The day of the boys 18th birthday had finally come. Servants were busy setting up for the ball and the whole castle was in chaos. Damion was helping his father with some of the more difficult tasks. Jasper and Uri were outside walking around in the garden. The garden was a beautiful area. There were flowers of every kind and trees. There was even a large pond towards the back and a fountain in the middle.

As Jasper walked past, the soft red roses changed to a dark black. Most of the animals had fled to other parts of the garden as he approached and walked past. He was not looking forward to the ball at all. He thought it was only a way to get publicity. He also disliked the idea of being surrounded by rich aristocrats that wanted to befriend them in hopes of getting benefits like having a daughter marry or receiving financial help or even getting bailed out of jail if the occasion were to ever arise.

"Do you have an escort for the dance?" Uri asked after a while of walking in silence.

"No. No one here interests me in any way," Jasper replied. Uri gazed at him with a smirk.

"Or is it just the fact that no one is interested in you?" Jasper turned to glare at the boy.

"Don't push your luck, lizard," he growled.

"Oh? Why not? You wouldn't do anything to me."

Jasper glared at Uri with an evil smirk. "Oh yeah? Just try me," he challenged. The look in his eyes was not the same, angry look as it usually was. Instead, it had a hint of evil. Not just the normal type of bad, but a more serious evil. It almost seemed as if the eyes belonged to someone else. For a long time now, Jasper had been getting worse. More evil, it seemed. The air around him was different and at times you could almost see a dark, shadowy aura surrounding him.

Uri, however, was under the impression that Jasper really wouldn't do anything. How wrong he was…

"Oh please, you're not that strong," he said with a devious grin. Jasper smirked and raised his hand. Out of his palm came a thread of pure darkness. It flew towards Uri and, barely making contact with his skin, sliced a deep gash into his shoulder. Uri roared in both pain and rage and shot black fire at Jasper. The fire was blocked by a shadow, leaving Jasper unaffected.

"Looks like I would do something," Jasper said, turning and walking again. Uri growled.

"I'll get you for that, bastard."

Guests began to arrive. Draven and Alexandria greeted everyone with pleasant smiles while the twins were standing off to the side with glasses of wine. It was rather odd. Although the twins despised each other, they were rarely apart.

Ambrose walked in with two other guys. One had tan skin like Ambrose but platinum blonde hair and emerald green eyes. He was an inch taller than Ambrose. The other had pale skin and blonde hair with blue eyes.

"Welcome, Ambrose, Helios, Aster. It is a pleasure to see you all again," Draven smiled, hugging all three of them.

Alexandria smiled, "Hello Helios." She hugged the tan skinned boy with blonde hair. "Aster," she then hugged the pale boy with blonde hair. They each smiled and greeted the king and queen.

"Where are the twins? I would like to wish them a happy birthday," Ambrose asked. Draven pointed to where Damion and Jasper were standing. Ambrose nodded, said thank you, and then walked over to them. Helios and Aster went to get a drink and socialize.

"Hello, boys," Ambrose bowed his head. Jasper said nothing but Damion smiled politely.

"Hello Ambrose."

"Happy 18th birthday."

"Thank you. I'm glad that you could make it."

"Where is Uri?" Ambrose asked with a raised eyebrow. Damion shrugged, making Ambrose sigh. After a few moments, Uri walked in with a beautiful young girl. She had long black hair that stopped at her waist and bright blue eyes. Her pink dress was elegant and form fitting. She wore a necklace with a red ruby on it.

Ambrose watched as the two approached. "It's nice to see you could make it here on time," he said.

Uri laughed, "Jasmine was getting ready." The girl next to him curtseyed.

"Hello. You must be Ambrose," she smiled. Ambrose nodded and then walked away, uninterested. He went to converse with Draven and Alexandria as all the guests had arrived.

Draven stood up on a small stage where there was a little orchestra playing. "May I have your attention?" The entire ballroom turned their attention to him.

"I would like to welcome everyone to Damion and Jasper's 18th birthday party." The whole crowd clapped. "Before we move on and begin the festivities, may we please honor this important day with the twins having the first dance!"

Damion and Jasper both looked at each other with hatred, but they composed themselves and smiled. They both knew how to act in public, and this was to make their parents happy.

The twins set down their glasses and walked to the middle of the dance floor. The guests all gathered around them and they bowed to each other. The song Camille Saint-Saëns - Danse Macabre was playing and they danced.

