Chapter 1

William, for as long as he could remember, had always received anything and everything he wanted, being the second son of the king. Toys, clothes, islands. Anything the prince asked for was given to him with little to no resistance. He was used to this. What he wasn't used to was the pounding sensation in his heart as the 6 year old's eyes followed the quiet princess as she danced with Ahn-Jong.

His face felt warm as he watched the elegant princess twirl and spin to the same dance and song as Ahn-Jong. Why? He felt nothing when he saw Ahn-Jong, but when he looked at the princess, it felt as though his heart would burst out of his chest at any given moment. What was wrong with him? What was wrong with her? Why was she making him feel like this? How was she making him feel like this?

The little prince was genuinely concerned for his health, and all his older, supposed-to-be-mature, brother did was laugh. How could he laugh at such a time? Between the heart pounding and the fluttering stomach, William genuinely believed he was dying until he was finally told he was going to live by a rather grumpy Spencer. He couldn't figure out why he was so grumpy or what "in love" meant.

"To be in love?" father asked, rather surprised, "Now who taught you something like that?" Crispus did, so what did it mean? Father stared at William for a while before he scrunched up his face to think. "How should I explain it?" he mumbled until he snapped his fingers and crouched down to the child's height. Did he finally understand it? Could he also explain it to William? What did it mean?

"Okay, calm down first," father said while placing his hands on William's little shoulders. "You're practically a man, so I'll tell you. Being in love is a wonderfully complicated thing." Huh? That didn't help. "To be in love," father continued as he laughed, "Means to only want what's best for the person you love and to always keep their smile close to you. However, love can be different for different people, so who do you love, Will?"

He loved his father, obviously. "Good answer! Who else?" Mother, Crispus, Kylian, Louis, Patrick. Ugh. There were too many people to name and William was getting bored! Father laughed as he rose to his normal towering height while ruffling William's hair. "You may not realise it now, but there will be one person who's smile will make your chest pound and stomach flutter. They will be the one who hurts and loves you the most."

Why would William want to be with someone who hurt him? He wondered as he went to find mother. Father's explanation was too confusing, so he went and asked his mother what she loved as she was tending to the garden. "What do I love? Well, I love a lot of things, dear. Why do you ask?" Father said Kiara was going to hurt and love him the most, but William didn't like pain at all. "Hurt and love you the most?"

Mhhmm. "Hmm," mother said while sitting on her knees, "Why do you think the princess will hurt and love you the most?" Because father said if her smile made his chest pound and heart flutter, she would love and hurt him the most. "Oh, I see," mother said with a slight grin, "If that's the case, then it is very important you do the same for her." Why would he need to? He didn't want to hurt her.

"Don't worry about that too much," mother said as she removed her gardening gloves and tickled the prince's cheek. "If she loves you and you love her, there will be nothing you can possibly do to hurt her to a point where your love will not be able to fix it." Really? She'll always love him? "As long as she smiles at you, yes." As long as she smiled. William repeated his mother's words in his head as he went to find Kylian and Louis.

He wanted Kiara's heart to pound and stomach to flutter just like his. Any ideas? "Heart pound?" Louis asked. "Stomach flutter?" Kylian signed. Yes and yes, so did either of them have a clue as to how to do that? From the expressions on their faces, the two boys didn't have the slightest clue, but they had the spirit to help William out. "We can ask Ahn-Jong," Kylian suggested, "Since she seems to be friends with her." A great idea from Kylian as usual!

This great idea did work in the sense that Kiara entered their friend group, but it wasn't enough for William. He wanted more of her smile and brought her all kinds of gifts every time he met with her, but her smile never changed. It was the same as the one everyone saw at the ball. Though his heart pounded the same way, he wanted a different smile. One no one but he could ever see or feel.

As William thought of different ways to claim such an expression from Kiara, he soon realised it wouldn't be easy. It wasn't supposed to be easy. He wanted to work hard for that smile for the first time in his short life, not have it handed to him on a silver platter. Why did her smile change? Why did the pounding in his heart change too? He didn't like this new, obviously fake smile! He wanted the old one back!

