Nil

Lux and I were looking pretty slick in our matching attire. We were sitting by Mom, waiting for when we were supposed to officially enter the celebration. First my parents with Lux and I, and then Ein gets to enter all on his own to some music. Mom is right though, I need to be more careful with my , I didn’t know. I am going to make sure he has the best time at his birthday celebration. We all made our entrance, and Ein got to walk in to Long Reign the Emperor. Ein was so happy; he really liked that song. He had our father’s golden hair and purple eyes. His skin was closer to mom’s than dad’s, but more of a blend than mine. Ein had gazelle style horns like mom. There were some pleasantries and official crap to sit through, but after a bit Ein and I were allowed to wander. I quickly ran over to him with Lux, and Ein was beaming. His eyes were shooting all over the place, looking like a kid in a candy store.

“Can I ride Lux?” Ein asked excitedly. Lux looked at me, with a pouty face.

Look, it is his birthday today, and we did make a mess earlier. I told Lux.

But I look so fancy. Lux replied, looking at her vest.

It is your decision, but I think Ein would really appreciate it. I told her.

You owe me. Lux grumbled as she huffed a little.

I’ll make it up to you. I promised. I needed to swipe fish later.

“She said it is okay.” I told my little brother who excitedly hopped on Lux.

“What do you want to see? Want to get some food? Walk around?” I asked my little brother.

“Walk around!” he declared excitedly.

We started walking around, and the crowd was immense. I used the trick I did with my eyes against Orga and sensed the ideal path to take. We weaved around, letting Ein see all the decorations. It was hard to top the ones; I had never seen danced across the ceiling. Illusionary flames and sparkling winds accented the sides. The music remained constant in the room, never changing volume no matter where you were. There were a few other kids in our age range as well, who all got super excited when they saw Lux. A lot of the adults’ eyes went wide when they saw my brother riding Lux. I gave the kids a quick glance with my active, which made all of them but one back off. The one unfazed walked right up to us.

“My greetings Princes Nil and Ein. I am Julius Aphom Armstrong. Pleased to make your acquaintance.” Julius introduced himself. It was clear he didn’t like at least one of us. Good vocabulary for a five-year-old.

His skin was similar in color to sandstone, and he had emerald eyes, which had to have come from his mother. Julius had ram horns and green hair, similar to Helga. Even when he bowed, his eyes were glaring at me the entire time. I will drop you into the ground if you ruin Ein’s birthday.

“Why are you glaring?” I snapped, not breaking eye contact with him.

“I just wanted to say hello.” Julius snarled before he left.

“Are you scaring them all away brother?” Ein asked with big puppy dog eyes.

“I was just keeping them back unless you wanted them to come near.” I told my brother with a smile.

“Why was he grumpy?” Ein checked.

“Just might be who he is. Pay no attention to him.” I explained with a smile. I saw Julius glare at me when I said that.

Today is about Ein, today is about Ein, today is about Ein, today is about Ein. I repeated to myself.

“Did you want to meet anyone or continue walking around on Lux?” I asked him. I went to put my hand on him, and felt a small shock and Ein jumped.

Static shock? In this humidity? And in the nearly entirely ceramic room? I thought. I shot my eyes to Julius, who was smirking.

It was him, Nil. Lux whispered to me.

Apologize or my politeness will end. I snarled into his head. He stuck his tongue out at me in response.

“Hey Ein, want to ride Lux over to the cake? I think they are serving it now!” I asked my brother. He excitedly ran away on Lux.

I tried being polite. I warned Julius.

I his knees into the brick, followed by his forehead, and dragged him over with . I cranked up my in the way that seemed to unsettle the adults. Julius tried standing back up, and I used to smack him right back down.

“Today is my brother’s birthday. You apologize, shocking him is unacceptable.” I declared, giving him my best glare.

After a few more attempts from him to stand, I gradually increased how hard I was using . On the fourth one, an adult finally noticed. Cesar shuffled over quickly, trying not to draw attention to what was happening. He came over and waved for me to stop.

“What is going on?” Cesar hissed, looking between his son and me.

“Nothing.” Julius snapped.

