Traits were not born with their hosts, instead they were assigned. When a child was brought into the world, a unique combination of four main aspects was appointed to them for the entirety of their lives, creating each individual's personality. When the host passed away, depending on how fulfilling their life had been and the impacts they had had on those around them, their soul would be sent to The Fields of Asphodel, or worse Tartarus. If a person was particularly selfless, contributing much to society, they along with their traits would be granted the gift of eternal paradise that was Elysium. That was the highest honor that any facets could achieve, which meant the number sent there was extremely low. Most aspects would return to their life in the Astral Plane with only one way to remember the host they had lost; a symbolic mark. This mark would be comprised of what had been most important to the one they had lost, and the more sentiment the facets felt, the closer the mark would be to the heart.
"You either die a hero or live long enough to watch yourself become the villain." This was a quote that all traits knew, as it represented their lives well. The longer they lived, the darker they would become. Over the years of having host after host, their outlook on life would become cynical and harsh as they became disgusted with the pains of assignment. Unfortunately, the aspects themselves were immortal, so unless they achieved Elysium, they would all become 'the villain' eventually.
Due to the facets' immortality, they didn't really use years to measure their age, and instead used the phase of life they were in to define them. At the age of twenty-one, a trait was old enough to be assigned, so that marked the beginning of their moral phase. After a few hosts, they would lose some of their childhood innocence and they would change into the creative phase of their lives. It would take almost twice as long for them to switch phases again, but when they did the change was much more dramatic. They were no longer bubbly and hyper, but cold and analytical as they entered their logical phase. That was where they would remain for another thousand years at least until finally they would enter the longest and darkest phase of their life as a fight-or-flight reflex.
There was another way to break this cycle, but it was one that most tried to avoid, because once the change was made, there was no going back. If a facet experienced a prolonged period of a negative emotion such as anger, grief, or fear, they could be overtaken by said emotions and become a corrupted trait. If this were to happen, they could still be assigned, but never again would they take the place of one of the four main aspects. Since this change made these facets volatile and sometimes violent, for the safety of those in the Astral Plane, the corrupted traits were forced to live in The Fields of Asphodel between assignments.
No matter which aspects were assigned to them, there were people born and passing away every day, which meant there were facets constantly entering and leaving the Astral Plane, Asphodel, and Elysium. That was not to mention the human souls who were also being sent to Elysium, Asphodel, and Tartarus to live their eternal lives or damnation. Having so much traffic between the four planes and the world of the living, a proper government was imperative to ensure that everything ran in an orderly fashion; this is where the story of the Princes began.
There were four brothers who ruled over the four lands, and each was in a different phase of a trait's life. Once they reached the chapter of their existence in which they were fated to live forever, they stopped aging. This was only one of two ways that they differed from their subjects, the other came after they had finished their royal training and entered the eternal part of their life. They were granted a pair of brilliant wings, given to them upon the day of their coronation, which reflected the royals' personalities. This made it impossible for anyone else to impersonate the leaders of the four lands.
The Eldest Prince ruled over the night when stars filled the darkened skies, and the moon cast its silvery light upon the world below. He would remain a fight-or-flight reflex for all time, and was the only monarch who had gone through all four phases of a trait's life. His responsibilities differed greatly from that of his brothers, as he commanded the Astral Plane's militaristic forces. His troops also included the wardens sent to escort human souls to their final place of rest or torment, and those who brought aspects back to their homes. Even the guards tasked with protecting the palace were under the command of the Prince of the Night, who's attentive and observant nature made him the perfect candidate to protect their kingdom and all who lived within it.
The Second-Eldest Prince destined forever to be a logician held yet another important role in their worlds. He formulated the speeches used to address their subjects, but more importantly, he drafted the laws to be voted upon by the Council of the Ethereal Planes. Economics and trading between the four lands were also under his jurisdiction, filling his days with books, pens, writing, and calculations. It was his contributions which kept their home from devolving into anarchy.
