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Chapter Text

        Soft winds blew the leaves in the trees around, gentle tussles and rustles as the cool air breeze kissed the tan skin of a lone Prince standing on the balcony of his palace. Today was the coronation for Prince Sunrise. The Prince inhaled the cool air as he brushed his hands against the concrete railing, leaning a fraction of his bodyweight against it. Today was the day, the day he waited for... He knew today the kingdom would change. The people will finally be free from his father's tyranny. Well, 'tyranny' is how Sunrise would have described it. Such cruel punishments for the wrongdoings, such harsh judgements for things that needed a few different options, as the Prince thought. But even with knowing all the power that was to be handed to him, Sunrise still felt as if teeny bugs were crawling everywhere on his body. He felt hyperaware of every last part of himself, and it made him cringe.

"Your Majesty," A calm voice called from behind in the Prince's room "King Creato would like to have a word with you in his chambers,"

Sunrise turned his head to the side, not fully looking at the messenger "Yes, uh, thank you.." he stood up and turned around, smoothing out his scarlet rose cape that draped over his left shoulder. The Prince bowed his head at the servant in thanks before leaving his room to meet father dearest.

As he walked along the halls, Sunrise folded his hands behind his back, his silver eyes casting their nervous gaze to all the glass murals and tapestries. His eyes darted to one in specific, though he forced his eyes closed and looked away, not wanting to recall the day of 'his' demise. 'Oh, brother' Sunrise thought 'If only you weren't so ambitious about becoming King...'

Coming down these halls still had a darkness lingering around. Anyone in the palace could feel it if they had been around for that... horrid day. However, no one was allowed to speak of such a day, as it remained a family secret of what truly happened to the original crowned Prince.

"Father?" Sunrise knocked on the wooden door to the King's room "The servant said you wish to speak?"

"hm, ah- yes, yes, come in, my boy," Came the unpleasantly rough voice from within.

Sunrise turned the knob and pushed open the door, entering a dimly lit room. Sunrise closed the door again behind himself as his eyes looked ahead to meet his father's silhouette. "What was it you wished to speak about?"

"What do you think-?" Creato shot to his son, his sharp crystal blue eyes pinpointing Sunrise. "it's about your coronation. The very one you've been so.. antsy about." he went on, placing both hands on his desk "your gala, specifically. You have yet to make a guestlist, why is that?"

Sunrise took a deep breath, with the plans he had in mind, the plans that the servants were presently prepping for, he knew his father wouldn't like. But this was **his** gala. **He** got to decide what and who is there. "I wish for the entire kingdom to join tonight, father. From the highest nobleman to the lowest servant. I believe it deep within me that everyone should have fun, at least for one night of their lives."

It was all too obvious, no matter how subtle Creato tried to make it. His eye twitched and his fingers pressed into the white oak table. "Father, may I remind you; it was you who had expressly granted me the privilege to invite anyone I desire to come to the night's event. I choose for everyone to come."

"The advisor?"

"Yes,"

"The Knight?"

"Yes,"

"Oh don't tell me you're inviting her?!"

"Yes, father!" Sunrise sighed "I'm inviting the messenger too, no matter how... erm... eccentric, she can be" his silver eyes looked away from his father for a moment. He shook his head and looked back to Creato "Everyone is welcome and free to come. I'm not charging them silver or gold to enter, I'm not forbidding the poor to miss out on such a extravagant event! Father, please.. just for tonight I'd like everyone to attend." Sunrise persuaded.

Creato was silent. His eyes were dark as he stared into the soul of his son, judging him "He was right about you... right since day one." his voice uttered, letting out a small annoyed sigh "very well. I am permitting this only because it is your coronation. Now, begone from my sight.. before I have a change of mind and heart."

Sunrise said not a word more. He left his father's study and back into the hall. Sunrise frowned a bit, glancing at the door before forcing his feet to walk away. He let go of the breath he didn't know he held, walking down the opposite hall he came from, towards the throne room. There were still a few things he had to prepare before tonight.

