Disclaimer: There are a few Final Fantasy XIII-Lightning Returns references here, as the Welkalite city of Usnaan is based on the very similarly named (my choice of name was creative, I know) city of Yusnaan in the game.
Caiells sat with his brother in the back of a large and extravagant airship that had intercepted their passage in the one that the Yentarians had lent each of the two parties. He was scared, but far more pressing was the feeling of shame that refused to leave his mind. Cai felt that it was his fault the brothers were basically kidnapped and forced to go to Welkas, and even though their father, king of one of the most powerful civilisations in history, had promised to save them, it still didn't stop the boy from thinking about how he had doomed them both, how they should have just let him die so Alexander wouldn't be dragged in as well.
"Cai. Stop blaming yourself," Alex said suddenly, moving his hand over and squeezing his brother's shoulder gently, but firm enough to show that his big brother was going to protect him. Caiellis wiped tears of self-loathing that had already appeared in his eyes. Alex never cries, and neither should I, he told himself, and looked away from the older boy. He didn't want Alexander to worry, both of them had enough to deal with, "'I'm not."
"Yes you are, little bro. Don't lie to me, my big-brother alarm is ringing," he joked, and Cai favoured him with a sad smile. He would like to think that this wasn't the worst they had gone through, but despite some dangerous encounters in the civil war the boys had never been in so much peril before.
"It's my fault," Caiellis muttered, and Alex chuckled quietly. Both of them blamed themselves for the abduction – Cai thought that he should have been stronger and never been subdued by Arendus, whereas his brother told himself that he should have helped the youngest Lucerna to argue with Dad when the boy sensed incoming danger. He shook his head at the smaller boy, sighing loudly.
"Where are we going?" he asked the Master of Rapture who was sat in a seat in front of them, just behind the pilot. Cai was once again surprised and proud of how calm his older brother always acted in precarious circumstances, hiding away his own worries and concerns so that he could better protect his little brother. He knew that Alex would have bottled up his true feelings inside, pushing them away so they didn't distract him and so he could focus on aiding his families and friends. The older boy was certainly quite selfless.
"We will alight at Usnaan, City of Pleasure and you will be accommodated at the Palace of Desire, what used to be the Imperial Palace before the last tyrant was torn down," Tradax explained, casting a glance back at the teenagers. He was triumphant, but not overtly hostile. "I thought it would be fitting considering your exalted heritage."
"The Empire of Passion, City of Pleasure and Palace of Desire. Sounds quite fun," Alex sniggered at the ridiculous names. The brothers both reacted to conditions like these differently – the younger would become depressed and filled with self-hatred, while Alex tried to use humour and appear perfectly fine so that others wouldn't worry about him.
"Oh, certainly. You will be able to find anything you could ever want there," the man purred, once again exposing his filed teeth.
"Anything apart from freedom, you mean?" Alex shot back, and Tradax laughed loudly. Caiellis stayed silent and looked out of the dark window, seeing the arid and drab landscape of Welkas fade away and become replaced by the signs of dwellings. He craned his neck, perceiving flashes of light and ostentatious colours out of the corner of his eye, wild declarations of individuality into the night, but couldn't actually see Usnaan.
"Oh my, you are a funny one. I wonder which member of your family you get that from – it certainly can't be your insipid father."
"Do not insult my family," Alexander retorted angrily, and Tradax held up a hand in mock surrender. "I would not presume to affront the great Lucernan line, and definitely not with you here – you are very protective of your relatives."
His eyes, moving in their slits like those of a predator whose gaze has just sighted the perfect prey, slid over Caiellis, taking the melancholy prince in. Now that he had calmed down after almost being killed by Arendus Draal, the boy was just remembering that he had actually murdered another person. This was the second time he had killed an actual human being, although in the civil war he had been forced to slaughter many of the Black-aligned Sancturia creatures that had allied with Johnias to survive, and flash-backed to his first human kill.