The Second-Youngest Prince eternally in the creative stage of his life oversaw the day from the moment the sun rose in the east to its setting in the west as the Prince of the Day. He held the most power in the eyes of the common person as he was the monarch who interacted with them the most, attending most of the social gatherings, showcases, and dances put on by nobility. He also was the one to stand before their subjects and announce the laws that had been put into place by his older brother and the Council.
Finally there was the Youngest Prince, who despite his age arguably held the most important position in their government. Eternally in the moral phase of a trait's existence put him in the perfect position to oversee the communications and political relations between the four lands. He worked with the delegates in charge of Elysium, The Fields of Asphodel, and Tartarus, ensuring that they were updated with the newest laws and developments in the other three worlds. It was also nearly impossible to lie to him, since his natural born sense of right and wrong helped him to see through any fabrications presented to him by the senators. Still, he enjoyed a game every now and again, and remained cheerful most of the time, but this in no way made him naïve. If things got out of control he had no issues calling upon the Prince of the Night to gather his forces.
Together the Princes ruled over the Astral Plane, Elysium, Asphodel, and Tartarus with a firm yet justified authority. After nearly a millennia of his lone rule before his brothers joined him in a place of power, the Eldest Prince had decreed that their royal standings would not keep them from being assigned. This was a choice he had made to ensure that they remained thoughtful of the hardships that came along with assignment, whether that be losing a host, or a group of friends. This made them more empathetic towards, and helped them gain a better understanding of the struggles their subjects endured so frequently. The law remained in effect; still, it was uncommon for such an event to occur, but when it did, the Council of the Ethereal Planes was left with precise instructions. These instructions allowed the Council to look after all four worlds during the temporary absence of any or all of the monarchs.
However, there was a prophecy, which had been delivered so long ago that the exact wording had long since been forgotten. In the many millennia that followed, the prediction had devolved from story to legend and from legend to myth. In current times it was told as a simple fairytale bedtime story for children, with no one being aware of the weight the words held.
The tale claimed that there would be a time of crisis, with the fear of war looming on the horizon, and all hope would seem lost. During this time, the fear would be further stuck into the hearts of the people when all four Princes were assigned. When they returned however, it would be revealed that they had all been assigned to a single host, whose soul despite being honorable and ethical, yet intelligent and cautionary, would not achieve Elysium. It was foretold that the Prince of the Night would go to Asphodel in search of allies for the upcoming war, and in doing so would find the host's soul. The Eldest Prince would bring the human back to the Astral Plane, where he would take his place as King, and even the sovereign four would bow before him. He would be a kind and just ruler, and his reign would bring prosperity and peace to their worlds, but it was just a story.
As time came and went, the people were more focused on real matters, including how odd it was that it had been over two-hundred years since any of the Princes had been assigned. Most put it off to the currently unstable relations regarding the delegates overseeing The Fields of Asphodel. The traits who were now in power had managed to rise to their positions by unknown means; any documents made on the matter, if any, had either been damaged or destroyed, and it wasn't hard to see why. The aspects who had risen to power were not Council elects, as they never would have chosen corrupted traits to lead any of the four worlds, even Tartarus.
News of the Asphodelian Delegates had unnerved those who lived their lives in the Astral Plane, as they knew how volatile corrupted traits could be. The monarchs had tried to settle any fears, even resorting to trying to file official documentation instating the corrupted traits as Council elects, but nothing had gotten through. It had even reached the point that the Moral Prince was struggling to discern if any of the delegates were lying to him. The Logical Prince had been forced to implement new laws to keep them in check, and to monitor the delegates in Tartarus and Elysium as well. As all these changes were taking effect, the Prince of the Day did his best to keep their subjects calm, while the Prince of the Night secretly gathered his troops in case they needed to liberate Asphodel by force. In the end it was all the rulers could do to keep everything in order while also working with the new developments.
Just when everyone was beginning to wonder if the Princes were preparing for battle, they disappeared, and as it turned out, they had been granted their assignment at the most inopportune moment. At first it was all the Council could do to keep the people from panicking, but then something even more unforeseen happened. The threats from Asphodel, while still concerning, became less frequent and seemed a tad more scrambled as if they were unsure of how to go on trying to intimidate the Astral Plane.