Once nightfall came, Sun stood atop the balcony within the large gathering. He watched as servants were dishing out silverware, napkins, and other accessories along the perimeter of the room, allowing for space in the middle to dance. From where the crown Prince stood, he got to see every detail within the dining hall. The tiled floor, making out the shape of an eclipsed sun, the golden panels to reflect a sort of glow once the sunset had hit the horizon. The walls were splattered white with golden mantles to hold the burning lights within.

There was a giggle that seemed to snap the Prince out of his trance, a giggle he knew all too well, one that put a smile on anyone's face as soon as they were blessed with the voice of an angel! Well, in this case, it was the Princess. Sun's baby sister.

"Well don't you look nice, dear brother?" Came the charmed, gentle voice of Earth.

Sunrise cracked a pleased grin, glancing down at himself. He was dressed in a white suit adorned with gold embroidery and ruffle around his neck. He puffed his chest out slightly, pleased at his dear sister "Thank you, Earth.. You look stunning yourself," He bowed his head slightly at her.

Princess Earth wore a pink dress with darker swirls around the chest and slightly puffed sleeves that dare not cross lower than her biceps. Her hair was put up into a nice circular braid with two framed strands in front of her ears, and the rest connecting to a bun. Sunrise believed there would be no other maiden quite matching his sister's elegance tonight. That is... if Sunrise wasn't anticipating someone else's arrival.

"Where's Moon and Lunar?" Sunrise asked, looking around his sister "Is Moon calling out again?"

"Oh yes, I'm afraid so.." Earth frowned "He's not ready to come back into the public until he remembers who he was.. his amnesia hit him hard this time." she went silent for a moment as both heirs seem to recollect recent events about their brother's accident. "However, Lunar should be coming out shortly!"

Sunrise nodded again "that's the least we can ask for" he chortled quietly. He glanced behind himself as he began to see guests filing in. He didn't realize his expression shifted until he felt Earth lay her hand on his shoulder.

"Sun.. You're going to make a great King after tonight." She spoke comfortingly, smiling warmly to make her eldest brother feel better.

Sunrise covered her hand over his shoulder and smiled back at her "Yeah, I hope.. but I think it's time this kingdom had a different kind of rule. One with less fear and more... love. Just like those fairytales I've read you when you were still small"

Earth giggled again and hugged her brother close "we all will have so much fun tonight..!" she smiled brightly, her shimmering blue eyes looked down at Sunrise. "Shall we go down and greet our people?" She asked, offering her arm out to him. Prince Sunrise nodded and intertwined his arm with hers, leading his downstairs to the open doors.

As guests filed their way in, Sunrise and Earth greeted each passing townsfolk. It was another half hour until they were joined by the youngest Prince. Lunar helped greet the guests, thanking them for taking time out of their night to come to his brother's big night.

As the night went on, so did the festivities. The dinner came first, the main dishes served on false silver platters, but made clean enough to look real. It felt like an all-you-can-eat buffet! There was a dish for every last patron, from the more carefree eaters to the pickiest ones. The three heirs had their own special table to sit at. There were fits of laughter, waves of communication between tables, and all round just a noisy dining hall. Not too long after the feast came the announcement made by King Creato, himself. The entire gathering watched at the Prince's official coronation came to be. Though Sunrise's silver eyes scanned the crowd, trying to find his person of interest, but had no sight of them. He was almost afraid she wasn't going to show up.

Soon, there was an eruption of clapping and cheer as Sunrise stood up, now as King Sunrise. His eyes didn't focus on any of the people, his eyes were glued to his little siblings who were in the mix. Earth was clapping with the brightest smile in the room, Lunar was practically leaning over the table, waving his fist in the air and chanting 'KING SUN! KING SUN! KING SUN!' which had started a small wave of others chanting the same thing. Sunrise took a few deep breaths in and out, smiling more as he saw how happy everyone was for his coronation.

The night continued on with the last event of the night, the actual party. Dancing. Sunrise stood alone for some time, watching as Earth had danced with the captain guard, Montgomery Gator, Lunar was in tune with the messenger, Lady Pollux. Sunrise still wished Moon could join the night.. but Moon wouldn't have anyone to be here with, even if he didn't have amnesia.

"Your Majesty, I must congratulate you on becoming a King," came a mysterious voice behind Sunrise, making him slowly turn around to see none other than Roxanne Wolf.

