[[It's not that this took forever to write, it's that… Okay, this took forever to write. I'm sorry! Long 18-month story short: the 2020's so far suck. So I went from writing Still Here for what-if family fluff, to writing Conscience for sarcastic dark humor, and now back to shameless family fluff. But hey, did y'all see that Nintendo Direct? Incoming GS revival on Switch?!

And hey hey, have you noticed a lack of FFN e-mail notifications? "Email Opt-in" in account settings. Resets itself to "no" every 6 months, starting with a default "no" when it was implemented. Yeah… Because that's a thing someone thought was a good idea… And that it should only be announced on Twitter and not on this actual website or through an e-mail… Thanks, FFN. I've gone this long without a Tumblr account, but AO3 doesn't have messaging and this seriously just might force my hand. For the time being, please enjoy this new chapter of Alex and his parental denial.]]

-o-o-o-o-o-

Chapter 6

Ideas, Good and Bad

-o-o-o-o-o-

Wrong…

Wrong…

Wrong…

Incorrect…

Absolutely absurd…

Gods have mercy, these so-called instructors were horrible.

Wrong…

Wrong…

…Was that one trying to teach the boy Chi?!

Alex tapped the toe of his boot against a branch in annoyance. The majority of the instructor tryouts for the past week had been held within the inner courtyard of the palace, the sizeable pond providing an easy water source to align with the prince's supposed element. To keep an eye on things, Alex had been resigned to lounging in the thick branches of the trees lining the surrounding walls. Ironic, he thought, given how many trunks were grown around statuesque faces of stone. The darkness of his brown robes and hood had so far aided him in blending in with the shaded bark.

King Paithos of Ayuthay had yet to select who would become the Psynergy instructor for Price Amiti. The prospects thus far were… less than promising.

Wrong…

Awful…

Incompetence at its finest…

Alex rolled his eyes freely behind his mask. Leave it to those who weren't natural-born Adepts to grow superiority complexes. The current applicant in question—a balding man dressed in what appeared to be Laliveran garb— was quickly losing patience with the boy's inability to grasp a set of concepts. Of course, it wasn't the boy's fault that the concepts were intended for someone more experienced, and were flawed concepts at that.

Except the "instructor" clearly thought otherwise. As Alex watched, the man began to berate the young prince. Something about how any true Adept should be able to summon their Psynergy on a whim to complete the exercise.

If that wasn't a load of Dirge guano, then Alex didn't know what was.

The bowl of water at the child's feet remained unaffected.

At last, Paithos demonstrated his possession of a brain. The lesson was ended, their guest was politely dismissed and escorted away, and Alex flicked away the faint glow that had crept around one fist.

Gardeners began returning to work in the far corners of the courtyard as the king knelt beside the prince. With an internal sigh, Alex knew it was time to go. Someone could decide the trees needed inspecting. Specifically, his tree. The one with the largest stone face buried between its roots. Because of course he would chose to hide in the one that seemed the most important.

The child was smiling again as the king returned to standing.

Alex blinked, and in that blink he was gone.

-o-o-o-

"I'm sorry, Uncle."

Paithos knelt to be eye-level with his nephew, giving him a kind smile and a reassuring squeeze to his shoulder. "There is nothing to be sorry for. Now," with a wave, the grandmotherly figure that was Amiti's nanny bustled over to give the boy a reassuring squeeze on the shoulder. "I believe a free afternoon is in order. And, perhaps, a treat from the kitchens for a job well done?" That seemed to cheer the child up a little, and he was chattering away to the woman by the time they disappeared inside.

The king stood to watch after the duo with a smile. Seven years old already… His sister would have surely handled things differently in her son's upbringing. Veriti would have had some choice words for a number of the applicants, certainly, and she would have been far less diplomatic than Paithos in voicing them. But he had no doubt she would be proud of Amiti if she could see him.

If only she could have seen him.

The king shook himself. Perhaps she was still watching over them, if only in spirit. It was a comforting thought—

Just as he began to move towards the entrance himself, he paused to look in the direction of the largest fig tree. He could have sworn he'd seen movement there from the corner of his vision. A spark of… blue.

