A/N: The chapter ahead is raw, which means not been proofread yet nor edited.
***
Watts Xirquit closed his eyes. The Emperor is bound. Then he opened them again. He looked into one of his brother's strings of fates and saw so much. He saw so many things.
"Cecilia, take my Kuya and look after him. I will apologize to him later for hurting his body."
Voltage Xirquit went to get Prince Vars from Cecilia. He watched her take his brother. He's calm, calmer than he's ever been. The flow of his movements are fluid and he's gently floating. That's when he got the time to look at himself.
The strings of his fates swirled around him to greet him. As he look into them, he saw the memories he had with her, specially her birthday. He could see things they couldn't see. Even His Equal, Skadi Eira, cannot. They could only observe him as he look at the space and air. His face looked relax and calm. His eyes are glowing brightly.
His awakening, if that's what's happening in that moment, is subtle but surreal. Truly, the sin of wrath brings out something in a person the other cardinal sins cannot.
"Princess," he mutter as he hold the string that holds his past with her. When she's still Moon, when they kissed under the moons and the stars below the whole night sky, while everyone was watching---a major turning point in their lives as per the strings, but one of the most memorable for him.
Soon, the other strings distracted him.
King Liorei's strings seduced him into looking at it. It was the purest among the pure, and it's holding the incomplete future of the King. Just a glimpse.
The string went around and around, until it met His Equal's.
They intertwined; Watts Xirquit glide his eyes at each of them.
"What is it?" His Equal hissed.
She got goosebumps when he suddenly smiled, only for it to vanish when he saw a thread from one of King Liorei's strings snapped.
A possibility.
A possibility for King Liorei to get back...with his mother.
With Aloisia.
So, he immediately looked at his parents. His empty eyes squeezed out tears when he saw their connected strings...wearing out. His parents---they are...
Then he looked at King Liorei again, then to the thread.
And it made him much sadder that they could feel his heartache.
"Mommy, Daddy... Please don't break up."
Their eyes widened. The husband and wife looked at each other, only to avoid each other's stares, too. Watts eyes fluttered as his tears fall continuously. His mother walked to him, leaving herself defenseless, until she made it to him.
She smiled at him while chuckling; she touched his cold cheek, "What made you say that? We won't. We will never...break up."
"Mommy..."
"Yes, my baby?"
His gaze begged, "Do you still have feelings for King Liorei?"
Franchetti Xerene stopped. Everyone stopped.
"Be honest, Mommy. Do you still have feelings left for him?"
She wryly smiled, "My baby, I don't know why you're asking me that... But none. He's someone I used to know now, someone I'm civil with. That's all there is. The only thing that still connect us...is Lorreign. Nothing more."
The string that connects her to her husband stretched more, snapping its frail fibers with that lie.
He bitterly smiled at his mother, "Did you just lie to me or you lied to yourself, Mom?"
Her eyes dilated.
"W-What?" She pulled her breath, "What made you say that? Why would I lie to you? I will never lie to you, Watts! Your father is the only partner I will ever need in my life, in every lifetime! Are you testing me? Where is this coming from?"
The truth is, it was only Aloisia's string that is wearing out. The tip of Voltage Xirquit's string were charred like they're burnt, but still holding on and strong. That said, it was his mother who was slipping away and not his father.
"How could you doubt me?"
Why would fate lie?
"Have I not...proven myself enough? I don't have lingering feelings for Liorei anymore! I can't even tell if I really loved him or I only pitied him! Empathy! Are you saying that I'm the problem, Watts? Am I?"
He could not speak, so she took his silence as a 'yes'.
She felt betrayed.
"What else...do I have to prove to make you believe my loyalty and faithfulness to Volt?" Her voice break.
Voltage Xirquit stepped in and tried to touch her so he could pull her for an embrace, but she slapped his hand away and walked out while wiping her tears away.
Watts looked down, "Let her," he told his father, "Let her be."
He closed his eyes and balled his fists.
