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If there was one thing Diamant learned about his brother, it would be that he was not someone he should make mad.
He had been sitting in the Café Terrace chatting with Ivy, Alfred, and Fogado when he sees Alcryst approach the Divine Dragons, Alear and Lueur. Out of curiosity, he looks over and tries to hear what they were saying.
"Pardon me, Divine Ones. I would like to speak with you." Alcryst says in a cool tone.
"Oh! Hello Alcryst!" Lueur says with a smile.
"What did you want to talk about?" Alear asks.
"I found that book I saw everyone reading a few days ago." Alcryst says, still sounding as calm as ever. He holds up the aforementioned book. "I found this in the bush near the Flea Market here! I'd like an explanation."
'Oh no.' Diamant flinches. Alfred, Fogado, and Ivy notice now and turn their attention to the conversation, mute horror crossing their faces.
"Oh? Did you now?" Lueur laughs nervously. Her eyes flicker to the book Alcryst holds.
"I thought Anna sold out on that." Alear says, earning an elbow to the stomach. "I mean... what are you talking about?"
"Oh? You don't know?" Alcryst asks. The smile on his face was definitely not one of his normally friendly smiles. "That's disappointing..."
Diamant glances around and could see other members of the Divine Dragon's army retreating away from the Café Terrace. Bunet disappears into the kitchen, Pandreo drags Panette off to "see the fishes", and Timerra is pushing Céline and Hortensia away saying something about having some tea with them. It was as if everyone knew that something bad was about to happen, and Diamant couldn't blame them. This was the first time he saw his older brother angry. Or was he just upset? Either way, he definitely was anything but happy.
And as if to make it worse, Jade and Anna had just arrived.
"Uh... we really... don't know." Lueur laughs.
"Sorry, Alcryst." Alear sighs. "We didn't think you would find out."
"Alear!" Lueur hisses.
"We can't lie to him." Alear argues. "He already knows."
"So you did know." Alcryst's tone turns cold.
Jade freezes when she sees the romance novel in his hand, and Anna lets out a surprised gasp.
Alcryst turns to them. "Can someone explain to me why there is a romance novel written about me?"
Jade immediately bows her head. "I am so sorry Prince Alcryst! I should not have done that!"
"I am sorry too!" Anna says, bowing and holding her hands in front of her. "It will never happen again."
"But it was nice read." Louis pipes in from his seat on the couch. "I would say that it perfect depicts how dashing you are."
"Just like a fairytale prince!" Chloé gushes. "I must say I adored this novel!"
Alcryst's expression becomes unreadable. "Is that so?"
"That is not helping, Louis and Chloé!" Alear and Lueur shout.
Alcryst watches them all carefully before he lets out a long sigh. "Just... Just make sure no one outside of the Somniel sees it please."
"OF COURSE! I COMPLETELY-" Anna starts.
"It is embarrassing to know that people think I am a good candidate for a partner. Surely there are better people to choose from." Alcryst sighs. "I am far from the ideal partner... I don't think I would be able to make someone happy..."
A long beat of silence passes.
"...excuse me?" Anna says quietly.
'What the fuck was that?! That sounds nothing like my brother!'
Diamant hears a clattering noise and turns to see that Chloé had dropped her tea cup. Louis has opened his eyes and is staring in shock.
"Wait... Hang on!" Lueur shouts. "WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY?!"
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY THAT?!" Alear shouts. "I NEVER KNEW YOU THOUGHT THAT WAY!"
"Huh? Did I say that out loud?" Alcryst looks at everyone with wide eyes. "Sorry. Please forget I said anything. And please don't write anymore romance novels about me..." He smiles, leaving without another word.
"HUH?! WAIT A SECOND!" Alear chases after him. "ALCRYST! WE NEED TO TALK! SLOW DOWN! WHY ARE YOU WALKING SO FAST?!"
Diamant sighs and holds his face in his hands as everyone else seemed to lose their minds. He was going to have to talk to his brother about this, wasn't he? This was not something that he thought he would need to know.
'Why is this happening?!'
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
It was a quiet day, and he didn't have anything to do. So Diamant decided to sit down and read a book. No, he was not going to read the romance novel about his older brother. That was something he could never bring himself to do. As he flips the page of his book, he feels the weight of the couch shift as someone sits down besides him.
"Hey Diamant." Fogado whispers in his ear.
