Chapter 27: A Prince With Naught

Soon, Briar opens her eyes, and finds herself in some dark abyss.

Briar looks around and says, "This… this looks like the same place… like what happened with Riddle…"

Briar begins to walk forward to find a clue to where Leona is. If it's the same as before, then she might hear Leona's voice or see a piece of his past.

And right on cue, Briar hears Leona's voice, "From the moment I was born, there's been a boulder on top of me that's too heavy to move."

Soon, a black and white, and a little gray scenery appears. Briar finds herself in some building with pillars that has a big opening. She looks outside to see a large field area, kind of like the Savanna of Africa. There is also a large rock formation distance away, and a large sin.

Suddenly, Briar begins to hear a voice of a man, "Crown prince Falena is such a bright and cheerful young man."

Briar turns her head to see a group of people in black silhouettes talking among themselves.

The man's voice continues, "I don't understand why his younger brother has to be so moody all the time."

Then hears a woman's voice, "And he possesses such a terrifying power! Imagine being able to turn anything to sand!"

Then a second man's voice appears, "Both of you, cease this conversation right now! What if someone overhears you?!"

Hearing the conversation, Briar begins to wonder if the younger brother they're referring to is Leona, and the other must be his older brother.

Then the scene disappears. Briar then decides to continue forward.

Then she hears Leona's voice again, "I bet that… if I were the crown prince,... this is what they would have said: 'Crown prince Leona is a judicious young man—look how he controls such powerful magic! I don't understand how Falena can be so carefree. This is all because I was born second. They'd find fault in me no matter what—just so they could use it as a pretext to praise my brother. No matter what I do, I can never be the best."

Just then, another room appears around her. It seems to have a little bit of African like decor on the walls, and there are a few windows on one side of the room with curtains. Just then, Briar sees two figures appear before her. One of them is Leona, but the other is a silhouette of an older man. Judging by the appearance and how Leona seems annoyed to see his face, Briar has to suspect this must be Leona's older brother, Falena.

She hears Falena asking Leona sternly, "Leona! Why weren't you at today's ceremony?

Leona"

"Ceremony?" Leona questions.

Then says, like he remembers, "Ah, you mean the self-indulgent party where you show off your son to the people?" But he doesn't seem to care. "Yeah, sorry I missed that. I fell asleep.

"Showing the people the face of their future king is an important affair," Falena says.

"Yeah, it's a happy day for sure—also known as the day the despised second son loses what little claim he had to the throne forever," Leona says, annoyed.

"Do not frame it in such terms!" Falena sternly says.

"Must be nice to be the firstborn, huh? Leona questions.

And says, "You can spend every day singing and napping and still become king."

Falena tries to reason with Leona, "Leona... You may never become king, but you are still wise. There is much you could do for this country."

"And maybe if this country selected its kings on the basis of intelligence, I'd be motivated to do something with that wisdom," Leona says bitterly and decides to leave the room.

Falena calls out to his brother, "Leona, wait! Leona!"

Briar is shocked to hear the conversation. Leona seems to have a lot of resentment because ke feels that he can't succeed because his older brother is the first born, and will become king of his country. Meanwhile, he always feels belittled because he's the second one born. Just then, the scenery disappears.

Briar continues to walk ahead as she continues to hear Leona's voice, "Why do I have to spend my life feeling this way, just 'cause I was born a few years too late? No matter how hard I study, no matter how powerful the magic I command…

Soon, Briar finds Leona lying down on the floor, almost like he's taking a nap, and still trapped in his overblot state, and seems to have the bitter and resentful expression on his face.

"From the day I was born till the day that I die, no one will ever acknowledge that I'm better than my brother. I will never be king. Why did I have to be born second? Why will I never, ever get to be the best? Why? Why? Why? Life truly is unfair," Leona continues in frustration.

Briar then sits down and says, "You might be right about that."

Leona opens one of his eyes and looks to see Briar.

Instead of being hostile, Leona says with an annoyed expression, "Oh, it's you."

"Um yes. It's me. I'm guessing there's no point in asking if you're alright," Briar says.

"You be stupid to ask that now," Leona says, bitterly.

"Um yeah," Briar calmly says.

Briar sighs and says, "Alright, I'll just give it to you straight. I went to find you and saw your memories. I know the reason why you're so bitter. It's because you feel that you can never get respect, just because you're the second one born in your family, and because your older brother became king."

"And why should you care? It's not like you can understand how I felt all these years," Leona says, bitterly.

"You're right. I can't. I can't understand the kind of life you had in a royal family, or to have older siblings. But to be honest, your brother is right about one thing. Even though you can't be king, you can do so much for your people. I mean, just because you're the second child and you can't be king doesn't mean you can't do things. I mean, I heard that you're one of the best Spelldrive players in the school, and a lot of students look up to you, especially Jack, who was more than happy to play for your dorm's team. And Ruggie and the rest of the students look up to you as well. I think you feel kind of insecure about others belittling you, that you didn't seem to realize how they may actually respect you, and about the stuff you're good at. I'm sure there's others besides them who look up to you," Briar says.

