A/N: Takes place an indeterminate about of time between Chapter 1 and WoW.
It was a bright, sunny day in Dalaran. Thantys Dawnrunner sat under a tree, eating an apple while engrossed in a book on Arcane Guardians of Azeroth: Or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Matrix Core. He missed his wife, Melaria, tremendously while she was away on a mission for the Farstriders. Although she was one of the best scouts the order had ever seen, it did not prevent him from worrying for her whenever she had to leave. When this happened, Thantys typically doubled his efforts into whatever he needed to do, out of sheer necessity.
On this day, he needed to read up on the newer techniques of the arcane guardian units the newly-inducted gnome mages came up with. While they were excellent mages and engineers, it meant he inevitably needed to do more research to keep up with their latest and greatest alterations. Though Thantys was certainly no slouch when it came to academics, magical research was more properly the realm of his twin brother, Nixillis.
He sighed, waved his hand negligently and disintegrated the finished apple core, then stood up. His back ached from sitting there all afternoon and he wanted nothing more than to return to his rooms to rest before he had to work on another task. As he started back towards his quarters, however, he heard a small, polite cough from behind him.
"Nixillis Dawnrunner?" A smooth, cultured voice called out. Thantys knew that voice: Prince Kael'Thas Sunstrider, fairly new to Dalaran, but a high-profile presence nonetheless. He inwardly bristled at being mistaken for his twin yet again, though he supposed the fact that he was seen in public with a book may have given the mistaken impression to anyone who did not know them well enough. He turned to regard the prince.
"Ah, Nixillis, I am glad to have found you!" Kael'Thas said, smiling. "I have something I wanted to show you and get your opinion on, but I'm afraid I cannot bring it out here. Can you meet me in the vaults in one hour?"
Not wishing to bother correcting him, Thantys nodded in acquiescence and bowed.
"Wonderful! See you soon." The prince turned and stalked away.
He sighed again, now having yet another thing to do: track down his brother to pass on the message. Luckily, Nixillis was fairly predictable of late, only appearing in a few places. Still more luckily, he happened to be in the first place Thantys looked, the practice courts. Thantys smirked. Yes, his brother was absolutely, positively predictable since he met that battle mage, Elendraa. He had certainly wasted little time before he practically begged the female elf to teach him how to use a sword, despite having zero interest in physical combat previously.
Thantys watched his brother get pummeled as Elendraa shouted insults at him, presumably to goad him into renewing the attack. Finally, as the sparring match wound down, he decided to make his presence known.
"Hey, Nix!" he called, "Get over here!"
Nixillis and Elendraa promptly ceased the match and went over to see what he wanted. He noted with interest how Elendraa looked at his brother when she knew he wasn't watching. Thantys smiled knowingly.
"Nix, get cleaned up, Kael'Thas wants to see you in the vaults in forty-five minutes."
Nixillis groaned. "Do I have to go? I'm battered, cut, and bruised all over, all because of this banshee over here!" he nudged Elendraa good-naturedly as she rolled her eyes at him.
"Yes, Nix, you do have to go…he is our prince and technically above us in rank even here! He thought I was you, actually. I didn't bother to correct him, but he is still expecting you." His brother was normally quicker on the uptake; this woman must have done a number on him. Ordinarily that would be most amusing, but not just this moment.
"Well, if he thought you were me, why don't you go in my stead?"
Thantys scowled. "Don't be a dolt, brother, of course I can't go instead of you. I couldn't possibly feign enough interest in whatever useless artifact he wants to show off. He'd suspect something for sure."
"You could try, you know…you owe me!" Nixillis declared triumphantly.
"How do you figure that?"
Nixillis flashed him a wicked grin while Elendraa watched the exchange with amusement. "I seem to recall a time not three years back when a certain someone just HAD to take extra time to say goodbye to his wife before she left on a mission…and said someone needed his brother to cover for him for an hour."
Thantys' scowl deepened. He was right, curse him. Melaria had been assigned to a particularly long mission that time. He sighed yet again. "Fine. I'll do this one thing for you, but we are even after this, brother."
Nixillis nodded. "Absolutely, Than, completely even! I trust you to act enough like me to fool someone who doesn't even know us very well. Thank you!"
"Well, I guess I better head down to the vaults. Talk to you later, Nix. Lady Elendraa, a pleasure, as always." He nodded at her and headed away.