However, even William knew that was impossible. The chances of him ever getting the smile he wanted, the love he wanted from Kiara were zero to none. He knew that, and it didn't help every time she smiled at him. It didn't help when she threw him aside and glared at him. And it especially didn't help as she fawned over some other man. No, Julian was Kiara's soulmate, William remembered as he stopped running down that street.

"What's wrong?" Kylian signed, but William couldn't move his feet at the thought of going to fetch Kiara for her own soulmate. He didn't want to reunite them. He just wanted Kiara. Was that asking for too much? Even Kylian the genius didn't have an answer for William. No one did. No one could tell William how he would be able to keep Kiara's smile for himself. The reason was so simple, yet so hard to grasp.

They didn't have time for this, William decided as he pushed those thoughts to the back of his head. He wiped his eyes while trying to check Kiara's location on the tracker. He couldn't see well from the tears already, so Kylian's hand covering the screen didn't help at all either. It became especially difficult for the prince to see the phone as his older brother hugged him in the middle of that empty street.

He was making it so difficult, William thought. They didn't have time for this! They needed to find Kiara- "And we'll get her to fall in love with you again." The two boys stood in the street for a while before William's voice broke as he asked, "Promise?" William swore to hold him to his promise as he was finally able to read the tracker without any interference. All they had to do was follow the signal which had gotten too far for them to keep up with.

William couldn't help but laugh at their very serious blunder as he slowly eyed a car in the middle of the street. "No, Will." Why not? The driver had even left the key in the ignition and the doors unlocked and open too. It was practically begging them to drive it to Kiara. Plus, who was going to arrest them during the apocalypse? "It's about morals." Kylian signed with a sigh, but William simply promised to wear his seatbelt.

Please~ Please~ Pleeeease~ "Okay. Okay. Stop yelling." Yes! "But I'm driving." Aww. "Don't 'aww' me, mister." Yes, dad. "Why you!" Beep. Beep. Beep. The tracker soon caught the attention of both boys before they realised Kiara had stopped moving. They had no time to waste as Kylian jumped into the driver's seat with William in the passenger. However, as William was zooming out to check where Kiara had been taken, the radio came on as soon as Kylian started the car.

<This is not a ---- Terror Attack Level ---- Please evacuate ---- in a calm ---- I repeat ---- not a drill. Terror ---- Level Red ---- Evacuate Olympia and all surrounding towns ---- I repeat>

Kylian turned the radio off as William started to grasp just how dangerous the dragon was. They had no time to lose! They had to save Kiara!

*****

Here? William turned to Kylian as they stood right below the signal and he nodded to him as he reached his arms up and opened the ground above him. As he did, he held out his arms to catch Kiara, but instead caught a 30 something year old lady? Who was she? "I could ask you the same." the lady said while lying in his arms until he dropped her, and stupidly jumped up from the tunnel into a room full of, well, enemies.

He looked around the room until he saw Kiara smiling at him with the most excitement he had seen on her face in years. She went to run over to him, but a tall man with unkempt, light-brown hair pulled her back by her back collar before she could get to him. The lady buckled William's knees before he could retaliate and dropped Kylian next to him, before asking them, "Who are you?", again.

William and Kylian remained silent until Kiara yelled, "Stop hurting my friends!" when the lady went to grab William by the hair. "Friends, huh?" the baby-pink haired lady said with a grin on her face. She grabbed William's face and held it close to hers, making William pull a face of disgust, which obviously annoyed her. "Leave them alone." the man holding Kiara said as held her in front of him in a tight embrace.

"They're here to save their little friend, and they got captured doing so. What more do you want from them?" he continued as the lady's frown grew impressively long. William hadn't seen a frown like that since Baptiste got lectured for spilling water on guests at a party. Livid, the lady grabbed William by his collar and told him to repeat himself, but he apologized for forgetting how grumpy old ladies could be when they haven't had a drink of "water" from their special bottles.

Right before she could slap William across his face, the woman turned to face the man in glasses after he poured water on her head and back. "If you don't have a good reason for that, you're going to be missing a few limbs by the time I'm done with you, Harrison." Though the lady was quite intimidating, the man didn't pay her any mind as he told her to "cool off", but William couldn't believe it was that easy.

