Twenty days.

Twenty days since they had been attacked.

Do you know how much can happen in twenty days?

People can die of both dehydration and starvation if they're weak enough. In twenty days people take an average of four-hundred thousand breaths which honestly seems kind of low. Gophers are pregnant for about twenty or so days. Radishes and Arugala can grow in about twenty days. Flies can live anywhere from fifteen to twenty-five days, and cockroaches can survive a whole week without a head. That last bit about headless cockroaches wasn't really important to the topic, it's just an interesting fact. So, in twenty days a gardener could have planted a radish, a gopher could have given birth, two-point eighty-five cockroaches would survive without their heads, and a fly could have gone through its whole life.

Apparently, a kingdom could be attacked in twenty days too. Its king could be killed, the crown prince kidnapped, and half its population either dead or missing. Two all but warring kingdoms could negotiate a truce in twenty days. A brother could come back from the dead, two princes could become orphans, and four boys could cross over half a kingdom. A lot really could happen in twenty days.

They had made their way into the town by now. It was quaint and small, not at all what Roman had expected a Queen to grow up in. Virgil was holding Patton's hand and pulling him around, pointing to things and signing excitedly to him. It was the happiest they had seen him since meeting him, they could see the excitement in his eyes, and that bit of immaturity and childlike wonder that Logan and Roman both had fallen for was showing through now.

Virgil eventually led them towards a small boutique store with white walls and light blue umbrellas hanging over the windows. The other three were slightly confused as to why Virgil had brought them to such a store but followed regardless. A bell over the door rang and announced their entrance as they came through the doors. A woman's voice could be heard giving commands to the few workers before she appeared from behind a clothes rack filled with dresses and suits.

She was dressed in a light blue dress that hung loosely at her ankles and had small white flowers decorating it. Her eyes were closed as she took a deep breath and tucked loose graying brown hairs behind her ears. When she opened them and her eyes landed on the small group her professional composer was immediately gone as she let out an excited scream and teleported, yes teleported, to the group. She ripped Virgil right out of Patton's hand as she enveloped him in a tight hug, swinging the young boy back and forth, and mumbled a series of words in a language the other three didn't understand

Virgil laughed slightly as he finally managed to pull away from the woman, and teasingly wiped away at the places where the woman had pressed motherly kisses to his face. 'I missed you too Auntie' Virgil signed to the woman who was bouncing on her toes and smiling at Virgil, small tears in her eyes.

"Virgie, oh my darling," His aunt spoke, "You would not believe how worried I have been. When we heard about your father and brother we all panicked. And nobody knew where you were, we thought you were dead Virgil."

Virgil laughed again 'Not yet Auntie.' The prince turned around to look at his three friends, who stood behind him with various looks of awkward confusion, 'These are my friends. Logan, Patton, and this is Roman. You met his brother this summer, do you remember?'

His aunt nodded before hugging each of the boys in turn. Logan froze at the action, Patton returned the hug, and Roman was as dramatic as always and instantly went into prince mode as he complimented Virgil's aunt and kissed her hand. "It's very nice to meet you Ms. Virgil's-Aunt," Patton said with a smile.

"Oh please," She said to him as she wiped the last of her tears away, "You may call me Katherine, or Auntie. Either work, it's what all of Virgie's and Jannie's friends call me"

"Alright Auntie, thank you," Patton said again as Virgil moved to stand by him again.

'Today's the trait name ceremony right Auntie?' Virgil asked, his aunt nodded 'May we stay with you tonight? I want to show my friends what it's like. We'll be gone tomorrow morning, we need to keep looking. But just for tonight'

His aunt nodded, "Of course you may. There's plenty of room for everyone, though some may need to bunk with each other." She looked away from them and towards the ground as she began to mumble a few other things about dinner and such before looking back at them and nodding, "Of course, you're always welcome Virgie, you know this"

"Mrs. Snow?" One of the workers called from the backroom, "Was it the Taylor's or the Winston's who ordered matching dressed for their daughters?"

Katherine sighed, "Well, my work is never done. There are so many people preparing for tonight's ceremony it's almost unbelievable. Will you three be participating in the ceremony?" she looked to the Light Realm boys, who she had already recognized as not being from this kingdom, the three seemed a little confused by the question and turned to look at Virgil for an explanation.

