死? He heard this word before.....he knew it so well.

"Shi?" He looked up at his nurse as he asked. She nodded.

"Do you know what shi means, Uriel?" Kasy asked him, and he looked at the paper again. A few weeks ago, Uriel decided he wanted to learn Japanese. Why? No one knew.

The boy nodded. He's been thinking of the word for a long while now.

"Well?" Kasy prodded.

"Death. Shi, means death in Japanese."

Seven months have passed since Orpheus's birth and everything was pretty calm. Well....sorta.

Lately, some.....strange thoughts plagued Uriel's head. It has happened since two moths ago when two servants were found dead.

"Ahhhhh!" an ear piercing scream echoed through the halls and into Uriel's room. Alex and the prince looked up from their game and to the Prince's nurse who was keeping an eye on them. They remained silent, until another scream was heard.

"Kasy, what's going on?" Alex asked fearful. Kasy looked afraid too.

"Both of you stay here for a moment." She looked at Uriel. "Please listen to what I say" Uriel nodded and when Kasy turned his back he shook his head. Alex almost laughed but Uriel covered his mouth.

"Shh" He and his best friend stood up and quietly followed Kasy out the door.

She walked fast, and in seconds, another girl crashed into her, sobbing.

"Angel! What happened?!" Kasy asked the sobbing girl.

"I-i-it was horrible! All the-the-blood!" She cried into Kasy's dress.

"What are you talking about?"

"In the boiler room!" She shrieked. Uriel put a finger to his chin. He knew where the boiler room was......what was so bad in there?

He turned and began to run in the direction of the room, and Alex struggled to keep up.

"Where are you going?" he didn't have to ask....not really."Uriel!" he huffed as the two turned the corner.

"What's wrong in the boiler room?"

"I have a feeling that we're not supposed to find out...." Uriel stopped and looked at his friend with unreadable eyes.

"Well....I want to find out....if you don't, then stay here" he then took off, not bothering to look back. He didn't need to. He knew Alex was following him.

When they reached the small boiler room, the door was wide open. When the two children entered the room, they met a most gruesome sight.

From the ceiling, hung a rope, and at the end of that rope, was a body. A servants body.

On the floor, was another body, the wrists on the body were slit open and so was the neck, and blood was everywhere.

Alex covered his mouth in horror, as Uriel's eyes widened in fascination. He looked at the blood, he had never seen it before. He had never bled before, so it was weird seeing it. He walked over to the male body on the floor and stared hard at his face. He knew the guy.

He was the servant, whose family was lost in a fire, and the other male......hanging from the ceiling.....was.....his brother.

Uriel suddenly felt his hand being pulled by Alex. "Uriel, let's go! I don't wanna be here anymore!" The boy was a little confused and afraid of the strange look in the prince's eyes when he observed the bodies. It was amazement, and he looked intrigued with the bodies.

"....Could it be that easy?" Uriel mumbled.

"H-huh?"

"To take your own life? Is it that easy?" Alex looked at Uriel in a weird way. His friend's eyes were dark and cloudy, like a storm over the ocean. It was like it wasn't even Uriel.

Before Alex could give a reply, Uriel was covered by a flash of arms and bright red hair, and so was Alex.

"Oh Uriel! My baby! What are you doing here?!" The queen exclaimed. Her son and Alex....they were not supposed to see this mess. It was too much, even for her, to handle.

Carlotta held a crying Alex. The poor thing......he just saw something that will most likely scar him for the rest of his life.

However, Alex wasn't crying about the bodies, or the blood. He was crying about the thoughts that had entered his friend's mind.

Uriel are you okay?" Kasy asked as she noticed the boy staring out his window again.

"Yes I am." His speech improved over the few months his brother was born and even his hair grew longer. It reached below his ears and was constantly falling in his eyes.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes.....No. Not really. Kasy, I need help." Kasy looked at the boy confused.

"With what?" Uriel slid off of his seat and walked over to his nightstand and pulled out a stack of papers. They were blueprints. He handed a couple of pages to Kasy and she stared at them in confusion. "What is it?"

"It's a machine that allows people who can't breathe underwater, travel deep into the ocean in a safe environment. The problem I have is, I have no idea on how to run it. I could use oil or something like that, but I don't want to pollute the water. I was wondering if I could somehow, let it run on the water. Let the water around it be its fuel, to move it forward, but then somehow recycle the water so that it goes right back into the ocean. I also don't want the machine to spring leaks. Do you have any input?" By the end of the explanation, Kasy's eyes had little swirls in them.

