"Caretaker?" I asked. "What am I? Five?" How funny, I thought. My pet was named Sholto, and now my "caretaker" is too.
Vanitas ignored my question. "Yes, caretaker. He will teach you how to control your habit of falling into visions." He shoved my new "caretaker" forward, and disappeared amongst the people.
"So." Sholto began.
"Stay at least five feet away. Got it? I don't know why Vanitas think's I need someone to take care of me, but I can handle my problems myself." I walked as fast as I could from Sholto.
I caught up with the others and grabbed my ticket from Vanitas. "You're quite slow, you know that?" A voice said behind me. I jumped a few feet.
Sholto looked at me. "Jeez. Kill me now, why don't you?" I told him.
He scoffed. "Calm down. I'm not in the mood to do something like that yet." I paled at what he said. Yet? What was that supposed to mean?
"Hurry up Oni," Eli pushed me. "We're going to lose the plane if you keep standing here like this."
When we walked into the plane, we didn't stop to sit in any of the seats. "Just a question," I asked. They didn't stop. "Why aren't we sitting in any of these seats?"
"Because we aren't sitting here." Vanitas said, opening a curtain to reveal the first-class section.
My friends and I all stared in awe. "B-but we can't afford any of this!" Mune exclaimed.
Vanitas waved it off. "This isn't your money we're using. It's Yuuto's." He turned and blocked us. "So, here's how it's going to go. Mune, Lina, you guys are together-" The twins high-fived. "-Eli and Zane-" They did a fist-bump. "-Jay and Crimson-" They didn't seem to care. "-Nico and Ash-" They tried not to look at each other. "-Finally, Oni and I. Sholto, You can stay with me if you want. If not, you can stay with anyone else."
He shook his head. "I'll stay with Nico and Ash."
"Alright. So, your things are at your spots. You'll know when you see them. Don't leave your room after eight, and try not to touch the champagne if you can." He eyed Eli and Jay.
When Vanitas told us our spots were where our things were, I didn't think they would be stacked on both sides like a jenga tower.
"Your things stay on your side, got it?" Vanitas ordered.
"Sure thing." I began hiding my bags behind my seat and layed down.
"Don't sleep yet!" He said. "Put on your seatbelt before joining your visions."
"Okay, dad." Vanitas rolled his eyes.
"You're welcome, son." He retorted. Someone snickered in front of us. Vanitas got up and shooed them. "Go away Ash! Don't you have somewhere to be with Nico?"
"Alright. I'll stop, dad." Ash giggled before running.
"Ashrin!" He yelled. A few people began to look in our direction. I put on my seatbelt and drifted off to sleep, hoping no one would bother me again.
When I woke up, I wasn't on the plane seat, but on an actual bed. Now who am I? Am I Eli? Zane? Vanitas?
There was a knock on the door. "Sir?" A voice spoke on the other side. "Sir, are you awake?"
I rubbed my eyes. "I'm up, Lani." I croaked. It sounded raw and sore, like my father's voice the day of the funeral.
"Sir, your brother has requested you to come downstairs and have breakfast." Lani ordered.
I hesitated, before answering. "I-I don't feel good. I'll pass."
"Alright. But you must get ready to meet the Kasai's. They are expected to come in an hour or so."
"Okay." I sat up and hugged my knees. A few minutes later, my eyes began to tear up, anger filling my mind.
"Even after what has become of our father, he still acts like a fool." I quickly rubbed my eyes and threw off the covers to get dressed. It took me a few minutes, but I managed to dress myself in formal attire. They seemed like prince clothes, all royal and stunning, and were really comfortable. But when I looked in the mirror, my jaw dropped.
A boy with black hair looked at me with yellow and red irises that glowed in the dark. I felt broken, angry, and utterly useless while I looked at my reflection. I didn't know why, but this boy reminded me of Nico.
I fixed my obsidian hair into a ponytail, and tried to give a smile to my reflection, but it didn't seem to reach my eyes. After a while, I gave up on smiling and placed a crown on my head. Judging from the weight, I guessed it to be made from pure gold.