'It just means you'll get a trait name and be recognized as Dark Realm citizens' Virgil explained, 'Remus got a trait name a year after he arrived. You don't have to, it's fun to just watch. I didn't know if you'd want to or not.'

The three looked between themselves again, still seeming unsure "Is it difficult or long?" Roman asked.

"Oh not at all!" Katherine said, "It's very easy, just walking across a stage. It'll only be an hour or two, it's a very nice experience. My husband enjoyed it when he came to the Dark Realm"

"And we wouldn't be giving up our citizenship to our original kingdom, would we?" Logan asked.

Virgil shook his head, 'No, you'd just be a citizen of both. Remus is like that. You don't have to though, lots of people don't.'

"Okay," Patton said after another moment, "I'd like to learn more about your culture, it'd be fun"

Logan agreed next, nodding as he spoke, "It does seem like a beneficial learning opportunity"

Roman was last to agree, still seeming hesitant as he shifted slightly uncomfortably with everyone's eyes on him. That had never happened before. "Sure, just as long as this doesn't influence anything with my Light Realm citizenship."

Katherine smiled excitedly, "Great, why don't you boys head out and enjoy the festival. And Virgil, bring them back an hour before to get ready. I think I have some proper outfits that'll fit you. Though Virgil you may have to wear the one you wore last year." Virgil shrugged to show that he wouldn't mind that. Katherine was just about to speak again before or of the employees called for again. She sighed tiredly before giving Virgil one last quick hug and leaving them to enjoy the festival that would apparently be held tonight.

Virgil led the way through the streets, the others looked around them with slight awe as they watched townsfolk hang up lanterns, set up carts, and decorate the walkways with white streamers that seemed to set off a glow. In the center of the town, normally a large circle of space surrounded by buildings such as the town hall, the library, and post office, a large wooden stage was being set up with benches and chairs being set in front of it. Just like most of the town, the stage was being set with white decorations that seemed to emit light. For a moment the boys wondered if they were truly in the Dark Realm or if something had happened to change their location.

But seeing Virgil's happy and calm looking expression they had all been able to see that this was completely normal. Perhaps the white glowing decorations were a part of their culture, Logan had pondered briefly. Roman had wondered if maybe this was some attempt at making a joke towards the Light Realm, but hadn't voiced his thoughts as he watched Patton get giddily excited by all the activity. Virgil hadn't explained anything to them yet, having wanted them to wait until the ceremony to give them any sort of clues. A small knowing and almost smug, smile laid on his face as he waved happily to townsfolk and every once in a while stopped to admire something at one of the carts.

This festival had obviously not started yet, but still, they could make out the exhilaration present on children's faces as they watched their parents hang decorations. They caught sights of those with magic, or inhuman blood, helping where they could and using their inhuman abilities to do tasks that may be more difficult for the average human. Teens were grouped to get in small circles, gossiping amongst each other with smiles on their faces.

"My brother's getting his trait name tonight. It's gonna be a positive one, everyone in our family has been given a positive trait name since before departed King Harper." A boy maybe fifteen or so spoke, a touch of arrogance in his voice.

"Well my sisters gonna get a negative trait name," another boasted, "It's just her personality. It'll probably be something like Envy- Ooh! Or maybe Aloof. Yes, those fit her well"

A girl, maybe sixteen or so rolled her eyes, "With personalities like yours I'm surprised you two weren't named Annoying or Conceited. Besides, a Neutral name like Logic or Aspiring are obviously the best."

"What are you all doing standing around?" An elderly witch asked as she waved her cane at the teens, "Get on doing something useful, they need help in the kitchens. Go" The teens nodded obediently, obviously they all greatly respected this woman as they ran off to do as they were told, still boasting and teasing each other as they went.

Roman smiled at childish bickering as the group ran off and they continued on, it had actually been kind of a pleasant sight. This was the first place they had been that hadn't been drowned in sadness and despair due to the recent events. And though they could still sense that there was sadness in the air, the happiness of tonight's events drowned it out.

Little did the Light Realm boys know that it was like this all over the Dark Realm Kingdom. Despite the attack just a few weeks prior the whole kingdom had seemingly fallen under a spell. All over, towns, villages, and cities, were preparing for a trait name ceremony just like this one. It was a magical event, really. The sadness was still there, nobody here was truly and completely happy for something terrible had happened oh so recently. But they had made temporary room to allow happiness into them, just for tonight at least.