"Ah! Miss Wolf!" He exclaimed joyfully.

"That's 'Captain Wolf' to you, Your Highness~" She teased with a snarky grin, wagging her finger at him.

Sunrise laughed softly, his silver eyes looking her up and down, taking in her appearance of a silky maroon dress with a slit coming up to her right thigh, sleeves that looked like a giant scarf hugging her chest and arms with a diamond studded collar with a small star attached to the bottom. "Oh goodness, you.." Sunrise blushed softly as he took her hand into his "You look breathtaking, my dear guard" he purred, kneeling down and raising her hand to his lips.

Roxanne snickered and blew some of her hair away from her face "Oh stand up, you dork.. the night is still young and I have not yet heard a special question be asked."

Sunrise stood to his feet, and bowed his head "of course.. Roxanne Wolf, will you grant me the honor of having a dance with the King?" he grins charmingly at her.

Once she accepted, he guided her out to the floor. As soon as the King was spotted with a partner, a large light from overhead shone on the pair, following them as they danced across the floor. For a moment, Sunrise thought it was true.. he thought that it was only he and this gorgeous creature in the palace alone. He paid no mind to the several sets of eyes watching the King have a dance with a lucky lady. Some thought Roxanne would be their future Queen, others though Roxanne would just be loving all this attention on her, and other opinions were dare not stated.

While all the dancing was going on, Prince Moon couldn't focus on anything. The music was too loud and there were too many voices he couldn't precisely hear. He sighed and closed his book in hand, setting it the side of his bed. He looked to the door. He wished he could be out celebrating his brother's special night, but figured he simply would get details tomorrow. For now, he just remained in his room, alone. He had plenty of books to be accompanied with.

Moon laid back on his bed, hoping the party would soon end. While he was happy for his brother, he personally never enjoyed parties. They were always too loud for his liking, but also a bit too chaotic, in his opinion. He decided to try to sleep off the rest of the night, which the poor prince would soon learn that such a feat is impossible. Looks like Prince Moondrop won't be getting a wink of sleep until the music dies down. He won't be too happy of a camper...

Chapter Text

        Nothing but the sound of turning pages echoed through the massive study hall. A fairly young male with curly icy-blue locks covering his eyes sat in one of the padded chairs, flipping through a few pages. With him was the palace Messenger, Pollux. The ceiling was lit up with some skylights and various other light systems. It was a quiet room, as it usually was. No one aside from the royal family and its servants could be in this palace library. There was so much unnecessary room, however.. that's what Prince Lunar thought, though.

Prince Lunar was the Fourth Prince born under King Creato. The only pressure the young Prince had was his gosh-awful training sessions with Castor. Lunar sighed to himself, glancing up at the other in the room "Finding anything yet..?"

"I'll be honest, Your Majesty.. I, ahm," Pollux blinked and looked up to meet the Prince's gaze "got sidetracked and then completely forgot what we needed" she smiled sheepishly, her yellow eyes darting momentarily away from the Prince.

Lunar shook his head "don't worry about it..." He muttered and closed the book in front of him. He brushed his hand over the velvety cover, half-reading the title. They were supposed to find a book regarding his own family. Though no one knew the library like Prince Moondrop... If only he wasn't still re-educating himself on several studies of his own.

Lunar's eyes caught sight of a book Pollux had in her hands "Hey? What's that you got?"

Pollux didn't react, though still answered the question "one of the older copies... There's so many tears in here, how is this still on the shelves?" She turned her head to the side and looked up, searching for where this book would've been stored "Someone clearly doesn't like it in here..."

That made the Prince laugh as he leaned on his palm, resting his eyes, even if nothing visually changed. Noticing the forest green coloring, the young Prince recognized it. He gave a quiet hum only audible to him.

"What was the book we had to look for again?" Asked Pollux, snapping the Prince out of his thoughts.

"uh.. an old family history book.." he responded "I don't think Father ever- blahg!" he gagged, his head twitching in disgust, not liking the sound of referring to the previous King as his father.. no matter how true it was. Lunar, as well as the rest of the kingdom, was glad enough to now have Sunrise in reign instead of Creato. However, sometimes Earth and Moon had to step in, but only if things got overwhelming for Sunrise.