Alexander and Caiellis shared the double-bed in the bedroom of the current safe-house, despite both their protestations – at the age of fourteen, Alex of course still loved his little brother, but was finding the time he spent with the younger boy tiring and sometimes unbearable. He felt like he couldn't properly enjoy himself in the cities they visited with the boy constantly tagging along, cramping his style. However, he still shared a room with little Cai, not forgetting the kid's fear of the perpetual darkness that intensified with the coming night – Caiellis had said that it reminded him of the night before their mum had died. His ten year old little brother laid on the other side of the bed in his black pyjamas, staring defiantly at the opposite wall and pretending he was asleep, though the older sibling knew he wasn't – Caiellis made periodic wiping motions with his arm and stifled sniffles, indicating that the junior Lucerna was crying.
The brothers had argued vehemently before going to bed – Alexander had wanted to go to a festival in the city they now stayed in, Civitas Sol, with the new friends he had quickly made from the boys and girls similar to his age he had met. However, Hierarch Tybalt (or "Uncle" Tybalt as his little brother called the ancient man) had decreed that he stay back at the house, look after Caiellis and make sure they both completed their written work. Alex had been in a bad mood because of this, blaming his brother before the night had even started, and when the smaller youth continuously pestered him for help with his own work the middle Lucerna had exploded.
Of course Cai had reacted in the same way, emulating his big brother and shouting back. It had devolved into a bitter argument that drew sustenance from both their negative emotions about their lives in the civil war, and both of them had said things that neither meant. Being the older brother, Alex should have known that his words and accusations would have cut deeper than Cai's, but had been too caught up in the heat of the moment of their shouting match. He hoped that his baby brother didn't truly believe the things he had said about not loving the other boy and how he should never have been born, but judging by Caiellis's present actions he had.
"Hey, kiddo?" he asked, turning around in the bed to look at the slight form of his little brother, who stopped his movements and quietened his breathing at Alex's sudden decision to want to talk, pretending he was fast asleep. Alexander sighed, annoyed at himself for letting the bickering get out of hand and not acting more mature about it, "Look, I know you're awake, so whether you reply or not doesn't matter." He was greeted with silence, and chuckled quietly, "You don't really think that I hate you, do you?"
"Why would anyone not?" the younger boy whimpered back, and Alex mentally punched himself. He should have seen this coming, Caiellis always thought negatively about himself because of his uselessness in Tristram's physical training, so of course his little brother would take Alexander's words to heart and start the self-loathing process. "I'm just dragging you down, the useless little one that always has to be protected. I'm a waste of space."
The younger male's repetition of some of Alex's words combined with his own made the older brother wince inside.
"C'mere," he commanded in his best big brother voice, and Cai questioned, "Why?"
"Don't make me force you," Alex responded, and his brother sighed, turning over in the bed to face the larger boy. The youngest prince was actually far beyond his single decade of life in intelligence, but his lack of experience in dealing with emotions and just generally not having the maturity given by age often made Alex want to help him. It wasn't as if he acted his age – the war had forced them both to become adults much faster than normal – but his tiny frame coupled with his innocence were the main factors that made Alexander want to baby him. Caiellis had obviously been crying, despite the fact that he tried to hide them tear tracks were evident on his pale cheeks.
"Aww, little brother, you know sometimes I don't mean what I say," he smiled, pulling Cai closer in for a bone-crushing but still brotherly hug. The little brother scowled but made no effort to move away, signalling to Alex that he was victorious in removing the negative thoughts from the ten year old's mind.
After a moment of silence in which Alexander was unwilling to release his little brother but did so anyway; the boy wouldn't like it if he overstayed his welcome, Caiellis spoke up, "Alex, can you feel that?"
"Feel what?" he replied, concerned at the younger prince's sudden change of tone from one full of youth to one of adult seriousness and alertness.
"I can sense a dark presence..." he began, his eyes widening to the opposite side of the room as the shadows coalesced and detatched from the wall, materialising behind Alex. He shouted: "Look out!"
The blonde spun around, activating his mana and forming a large shield as a large and serrated blade swung into him. The strength behind the blow was immense, and both Lucernas cried out as Alex was flung across the spacious room, cracking loudly against the hard wall and briefly slumping into unconsciousness.