A nearby guard looked questioningly between the king and the tree. "Is everything all right, Your Majesty?"

The branches swayed lazily in a breeze. Seconds ticked by, until at last Paithos gave a hum of acknowledgement. "Yes. Merely thinking to myself." Turning forward once more, he led the way in returning to the throne room.

-o-o-o-

Why didn't it work?

Amiti poked at the small wooden bowl on the ground, watching the water ripple and distort the reflection of him and the surrounding greenery. No one else ever came to this spot in the gardens. Vines and hedges lined the walls of laterite and stone. Moss caked the winding maze of a path that led under a weathered and splintering wooden arch into the secluded section. A lone stone bench sat crumbling at one end, nowhere near as pristine as those in the main courtyard, and algae and oversized lily pads choked the pool of water surrounding a stagnant fountain. It was, as he had secretly decreed, his own little corner of the kingdom.

Which made it perfect for the thrilling task of… staring at a bowl of a water.

The small prince scrunched his face and thunked his chin against his knees. He was supposed to be an Adept. A child of the Jenei. Heir to the late Princess Veriti and the divine power with which she created him. So why did he feel more and more as though it had all been a fluke?

That he was a fluke?

With a frustrated cry and blurry eyes, he stood and kicked the bowl with all his anger and frustration. The water inside splashed down in a line across the pond's surface as the bowl itself sailed through the air, coming to an abrupt halt upside down on top of the bushes lining the far wall.

The child scrubbed at his eyes with the back of one hand. Well, now part of him was even more frustrated than before! He would need to get the bowl back, but it was stuck in a spot he didn't think he could reach. What if the chef asked him about it? That bowl had surely been placed on the prepping table for a reason. His uncle always said it was important to tell the truth, but what if that meant admitting about his corner kingdom?

No. No that wasn't an option. He had to get that bowl back. But… how? That line of bushes had completely overgrown to the edge of the water, leaving nowhere for him to step close enough. And even if he were to somehow shimmy along that edge, could he reach high enough?

A stick. He needed a stick. Casting a look around, a solution presented itself. By standing on the stone bench, he had the height needed to tug down a low hanging tree branch. He didn't need to take much, maybe only one arm's length. Make it two arm lengths to be safe. Okay, one problem solved. But that still left… the water.

Amiti grumbled to himself. He had an idea, but he wasn't sure it was a good one: the lily pads.

He had seen adults use large lily pads before. They used them to quickly cross sections of Barai Pond. Uncle Paithos had never let him step on one, sticking instead to the solid paths and streets when navigating the surrounding town. It always looked so easy, though. Even the Great Healer could be spotted on occasion using a giant leaf to step to one of the lashed together log rafts. And the Great Healer was old. How difficult could it be if an old man could use the leaves just fine?

Amiti tested his weight with one foot on the first of the lily pads. It was much smaller than the ones on Barai, but those ones were used by grown-ups. He was much smaller than those grown-ups.

The lily pad wobbled… but it didn't sink.

This would work. He was a genius!

-o-o-o-

Was this child an idiot?!

Perhaps it was a harsh thought to have—part of Alex might have even felt it was shamefully inappropriate to think it. But frankly he was too lost in silent concern (panic) at that moment to notice. It was probably all Paithos' fault somehow, anyway.

It wasn't the first time Alex had trailed the prince to that forgotten section of the gardens. But the boy seemed wise to using caution near water when alone and swam like a fish when supervised. So when he had spotted said prince slipping away with a bowl pilfered from the kitchens, Alex had been intrigued but not concerned.

As the boy stepped completely onto the first lily pad, Alex suddenly found himself very, very concerned. And as the leaf wobbled and dipped under the child's full weight, causing him to overbalance and fall backwards towards the stone edge of the pool, Alex blinked.

-o-o-o-

A small "oomf" escaped Amiti as hands wrapped around his upper arms, stopping his fall and hauling him with ease back to standing on solid ground. His stomach dropped for an entirely new reason.