"you were saying?" Pollux raised a brow, reminding the Prince he didn't finish his thought.

"right-- I don't think Father ever told us if it had a name or not... I can't imagine it would. At least nothing aside from 'Celestial Family Tree' or some cheesy title like that.." Lunar straightened himself, though leaned a bit against the hard and rather cold slab table, folding his hands together.

"Well, let's just keep searching I guess," Pollux said, sliding the book to the side where a stack of other books were. She looked up, eyes scanning the shelves before grabbing the step ladder and dragging it to where she needed.

While Pollux searched the higher shelves, Lunar stared up at her, questions suddenly blaring into his head about her, about her origin.. She was unlike others, there was a certain essence about her that attracted the Prince to his curiosity.

"Pollux..? May I ask more about you?"

"What do you mean, Your Grace?"

"Just... come down here, please?" he tilted his head to the side, watching as she quickly hopped down.

"Well... what did you want to know?" She asked.

Prince Lunar had then spent the next hour or so asking the messenger a couple of questions, only some of which she answered. She explained each one as he asked, not paying attention to the fact Lunar had every sense of his derived upon her stories.

"What exactly brought you here to the kingdom?" Lunar asked

"I just wanted to get away from what was going on back home..." she frowned slightly, hugging herself "Though it's just me and my own brother.." she explained, though something in her tone made the Prince believe there was more to it than just 'get away from home'. He didn't know how to pry into it to see if she could crack more or if she wouldn't.

She continued, nonetheless "my brother was supposed to join me, but he got held back for something I cannot explain; this all being after King Sunrise's gala," she shook her head. She continued to explain more of her story, connecting the Prince to more of her own family history.

"Oh! So you came from a land where the Zodiac Knights lie?" Lunar asked, earning a puzzled expression from the messenger.

"Zodiac Knights..? Is that what you call us-- I mean them??"

"Well, no.. I mean, I've heard it be called that in other conversations when I was visiting down in the village-" Lunar stammered, tipping his head away as if he was now confused. Pollux sighed and explained.

"No, No, they're not 'Zodiac Knights'... we call them the Astral Legacy. My brother being a part of it... He's the Knight of Gemini"

Questions and answers were being fired back and forth between the pair. Lunar paid close attention to Pollux's shifts in expressions or pitches in tone. Though once he felt like she had enough, he asked one more thing, albeit completely off topic "Did you want to walk by the river with me? There's a stream not too far from behind the palace that leads to a nice lake that's fruitful with wildlife... You seem like someone who'd enjoy the tranquility?" He offered.

Pollux smiled and nodded "Actually, I would like that.. It would be nice to clear my head" she looked away, letting her shoulders relax before Lunar grabbed her arm and began to lead her outside the castle "woah! o-ok I didn't think you meant now!" she squeaked.

Lunar laughed softly "Sorry, you look like you could use a bit of fresh air, anyway,"

It was a nice long walk through some woodland areas as Lunar guided Pollux through the fields. Lunar inhaled the crisp air, leading her along the stream. He turned back to make sure she was still there, but noticed she was watching the stream flow the opposite way of them "Shouldn't we be going downhill?" she asked "Why are we going uphill?"

"this is where it empties out. There's a water fall at the lake so this outlet of water can go into more of the unexplored territory." He explained, motioning with his hand the difference. Lunar knew they were soon there as they reached a large flower field full of yellow tulips and red roses. There were also a few white daisies here and there.

"Your Grace, one more question if you don't mind.." Pollux chimed.

"go ahead, Pollux.."

"What's the 'Absent Heir' story about?" She asked, blinking a bit as the Prince was now the one to drastically change expressions. "Uh.. is... somethin- Why are you looking at me like that...?" She asked, squinting skeptically at the now horrified Prince.

"Where in the kingdom did you hear that story?!" 

Chapter Text

        "This doesn't make any sense.." Came a deeper, scruffier voice from a darkened room. The only source of light being a brief glow from a window that was covered with a blanket. The bright lights still hurt his eyes. Prince Moon closed the book, laying it on his chest as he stared up into the dark abyss of his room.

