"Hello again boys," the vampire licked her lips in expectation of the coming meal, while both exhausted princes glared defiantly back, their determined eyes reflecting the flames of the burning automobile and locking with the amused orbs of Aksua. She smiled indulgently as the gloomy morass of wriggling tendrils behind her, only visible because of the flame-lit illumination brightening everything else in the eternal night, started moving even more spasmodically.
Cai was the first to react, augmenting his agility and speed with the favoured glittering stained glass wings he had utilised before and somersaulting into the air, the Sword of Glass in his right hand arcing through the darkness, the edge of tenebrosity slicing towards Aksua. He knew that although White mana should be more effective against creatures of the abyss, a vampire was still technically living and human (though very far removed), so maybe Black mana could be just as lethal – however he had no points of reference to base this assumption upon, as knowledge of the magic of the shadows was very limited in Lucael.
Aksua dodged his first shining swipe and pirouetted back from the second, tutting disapprovingly at the young boy as he tried to keep up with her vampiric speed augmented by Nocturon – now that she was out of the Welkalite sunlight and back in the darkness of her homeland, her demonic gifts were far more powerful. Tendrils of gloom shot out from the horror behind her, shooting after the airborne prince and bouncing off a shield of defensive holy energy he created quickly. The woman smiled and leapt at him, just as bolts of flame impacted into her side. She grimaced at the burning sensation and swiftly shot towards Caiellis, her smallest opponent yelping at the sudden burst of speed she put on as she barrelled into him, sending them both tumbling and preventing Alex from getting a clear shot with his Red mana with the risk of hitting his precious little brother.
"Cai!" the older boy shouted, looking desperately within himself and realising that he had no-where near enough mana to re-Summon Aurelia. Their battle with Ershun and his demonic Arch-Patriarch of Gluttony had enervated him more than he had let on, but he still needed to be there for Caiellis and ran after the two battling figures, severely hoping that the kid would still be alright as him and Aksua were about to land in a different part of the long-abandoned village.
The younger boy managed to twist through the air and launched a series of measured strikes at the vampire, who was forced to sway out of the way to avoid being impaled - the child's artefact weapon, energised with the twin conflicting forces of light and darkness, probably wouldn't kill her outright but it would cause significant damage. Cai reactivated his wings, leaping away from the vampire and landing a few metres away. He shot out a lance of pure radiance at Aksua, who opened her palms as a wave of billowing murk undulated out from them, impacting on the protective enchantments Cai conjured.
He gritted his teeth as the wave intesified, he couldn't see anything past the darkness wrapping around his small refuge of safe light, and knowing that the Lens of Guilt would be useless in this instance, as it too would be blocked by the miasma that threatened to break through his shield. Caiellis quickly activated the Lens of Innocence instead, his vision piercing through the murk a lighting everything in gold. He couldn't see Aksua with this vision, but could clearly view Alexander rushing towards what must have been the position of the vampiress, a large and heavy hammer held aloft by his stronger brother. But angels, he needed to hurry up. The pulsing dark was threatening to overwhelm his defences, the magic smashing through his enchantments one after the other like they were thin sheets of glass. Cai deactivated Innocence, focussing all of his energy on maintaining the sphere of safety that was becoming smaller every second. The boy's small fingers gripped the handle of his relic blade, and he squeezed his eyes shut against the pressure, wishing that he was fighting at full power, and shouted as the Black mana shattering the bubble he had conjured and crashing into him.
Caiellis felt himself being lifted into the air as the dark energy coalesced into a more solid form, flinging his weightless form across the empty streets of the deserted village, his sword clattering to the ground a few feet away.
Aksua had to mentally restrain the sometimes disobedient Nocturon to prevent the abyssal horror from murdering or significantly injuring the child, as that would irrevocably reduce the quality of the meal – she needed him alive, healthy but still subdued to feast upon. She scowled as the boy hit the floor with a painful impact, skidding along the stone ground. Cai yelped in pain as his thin left calf scraped over a jagged rock, the fragile skin sliced open by the sharp stone and pumping claret liquid onto the ground. The instant Aksua scented the rich aroma of the rich, crimson blood, her nostrils flared in anticipation and a sensation of longing filled her limbs with power.
Alex shouted a battle-cry, adrenaline pumping through his veins at the sight of his little brother being hurt, righteous anger welling up in his mind and inflating his supply of Red and White mana as he charged at Aksua. The seductress whirled around the second he was about to slam his hammer into her, and as Alex's rage-filled eyes met Aksua's alluring orbs he felt the strength sap from him. The hammer slowly fell from his grasp, dissipating into insubstantial magic particles, as the woman's eyes widened.
"Put that down, pretty boy," she purred, stepping to his side within an instant, the shadows that had been pulsing around her gone, as if they had committed a sin just by touching her. Her slender hands brushed against his, and Alex felt his heartbeat quicken as the cold flesh made contact with him, longing filling his mind and blocking out all other thoughts. Aksua's deep, hazel eyes shone with dazzling beauty, erasing the niggling sensation in the back of Alexander's mind that was screaming at him to continue his attack, and she giggled, the timbre of the laugh lulling him into complete submission. "We wouldn't want anyone to be hurt, now would we?"
Cai pushed himself up off the ground, ignoring the sharp pain coming from his left leg as more blood pumped onto the ancient and worn paving stones that constituted the pavements of the empty village. He bit back a gasp, determined to help his older brother – judging by the increase in the levels of mana coming from Aksua herself, not her shadowy Summoning, and the way in which Alex was just stood still, not reacting to the proximity of the vampire, he was in danger of being overcome by her magic.