Uh oh. Busted.

He expected a scolding. Perhaps his nanny had tracked him down. Or worse, his uncle. Or a guard or gardener or maid or any number of other castle staff who would now take him back to his uncle and tell him everything and Amiti would never be allowed to return alone to his garden corner again.

He wasn't sure what he was preparing to say—an excuse, an apology, a plea—but words left him the moment he turned to face his rescuer.

"M-Master Adept?!"

It had been almost two years, but he'd never forgotten the cloaked figure that had saved him that night in the desert. The man's face was hidden behind that same wooden mask, a scar-like crack cutting downward through the center of the paint. But Amiti could feel the man's dark frown.

"Your Highness."

Maybe he would've preferred his uncle finding him, after all.

"I-I uh… I thought I could… um… W-what are you doing here?"

The Adept silently loomed with an air of frustration and disappointment, casting a shadow over the child. It felt oddly on par with Uncle Paithos whenever Amiti was caught doing something he knew he shouldn't be doing. Unlike Uncle Paithos, however, the Adept did not launch into questioning Amiti about what he had been thinking or a stern lecture about how he needed to behave in certain ways. Instead, the Adept seemed to take a steadying breath, eased his shoulders, said, "Those lily pads aren't the kind that can be walked on, Your Highness. Please do not try that again," and turned as though to leave.

Wait, what?

Amiti was too shocked at first. That… was not at all what he had expected. The Adept was almost to the archway before Amiti came back to himself. "W-wait!" The Adept paused but did not turn. It was then a thought occurred to him. Maybe it was a dumb idea, but it was an idea, and by his seven-year-old logic it was the perfect idea to ask out loud.

"You have Psynergy."

"…I do."

Amiti felt giddy. "Teach me?"

-o-o-o-

No. No no no, no no. No.

Neptune, Boreas, Coatlicue, and Azul, no.

"No." Alex tried to make his escape.

"Pleeeeeease?! I've seen you fight, and I've been trying so hard but I can't get my Psynergy to work!"

Mercury save him. "Why are you so sure you have Psynergy?"

The boy pulled a face. It was only when Alex turned towards him that he finally answered. "I froze my tutor's tea." Alex stared. "While she was drinking it." And stared. "Her lip and tongue got stuck to the ice." Alex resisted the incredibly strong urge to touch a palm to his masked face. He did cast his eyes skyward, though. "But she was completely okay!"

"And now you believe you are in need of lessons?"

"The Great Healer said Uncle Paithos should find me a teacher. Something about getting ahead of it, or something."

Alex allowed himself a sigh. "Born Adepts typically do not require serious study. We learn naturally through routine use, much like learning to write or to cook. Those who choose to study further are often in their teens at the youngest, and they do so through more frequent and focused practice." Or they depart on quests to gain an ultimate power and prevent the end of the world, possibly getting themselves cast into the bowels of an erupting volcano by a single-minded ancient construct in the process. But that was neither here nor there. "You do not need such lessons."

"Please, please, please? You were so cool with your powers before. I want to learn Psynergy like yours!" No, you really don't. "And if you don't teach me, I'll only have whatever teacher my uncle decides on!"

Alex stayed where he was, working his jaw as he and the boy stared at one another. The child was clearly trying not to fidget as time ticked by, but small twitches and begging eyes and bouncing on his toes gave away that excitable tension only children truly seemed capable of.

At long last, Alex broke the silence. "You will listen to my instructions—"

"Yesss—!"

"—You will listen to my instructions. If any of your senses feel off then you will say so. And you will not tell your uncle about my involvement." He felt like he really should not be encouraging such behavior. But the prince was nodding so enthusiastically it was a wonder his head stayed attached.

This was definitely all Paithos' fault.

-o-o-o-o-o-

To Be Continued

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[[Heheheh, FINALLY I can work more on the chapters that have Alex being Amiti's personal Psynergy mentor. And yes, Amiti 100% Christmas Story'd his tutor. Don't lick frozen things, kids.]]