Since his amnesiac episode, he's isolated himself from everyone but his family. He had a surplus of books to keep him occupied and to help him recollect all memory he lost of the royal history. But he kept looking over one book. One book that captivated his attention for some time and he wasn't even sure what to do with it.

"'Crown of Shadows', huh? What an edgy little mess.." Moon echoed, sighing deeply. Strangely, he felt like he remembered this story with out having to read any of the pages. "Where did you go so astray, you Wench..."

Soon, a knock came at the door. Moon grunted a bit "Who is it?" he asked, if he had to guess, he expected it to be his elder brother, Sunrise.

"Your Majesty," came a meek feminine voice. Ah, it was one of the servants. "His Majesty, the King, had summoned you,"

There it is.

"As expected..." he grumbled, sitting up and going over to the door, raising his arm to shield his pale blue eyelights from the brighter outside "What's Sunrise want this time...?"

"Unclear, my liege, His Majesty will only speak to you about this," she reported.

"Thank you, Paige-" the dark prince nodded in acknowledgement.

"Amara, Sire," she corrected. Humph, this is what they, or really King Creato, got for hiring twins

"Amara," Prince Moon grumbled, glaring down at her "You know the rule." he said, watching her flinch a bit. He knew she remembered one of the rules their father implemented. That was to not correct any member of the Family; be they King, Queen, Prince, or Princess. This rule applied to even those guests of neighboring kingdoms.

As Moon walked towards the throne room, his mind thought about the various rules this kingdom had that he wished for Sunrise to removed. All of which was a lowblow... Sunrise was too much of a rule-follower to probably changes anything unless there was a majority vote.

"Ah, brother," Sunrise charmed upon seeing his younger brother enter the main room where anyone got to speak directly to the new King. "I'm glad you're here, I was hoping you could help go over some of the rules with me? I'm not sure which ones deserve the boot treatment and which ones should remain.." Sunrise hummed, tapping his chin lightly, pursing his lips.

Moon rolled his eyes slightly and went to his brothers side "You're only doing this because I'm the next Prince in line, hm?"

"Yes, and for good reason" Sunrise's tone changed. His expression changed too. Though Moon couldn't quite identify what his brother might've been thinking. "I was thinking," the King said, shaking his head to restore his grin "we can start with the standard rules, then onto more governmental affairs,"

"Do you think it's still necessary to have the rule about not mentioning.... 'him'?" Moon asked, though was quickly cut off by his brother.

"We don't speak of- of--" Sunrise stammered a little, his silver eyes darting back and forth "You know we have to recover all these rules with Lunar and Earth then.. I may be the King, brother," the King took off his crown, gazing at his golden reflections shimmering back from the crown "but I still would like the council of my siblings with me, like we've always done when we were kids" Sunrise tore his gaze to Moon, smiling solemnly.

Moon understood why. When the four of them were younger, they made all these silly little decisions together, despite Earth being no older than a few months at the time. Decisions such as who would tend to what chore, who would take a shift with Earth, who would have to plead to father for their favorite dinner from the chefs, and so on.

He remembers days when the band of heirs had done everything together. Each heir had a nickname from the townsfolk... they had the Solstice Twins, the Crescent Twins, and the precious Princess. She had no twin to be born with, not like her brothers did.

"Let's just write a few down for now... let's try doing 10 at a time?" Moon suggested to Sunrise. The King looked to his younger brother, his eyes softening in a way to show he was deciding in his head. Eventually, Sunrise nodded. "How about we start with the monthly tax rates... I feel some are rather overdue, other should be raised, should they not?"

"prices are too high," Sunrise stated "I would suggest in turn lowering the price of taxes on certain... 'mandatory goods', you know, the necessities that any villager or guest should need." Sunrise explained.

Several minutes passed, for several minutes, Prince Moon had been in his head, barely listening to a word Sunrise said. Moon was thinking back to their other brother.. The First Prince that Creato bore into this kingdom.

"brother, we need to address 'him' to our siblings then. It's time we finally talked amongst each other about Prince Eclipse..." Sunrise looked at Moon as if he just tore out his heart and squeezed it right in front of his eyes. "I know you don't like talking about him... I'm sure Lunar won't like it either.. but I think it's time 'Crown of Shadows' finally got an update too.."

