Nil

I woke up in the morning, nestled between my parents. My sleep schedule had gotten a lot more consistent, which was nice. I just lay there, enjoying the moment. So my uncle was the one watching me. I did not like my uncle, terrifying me like that while claiming it was an accident. Laughing. Maybe it was nervous laughter as I reacted in a way he didn’t expect? Nope, still going to mess with him. But how? I was limited in this baby body. My mom woke up a few minutes later. She woke my dad, got dressed, picked me up, and carried me with her to the dining room. It was a good size room with a table sized for a family in it. Definitely a private dining room not for entertaining guests. Now the breastfeeding was lessening to about four to five times a day, and I was eating this world's equivalent of baby food. A few minutes later my dad joined us. It was nice eating as a family. Strange to me, but I found myself enjoying this time immensely. Then my uncle walked in. I will get you somehow, Iust need to find a way. Mom was already giving him a death stare, which was a promising start.

“What are you doing here, Nox? Isn’t this normally when you cry yourself to sleep?” she asked with venom in her voice.

“Well, if I am going to be staying a while, might as well be part of the family. Give me a chance to bond with my nephew and spend some quality time with my dear brother and his wife.” Uncle Nox retorted. He and mom don’t get along; this is going to be too easy.

He took another step closer and I flinched. Then quickly tucked into my mom who was still holding me. I could feel her tense, and her anger became palpable. Am I a terrible person for doing this? I think if I do it only today I am fine. I took a glance at my uncle, whose eyes were shooting between me and my dad.

“Okay Nox you might have a point.” Dad stated, looking at Mom and I.

“And what would that point be dear?” Mom inquired. Abort dad! Run! Save yourself! I should not have riled mom to punish Uncle Nox!

“That our son is gifted and might be a bit devious. As in he is annoyed at Nox for scaring him and is using you to punish Nox.” Dad explained carefully. Traitor. Time for the big guns.

I looked at my mom with the best big baby eyes I could muster as she was looking intently at me. I raised my arms a bit to try and grab at her. I even threw in trying to say mama. It was do or die. I needed to be convincing. My pride be damned, I need this to work. Dig in deep Nil. You got this. We need to do better than that pathetic attempt at the word.

“Mama.” I said aloud. It was rough, but it was undeniably the word: mama.

I looked intensely at my mom. Please have worked. Please believe I am your sweet innocent little son who would never do what he is accusing me of. She looked like she had melted. My uncle and father were slack jawed. I definitely need to not do this anymore; it will only cause trouble.

“He just said mama!” Mom exclaimed with joy. Mission success.

“He just said his first word!” Dad proclaimed as he happily rushed over.

“You have got to be kidding me.” my uncle muttered beneath his breath.

“Can you say it again Nil?” Mom requested, sounding over the moon.

“How about papa?” Dad suggested, still beaming.

“Mama.” I repeated. It was definitely rough; needs improvement on the most generous of grading.

The rest of breakfast was me repeatedly saying the word mama much to my mom’s delight. I tried saying papa a few times, but it sounded more like baba than anything to me. My dad still considered it a win. Temporary distractions for the win. After about twelve minutes my uncle sighed and went to go sleep. Cesar came and fetched my parents for their daily duties as rulers, and I was handed to Helga. I hated this part of the day; my parents always looked so sad. After Helga began carrying me up a few flights of stairs to the floor I was generally kept to, I heard a sound. More accurately, a chime. What was that? I looked around and saw nothing. Helga didn’t react to it. Am I crazy? I heard the chiming sound again. Again, Helga didn’t react. Why can I hear it? I quickly started checking what I was doing making sure to get proper breathing for . Lightly circulating in my body. Relaxed. Using my . Wait. It couldn’t be. How could an help me hear something? The chiming sound continued as we arrived at the floor, and clear as day in the middle of the hall was, was, a, it was a, it clearly was a, I had absolutely no idea.

The creature appeared to be made entirely out of light. It let off a faint glow and was jumping around. Each time it landed, the little chiming sound echoed throughout the room. Whatever this thing was, it was small. Like the size of a house cat. It had two ears which were long and narrow like blades of grass, little nubs for horns, tufts above each of its diamond eyes, and a face akin to that of a mouse for its head. Whatever this thing was, it alternated easily between being on all fours and on only its hind legs. The hind legs were shaped similar to a rabbit’s but had three tiny raptor claws on each foot. The creature possessed two fox tails with black tips and a slender torso which was reminiscent of a cat’s. The front legs were similar to a raccoon’s, except the paws were stouter than long, and like the back feet, there were three fingers, each with a tiny claw. What was this thing? Why could I see it and not Helga? Better yet, why could I hear it and not Helga? I pointed at it, to try and get Helga to notice. She looked directly at it and then back at me.

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“There is nothing there, Crown Prince Nil.” she replied. Is it my ? But why can I hear it and she can’t?

Unfortunately, the creature realized I could see it; whatever it was, it wouldn’t take its eyes off me. On the bright side, it did not seem hostile, just curious. We reached my room, where the chiming creature followed. Helga sat me down in my room and did her normal sweep of the room. The creature walked cautiously towards me on all fours. I sat completely still. Animals usually responded better when you let them investigate on their terms from what I remember. The bizarre light creature came up to me tentatively, sniffing the air. It darted back a few times, but eventually got close enough I could actually smell it. The creature smelled like nothing; tot that it did not possess a smell, all the earthy scents of the castle vanished once it got close. How peculiar. After a few seconds of sniffing me, it shot down, covered its eyes, and began twitching its tails. I think it is trying to play. What game though? The creature peeked out of its paws, then made a motion like it wanted me to move, then resumed the position. Hide and seek maybe?