"Oh look at all the pretty masks!" Patton said excitedly as they suddenly took Virgil's hand and started pulling the prince towards them. Virgil, still holding that slightly smug smile that was nothing like him, laughed and nodded as Patton examined all the beautiful masks. "Oh my gosh, this one looks like a butterfly! Look at it Ann, isn't it amazing!" the eldest one said. In their hands, they held a white mask in the shape of a butterfly. The wings were bedazzled with pastel colors, and if you tilted the mask just right you could just make out swirls painted on the mask in a different shade of white.

'You want it?' Virgil signed, then began searching his bag for a couple of coins.

Patton looked at him with surprise but you could tell that yes, they did want it, and he wasn't very good at hiding it. "Can I really?" they asked.

Virgil nodded, 'Well you and Logan need one anyway, might as well get one you like'

"I thought masks were only a tradition when recognizing one's death," Logan said with slight confusion.

Virgil shook his head, 'We wear masks during all sorts of large life moments. To grieve, yes, but also to celebrate. We wear them at weddings, and at naming ceremonies, and some people even wear them when giving birth. People wore white masks on the day Janus and I were born to represent the coming of a new ruler, and we'll wear them when Jan is named king. And if he ever has kids we'll wear them then too.'

Logan and Patton both seemed greatly intrigued by this custom and their eyes were wide, they wanted to hear more. "Alright, well, which mask should I choose?" Logan asked as he examined some of the masks and the cart keeper handed Patton his mask, now carefully wrapped in dark paper. Logan's gaze stopped on one mask in particular and began to reach for it before Virgil shook his head and started to pull him away from the cart by his sleeve. "I'm confused, was I not to choose a mask?"

Virgil nodded, then walked them to a new cart. This one was decorated with black masks with white patterns dancing across them. "Does the color mean something?" Roman asked.

'Logan is the head of his household. He needs a black mask,'

"My uncles is the head of the household," Logan attempted to correct.

Virgil shook his head though, 'Here in the Dark Realm, you are recognized as the head of the family. You wear a black mask.'

"Oh," Logan said, his voice coming out slightly numb. He wasn't sure how he felt about that. "Alright, well, then I'll choose a mask from here." He turned to look at the cart full of masks, occasionally picking one up and looking at it but putting it back a moment later.

"Do I get a mask?" Roman asked, his eyes had already fallen on one in the previous cart, and he glanced back at it now. He was fully ready to childishly run back to the cart Patton had chosen his mask from and take it off the hook it had been set on.

'I have a mask for you. It's at my aunt's house, we'll go there in a little bit. But I want to look at the festival a little more first'

Roman frowned, Virgil already had a mask for him? But what if he didn't like it? Why did Logan and Patton get to choose their masks? No offense to Virgil, but he didn't completely trust the young prince with fashion choices. After all, their clothes and tastes seemed to be completely different. Virgil wore dark clothes, colored black, purple, and maybe occasionally there'd be gray or brown. Whereas Roman wore bright colors; whites and reds with accents of yellow and gold. They weren't exactly matchy-matchy.

Logan chose his mask by now, and Virgil began to walk away from the cart again. No one noticed Roman seemed to be slightly annoyed, then again even if they had it would probably be only Patton who would decide to question it.

They explored the decorated town a little more. Occasionally they found something interesting, like a game or a sing-along, and might join in with the townsfolk. They had made flower crowns at some point, Patton's and Virgil's coming out the best while Roman and Logan seemed to have nothing more than a tangle of stems, thorns, and petals. They laughed at a few of the shows that had been set up to the sides, actors, jesters, and singers dressed up in miraculous outfits to put on shows of their own.

As it got later and later, the town became more and more alive as people began to celebrate. Children too young to yet have a trait name looked up at the stage, dreaming of when it would finally be their turn to walk across the platform and receive their trait names. Parents seemed tearful at the realization that their children were getting older. Teens like the ones from earlier huddled in corners, some holding random conversations while others recounted relevant memories of this night.

After an hour or so Virgil led them to a tall but narrow house. He knocked on the door, waiting for his aunt to answer.

Tonight would be glorious.