It wasn't fair!

Virgil had the advantage in hide-and-seek tag. He was faster, smaller, better at hiding, and sometimes his visions helped him find the rest of them. And Remy had wings, he could fly, just whoosh up into the trees. Meaning that whenever Janus had to seek it took forever. And to make it even harder, he also had to avoid the royal guards and castle workers, which wasn't hard seeing as they played farther into the forest but still. If his father happened to be feeling especially cautious that day then he'd send out the guards. And according to Remy, the guards would help them cheat and they were for wimps. He sighed as he searched the forest for his younger brother and the pain in the ass who Janus was forced to call his friend.

"Guys I've been seeking for twenty minutes can we switch already!" Janus yelled loudly for the others to hear, "It's not fun if I can't find you!"

There was silence, "Anxiety says you have to find us or he's gonna steal your hat when you're not looking!" Remy yelled back, he wasn't far but he wasn't close either, and obviously, if Remy was translating what Virgil was saying then they were gonna be hiding together.

Janus rolled his eyes "Anx couldn't steal a toy from a child!" he said as he moved closer towards where the voice had been yelling from. He groaned tiredly as yet another bush came up empty of little brothers and little brother's friend. "Marco!" Janus yelled, even if it belonged to another game.

"That's not what we're playing!" Remy shouted back

Janus continued towards the voice, "Marco!"

"Dee!" Remy shouted, "Stop trying to cheat and find us already, god you're taking forever!"

"Marco!" Janus yelled one more time, this time though he was sure he wasn't gonna get an answer.

"Polo," an exhausted voice said as they not so quietly climbed out of the bushes. Janus jumped, not recognizing who had spoken and turned to find a boy about his age covered in blood and stumbling through the trees. One hand held a blood-soaked torn sash over his lower left stomach area, a knife still protruding out of his body. The other hand was holding tightly to a tree he leaned on for support. His skin was paler than it should be, in the Dark Realm people were naturally pale but it was easy for Janus to see that this boy was normally much tanner and only looked as pale as he did due to blood loss. "I like your mask," the boy said to Janus, who still stood frozen, "those are scales are pretty"

Janus raised an eyebrow. Mask? Everyone knew that Janus had been cursed a few years ago, that the scales were a result of a terrible day. Who was this boy? Where did he come from? And why was he covered in blood? Before Janus could ask a single one of these questions though, the boy began to slip from the tree and fell to the ground unconscious. "Oh no- hey wake up," he said to the boy as he rushed forward. He turned the boy over onto his back, trying to figure out what to do to help him when he got a good look at the knife leaving his body.

Light Realm knife.

"Virgil! Remy! Get over here now!" He shouted loudly and in a panic.

"Jan, this isn't how you play the game" Remy shouted

"Now!" Janus yelled again. It didn't take much longer for Virgil and Remy to appear at his side, Remy gently setting Virgil down on the ground before landing and putting his wings away.

'Who's that?' Virgil asked

"I don't know,"

"Bitch looks dead," Remy said, nudging the boy with his foot.

'Don't touch dead things'

Remy nudged the boy again, "I don't have to listen to you"

"Stop it now!" Deceit demanded from them as he continued to just stare at the body. He held back for a moment before pressing a hand to the mystery boy's neck a weak pulse could be felt underneath, "Remy, go get him help. A cart, guards, and a doctor tell them I said so if they argue. Hurry," Remy looked at Virgil for a moment before taking off again and flying back towards the castle as fast as he could. "Uhm... Virgil come here for a minute" Janus said, holding his hand out for his brother to take and then pulling him closer to the body, "Hold this down, don't take the knife out it's probably the only thing keeping him alive"

Virgil froze slightly but did as he was told, anxiety beginning to course through him as he realized the seriousness of the situation. Deceit cursed as he tried to think of a healing spell that would actually serve any use with wounds this severe but wasn't having much luck. He eventually he performed the strongest healing spells he knew before he decided to just start looking for more clues. If this boy was from the Dark Realm then he was more than likely old enough to be carrying his papers which meant they'd know his name and where he lived. They could inform his family and have them come to the castle or something.

'Did he say anything?' Virgil asked, lifting his hands for a moment.

Janus shook his head and pushed his brother's hands back on the torn-up cloth, "Just that he liked my scales" Janus said somewhat bitterly. Virgil gave him a sympathetic shoulder shrug as he watched his brother attempt a healing spell and continue searching for a clue.

Virgil lifted one of his hands and reached for something on the boy's body but Janus again pushed his hand back to the cloth. Virgil gave him a small glare as he moved his hand again "No, Virgil, keep pressing down" Janus told him, once again pushing away his brother's hand. Virgil narrowed his eyes at his brother before quickly grabbing at the boy's wrist and waving it in front of Janus so he could see what Virgil had seen.

A golden chain bracelet with a thin gold plate. The plate had words printed onto it. On one side it read Roman & Remus in small, cursive, and loopy writing. On the other, it read Romulus in similar writing. They were both still as they realized that the boy in front of them was one of the two princes of the Light Realm.

They were unsure of what to do now.

This boy's parents were their enemies. This boy was their enemy. Eventually, he and his brother would be running the Light Realm while Janus and Virgil would be doing the same here in the Dark Realm. They'd probably be writing angry letters to each other trying to negotiate different matters and prevent another war from blossoming. This boy could very well bring the Dark Realm to its knees in the future.

