Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Crow- first

A child is a blessing to the world. Twins are a blessing of the gods.

Two small little heads, black hair plentiful, skin softer than velvet.

Crow looks at his new-borns laying in their cribs, heart too heavy with love. He had thought that his love for Ender would be divided over the three of them, but instead it had only seemed to multiply for each and every one of his babies. It was strange, in a way it scared him even. The King-consort felt vulnerable, as if it was his own beating heart laying in those cribs, ready to be slain.

Crow wants to hold a dagger, or sword. Anything to kill who tries to slay his heart.

His boy wakes up, big purple eyes stare at him for the first time. He is the calmer of the two. Not even a few hours old and Crow already knows it. When he offers his finger to the baby, he takes it with his little hand.

Fluixon of house Aculon, second prince of the empire.

A little baby with chubby cheeks, swaddled in a sea of fluffy blankets.

Fluixon looks strikingly like the emperor, even with all his little baby features. Crow thought it only fair, after all Ender looked like him, so Elanualo deserved a son in his image. Crow would be lying if he said he hadn't prayed for it. It was proof the Emperor needed that his blood also bled from the wound of his children.

A little bubbly noise escapes his little prince's lips, followed by a short cry.

The cry is joined by a louder cry, coming from the other crib. Teary little red eyes look at him. Cynikka has joined her brother in the land of the waking.

Ah, they are hungry then.

--

Ender- first

They were ugly little beans. Ender doesn't understand the awe of the grown-ups around him. Like, like, they don't even have arms- Oh no, they have now. Why would they put away their arms? Don't you need your arms? Are those beans dumb?

"Ender, come, meet your siblings", dad calls out.

those things? his siblings? But- ew?

Why is everyone looking at him? Surely they don't expect him to go closer? Well, his dad did say he should come over... But he can meet them from a distance, right?

Like, like, like, ummm. Ender knows he isn't supposed to touch expensive paintings or, or, like, those round thingies.

"Ender, it's okay, you can come closer"

Well Ender does miss dad. He hasn't seen dad in like, umm, a day or two or maybe it was three. No, no, it was three Ender counted them himself.

And not even father was there, cause he went somewhere... Ender doesn't remember where father went....

"Ender...?"

Right, the beans. He walks to his dad. Dad lifts him up, placing him on his legs.

"there you go big man"

Dad is warm. Ender wants to never leave his hug again.

"Look Ender", his dad points to one of the beans,"This is your little sister, Cynikka", he points to the other, "and this is your little brother, Fluixon".

Sister? Brother?

"beans"

--

Elanuelo- first

The news had reached him right when they had been halfway on route. And Elanuelo had rushed back with a few of his personal guards.

And now here he is, at his glorious capital. Many people are on the street, they are screaming their joys and congratulations to him. Flowers are thrown on the ground in front of their horses.

Elanuelo is the emperor of Aculon. He is no fool. He knows they would rip those of his line apart had they been given access to them.

Even of his guard he would trust none to hold any of his children. All powerful sons of lords, aiming for his throne.

Oh, but Elanuelo can't show this. If they knew he knew the truth, there would be no reason to lie anymore. His family would be dead.

Every man and woman in the palace congratulates him. Keeping him up longer than he wanted to.

The route to the Queens room, currently inhabited by a King, his fathers genius idea to marry him off to a shape-shifter, One from the lands of sand none the less, feels longer than usual.

He knows from the report of the head midwife, that nothing went wrong, still liars are no myth and Elanuelo only trusts his own eyes and ears.

The guard next to the door whispers congratulations. Then the door opens into quiet.

Filtered through the curtains, the light shines a soft orange as it falls into the room. At first Elanuelo thinks there is nobody there, but as his eyes scan the room, they find Crow sitting in a chair next to the window. His little Ender is curled up on Crows lap, both are fast asleep.

And next to them, stand two cribs.

When his step towards the cribs makes steel clank together, Elanualo puts away his sword on the sofa to his right. Cursing at his incompetence to not have done it earlier.

They look identical, sleeping in matching blankets, little heads with puffy dark hairs.

Fluixon and Cynikka.

The names were chosen from a list with two boy names and two girl names. Respectable names for members of house Aculon.

Welcome little ones, you already have a dozen enemies.

--

Cynikka- first

In Cynikka's earliest memory, she is running through the halls of Castle Aculon with Flux. She thinks that they had just escaped their boring madam, vaguely remembering a secret tunnel behind a bed and barely being small enough to fit between the wall and the bed to get to it.

They are laughing, looking behind them to see if anybody was following them or not. Giant halls surround her and her brother.

They catch their breath at the top of the stairs before racing off of it.

They are having so much fun, until they aren't.

Maybe he just stumbled on his own feet, maybe it was her feet or maybe it was the thick carpet covering the stairs, it doesn't matter because Flux trips and falls.

Then screams, blood, her own crying, fathers angry shouts.

Flux is fine in the end, maybe too scared to run down stairs now.

