By JBV and Joel Quill
After a time that felt equivalent to eternity, Jay had finally finished his bath and cleaning up the corridor he had sullied in his over excitement. Jay defeated walked towards the throne room, Hector in tow, ready for the next form of excruciating boredom to begin. As Hector opened the door to the throne room, Jay glimpsed upon the scene of his fourth brother displaying different forms of anguish while his father showed complete disinterest in their dissatisfaction with their current situation. The throne room was a circular and ornately beautiful room, with an orangish red color walls that were visible in between pillars of light gold that led to a vibrant gold on the ceiling encrusted with a Phoenix to make the room look like one giant sunrise. At the current moment, none of the men in the room were appreciating the beauty that surrounded them, instead each was caught up in the fact that the only thing they have seen for the last three hours has been the inside of this room, remaining silent for most of that time. The only one who didn't seem to have a care about their current situation was Illia, who was surprisingly tuckered out at the time. Jay steps meekly into the room and Hector closes the door behind him. Jay takes his seat next to Tyrius. While this table technically has no head or foot Jay is positioned in the opposite place of his father giving him a feeling of being looked down on. Upon Jay taking his seat, his father stands and walks around the table looking at the boys. As he passes by Illia's chair he kicks it and Illia wakes with a start, his eyes glow white for a moment as if he is ready for a fight, then subside as he realizes his father was the one who awoke him. Lalend snickers and is immediately reprimanded by his father's intense glare.
"Boys, princes, the future of the kingdom of Illverstand, I call you all here today under the pretenses of something very grave indeed," The king states, he has a grim look on his face, however he does not give up his kingly demeanor like Jay saw before.
"Is this about the destruction of the bakery in the town square…" Lalend intercedes, "because I will have you know I didn't do it alone, Euctis made the ground unstable!" Lalend extends a long finger towards his twin. The presence of his brothers finger in his face causes angry to rise up in Euctis. His eyes glow as emeralds and a grimace extends across his face. Suddenly, the stone chair that Lalend is sitting in crumbles and Lalend collapses on his butt with a crack. Lalend howls in pain for a second then jumps to his feet grabbing his behind in pain. "WHAT EUCTIS IT'S TRUE! If you hadn't have had softened the ground that supports then the bakery…"
"ENOUGH BOYS!" Their father yells with a crack of thunder that crackles throughout the room, "IS THIS THE HOPE I LEAVE MY KINGDOM TOO!" The boys stop and look at their father. They all seem to be perked up now perplexed by their fathers words.
"Father, what does that mean...we have many years left of training before we are at the point where we can even consider taking the kingdom," Illia says in a sincere manner, everyone knew that Illia desired the throne as much as his other brothers, but he still loved his father dearly, and didn't wish to be the king until he was deemed worthy by his father. The room fills with a sense of grim and dread as the boys stare in a dense silence at their father, their king. The king returned to his seat, let out a long sigh with his eyes looking down at the table before him, then lifted his gaze to his family. Jay had seen many looks in his father's eyes over his life, but this one he had never seen. The look his father gave was one unknown to the kingdom, the nobles, or the royal family. The king held defeat in his eyes.
"It seems that the above one is calling me to him," the king says. The boys look at each other. The four eldest have a look of shock on their face, but Jay doesn't seem to share their demeanor.
"What do you mean he is calling you to him. Did he contact you?" Jay is more curious at the prospect of being able to explore the realm of the sky. They all look at Jay with saddened eyes, none of them have the heart to try and explain their fathers words to their youngest brother. The king stands once more and walks calmly to where Jay sits. In an odd manner, His father kneels before him to be at a level height with Jay.
"Jay, do you know what it means to lose one's magic…" he asks Jay as he takes Jay's hand in his. Another sign of tenderness that Jay doesn't recognize.
"Of course, when someone loses their magic they are rewarded by the one above by getting to join him in the sky realm for returning the magic that was once his." Jay says feeling proud that he can look smart and cool in front of his brothers and father. His father smiles:
"That is correct Jay," he grabs Jay's hand a little tighter, "And it appears that the same has begun to happen to me. Once my magic is fully depleted, I will join the one above." Jay finally began to understand. The sly proud look he once held now turns to a look of despair and confusion rolled into look of disgust upon Jay's face. All of his family was dancing around the word he really meant; death. Jay looked around at his brothers, none of them would meet his eye line, except Illia. He just simply nodded at his brother, confirming Jay's fear.