"What is it, Fogado?" Diamant asks without looking up.
"You know... your older brother is kinda pretty. You think I could date him?" Fogado says.
'Excuse me?! Not in your life!'
"What did you just say?" Diamant drops the book and turns to Fogado with a cold expression.
"Your older brother is pretty. You think- WHAT THE HELL?!" Fogado screams and falls to the floor when he sees the sword pointed at his throat. He tries to back up, but Diamant follows him.
"Stay away from my brother!" Diamant shouts, his grip on the sword unwavering.
"Okay okay! I get it!" Fogado holds up his hands. "Just put that away! I won't try to get with him!"
"You better not!" Diamant growls.
The sound of footsteps approaching alerts them both and Diamant looks over his shoulder. "Hello Alcryst."
"Hello Diamant. Hello Prince Fogado." Alcryst waves. "What are you two doing?"
"Wrestling." Diamant says.
"Does this look like wrestling?!" Fogado cries.
"Oh! I see! I am glad you made a friend, Diamant!" Alcryst smiles.
"What about this looks like we are friends?! He is trying to kill me!" Fogado shouts.
"I'll see you two later. Princess Timerra wanted to take me camping. Have fun!" Alcryst says walking away.
"Okay. Bye." Diamant says. He pauses and drops the sword. "Wait... What did he say?"
"Something about my sister taking him camping..." Fogado mutters, standing back up.
"WHAT?!" Diamant grabs him by the shoulders and shakes him. "Camping?!"
"Yes! Camping! Calm down! Timerra will make sure nothing happens to him! Your brother isn't that delicate! He will be fine! Stop being so protective!" Fogado pries Diamant's hands away.
"You don't know that! I heard Princess Céline say that they ran into bandits when they went!"
"Oh yeah... that happens sometimes. Don't worry. It will be fine!"
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Diamant paced around while he waited for his brother to return. He could list all the ways something could go wrong if he wanted to, but he just didn't want to think about it. Plus it would all depend on where Alcryst and Timerra had gone for the camping trip, so he would have to figure that out as well!
'I should have asked him!'
"Diamant, could you stop pacing around? You're making me dizzy." Fogado says, holding his head.
Diamant stops. "I am just worried about him."
"I don't see why you are. He's pretty strong. Haven't you seen the way he just takes down our enemies? With a guy like him watching your back, you feel safe!" Fogado smiles. "It isn't like he is as frail as he looks."
"I know he is strong! I just... I already lost my father during this war, I refuse to lose my brother too." Diamant frowns.
Fogado falls silent. He stands from his seat and pats Diamant on the shoulder. "I get it. But you need to trust him more. It isn't like-"
"WE'RE BACK!~" Timerra's voice echoes through the Somniel.
"Alcryst!" Diamant quickly runs to the plaza the moment he heard her voice. He skids to a stop when he sees his rather disheveled looking older brother. "What happened?!"
"We kinda ran into some bandits." Timerra laughs. "We had to come back early because they destroyed our equipment."
"Bandits?!" Diamant wanted to scream. This was what he wanted to prevent.
"It's okay, Diamant. No one got hurt." Alcryst smiles.
"Besides the bandits." Timerra adds.
"Mhm!"
"That's not the point!" Diamant shouts. "You could have gotten hurt! What if something bad happened?!"
Fogado approaches behind him and places a hand on his shoulder. "Calm down! They're both alive and fine!"
"We should go camping again!" Timerra says. "I'll take you to Solm next time! It was nice seeing Brodia!"
"That sounds like fun. Maybe we should bring Princess Céline and Princess Hortensia too!" Alcryst says.
"That's a great idea! I'll ask them!"
Wait.
They went to Brodia?!
"Brother! What area of Brodia did you go to?!" Diamant asks.
"Uh... at the border of Firene and Brodia. Why?" Alcryst says.
"Are you forgetting that bandits frequent that area?!" Diamant wants to cry.
"Well... I let Princess Timerra choose." Alcryst laughs.
"It looked like it would be a nice area!" Timerra says. "Plus! Prince Alcryst introduced me to a friend while we were there!"
"He what?" Diamant asks dumbfounded. That was when he noticed the wolf that had been sitting next to his brother. "Is that a wolf?!"
"Yup! Don't worry. He won't hurt anyone here." Alcryst says, patting the wolf on the head.
"When did you befriend a wolf?!" Diamant was not sure if he should be horrified or happy for his brother.