Grunting an annoyance at his weapon being repelled by the boy's magic, the man stalked across the room, preparing to finish off the eldest prince, the greatest threat, before easily murdering the smaller boy.
"No!" a voice yelled, suffused with an otherworldly resonance as the assassin swung his blade towards the downed Alex, who had reawakened and held his arms defensively in front of him. A beam of light shot out from the bed, piercing through the man and immolating his insides in a fiery expansion of holy flame. The agent of Johnias shrieked as he was incinerated, a horrific sound that pierced both boys' ears.
"Well, that was impressive. Thanks bro," Alex said, impressed at the sheer magical display, but also quite miffed at his own swift defeat. He would have to train harder, although he had been caught by surprise and unable to call upon Aurelia. The teen got to his feet, rolling his shoulders and gasping slightly at the pain in his stomach, when he heard the sound of a small whimper. The big brother alarm in his head rang loudly, and he turned around to see Caiellis shaking and looking at his hands, pure horror on his face. Then he realised it – neither of them had killed any humans before, as the agents sent after them at every previous occasion had been Black Sancturia monsters, but this time it had been a man, albeit corrupted by darkness.
He got down on the bed and wrapped an arm around his trembling brother, holding up a reassuring hand as the door creaked open and Tristram's face went from the crying Cai to the comforting Alex and the pile of ash on the floor, coming to his conclusions about the event – creatures of the other realm didn't leave corpses, and his youngest student had never been shaken by erasing them. The look in Alexander's face clearly stated that he could handle the situation, and the Guardian nodded, shutting the door and waiting dutifully by the doorway in case they called him in, feeling like he had failed in his duty to protect the king's sons.
"H-he was human," Caiellis stammered, feeling the weight of his actions pressing down on him.
"Yeah, and he was going to kill us," Alex responded, wiping the tears away from his brother's face and moving the brown bangs out of his eyes. "You did the right thing, Cai. You stopped us both from getting hurt."
"B-but I'm a murderer. I k-killed him," he tilted his head downwards in sadness, and Alex pushed off the bed, kneeling down on the floor and in front of his brother's dejected gaze. "He was evil, Cai. Imagine how many other people he would have killed after us, imagine how sad Dad would be knowing that he would never see his sons again. Imagine how depressed mum would be when we went to meet her in heaven – she would want us to have long and happy lives, ok? You did good. He was no better than the demons, so you should think of him as one."
Alex was completely unprepared for Caiellis to jump off the bed and tackle into his brother, pressing his head into the teen's lean chest and wrapping his thin arms around him like a death grip.
"Oof! You're getting a bit too big for that," he reciprocated the hug, "Angels, you're gonna think I'm your wife or something the amount of times I've hugged you tonight."
"Eww, that's gross!" the younger boy exclaimed, extricating himself from his brother's assuaging embrace and pushing him away, a look of exaggerated and child-like (Alex reminded himself again that Cai was only ten) disgust on his face. He pulled his little brother into a headlock and kissed the top of his mop of hair, grinning at his brother's squeals of indignation.
"Get some sleep, squirt," he said, letting go of him and waiting until Cai was under the covers before saying: "I'm just going to tell Tristram what happened, ok?"
"Not a very talkative one, is he?" Tradax laughed, and Alexander snapped back with: "Maybe having his windpipe crushed has something to do with that?"
Caiellis turned his head away from the dazzling lights of night-time Usnaan, feeling another headache coming on just from the flashing glow, and Alex winked conspiratorially at him. He knew full well that the boy had a flashback, no doubt to when he had destroyed that human assassin Johnias had sent to kill them.
"I apologise for that brute Arendus's rough handling of your brother, although there was no other way to convince your father. We had originally planned to use every single other Lucaelian student as a bargaining chip, but since Caiellis went out to the balcony it would be easier to capture him instead. Though we didn't quite expect Meira to die," the Master of Rapture blabbed, and then turned back towards the younger prince. "Evidently you didn't hear me the first time, so I will repeat my question: How do you find Usnaan? It is a far cry from any Lucaelian city, is it not?"