As the woman instructed all the other guards to leave the room, William sent a message to Kiara, and it seemed the 4 year old got it as she quietly turned to face him and vigorously nodded her head before following the instructions perfectly. While Harrison walked over to subdue Kiara after she poured water on her captor's head, both enemies simply froze moments after Kylian whispered, "Glacio," under his breath.

Knowing the spell wouldn't last long, William broke his restraints and grabbed Kiara as Kylian jumped back into the hole in the floor. William sealed the entrance above him right after he lowered the princess into Kylian's arms and they turned to run away in the direction they came. Kylian carried Kiara on his shoulder as she giggled the entire time they were running for their lives.

"Pretty eyes. Like jewels." she giggled, and William felt slightly bashful at the compliment as he continued closing the tunnel behind him.

*****

As soon as they made it out of the tunnel, the three of them dashed to their car as alarms sounded in the airport. William made it first and opened the backseat door, allowing Kiara to hop in quickly as Kylian jumped into the driver's seat. As soon as William closed the door of the passenger seat, Kylian started driving away as more cars started to follow them down the highway.

Kylian swerved and tried to lose the cars behind them, but there was not much he could do without a cloak of some kind. "A cloak?" Kiara asked, completely unbothered by the situation, but yes. They needed a cloak to hide from the cars behind them, and why was William telling a 4 year old this? "What about an invisibility cloak?" the princess asked. William looked to Kylian for an answer, but he looked desperate for anything at that point.

Could Kiara really put an invisibility cloak over the car? I mean she is the Dark Creator's magician, but her mind was programmed to 4 years old. Could she really do it? "Yes I can-" The sudden, piercing roar of the dragon shattered their eardrums as an earthquake made all the cars come to a full stop. What was going on? How could the ground shake so violently even though they were so far from the city?

However, Kylian, being the responsible adult he was, disregarded the dragon as he turned to Kiara in the midst of the chaos. "Can you please put a cloak on the car and some spooky smoke between those bad guys and us?" he asked in his baby voice, but Kiara simply stared into his ocean blue eyes with the utmost curiosity and asked him if he wanted, "An invisible one?" "Yes, please." "Okay! One invisibility cloak and spooky smoke coming right up! Teges Lapsus!"

Two consecutive spells? Kiara really was something else as a four year old, William thought as smoke began to emerge from the road after shouts of confusion from the cars behind them dimmed. Kylian took the opportunity to drive away as fast as he could before taking the first exit off the freeway and into a town near the city. They drove in near silence as Kylian focused on the road and William monitored the green and black dragon throwing its tail high into the air before letting it crash into some sort of large projectile near it.

Instead of worrying about what was happening over there, the dragon was simply majestic to the young prince as he found himself getting lost in the streams of jungle and emerald green between the black tectonic plates of the beast-

"Where are we going?"

William nearly jumped as he turned to face Kiara only to find her within kissing distance from him. He stared into her beautifully dark eyes and couldn't stop himself from leaning in until Kylian's "do that at home" cough brought him back to reality. Remembering she wasn't in her right mind at the moment, William instructed Kiara to sit down as he told her they were taking her to Julian.

"But Jules told me to go with that other man." Instead of trying to explain his reasoning to the 4 year old, William simply pointed outside his window at the dragon outside Olympia. Julian needed Kiara's help to send the dragon back home, and they were going to take her to him. She remained silent as she sat back in her seat for a while, contemplating what William had just told her. Was there something she didn't understand?

I mean, obviously. She was a 4 year old, but he tried to explain the situation in a way where even she could understand, even though William himself didn't understand the situation that well-"Does that mean I'm going to be useful?"

William's mind couldn't believe the parallel in the same line he heard years ago, except her smile grew exponentially back then as father nodded at the young princess before she turned to William and declared, "Then I shall marry you." His heart grew heavy at the memory. At how quickly she changed her emotions to go along with what others said to her. How effortlessly she could utter such heavy words.

Was it just a coincidence? William couldn't help but worry as he lost Kiara the last time he heard those words. If losing her again meant she was being useful, then William didn't want Kiara to be useful at all.

Kylian suddenly slammed on the brakes right before he could hit the giant vine William had conjured in the road, and yelled, "What are you doing?" William's head shot up from the passenger seat at the vine in the road, and he immediately apologized before raising his hands to lower the vine away, but he couldn't. He couldn't lower the vine. What was going on? Why couldn't he- "Because you're not being honest with yourself, William."