"Oh. A few weeks ago? I went to Brodia with the Divine One and found him injured, so I took care of him." Alcryst says. "He always comes running whenever I go to the mountain pass now."
As Timerra and Fogado kneel to pet the wolf, Diamant sighs with defeat. For someone so smart, his older brother could be terribly oblivious and naïve.
"Just promise me you will be more careful from now on..." Diamant sighs.
"Don't worry, Diamant. I promise. And I hope you do the same as well." Alcryst says, ruffling his hair.
"Stop doing that!"
"But you're so cute!"
"I'm not cute!"
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Once again, they had been sent out to fight. But this time, it was not just Corrupted. This time, it was because they were headed for Firene after receiving word that Florra Port was being attacked. On the way there, Princess Ivy's retainers joined them.
On the battlefield, Diamant lost sight of his older brother. But this time, he trusted that Alear and Lueur would be able to prevent anything from happening. Instead, he focused on the enemy ahead of him. One of the Four Hounds, Zephia he thinks her name was, attacked from above with her wyvern. An arrow flies past and hits the wyvern before it got too close to him.
"Thanks Fogado." Diamant nods.
"No problem! I got your back!" Fogado winks.
"Where is Ivy?" Diamant asks.
Alfred rides over on his horse. "She is with her sister. They're..." He looks far ahead and Diamant follows his gaze.
His expression hardens when he sees the form of Hyacinth. As much as he wanted to run over there, he doesn't.
"This is their battle." Diamant says. "We shouldn't interrupt, but we should be prepared to help if they need it."
"I'll clear is a path." Alfred nods and charges ahead.
"Nice going, Alfred!" Fogado cheers.
While Fogado and Alfred chatter, Diamant searches for his brother. He knew that Alcryst would not be on the frontlines because he was an archer, but he was still going to search. There was still a possibility that his brother had come closer to where he was, but it wasn't likely. Alcryst was smart, so he would know to stay somewhere out of harm's way.
'I am sure he is safe...'
Diamant relaxes for a moment before blocking an oncoming attack. He quickly strikes down the soldier running at him. Then he hears a scream from behind, a scream that sounded all too familiar.
"Alcryst!" He screams, turning to run in that direction. But a hand on his shoulder stops him. Diamant turns to glare at the person. To his surprise, it was the Divine Dragons Lueur and Alear.
"Diamant, it will be alright." Lueur says. "Princess Céline is with him. She will take care of him."
"But!" Diamant protests.
"Please trust me. Céline, Louis, Chloé, Citrinne, and Lapis are there. It will be alright." Lueur tries to reassure him. She looks him in the eyes with a gentle smile on her face. "We need your help here."
"I won't allow it!" He hears Princess Céline shout.
He wanted to protest and argue. Divine Dragon be damned! He needed to make sure his brother was still alive! Diamant closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. "I understand."
"Thank you, Diamant." Lueur says, running off.
Diamant takes one last look over his shoulder.
"Diamant. I'll go check on him." Alear reassures him.
Diamant nods and runs after Lueur, only after he sees Alear head off in the direction Alcryst was.
'Please be safe.'
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
After the battle, Diamant stayed by Lueur while she did a headcount. It looked like everyone had been accounted for. Jean, Framme, and Pandreo had rushed to help whoever was injured.
"Kagetsu, hold still!" Framme scolds.
"You're tying it too tight!" Kagetsu argues.
"We can't leave it loose you dumby!" Framme huffs.
Diamant looks to Lueur. "Uh... Divine One?"
"Hm?" Lueur turns to face him, her hair swishing in the wind.
"I'm going to look for my brother." Diamant says.
"Just wait a little, Diamant. Alear will-" Lueur says before a shout interrupts her.
"Out of the way!" Céline and Chloé push through the crowd with Louis right behind them. In his arms, Louis carries Alcryst.
Diamant feels his heart drop as he pushes away from Lueur and runs to his brother's side. He had never seen his brother look so weak and fragile before. "Alcryst!"
Citrinne and Lapis stop him before he gets too close.
"Prince Diamant, please relax!" Lapis says.
"But my brother!" Diamant shouts.
"He is alive." Alear says, walking over. "He is only unconscious."
"But..." Diamant stares at the ground.
"Alcryst is strong. He will be alright." Alear pats him on the head.