"we don't have a writer... we can't publish anything" Sunrise stated firmly.

"I know of someone who can though, he's in the palace as we speak... in the labs" Moon interjected, turning to face a guard "Please bring forth our scientist. We require his... creativity," Moon took a glance to his elder brother.

"Yes, Your Majesty!" Called the guard, saluting before heading down the right hall to find the royal scientist.

Chapter Text

    During one night in the palace of the kingdom, within a secure nursery, there came a loud cry from the youngest Princess. The little girl had woken up from a nightmare, trying to signal to whoever was around that she needed some attention and comfort. She wept and wept, continuing to search for a familiar figure..

Soon, she heard a click, click, and something that sounded like a whrrr.. The Princess wondered who was there, it was hard to tell who it was. But this person scooped her up in a pair of what felt like strong arms. She felt a surrounding warmth as the arms brought her close to a beating heart. Her Columbian blue eyes squinted, trying to study the blurry figure who held her. All she could see was someone with tan skin, golden hair and a matching robe.

"Hey, shh... shh... it's ok, little sister," rang a voice full of warmth and adoration. Earth knew who it was now. It was her Bubba! "Bubba's here," came the deeper voice again "Bubba's here," he echoed "it's ok... you're safe."

Earth snuggled into her brother's chest, making small murmurs of gibberish. If she remembered correctly, this was the only person who came to her rescue when her nights grew dark or cold. Her Bubba was right there as if he was waiting for her call.

She gave a big yawn, her feeble body shuddering slightly as she looked up at her brother. Her breathing eased slowly the more her brother stroked her back and lightly rubbed her head. She couldn't talk yet, but if she could, there would be a lot she wanted to tell her Bubba.

If she had to admit one thing, she adored her brother, that much was obvious, but her brother was the only 'mother' she ever got to know. But he was the best 'mother' that she could've been given to raise her.

-- -- -- --

Sunrise sighed softly as he looked down at his little sister. While watching her calm down from his touch, he took a few steps back and sat on the rocking chair in the room. Sunrise didn't mind too much that she woke him up so early in the morning, Sunrise was more or less used to waking up at dawn. Though he wasn't the only one who woke up from the cries of his little sister. His own twin was there too.

"You know you can't let her get used to this, right?" Eclipse grumbled a bit as he walked over to his siblings

"Leave it be, brother," Sunrise spoke, shaking his head "She's too young to know anything. His thumb brushed over her back, his chest rising and falling, lulling the little girl to sleep again.

Eclipse leaned against he wall and raised one of his brows. He crossed his arms over his body "Why do you insist on being here..? We have to continue our training if we want to be Kings someday"

"you'll be the King, one day," he said, looking at the older brother "unless something happens to you, I can keep taking care of Earth.. we know all too well Father never spends his time around any of us. Not even his only Princess-"

"Why do you think he had us then?!" Eclipse snarled.

"shh! Don't wake her!" Sunrise whispered loudly, giving his brother a look "... What are you talking about?"

"Why did our Father dearest have us when he doesn't care? He could've stopped at us, but no... Four heirs later and he's still producing a Princess!" Eclipse huffed, looking away from Sunrise.

"Well..." Sunrise began to answer, though became lost in realization. Eclipse had a point. Why did Creato have their mother bare five heirs? Why did he have to slay her after birthing Earth? "It shouldn't matter, Eclipse.. There's enough of us that we can make sure Father's tyranny doesn't continue further.. One of us will certainly have to die at the hand of Father, even just by trying" he shrugged lightly.

His older brother sighed, lowering his shoulders "I just don't like any of this... No one should like this! Moondrop, Lunar, Earth-- They shouldn't have to bare the weight of anything."

"Eclipse, we can talk more about this when I'm not currently being used as a bed," He tipped his head down, showcasing the sleeping Princess on his chest "just give me a few more minutes and I'll put her back in the crib."

-- -- -- --

Years later, the young Princess was running around the halls, waving and greeting each servant that passed her. She had a bright smile on her face as she was on a mission to find her brothers.

"Bubba! Bubba!" She called, her voice full of giggles, making Sunrise chuckle as he turned to face her. She ran into his grasp as he lifted her up into his arms. "What Bubba doing?" she asked, her little hands pressing against his chest.

