A/N: The chapter ahead is raw, which means not been proofread yet nor edited.1
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"What is your life like...on the Other Side?" Duke Paris asked with his hands clasped together.
Lord Feryzen played with the Prinsiaze's hair.
"Decent. We were happy. But as years goes by, younglings dream of going out. They want to spread their wings wide and fly and see the light."
"Why is there no light?" The innocent Prinsiaze asked with sadness.
"The island we inhabit is near the Forgotten Continent. The continent is Veil-infested. It's very dark, always at night without moons. Since they cannot be killed by normal Ancients, they send them there. Your father the Ki'zaar is the one who made that decision. That way, they'd never ever find us because nobody would dare sail or go close to the Forgotten Continent. I strongly opposed it at first, but when it proved worthwhile, I asked for his forgiveness. Still, there were times where bold descents would come and pick a fight with us. The barrier wore off once and we were revealed. Ocean descents found us and immediately spoke words of it. Our archmages activated the barrier again. We stayed and we fought them back. We were outnumbered, but the Veils are right next to us. Our safety is promised."
"As years pass, the numbers of our people gradually grew and so the demand for food. Our resources became scarce. It breaks my heart every time I will hear the cries of the starving hatchlings. Parents would rather give their portions to their children and some never mated so that the younglings they will have won't have to go through the same experience. The only time we can have feasts is whenever we return from battles. We had no choice but eat our enemies to fill our grumbling stomachs. For survival."
Prince Valerian looked down on his clenching fists.
"Don't worry, Gran'pa. We have Mommy. All of us will watch the sunset and everyone will be free to fly in the skies. Mommy will protect everyone because Mommy is very strong and fearsome. I will tell her. She will listen to me. I will fly with my Daddy!"
He wiped the tears that were streaming down his face. He looked at the Lord with resolve and determination; it brought him joy to know that their Prinsiaze is being responsibleand thoughtful.
"He's a very, very big dragon. I bet as a dragon, the nail on his foot is much larger than you," Prince Valor remarked while looking at the Prinsiaze. He's imagining it. The Ki'zaar is even larger than the expanse of their inhabited island. Tales had it that their current Ki'zaar is bigger than his late father.
Prince Valor would often tremble whenever the Ki'zaar flies over him. He's so small compared to him.
Lord Feryzen smacked his shoulder, "Do not dishearten our Prinsiaze like that."
"It's okay, Gran'pa! I will grow very, very big and I will step on Uncle!"
Prince Valor smirked, "Oh, really? We'll see. I will make you cry."
They laughed together. They set it. They will make it happen and the Ancients below will tremble as they see the mythical dragons dancing over their heads.
"I have one," said His Equal when it occurred to her. She's cracking big sunflower seeds with her teeth.
"Of course, Your Divine Almighty. Elders would oft tell us about His Equal who descended from Vanrahim, standing on the head of a majestic, pure white dragon. Ah, I could only leave its mass in my wildest dreams. We call it the Primordial Dragon since it is the very first. That's when the existence of dragon descents emerged, but our descent is the very first descent that can shapeshift into an Ancient. We're very special thanks to our patron Deity."
Lord Feryzen tickled the Prinsiaze.
"Hihihi! Stop, Gran'pa!"
"Vanrahim? You mean, Heaven?" Voltage Xirquit.
The Lord nodded.
"Grampa, Grampa, since you told me stories about my Daddy, I will introduce my brothers to you!"
The Prince looked at Wattroid and opened his hands to him. Wattroid gave him a pen for the table with a smile on his face.
"Brothers?"
"Yep! From different Daddies! And they're all Princes! First, Kuya Zoddy! His name is very cool but it's long. His full name is Zodiac Astrophel Nikolai Xirquit-Warlock! His Daddy is Uncle Watts!"
Prince Valor almost spit the cup of blood he's enjoying when he heard it.
"Pardon?"
The Prinsiaze happily drew a line art of Prince Zodiac. Wattroid guided him about the color functions, that's why the Prince added colors on his drawing.
"This is Kuya Zoddy. He's my favorite brother. He is the first Prince. He's very powerful and bright and beautiful. He's my favorite person and I love him very much. He protects me from Maximilien!"
He drew the third prince with angry red eyes.
"Now, this is Maximilien. His Daddy is that thing Maxigaufeas Vernignac. He's very mean and always angry! But I still love him because I understand him. His guns are scary!"
Next, the fourth Prince, Ivailo Devereux.
"This is Ivy. His name is Ivailo Devereux. He's the cool and prankster type. His voice is mellow but he's very naughty! We don't know about his Daddy's name yet. Ivy likes swords. Fun fact, his Daddy is an amazing sword master!"