I opened the door to see a woman with neon blue shoulder length hair, and a sky blue suit. The woman smiled at me. "For a minute I thought I had to get you out of there." She joked.
I shook my head. "You don't have to be here, Lani. Shouldn't you be with Elias?"
Her smile faded. "It's my job to take care of all the members of the royal family, you know this very well."
"I'm just saying that because he's the king now, not me."
"What about me being king?" A voice said to my right.
I turned to see a boy older than me with amber hair wearing a bigger crown and looked at me with piercing emerald eyes.
I flinched and looked down. "Nothing, Elias. Just that Lani should be with you instead of me."
Something seemed to flick in Elias's eyes. His hard, icy stare immediately changed into a soft, comforting one. He came up to me and hugged me tightly.
At that time, I felt comfortable in the silence. My arms slowly rose and wrapped them around my brother. I wanted to smile, but I didn't seem to have any energy to do so. Lani stood there, looking at us in shock. I wonder why.
After a while, we pulled away. Elias looked at me kindly, before ruffling my hair. "Argh! Elias, you jerk! I just fixed it!" I whined, quickly fixing his mess. Lani smiled at us.
"Just when I thought you two could finally get along like you do with Kody." She commented.
I scoffed. "Like that would ever happen." Elias's playful smile never left his face.
"Well, I'll see you later, lil' bro."
"I thought you said you'd never call me that." I grumbled. He left with Lani to God knows where, while I made my way to what looked like the dining room.
What was I doing here? I thought I said I wasn't going to have breakfast. I picked up two apples from the fruit bowl at the center of the table and left the room as quickly as I could.
I zipped past many maids and butlers, hiding the apples behind me so I wouldn't get caught. Eventually, I stopped at a random door. Quietly, but very quickly, I knocked on the door. A boy around the age of twelve opened the door and pulled me in.
"What are you doing here?" The boy asked. "I thought you were going to go with your brother to the meeting."
I raised an apple to his face. "Thought you needed something to eat, Kody." I smiled. Kody snatched the apple from my hand and quickly demolished it to a core.
"H-hey! Don't eat too fast! You could choke!" I warned. He didn't seem to care, however. He threw the core to a corner and sat himself in front of a desk full of papers.
I glanced at some of the titles. "What are you working on?" I asked. "Not that I truly care or anything."
"They're notes about each planet's history." He answered.
"Why? We were only fighting Drakon, not everyone."
He turned to look at me. "Learning about each planet's past can possibly reveal who is our enemy or ally. Take Delta for one. The ruler of that planet is brothers with the King of Drakon. The Queen of Drakon is the daughter of the ruler of Carthya."
I shook my head. "It doesn't matter anymore. Elias and King Hikari have decided to end this war by holding a peace meeting. In order to prevent more bloodshed, we cannot treat them as enemies, but as guests."
Kody scoffed. "You know, sometimes I wonder how idiots like you and Elias were born to be Lorian's future kings." He yawned, and jumped on what looked like his bed. "Whatever. I'm going to take a nap."
"But it's eight in the morning. That's way too early for a nap."
"You took naps at seven-thirty an entire week, you hypocrite. Each one was at least four and a half hours long. And besides, you barely eat nowadays. I still do. And, you-"
"Alright, alight, I get it. Just-" I hesitated. "Don't do anything stupid while I'm gone." I put the other apple on his desk and left the room.
"Took you long enough." A voice said behind me. I flinched. "Relax, it's just me."
I turned to see Lani standing at the door, waiting for me. "Are they already here?"
She nodded. I sighed. "Let's get this over with." A bright light shines in front of my face, blocking my view.
My eyes slowly peeled open to see Vanitas staring down at me. "You're alive. How nice." He said.
I sat up and rubbed my eyes. "Are we there yet?" I asked.
"Nope. Not even halfway." He relaxed in his seat. "We just took off."