He let healing spells pulse through his body and ease the agony of his wounded leg, tentatively taking a step forwards to ensure that the pain was bearable – if his friend hadn't been in need of help then he wouldn't be moving the limb – and then began to sprint towards his older brother. Concern blossomed in his mind when he saw the vacant, distant look of euphoria in the boy's usually intent blue eyes. When he ran within about five metres of Aksua, a huge wall of darkness spontaneously erupted from the air in front of him, and a keening shriek split the air and making him feel like his ears were bleeding. A face appeared out of the miasma, an indescribable thing that gnashed rows of bleached teeth and glared at him with three pits of unrelenting despair. Cai shut his eyes before the temptation to claw them out overcame him, and he felt the shadows begin to surround him, blocking off his path to Alexander. That wasn't going to happen, Alex was the most valued person in Caiellis's universe and if there was one thing he would do right it would be saving him.
.*.*.*.
The messenger cowered in the corner of the ostentatious throne room of the Palace of Desire, seeking to make herself look as small as possible in a futile attempt to avoid the gaze of the one sat in the throne. Tradax sat, fuming, as the woman quickly relayed what Enforcer-General Fraetus Etin had told her to say. It was technically the general's duty to inform Tradax herself, but clearly she had sent her lackey to bear the brunt of the Master of Rapture's ire considering the absurd news she was bringing. He was no longer listening to the streaming babble that was spewing from the lieutenant's lips, meaningless excuses trying to place the blame on others and spare herself from his undoubtedly coming wrath.
So, the Resistance deactivated the mana inhibitors I placed on the princes, and caused a huge number of distractions allowing the boys to get away from the main bodies of idiotic Enforcers. Then, they murdered dear Ershun, and escaped through Gate Gluttony in a Yentarian automobile that those useless piles of shit that call themselves soldiers allowed them to smuggle into my city! And just to top it all off, the vampire whore Aksua has escaped from her warded cell and wreaked havoc in the city, slaughtering the parties of Enforcers that were pursuing the escaping princes. How did three people managed to triumph over the entire garrison of Usnaan? Where the fuck was that stupid bastard Arendus Draal, and what was the newly-instated Master of Wealth doing? Twiddling his thumbs and counting his coins as the city fell apart around him?
Tradax was once again reminded of why he had been forced to seize control of first his own order of Rapture, utilising his newly-acquired demon to annihilate the imbecile, and then the entirety of Welkas itself. It was because the rest of the humans in the Empire were so fucking useless. It actually amazed the man how stupid his subordinates could be if left to their own devices for a while – while the Master of Rapture had taken a short trip outside the capital city to ensure that all the preparations for the ritual him and his allies had in store for the Lucaelian boys, and when he had returned all chaos had been let loose, and not the good kind of chaos.
"My-my lord?" the red-head stammered, apprehensively looking up from where she had pressed her face into the ground, and Tradax glared furiously at her for interrupting his thoughts. "May-may I leave, lord?"
"Yes, you may go," the man snarled, and the pretty lieutenant bowed her head nervously and turned around, when the Master of Rapture let out a shriek of frustrated anger, red lighting blasting forth from his hands and jolting through the woman in a violent coruscation. He giggled in vindictive glee as the lieutenant spasmed, screaming in pain as the twofold magic both amplified the agony she would feel and inflicting tremendous amounts of it – being the Master of Rapture, Tradax was one of the most proficient artisans of pain in the entire empire, inflicting insane amounts of torment with his evil magic.
The Enforcer shouted one final time as her nerves were literally incinerated, followed by the rest of her body, and Tradax scowled. He shouldn't have lashed out like that. What a waste. If he had really wanted to punish the woman, he could have tortured her for several hours and revelled in her agony, a fate reserved for those who had failed him, but thinking about it rationally it wasn't really the lieutenant's fault for the debacle, she hadn't deserved to die. Tradax knew he was just annoyed and infuriated by what he would have to do next – he would never admit it, but the thought filled him with terror.
The man pursed his lips and tried to relax his breathing and panicked thoughts before plunging into the well of Black mana in his mind, the room becoming significantly darker as he began the shadow-communion. After a few seconds, he sensed another presence, much more evil and terrifying than Tradax himself, enter the communication. He felt the being's disapproval, he could taste the hatred in the air like ash on his tongue.
"Since we last spoke only yesterday, I assume this means that you have failed in your part of the plan?" the deep, demonic voice cut through the silence of the throne room, and Tradax gulped. He hadn't expected his "ally" to already be aware of his failure, though he knew the other lord of Black mana had agents scattered across Magnus-Primae so shouldn't be surprised. The malevolent voice then stated: "I take your silence as a yes."
Tradax tried to reply, to say something that could possibly direct the blame to something else, but the words died in his throat. Shadows began to coalesce into a figure stood upright in the centre of the chamber, clothed in midnight armour that shone with dark purity. Red slits glared at the Master of Rapture through a helm of the deepest darkness, and even though the shadow-communion only showed a distant representation of his ally, Tradax could clearly perceive the man's murderous disdain and a shudder of pure fear shot through his spine.
"I'm honestly not even shocked. You Welkalites really are a useless, detestable race. Why I thought I could trust you with such an important duty is beyond me," he spat, and Tradax felt his anger rise. They were supposed to be allies, he was no longer just going to tale the other man's insults and snorts. They were supposed to be equals.