It isn't a happy first memory, yet sad it doesn't feel either.

--

Elanuelo- last

"Father?"

Ender is twelve years of age. Heir to a throne he will never sit on, an empire he will never rule.

Elanuelo had failed him, failed all of them. That much is clear when they are starving in a castle under siege.

"Go Ender, follow your dad and leave", every word shatters his heart more and more. An emperor without an heir, without a dynasty, is no emperor.

A father without children is no man.

Elanuelo is neither. Just a name without meaning. The emperor that failed his empire. The father that failed his children.

Ender still looks at him, he is the only one that understands what is happening. Fluixon holding his brother's tunic with a white balled hand, tears streaming down his face. Cynikka is in a similar state, but clinging onto Crows cloak instead.

"Why can't you come with us?", Ender pleads softly with him.

"You know why"

Ender shakes his head, but doesn't ask anymore questions. Good.

Elanuelo takes his oldest son's head in his hands, giving him a kiss on the forehead.

"Be brave, protect your siblings", a shaky nod is all he gets in return.

Terrified purple eyes now stare at him. Letting go of Ender's tunic to run into his arms when Elanuelo lowers himself to the ground. He is soon joined by Cynikka. The twins clinging to his battle armour.

"You too be brave, little ones, all will be well"

Fluixon sniffles, lifting his face to look him in the eye.

"When will we see you again?"

Purple eyes meet black.

"When the time is there for us to meet again"

It takes them a while to drag Fluixon and Cynikka away from him. Into the passage. Crow and Ender keep the twins inside as his guards start to close the secret passage again.

He meets Crow's dark eyes one last time, hears his children's cries echo.

Then he turns around, ready to command his men to die.

--

The lands of Aculon- last

The snowy tundra, the frozen rivers.

They remember.

Shivering hands, cold feet.

Being of royalty means nothing to nature.

So she says goodbye.

Goodbye to the emperor, not last of his line.

Goodbye to the consort, you never belonged to the snow.

Goodbye to the heir, never will you rule this land.

Goodbye to the daughter, you burned too bright anyways.

Goodbye to the son, your fate is greater than the ice.

The snow will still fall after your leave.

Like she said before, nature has no care for roles.

She says goodbye, and the sun rises the next morning.

The fields will stay unchanged, the forests still standing.

As your feet leave the snowy ground, as the boat drifts away.

Aculon says goodbye to you all.

Chapter Text

Saparata- first

It had been a grand storm that night. Waves higher than the walls of the city, winds stronger than the horses from the high lords. Flashes from the sky as if the sun rose twice, thrice and a fourth time. 

Saparata had watched from the tower that night. Out on the sea, the ships were dancing for their lives. Up and down and around the rocks they went.

None succeeded. 

They had tried to save as many people as they could the morning after. When the sea had calmed down enough for the small boats to traverse it. 

But from the four ships that Saparata had seen that night, only 20 survivors were ever found. They had learned that all ships had been carrying more refugees from Aculon.

The days after bodies kept washing ashore. The smell taking over the port, soon they began burning the bodies, as to prevent disease, he was told. But that smell was even more foul.

Then one day, a boy arrived in the group home Saparata lived in. One of the survivors, they were told, a refugee from Aculon. 

Like Saparata.

He was short, with dark unkept hair and purple eyes. A few years younger than Saparata himself.

Fluixon. 

The boy had told him he missed his family, none were found after the storm. Fluixon had cried. 

Saparata shared the feeling. 

How much the war had taken from the both. 

Fluixon had then quietly asked if Saparata wanted to help him look. Saparata had been confused, look for what?

His family, Fluixon had answered. A father, brother and sister. 

So Saparata had found himself on the beach that evening. He hadn't even known what Fluixon's family looked like. So he just walked behind him, as the boy turned around body after body. Looking at their faces and shaking his head.

They did this every day, till no more bodies washed ashore. 

--

Jophiel- first

The sun starts to set when they arrive at the sleeping quarters for the students. It is an impressive building, marble lined by dark wood, glass in colourful patterns. 

So different from home.

They give her one of the only private rooms, something her father demanded. 

He had told her before she left, that there were too many lowborns now. Still the school was as prestigious as ever, and none in the desert could compete. So Jophiel still went there, sleeping alone instead of in pairs or groups of three.

Jophiel is now ten and five, and so utterly alone.

So in one of the following days, when the loneliness overcame her fear of the cruel people her father warned her about, she decided to scroll around the school grounds.

The vegetation of Theria was truly beautiful. As expected of course, it was built in a gigantic oasis. The biggest in the entire desert, even the sea regions couldn't compete. 

For a long time, only the school and university were located here. But now, due to the many refugees from The Aculon civil war, it has become a state nation of its own. 

So Jophiel walks around the marble paths, trying to name as many plants as she can. After that becomes boring, she starts to try and remember the entire school grounds. Walking aimlessly between the buildings. 

"This is the dumbest idea you have had so far", someone's voice carries from around the corner.