Fate must not lie, they cannot lie and will not lie.
But he can.
It was slight but he needed to do something. Their family is perfect and it's every he could ever ask for. But then, there's a lingering emotion in his mother's heart. It's been clinging on her for so long and he couldn't describe it. The possibility is true, though, that his mother will be with King Liorei. He don't like it.
King Liorei is a father to him already but he can never replace his own. Voltage Xirquit is the best man for his mother. He needed to do it. That's the only way his mother would know, the only way she will completely lose whatever that feeling is for the King.
It made him smile a little when the slight possibility started to meet its end.
But how fast his smile faded too, when the last few fibers of the strings that connects his parents stretched out more.
'Why?'
But it worked, the possibility ended, when he confronted his mother about her lingering feelings for the King. Then he saw how their fates changed; their falling point will come sooner than what's already expected.
"Changeable, isn't it?"
Their heads twisted to where the unfamiliar feminine voice came from, and found Miracyne, one of the Matriarch's children.
She smiled and placed her head to her chest for her introduction, "Allow me to introduce myself. I am Miracyne, only daughter of our Mother, the Matriarch."
Some gasped audibly, their faces pale with disbelief, while others exchanged wide-eyed glances. The Matriarch, a figure of legend and power, had always been shrouded in mystery, her children more myth than reality. To see one of them in the flesh...
"What are you doing here?" The Mistress of Death groaned.
Miracyne twirled around, skipping while playing with her skirt and laughing, "Why not? It's time to know we're real. Are you not happy? Excited? You should be! It's time to help you now!"
Prince Maximilien clicked his tongue, pulled a gun out and shot her. Miracyne, after jumping like a ballerina, stopped and feel a sting from the shallow cut in her throat when the bullet passed by.
"Wow. 'Time to help you now.' This bitch thought trusting her will be easy. Old hag, you didn't when our Mommy is going through all that. You think we'll let you get off the hook? You, so-called bastards of that somebody, tolerated everything. You expect us to get excited about your stupid entrance?"
Miracyne touched her blood---literal blue, glittery blood.
"Ah, I really don't like you."
"Big news---but who cares? We don't want you here, so get the fuck out and fuck your other siblings instead---"
Prince Valerian acted in a second and deflected the flaming sword that came flying to his brother.
"So, that's how you're going to greet us. How dare you."
Miracyne turned to face him. Prince Valerian glared at her while keeping his head high, asserting his dominance and power. Nothing matters to Miracyne; his intimidation did not work on her.
But she sighed in defeat as to compose herself. She walked to Watts Xirquit. He's fallen into a trance and nobody noticed because their attention was on her.
She stood by his head and touched his face. She studied him---everything about him.
"That's not smart. I will keep my hands to myself if I were you," His Equal yawned and hopped in her cloud to rest.
"I just want to see him. It's not like something will happen---"
Something did happen because her hands suddenly fell off from her wrists.
His Equal was in stitches because of that.
Eins and Zwei, for the very first time, showed themselves to their naked eyes and slashed Miracyne again. Azarese is still asleep. They got bored that's why they wondered around, going through solids to look here and there and made it to the Dining Hall. They've been there since the Emperor arrived (they're following him). They witnessed everything.
---Yet, they acted only when Miracyne touched Watts Xirquit.
"Mommy's Hands!" Prince Maximilien cried out with a grin.
Eins, spreading its fingers open, waved at the Prince. Eins and Zwei gave him a heart gesture.
"W-Wow! This is the first time I've seen you! You're real!"
Prince Maximilien ran to Hands and looked up to them. Eins and Zwei lowered themselves and gave the Prince a pat.
"I can feel you!"
Prince Maximilien touched them. Eins and Zwei gave him thumbs up that he could, that's why the Prince became more fascinated about his mother's Hands.
"I-I want hands like you, too! I want you!"
Eins and Zwei gestured 'no-no' to him.
"Why? I will ask Mommy. She will give you to me!"