Expecting Caiellis not to respond, Alexander was mildly shocked and also wickedly proud when his younger sibling calmly shot back: "Actually, I find it quite disgusting. The amount of resources you must have wasted on those ridiculous lights is quite astounding."
"And here I was thinking you stared out of the window so long because you were busy admiring it. Well whatever, we're almost at the palace. The one who wants to see you has not arrived yet, so after you have a meal and choose a room I will give you free reign of the city," Tradax explained, "Obviously with the mana inhibitors on, don't want you going and blowing up everything you dislike."
"How hospitable of you," Alex muttered back, instinctively pulling at the cold metal bracelet on his arm to try and removing the numbing presence in the back of his mind – he shuddered empathetically as he thought about how much worse it would have been for Caiellis, who was much more in tune with his magic despite only recently being able to Summon. Even though they were here as captives, the older prince couldn't help but let a little excitement well up in him – he had never visited a non-Lucaelian city, and it would be interesting to see what Usnaan was like, if its reputation as being the hub of the realisation of all desires was true or not.
In twenty minute's time, the airship landed on a large and artificial granite plateau, and both brothers got to their feet and were led out by Tradax. Alex stood protectively in front of Cai when he saw Arendus striding out of another section of the medium-sized vehicle, but the Master of Violence paid the boys no heed and instantly left the grounds of the palace.
"Draal is going straight to Slaughterhouse, his seat of power and the largest bloodsport arena in the Empire," Tradax sneered condescendingly at the back of the larger man. "You are welcome to go there and watch if you want, though I would advise not participating in the events."
"Shame, I wanted to mindlessly throw myself at dangerous Unbound creatures without access to my magic," Cai retorted under his breath, and only Alex heard that.
"Each of the four most popular orders maintains a Passion Quarter of the city – my own Order of Rapture controls the Hedonist's Quarter with the Order of Entertainment merged into our ranks, while Arendus rules over the Champion's Quarter with his Order of Violence. The Order of Gluttony led by dear Ershun resides in the aptly named Glutton's Quarter, and finally the Augur's Quarter was led by that bitch Gretia, before I had her assassinated and also assimilated the Order of Wealth into my own."
"And where is Jarred Redhand in all this? It sounds like the Orders are getting out of control," Alex asked, knowing that the inquiry would be burning in Caiellis's mind as well, though he sensed his younger brother building up his shell – as long as he didn't ignore the older prince, Alexander was perfectly happy with the boy shutting out everyone else.
"Our esteemed Protector is still in mourning after his wife and daughters were assassinated, so the Orders of Passion have taken over in his absence. As the Master of the most influential Order, I am the de facto ruler of Welkas right now," he smiled thinly, the gesture more frightening than reassuring, "So you have my express authority to explore the city and indulge to your heart's content, any bills you incur will be simply rendered null by Wealth."
Caiellis didn't know about Alexander (but doubted the seventeen year old thought differently to him), but he certainly wasn't intending to indulge in any of the things on offer, besides food and water. He could see from the mild anticipation in his brother's blue eyes and the way he was acting (even though Cai wasn't as good as knowing Alex's emotions just from that as his brother was, he had still lived with the older prince all his life) that the older male was eager to explore. Whatever. If that's what he wanted to do, then Cai wouldn't stop him. Instead he would tag along, just like he had used to whenever his brother went somewhere when they were younger – maybe there would be something interesting.
He blinked slowly, registering that he had drifted again, noticing that they were walking through an astoundingly flamboyant palace decorated with expensive and obtrusively bright-coloured fabrics with servants running around, avoiding the gaze of Tradax and bending their backs forwards whenever he walked past. The Palace of Desire was in every way a polar opposite to the Lucernan seat of power in Capitalia Lux, the Lucaelian citadel built to defend and invoking a sense of solemn awe from onlookers, while this extravagant mansion was created to remind citizens of Welkas just how much wealthier the owner was than them.
Tradax led the teenagers into a large room with an ornate mahogany table edged with ruby and gold placed in the centre, with large tapestries depicting what Caiellis assumed were defining points of the revolution. He found it wonderfully ironic that the first picture, showing tyrants lording over the masses in their pleasure dens while the civilians were oppressed and downtrodden, was far closer to the reality of the New Empire instead of the last panel, the one highlighting the freedom.