"No…" Jay said silently, "Dad please no!" The word "dad" hung in stillness within the room. None of the princes had called their father dad but a couple of times in their life, and each time it had been a moment of claiming their father as more than just a figure, but as a person who was dear to them. To the young princes, the word father commanded power, and while they did recognize him as their caregiver, he always was a king to them. All the brothers may be completely different and have different mentalities, but they were all bound in a common belief that their father was as stable as the sun. Each of them knew that when they rose in the morning and went to bed at night he would be watching over them. While he was never the type of father that would tuck them into bed, or read them a story to help them sleep, that never made him lesser in the boys minds. He was what they wanted their father to be, dependable; an ideal example of what a king and just generally good person should be. Never was he someone that claimed perfection, and the boys knew his flaws, how he could be overcome by his wraith or stubborn to his desires; but despite this their father always strived for perfection. The people of Illverstand referred to him as "the True Phoenix" believing that he would rise to meet any challenge. The idea that their father, the king, they all wanted to strive to be, would be gone forever...was too much for them to take.
Jay grabbed onto his father's hand tighter and began to let tears stream down his face. Illia was the first one to speak up trying to be optimistic, "is there nothing at all that can be done?" The king shook his head with a no.
"My fate is my fate, I must accept its course," he said, he had resolved himself to die from the moment he heard the news. His own stubbornness would not let him accept any other fate. However, Jay didn't accept this notion.
"Dad!" He yelled once more, trying to get through to his father. "I can help you! If your magic is depleting I can find a way to make you gain it back! The Chromatic it…"
"Jay, please you are too young," his father protested.
"But dad if I could just get more samples of the gems…" Jay continued.
"Jay you have to listen to…" his father started but was interrupted by Jay's speech getting louder.
"If I can find a way to release the magic within the chromatic into your body then I could possibly restart…" Jay is interrupted by Tyrius slamming his fist on the table.
"You ignorant little brat! Can't you see that there is nothing to be done! Stop being a bother! A child such as yourself cannot and will not ever be able to save him so why don't you JUST STAY SILENT AND PLAY WITH YOUR ROCKS LIKE THE IDIOTIC CHILD YOU ARE!" The room fell silent after Tyrius's words. Everyone in the room thought that their father would reprimand his son for his harsh words, but instead he kept his focus on Jay. Jay sat as a statue with his mouth agape, tears streamed down his cheeks. Not a word came from Jay after this, the room stung with intense anger that came from Tyrius. Lalend and Euctis were uncommonly silent, Illia seemed to be in denial of the entire thing. Eventually after a time the silence was broken as the king rose to assume his position once again.
"I must choose my successor, as I do not know how much time I have," The king would not look towards his sons.
"Father we are not entirely sure this is all going to happen as you say, do we really need to worry about who will succeed you at this time?" Illia asked with a slight wavering in his voice. Jay had no interest in continuing on with the current conversation. He stood and in an instant ran out of the throne room. No one chased him, nor was there hesitation to stop him. The last thing Jay heard before he was completely out of earshot, was his brother arguing over the crown; finally showing their true intentions. Jay burst into his room, a large place that looked more like a library that happened to have a bed in it. He slammed the door behind him and fell to his knees as he accepted the loneliness that his room was filled with. Jay thought about his mother, thought about the times she would read to him, how she was always so loving and caring, but how she also was a powerful queen. Then Jay began to think of his father, the symbol of stability in his life. In the course of just about two years, Jay was close to losing the two most influential pieces of his life. He never got to say goodbye to his mother, and he had no desire to say goodbye to his father. Jay looked up from his knees and through blurry tears could see the chromatic on his bedside table. He wiped his face and stood to approach the gem. He touched the rough edges that mixed with the smooth glassy beauty. Jay couldn't help but feel like this gem represented his parents well; his father being a rough stable surface while his mother was a serene beauty had held deep power inside. Underneath the gem was a worn out version of his favorite book. A collection of stories about a man named Albert Einstein: a sorcerer from another world that was not born with power, but used what he called science to rise to a place of prominence, that would later bring peace and redemption to his world. Jay looked at the book as tears ran down his face and soaked little spots on fhr cover. Jay look at the smiling face of Dr. Einstein on the cover, holding the world in one hand, and peace in the other.