Lord Feryzen and Prince Valor gave each other meaningful glances. The Lord shook his head and brought his cup to his lips to drink.
"Lastly, Ambry! Ivy's partner in crime! His Daddy is Ambrose Axeore!"
The Prince flinched upon hearing a shattering noise. When they turned to Lord Feryzen, his fingertips were bleeding and the shards of his glass is on the floor. He was quite...dazed and infuriated.
"She birthed sons of traitors and murderers? All three of them?"
"G-Grampa?"
His eyes turn into a slit as his scales became visible.
It was silver. His scales are silver.
"Is the Mi'zaar a whore?"
Wattroid acted upon reflex and brought the Prince and hid him from the cold-blooded occurrence that took place right in front of him. The Prince shrieked and cried at the same time with Solana. Prince Valor couldn't make a move. His bulging eyes watched as his Uncle's head roll on the floor. Blood is gushing out of his open neck like a fountain.
"I don't want to hear that from a sterile old geezer who couldn't pull a bitch for himself," Azarese entranced while moving her shoulder in circles. She came alone. Though in the same dress, it was wrinkly and the hems were even torn.
There were bite marks and love marks all over her. Lots on her neck and shoulder and back. Franchetti Xerene couldn't stand the sight of it. Her sons were defiled, forced in some way, and so she thought.
She stood behind Prince Valor, few steps away from his Uncle. She gave Priedo a look and tilted her head to side, and the panicking Priedo went down to his knees to pick up the Lord's head and attach it to his neck. The Lord healed in a second. He was touching his neck as he was gasping roughly for air.
"What do you know about me, other than I am the 'Sun' that fell from the heavens, the Mi'zaar who ran away and left her husband in the brink of his death, with his heir? And this heir of his, she never knew it existed but now?"
Lord Feryzen pushed himself back. The whites of his eyes were red and he's still coughing.
She shortened the distance between them and caressed the Lord's cheek, "Is my value and worth as a lady lessen every time I will bed a man, Feryzen?"
When the Lord tried to turn his head away, she grabbed his jaw so tight, slowly crushing his bones.
"Were you not taught that you must be acquainted with your enemies first to find their weakness? Unlucky you, my weakness is your weakness, too. My son."
She pulled him close to her smiling face and stated, "Insulting me is the same as insulting your Prince. My sons are Princes, future Emperors of their respective names, heirs to the crowns and thrones. You should be afraid of me. I possess three of this universe's ultimate powers: firstly, the Creation Bloodline; secondly, my appearance; and lastly, the instruments to produce sons: a vagina and a womb. Upset me, I dare you. I'll see to it that your Ki'zaar and my son will be the only surviving dragons in your descent."
She released him, leaving him with a broken jaw. She returned to her seat and opened her arms to receive her son.
"Were you scared, my baby? I'm sorry you had to see that. You should get used to seeing blood. Someday, I'll teach you the arts of torture." She pet his head and snuggled him.
"You're such a cutie patootie."
"Torture is scary. I'm fine with bloodshed, but I don't want to hurt people myself."
She wiped the tears in his eyes with her gentle thumbs.
"Spectator, you are. That's good, too." She boop his nose and chuckled. She straightened her back and looked at Wattroid.
"Tell the other two that we will begin the conversation. Also, give them healing potions. I ate them good."
***
Ohms sat beside her. His clothes now is a casual fitted shirt and jogging pants, that's why his tattoos from his hands to neck are exposed. His expression is not serious, not blank either. Somehow, he looked refreshed and calm. If it's another person, they would've felt conscious, ashamed, and uncomfortable from the gaze his parents and uncles are shooting him. Ohms feels very cool and shook it off, not saying a word about what they did.
On the other, his brother is quite the opposite. He's flushed in a bight red blush. He couldn't look at anyone in the eye. His movements are very clumsy and Azarese is having fun watching him. He's so cute when he couldn't hide her effect on him. She's both a bad and good type of drug: she makes him happy and delusional.
"Watts, how about you breathe?" Ohms sighed. They spent the entire 10 minutes watching him distract himself and it distracts them.
He gasped and his face became redder when he remembered what they did after looking at his brother.
"Mommy, what's wrong with him?" The Prince asked, sitting on his mother's lap.
"He's in love with me." She grinned, teasing him. He cupped his own face.
"I'm sorry. L-Let's begin. I…I have created a plan and…and everyone is free to share their thoughts about it until it's perfect."
The thoughtful Wattroid made him drink a cup of tea first before proceeding. The tea soothe him down almost instantly.