Sunrise smiled warmly "Just looking over the kingdom with Eclipse." he answered, setting her on his hip "Though we weren't talking about much." Eclipse cracked a small grin, despite not being too close with Earth himself, a small part of him was in love with her, just like the rest of their family.

Earth looked out among the vast Kingdom. Her eyes sparkled as she looked at all the structures and the people walking around, going about their day. Eclipse dismissed himself within the next few moments, saying he had to tend to 'Princely duties'.

"Bubba? What's Spikey doing?" she asked, tipping her head to her older brother "What's a 'princely duty'? He's not going to da bathroom is he?" her little questions earned a small laugh from Sunrise, feeling herself smile as her brother's warm grin, but also the fact she's still good at making her brother smile.

"no, no, not that kind of duty, silly goose," Sunrise shook his head "he means 'duty' in a way of a service. You know Miss Abby; what does she do?" Sunrise asked.

"uh... she looks after me!" she beams.

"Yes, see, that's Abby's duty," Sunrise explained, nodding "Her duty is to watch and take care of you.." He brushed his free hand through her soft white locks of hair "Just like Miss Abby; Eclipse and I have our own duties to tend to.. Eclipse has to go into town with a chariot and footman to collect the money our people have to pay us."

Earth nodded as her brother explained what Eclipse had to do. She just didn't understand why they had to take money from the people. Though she had more questions for her brother, ones he can easily answer in time. But one question soon slipped out "Bubba, what happened to Mother?" she asked "Why isn't she around? Why don't the servants talk about her to me?"

Sunrise froze at the question.. oh, he had hoped this day never came. Not yet, at least. He sighed and set Earth down, kneeling her to her height "Earth.. I love you, and I want to answers your questions, but... I fear the topic of our Mother is not something I feel you are ready to hear. But to satisfy your curiosity, let's just say..." He trailed off, unsure of how to answer her "We can look at some albums with your brothers, but just know mother would've been thrilled to meet her sweet little girl.." 

Chapter Text

        Nothing but the bristling of tree leaves could be heard in the night's hour. There was a small clearing in the forest, deep inside away from society where a small family lived. This family was more like... a duo. A duo who lived in the darkness of the forest, even within the clearing, the moon shone not on their little cottage. The only light source they have been provided were some torches.

Red eyes peer out from its door looking left and right, left and right, and up and down. The figure leans out and blows out the exterior torches that revealed their quaint home. Now the only thing lit up was the inside. The figure from before had walked over to a couch where his brother had lay. These two were vastly different from one another. That's how people told them apart..

One had dressed like a grim reaper. He wore a dark navy blue cloak with a small maroon neck scruff. This twin had hypnotical eyes, albeit lacked the power itself, his red and white swirly eyes have been known to driven a many of victims rather insane. Especially those with visual disorders. He even had some permanent blood-splattered stains left on his cheeks from past encounters he never bothered to clean off. He loved the smell of fresh and dried blood.

This was Scythe. He was the merciless one.

The other had almost looked like a death-crazed Santa Claus. A few folk would call that Krampus.. but this brother was no Krampus. He dressed in much darker shades.. variety of black and maroons, very few light rosy brown ribbons tied around his waist, neck and head. His eyes glow a deep red, getting brighter only when coming to a conclusion or idea. He was more strategic of the two.

This was Sickle. He was the stealthier one.

It was lights out for the twins for tonight. Tomorrow they had a hitlist to go over. If it were not for the special guest stopping by that morning to throw a new stone their way.

The silhouette refused to name himself, but he spoke in an eerie tone..

"So," the figure started "You are the Bloodmoon twins everyone is so frightened over?" the figure chortled, a small crack in his voice. Scythe and Sickle were both outside, staring at the figure for a moment before looking to each other. Their attention came back to the figure when they heard something clang before their feet. Scythe kept his gaze on the unidentified person while Sickle picked up the small pouch and looked inside as the voice spoke.

"I have a task for you both, if you're willing to do it. That there is a small... down payment for this hunt" Said the figure, clasping their hands together.