William questioned his Magi as he closed his eyes, begging for power. "Do you really want to take Kiara back to that monster?" What? Julian was helping them. How could he be a monster? "You fought him and lived to tell the tale, and you still think he's not a monster?" No, he didn't- "What do you think he's going to do to Kiara once you get her back to him? Do you think he's just going to break her curse?"

Yes! "Why are you so willing to take the love of your life back to a man who will make her hate you forever?" No! Julian wouldn't do that! "William!" Kiara called, grasping his attention. He looked around at their worried expressions, especially Kiara's, who was a kiss away from William's face. Did he really want that? Kylian, Louis, and Brandon all promised to help him. He even swore he would wait for her.

"What do you want to do, William?" Demeter's voice echoed through William's head as his body suddenly started to move without his permission.

"What are you doing?" Kylian reprimanded as William opened Kiara's door and dragged her out of the car by her wrist. "Let me go!" she cried, but he ignored her as he pulled her towards the town center and away from Olympia. "Let me go!" No! "Let her go!" Kylian yelled as he threw a punch at William's face, knocking him over and making him release Kiara. "Are you okay?" he asked her, and she nodded while he hugged her.

"What's your problem, Will?" What was his problem? Why was everyone so eager to drag Kiara into danger? Because she was the Dark Creator's magician? She was a princess before she was a magician, and William's sole duty as the second prince was to protect his princess! Did Kylian really want to see Kiara almost die again? Was that why he was taking her to Julian? Was that why he was refusing to think for himself?

This time, William caught Kylian by the wrist when he went to slap him again and punched the ocean blue eyed boy before turning to the frightened princess. She had nothing to fear, he assured as he inched closer and closer to her. He was just going to keep her safe. That was all. "I want to go to Jules." Ugh! Jules! Jules! Jules! Was he all she thought about? William was going to save her and she was just going on and on about Jules! Jules! Jules!

Did she not understand? He loved her more than that bastard ever could- William realised he was scaring Kiara, and immediately dropped his volume as he inched closer. He was sorry for scaring her. "Are you going to take me to Jules?" That's right, William realised, it wasn't Kiara who wanted Julian. It was her past self, so there would be no harm in a little white lie. He was going to take her to him, eventually.

"You're lying." No, he wasn't. "Yes, you are!" Now, Kiara- "You're not going to take me to him, are you?" He was, he said as he reached the princess. He hugged her as he promised to take her to Julian. He had forgotten what it was like to hug the small princess. She fit right in his arms, he realised as he pulled her away from his chest and crouched down to meet her eyes. She was still unsure, but William assured her.

"Do you really love me?" With all of his heart, so was she going to go with him? She quietly nodded her head as William rose to his feet, only to be put in a chokehold by Kylian. "Go Kiara!" What was he doing? "Go to Julian! Now!" Damn it- A different roar pierced the sky, sending all of their attention to the portal as another dragon emerged from the tear. This time, its joints were filled with what looked like lava and magma.

William managed to elbow Kylian in the gut, but he simply wasn't fast enough to catch Kiara as she slipped into a portal, probably to Julian.

Was Kylian happy now? Was he proud of how he just followed orders like the obedient puppy he was? Was he? Why was he so calm even though William was grabbing him by the collar? He could've easily killed him, so why wasn't he scared? "This isn't like you, William." What did he know about him anyway? "That you regretted ever hurting Kiara for six straight months. That you didn't sleep because you were looking for a way to apologise for the way you treated her."

What was he getting at? "I was stopping you from hurting her again. You saw it too, didn't you?" Saw what? "Her smile when she believed your lie. That sweet, innocent smile of hers that we lost all those years ago. It would kill you if you ever hurt her." William knew that. He didn't need Kylian to remind him. "Apparently you do." Stop laughing, the prince grumbled as he slowly realised what he had done.

Kylian always patted his head when he cried, and he didn't know why, but the patting helped the tears flow out faster.