"Dr. Einstein, can I save my dad just as you saved your world?" Jay said solemnly. With this question he resolved himself to match his father's stubbornness against his own. While still crying harder than he ever had before, Jay began to research how the Chromatic worked.
5 years later…
In the five years since hearing of their fathers illness, each of the princes of the kingdom changed drastically. A vacuum of power had grown in each of their souls that they sought to fill in different ways. They all desired to feel like the world had stability once again. Since the king's announcement to the princes, the king himself became reclusive. He was there for his family but let the nobility and such take care of the day to day. He seemed normal in the beginning but the cracks started to form in his persona not long after. Any amount of using his magic would leave him vastly weak, completely draining him to the point of spitting up blood. The king had always had a large magical capacity but as he no longer was able to regenerate magic, the amount he had left inside him was the only thing keeping him alive and even that reserve was leaking out. To the point that after five years, the king was now bed ridden with his magic constantly leaking out of him in what looked to be a blue and gray colored steam. The brothers didn't know how much time their father had left, and the three eldest rarely went to see him. Illia, Lalend, and Euctis all saw their father as more of an ideal than an actual man, so to go and see the husk that their ideal had turned into was not something they sought. Tyrius went to see his father every once and while to check on him, Tyrius always excelled at magic detection and kept watch over his father's condition. Jay saw his father more often than the rest. He would go and read to his father or just be by his side, at that time he began to see his father as more of a human than he had before. They would talk about each other's lives and Jay heard many stories of his father's younger days. Jay was heartbroken to be losing his father, but it got worse as they became friends. The king still had yet to choose his successor and the four eldest brothers all did their part to try and prove their worthiness. The princes were never called to their father's side in all this time, and they all held an unjustified notion that the first one to be called by their father would be the one to be crowned king.
Illia in those five years turned from following in his father's footsteps to trying to become a worthy king himself. He wanted to differentiate himself as being a part of the king's shadow, to showing the kingdom that he was the crown prince, one day ruler. He no longer had time for his brothers and didn't go and explore with Jay anymore. Instead, he would say a quick hello to his brothers in the morning, then be off throughout the kingdom trying to help where he was needed. The other brothers besides Jay called his actions "campaigning" believing that all he was doing was only for the purpose of trying to be recognized as a worthy king by their father. However, as Jay grew older and his wisdom grew, he believed that his brother was just trying to reclaim the stability he once lost and becoming dependable and being his own rock to stand on. The other eldest seem to alienate Illia from them, so Jay took great pleasure in seeking out his brother and just talking to him. He didn't want to completely lose his connection with him, and although they no longer were explorers together, they did enjoy the little time they got to chat.
Lalend became very focused on the public's opinion of him. He would often be found at taverns and parties showing off his storm magic to the people there. Many of the citizens around the kingdom had begun to call him "the commoners king" as he was entertaining and charming. The king no longer went out in the kingdom to wow people with his magical affinity, so Lalend filled that role nicely and received praise for his ability. In contrast to Illia, he found comfort in other people being around at all times rather than trying to be okay with himself. Jay would often hear a commotion at night and leave his room to find his brother having knocked over furniture in a drunken state or sneaking a girl back to his room. Jay took a lot of sympathy in Lalend over all the other brothers, and while they never communicated directly, Jay would often leave him a small breakfast or bring him a blanket for when he fell asleep in the less ideal parts of the castle.
Euctis was focused on day to day affairs in the kingdom. He put his wit and understanding of economics to good use as he assisted the nobles in keeping the kingdom stable. Of the brothers, Euctis was the only one that seemed to leave the kingdom. He would often have meetings and soiree with other allied kingdoms, hoping to maintain a good relationship with them as transitions were being made in Illverstand. No one besides the princes knew of the king's condition, Euctis was one of the main reasons for that. He had convinced the other rulers that his father had wanted him to take a more prominent role in the political side of the kingdom, so he was handling such affairs. The other kingdoms took great pleasure in helping Euctis grow, adopting him as one of their own. He found a family in them that he wasn't found at home. He often preferred to be gone and spent as little time in Illverstand as he could, he couldn't stand the feeling as if the castle was haunted by his father's ghost. He never bothered to actually see his father, he accepted his father's resolve to die. His only hope was that his father would make the logical choice and hand over the kingdom to him, because he could keep the kingdom in good hands. Lalend and Euctis rarely saw each other. Jay would see them out in the courtyard every once in a while, sparing or having a serious conversation. Laughter was no longer a part of their repertoire, the only signs of amusement where sideways smiles. Jay would find time while Euctis was home to talk to him about his travels. While Euctis had little interest in Jay, he did have a desire to recount the world outside their kingdom. Euctis would show his passionate self as he talked about vast types of magic and different magical creatures in these different kingdoms. Jay only ever gave simple replies and would smile as his brother filled the void between them with talks of a wide grandeur.