Eins and Zwei 'shrugged'. They even faced each other, 'talking'.
Weird. It's weird to see translucent and stretchable Hands interact with each other. And it can communicate even!
"U no like us," Eins and Zwei said to the Prince after twisting themselves to create cursive letters and words.
"I like you!"
"No. Mean dont have hands like us."
Prince Maximilien gasped; he was very disappointed and hurt.
"D-Does he have Hands, too?" He pointed his brother, the Second Prince.
Eins and Zwei gave him a 'no-no'.
"Then, how about Zodiac?"
Eins and Zwei 'shrugged'.
"Maximilien, enough talking with them." Prince Valerian.
"But they're fun!"
Eins and Zwei met together to clap. They picked up and Prince and threw him in the air.
"That's so fucking weird," Duke Paris mumbled while looking up, watching Hands play with the Prince up in the ceiling.
That reminds them, the Mistress of DEATH have the same 'features'. She only rolled her eyes on them.
His Equal laughed again, "Told you. His wife is a psycho."
"But she's asleep. Did she send them just to do that?" The Ki'zaar was flabbergasted.
Miracyne smiled, "No. They have a mind of their own." Her hands are healed.
"You know about them?"
She smiled even sweeter, until it became wry, "Of course. Mother have a pair. We don't know what they are, but it's natural for ladies of Heart to have extra hands. They are intelligent and have their own will. Still, they prioritize the lady's will and orders first before theirs."
"Mother named her extra pair Lefty and Righty! I always play with them, too! What about yours, Siofra? Do you let your children play with them?"
The Mistress of Death glared at her. She's wondering what Miracyne is trying to pull. In all honesty, Miracyne meant it without other intentions, but the Mistress of Death is suspicious of her.
"No. They're my weapons."
Miracyne gasped dramatically, "Y-You must be the only one who thinks they are weapons!"
"What are you trying to do, Miracyne? If you're trying to embarrass me, stop. My hands are empty and I can use all of them to choke the shit out of your ass."
Miracyne laughed, "Siofra, calm down. I said what I said. They are friendly things. They sure are weapons, but is that really what you made them to be? How ruthless. They are very nice."
"Why do you care? They're mine and I will do anything I want with them. Like this,"
The Mistress's death pushed Miracyne powerfully.
"I usually don't go this low, but at least you're lower." She smirked on Miracyne who was pinned against the ground.
"Let me go! How could you treat me this way? I'm Her daughter! I'm being nice to you and this is how you're going to treat me, Siofra!?"
"Who cares about you being that witch's daughter? You've been here all along, watching and listening, but what did you do? Miracyne, she created you to protect the Diamond Palace and watch over the ladies of Heart. Again, what did you do? You have the power, but you never admitted your responsibility over us. Useless cunt."
The Mistress of Death's Hands mopped the floor using the lady. She looked down when she felt a pair of eyes staring at her from below---she found Prince Maximilien beside her.
The Prince discovered something again!
He grinned twistedly, "You're like me! You're like Mommy! You're a baddie like us, so let's be friends!"
Emperor Maxism palmed his face as he dawdle to get the Prince, "Stop recruiting good people to be bad."
"She's a crazy witch! She's a bully!"
The Mistress of Death watch the Emperor take the Prince away. She almost touched him. She was so close...on petting her grandson's head.
"LET ME GO, SIOFRA! Let me go before I call my brothers!"
She scowled at Miracyne.
"Good. Call them, then I will kill them."
After speaking, they heard a crystalline sound of a delicate ring. As if something is hitting a glass. The sound lingered briefly in the air before fading into silence. And when it's completely gone, and while everyone was feeling the space around them, their surroundings started to change.
The whole new surroundings looked enchanted.
A vibrant carpet of flowers in every imaginable color lined the winding path, their delicate petals swaying as if dancing to an unseen melody.