"If you hadn't taken so long getting to Usnaan, then none of this would have happened!" he shouted back, feeling empowered by the outburst and letting the natural Red mana he had been born with flow through him. "What, was the Lucaelian military too hard to handle? And anyway, if your traitorous bitch Aksua hadn't escaped as well and prevented our military from recapturing them, then the boys would still be here!"
"DO NOT QUESTION ME, YOU PATHETIC WRETCH!" the terrifying figure bellowed, and Tradax was flung across the room by the force of the words, crashing into the tapestries behind his throne and whimpering quietly. The figure of the man in the room became a whirling maelstrom of tenebrosity, expanding and pulsing with malicious force, "I DRAGGED YOUR WORTHLESS CIVILISATION OUT OF THE DIRT BEFORE IT TORE ITSELF APART, AND GAVE YOU THE MEANS TO RULE IT. YOU WOULD STILL BE A UNIMPORTANT, MINOR PAIN-SERVANT WERE IT NOT FOR ME. DO NOT DARE TO THINK YOURSELF AS AN EQUAL TO ME!"
The manifestation of Tradax's ally then faded back to its normal size, and the pressure in the Welkalite's mind eased slightly.
"It seems you are incapable of detaining even Lucerna children," he hissed, pacing towards the huddled form of the Master of Rapture, who had been degraded to pleading, sobbing sentences that made no sense in his terror. "I have no more use for you."
"Please!" Tradax begged, pressing himself further back into the wall in an attempt to make himself look as small as possible – had he been an observer, he would have laughed at the irony of the Master being reduced to doing what the poor Enforcer he had just killed had done.
"However," the dark lord sneered, and hope flared for a second in Tradax's mind, "I was originally going to punish you myself, but the purifying fire of my brother's vengeance will be an ample substitute."
"You can't just lea-" Tradax was about implore with the man, but the communion had been forcefully ended, leaving him sat in the room alone. His ally was right. Marik would want revenge for the killings of innocent Lucaelians and the abduction of his sons, and Tradax's face twisted into a leer. He would show the bastard brothers by repelling the legions of Lucael from Welkas, proving to all whom the greater nation was, who the better leader was. Now is my chance to finally obtain glory and truly overthrow Redhand!
.*.*.*.
Alexander's vacant eyes drifted away from Aksua's hypnotising beauty as a pillar of pure and incandescent light pierced through the cloud of gloom a few metres back, and the vampire scowled when a huge shaft of White mana shot towards her. She sidestepped and then flipped to the left to avoid being annihilated, but in the process losing her connection with the older Lucerna. That was irritating, but she and Nocturon had plenty more tricks up their sleeves. She would feast on this day.
The second the beam of radiance hit Alexander, the light became golden and more comforting, illuminating the boy in a warm glow that jolted his mind back into action, breaking it free of Aksua's charm. He shuddered as he recalled how close the vampire had been to him, and burning guilt pushed its way into his mind as he realised that he had left his little brother alone and undefended.
"Alex, are you alright?" Cai demanded, suddenly stepping next to him and shaking his brother, hoping that Alexander wasn't still stuck in Aksua's deadly allure and would be able to help him in the fight. He needed Alexander to be unharmed, and relief streaked through his body as the older boy grinned at him and ruffled his mop of brown hair, a reassuring and brotherly gesture through all of the desperate violence. Aksua cocked her head to one side and smirked at the two boys, re-Summoning Nocturon with noticeably more power this time, drawing deep into her wells of mana.
"Don't worry little bro, the bitch hasn't got me yet," he winked as the vampire scowled with mock offence. "How rude. And here I was thinking we were making progress." her sibilant words did little to hide the primal hunger suffused into every syllable, and a sensation of fear rose unbidden in Cai's mind. He realised then that Aksua had just been toying with them, but also how much she longed to drain them – every fibre of the vampire's being was thirsty for their blood, a craving that could only be satiated with their deaths – or Aksua's. Activating the Lens of Guilt confirmed these suspicions, the vampiress' body a pulsating mass of primeval desire and huge quantities of mana as yet unused.
"Big brother, can you distract her for a moment?" he inquired, automatically keeping his voice low although he knew vampires had the ability to detect sounds for ridiculous distances away. Alex narrowed his eyes, a quizzical expression forming on his handsome features, and Aksua watched intently, making no move to disrupt their strategizing. After all, she could hear whatever they were saying, so it didn't really matter that she gave them time to talk; adversely it would be fun to have a challenge once in a while. Besides, Aksua wasn't cruel (or so she thought), and allowing the brothers to spend a moment together before she killed them wouldn't be the worst, so instead she sat on a nearby rock and stretched her legs out.
"Why? What are you planning?" Alex asked back, his eyes darting back and forth between his little brother and the vampire, who smiled indulgently and occasionally winked flirtatiously at the older boy, making his blood boil as a sick feeling wormed through his gut. "I'm going to Summon Orzhova. Trust me on this, we need an angel to defeat her."
"Ok, I'll try," he said, pacing slowly away from his brother and towards their opponent. A sudden feeling of guilt pressed itself through the boy's mind, an emotion that he didn't often feel but one had spontaneously erupted in his brain, and with it an urge to pull Alex back and just hug the older boy, press his head into Alex's chest and let his big brother protect him from Aksua's desire to feed. He swiftly flattened the emotions, identifying the need of his brother as his fear talking and deciding that fear was an emotion not worthy of a Lucerna's time. Instead he focussed on the hatred, the dark resentment of the vampire who threatened to tear him apart from Alexander, and mixed with his detestation of the abyss that ripped his loving and kind mother away from him, aiming it all at Aksua.