The table was already set out with a variety of exotic dishes comprising colourful ingredients that the boy had never even seen, and as his green eyes went over them his empty stomach demanded his attention. Despite the fact that he hadn't eaten in the morning, spent the best part of the day using magic and battling against other students, Summoned Orzhova for the first time and almost died in the arms of the Master of Violence, he roughly quashed the notion of food. Who knew what could be in there?
Having no such misgivings, Alexander pulled an empty plate towards him and sat down, sampling some of the succulent-looking meat and savouring the taste on its tongue.
"The finest oxen of the Glutton's Quarter were used to make that. I trust you found it delectable?" Tradax mentioned with a gleam of avarice in his mind, and Alex nodded, impressed. He had never tasted something so delicious in his life – he supposed that when you have an entire fourth of the capital city dedicated solely to creating meals for the rich, then this was only to be expected. The Master of Rapture filled his own plate and sat down at the head of the table, tucking in to his own meal. After a minute, he glanced over at the slight younger prince, who hadn't touched the food. The boy returned his look, green orbs full of resentment and antipathy, and Tradax snorted.
"Are you not going to eat? I'd hate to let your teenager angst get in the way of enjoy a good meal," he jabbed, noticing that while Cai's expression didn't change and that he continued to glower back at the man, Alexander instantly saw that his already thin brother wasn't eating. Tradax's talent that he was most proud of was reading people, allowing him to rise through the ranks of Order through manipulation and deflecting other's intentions. He could use this to better influence people, and right now he could clearly see that while both boys were very mentally strong, and even though after significant amounts of torment Caiellis would break first, the easiest way to get under the skin of either of them would be to hurt the other. Should he ever want to hurt Alexander, the best way to do it would be through Caiellis – Tradax filed that information away until he might need it.
"Cai, you have to eat something," Alex pleaded, looking at the younger boy who stared back coldly. "Come on, bro, at least just eat one thing. Do it for me if not for yourself."
"One thing may be enough," he said under his breath, and when Alex raised his eyebrows in confusion he decided to elaborate. "They could have done anything to the food – you know they consort with demons. It could be poisoned, or be infused with magic that would corrupt us against our father and kingdom."
Alex gulped, suddenly losing his appetite. He hadn't thought of that.
"Now, now Caiellis, do you know nothing about demon magic? I appreciate that you are an intelligent boy, and I know full well that you are probably paranoid and scared by this alien place, but do you not think that if I really wanted you and your brother corrupted, I would have been significantly less subtle about it. You are in my domain. I could simply Summon some demons and subdue you both," he laughed, "Think about it logically. It is in the express wishes of my client that you both be unharmed and unchanged, so you have to eat. Would you prefer I had the guards force feed you?"
"Fine," he snarled, infusing the word with a ridiculous amount of vehemence, glaring with undiluted hatred at the man, who in that instant was immensely grateful to the unknown Yentarian scientist who had the foresight to invent the mana inhibitors. Cai sparsely populated his plate with a few nibbles and chewed slowly on them, looking as if he was indulging the two older males by deigning to eat. His eyes quickly went back to the calculating intensity Tradax had seen in the boy whenever he wasn't in deep, introspective thought – the prince analysed everything, and the Master of Rapture knew he was formulating an escape plan already. He also had realised that Alexander was doing this, although much less than his little brother.
When the boys had finished their meal, he beckoned towards a nearby slave, who carried Caiellis's artefact blade in his shaking hands. The prince took it without comment, strapping the sheath around his slender waist. The gesture said: I couldn't care less whether you have your weapon or not, nothing you can do will help you get out of Usnaan.
Much as he hated to admit it, without his magical ability he was, and by extension the Sword of Glass was also quite useless. Well, maybe he had the intelligence that others constantly bragged about (Alex always used to, and still did sometimes call him Geek Boy or Boy Genius), but Caiellis knew that this particular talent would be of no use – he was book smart, not world smart like Alex and their father. Reciting a list of trigonometry rules wouldn't help them escape.