*****

"C'mon." Kylian said as William patted himself down, "Let's go apologize to Kiara." He held out his hand, so William reminded him how he wasn't a child anymore, but Kylian just giggled until they both got heat by an unbearable heat wave and found themselves unable to breathe in such agonizingly hot air. "Glicio." Kylian immediately said, making the car a portable fridge, but William knew it wouldn't last long as Kylian instructed him to drive.

Constantly using the same spell over and over had to have been exhausting, William thought as he was finally able to lower the vine and drive off towards Olympia. His mind started to wander a bit as he tried to figure out if the city was evacuated because of the dragon or the explosion. Was it really safe to let Brandon and Rebecca go into the city itself alone? What if something happened to them while they were searching for answers?

William's worries soon turned to Kylian's exhausted expression, but they had nothing to worry about since they were almost- A siren-like screech ripped through the air around their ears and they both turned to look out the window only to see yet another dragon emerge from the open wound in the sky. You had got to be joking. Another one? William sighed as he turned to check on Kylian after the sudden break, and he was fine?

He was just staring at the dragon with oceans and rivers holding corals together to form such an enchanting creature. He looked mesmerized by the beast, but there was no time to be gawking, William yelled, grabbing Kylian's attention. "Sorry." he signed, but it was fine if he was still okay, William replied as they continued their drive on the outskirts of the harbour city. Though it became difficult for even William to concentrate as he watched a giant wave swallow the city whole.

Kylian's grim expression in the corner of William's eye was all the more reason he kept on driving to get to Kiara and Julian. At that point, they were the only ones who could fix everything. They were the only ones who could save everyone, he thought as he practically flew through the town's roads until they were on a hill overseeing the military's attempts to defeat the story-book nightmare beasts.

Everything was happening so fast, and before William could fathom anything around him, Kiara had gotten sucked into the closing portal along with Halley, Brandon, Britney, Rebecca, Prince Awan, Princess Celestia and Michaelangelo. There was nothing they could do as they watched them disappear.

There was nothing they could've done as they raced down the hill straight for the portal as its last bit of darkness and light dissipated into the air along with their family. There was nothing they could do as they watched the Light Creator's magician drop his hands to his side and stare at the patched sky. There was nothing they could do, but surely there was a lot more he could do as the strongest being on the planet.

Why was he just standing there? Why wasn't he trying to open another portal and bring them back, or did he want Kiara gone? He just stood there as she flew away! Why didn't he break the flow of magic? Was this all his grand plan to hurt her and betray all of them? Julian remained quiet as William spouted more and more venom about him and his love for Kiara before he mentioned how he was unworthy of Kiara.

"And you are?" Julian suddenly said with a cold voice, "Don't make me laugh. You've done nothing but hurt her for the last 13 years, and you think you deserve her?" W-William knew what he did was wrong. That's why he was willing to risk Kiara hating him again in order to get her back. "My daughter is not your little plaything, you spoiled brat. I will get her back for myself and she won't have to worry about seeing you again."

"That won't make her happy." Kylian signed, and he was right. He needed all of them to make Kiara happy. He knew this-

Kylian and William suddenly fell to the floor, gasping for air as they felt their own lungs collapse on themselves. William looked down, but he couldn't see the weight he felt on his chest nor could he sense where the familiar yet violent sensation was coming from.

"You scared her. I'm the only one allowed to scare her, or make her cry, or break her, or hurt her." Julian declared, "She is mine and the next time you touch her," Julian said as he squeezed William's face while burning a hole through his soul with a murderous glare,"I will rip every muscle out of your bodies, but don't worry. I'll keep you alive to feel the pain."

There wasn't any air left around Kylian either as Julian threw William to the ground and vanished, leaving the two boys gasping for air.

What the abyssus was that? It was as if his entire lung was being crushed from inside his body as William tried to lie on his back, still gasping for oxygen. That Julian! He wasn't human. There's no way something as vile as him could ever be human. He truly was a monster beyond reasonable doubt, and William swore he would save Kiara from him before he could ever get to her. He had to-

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! All attention turned to the sound of missiles firing from the ground at the 13,000 meter tall dragons above them. The first one flew for the side of the beast, but the lava filled dragon simply slapped the projectile back at the army below with its tail as the second missile flew for the ocean blue dragon's eye. "Hey! Over here!" Kylian yelled beside William, making the dragon turn its head to face him in time for the missile to bounce off the back of its head.

