Dylan booked a room for himself in the inn after Stephanie went to her room then went to his room as well, he sat on the bed and his thoughts wandered back to the man he met earlier 'who on earth is that man and why does he have the other half of my pendant?', he thought and frowned a little. "Father gave that pendant to me when I was born, he said only the heavenly emperor possesses it and it is passed down form king to king" he thought aloud "how then could that man have the other half when father is the only one who has it" "he has my face and voice, how is that possible" he asked himself "when I get back to the empyrean cloud palace, I would ask father" he concluded.
"What could that demon princess be up to for her to come down to the mortal realm after a war with the heaven realm" he asked himself "and where could she be coming from, I hope she hasn't caused any damage" he said and lay on the not so comfortable bed and closed his eyes which he instantly shot open "why is that woman's face appearing in my head" he thought "why was she with that man" he asked himself and unknowing to him, his hands we slowly turning into fists, he saw it and was surprised as to why his body was reacting this way at the thought of that woman.
'Why was I reluctant to let her go back there, it can't be because of her beauty' he thought 'Stephanie is also beautiful but I've never acted like this towards her, so why towards this strange woman' "I admit she's more beautiful than demon princess though, I've got to meet her again, there's something about her that's making me unsettled" he said and silently stared at the ceiling of the room.
...….
"Mother" Riley called out to Sarah who was sitting in front of her dress mirror when he entered her bedchamber "Riley dear, do you need something" she asked him "I want to ask you something mother" he replied and she stood up to meet him, took his hands then led him to her bed where they both at on the edge "what is son?" she asked "it's about my pendant" he said and Sarah's heart skipped a bit but she hid her emotions and answered him naturally "what about it" she asked "you said only my father possess this pendant and no one can ever get hold of it unless he gives them" "yes, why all of sudden you're asking" "mother, do I have a brother?" he asked and Sarah's heart skipped a few beats not ready for what would be coming next "why do you ask such a question" she asked in a low tone.
"Earlier when I was with Maya, I came across a man who is identical to me, and he wears the other half of my pendant, he even has the same voice as me" he explained and a tear dropped from Sarah's eyes "y...you met Dylan?" she asked stammering "you know his name, mother?" Riley asked surprised as to how his mother knew his name and she started crying "I'm sorry I didn't tell you all this while that you have a twin brother" she said amidst tears and Riley was left speechless "the man you met is most certainly your twin brother, Dylan, since he has the other half of your pendant" she added.
"So you mean the Heavenly Emperor is my father?" Riley asked but got no reply and he took that as a yes "is that why you want me to stay away from the heaven realm?" he asked "yes, the heavenly emperor is your father. I'm sorry you've been kept in the dark all these years" Sarah said still crying "if you can take it, I'll explain the whole thing to you" she added and Riley inhaled deeply to calm himself "I'm all ears mother" he said.
"I was a maid in the empyrean cloud palace, the emperor's chamber to be precise" she started "the emperor took interest in me at a point, and I became his secret lover. We had an affair for quite a while and I became pregnant. He hid me far away from the palace because he didn't want me or the unborn child's life to be in danger" she explained and sniffed a little to clear her voice "when it was time for me to deliver, I had a pair of male twins; one a phoenix and the other a dragon. I was worried for you both so I decided with a heavy heart to leave forever, I took you with me even though I couldn't leave your brother alone" "I had no choice but to go with you, I knew the emperor would find a lie to cover up for Dylan. He wouldn't have been able to do that if you and I were there. I'm sorry son, please forgive me" she explained further and Riley hugged her patting her back slowly, trying to digest what she just explained to him.
"It is okay mother; I understand your decision and you don't need to apologize" Riley said wiping away his mother's tears "do you think your brother would understand me" she asked "I don't know about him mother, but I am always with you no matter what" he assured her "I would like to be on my own now mother, please don't think too much" he added "okay son, no problem" she replied him and he stood up then walked to the door before turning back to face her "I love you mother" he said "I love you too, Riley" she said and he teleported to his bedchamber.
...…
MORTAL REALM
The next morning
Dylan woke up from some sort of weird feelings he felt, when he opened his eyes, the feeling became stronger and he knew something was wrong. He left the inn and saw people running around then he asked a man what was wrong "the kingdom of Silvia is going to attack our kingdom so the king has sent his soldiers to the battlefield to defend us and everyone is ordered to move indoors" the man sad then he went back to his room and changed into his armor magically. As much as he hated helping people, it was his duty as the heavenly crown prince to protect creatures from all realms, including the mortals. He hung his sword on his waist and wore a mask similar to Riley's then teleported to the battlefield.
At the battle field
Dylan reappeared a little far from where the soldiers could see him and he walked towards them like a normal mortal. He walked towards the men who was standing at the frontlines but before he got there, one of them spoke up when he sighted him "commander, it's that weird man" he said to the other man and pointed towards Dylan who finally got to them "I see you've come to help us again" the commander said "what is going on here" Dylan asked coldly causing the men to flinch and feel intimidated by his presence "the Silvians wants to attack us again" the commander said then turned to the other man "Leonard, check on the other soldiers so we can advance" the commander said and Leonard went to carry out his order.
A while later, the Silvian soldiers appeared on the other side of the battleground with their king and commander in front. The Selonan commander ordered to attack and a fierce battle ensued with battle cries being heard from both sides, Dylan was striking hard at soldiers who came his way mercilessly but failed to notice one was about to strike him from behind. The sword was about to cut through his back but was stopped by another sword; the striker stopped and faced the new person who had on the same mask as his old victim. Riley slain the man with just one strike and went to stand beside Dylan then spoke up you should watch your back when fighting in the mortal world, they love to stab in the back" he said and went on fighting, Dylan who recognized the voice simply scoffed and went on with the fight.
Dylan got sick of the silly fight at some point and cast a spell that forcefully stopped everyone from fighting and he walked towards the king of Silvia to question him, Riley quietly watched eager to know what his long lost twin brother was up to. Dylan got to the king then spoke up "Why did you plan to attack the Kingdom of Selona" he asked coldly which intimidated the king "I never arranged that, it was the king of Selona who allied with other kingdoms to attack us unaware and then claim our land afterwards" the king said "what makes you think so?" Riley asked this time walking towards the duo "a witch appeared in my bedchamber and revealed it to me" the king replied and Dylan clenched his fists "Stephanie, I'll make you pay for this demon princess" he said through gritted teeth.
"So this is what Stephanie was up to, but why would she turn two kingdoms against the other" Riley asked himself "whatever she told you was a lie, take your soldiers and retreat" Dylan said and turned towards the Selonan commander "why would she tell a lie" the king asked "she did so for a reason you need not know" he replied without looking back and Riley went to join him "I guess your story would be the same as that king, take your soldiers and retreat. Tell your king he's been lied to" Dylan said to the commander "and yes, tell him not to believe whatever he hears from people who claims to be supernatural. They only want to cause trouble" Riley added and all he got as a response was the commander and his vice looking between him and Dylan in disbelief.
"There are two of you?" Leonard asked confused "what makes you think so?"Dylan asked coldly "your voices are same and your stature makes you look like one person split into two" Leonard replied "thanks for helping us, we'll leave now" the commander said and left with the soldiers, leaving only Riley and Dylan on the field. Something in Riley wanted to talk to his brother and tell him about their mother, but something else told him not to, when he finally decided to talk, Dylan teleported out of there and he did the same back to his home.