It was now late in the night and the party was reaching its climax. Little did anyone know, Lero had snuck in. Lero was Ambrose's brother. He had shorter black hair and red eyes and pale skin.

Normally Lero wouldn't do something as stupid as what he was planning, but he needed to acquire the Books of Winter. The life of his lover depended on it. Luna, the girl who guarded the books, was attending the ball, and Lero knew this.

Luna just left down a corridor in the castle to use the restroom. Lero knew that this could be his only chance to get to her alone, so he made his way through the crowd silently and followed her.

"Who's that guy?" asked Damion to Uri. Damion and Jasper had seen Lero follow Luna and were now suspicious.

"Hm? Oh, that's my brother Lero."

The twins decided to follow him and see what was going on. They made sure to stay a safe distance, to ensure that they would not be seen.

"Hello, Luna," Lero spoke from the darkness. "You have something that I want."

Luna's head whipped around and she looked at Lero. "And what would that be?"

"The books of Winter."

Luna laughed, "You'll never get those!"

Lero smirked and was suddenly behind her, holding a blade to her throat. "Won't I?" Luna's eyes got wide and she tried to break free but couldn't. Jasper growled and lunged at Lero, knocking him off of Luna. Lero was caught by surprise but still fought back. Unfortunately, Jasper was stronger. He had Lero tied up with chains made from shadow. Luna stared at Lero. Damion watched with an apathetic expression and then grabbed Luna's hand.

"Come, Jazz. Let us tell father," he said. They walked back to the main hall and found Draven.

"Ambrose, how could you allow this?" Draven spoke angrily.

"I assure you, sir, I had nothing to do with this. Lero acted of his own accord and I will see to it that he is punished for it," although Ambrose was in very real danger, he was still calm. His eyes never left the pacing king.

"Father, kill them. All of them!" Jasper glared.

"No! I will not kill them…"

Jasper growled quietly and spoke between gritted teeth. "This is a serious crime. If we hadn't stopped them, Luna would be dead and the Books of Winter would have been stolen."

Draven said nothing. He was deep in thought.

"Ambrose, I will grant you and your family life, but you are from here on out banished. Never return to this kingdom," he said finally. It pained him greatly to have to see a good friend leave, but he could not allow this to go unpunished.

"What?" Jasper exclaimed.

Ambrose bowed, "Thank you, my lord, for having mercy." He stood up and turned to Helios and Aster. "Come, let us leave now," he grabbed Lero roughly and dragged him out. As Jasper watched the four leave, his anger grew. The beast inside of him tempted him to give in. He looked to his father and began to lose himself to the darkness. A black, shadowy aura formed around him and his crimson eyes seemed to glow.

As the darkness took hold, his form began to change. His hair grew a few inches and his ears became more pointed. Black horns grew from his head, curving up. Black tattoos covered his neck, chest, and forehead and jet black wings grew from his back.

Everyone stared at Jasper in disbelief and slight fear.

"I'm sick of you, father," he spat. Draven stared at Jasper.

"I was afraid that this would happen eventually," he said with a sad expression on his face. Ever since the twins were born, Draven and Alexandria knew that Jasper would lose himself to the Darkness and become something different.

"You should have killed them. All of them. All of you can die!" Jasper shouted. He lunged at Draven with a blast of Darkness, ripping a hole right through his chest. His father was dead in seconds. He then turned his attention to Alexandria, who had screamed at him to stop.

"Shut up," he said with an evil smirk as he attacked her next. He ripped off her head.

"Jasper! Enough!" Damion shouted.

"You! You were always their favorite. You're the reason why!" he growled. He ran at his twin but in a flash of light, Damion was gone. Jasper looked around for his brother and sneered when he saw him.

Damion was flying in the air. He had also transformed, except he had a Light form instead of a Dark form. White angel wings had grown from his back and instead of the formal black attire he was wearing before he was dressed in white clothes and black boots. His hair stayed the same length but had turned a light purple-ish. Jasper flew up and attacked Damion and they fought in mid air.

Though the scene was devastating and horrible, it also had a strange magnificence to it. To see an angel of Light and an angel of Darkness fighting in mid air seemed surreal.

The fighting went on until Damion finally was able to get the upper hand. He had thrown a ball of pure light at his twin, hitting him directly in the chest. Jasper fell to the ground with a scream of pain.

"This isn't over," Jasper said bitterly and in a poof of darkness, he was gone. Damion was panting. He flew down and landed.

He walked to his father's side and looked at his limp body lying there.

"No…No!" he nearly screamed, falling to his knees in tears.