What was he doing? "T-that would've just irritated it even more." Kylian obviously lied, but William couldn't figure out why nor did he have the time to since Kylian's holler also attracted the other dragon's attention, but in a different way. You see, when the ocean blue dragon turned to face Kylian, its tail whacked the other lava dragon's tail to the ground, causing it to destroy a large part of the army surrounding them, and apparently, pissing it off.

The lava dragon turned to face its brother and destroyed the tanks and cars with its swinging tail of doom, and killed all the poor soldiers standing near or around it. Meanwhile, the ocean dragon didn't pay the annoyed beast any mind as it walked towards Kylian and William, crushing everything and everyone beneath its paw. William tried to pull Kylian to run away with him, but he didn't budge as his eyes turned deeper and deeper shades of ocean blue.

William couldn't grasp what was going on, but he let them have their moment as the both of them looked entranced by the other. It was as if they were forming some sort of link, until the lava dragon's fist sent the ocean dragon flying the other direction, breaking their concentration. William snapped back to reality in time to see the ocean dragon charging at the lava dragon, clearing everything in its path. A sign for them to get going.

The boys rushed to the car, hoping to escape somehow as the contact of the beasts sent shockwave after shockwave out in every direction, but surprisingly, their car stayed put as they made it back and drove towards Olympia, hoping to find someone, anyone there. Maybe then they could figure out what had happened with the explosion they heard before the dragons. What was that broadcast about anyway? A Level Red threat? Was that part of Richard's plan?

William's mind wandered in circles as he kept on returning to the same questions every single time: Why wasn't he scared of the dragons? Why did he feel a sense of peace rush through his body as the ground was being torn apart before him? As the entire city fell into ruin? Why on Wisteria did he let Kylian get that close to a dragon? What was going to happen to them from here on out?

*****

William closed his door behind him as he and Kylian walked towards the edge of one of the hills surrounding the once great capital city of Olympia. Their own school was nowhere to be seen as was most of the town below the skyscrapers which used to tower over all. There was just water for miles upon miles on end. The hills were supposed to be a strategic natural border for the city, but it simply held all the sea water inside of them like a bowl.

Countless lives had been lost and William didn't even know how it was possible for Richard to destroy so much in such little time. If Michaelangelo was who he was after, then he should've been satisfied. He didn't need to kill all those innocent people. Those mothers, fathers, children, neighbors, friends, acquaintances, strangers. They had nothing to do with any of this! So why? Why did he have to go that far? He already got what he wanted.

William dropped to his knees as the sun's rays started to coat the new sea in orange hues as the heartbroken prince couldn't stop the tears flowing out of his eyes. His heart ached with grief at the thought of so many people just disappearing for no real reason. They had done nothing to deserve such a horrid fate. They had done nothing to die in such a sudden and horrible way. It wasn't fair! It wasn't fair at all!

Kylian rubbed his back as he tried to console his little brother, but William saw his eyes glisten over with tears as he stared at the lake where a city once stood. There was no one who could've survived this. What were they thinking going back there? Did they truly believe they would find people there? This was stupid- Splash. Splash? William's head shot up and around at the sound until his eyes landed on a man flailing around in the water.

"Hey!" Kylian called out to him as he looked like he was about to dive back into the water. He turned to face them before screaming to them as loud as he could, "My friend's down here! Help!" Friend? Survivors? William and Kylian nodded to each other before both jumping into the water as fast as they could. Kylian the fish was the first to make it to the man as he pointed him to the man stuck on a spire a couple of meters below.

Kylian dove down to fetch him as William paddled with the exhausted survivor back to the hill. "Will he be alright?" Kylian? Please, he was practically part fish, which was why William never understood why he left the school swim team in the first place. The world may never know, but William was almost a hundred percent sure it was because he wanted to spend more time with his girlfriend~, but you didn't hear that from me.

The man laughed at William's joke a bit as they arrived on dry land and he finally noticed the man's injuries as he took off his shirt. Knife wounds and bullet holes. Who was this guy, and how did he survive anyway? William wondered if he had accidentally saved the bad guys as Kylian finally popped back up holding another man, this time with straight blonde hair. The closer they got to shore, the more William noticed how Kylian was using his magic, but why?