"Hey, you're awake!" A voice yelled behind me. I looked up to see Lina smiling back at me. "Wanna play a game with us?"
I shrugged. "What are you playing?"
"Some game called 'Llama-dama-ding-dong'. I don't exactly know what to do in the game, but it's better than letting your bones get stiff and all."
Vanitas turned to look at us. "I'll play."
I got out of my seat and stretched. "I might as well."
"Great! Let's go then."
~~~
"On second thought, I'll get something to eat." I said, staring at the group of people with cards in hands, and a cowbell in the middle.
"Count me in," Jay exclaimed. "I'm starving!"
"Didn't you guys have breakfast?" Grai asked.
We shook our heads. "I'm pretty sure you guys can eat something right now." Vanitas agreed. "Just don't take too long, and stay away from the champagne, alright?"
"We won't," I answered, glancing at Jay. He shrugged.
"They might have sent the breakfasts to your seats, so just go to either of your designated spots."
We quickly made our way past the passengers and attenders to Jay's spot, since Mune had eaten and it was the closest.
"Did you ever wonder why first class seats are amazing?" He asked, relaxing in his window seat.
"Um, no? Why do you ask?" I sat beside him and waited for our meals.
"Nevermind." He looked down at his feet. There was silence for a while. "Hey, look I'm sorry. For acting all mean and such."
I shrugged. "It doesn't matter. It's not like it was your fault for getting us here."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, I'm the reason we're all leaving our families to another country for a while." I quietly thanked the attendant as she gave us a plate of food.
Jay dug in. "I guess it was. But, you were only trying to avenge who you thought was your dead brother. If I was in your place, no doubt I would have the same thing for Gina."
I gave him a half-hearted smile. "Maybe, but I treated Karma-"
"-Grai." He interrupted.
"Right. I treated Grai as a child. I didn't let him take any risks for fear of having the same thing happen to him again." I popped a grape in my mouth. "I just annoyed him, like he said I did."
Jay shook his head. "Yeah, right. Sure you were overprotective, but you still let him have fun with us, and we always take risks." He looked outside at the window. "You were just afraid of losing him again."
I shrugged. "Let's not talk about this anymore." I said quickly.
Jay agreed. "Good idea."
We quickly ate our food and ran back as quickly as we could. When we got there,we saw Mune armwrestling Vanitas.
"What's going on here?" Jay asked curiously.
"Well, Mune said that Zane would win, and I bet that he wouldn't. Nico won, so now Mune's trying to arm wrestle Vanitas. Whoever won would go against Nico." I looked at the fight again. Vanitas seemed bored, and almost seemed like he wasn't even trying. "It's been three minutes now. I'm surprised Mune hasn't passed out yet.��
Vanitas yawned. "Alright, let's get this over with." Vanitas let his hand fall and won. "There, now get over here Nico."
Nico stretched, and sat in front of Vanitas. "My hands hurt."Mune complained.
"Your fault for making a bet with your sister, bro," Jay commented. "You said so yourself, she is smarter than you."Mune huffed, and watched the fight with the rest of us.
"Ready?" Grai asked. Both boys put up their arms and clasped them. "Begin!" Nico threw Vanitas's arm to the ground in an instant.
Vanitas let out a breathy chuckle. "Forgot you could do that."
Nico shrugged. "Who's next?"
Grai sat in front of him. "I'll go."
"Please don't," Zane quietly begged.
"Yeah, we don't need the plane to crash." Eli joked.
The two of them ignored us and began. It wasn't even two minutes in when Grai began to cough and forfeit immediately. I was surprised when Nico started acting concerned.
"Hey, you okay?" He asked desperately. "Do you need to change into your original form?"
He nodded quickly, before running away to the bathroom.
After his disappearance, my friends and I began to ask Nico questions.
"Calm down, you four," Vanitas said. "It's alright, nothing bad happened. Ash just overused her strength, that's all."
"What do you mean?" Mune asked.