For the first time, made easier by the Lens of Guilt already being active, Caiellis conjured up Black mana first in his Summoning ritual, contrails of pure night swirling around him as the birthmark on his cheek shone with unholy force. Alexander felt his brother's magic level rise hugely, and remembered that this would be the first time he would see the kid's Summoning without his own active, making Orzhova seem that much more deadly. Determined not to be outdone, the seventeen year old ignored his fatigue and allowed flames to wrap around his fists, rage fuelling his Red mana as the vampiress beckoned languidly at him, a sweeping gesture that made it seem like Alex was doing this of his own free will, instead of the brothers being attacked by her.
He leapt at the woman, launching a barrage of fiery strikes that obliterated the rock Aksua had been sat on, as the vampire had launched high into the air and fired shards of darkness that screeched through the air and shattered viciously on a shield of mana the teenager instinctively raised to protect himself. One pierced through his enchantments and dug into his arm, and the boy grimaced as it stuck into him. Blood spurted out from the wound, and he felt debilitating curses run through his veins.
The bitch had chosen the perfect time to challenge the boys – not close enough to Civitas Sol to have any chance of receiving help, but far enough into their escape that both boys were tired and less aware, becoming slightly more complacent after hours of travelling – had Alex been able to fully access his magic, he would have been able to purge the ailments and continue on with the fight, but now he had to contend with the full power of the vampire alone and the fact that his body was beginning to shut down. If I can just hold on to when Caiellis has Summoned...
"Feeling sleepy, handsome?" Aksua's lullaby voice drifted lullingly through his ears, the charm seemingly amplified by the negative enchantments she had inflicted upon him, and Alex tried to bring his arms up to defend himself but the limbs felt like they were being dragged through tar. He was powerless to block a leaping kick that lashed into his body with tremendous force, breaking a few ribs and sending him sprawling. He tried to stifle a cry of pain but when Aksua materialised out of the shadows and slammed her fist into the exact same spot as the kick, he couldn't halt the shout of agony.
"You only have to be conscious for me to savour you properly, subduing you is not a problem," the vampire purred, sliding onto the floor next to him and raking sharp nails down his side before blending back into her horror and emerging couple of metres away, shuddering in hunger when the succulent blood began to flow out, "Besides, I like my prey to be alive and kicking when I feed."
Meanwhile, Caiellis, who was about to complete his Summoning ritual, heard his brother's shriek of anguish. Rage poured through his mind, the need to protect his older brother fuelling his mana – the emotions sustaining the Black, combined with the already present hatred of the abyss and its residents, started to become darker, more sinister, as his loathing of Aksua increased the magnitude of energy he was releasing, Black completely equalling White in power.
A bolt of panic lanced through Aksua's mind as she picked up on the surge of mana that was coming from the youngest prince, abruptly realising that she was nowhere near strong enough to combat that – the boy's dark angel would be created in reality with a ludicrous magical strength, and Aksua would rather not have to deal with Orzhova, the personification of light and darkness far too formidable to handle with the amount of mana Caiellis was currently pouring into her. A gargantuan sphere of pulsing golden and onyx made her mind ache, so she decided that she would end the boy's Summoning now – using this technique would be incredibly risky, and leave her extremely vulnerable to attack, but it was better than having to contend with the Angel of the Black Sun.
As the hymnals emitted from the Black Sun reached a crescendo of noise and a sensation of absolute ascendancy caused Caiellis to want to laugh maniacally, Aksua growled and wrenched out mana from inside herself, blasting Nocturon towards the boy and tearing her arms open. As the stolen blood poured onto the ground, she infused Black mana into it and shrieked the forbidden words of a demonic spell, the inhuman syllables splitting her lips apart as a sticky, smoke-like substance belched out of her mouth. It mixed with Nocturon as he shot towards the vulnerable youngest Lucerna, and Alex shouted a pained warning as the horror sped towards his little brother. He tried to move, to drag himself along the floor and help the younger boy, but a sharp pain erupted in his back and he cried out.
Caiellis reopened his eyes, ready to fight as Orzhova's gauntlets reached out of the Black Sun, but blinked in startled shock as a mass of tendrils smashed through his guard and wrapped around him. No! He desperately released mana all around him, feeling confusion and alarm thrust itself to the forefront of his mind as his vision was cut off, and tried to force the shadows away from him. A nauseous, sinking sensation subsumed his consciousness, and Cai felt himself drifting away into a deep darkness.
No! Stop, I need to help Alex! No! Stop, Alex needs me! The panicked thoughts rushed together in a jumble of terror in the boy's mind as he realised that he was the only one that would be able to aid his injured big brother, and now he was being ripped away. He screamed and pounded at the darkness that was consuming him, intense and incandescent light having little effect on the midnight veil. His power levels began to decrease as his body began to shut down, and the last thing Caiellis heard was himself whimpering the name of his older brother. He felt tears roll down his face until even that stimulus faded away.
"You bitch! What have you done to him?!" Alexander demanded, invigorated by the torment imposed upon his little brother by Aksua's horror-creature. Volcanic fury exploded inside of him as he heard Caiellis speaking his name and crying, the black shadows wrapped around the youngest Lucerna obstructing his sibling's vision of him. A huge swell of mana pulled him to his feet, and before his rage-fuelled mind could process what was going on his wounded body was already charging towards the vampire.