Tyrius was the most elusive of them all. He would lock himself away from weeks at a time, working on different projects and experimenting with his magic. Sometimes Tyrius would get in little tiffs with his brothers as they came to complain about him experimenting loudly late at night. Much was unknown of his activity as all he ever seemed to do was leave for maybe an hour or two every couple of weeks, come back to his room, and go see his father three times a week to give him a check-up. Tyrius had a couple of friends, more like colleagues, that would come around and disappear into his room/sanctum. They weren't friendly and seemed rather odd when the brothers would see them in different places around the house. Lalend once caught a girl in a dark hood trying to break into the cellar for some Ale. He sent a bolt of lightning that narrowly missed her head and a few seconds later Tyrius appeared from one of his portals asking Lalend why he was trying to harm his guest. This occurrence caused the most ruckus the old castle had seen in years as Lalend and Tyrius argued over how to treat guests. It ended with Lalend begging Tyrius to give him his Ale back after Tyrius trapped it in a pocket dimension. None of the brothers truly knew what he was doing, and none of them cared to disturb him. Jay would see Tyrius every once in a while as he was on his way to see his father. They never spoke, never even registered each other's existence. Since the day that the news was told to them Jay had not once wanted to confront his brother, not seeing a need to converse with each other when it didn't seem that either had an interest in the other. Jay figured that the way he could help Tyrius the most was by staying out of his life.
Jay was often in his room studying the gems he now called Congems, a mix of the words conduit and gems. He studied the chromatic over the years as well as the second gem he had found he called a Vermillion. While the Chromatic stored magic the Vermillion took the magic away. Depending upon the size of the vermillion it would negate all magic that was in its immediate area; an area of about two feet that would be overwhelmed if the magical force against it was too strong. In his studies he began to understand more about his own telekinesis as well. He found that when he moved an object with his mind, he was only able to move them in solitary directions. Meaning that if he had a book on his desk and he was on the other side of the room, him moving the book towards himself with his mind would keep the book at the same height as the desk. He could not move it up or down and even back in the direction it came. If he wanted to move the object in any other direction, he had to release his telekinesis and then change the direction after it had touched the ground. He found it very frustrating that he could not overcome this hurdle but in contrast discovered that he excelled at other parts of his telekinesis. He found that depending upon the size he was able to levitate multiple objects in the air at the same time, with his max being that he was able to hold ten books in the air at once. Upon trying to add an eleventh, he passed out from the strain. He also discovered that he could accelerate and stop objects in mid air. He tested this by having one of the maids throw a knife at him, to which after much fuss from the maid he impressed by stopping the knife in mid air. Much to his own amazement, he was able to move around the knife while it was frozen, and then cause it to move with even more force than before in the same direction it was going.
The brunt of his research was focused on learning about the chromatic. He had lost much of his childhood idealism as he delved further and further into the mysteries of the gem. He no longer went out to explore, unless it was for finding research materials. While he enjoyed exploration he found it unnecessary to focus on any research that did not revolve around finding a way to save his father. Jay believed he was close to coming to some form of an answer. The Chromatic was able to hold magic according to its size around a time of about two weeks before all the magic would leak out. Also it didn't matter what type of magic was inserted into the chromatic, the gem glowed the same color no matter the magic type. He tested this by having many of the guards and housekeepers around the castle practice their magic on the different Chromatics he had collected. At one point, Jay found a Chromatic that was about 20 times larger than the one he found the first time he fell in the hole. Through testing on this particular gem, he learned that the chromatic is actively stealing from the person that is casting magic upon it. After holding this large gem, he called it "Fat Boy" after one of Albert Einstein's experiments that saved humanity, for some four hours; he eventually passed out with a bloody nose from the magic being consumed from his body. The only trouble Jay truly had was figuring out how to move magic from the chromatic into a source. When the chromatic was cut with a knife or some other form of magic, it only ever released a magical steam, but there appeared to be no way to transfer the magical steam into someone else to give them the magic that was stored within. Jay had been trying to figure out this dilemma for the past two years to no avail. These gems had become his obsession and he believed that by figuring out what secrets they held, he could gain an understanding of magic that no other had ever seen before.