"Careful." the other man instructed as William helped him pull the injured man out of the water before Kylian popped up and relayed his injuries. "I tried to create a suction around the gash in his leg, but he's lost too much blood already." William had never had to heal someone before, so he wasn't very confident in his ability to stabilize a wound like this one, which ran from the man's left calf to his mid thigh.

Kylian first ripped up his own shirt to stop the blood flow to the leg, hoping it would help as William focused on healing him. "You forgot, huh." Demeter said rather amusingly to his magician, but it really wasn't the time to poke fun at him considering the man was dying. "Death is natural." Demeter! "Okay, okay. Try reconstructing everything." Everything? How was that possible? "I govern nature, and his body is part of nature, so fix him."

Could William fix him? "No. Can you fix that torn blood vessel?" Of course he could. That was mere child's play, the young prince thought as the power flowed to his hands as he stitched the blood vessels in the leg back together before moving onto the torn muscles and ligaments. A bit bigger than the vessels, but nothing he couldn't handle. Luckily for the man, whatever he hit didn't touch his bone, leaving William with just the skin to stitch back.

"CaN I fIx Him?" Demeter mocked, but William hadn't realized he had fixed the man's wound until he heard the taunt. After he sent the Magi back on his way, William helped Kylian carefully untie the man's leg, allowing for the blood to flow through his repaired leg. "You saved him!" the man exclaimed as he hugged the two young boys before they picked the man up and lay him in the car. Where were they going to go now?

"Do you have no place to go?" the injured man asked as he woke up. Kylian barely hid his own shock as he replied, "No, we lost all our friends." Why was he awake? He was clearly unconscious during and directly after the operation, and the pain would've put him to sleep in the odd chance he was awake. Not to mention he lost a ton of blood-

"What?" Huh? William had been paying more attention to the man's lightning fast recovery than the conversation, so he was a tad bit lost. Why was Kylian so surprised?

"You two work for Queen Mother Winona?" Kylian exclaimed. What? Really? "Yeah," the other man continued, "We were sent to deliver some documents to King Cheyton when the bombs went off in the palace. We were lucky to escape with our lives, but Felix here fell into one of the tears in the ground." That would explain the gash, but how did they escape? "I pulled him out and used my magic to fly us out of there, but this moron got caught on a spire and almost drowned."

The injured man giggled slightly as he quietly thanked William and Kylian for their help. "If you guys didn't come by, we would've probably drowned." It was no problem at all. They were just happy they could help them.

The injured man's name was Felix and the other sturdy looking man's name was Jason. He thought about it before deciding these guys weren't dangerous. William was just shaken up.

Yeah. He was simply overthinking.

*****

The last bit of sunlight was fading underneath the horizon when they finally arrived at the black building. The sky was clear and empty as the shockwaves from the beasts had cleared all the clouds away. There was nothing but silence for miles as they made their way to the seemingly empty building. Kylian was supporting Felix as Jason and William led the way. They couldn't afford to leave anyone behind, but something seemed eerie about the building.

"They must've evacuated the building when the warning came out." Jason said, but why would they evacuate an intelligence agency miles away from the city when an emergency had occurred? "He's right, Jason," Felix said weakly, "Something happened here too." There? Did Michael tell Richard about the building? "It's possible," Kylian added, "We don't even know when he defected. He could've told him anything-"

William wished he had stayed behind with Felix in the car as they walked into what was supposed to be the first floor cafeteria. I say supposed to be because there was nothing but dead bodies as far as the eye could see. "Come on." Jason said to the two boys, but they couldn't take their eyes off the carnage. They had cried for all the people in the city who had died, but they really hadn't thought about how stomach-wrenching their remains looked in the bottom of that sea.

Jason covered William's eyes before telling Kylian they "have to keep moving" as he let go and patted his head. These guys had probably seen worse than this, but those were still their colleagues lying there on the floor. "Which is why we need to keep moving." Felix said, "We need to live on for their sake and kill the person who did this to them." William's stomach did a somersault at the thought of taking another's life.