"Ah ah aah!" the woman enunciated mockingly, wagging her slender fingers and stepping to avoid Alex's lunge, the spot she had been on demolished by a detonation of magma. "I have control of the situation here."
At a gesture, Nocturon pulsed away from Caiellis, the formless body of the Summoning now dancing around the fragile boy, who looked as if he was standing in a dream-state. As Alex was about to attack again, she made a viscous chopping motion and smiled vindictively as a gloom-tendril encircled Cai's thin left arm and twisted it at a painful angle. Alex heard the bone snap and took the hint, lowering the amount of mana he was releasing when the younger by cried out in pain, though didn't make any move to remove the tentacle wrapped round his arm.
"Alright, I get it. Stop hurting him and I won't fight." Alex's voice took on a resigned tone, powering down the last vestiges of his mana as the vampiress smiled widely, her expression the epitome of atavistic hunger. If there was a choice between which prince was hurt, Alexander would choose himself every single time, and while Aksua attacked him Caiellis would hopefully be able to break out of the abyss-dweller's hexes. Come on little brother, I need you here!
"Now we can enjoy ourselves without that irritating child interrupting," Aksua purred, her brown orbs glinting with avarice and the need to gorge.
"And don't worry about dear Caiellis. He won't be coming back to reality any time soon, not after what Nocturon has in store for him."
.*.*.*.
King Marik Ensis Lucerna tapped his steel-clad fingers on the desk that had been donated to him by Hierarch Aretis when him and his elite guards took up residence in the City of the Sun after he had returned from the disastrous trip to the Scholaria Magnus. The methodical clack of the armour against the mahogany table clearly emphasised how uncomfortable the man was feeling – how could any father relax when their children were abducted?
After returning to the landing beach, he had "appropriated" the Yentarian Airship for his own purposes, informing the Isakian diplomat Pasko that the vehicle would now be utilised by the Kingdom of Light. Before he, the Capitalia Lux Light-bearers, his royal guards and Jenna embarked for the journey back to Lucael, the party was confronted by two Lucaelian students that Marik recognised as the twins of his favoured general Carlis Montlea. The boy's face was contorted with rage, and while the girl had hidden her anger better it still seethed through her skin, present in her actions.
"We want to fight!" the young man declared, to which his sister scowled and added a belated: "My lord."
She had informed him that the two noticed the Welkalites taking Caiellis and Alexander away from the Scholaria Magnus, and judging by the awful bruise on the youngest's throat they had been abducted with the unparalleled bargaining chip of the king's precious youngest son's life. At first he would have been against taking them away from the academy and thrusting them into the war (or "crusade" he preferred to think of it as) he was going to start against the Empire of Passion, but when he saw the fire in their eyes he couldn't refuse – the tipping point was when the girl had sensed his reticence and told the monarch that they would be eighteen in six (five now) days anyway, so were to all intents and purposes adults. The children of Carlis clearly cared about his sons, and Marik would have felt a warm feeling of parental pride if not for the unflinching rage and regret coursing through his brain.
They now sat with their father and mother, who was a formidable High Priestess, in the strategy room, discussing the best Welkalite cities to strike simultaneously with Usnaan, or to just leave the other settlements alone and focus solely on retrieving the royal heirs, with Guardians Oleic and Tristram and Hierarch Aretis along with a slew of other Civitas Sol commanders. The main problem with launching a strike this early would be that the king would not be able to mobilise the full extent of the Lucaelian military, but the garrison of Civitas Sol along with himself and two extra Capitalia Lux Light-bearers should be able to overcome the soldiers of the Welkalite capital and rescue the boys, but every second Marik waited was a second that his children could have been killed or worse.
Normally Tybalt would have admonished the king, telling him that his constant noise-creating wasn't going to solve anything (Marik had done that even when he was a child trying to solve a problem the then-teacher had set for him), but like most of the people in the expansive room he shared the man's agitation. Him, along with Tristram, considered the brothers as their own children, and as technically they had spent more time with them than with their own father, he had plenty of excuses to worry. He was sure that these Lucernas were taking years off his lifespan. Why didn't just become a librarian or something peaceful instead? Tybalt thought, only half jokingly. He had often pondered the question in the civil war, wondering how his life had come to this and how he had become so important, but now he knew he didn't have enough time left to think about his regrets.
However, there were many positives to being as old as he was – he had been able to see King Marik grow from a youthful, thin and timid prince into one of the most confident and successful Lucernan kings, and the man's young sons were beginning to become adults themselves, though he doubted Caiellis would ever stop referring to him or Tristram as "Uncle". The boy's affection was cute and welcomed, but Tybalt wished that the youngest Lucerna would be able to show the same love to Marik that he did towards the Hierarch. At least their relationship had improved over the course of the month after the end of the civil war, which at the start of Cai never engaged his father in conversation, which however was mostly due to the man's harshness and the almost fanatical devotion the thirteen year old attributed to attempting to passing his Summoning.
Tybalt silently chastised himself, he often thought far too much about Caiellis and not enough about his other student, the bright but mostly uninterested Alexander who would much rather be with Tristram participating in physical training. At least he had readily accepted Marik more, but then again the king had no reason to be critical of the older boy. Tybalt assured himself that at least Cai would be alright if his older brother was with him, but since the teenager had a tendency to through himself in front of blows targeted at his fragile sibling, he wouldn't be surprised if the boy returned with a few scrapes from constantly trying to protect his little brother.