"You just don't get the vision"

"The vision of being punished? because this is a stupid idea?"

"you're too young to understand-"

"I'm not young- less than two years, you would also be young!"

Jophiel stops when she rounds the corner, coming face to face with a black haired boy. The other boy has his back turned to her, standing on the shoulders of the black haired boy. Jophiel follows his body upwards, spotting the open window the white haired one is leaning into. 

"See, I got it! And nobody even saw- oh"

The white haired boy now also stares at Jophiel, a plate of qrashel in his hand. 

"We'll share if you tell nobody", the black haired boy nods in agreement, "Deal?"

Jophiel nods, despite the voice of her father reprimanding her. 

They sneak away from the kitchen building, stolen goods in hand. The boys lead her to a quiet part of the garden, hiding themselves away in a patch of bushes.

There they introduce themselves to her, and she introduces herself back.

Saparata, Fluixon and Jophiel.

--

Solev- first and last

The streets of Theria are a lot more lively than usual. People are cheering, and dancing. 

Theria has their independence, and the first president has been chosen. 

The white haired man speaks with charm, orange eyes confident despite his clearly young age. 

But it is not the president that catches Solev's attention. No, it is the vice-president next to him. 

Short black hair, piercing purple eyes. And the face of his son. It is all it takes for Solev to be brought back to white fields, gruelling snow storms and a grand castle among it all. The golden lined hallways, the ruby jewellery. 

A child that called him "papa". 

A family he left behind on purpose.

Solev knows that this is not Elanuelo. Because Elanuelo got killed, his body is dead and buried in the cold ground. He also knows that this is Elanuelo's son, his grandson.

A man he never got to meet, 

a name he never got to learn,

all due to his own choices.

Blood he still shared.

The black haired man smiles at something the president is saying in his speech, the crowd laughs and cheers.

Solev has lived a long time. centuries are engraved in his memory. He has seen kingdoms fall and rise, has been the cause for several wars and has created golden ages for nations multiple times.

So he walks on, cause he knows he won't bear the memory of outliving his grandson. He walks on cause he can't bear to be reminded of Elanuelo every day.

--

Crow- last

They meet at their normal spot. The little restaurant is busy as always when Crow walks in. But the moot is gloomy, more black is worn than the usual white which is stylish in Theria. 

The nation is in mourning, Crow had heard this.

So he hurries towards the right end corner, passes the arch and enters the private dining room.

His son is already waiting for him. Their usual drinks were already ordered. Fluixon looks up when he enters the room. He too, is wearing mourning black, eyes tired, shoulders sunken. 

"...Fluixon"

"He is dead"

Crow had heard. The first president of Theria had thrown himself off a tower. 

"Saparata is dead", Fluixon repeats the information, his eyes becoming watery. 

Gods, the last time Crow had seen that sight, was in a dark cold tunnel many years ago. So he does what he did then, he steps forwards and gives his son a hug.

"Saps is dead", Fluixons voice breaks halfway through, and Crow can feel his heart break all the same.

"I know, I'm sorry my child"

Crow was never fond of the white haired man. Cunning and calculating, a recipe for danger, for hurt. Isn't his child crying in his arms, the proof for that. Yet, Crow keeps his silence, Saparata of Theria has already paid the price, no words will change that.

"How could he- he-", Fluixon cries in silence, as he did a child, "He just left us"

Crow just keeps holding his child, a full grown man in mourning. After all he knows what it is, to lose your safe haven, the protective shield to your heart, the warm blanket around your soul. Cradling his baby, until his tears dry and breathing evens out more. 

His shoulders stay sunken, his eyes stay tired now red rimmed from the tears. 

Crow orders for them, always the same as before, and they eat the food in silence. Only when the last bite is taken, Crow speaks up again. After all, he did not come here to only console his child.

"I'm afraid I carry more bad news, during these bad times" 

Fluixon just nods with uncaring and tired eyes.

"The sultanate is planning an attack"

Fluixon drops his head in hands, but stays quiet.

"They have proof that-", Crow stumbles, he can't bring himself to utter the name, "that the late president, poisoned the sultan" 

Purple eyes stare at him through spread fingers. Hands moving towards his hair, eyes wide. 

"That fucker...", anger mixes with grief, "he left us to rot".

Fluixon stands up, the quick movement making the chair fall. 

"I have to warn Jophiel"

Crow nods, "Ofcourse"

Fluixon makes his way out of the private dining room, letting the door of the restaurant fall shut behind him.

--

Lands of Theria- last

Sand buries its mistakes, the sun burns them. 

Humans may never forgive 

what the orange hills never forget.

It is over, young man. 

There is nothing left.

So leave the burning buildings,

the collapsed memories,

the last firsts you had.

You were a prince of ice,

you never belonged here.

you melted all the same.

leave with heavy steps,

your second home.

Onto the next one, 

another boat, another chance.

The lands of Theria greet you

we say goodbye and thank you