Chapter Text
Scott’s vision was blurry, another long day of sharing the too-small throne with his twin brother, Xornoth. He yawned as a messenger owls landed on his knee, bearing a message. “You read it.” He said taking the letter, watching the owl go, and handing it to his brother, sitting neatly on the other arm of the golden, jewel-studded throne. Xornoth’s eyes widened, looking at Scott with an ‘oh no’ expression. “Well? What does it say?” He asked, shifting to face him. “Its… them… their coming to visit in a week.” To the two brothers, there was only one ‘them’, their parents, whom they’ve cut off when Scott became king, after Xornoth’s disappearance. “W- No. No that can’t be… w-why…?” Scott asked, hopping off the arm of the throne and inching towards the stairs of the palace. “I don’t know, but if we know them, and we definitely do, they’re going to try their old tactics.” Xornoth said, sighing. “I-I… I need some time to be alone… I think.” He said before launching up the spiral staircase with a quick pulse of his wings and dashing through the decorated halls, straight to his room, closing the large wooden door firmly. He hopped onto his bed, taking off his boots and curling up into a ball, letting the tears fall and crying himself to sleep, the first time he’s done this since Xornoth went missing.
He was standing in a vison of the past, watching himself cowering in a closet with his brother while their parents yelled and screamed at each other. Past-Scott was curled up, tightly cuddling to his brother’s chest. Scott realized that this moment in front of him, this is when he stopped making noises when he cried, why he was always silent, never speaking, or sniffling, or even making the slightest sound because he didn’t want to be found or heard. Scott turned around, facing Aeor, one of the Great Stag Gods. “Why would you show me this?” He asked the blue, astral deer, staring into his cold, pitch black eyes. “You need to know what to prepare for, champion, and to face your fear. You need to confront them.” Alinar said, a champion of past, the first one, to be exact. Aeor and Alinar pulled him into an embrace, warm, soft fur and a cool breeze pushing against him. Aeor picked him up as the astral ghost of Alinar disappeared into the wind, taking his place in the night sky above them as a shining star. “It is time to head back to the real world, champion.” Aeor said, nuzzling Scott’s hair and ruffing it up a bit. Scott nodded as he was put down and sat up in his bed.
Scott sat on his bed for a long while, and suddenly realized he hadn’t changed out of his royal attire. He put on the most casual thing be had, a comfy blue, white, and gold long-sleeve, turtle-neck sweater, the colors of Rivendell, and a pair of dark-grey sweatpants. He sat on his bed again and pulled out a book from the nightstand, “Myths and Rumors of the Empires”, the title read. It seemed like an interesting enough book that he found in the market a week earlier, so he decided to look and see what he could find out about the other rulers and their kingdoms, it wasn’t long before noon and a servant came in bearing a platter of food, a drink, and a note with the unmistakable seal of the Cod Empire. Scott sighed, “What is it this time?” He asked the servant. “Your brother told him about last night, he’s worried sick and wants to come visit.” The servant said, fixing her messy ponytail, bowing to him, and walking out the room. Scott regarded the plate of what he assumed, was lunch, and decided he wasn’t hungry, going back to his book.
Scott didn’t know how much time had passed; he had gotten lost in the book again. He finally looked up from the book when he heard a knock at his door. “Scott? You awake in there?” A familiar voice said. “C-Come in!” He said, stuffing the book under his pillow as Jimmy, the Codfather and king of the Cod Empire, walked in. Scott pulled his legs to his chest, wrapping his arms around his knees. “Was this your lunch? You haven’t touched a single thing, and Xornoth said you haven’t eaten breakfast either.” Jimmy said, pointing at the platter of food on his dresser. “I’m not hungry.” Scott said quickly, tapping his fingers together. “You sure?” The Codfather said, looking concerned for Scott’s well-being. Scott tucked his wings in and sighed, pushing his face into the cloth of his sweatpants.
Jimmy sat down, making Scott jump with the sudden weight shift on the bed, flaring his wings slightly. Jimmy was only two inches shorter than him, around 6’5’’-ish, but much heavier than Scott, as he had hollow bones, like a bird. “Oh, sorry, didn’t mean to startle ya’.” Jimmy said with an awkward laugh. “So, what was the letter about, all I know is that it spooked ya’, Xornoth didn’t say anything beyond that.” Scott paused for a moment, “Do you remember when I told you about my parents?” “Yeah?” Jimmy said, puzzled. “Their coming to visit in a week, but knowing them, its most likely much sooner than that.” Scott said, curling into a ball and laying down, draping one of his wings over his body and the other painfully pinned down on the bed, outstretched slightly.
Jimmy got a little closer and ran his fingers through Scott’s semi-outstretched wings, “Whatever happens, I’ll be there with you. I won’t let them hurt you, not again.” He said, his webbed fingers smoothing out the champion’s feathers. Scott made a slight clicking sound, a chirp that sounded like an owl, and sat up, staring out the window. He paused, making little hoots, “What if he’s not here when they show up, what’s going to happen to us then, what if the guards aren’t strong enough?” He thought, staring into the distance. “What is that?” He muttered, standing up and walking to the window, it was something in the distance, a platoon of soldiers surrounding two people. “No… Oh no, no, no, no. Jimmy, wait outside.” Scott pushed the Cod-Axolotl Hybrid out of the room, locking the door and changing into something more suitable.