Adult Decisions

"Ajax?" Ace asked, sitting up and rubbing his eyes while his brother continued to stare at the door before turning to him.

"Oh, you're up?" He asked, rushing to his side in no time. He stopped him from rubbing his eyes. "Don't do that."

"Why not?" Ace asked, feeling slight itchiness in his left eye. "What happened?"

"You were badly injured. You remember Lucian?"

"Brother?"

"Yes." Ajax nodded. "He saved you before you died. For that, I am going to be eternally grateful to him."

"H-how did you two get here?" He asked, genuinely surprised. Sometimes, he can't tell if he is controlling his body or ... not. "I tho-"

"Lucian has had dealings with this kingdom for a long time. He was like a tradesman, bringing them supplies and information." Ajax shrugged. "It was only today that he revealed that he is our brother."

"What about you?"

"Lucian summoned me, no one knows that I am here." Ajax stuck out his tongue. "How are you feeling?"

"Like I was put in the washing machine." Ace complained as every little movement felt sore, especially when he tried to breathe. "My lungs hurt too."

"Well ... you were impaled." Ajax chuckled. "You are healing really well though. To think, it was only yesterday that you were almost killed."

"Yesterday?? I thought a week had passed at least."

"No." Ajax smiled patiently. "It was yesterday. After Lucian made sure you were fine, he summoned me."

"Speaking of summoning. Is there something about a P-? A p-."

What the hell?

"P?"

"P-. P-"

Why can't I say Pact??

"What are you trying to say here, Ace?" Ajax chuckled, smiling at him kindly. "No matter, you are tired right now and I believe you should rest up."

"Wait." He grabbed his arm to stop him. "What happened? Could you tell me? Do you know?"

"Happened?" Ajax asked, tapping his chin. "Oh, you mean about the creature that attacked you?"

"Yes." He nodded vigorously, feeling dizzy all of a sudden. "Oh, my head is spinning."

"Maybe you should r-"

"I won't be able to rest if you don't tell me now." He said stubbornly, still holding onto his brother's arm.

"Ok. You are a big boy, after all, I think you should know." He said, sitting back down on the bed.

Carefully, Ajax began tucking Ace under the blankets, sighing as his hands landed against the boy's face. "If only I could protect you for the rest of my life."

"I will be the one to protect you, remember?" Ace said, smiling.

"I remember." He nodded, brushing his brother's head gently. "I do not know much, but it seems that the people were do not know how the Minotaur came to be here.

"They suspected that you were the one that brought it here to take them down."

"I heard that from the princess." Ace remarked, thinking.

"She was defending you," Ajax smirked. "Seems you have made quite an impression to her."

Ace only shrugged, turning away from his brother still grinning at him.

"She is … lonely." He mumbled under his breath.

Lonely people tend to attach on to people that seem to show them a little bit of care and attention. He thought. I should know.

"What was that?"

"Nothing." He quickly replied. "What about it though?"

"The princess was the one that threw the sword to you. Though I appreciate her, I cannot say the same for her father." His demure changed immediately as soon as he said that. "He left you to die."

"W-we don't know that." Ace said, remembering what happens if this kingdom is destroyed. Shivers ran up his spine.

"He admitted to it," Ajax said plainly.

"Ah." Was all Ace could say. There is no way to save this kingdom then. "What do you intend to do?"

"There are many, many things I wish to do," Ajax said, frowning. But then, his demeanour changed again as he smiled at Ace. "Do you remember what I told you on your birthday?"

"Hm?" Ace furrowed his brows as the memory played in his mind.

____________

"Happy birthday, Ace!" Ajax had snuck into his room in the middle of the night and handed him a cake that did not seem like it was made by the cook.

Ace had shot up and was grabbing onto a dagger the instant he heard someone open the door.

Once he noticed that it was Ajax, he quickly hid the dagger.

"You scared me." He said, pretending to sit up and rub his eyes while he stared at the cake.

Strawberries stuck out of the cake along with cream, it looked very flimsy and very unstable, almost like it was going to topple over any minute, thought it was just a single tier.

The cream was thicker on one side as compared to the other and the candles were close to drowning in the cream.

"Make a wish," he said, putting the cake on his lap.

The candles were sticks of wood that had little sparks of light on the tip. He doesn't have to worry about the 'fire' going out but there was something else he does have to worry about.

The candles were sinking deeper into the cake as the seconds passed by.

Hurry, have to hurry.

I wish ... I wish that ****************************.

After that, he blew out the candles and Ajax clapped happily.

"Good job." He said, taking the cake away from him and putting a present on his lap. "These are from your brothers."

Ace stared at the present and smiled as he picked one up and opened it.

In there is a golden pocket watch with spiral wire for the hands of the clock and misarranged numbers.

The cover of the pocket watch was carved out with spirals, some were half done while others were a little bit ... clumsy to look at.

This was handmade, wasn't it? He thought, smiling at the chain at the end.

He thought of how his brother would sit in the darkness, carving out the design and couldn't help chuckling to himself.

"What is so funny?" Ajax's voice pulled him out of his thoughts.

"Nothing," he said quickly. "I love it. Thank you."

"You are sixteen now," Ajax said, playing with Ace's hair. "You will be a grown man soon. Remember how there was something that you asked from me, long before?"

"The only thing I can remember is that I told you to start treating me like an adult."

"Yes." Ajax nodded sadly. "I will be treating you like an adult from now on."

"Yes!" Ace jumped and hugged his brother happily. "I will look after you, I promise. You can count on me."

Ajax did not look too happy, though he tried to smile for the sake of his brother. "I am afraid of that."

________________

Ace shook his head as the memory faded, "You said that you were going to treat me like an adult from now on."

"Yes." He nodded, that same sadness on his face. "Do you know what it means to be an adult, Ace?"

"Earning your own money?" He asked, eyes twinkling.

Ajax stared at his brother for a second before bursting into a laugh.

"Are you making fun of me?" The boy asked, pouting.

"No, you are just too cute." He laughed, wiping his eyes as he tried to regain his composure. "That is what it means to be an adult. Yes."

"But what is it that you wish to tell me?"

"To be an adult is to make your own decisions and also ... choose how to deal with your own problems." He sighed, turning away from his brother. "How you will deal with them, is up to you."

"Really?" Ace asked, sitting up suddenly. Pain spread throughout his body as he froze almost instantly.

"Yes," Ajax said, taking his arm and massaging it to relieve him of the pain.

"If I asked you to take this entire kingdom down, burn it and completely destroy it, would you?" Ace asked, looking at Ajax's face carefully.

"If that is what you want me to do." He said, smiling. "They do deserve it, after all."

"You won't be able to do much though." Ace shrugged.

"Lucian is there as well as I am." He said plainly. "Don't hesitate to ask us anything."

Ace stared at his brother's kind smile as shivers ran up his spine.

In the game, Ajax always made Ace excited to play because there is something about him that everyone overlooked completely.

He is too good at putting on this persona of being a kind and sweet older brother, and he really is like that. Genuinely caring about his brother.

He only took the throne, not because of jealousy, as the lore said, but because he wanted to protect his brother. The only way he could do that was by being the highest in power.

That is also the reason why Ace, the character, was able to take him out easily.

Someone so powerful, going against the brother with no magic or proper combat training and winning? That is not possible unless he intended for that to happen.

Ace may be a split of Ajax and have his 'darker' powers, but that does not mean Ajax did not have any magic himself.

He learnt not to underestimate the boy after he accidentally unlocked a secret 'story' in the game.