I immediately used to leave the room, much to Helga’s annoyance. I did my awkward crawl walk until I got close to my desired corner and used to get up on the ledge, making me difficult to see unless you got close. Exactly thirty seconds after the creature covered its eyes, I heard the chime sound. In the distance, I heard it hopping and moving around, looking for me. I also heard Helga looking for me, calling out to me. I am not losing this game so easily Helga. It took the creature five minutes to find me, doing a little hop in joy once I was found and did a little poke as if to tag me when I was found. The creature and I returned to my room, where Helga noticed I had returned to. I covered my eyes, and I heard the creature run off to hide. I was trying to keep track of its chiming to see where it went. The creature was quieter as it went to hide, but I had a decent idea where it went thanks to the chimes. After thirty seconds had passed, I went on the hunt. I quickly probed around with to see if I could find it that way. Not surprisingly, I did not detect it. I did my crawl walk out of the room in pursuit.

Helga was following me, absolutely confused. The creature went left out of the room; what made this part easy was my room was centrally located on the floor. I did the crawl walk along the brick and passed several paintings and sculptures that decorated the hall. I noticed a large sculpture the little creature easily could be on top of. I used to reach the top, and sure enough, my new playmate was there. I poked it, tagging it as it. The creature was remarkably soft to the touch, feeling like I stroked a cloud. I used to reach the bottom, but the creature was at the base waiting for me. What? I didn’t even hear it move this time. The creature and I continued to play hide and seek for two hours. Whatever this thing was, it was incredibly clever because it seemed to be learning each time and was getting better at hiding which caused us to gradually take longer to find each other. It somehow knew to stay on this floor as well, or guessed that as I wasn’t leaving this floor. The creature was also making less noise as it moved around. However, at the end of two hours of moving and using , I had reached my limit. I needed a nap. Thankfully, the creature let out a yawn a little bit before I did. On our last trip to my room, I used to get into my crib, where the creature followed me, and curled up next to me as I fell asleep.

*

Helga

Crown Prince Nil was officially freaking me out. He was wandering around the floor for no apparent reason, then returning to his room. Every other time he would sit still and cover his eyes for a bit, then proceed to go and hunt something. It was like he was playing with something, but I could not detect or see whatever it was. The Imperial Highnesses instructed me to let him wander around the floor to help him build his coordination, but this was unsettling. Crown Prince Nil had finally exhausted himself and was sleeping in his crib. It was a little early for his nap, but all the moving and using his exhausted him. He was able to use much more than before, showing signs he had been taking his seriously. I looked in the crib, and it was just Crown Prince Nil in the crib. I used the I was given to summon his other guardian, Imperial Prince Nox. I had no idea what was going on, but the way Crown Prince Nil was acting, there was something I could not see or detect. After about five seconds, Imperial Prince Nox arrived.

“What did my problem child of a nephew do now?” he yawned, clearly annoyed at having been woken up.

“I do not know. He is playing around like there is something, but I cannot see or detect it.” I explained. Was I crazy?

“Like an imaginary friend? Gee, declare an emergency. A baby is playing with his imaginary friend.” Imperial Prince Nox mocked.

“It was like he was playing hide and seek, which is why I am concerned. It lasted for roughly two hours.” I replied. Imperial Prince Nox was a royal pain at times.

“I will check around to be safe. Where is he now?” Imperial Prince Nox moaned as I pointed at the crib.

Imperial Prince Nox walked over to the crib, and his eyes went wide. He smirked and then looked at me. Could he see something? Can he just tell me? There was something Crown Prince Nil was playing with was what his face told me.

“What do you see, Imperial Prince Nox?” I asked, wondering how I couldn't see it.

“Good news for you, he was actually playing with something. Just keep an eye on him and it’ll be fine, it is nothing dangerous as long as he doesn’t provoke it.” Imperial Prince Nox stated nonchalantly.

“Why am I unable to see it? Could you please inform me of what it is Imperial Prince Nox?” I pressed hating him dodging my questions.

“It is a , a baby like him. You are unable to see it as you do not have an like Nil here nor did you train your to a degree to be able to see and interact with a of this caliber. You should train it more in your free time. While there are very few people on Tenebrae capable of reaching this level of , being able to detect them to protect my nephew is a skill you should possess.” Imperial Prince Nox lectured. Very few, I am talking to one of them, Ghost of Speranza.

“Is it wise to leave a feral next to the Crown Prince?” I inquired, not liking the idea.

“Let me make this clear, if that thing’s mother is anywhere nearby, attacking or harming it will be way worse than anything that baby can do. That is a fight I would rather avoid, especially if the baby is playing with him. Chances are it got separated from its mother, saw the castle, and decided to climb and play in it. That or it is slightly older and is venturing off on its own. Either way, if it is not doing any harm, leaving it alone is the best course of action.” Imperial Prince Nox explained.

I nodded my head in understanding as Imperial Prince Nox simply vanished. It was unsettling, as I could see him, but did not sense him at all for a split second before he was gone. No puff of smoke, no sensation of . Imperial Prince Nox simply ceased to exist after a second.