Since a trait's appearance shifted to match that of their host, it would be years before the Princes would realize that they had been assigned to the same person; a young boy named Thomas Sanders. He was clever, and as aspects often did, they would appear to him as his childhood imaginary friends, but what took them all by surprise was that he continued to be able to see them, even in adulthood. He began calling on them to make videos which he would put up on the internet about solving internal conflicts, which actually helped the four to bond as friends. Due to their appearance change, Thomas's fans merely thought that he played all the roles himself.
They all grew close to one another as if meeting for the first time, and it wasn't until they revealed their names that the truth came to light. The logical facet had been the first to do so, and the others came to realize that he was indeed Prince Logan. Soon after his creative counterpart followed suit, revealing himself to be Prince Roman, next was the moral side who turned out to be Prince Patton. He never said why but the fight-or-flight reflex had been extremely hesitant to reveal his own identity, despite knowing who he had been assigned with. Finally, after much heartache and asking repeatedly he was revealed to be Prince Virgil. In the end, Roman was the only one who continued to use the title of Prince, but their host simply put that off to his somewhat egotistical nature, and his unabashed love for Disney.
Once they all understood who they had been assigned with, they would come together when they weren't filming and discuss the worries they had about how their lands were fairing in their absence. They tried to get information by seeing how those younger than Thomas acted, seeing if their traits would betray anything, but their efforts proved fruitless. Even with the looming fear about their home; over the span of his life, they all grew close to Thomas, and it was clear that he cared about them as well.
Days, months, and years passed, and they knew the time they had with Thomas was drawing to a close. Eventually he was hospitalized, and despite their hopes and wishes, it soon became evident that he would never return home. When he passed, they all hoped he would achieve Elysium, but that would still be a bittersweet ending for the Princes. Thomas would get to live his afterlife in eternal paradise, but they would never see him again. They couldn't join him in Elysium because their loyalties forced them to remain in the Astral Plane. Due to the looming threat of war, they had to look after all of their subjects, traits and human souls alike, which meant they would have to sacrifice their relations with someone they had all grown close to.
Being torn between their grief for the one they would soon lose, and their fear for their people, each of them channeled their emotions differently. Roman spent most of his days trying to find some way to extend Thomas's life and help their subjects at the same time. Logan grew quiet, but he had returned to their useless attempts to gauge how their worlds had faired without them. As the youngest, Patton wasn't as accustomed to losing a host, especially not one as meaningful as Thomas, which was only made worse by the realization that he may not have time to grieve when they returned home. Then there was Virgil, and as the eldest, he had been through this process more than any of the others, but even he recognized that the circumstances were different this time, so he spent his time trying to console the others.
As time slipped by, they learned when the doctors, nurses, and family members would come by, so when he was alone, the four would take their places at Thomas's bedside. More than once during the last few weeks either Logan or Virgil would be forced to drag Patton back to the mind-palace when he became hysterical. Eventually it was decided that the moral side couldn't be left alone with Thomas for fear that he would not leave if a crisis called medical staff into the room. Meanwhile, Roman tried valiantly to not let his own sorrow show, but more than once he had returned to the mindscape with tears rolling down his cheeks.
During the day the four of them would sit with their companion between rounds, trying their best to be brave. Then by night, Virgil would ensure he wasn't alone, taking the place by his bedside while his brothers slept. To their dismay, Thomas slowly became less responsive, eventually slipping into a coma from which they knew he would never awake.
After a few more days of agonizing decline, they finally heard it, the single high-pitch and unbroken from a monitor near the bed which indicated the lack of a heartbeat. Patton started sobbing hysterically, clinging to Logan; Roman had his head in his hands, shoulders shaking with grief for their fallen friend. A quick glance passed between Logan and Virgil, both with eyes full of tears and understanding, someone would be in any second; they needed to leave. It took a bit of prompting for the other two to join them, but finally the four gave their hushed goodbyes, and synced out of the world of the living, bidding farewell to the best host they had ever had the honor to serve.