"W-what? Uriel, you know that you're like a brother to me, but please, please, don't ask me about machines or anything like that. You need to ask a scientist."

"But.....that would require me to find a scientist, and that would mean finding one outside of these castle walls.........I can't do that now can I?"

Kasy swallowed. Uriel was toying with her. He did things like that lately, made everyone feel bad. There something was inside him that was dark, something angry, and no one knew what it was.

Uriel looked down. "Sorry......I'm sorry Kasy." He got up, and rolled up the blueprints to put them away. He looked at her again. "I'm going to breakfast"

Kasy looked after him for a while and decided to walk him to the dinning room. When she grabbed his hand he looked up at her and she knew that inside, he was still a three year old, who wants love and his family.

Uriel watched in confusion as baby Orpheus began to make shapes with his food. The little baby picked up a piece of his toast and ripped it so that it became two small triangles. He proceeded to take the triangles and placed them over his omelet, next he used two blueberries to make something like eyes. After he was done, he clapped his small hands together and giggled. Uriel looked over and saw that his brother had created a cat's face out of food.

"Mah, Little Brother made a cat." he didn't have to say 'Mah' or 'Dah' anymore, it was just a habit that stayed. "He might be an artist"

Eric put down the morning's paper, and looked at his sons. "Uriel, don't you think that you should start to call Orpheus by his name, instead of Little Brother?"

"Why?" The eldest son answered a question with a question.....how nice. Ariel ignored the two as she helped Orpheus actually eat the food.

"Because......it's not his name."

"But he is my little brother, is he not?" Eric stared at Uriel. He didn't understand what was wrong with his son. He had begun to develop, some sort of an attitude with every one around him. The King gave a sigh and rubbed his temples.

"He is your little brother, however, Little Brother, is not his name. It would be more appropriate if you called him Orpheus."

"Fine." Uriel turned away from his father and looked at his mother. "Mah, may I play with Orpheus after breakfast?"

Ariel smiled at him. It was one of the most kindest smiles that she could ever give. "Sure why not? Just promise me that you'll stay in the nursery with him."

Uriel looked at his mother with a solemn face and put his hands behind his back. "I promise that I will stay in the nursery with baby Orpheus." he smiled back at his mother as two of his fingers on hi right hand twisted around each other.

"He's doing it again, Uriel"

"I know" Two boys were watching the baby stack up building blocks in odd ways and taking them apart to just build all over again. Alex watched as Orpheus built a model of the palace with the wooden blocks. After he was finished, he seemed to look at his older brother for approval.

"Say something to him" Alex whispered to his friend.

"Like what?! Hey good job, I've never seen the outside of this place, so it's really nice to learn from you? I don't think so!" Uriel fiercely whispered back. Orpheus continued to look at him and Uriel shifted uncomfortably. "......You did a good job. Smart" Just then, Orpheus's eyes lit up, like a thousand candles and went back to work, improving the structure of the blocks.

"See? He left you alone. I think he really likes you." Alex commented.

"Well I wouldn't know what you think. I'm not a mind reader......."a moment of silenced passed. It was awkward and tense. "Sorry, Alex....I didn't mean to snap at you......"

"I know. You've been moody lately, it's Orpheus still, isn't it?"

"You know" Uriel knew about the weird connection Alex had with him. It was always there, but just recently Uriel accepted it. For some reason, Alex always knew what he was thinking. Alex knew of the terrible thoughts that infected Uriel's mind like a virus. Alex sighed and opened his mouth to say something, but he was interrupted.

"Alexandre!"

"I'll see you later Uriel, my father is calling me." He waved to his friend and Uriel gave a weak wave. Just before Alex exited the room, he turned around. "Uriel, don't do anything you'll regret."

"I won't!" the prince called out. Alex had a feeling Uriel was lying.

Once his best friend left the room, Uriel stared at his younger brother. He was already smart, that was obvious. How many babies could make a model of the kingdom, using blocks? The younger boy also had a good imagination, the thing at breakfast showed that. How long would it take for him to be good at other things too? Soon there would be no need for Uriel......no use for him.