Could he really do that? William's brain turned to mush as he thought about killing another person with his own two hands. Yeah, he hated Michaelangelo for betraying them and Julian for leaving them behind, but he never wanted to actually kill them! How could he do such a thing- Flop. Hm? "Change into those. It should be about your size." Jason instructed to the two boys, breaking William's cycle of brain torture.

He was right. The black cargo pants and matching plain black t-shirt both fit the boys well as Jason helped Felix into his change of clothes. How did he know their sizes? "You look about the same size," Felix explained, "And William, you are also about my height, while Jason and Kylian are closer to each other. Observation is my specialty." William appreciated his attempt to lighten up his mood, but that thought of killing someone remained in the back of William's mind.

"Where should we go now?" Kylian signed, and the two survivors surprised William once again by signing back and forth with ease. They really were Winona's men. Who else could be that skilled- Winona! "Huh?" Why else would Richard attack a place like this unless he was after Winona and her work? In case of an emergency, where would Winona be? "Her office is practically impenetrable." Felix explained as Jason handed Kylian and William guns.

"What are these for?" Kylian asked. "If we're going to her office in this situation," Jason explained, "Then we're bound to run into an enemy or two. These are for you to protect yourselves." William didn't need nor did he want a gun. He could manage just fine without killing anyone and Kylian immediately agreed. Whatever or whoever they were to face, the two boys promised themselves they would never willingly take another person's life.

Jason let out a short sigh before ruffling William's curls and putting the guns on his own holster. As he did, William and Kylian helped Felix onto his good foot and closely followed Jason towards the elevator. William was about to ask why they would use the elevator until he remembered Felix's leg and how using the stairs would make them appear more suspicious to the enemy. After all, they had to act natural, William thought as they got on the elevator.

Jason was standing in front of him, but William really couldn't shake the feeling about him having met him somewhere before, so he asked him. "I don't think I have." he replied,"Maybe I look like someone you know?" Perhaps, William conceded as the elevator dinged on their floor, but William's instinct told him to stay in the elevator. He sent his message of unease to Kylian and they even made a plan to save the four of them until they realised they couldn't stop walking.

William physically could not stop moving towards the door of Winona's office, as Felix smiled at him while asking, "What's wrong?" At last William finally realised he and Kylian had been led into another trap.

The doors to Winona's office, the supposed safest part of the building, slowly opened, but William wasn't even sure if that was true at that point. He couldn't trust anything and anyone (besides Kylian) as he saw Richard Mustollini sitting in Winona's chair, smug as a cow in a grass patch. "Where is the Queen Mother?" Kylian asked, equally angry, but Richard simply got up from her chair and let out a dramatic sigh.

"Hello to you as well. It has been a while, hasn't it? It's great to see you in such impeccable health." What was he doing? "I assumed you had forgotten how to hold a proper conversation, so I'm helping you out." Cut the cra- "Ah, ah, ah. Language, young prince." Where's. Queen. Mother. Winona! Richard smiled before waving his hand in the air, signalling for someone to walk in. Still unable to move, William simply stood there listening as the sound of footsteps and dripping grew closer.

Had she also betrayed them all as well-

Aaron Moore walked past the boys holding her head by her hair.

No. No, it wasn't possible. No! This was all just a nightmare! William had to wake up! He shut his eyes as he told himself over and over to wake up, but his eyes opened without his permission as Richard held his face in his hand. "Take a good look at your precious Queen Mother and the man you so desperately saved, young prince."

The man? Why hadn't William recognized him before? "I'll tell you if you join us, both of you." the madman said to his two captives, but they both would have rather died than join him. Clearly displeased, Richard walked back towards his desk and played with Winona's head while asking Moore, "What do I do now? They said no." Moore glanced at them, startling William before replying, "They're kids, Rich. They have no choice but to obey adults. Isn't that right, William?"

Go to Abyssus. "Not before I get Halley." the man they had already defeated replied, clearly trying to get a reaction out of Kylian. William slightly turned his eyes to see Kylian's piercing glare, and tried to get him to calm down to the best of his ability. "Don't play with them, Aaron." Richard said mockingly, "We can't have them forming bonds now." Bonds? What did he mean by bonds? Mustollini simply smiled at William's question before instructing Jason and Felix to take them away.