Despite knowing what came next, each of them was taken by surprise when they didn't appear in the mind-palace commons. The Princes had returned to the Astral Plane, and now stood in the familiar halls of the palace, clueless of the state their worlds were in. That simple fact left them unsure as to whether or not they would have the chance to properly grieve for the one who had touched their hearts in a way that no other host ever had or would again.
They all stood in silence, and though he hated to do so Virgil was the first to break it, his voice sounding out of place in the open-air corridor. "I…I know we all want to pay our respects to Thomas, and mourn our loss, and we will in good time." He cast his gaze to the courtyard below, making a point to regain his regal demeanor, "for now though, we need to take back our positions. We need to find out what has happened while we were gone and announce our return to our subjects of the four lands."
For a few moments he worried that the others would simply ignore his words, but to his relief, Roman stepped forward. "Virgil is right…we have sovereign duties to uphold, so let's find one of the castle staff and have them gather the Council for a conference."
There was no verbal response, but together they made their way through the winding corridors, and it wasn't long before they stumbled upon one of the royal advisors. Due to the lack of their royal attire, the whimsical side was the only one initially recognized as a Prince. It didn't take long however for the woman to realize she was in the presence of all four monarchs, and was falling over herself to apologize for the mistake.
As she continued to bow before them, the patience of the darker character was beginning to wear thin, but Logan was finally able to draw her attention. "Your mistake was an honest one and requires no apology, but there are important matters we need to attend to. Would you be so kind as to have the Council of the Ethereal Planes convene in the conference room in the next half-hour?"
She nodded profusely, "of course your highnesses!" Bowing once more, she scurried off to take care of the task that had been assigned to her.
When they were alone once more, the creative trait looked over each of his siblings with disapproving eyes. "This will be the first time in nearly a century that any one from the Astral Plane is going to be seeing us…and the three of you don't even look like Princes." The fight-or-flight reflex glanced forlornly at his stressed jeans and patchwork jacket as his brother continued, "no matter how upset we may be, we need to show that we are in control. We have no idea what kind of state our world is in, so the Council Members need to know that we are ready to take back our positions, and that includes looking the part."
"He's right, we don't appear regal in the slightest," Virgil took a deep breath, "I'm going to go change into my military uniform. I'll meet you at the conference room in twenty minutes."
Before he could turn away, Roman spoke, "we need to look unified, so if you're hell bent on wearing your uniform, I won't protest, but could you please wear your crown for once?"
"Our lands could be at war and you're worried about what I will be wearing," he shook his head, unwilling to start such a petty argument. "Fine, I'll wear the crown…see you in twenty."
They each gave small gestures to bid one another farewell before they went their separate ways to retrieve their uniforms. As he walked, the gloomy attribute realized that he wasn't being as attentive as usual; normally he would have at least admired the forested décor. He didn't know if it was the grief that plagued his mind or how swiftly he needed to walk to get to the other side of the palace where his room resided that kept him from enjoying being back in his lavish home.
His thoughts ran rampant as he walked, the mere idea being ignorant to the issues and threats to the world they had sworn to protect made him uneasy. The worries must have spurred him forward, because he reached his destination in record time, but what unnerved him was just how little of the walk he remembered. The truth was, if he was going to take his place back as Commander In Chief, he was going to have to put his feelings aside and be the leader his people deserved.
Using the time alone to clear his mind, he took his dark-grey uniform from his closet and rested it on the bed. Removing his jacket, he carefully hung it where his uniform had been, unwilling to let go of something that was so meaningful to him. It wasn't until he made his way back to the center of the room that his eyes caught his reflection, and what he saw caused him to freeze. Just above the collar of his acid-washed, purple shirt was a sliver of brilliant colors; taking off the article of clothing, his breath caught in his throat at what was revealed.
He had completely forgotten about the symbolic mark he would receive, and it did indeed fit Thomas well. Outlined like a molecule with both ionic and covalent bonds, it was still clearly the YouTube logo. The tattoo was filled in with a rainbow as opposed to the usual scarlet, and represented the three most important and influential parts of Thomas's life. The bright hues were an illustration of his sexuality, the framework portraying his passion for chemistry, and the shape showed his care for the content and talent he had shared on the video website.