Yet here he lay, alone, unconscious, and bleeding out. Inches from death's door with his kingdom's worst enemies sitting on either side of him. One of them pressing a hand to stop the bleeding, the other had just performed a healing spell before the bracelet had been found. For a moment the two boys wondered what to do before the sounds of guards, horses, and yelling grew close. Janus and Virgil exchanged glances before Janus looked down at the knife that continued to stick out of the boy's stomach.

Janus took a deep breath before pulling the bracelet off the boy's wrist and hiding it, the chain now broken, and quickly putting a finger to his lips for his brother to understand. He only received a nod from him before the group Remy had gathered arrived. "Boys!" their father shouted as he pushed through the small crowd of guards, two doctors, and Remy. The princes both stood and went up to their father, receiving a hug from him as he wrapped an arm around each of them.

"Are you alright? Remy said you found this boy with a knife from the Light Realm in him," the king asked as he pulled away from them for a moment.

"We're fine father," Janus told him as Virgil nodded his agreement.

The king sighed with relief, giving them one last hug before stepping away from them and looking over the doctor's shoulders, who now leaned over the boy and hurried to perform spells, give potions, and apply ointments. The Dark Realm practiced magical medicine, they had found it kept their patients alive more often and, mostly, with fewer side effects and consequences. Because of this, compared to other kingdoms, the Dark Realm had better survival statistics than other kingdoms.

"Did you find anything else on him to identify him?" their father asked, "I.D? Family insignias? Anything at all?"

Janus ran his thumb over the bracelet as he shook his head, "No, nothing... we weren't really looking though"

"How many times have we told you to examine your enemy?" One of the guards that were often tasked with helping to train the princes in non-magical combat asked them. "It's important, examining them could show you a weakness"

Virgil rolled his eyes, not paying any attention while he watched his father instead. "We don't know if he's an enemy yet" Janus hissed back at the man.

"He has a knife from the Light Realm on him, for all we know it belonged to him," The guard argued

"In him" Janus corrected "and maybe it was a Light Realm officer, maybe the boy had rotten luck and ran into a group of them that crossed the border. We've heard that they've been doing that lately. Or maybe it belonged to a thief who stole it from someone in the Light Realm. Or a trader. Or anything else" Virgil pulled on Janus's sleeve, getting his attention back to him and shaking his head. Janus sighed and turned back to his father and the doctors.

'Will he be okay?' Virgil asked, Remy, speaking up for him as he stood next to the youngest prince.

"We aren't sure yet," the older doctor said, "He's okay to move now, but whether he'll live or not is a bit more unclear."

The king nodded and turned to the guards with the cart, "Take him to one of the guest rooms, doctors please keep doing what you can for him. And have someone waiting for him to wake-up, inform either of the princes, or myself"

The guards followed their commands, carefully picking the boy off the ground and lifting him into the hay-filled cart as quickly and gently as possible. One of them, who had been handed the boys bag to search stopped for a moment though, "Your highness?" he asked, the king nodding for him to continue, "Many of the items in this bag, are Light Realm objects. There's a map, a flask, gloves, and several more that have Light Realm insignias or emblems on them."

The king nodded his understanding, "Right, then the dungeons may be safer for the rest of us." he said almost gravely. Janus cursed himself for not having been quick enough to attempt and hide the bag as well but remained as silent as his brother, "My sons and I will be right behind you, you may return to the castle now"

The crowd was hesitant for a moment but of course, followed the king's orders and left. The king turned back to Remy, "Remy go home,"

"But-"

"It was not a question Remy. It was an order. Go home, and on your way send my brother to the castle"

Remy gave a glance at Virgil and Janus before rolling his eyes- Remy was probably the only person brave enough to roll his eyes at the king besides his own family- and took off once again towards his home. "See ya later babes" he called to his friends with a wave. Only Virgil caring enough to wave back.

"Janus, whatever you stole I need now," the king said once they were alone.

Janus held tighter to the bracelet, "I don't know what you mean"

"Janus, this is important. We don't know who this boy is but you found him with a knife in him. He could be a criminal, part of an important family, anybody. Janus, there have been too many conflicts between us and the Light Realm recently, one more small thing could trigger another attack or battle and we are not prepared for that right now"

Janus hesitated for a moment and looked at his brother, who was looking down at his feet. He sighed as he dropped the bracelet into his father's hands, "He's a prince," the king muttered.

"Dad I kept it for his safety," Janus told his father, "I knew you would've treated him differently if you knew, wouldn't have given him the best help, or something-"

"Janus you can't just hide something like this," The king whispered harshly as he handed the bracelet back, "Imagine if that guard didn't find those items, he would've been in the castle and could have hurt someone."

Janus glared at his father but didn't say anything as he stormed off back towards the castle and muttered in one of the Dark Realms' native languages. His father turned back to Virgil with a small sigh, 'He just wants to protect the boy', Virgil signed

The king nodded, "I know, but we can't protect everyone. We know nothing about what happened to him, we need to be careful" Virgil didn't say anything in return, "Virgil, keep an eye on both of them alright? Your brother hasn't been acting like himself lately."

'Sure thing dad'

"Alright then, I'm going to find your uncle and see how he wants to fix this," The king said as they began back towards their home, Virgil running ahead towards his brother. The three royals all thinking about the boy in the cart and what was going to happen.

None of them, not even the seer, would predict that the Light Realm prince would eventually become a part of their family.