"Can we go into the city now?" Alex asked, sensing that the gears in his brother's wind were whirring frantically – the boy never gave himself enough credit about his intelligence, as with magic they were Cai's main strengths, while his own were interacting with people and physical prowess. The kid would be thinking about how to escape, which was becoming less and less of a possibility, and though Alexander devoted some mind-power to it his first priority was keeping Cai safe.
"I encourage you to," Tradax grinned devilishly, "Explore and find what you truly desire. Apart from freedom, of course."
.*.*.*.
The streets were full of those with the money to celebrate, laughing and indulging in the multifarious stalls of Pleasure Avenue; the central path through the Hedonists's Quarter was paved with gold and many of the wealthy Welkalites were dressed in fineries with ostentatious masks depicting several types of Sancturia creatures. A band played a lively and enrapturing tune in the background, taking residence inside a colourful gazebo, with some of the people dancing in front of them.
It must have been at least in the final hour of the day, but many still populated the streets – Caiellis thought it was peculiar that the city came alive at night, as it felt to him as if the Welkalites were wasting the daylight.
Caiellis gulped as he saw a scruffy looking man keeping his head down and trying to look inconspicuous striding through the crowds, freezing in place when guards, or Enforcers as the public called them, shouted at him. Then, the man bolted, crashing through an oblivious couple too wrapped up in their own pleasures to notice anything around them, quickly followed by the gold-clad Enforcers. One of them, a mage of some kind, conjured chains of crackling electricity and threw them at the man, sending jolts up his spasming body and making him shriek in agony.
Alex had to put a restraining hand on his brother's shoulder, who looked as if he was going to interfere, but it was more for his own benefit than Cai's – the contact reminded him that his brother was his first concern, and that if he ran in to try and stop the injustice without his magic they would both probably get hurt, despite Tradax's reassurances to the contrary.
"Come on Cai, let's go somewhere else," he firmly directed the squirt away from the scene of violence, feeling his own blood pressure raise at the brutal treatment of the man just because he couldn't afford to pay to get into the area. Caiellis had always had more of a tender heart, though Alex was compassionate, the fact that he had often had to choose between his little brother and some civilians in the civil war had hardened it. Cai often over-compensated for his inner gentleness with harsh words, feeling as if it was showing weakness and knowing that his father wouldn't want a potential heir to be as pathetic as he was.
"Hey pretty boys," a coquettish voice purred, and Alexander spun around to see an extremely scantily clad woman swinging round a street-lamp and pacing along the wall beside them. He put a hand over Cai's eyes when the boy was about to look round also, the woman's breasts were bare and personally he thought his little brother's innocence could be preserved a little longer.
"Ooh, a protective brother, how hot," she slid down beside them, parading her undeniably attractive body in front of him. Alex felt his cheeks light up slightly, and forced himself to pretend that this whore was just like any other girl, flashing his charming smile at her.
"Children normally aren't allowed in the Augur's Quarter, so you must be something special. Usually I'd find it distasteful to offer my services to little boys, but since your parents must be very rich I'll do anything for a good price," she directed the comment at Caiellis, who went bright red, Alex could feel the boy's cheeks and forehead lighting up under his hand.
"Sorry, but he's not interested in that," a warning note crept into his voice, and she giggled, "And you? I'm sure your little brother can amuse himself for a few minutes while we find somewhere private."
For once Alexander was irritated by the fact that the many of the opposite sex flocked to him, his muscular physique combined with his Lucernan handsomeness and his confident, almost cocky personality proving to be quite irresistible a lot of the time.
"Sorry, not tonight. Go find some other customers, my brother would kill me if I left him alone," he smirked at Caiellis's stifled sigh, managing to tease his brother even in this situation. "Ok gorgeous. See you around."
After she had left and Alexander removed his hand and Cai glared up at him, unamused, a vexed little brother bitch-face plastered on.
"You could have just said: "No thanks, I'm busy"," he complained, and Alex socked him on the arm. The boy massaged it and scowled, and Alexander laughed.