Leona turns to Briar, "Well, there is someone who looks up to me, but he also gets on my nerves. A little chatterbox more like it."

"Well, that's a start anyway. But still, try not to think too much about what goes on in your family, and what others say about you or your flaws, and start simply living your life to the fullest. And don't give up on what you want just because of what everyone says about you," Briar says.

Leona smirks with a chuckle and says, "You know, you talk too much, but you kind of made a few points, but that doesn't mean I'm willing to accept any of it… not right away anyway."

"It's okay. These things take time. For now, we should probably get out of here. Besides, you still need to make up for the mess you caused to the other players," Briar says, and reaches his hand out towards Leona.

Leona rolls her eyes, and simply nods his head in reply. He then sits up and takes her hand. Soon, the two stand up. Then, they both take each other's hand. Briar then closes her eyes and soon begins to sing.

Briar:

Flower, gleam and glow

Let your power shine

As Briar sings, the bright gold yellow glow begins to appear on Briar's hand, and the aura begins to surround both her and Leona's body.

Briar:

Make the clock reverse

Bring back what once was mine

Briar continues to sing as a golden flower appears below their feet as multiple roses of red and white blooms around them. Leona begins to feel calm as Briar continues to sing and the gold yellow aura surrounds him.

Briar:

Heal what has been hurt

Change the fates' design

Just then, the black blotting ooze dissolves into gold dust, and Leona has been returned to his original form.

Briar:

Save what has been lost

Bring back what once was mine

And soon, Leona's is free from the over bloat and back to his original self, and the black ooze disappears completely.

Briar:

What once was mine

Soon, the gold flower below them turns to gold dust as the red and white rose petals circle around them, as the song and the spell continues. Soon, everything fades into darkness, and the two soon black out.

Suddenly, they hear Grims' voice, "Hey! Wake up! Wake up you two!"

"...Huh?" Leona replies, confused.

In the Savanaclaw Stadium, Leona and Briar are still lying on the ground and unconscious. Soon, the two regain consciousness and sit up from their sleep.

"I did it! They're awake! I was startin' to think you weren't ever gonna regain consciousness!" Grim says.

"Briar!" Sereia happily says, and hugs Briar.

"Are you okay?" Tanzanite asks.

"I'm okay, a little dizzy though," Briar says.

Then Grim turns to Leona, "Now, hurry up and confess."

"Seriously," Briar says, dumbfounded.

"Wh... What?" Leona questions.

Soon Crolwey arrives on the scene, and says, "Mr. Kingscholar. Your negative energies accelerated your blot accumulation, inducing an overblot episode. Do you not remember?"

Leona eyes wide in shock in disbelief, "Wait, ME...? I overblotted? No way…"

"I'm afraid it's true. You kind of went crazy there," Briar says.

"Crazy is an understatement. It was worse than what happened with Riddle," Jasper says.

Then turns to Riddle, "No offense."

"None taken," Riddle replies.

Then Grim speaks up, "And more importantly, the Spelldrive tournament is about to begin. I'm gonna need you to confess that you're the culprit, so I'm allowed to enter!"

Briar facepalms for her forehead with an annoyed expression on her face.

Even Leona is annoyed, "Heh. If this is a joke, I ain't laughin'."

Then Jack explains, "The headmage got Grim's group to investigate the accidents in exchange for letting them compete in the tournament. Well, mainly Grim anyway. Briar and her friends are more focused trying to make sure you don't ruin the games for everyone else. Plus they think it's cheating."

"Whaaat? THAT'S what this has all been about?" Ruggie asks, in shock.

"You bet it has! And EXCUSE you?! You were the one pushin' people down stairs for the chance at a little fame and glory!" Grim says, annoyed and glares at Ruggie.

"And you hurt one of our friends too," Tanzanite adds.

"Grim's right, Ruggie," Sereia replies.

Ruggie flinches, "Urk... W-well…" and soon see their point, "Fair point, I suppose."

Crowley sternly glares at Leona and Ruggie as Leona and Briar get up.

Crowley questions, "Is he correct? Were you responsible for the series of injuries sustained by competing players?"

Leona turns to Briar, and she nods her head in reply.

With that, Leona admits, "...Yeah. That was me."

Then Crowley says, "Very well. Then to begin with, Savanaclaw House will be disqualified from this year's tournament. The rest of your punishment will be decided after I discuss it with the victims. Are we clear?"

Leona lowers his head with a frown, "...Understood."

Ruggie and Jack remain silent.

Now it's official that their dorm, Savanaclaw, has been disqualified.

Suddenly, Riddle speaks up, "Headmage, wait."

Healing Incantation: Tangled