Scythe grumbled a bit "oh who is it you wish us to kill?" he asked. Scythe contemplated on grabbing his own weapon that leans on their cottage.

"a very high political power," answered the voice "someone who has far outlived his days. I want you both to kill the King. Should you accept this down payment, and the job... you will be paid tenfold that amount if the King is rid of successfully.."

"No extra information?" piped in Sickle "no layout of the palace, no guard schedule, you send us in blindly?" he grasped the bag, ready to toss it back to the figure. The shadow cleared their throat and nodded to the bag again. Sickle looked down and poured out is contents to the ground. Out fell various coins of silver and gold, and a mini scroll.

Scythe picked up the scroll and opened it. Sickle peered over and analyzed the document. They noticed it was a map of the castle, or at least, the king's quarters. The brothers glance and smirk at each other.

"Very well, Masked Man, we accept your offer," declared Scythe.

"We will take this as priority.." Sickle added, folding up the paper again "But if we do not receive payment within a weeks time of completion, we come after you."

Sickle looked up to meet the gaze of the figure, but saw nothing. How did the figure just disappear like that? He shook his head. It didn't matter to him anyway. They had a job and that was to kill this King of the Celestial Grounds.

Kill the King. Become rich. That sounded easy enough.. right? Sickle hummed quietly, pondering who may be that figure assigning them this task.. Neither twin had been inside the Celestial Kingdom before.. so they recognize no one. They have no idea what this terrain is like, so that is one disadvantage.

"I don't trust this... I feel as if this deal will be one-sided again..." Scythe groaned, crossing his arms and looking in a different direction "down payments are nothing but lies!" he kicked the loose coins from their position "free money for nothing!"

Sickle came up and brushed his hand on his brothers shoulder "I have a feeling this will be different.. something about the sour venom in our employer's voice seemed too... genuine," Sickle pointed out, crouching down to gather the coins again "Since we are too known, and have no idea what we're walking into.. we could use this payment to hire a spy of our own."

"but who? We know no spy!" Scythe snarled, jerking his head away.

"I will scout the closest town.. I can keep cover as long as I need to." Sickle smirked. "Come, brother, let us go back inside and plan out this attempt.." Sickle pressed his hand on Scythe's back, guiding him inside.

----

It's been a few days since they were given the task. Sickle had been the brother to go out into the town to scope out the spy. As he walked, he kicked a few stones, sighing quietly to himself. Who even was this spy anyway? Did the guy have a name, was there something the people called him? her? them? Whatever it was..

Sickle dressed himself differently to go out. He covered himself in a tattered black cloak that covered his face like it was a new moon phase. As he saw a villager passing by, he cleared his throat and dropped his voice an octave "Pardon me, madam," he said with a softer, clearer tone "Do you know where I am to find the location of uh..." he paused, trying to think of how to address the spy. However, to his surprise, the random lady knew.

"The Roven?"

"The Roven..? Y-Yes! The Roven... where would one find them?" he asked, raising a brow. The woman pointed to an odd opening of the forest hidden behind the Baker's Hut. Sickle nodded and thanked the woman before going over to the opening and looked around. If legend holds true, there were about three signs to show the spy was there. Sickle leaned against one of the tree stumps and ran through the signs in his head.

Sickle rested his eyes for a moment as he went into his head, though something was quick to pull him back out. Was he feeling crazy or did the breeze drop about 5 degrees.. no, Sickle shook his head. He's just crazy. The sun was out so there couldn't be any- Sickle's eyes quailed as he heard something nearby. He dismounted from the stump and walked over to see a few oddly scattered pebbles. They were many shades of weird slate blues and cream greys. They spelled out nothing but were shaped in a sort of.. waning crescent way. Sign one of three.

The Waning Stone.

Wait, no-- The Waning Stone was the third sign.. Did he forget the other two? The Roven surely never skipped the other two! Sickle turned to look and saw the figure again. This figure was weird.. he couldn't quite make out any shape of this man...woman... ok at this rate, one should think they'd give themselves some sort of description! Why did this 'Roven' person not even let people know if they had a more masculine or feminine form.. or even some ambiguous design! After another moment, Sickle spoke up "So," he looked away and up at the leaves blocking out the sunlight "You must be The Roven.. "

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