It could be that easy, he realized. It would be as simple as saying 'Bye'. No one would have to worry about, little unstable Uriel. Maybe they'd be sad for a while, but that's it. His father would have a great time forgetting about him, he'd be busy teaching Orpheus all the things he couldn't teach Uriel.

Orpheus paused building his model to look at his older brother. His dark ocean color eyes were clouded over and he was staring off into space. Orpheus liked his older brother. He was smart and cool. The babe couldn't wait to get older so he could talk with him.

Uriel caught his little brother staring at him. He then had a terrible thought. Why should he be the one to go? Why shouldn't Orpheus be the one. Without Orpheus, the Kingdom would have no choice but to accept him as King. It was a great plan. Get rid of his little brother and continue his studies to become the greatest king the Kingdom had ever seen. Yes. That was it.

Uriel struggled with Orpheus, as he fastened the knot in the rope that now connected the two at the waist. Orpheus kept falling down whenever Uriel stood him up and that made it hard to tie the rope.

"I'm gonna take you on a walk Little Brother, how does that sound?" Uriel asked as he finished admiring his work. Orpheus gave a small giggle as an answer and Uriel gave him a sick smile. "I hope it's as fun for you as it's going to be for me."

Carlotta was humming to herself when she saw the two princes pass by. Uriel was in the lead, marching like a soldier while, little Orpheus, attached to his older brother by a rope, crawled on all fours, occasionally trying to walk. She smiled at Uriel when he noticed her looking.

"Good morning Carlotta" he said in a cheerful voice.

"Good morning Prince Uriel. Um....might I ask, what are you doing?" Uriel was a bit caught off guard, and blinked slowly. Suddenly he regained his composure and smiled sweetly at the housekeeper.

"I'm teaching Orpheus how to walk." Uriel stated and under his breath he added "Right off a balcony"

Carlotta put a finger to her lips in a worried manner. "But Uriel, dear, don't you thing Orpheus is a bit....um....young for that?" Uriel looked at his younger brother who attempted to stand again.

"No, I think he's at the perfect age to learn."

"Okay then.....have a good time!" When Uriel and Orpheus went on their way, Carlotta reminded herself to tell Kasy to keep an eye on those two.

"Dad, should we add a bit more sugar?" the small boy asked as he peered into the dark brown batter he and his father created. Chef Louis looked at the brownie batter suspiciously before testing a small spoon.

"Hmm......Oui. I believe zat we do need more sugar." Louis ruffled hi son's long black hair. "I also believe zat, you, my little protege, are need of a hair cut."

Alex put his hands over his head in horror. "Non!" Louis laughed at his son's reaction.

"Oui, oui. Maybe not today, but soon." Louis laughed again and they both smiled at each other until there was a knock on the door. Louis turned around and saw his king standing there wearing an amused expression. Chef Louis clumsily bowed down, knocking over a few pots and pans in the process. "Hello King Eric! Anything I can assist you with?"

Eric laughed. "No. Not really. Who are you making those brownies for, Louis?"

"Zey're for John and Amelie, to congratulate them on their new son." The Chef answered while straightening out his suit.

"Ah yes. He was born four months ago right? They named him Lucas." Eric remembered the look on John's face when he told them. He was so proud and happy. Eric understood what it felt like, but John was old and he wasn't sure how the guy would deal with handling the boy when he was a teen.

"Amelie is having a hard time trying to calm John down. He is so happy." Louis added.

"Speaking of proud fathers, Alexandre, do you have any idea about where my eldest son might be? I checked in the nursery, but he was not there."

Alex didn't meet his king's eyes."Non." Alex sensed that there was something going terribly wrong at the moment and he wasn't sure what. He was to far away from Uriel to know.

"Are you sure? I wanted to give him something...." Eric looked at the young boy. Alex cracked.

"He's at the large balcony that faces the ocean. He didn't go out though, he's just walking around with Orpheus" the boy quickly added when he saw the look of horror pass over the king's face.

Eric nodded in the child's direction and then in Louis's direction."Thank you Alexandre, Louis I'll see you around." With those words, Eric exited the room and headed straight for the balcony.

Uriel stared hard at his brother's wide emerald colored eyes. He was at the door of the balcony and some weird force had made him stop his homicidal quest to think it over.

What would he accomplish by killing Orpheus? An entire grieving Kingdom that will never belong to him. His parents were still young and it was almost guaranteed that they were going to have more children, perhaps, more boys and most likely they'll all be healthy.