"Don't want to spoil my reputation with the ladies," he gave a patented smile and ruffled his hair. "Dad said that you shouldn't even be thinking about having a girlfriend until you are eighteen, much less start snogging them at fourteen."
"Oh little brother, you have much to learn. Dad would definitely ground me if he knew what I'd been up to," he sniggered at the boy's expression of child-like shock and incredulity. "You haven't done that, have you?"
"You talk about it as if it isn't something completely natural," he winked at the adorably aghast Cai, but was secretly glad that he wasn't yet interested in girls, as he had been at the younger boy's age. It made him that much more cute and still like a child, though he was more than adult enough in every other aspect of life.
"Just wait till I tell dad," Caiellis teased, smiling victoriously. Alex nudged him hard in the side, which elicited an irritated grunt. "If you did that then I would have to kill you, baby brother."
"Not if he kills you first," the boy replied, and then a strange sensation of vertigo similar to the teleportation devices employed at the Scholaria Magnus overcame him, pulling him out of his current location. The second he and Alexander disappeared, he could see exact replicas of them continuing to walk down the street, brotherly banter disturbingly like that the actual brothers had been saying spewing from false lips. It was weird, as he couldn't actually perceive much of the teleportation process without his sixth sense, so instead of his mind seeing a tunnel of light Cai just saw the world around him abruptly change.
"Alexander and Caiellis Lucerna," a gruff but familiar voice spoke firmly, as Cai's vision started going back into focus, "Do not be alarmed. You will not be hurt."
When the blurriness dissipated fully, the boy was greeted by the sight of his brother's brown leather jacket right in front of his face, repressing a scowl when he realised that Alex, reacting faster after the disorientation of the teleport, had moved in front of his little brother to better safeguard him. Alexander was only thinking about his safety, but Cai sometimes wished the older boy would let him be more independent. He was thirteen, for angels' sake. He didn't need looking after.
"Welcome to the hideout of the Ja'an Guard, also known now as the New Resistance," another man's voice, much more light-hearted and jovial than his companion's. Caiellis tilted his head to try and see past his brother, prodding him in the back when he couldn't. "Sorry, squirt." the senior teenager apologised and moved to accommodate his brother, who quickly examined the scene presented to him. It was a large, cold room that must have been part of some abandoned sewage facility judging by the erosion of the rock and some questionable stains covering the hard stone. However, abandoned it was no longer, with several archaic-looking terminals powered by some harnessed unbound elementals showing distorted and low-quality scenes of Usnaan that crackled with interference – Cai noted that one showed the progression of the clones of him and his brother.
He blinked in surprise when his eyes were drawn to what was obviously a Summoning, without his magical sense (Author's Note: Each human in the world is connected, however slightly, so Sancturia, so emotions and sensations are evoked when they come into contact with creatures from there) he wouldn't have realised it was there without seeing it. The nymph-like being, an Oread if he recalled correctly, regarded the boys with undisguised hostility, echoing her Summoner, a hard-faced woman wearing black Enforcer armour with her right gauntlet painted red.
"Messa's Summoning magically forged the replicas of you that are currently still in Pleasure Avenue, while tech that I improvised from Yentarian 'porters brought you here. I'm Degan, by the way," the red-haired and kind-faced man said. That was strange, although there were other people in the room, they were getting on with their own work, ignoring the princes. Cai could have sworn he heard another voice, but only Messa and this Degan were talking to them.
"The New Resistance is going to help you escape from Usnaan," the clipped and gruff tones rang out again, and Cai turned to look at a screen to his far right – it showed a low-quality picture, but the man in it was undeniably Sergeant Tarkos. "We are not doing this because we care in any way about you personally, but the Resistance needs outside help to ever have a chance of overthrowing the Orders of Passion and freeing the public."