It was sweet that he went that far for the younger boy, although there had been lots of past occasions where Cai had saved his older brother, normally by healing him but more rarely by destroying threatening enemies. Tybalt had to remind himself that Cai could now be a killing machine now that he had unlocked the Angel of the Black Sun, as while White mana mixed protective enchantments with offensive force to ensure the survival of the wielder and their allies, Black was much more aggressive and prone to strike first. Mixing the two would be hard, but Tybalt had faith in his littlest student.
Here I go again, thinking about Caiellis, Tybalt admonished, though he supposed that someone had to do it in a positive light apart from the boy's brother. In the kingdom, Alexander was definitely the favourite, stemming from the citizens' natural abhorrence of dark magic and the fact that the older prince was more charismatic and confident. Of course both princes and their father were still loved by the public, feeling great outrage when they were abducted, but it was hard not to think of the smaller adolescent as the inferior. Maybe Cai would be able to prove that they were both equal.
Marik's loud gasp punctuated the ancient Hierarch's thoughts, abruptly snapping him out of his reverie.
"My lord?" Aretis inquired, standing up out of the plump chair he was reclining on and joining the other occupants of the strategy chamber in running to the monarch's side. The man clutched the side of his head in what Tybalt assumed was pain, consternation clouding his sculpted features as he squeezed his eyes shut.
"My lord, what is happening?" the Civitas Sol Hierarch asked again, his voice taking on a pleading tone and Tybalt glared at him, commanding: "Be silent boy! The king has detected something."
As if to prove his words correct, Marik reopened his eyes, the blue orbs filled with a cold determination that made the Hierarch's heartbeat quicken. He had seen that expression in the king's eyes before when they truly discovered that Johnias had betrayed Lucael and had ordered the assassination of Emili, running as fast as he could to the nursery, and it brought a great sense of foreboding to the forefront of the old man's mind.
"Servants of Lucael. My sons are in the abyss. I just felt Caiellis's mana out there, piercing the darkness before being overwhelmed by it again. I can pinpoint his exact location, and while I do not know what is happening I know that with certainty Alexander will be at his brother's side." Marik explained, his tone clipped, professional and urgent. That relieved Tybalt slightly, as at least this time the king wasn't desperate. "I do not know whether Caiellis did that to try and contact us, or whether they are fighting, but we go at once to them."
He began to stride out of the room, his limbs suffused with fresh purpose now that he knew his boys had escaped the clutches of the Welkalites (or at least got out of the empire) but he also realised that they were in the dangerous darkness outside of Civitas Sol and would probably need help.
"How are we going to get to them?" he heard Carlis's son, Leodred if he could recollect, ask loudly, and though the question was not directed at him the king spun around.
"We go to my sons by Airship," he replied, and Leo blinked in surprise at Marik himself directly answering his inquiry, "You and your sister stay here with your mother and father. The ship can only take so many occupants, and I mean no offence, especially to Carlis, but I would rather have my Light-bearers at my side at the moment. Rest assured you will be able to see Alexander and Caiellis later. Ave lux"
"Of course, my lord. Ave lux," the general replied, wrapping an arm around his son's shoulders, the boy looking as if he was going to object. Marik nodded briefly and then swiftly set off again, glad that Tristram had had the foresight to continue on while the king was slightly delayed to ensure the Airship was ready to launch by the time Marik got there. The Yentarian scientists had installed machinery on the vehicle that allowed, through the application of intellectual Blue mana, for anyone to learn the spells required to pilot the vehicle. He hoped his sons were alright, though every parental instinct he had screamed towards them being hurt – the flash of mana that Caiellis sent out had no doubt been cancelled, otherwise the youth would have kept it going.
Alexander, Caiellis, I'm coming. Maybe I will finally be able to do something as your father.
.*.*.*.
Caiellis's eyes snapped open, the remnants of the dream slowly fading from his sight as he sat up in the plumb bed, pushing the soft covers off him. He checked the time on the ornate but not ostentatious watch next to him on the cabinet to the left of his bed – 07:02.
Wait, what? Why am I here? What is going on? The boy thought, jumping off the bed and forcing his tired limbs into action. What the hell is happening? Where is Alex? Caiellis remembered desperate fighting, although he couldn't recall who it was against, or what exactly was taking place, but he knew for certain that his older brother needed help. Why, then, was he back in his bedroom in Capitalia Lux?
"Aren't you going to check for sunlight?" a voice, female and full of affection, strangely familiar but yet still unknown to Caiellis, rang out, and the boy turned around to see a girl, around his age but still a bit older, giggling and stepping out of the doorway and into Cai's room proper.
"Who are you?" the prince demanded, his expression instantly becoming guarded and White mana flowing out of his limbs, taking up a combat posture.
"What do you mean, Cai?" the girl asked, taken aback as if he had asked a ridiculous question. The boy sternly repeated his inquiry, flashing the mana for effect, and the girl, taller than him by a few inches, took a step back and raised her hands.
"Calm down, Caiellis! I'm Hollie, remember?" she grinned at him, her grey-blue eyes half-masked by a fringe of dazzling silver/white hair. She wore a white gown, making Caiellis recall with a jolt that he was still in his pyjamas, and she confidently walked towards him, and though he didn't lower his guard of mana Cai felt uncertainty cloud his mind. Who was this girl? She obviously wasn't a threat, nor was she scared by his usage of magic, and when she looked back into his eyes she sighed emphatically. "Hollie Otium Lucerna! Your cousin?"