What would happen if he killed his brother and his parents found out? Would it be ruled out as an accident, or would they let a three year old be charged with murder?

"Oowiel" Uriel looked at his brother in confusion. What in the world did he just say? "Oowiel" Orpheus managed to say again.

"What? What are you saying? Are you even saying anything?" Orpheus smiled and giggled. Uriel grew impatient and annoyed. "What is it you little brat?"

"Oowiel!" Uriel shook his head. He figured that his brother was just making useless sounds again. Why did grown ups like babies so much? They can't do anything, and they're not that smart. Then again, Uriel had been like that not that long ago.

Uriel sighed. Stupid baby. Maybe he was just acting out of jealousy. Maybe he didn't really hate Orpheus. But.....Orpheus made his life a living hell so far. How could he not hate the babe? How could he? After all Orpheus was just a baby.

"Oowiel!" The baby cried again, happily. Uriel smirked. He was just going to have to accept the fact that Orpheus was his brother and future king. He just needs to find someplace for himself.

"Maybe when you're older I can teach you how to play chess." At this the baby gave another giggle. Uriel shook his head. "You laugh to much." The three year old looked at the balcony again and sighed. "I wonder.....I want to go out just this once."

Orpheus noticed the clouds in his brother's eyes again. It was like he was in a trance. He began to crawl after Uriel when he decided to move torwards the balcony.

After a while Orpheus wanted to stop. Something told him that they weren't supposed to be outside and his brother's odd behavior did nothing but amplify the worry.

Uriel smiled to himself as he opened the doors to the balcony. When the air hit him, he smiled even wider. It smelled salty, just like the ocean.

When he walked to the middle of the balcony with Orpheus trailing behind him, he heard a weird pop!, that went through his body. He didn't think that was very good, but he ignored it as he continued to walk to the railing of the high place. He felt the wind whip his hair around and when he breathed in the air, something clutched his heart. Every time he took a breath, his heart seemed to be squeezed with even more force that it started to hurt. He ignored it.

"Nah!" Orpheus yelled out when he saw his brother cough. A weird dark liquid fell from Uriel's lips and onto the ground. Orpheus was horrified when his brother continued walking forward draging him along.

Uriel coughed up more blood but it was nothing compared to the overwhelming joy that overcame him as he realized that he was outside. Outside, for the first time in his life. He even climbed up so that he could see the ocean better.

It was just.....so blue. He also knew that somewhere, within the depths of the ocean, his grandfather lived in his kingdom of Atlantica, with his aunts and cousins.

"Nah!" He could barely hear his brother. Why was he crying? "Oowiel!" Orpheus cried again.

Orpheus saw something happen to the rope that connected him to his older brother. As Uriel moved forward, part of the rope became thinner and Orpheus realized that it was breaking. The suddenly, he saw Uriel slip.

Uriel gripped hard onto the railing of the balcony, as he hung on for life. He looked up, and all he could see was the blue sky and then suddenly he saw his baby brother's face. "Little Brother, get back!" Uriel couldn't even begin to think about what would happen, if both he and his brother were found hurt.

Orpheus did as he was told and at the same time he pulled hard on the rope. Maybe he could pull his older brother up to safety?

Uriel tried hard to pull himself up, and when he was back onto the edge of the railing he coughed again and loss his balance. He cried out in horror.

Orpheus continued to try to pull his brother to safety, even though he wasn't very strong. What was going to happen? He couldn't see Uriel any more but felt the large weight on the other side of the rope and cried out again.

As his life hung on a rope, Uriel realized that he did not want to die. He wanted to live. he wanted to live so badly that it hurt even more to breathe. He tried hard to pull himself back up again, but the rope was quickly breaking. He looked up again and saw his little brother. He was crying.

"Orpheus, get back. Please!" He begged. Suddenly, Uriel felt the rope snap, and in those few moments that he fell, he heard his brother yell.

"Uriel!"

It was only when he hit the ground with a sickening crack, that he understood what had just happened.

Oh. So that's what he was saying. He was saying my name. His first word was my name. Smart Orpheus. You're a smart baby

My Special Words (or not)

Sorry for not updating sooner! My father is repainting the kitchen in our house and he keeps kicking me out of the house, so I couldn't really update this or Misunderstood Melodies.

Please forgive me!