Sorrow clawed at his heart like ice as he took notice of the mark's location, it rested just below his left collarbone. It was closer to his heart than any other mark he had ever received, showing just how much Thomas had meant to him. Glancing away from his reflection, he knew that the same mark had been granted to his brothers, and something told him that it was just as close to their hearts.
Running his fingers over the tattoo one last time, he turned back to his uniform, forcing his grief away. How was he supposed to step up and take care of his subjects when he kept getting distracted? Shaking his head, he made a point not to look at the mirror again until he was certain that the symbol had been completely covered by his shirt, and his uniform jacket was buttoned up to the neck. Throwing a cape over his sleek black and purple wings, he sheathed his sword at his waist; for the first time since their return, he was beginning to feel like himself again. He about to head for the door when Roman's request rang in his ears, so with a sigh he took the crown from where it resided on the dresser and deftly placed it on his head.
The golden headpiece clashed horrendously with the silver accents of his cape, clothes, and multitude of service pins. He knew his brother would have something to say on the matter, but then again, he had been the one to ask Virgil to wear the crown in the first place. Rolling his eyes, he subjected himself to his fate by walking out of his room, hoping the others would focus on the more important matters at hand.
Now that he was back in uniform, the castle staff had no issue recognizing him as a Prince, and he had to admit, he was uncomfortable with the bows he kept receiving. Still it was rivaled by the sense of actual comfort he received, not only from being home, but from regaining the control he had lost during their assignment. Using the more positive of the two feelings to remain calm, he navigated the halls until he reached the doors of the conference room. He wasn't surprised in the slightest to see that the whimsical side was the only one still absent; he was extremely picky about his appearance, and his extensive wardrobe didn't help.
The worrisome trait was torn from his thoughts as Patton filled the silence with small talk, "it actually feels pretty weird to look like ourselves again."
He was right, now that they no longer had a host, they were all taller, their shoulders more broad, but the most prevalent aspect was that they were no longer identical. Though they were similar in many ways, their differences were more noticeable, Virgil had a more muscular build than his siblings as that's what his responsibilities demanded of him. Still, their eyes were what set them apart most, and that color was also reflected by their wings, both of which depended on what they embodied. Morality had pale-blue coloring which maintained the look of innocence that youth often brought, the next being creativity held sunset-orange hues, which made them seem bold and brave, as they usually were. Then a logical aspect was characterized by stormy-grays, making them appear as if they were always thinking deeply, and a fight-or-flight reflex, such as himself, had eyes and wings of a black and dark-violet color with an intensity that often succeeded in intimidating others. Their hair, while still different, was more reflective of their individual personalities, Virgil's was black, and more often than not imperfect in some way, and Patton's often mirrored that, but in a dusty-blond shade. The other two normally had well-kept styles, Logan, as a brunet used his hair much like every aspect of his appearance to seem more intellectual, keeping it slicked back in a way that kept it out of his face. Then there was Roman who would never allow for a single strand to be out of place, even when he was alone, his auburn locks were always pruned so that his crown wouldn't cause an issue.
The voice of the academic brought him back to the conversation, "for me it is somewhat of a relief to look like myself again. It is much easier for people to take me seriously when my hair isn't constantly changing colors due to a hos-" He stopped abruptly when he noticed the sharp glare that the observant facet was giving him, Thomas had only been the third assignment for the Youngest Prince. If the eldest of them was in so much pain, he could only imagine how much pain the loss must be creating for their brother.
Thankfully the arrival of the fanciful manifestation broke the awkward tension, "Virgil, we simply must get you another crown! Yours clashes dreadfully with your uniform, gold and silver have no business being in the same ensemble!" He didn't even feel like sighing in response to the comments, and Roman seemed to realize he wasn't going to get a reaction, "no matter. There's nothing we can do about it right now, so let's go greet the Council; we really shouldn't stay them any longer."