As he meandered through the city and headed down into the passageway leading to the vaults, he mentally prepared himself on the task ahead. Pretending to be Nixillis was not as easy as one may think; while they looked nearly identical with their defined cheekbones and lush blonde hair, their personalities and interests were as different as the sun and the moon. He always enjoyed being hands-on with his magic, helping others throughout Quel'Thalas (and later Dalaran) with whatever magical assistance he could offer. He smiled, thinking about how he met Melaria doing exactly one such service. Nixillis, on the other hand, reveled in honing his magical craft by researching and learning new ways to manipulate the forces of magic, especially fire. He also liked teaching his skills to others, often teaching classes in fire magic. While Thantys did not terribly mind teaching others what he knew, it was not where his heart truly lay.
He approached the vaults sooner than he would have liked. Oh well, best to get this over with now, he thought. He muttered the counter-spells to the wards guarding the entrance and walked in.
He started sharply as a voice cut in to his thoughts. "Nixillis, good to see you again, and even early!" Kael'Thas said.
Thantys forced a grin onto his face. "Absolutely, your Highness. I would never miss out on anything you had to show me!"
"Call me Kael, please! We are equals here."
"Very well, then…Kael. What is it you wanted to show me?"
Kael'Thas gestured to one of the corners of the stacks. "Here. It was just brought here from Karazhan: another of Medivh's spellbooks, this one about the theories and principles of everlasting fire!"
Thantys' eyes widened at the sight of the weighty tome. It was leather-bound, with ancient runes dotting the cover and spine. Its pages were gilded and he could practically smell the strong incantations guarding its secrets. Interested despite himself, he examined the runes. Yes, this was definitely something to show the real Nixillis.
"I just wanted to get an expert's opinion on this, Nixillis," he continued. "You're the resident fire mage around here, or so I am told."
"Yes…" Thantys replied absently, still examining the tome. He ran his fingers along the edges of the spine, knowing that the extensive warding would protect the book from actually being opened.
"So...do you think you can unlock the book?" Kael'Thas asked hopefully.
"Perhaps." Thantys could not resist the temptation to mess with his brother. "I would need to gather some of my own books and come back here later tonight. It might take all night, but I vow to do my best to see what I can do!"
"Wonderful!" Kael'Thas smiled as he clapped Thantys on the shoulder. "I will meet you back here in…let's say four hours? Would that be enough time for you to get what you need?"
"Oh yes, Kael. More than enough time!"
"You told him WHAT?!" Nixillis exclaimed when Thantys told him of what transpired down in the vaults.
"I told him I, meaning you, would do my best to see what I could do to unlock Medivh's book, even if it took all night." Thantys explained patiently, savoring every moment.
Nixillis threw up his hands in defeat. "Alright, fine, I guess I better go keep my word…"
"Why, Nix, I would have thought you'd enjoy this puzzle…"
Nixillis glared at his twin. "Yes, but that is not how I planned my night to go."
"What, you had plans with Elendraa?"
"I refuse to dignify that with an answer, Than. Of course I didn't have plans with Elendraa so late at night."
Thantys smirked, not bothering to point out that Nixillis did, in fact, dignify his comment with an answer. "Speaking of which, you really should move things along with her. This platonic friendship business is driving me crazy, and you're not fooling anyone, least of all your own brother!"
Nixillis suddenly became invested in staring at his bookshelf. "I have no idea what you're talking about, Than."
Thantys stared incredulously at him. Could he be so blind? "Don't you? Then it's not my place to interfere, but it's easy to see she only has eyes for you."
"Yes, well, we shall see." He perked up. "I agreed to start teaching her fire spells sometime soon, so if she can still tolerate me after some one-on-one sessions, then maybe there's hope! Now go away, I have to spend the night with Kael'Thas."
The charade continued back and forth for another week. Both Nixillis and Thantys would alternate spending time with the prince, who all the while thought he was dealing with the same brother. The twins' zeal to out-annoy the other ended when the complex arcane magic surrounding Medivh's book finally ceased to exist, allowing anyone access to its contents.
"We finally appeared before him together and confessed the truth." Thantys explained to Melaria at dinner the night she returned from her scouting trip. "I have never seen him so infuriated! But eventually he saw the humor in it and we all had a good laugh."
"But, I don't understand…why would you keep pretending to be Nix after settling the debt you owed him?" she asked, confused.
Thantys shrugged. "To mess with him, I suppose. It's a twin peculiarity, Mel, you should just take my word for it!"
Melaria rolled her eyes. "And here I thought I married a fully-grown elf with a prestigious position among the magisters of Silvermoon and the Kirin Tor."
Thantys laughed and took her hand. "We mages know how to have a little bit of fun, too, my love." He lightly brushed his lips on the back of her hand.
Meanwhile, elsewhere in Dalaran, a pair of elves stood among the pools near the Violet Hold, ready for another session in fire spellcasting.