At the path's end stood a grand gazebo, its intricate arches and domed roof shimmering faintly as kissed by the brilliant sun that never sets unless it was told to. Within the gazebo, a circle of four glorious, handsome men lounged in regal grace, exuding elegance. They were dressed traditionally, like Grecian gods, but their accessories gleam in their colors. In the middle sat the most calm among them, his face concealed by a veil that only enhanced his enigmatic allure.
With precise, graceful movements, he prepared the afternoon tea. He tap the edge of the teacup with a teaspoon, creating the same sound their visitors heard earlier.
"Fucking handsome boys," Duke Paris whispered to Emperor Maxism and pretended to wipe his drool.
Their colors were in the different shades of blue, with the one in the middle be the darkest.
The brightest blue, also the brawniest, frowned when he saw his sister on the ground.
Miracyne noticed his stares and cried, "V-Virion! Help me! Siofra is bullying me!"
The man, now they know is named Virion, stand up and walked out of the gazebo. He towered over Siofra, glaring at her with a grim expression.
Sensing that his wife is threatened, King LIFE stepped between them and faced Virion with the same intensity. His might be greater.
"It's him."
"The stain,"
The other two in the gazebo said; the sky blue and the azure blue.
The darkest blue placed the teaspoon over a napkin with precision. He lifted his head. The gazebo expanded and the circle table took a shape of letter U with corners. The Matriarch's children gathered and sat on the head of the table.
"It's time for tea. Please, join us and let's share a conversation. I know we have lots to say to each other. If you would not mind,"
The chairs pulled themselves back.
Voltage Xirquit stayed with his son who's still in a trance.
"Ah, the blessed boy. Sarifiel, take the boy. He must rest. Don't be afraid, Voltage Xirquit, we will not harm him."
His words were assuring and absolute. The sky blue, named Sarifiel, stand up. They could tell that he didn't like his brother's order but he had to obey him. He did not spite Watts Xirquit and carefully took him.
"The fairies will guide you to your seats."
On the man right sat, respectively, the Mistress of Death, Prince Izaac, King LIFE, King Liorei, Voltage Xirquit, Emperor Maxism, and Duke Paris. On the other side, respectively, were Prince Valerian, Prince Maximilien, the Ki'zaar, Lord Feryzen, and Prince Valor.
And, sat last was His Equal. However her space is wider and her seat is much grander with lots of better foods on her part.
"First of all, I am very glad to finally have visitors in our domain. I am the eldest and our mother named me Vulre."
He turned to the last one that is yet to reveal his name. He's frowning and glaring, though he's not looking at anyone but on the food.
"Helesys."
Vulre smiled faintly and nodded. He raised his teacup to the level of his chest.
"Let's cool ourself with a drink. As you had seen, I brewed it myself. The way our Mother loved. Please try and see if it will suit your taste, too."
But the Earthlings are suspicious and are distrusting.
So, Voltage Xirquit took the first sip. When he put the teacup down, he had no reaction. So, they did the same after seeing that he's still alive. Now they know why he sat still like a statue after drinking it.
The tea doesn't taste good.
The Matriarch loved her son so much that she lied about his talent to poison people.
"Bleeeh! What the hell is this!? This taste like shit! Is this poison!?"
For the very first time, they are thankful that Prince Maximilien is with them. He said their truths.
"H-How dare you say that to him!" The Matriarch's children tried to deny and defend. They were anxious, trembling even.
Only to be dumbfounded when Vulre smiled a bit wider than usual.
"Mother is such a terrible liar," he said.
Miracyne looked down. Her stiff shoulder relaxes, until she's comfortable.
"It never taste good, Vulre. I'm sorry. I only drink it because you made it."
She started crying, "I'm sorry. I really don't like it."
Vulre reached out for her and caressed her head, "I know."
"You know!?"
He smiled, "Yes. But none of you told me the truth sooner, so I went on. It's entertaining to see your reactions. I was happy."
"H-How mean! We always have tea! Everyday! Vulre, you're so mean!"
Miracyne cried big tears.
Vulre laughed and they find it elegant. Then, he brewed another.
This time, the tea was good.