“You shocked my brother. I want you to apologize.” I snapped at him.

“Prove I shocked him.” Julius retorted. Cesar shot him a death glare.

“It is wet, warm, and no rugs. It is highly unlikely.” I explained, but neither seemed to overly catch it as Cesar clearly knew I was telling the truth.

“We greatly apologize Crown Prince Nil. I promise this will not happen again.” Cesar promised, as he dragged his son off for a lecture.

I back to Ein. He was excitedly waiting for the cake as it was about to be served. I smiled at him, and he was bouncing up and down excitedly. Lux seemed to be fine as Ein wasn’t pulling on her ears or tails. The head butler handed the first slice to Ein, who excitedly began eating.

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*

Cesar

“Are you nuts? They are Princes!” I asked my son, who was currently pouting.

“So what? I am good with .” Julius pouted.

“What is wrong?” I checked. Julius, if Nil wanted to kill or hurt you, there is little you could do to stop him.

“You are always spending time with them!” Julius cried at me.

“I am not. I am spending time with their parents nearly nonstop. I am Chancellor, it is my job. Look, I will see if I can start taking you to work with me. But that will be difficult if the Princes hate you or think you are a hazard.” I explained to him.

“Do you mean it?” Julius asked, looking at me all sad; it felt like he stabbed my heart a bit.

“Yes. Now let’s go apologize and grab some cake.” I told him. Julius perked up, and I escorted him to where the Princes were standing.

Prince Ein was still on Lux, getting his face wiped by his older brother of some cake crumbs and frosting he got on them. Lux was still spotless, and so was Nil. It is good they get along so well. I want Julius to get along that well with them. When Nil saw us, the smile vanished and he started glaring at Julius. I could feel the force being exerted by his . Julius flinched as we got closer.

“I wanted to apologize.” Julius said, unprompted by me. Way to take initiative.

“It’s okay!” Prince Ein declared. Nil shot him a side glance really quick before his expression softened.

“Apology accepted.” Crown Prince Nil replied. His face made it clear he was suspicious but didn’t want to ruin his brother’s mood.

“I will be leaving now; you all get along now.” I told them. It was awkward, but they were kids, they should be able to work through it.

I walked over to the Imperial Majesties, who were whispering amongst themselves, looking happy as they were admiring the celebration. There was an armada of guards, sentries, and security around the room, which definitely put them at ease. A large number of whispers were discussing Lux and wondering how the Imperial Family managed to secure such a powerful for the Crown Prince.

“Did you sort out whatever happened between our sons?” Emperor Azzeck asked.

“Yes Emperor Azzeck. On the subject of our children, could I possibly bring Julius to work with me occasionally? I am gone from home for nearly the entire day, and it led to him assuming things and getting jealous. I do not want to leech off the tutors of Nil of course.” I requested, hoping for a favorable answer.

“I actually think that would be good for Nil. He needs friends his own age. He spends all of his time with adults and it’s starting to show. Senna and I were trying to figure out how to ask you to bring your son along being honest. There is a portion of the lower castle that is secure we can use.” Emperor Azzeck said as it looked like a massive weight was lifted off his shoulders.

“Crown Prince Nil does seem quite mature for his age. It is unsettling at times.” I replied, glad I could bring Julius with me.

“I understand what you mean. A lot of us find it unsettling.” Emperor Azzeck told me, as an odd expression overcame his face.

“What’s wrong?” I inquired as his face was looking more worried.

“Nil. He looks like something is wrong.” Emperor Azzeck explained shifting a bit.

I looked over at our children, and Crown Prince Nil was looking around, scanning the room. He was visibly distressed, and Lux seemed to pick up on it. The four of them were in a quiet corner of the room, talking. Julius and Prince Ein had not seemed to pick up on Crown Prince Nil’s distress. He was controlling his breathing, like when he was prepping to cast . Then we felt it. Several immensely powerful waves of erupted from several guests. The Braeus Family! They are out to kill the Princes! My son! A powerful was launched at them and the Imperial Majesties. Empress Senna looked incredibly distraught as four barreled towards the children. Several ignited, trapping us all temporarily. Prince Ein and Julius were frozen, and Lux was panicking. Crown Prince Nil grabbed them all and towards us, but a deflected the spell to the opposite corner. The curved after them. There were easily fifteen and assaulting the Imperial Majesties. Empress Senna was panicking, trying to figure out how to save the kids, but the enemies were in the way. I looked back at the kids, trying to find a way to them. The were mere feet from them. Then Crown Prince Nil and the others vanished.