When Hollie noticed that the veil of confusion hadn't lifted, she ignored the younger boy, brushing past the stunned Caiellis and opening the curtains.
Confused and irritated, Cai turned around, about to announce that he had no cousins, but when he met the eyes of his reflection the Lucerna froze. His appearance, a youthful-looking pale boy with high cheek-bones and dark green eyes shrouded by messy brown hair staring back, his large and expressive orbs opened wide in shock, was the same – apart from one thing. Instead of an ominous reminder that Caiellis was a pariah within Lucael, host to the cause of the largest cataclysm in the kingdom's history, the black stain on his cheek was replaced by an elegant symbol of a silver collar. That meant that Or-... Why can't I think of her name? All that comes to mind is the Angel of the Black Sun, but I know her name. I can't have just forgotten it...
Caiellis looked deep inside of his mind, panic flooding through it when he couldn't visualise the dark angel or her residence in the Mind Realm, and he suddenly resolved to go to whatever his Mind Realm was.
"Not sunny, as usual. That's not fair, when are you ever going to get to see the sun?" Hollie tutted and turned to her cousin, his pupils diluted in shock. She shook his skeletal shoulders and then realised that for whatever reason he had chosen to visit his First Sisterhood angel.
For the second time in whatever was going on, Cai's eyes snapped open and he jolted forwards, taking in the strange and unfamiliar place around him – a large cathedral surrounded him, a circular room with many stained glass windows and silver decorations surrounding it. When an otherworldly voice said his name, he spun around, greeted by the sight of a large angel – Caiellis recognised her as Avacyn, Angel of Hope from research he had done, and further bewilderment caused his mind to spin. Since when was Avacyn his Summoning? Since when did he have a cousin?
"Caiellis?" the angel asked again, her golden irises narrowing in concern. "Are you alright?"
Focus, focus, Cai told himself, repeating the mantra over and over in his head as he felt a sense of vertigo wash over him. He had started to breath faster, though not to the extent where he was hyperventilating, and his mind refused to work as it failed to process these new revelations. Focus. What is important? Alexander. Your brother needs you. Find Alex.
He dispelled the introspection, mentally tumbling out of the Mind Realm and landing with a nauseous lurch back into "reality", or whatever this place that was posing at it was.
"What was that all about? Are you ok?" Hollie asked, her eyes portraying her amusement at the younger boy's antics. Cai had a hundred questions to ask, ranging from "How do I have a cousin?" to "What day is it?" but concentrated on the most pertinent one.
"Where is Alex?" he questioned, figuring that he should be trying to locate his sibling and see if he was alright. The girl blinked for a moment, perplexed by the spontaneity of the request, and laughed.
"He is in the room next door, asleep," she responded, taking a moment to peer down at the younger boy, worry prevalent in her blue eyes. "Though I doubt he is anymore after the racket you created."
"I'll go get your brother for you," she suggested after a few seconds after the boy didn't reply, his youthful and cute features still locked in an expression of startled stupefaction. She stepped outside of the room for a second and called her older cousin's name loudly, faced with an irritated and tired, "What?"
"Your brother needs you. Badly," she stated back, grinning when she heard the older boy launch into movement at the mere mention of his precious little brother. Although Alexander was protective of her, it was nothing in comparison to how he guarded his fragile and innocent little brother. Cai had been acting up, but hopefully the comforting form of his big brother would help.
A drowsy looking Alex appeared after a few seconds, his blonde hair wild and still sticking up after being in bed, and Hollie beckoned over to the older boy. Together they walked back to Caiellis, who was still breathing fast, the breaths hitching in and out of his small chest.
"Alex? How can you be here?" Cai asked, and Alex looked at him quizzically, to which Hollie added, "I don't know what's up with little cous-cous, he seems frightened and agitated, like when he was when we were in the civil war."
"Alright, little buddy, do you want to tell me what is going on?" Alex walked towards his brother and embraced him in a brotherly hug, feeling the smaller boy trembling.
"I..I need to help you," Cai declared softly, trying to extricate himself from the older boy's embrace and push him away – whatever this was, it couldn't be Alex. There was no way. Yes, it felt and spoke like Alex, and yes, he still felt that warm and safe sensation in his mind when his big brother was around, but it still didn't remove the inkling that the older boy was it grave danger, despite all the evidence pointing to the contrary.
Alexander shared a confused glance with his cousin and pulled Cai closer, overpowering his feeble resistance and resting his chin on the mop of brown hair atop his sibling's head. The younger boy began whimpering, sniffling and whispering, "I need to help you."
"What is going on in here?" a familiar man's voice interrupted them, and although the tone was stern it carried and undercurrent of affection and mirth.
"Hey dad. Hi Uncle Marik," Hollie said the things consecutively, and Cai opened his eyes – he hadn't even realise that he squeezed them shut. He pulled away from Alex, who let him go, and gasped when a face pushed itself into his vision. It was his father's face, but in the same instance not – the tell-tale scar on the man's chin coupled with the four-pointed Star of Serenity on the top left of his forehead confirmed his identity, although Caiellis hadn't seen this person for nine years. Hatred coursed through his mind, a primal hostility that burned through the boy's veins.
"Johnias," he growled, his voice filled with hatred and a potent resonance – it seemed that even with Avacyn as his Summoning, he still had a huge battery of mana to utilise, though it was solely devoted to White mana. "You traitorous bastard."