"Everybody has a certain limit to anything. Same goes for Ash; the more times she shifts, the harder it is to stay in one form for long."
"Then why was she coughing?"
Vanitas sighed. "You ask a lot of questions. When Ash uses too much of her strength, her body begins to suffer from hemoptysis. It doesn't last long, but it's painful."
"Hemo- what now?" Jay asked.
"Hemoptysis." Ash appeared, wiping her mouth with a spare tissue. "It means I cough up a lot of blood."
Lina shuddered. "That sounds disgusting."
Vanitas got up, and stretched. "It is, but the rest of us are used to it." He looked outside from one of the nearby windows. "I think we're halfway there now. You can head back to your seats, if you're hungry."
"It's lunchtime already?" Eli asked. "Man, time flies fast."
Zane nodded. "I guess we could. Besides, I plan to see Ash win when we get to Sonora."
"Thanks for the encouragement." Nico grumbled.
Everyone got up and headed to their seats. I relaxed in my seat and watched the clouds outside.
"Hey." Vanitas said. I tilted my head in his direction. "Have you managed to control your loose screws in your head?"
"Sort of." I mumbled.
He nodded. "Good, because you need to start working on your ice skills."
"What?"
"Ice skills. You know, the thing you did to that Yuuto clone? You used ice."
"Oh . . ." I had forgotten that I could do that.
"From what I saw, you can only control it when you feel a strong emotion."
He spoke.
"Is that a good or bad thing?"
"Bad. You need to be able to control it without feeling something. There will be times when you will be brave, but scared at the same time. With your confused emotions, you won't be able to defend yourself. Your thing with your mind doesn't really help either. One minute, you're chatting with your friends, the next- you're on the floor mumbling stuff."
I felt my face heat up with embarrassment. "It's that important, huh?"
He nodded. "Don't worry, you'll get the hang of it after a while. Think of it as another subject- the more you practice and understand it, the better you'll be able to control it."
He laid his head on the seat and sighed. "You were supposed to learn this back at the building." He mumbled. "But, Yuuto obviously sees something in you that I can't, so I won't complain."
I whipped my head to him. "Yuuto chose me?"
He nodded. "He chose you and your friends. I don't know why. Normally, the leader in any task chooses the people they wish to take. But, like I said, I won't complain."
I was about to ask more when the sun shone temporarily in my eyes, making me forget what I wanted to ask him.
"Well, would you look at that," Someone said in front of me. I looked past their seat to see Ash, Nico, and Sholto, all staring outside their window.
"Um, Why are you staring outside?" I asked uneasily. Sholto turned his head towards my direction.
"We can see a bunch of islands outside." He answered. I don't know why, but I kept feeling as if I knew him from somewhere.
Vanitas peeked out our window. "I think we're almost there."
"Already?!" Someone shrieked behind us. We turned to see the twins in shock. "But we left Romania 5 hours ago."
"And it'll take 7 more hours to reach our destination." Ash commented. "5 hours on the plane, 2 hours on the car."
"So," Mune got up from his seat and looked at all of us. "We'll get there by 1 in the afternoon?"
Vanitas shook his head. "We'll get there by 5 in the evening."
All of a sudden, Crimson stood in front of our seats, a panicked look on her face. "Has anyone seen Jay?" She asked us.
Vanitas groaned, and lazily got out of his seat. "I'm pretty sure I know."
Soon, he and Crimson disappeared. Two minutes later, we saw Crimson dragging an unconscious Jay, light bruises on Jay's face. A minute after that, Vanitas came back and passed out on his seat.
"Hey Crimson, what happened?" Mune asked.
"Well I'm glad you asked." She answered tiredly. "See, when we found Jay, he was near the champagne, which ticked off Vanitas. He was punished, and I lost my headphones for the rest of the trip."
"Serves him right."I heard Mune mumble.
"You guys should rest," She informed us. "If you fall asleep on the rest of this trip, we won't bother to get you back."