“Nil!” Senna cried, as the three kids and Lux were behind us. How did he do that?

A massive cloud of blood erupted from Nil’s mouth; a river of blood was flowing from each eye. Nil crumpled to the ground, almost like a liquid. His skin was incredibly pale, and there was something unnatural about the way he was laying there. He was limp, and his body did not seem solid. Nil was barely breathing. What an immense . What on Tenebrae was that? Empress Senna’s eyes ignited as immense swirls of were formed. Emperor Azzeck, Prince Nox, Empress Mother Poam, and Emperor Father Nil were all locked in combat, but there were quite a few attackers. I quickly noted all of those in the insurrection. It is definitely the Braeus Family. What a bold attempt. Empress Senna wrapped the around the throat of an assailant and used until the skin grew several massive tumors and exploded, decapitating the person. With a motion of her hand, four more were gripped by her . A quick look of concern flashed through their eyes as she cast , pouring an immense amount of though them, where the tendrils were located dissolved to dust, ending their struggles. Senna grabbed another and used to make their heart burst. The other assailants looked on in abject horror, which was the gap the others needed to quickly end them. I shivered at the display; her fighting style was brutal to put it mildly.

“Always glad that your is effective in super close quarters.” Emperor Azzeck complimented, but the smile vanished the instant he saw Crown Prince Nil.

Senna was already by Crown Prince Nil’s side, inspecting his body. His eyes were incredibly dull. I checked on Julius, who was visibly shaken, while Prince Nox and Nez checked on Lux and Prince Ein. They were all unharmed; Crown Prince Nil had saved them all. He was the only real injury, but his were severe. Empress Mother Poam and Emperor Father Nil immediately took charge of the guards and the situation. I turned my attention back to Empress Senna, who lifted Crown Prince Nil’s arm, and it was like there weren’t even bones.

Is Crown Prince Nil even alive? I wondered; his body was overwhelmingly unresponsive.

“NIL! NIL! CAN YOU HEAR ME?!” Empress Senna cried at him.

“Honey, calm down, we need to heal him, and fast.” Emperor Azzeck told Empress Senna.

“I don’t know how to heal this. The damage is so severe, I don’t know what to heal first. If I mess up, it will kill him for sure.” Senna muttered dejectedly.

“Senna, you know how to fix this. Let’s go step by step. You can do this dear.” Emperor Azzeck assured her.

Empress Senna took a deep breath and looked at her son. She quickly repaired his ribcage, and spine, carefully realigning the bones. Sparks started shooting off from his chest. His are shattered. Magus Orga quickly leaped into action, tracing behind what Empress Senna did, recreating his so the sparks stopped. We went on rotation our into the two of them while they brought Crown Prince Nil back from the grave. Whichever of us finished were to take charge and continue the process of the investigation. Cleo came over and assisted. The security had this place locked down tight, and none of the guests so much as muttered a word. After a few hours of effort, Crown Prince Nil looked healed. Empress Senna and Magus Orga were sweating immensely. The two of them were clearly exhausted. Empress Senna picked up her son and held him tight.

“I am taking Nil and Ein to bed with me.” Empress Senna proclaimed. She put her hand out, and Prince Ein grabbed it. Lux followed behind.

We all let out a massive sigh of relief. Crown Prince Nil is not dead yet. The others quickly sprang into action and dismissed me, saying Cleo, Julius, and I could go. As soon as we were out of sight, we both tightly hugged Julius. That was way too close. We just held him for ten minutes. Finally, Julius broke the silence

“Why did he save me? I was mean to his brother.” Julius asked, bawling his eyes out.

“We don’t know but are glad he did. Crown Prince Nil saved your life.” Cleo wept as she held him tighter.

“That was way too close.” I added as I held Julius closer.