"Already your father must be mustering his armies for a strike to try and free you himself, but he will leave the city burning as both sides slaughter each other – King Marik won't wait to gather all his forces, and as Usnaan is very close to your Kingdom of Light he will attack within a few days at most, and thousands of needless deaths will be incurred. When we help you escape, the Lucaelians will have more time to plan, more information about the city and more forces – almost guaranteeing a victory. Once he has his sons back, your father will still declare war, and the Resistance wants you to tell him about the corruption of the Orders and make sure he spares the innocent," Degan explained efficiently, "We don't have enough time to tell you fully about the escape plan, but it will happen tomorrow. Some of the Ja'an Guard will cause a distraction so me and Messa can secure the device that removes your mana inhibitors, and try to escort you as far out as we can manage without incurring too many casualties. Hopefully your angels will be powerful enough and enough confusion will be caused that you can get into Lucaelian territory."
"Thank you," Alex said after the man ran out of breath from talking so quickly, infusing deep gratitude into the two words.
"You called for me, sir?" an imperfect rendition of someone's speech rang out, and Sergeant Tarkos responded with "Yes, I did. You know about the Ja'an Guard, don't you?" there was a brief pause, and Cai assumed the questioned was nodding their head, "Well, I want you to become a member in the future, and help promote freedom and equality for all. If you were wondering where Caiellis went, here he is."
Kaled's tanned face appeared on the screen, the scar above his left eye glowing in the scarlet light, and Alexander laughed when he saw his brother's former roommate.
"How're you, Kaled?" he asked, grinning widely at the Welkalite, who looked startled. "Fine. Are you both ok? I kinda feel embarrassed."
"We've been better," Caiellis cut in before his overly jovial brother could respond, directing his next inquiry at the other members of the Resistance, "Is there any particular reason why we are speaking to him? If you didn't have much time to explain the plan, why are we wasting it now?"
"I-I thought it would be nice for you to see your friend," Degan paled under the boy's disapproval, glad for the mana inhibitor preventing his feelings being transferred into magical energy. "You Welkalites are far too attached to your emotions."
"Show some respect little man," Alexander reprimanded sternly, and said: "You should probably send us back now. No matter how convincing those clones of us are, I don't want anyone finding out about your plan, or for the Resistance to be jeopardized because of us. Thanks again for helping us escape, and sorry about my brother. He's just tired and stressed."
"It is alright," Sergeant Tarkos said, which surprised all of them, "I heard about how he was choked into semi-unconsciousness by that bastard Arendus Draal – the bruise on his neck looks bad even through the screen, and he even managed to kill Meira Rawl, one of the most proficient agents of Rapture. Coupled with the amount of energy he released during the team-battles at the academy, I'm astonished that he can still stand upright."
Caiellis smiled meekly as a wave of tiredness washed over him as if in response to the man's words, he really needed sleep but quickly quashed the moment of frailty. He refused to look pathetic in front of these people. Alexander discerned his brother hiding the fact that he was exhausted as the façade of strength he put on cracked slightly – it must have been a Lucernan trait to attempt to hide weakness, as Alex did it often himself. So far Cai had not noticed him when he did so in the civil war, but his little brother couldn't conceal his fragility or inner feeling from Alexander. Well, he had thought that until they returned from the war to Capitalia Lux and the palace, and Caiellis, who had previously worn his heart on his sleeve, managed to completely camouflage his emotions, taking on a secretive and blank persona after their dad had interacted with them for the first time in nine years. Luckily, the kid wasn't trying as hard to hide his feelings from Alex now, though the older boy was concerned if Cai ever did that again – as shown by his utter failure to notice the junior boy's self-harming. It had terrified him that Caiellis felt bad enough to even consider doing that to himself, he should have tried to comfort his brother more rather than just letting him attempt the Summoning over and over again.
Degan patted some keys on his console, as Kaled and him both said their goodbyes in unison, Messa and Tarkos keeping stoically silent. The disorientating sensation washed over the boys again, depositing them in the exact position their clones had been in, luckily not very close to anyone else. The brothers locked eyes, silently affirming not to speak of the encounter again – who knows what could be listening in on their conversations?
"Alex, can we go back? It must be almost tomorrow by now, and I feel quite tired," Caiellis asked, trying to be as nonchalant as possible. "Ok little brother, we can head back to the Palace of Desire."
Summonings in this chapter:
Messa Yaos: Forgeborn Oreads
Spark Elemental