Alright? Diamant wanted to argue with him. It looked like someone had hit Alcryst with an Elfire at close range! Diamant was sure that this would count as anything but alright.
Citrinne pulls him into a hug. "It will be alright, Diamant."
"But Cici..." Diamant frowns.
Lapis opens her mouth to speak, but Citrinne shushes her and whispers something Diamant couldn't hear. Lapis nods and leaves without another word.
"Alcryst will be alright. Have faith in him." Citrinne says, patting him on the head.
"I just want to make sure he is alright..." Diamant says.
"Come." Citrinne says, "Let's see if they need help. We can check on Alcryst that way. Does that sound good?"
Diamant nods, so Citrinne takes his hand and leads him over to where Pandreo is treating Alcryst.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
It had turned out that Alcryst had taken more than just an Elfire. Much to Diamant's horror, it seemed like someone had stabbed his brother through the abdomen with a lance. While Pandreo's healing magic closed the worst of the wounds, he had said that it would be best if Alcryst stayed out of battle for awhile. That was something Diamant readily accepted. As long as it meant that Alcryst would be out of harm's way, then he was happy with it.
"Diamant? Where am I?" A groggy voice reaches his ears.
Diamant is by his brother's side immediately. "You're in the infirmary."
"Oh... Is Princess Céline alright?" Alcryst asks.
Diamant huffs. Why was he asking about her? She wasn't the one injured!
'You should be worrying more about yourself!'
"Diamant? Is Princess Céline alright?" Alcryst asks again, trying to sit up.
"Hey! Don't move!" Diamant shouts, quickly assisting him. Once Alcryst is sitting comfortably, Diamant relaxes. "She is fine. She only had minor injuries."
"Oh thank goodness..." Alcryst sighs. "I was worried that Griss would hurt her after he attacked us."
"One of the Hounds? He got back there?" Diamant's expression hardens. How had the Divine Dragons allowed something like that to happen? They should have planned to make sure no one made it to where their backlines were.
"He came from behind." Alcryst says, holding his side. "I didn't notice him until he was on top of us. If Louis hadn't been there, we would have been goners."
Diamant makes a mental note to thank Louis later. "What happened to Griss?"
"Citrinne and Lapis chased him away." Alcryst answers.
"What about his emblem ring? Did you get it?" Diamant asks.
Alcryst shakes his head. "I don't know. I only remember feeling a sharp pain in my side before passing out. I'm sorry."
"You don't have to apologize!" Diamant shouts. "I..." He feels tears running down his cheeks.
Alcryst reaches up and wipes away his tears. "Diamant..."
"I thought I lost you! I thought you were going to die!" Diamant sobs. "I don't know what I would have done if you died!"
"Oh Diamant..." Alcryst pulls him close. "Please don't cry. I'll always be here."
"But what if you aren't?" Diamant asks quietly, shifting his position to avoid putting pressure on Alcryst's injury. "What if something bad happens to you?"
"That won't happen." Alcryst says in a firm tone. "It won't happen. I'll be here with you no matter what, I promise. I'm not going anywhere anytime soon. As long as I can stand, I will be here for you. I promise."
"You better not break that promise." Diamant mutters.
Alcryst laughs. "I won't. I'm not going to leave my baby brother so soon. I'll look after you and keep you safe."
"And I'll protect you."
"Hm?"
"I'll protect you." Diamant repeats.
"I'll hold you to it." Alcryst says with a yawn. "And I'll protect you too."
Diamant smiles to himself. His brother was here, and that was all that mattered to him. He could relax now that Alcryst was here and safe in his arms. He counted himself lucky to have a brother like him.
"I am glad you are my brother, Alcryst." Diamant says quietly.
"Hm? Did you say something?" Alcryst asks sleepily.
"Oh. It's nothing." Diamant says.
"Mmm... Alright." Alcryst closes his eyes. Soon light snores reach his ears.
As Diamant moves, or attempts to move, to get up, he realizes that he could not free himself from Alcryst's grip. "Oh no..."
It looked like he was going to be stuck there until Alcryst decided to wake up. Not that he minded, but he would think that it would be more comfortable to sleep lying down.
Diamant considered waking Alcryst up, but he quickly shoots down the idea. What kind of brother would he be if he made him wake up while he was recovering? He couldn't disturb what little sleep Alcryst got.
So he resigns himself to his fate and stays. Moments later, he drifts off himself.
'I love you, Alcryst. I always will.'