so linked with nature that blossoms and seedlings grew in his wake. He describes the kings meeting with a beautiful human woman and how he courts her and whisks her away to his castle. He creates conflict by telling how the woman's father sends warriors to snatch her back and how the other Light Elves shun their leader for his decision to marry a human. Their love perseveres through all of it though, and through their love, the Dark Elves are born. He takes creative liberties with the story, leaving out the birth of Algandars and adding filler to make it a substantial tale. He's surprised by his sudden affinity for story telling, he had never been one for flowery descriptions or false scenarios, but Leona seems to be thrilled by it so he keeps going.
When he's finished, this little sister is fast asleep with her head on his shoulder, just as she used to do when they were little. He has no idea what time it is but he assumes it must be late if she was able to drift off so easily. He runs a gloved hand through her tied up hair, absentmindedly allowing the golden locks to flow from his open fingers before gathering them back up again and repeating the action. Allowing himself this tender moment eases some of his stress but he is unable to completely pull his mind from the dark reality that he has struggled to come to terms with over these past few days. He steels his resolve once again though and with a melancholic glance at his little sister he vows not to waste another moment until he has figured out a way to stop this cataclysm from coming to fruition.