The rest of the kingdom of Illverstand had not seen the king in all the five years that he had been sick. The different roles that the princes played for their own selfish integrity had a positive effect upon the kingdom. While each prince sought a return to stability, the kingdom was saved from that instability by the actions of the princes. However, the source of further instability would also come from a prince as well.
-
Jay lays on his bed holding one of his Chromatics over his head. His room was scattered with Red and Blue gems, but the red ones were definitely farther away so that Jay would not be affected by their ability. Jay studied the gem hoping that by simply looking at it, he might be able to understand the secrets that still where elusive to him. A knock came at his door and he attempted to use his telekinesis to open the door, but the Vermillions of various sizes that were near the door glowed red negating his magic. Jay rolls his eyes and drops the Chromatic into his hand, placing it on the table as he gets up from his bed to open the door. He expected to find Hector or one of the other servants around the house, but was pleasantly surprised to see Illia when he opened the door.
"Illia? What are you doing I expected you to be out in the kingdom by now helping with whatever Lalend probably destroyed last night while partying?" Jay says half joking
"Ha, funny enough, Lalend actually set Lakar's shop on fire last night when he was 'showing off his lightning'" Illia puts up air quotes around "showing off his lightning" but his tone conveys more happiness to have a job than annoyance with his brother. "I was just about to head out when I heard that Father has been talking to the nobles today." Illia said with slight worry on his face. Their father hadn't bothered to talk to the nobles in the last year or so, giving everything over to Euctis to handle, so it was particularly odd to have him calling them to him today.
"You think he's preparing to name his successor?" Jay asked.
"I think it is odd. I wanted to see if he had said anything to you, your the only one who really talks to him." Illia was trying to be sly but Jay could tell that Illia wanted to know if their father had mentioned any names when it came to who his successor would be. Jay considered this for a second then played it off as a joke.
"Yeah, he said Tyrius was the only logical explanation due to his aptitude towards kindness and loving others. You know what a social butterfly he can be," Jay said chuckling. Illia smiled, accepting the facetious answer.
"You know over the last couple of years I always thought to myself 'wow Tyrius really does display the actions a king is associated with," Illia said in a serious tone. Jay's face turned to a frown.
"How so…" Jay was not entertaining his brother's notion.
"He is hard to reach and carries himself as above everyone else, not even willing to take an interest. That sounds like most kings to me," Illia says, holding back a laugh. Jay let his face loosen at his brother's reply and let out a short laugh at his brother's joke. "Come on," Illia says, gesturing to Jay, "let's go get some breakfast Jayfifth, I heard that Elorin is making us biscuits with blood sausage." Jay's mouth immediately began to water. The two of them began to head down the hall from Jay's room that led to the stairs, anticipating the meal they would get to enjoy, when a loud voice interrupted their morning.
"I'm sorry boys but I am going to have to have breakfast waiting for you," said the voice of Hector coming up the stairs. He looked at the two boys with a serious look in his eye.
"And why is that Hector," Jay asked, unable to perceive his serious demeanor. Hector stayed silent for a moment, staring deeply at Jay.
"Your father has called for you," Hector says. Jay looks at Illia with excitement, of all of his brothers, he wanted Illia to receive the crown the most.
"This is great news! Illia you are going to be father's successor, we all knew it of cou…" Jay's speech is halted by Hector putting up his hand to halt him.
"I am sorry for the misunderstanding, he didn't call for Illia, he called for Jay B. Cornelius. Fifth in line to the throne." Hector doesn't change his serious demeanor. The top of the stairs where they stood now held a thick air or awkwardness. Illia looked down at Jay, Jay didn't move his eyes from Hector. The destiny that had always been foreseen by his brothers, now was being presented at his feet.