"To put it simply, we originally had a plan already about going to the Other Side to rescue Uncle Max's sister. We also learned that Daro was there, and now, Prince Maximilien. So, I propose that we move in groups. Mom, Dad, and Uncle Paris will be the ones to rescue Aunt Aviana, King Liorei will search for his father, while we will look for Prince Maximilien and meet the Ki'zaar."
They all shift their stares to Azarese who's braiding the Prince's hair with a smile. The Prince is listening but he's drawing pictures on the table.
"I know you heard me then, Uncle. I don't want to do that anymore," he asserted, final.
"But Prince, not to disobey you but… Uncle Max is a family to us. You may not like his son, Maxigaufeas, but I promise you, you will like him. Give him a chance. Them. And it's what your mother wanted, too. I mean Golden Azarese, if you know her. She said that Uncle Max is an important piece. There's a reason why she wanted him ALIVE. Prince, you're kind. Let us have this chance. We will prove you that we are the people you're looking for," he convinced so effectively that it wavered the Prince's principles.
"You have power, but the power to make their lives miserable lies on your brother."
Prince Valerian dropped the pen on the table. They flinched. He looked back to his mother.
"What do you think, Mommy? Should we help them?"
Their hearts skipped a beat.
Azarese looked into his eyes. Her smile became sweeter and softer. She caressed his cheek gently. She's done braiding the Prince's hair and it's neat.
"No. Not gonna happen. But you, it's on you. What do you think is the best? You'd be a Ki'zaar someday. How would you answer to this matter, Your Imperial Majesty?"
The Prince's eyes sparkled. He looked down and saw his drawing. A family. Him, his brothers, their mother, his father, and Watts Xirquit.
Their fingers were crossed.
"But what will be of Maximilien? He's a wandering soul with a consciousness. The world's nature will destroy him. I don't want to leave him in our sanctuary, behind the door. That will make him sad."
Azarese kissed his head,"You're bright. That will be mine to handle. Mommy is a creator; I will create a body for him, for your brothers. Leave it to me. I'll kiss you."
Prince Valerian chuckled when she rained kisses on his cheek.
"Here too, Mommy!" He pointed his other cheek.
Ohms Xirquit grimaced, "Did you…wash yourself before doing that?"
"Of course. I'm clean. What made you think that I'll kiss him after giving you both a blow---"
He covered her mouth before she could finish it.
"Never in my life did I hear my mother say something like that in front of any of us. You should learn from her."
Azarese slapped his hand away and nodded with a smile on her face. It disturbed them.
"Sure! She should teach me, too, how to stand like a statue and walk away with a peaceful mind after witnessing rape and abuse. Right, mother-in-law?"
Franchetti Xerene stiffened.
Ohms didn't mean to get her attacked like that. He meant to honor her way of parenting but some bitch knew how to ruin a party.
"We'll do as you said then, Uncle. Maximilien is their executioner, not me." The Prince has decided, bringing relief to their chest but it's still heavy because of what Azarese have said.
Watts cleared his throat and proceed.
"The time flow in my office is different from the one outside. We must go prepared and my lab will provide us everything we will need. The Other Side is unknown to us, but the Prince believe that his mother and King Liorei may withstand whatever is beyond it. I would like to hear the Prince's thoughts about why he thought so, and his blood relatives' story on how they got out and what were there,"
Prince Valerian made drawings again. Skadi Eira yawned and looked at Wattroid. It's like he read her because he gave her a pen, too, and she started scribbling.
"The moons told me. But that was just him. I know Mommy. She's the strongest and the coolest."
"Aww, my baby. You're making me happy." She gave his son snuggles of love and kisses. The Prince was happy, too.
"The moons? You can converse with the moons, my Prinsiaze?"
Lord Feryzen said with hesitation. Azarese successfully injected fear in his veins.
The Prince nodded, "Hmm. They're the ones who told me where Daro is, too. They said their sisters on the Other Side told them."
Azarese smiled down on him when he looked up to her again to ask for her approval. She didn't like King Liorei. He doesn't want to betray her. But her smile said that she trusts his judgment. She have faith in him.
Lord Feryzen's eyes shift to King Liorei. He's taking the meeting seriously and he's also upset and angry. The vibe he's giving off told him so.
"Why?" The Lord blurted out of the blue when he meant to say it just in his head. That's why when the King glared at him, he looked away and gulped.
"What do you mean 'why'?" King Liorei.
Lord Feryzen cleared his throat.
"Why would the moons talk about you? You're merely the son of Daro. The Deity that created him is the enemy of the moons' mother. I don't see his relation to them?"
Prince Valerian heard the darkness outside the big windows whisper.