The man cocked his eyebrows confusedly, while another, angrier voice graced Cai's ears, "Caiellis, show some respect! How dare you address your uncle in such a way! I'm of the right mind to severely punish you for that"
Johnias waved away his brother's reprimanding admonishment of his son, ignoring the huge quantities of mana the boy was releasing in his very clear hatred and walking towards the boy. Alex, Hollie and Marik stepped back across the room, and Johnias asked: "Cai, what is wrong?"
"Little cous-cous has been acting strange all morning," Hollie cut in exasperatedly, shielding her eyes from the glare emitted by the younger boy, whose eyes were lit up in golden fury. Johnias chuckled quietly, and said: "Don't call him that, Hollie, he's only two years younger than you. Almost a man," he smiled and shared a conspiratorial wink with his favourite nephew (though he loved Alex and would never admit it to him), who glared back, his normally emerald orbs consumed with incandescent light. "Open up buddy. Share what's up."
"I have no words for traitors," he spat, continuing to glower at the man, who shrugged his shoulders, miffed. "Welp, if I'm a traitor than I'm definitely in the best place to betray the kingdom."
"Cai, Uncle Johnias isn't a traitor," Alex said in a reassuring big brother tone, making to move towards the younger boy but stopped when Johnias held up a restraining hand. "Why am I a traitor, Caiellis?"
"Are you seriously asking me that?!" Cai shouted, mana bleeding out of him and obliterating the carpeted floor around him, singing the purple fabric. "Yeah. Why am I a traitor? I want to know."
Cai didn't know why he felt compelled to answer the man, who wasn't using any magic or in any way reacting to the threatening form of his nephew, instead of striking him down in righteous vengeance.
"Fine, I'll indulge you, for now. After my father became king, you plotted to overthrow him for many years, turning Crescia, City of Commerce, Vectura, City of Transportation and Epulaeous, City of Nourishment against Lucael," Cai's voice started shaking as he recalled the events that had ruined his childhood, "Then after that, you sent demons to kill me and my brother but only succeeded in," -deep breath- "Murdering our mother. Me and Alex had to flee Capitalia Lux, live our lives on the run from your demons as dad fought a civil war lasting nine years against you. When he finally won, you fled with your traitorous compatriots into the abyss, leaving Lucael and my father shattered." his voice became an accusatory shout, "Why did you do it? Was it jealously that your twin brother became king instead of you? WHY DID YOU DO IT? WE WERE HAPPY! WHY DID YOU KILL HER!?"
Johnias's mouth opened and closed in stunned shock, and Alex took that moment to shove past him and slam his little brother into the wall, gripping the boy's pyjama collar tightly and lifting him off his feet.
"What the hell are you saying? Johnias never betrayed anyone – and he's the king, not dad! Yes, Vectura, Epulaeous and Crescia did rebel, allying with the forces of the abyss and striking the palace, forcing, me, you and Hollie to flee with Tybalt and Tristram – but the war only lasted five years!" he shouted into his paralysed brother's face, shaking him violently.
"GET AWAY FROM ME!" Caiellis screamed, his normally soft and adorable voice full of pain none of them could understand, forcing Alex to drop him out of fear that he had hurt his little brother. He shut his eyes, crying and covering his face with his small hands, curling up into a ball avoiding the sea of concerned glances coming from what apparently was his family. I want to leave! I want to leave! I want to leave! I-
A hand, slender and gentle, was placed on his shoulder, and calming energy flowed through his body, dispelling the conflicted emotions battling for supremacy in his mind. He tentatively removed his hands, his green eyes still puffy from the tears, and was met with something that once again made his breath catch in his throat. There, smiling lovingly down at him, was his mother. The pale purity of her face, just how he remembered it from his childhood but perhaps very slightly older, brought fresh tears to his eyes, although this time they were tears of happiness. She was alive, his mother was alive! The nurturing, comforting, loving, perfect woman that was ripped away from Caiellis when he was four years old was hear in front of him, and he pressed his head into her stomach, sniffling loudly.
"Shhh, Caiellis. Everything is going to be alright," she soothed, the perfection of her words sending shudders of contentment he thought he was incapable of experiencing any more down his spine. "I'm not going anywhere."
"And I'm not going to betray Lucael," Johnias added, sitting beside his nephew and sister in law, and smiling as his wife also entered the room. "I promise."
"Yeah, sorry about earlier," Alex said abashedly, also depositing himself behind his younger brother and stroking his hair, Hollie and Marik also making their presence known to help comfort Caiellis, the latter muttering, "You're not five, get out of your mother's arms and be a man."
"Don't be mean, Marik," Emili chastised, and both husbands and wives laughed.
I could stay here, Caiellis thought as another wave of cheerful delight washed through him. I'm not hated or feared, and I no longer have to deal with Black mana. Uncle Johnias isn't a traitor, I have a cousin that loves me, dad isn't consumed with grief and mum is still alive.
And most of all, he thought, glancing up at his big brother, who winked encouragingly and poked him on the nose, laughing merrily at his blink of surprise, Alex is ok. And I'm happy.
Originally I was going to conclude the battle between the boys and Aksua in this chapter, but considering how long it took to write this (sorry about that) and how many words I used, I think it would be better done at the beginning of the next chapter and that to follow on in the same instalment. Sorry for the cliffhanger :P I probably won't get another chapter out before (though I'm hoping to finish the next before 2015), so Merry Christmas, and thank you for following my story so far!