The Sixth Prince

Seth opened his eyes, having rested well. The sun had come out and he was at his destination.

He was totally oblivious to what had happened while he slept. Even if he had known, he wouldn't have cared since he was fine.

In fact, it was a daily occurrence to have people coming after the Imperial Prince. Most of the time, the Prince wouldn't even know.

The oval glass bird ship was invisible, hovering in the air. Seth checked the map and ordered to be sent inside an unassuming building within the bustling city.

First Guardian Lila accompanied him as he followed a narrow corridor, walking down stairs made of stone.

Their steps were loud and a scan came toward them. Lila disrupted it with the wave of her hand, which made a man in a suit appear before them.

His eyes glowed, about to fire lasers, but he froze and went to his knees. "May the throne blaze through you!"

Seth didn't react as he walked past him, down the stairs, using his Psion Energy in his brain to replay a certain scene from when he was a baby.

The laser-eyed man vanished when Prince Seth was at the wooden door. It slid open, revealing someone making Lila leave.

"Big brother Sixth. Greetings!" Seth refused to use the official greeting.

"Why are you here?" The man's deep voice rattled Seth's ears. He had to shake his head to stay awake from the dizziness.

"I came to see you!" Seth said with a wide smile and spread hand.

"Good. You have. Now leave!" The Sixth Prince swung the door closed and Seth quickly cried out, "Momma!"

The Sixth Prince froze and gazed sternly at the Ninth Prince. Seth was smiling as he said casually, "I am born a genius. I can vividly recall when I was born!"

The handle of the door cracked under the grip of the Sixth Prince. His face was composed but his reaction told a different story.

Seth came and stood before his older brother. "I only met you two times. This is the third. The second was at my ceremony and the first..." he trailed off as he pushed the other doable door and went inside.

The Sixth Prince had to pull his aura and pressure away from Seth so as not to crush him.

The room was empty, but with glass walls that had water inside. Colorful scaled fish swam within.

"Rare tilapia." Seth exclaimed, "I thought they went extinct!"

He then turned toward the frozen man. His eyes had become red. Was it anger, shame or something else? It didn't matter to Seth; this expression was what he wanted to see from the man.

"Wisdom Zeek said you are number one closest to the throne!"

This pulled the Sixth Prince back to reality. He quickly asked. "Principal Zeek said that?"

"Yes." Seth snorted as he looked around. "He was bashing me about having absolutely no chance of the throne."

Seth walked toward the inner door that was left ajar. The Sixth Prince was too fast to face Seth; he hadn't closed it.

Seth could see that the man was injured at his leg, and healing was slow.

"Ninth." The Sixth called, "You should go home. It's not safe for you to wander around!"

"What is your name?" Seth stopped and asked his brother. He didn't know. The prince was always being referred to as the Sixth.

It was the same for some other siblings. He knew the names of some.

The man just stared at him. He was in a casual white shirt and trousers. He looked like he had awakened from a long slumber and Seth had disturbed him.

Seth smiled as he saw the man was upset again. "Calm down. I heard that even Fazar almost destroyed the Empire due to grief. Since you are mama's boy, it can only be understood that you hate me and try to..."

The Sixth Prince arrived and closed Seth's mouth before he finished..

(Fazar is casual, teasing name of Father)

"Be quiet about it!" The Sixth Prince was trembling with emotions as his eyes watered.

Seth, on the other hand, was smiling with his eyes relaxed.

The Sixth Prince moved slowly and let him free.

Seth breathed deeply as Sixth Prince scanned his body with Psion Power, making sure he didn't harm the fragile boy.

Seth beamed and hugged the man, making the man's heart skip a beat. Shock and fear covered him.

He couldn't even think properly. This boy. What was he doing?

The Sixth Prince froze like a stone statue until Seth moved away and said excitedly, "I love you all. I love all my siblings. It's just sad that some of you never come to visit me."

Seth began to speak with sadness. "I never have someone to play with. The servants are always wary. My classmates all have hidden missions to impress me. It was only Eighth that came to bully me from time to time. But I like it since she was the only one that treated me normally!"

Seth complained as he went around the second room.

A storeroom of some sort, but also a strange lab. Seth looked around for any old stuff that would make his eyes react.

On the end wall was a living specimen. Seth stared at it before he lost interest when something caught his eyes.

The living specimen was a woman. It looked like a woman but she had no breasts, only the navel clit.

But what made her strange was that her legs were digitigrade and on her back was something akin to bat wings.

Her eyes were hollow with tendrils of flesh that squirmed.

"Seth...real!" She muttered, her tongue resembling a snake.

"Ssethreal!" She called, "Ssave me. Save me. Save me. I will serve you!"

Seth glanced at her, then at the Sixth. "You told it my name!"

The Sixth Prince sighed, seeing his brother was not judging what he saw. He had expected the boy to freak out or show some disgust.

But then he stared at the boy with a frown, who was focused on a door knob on a metal drawer. Seth looked hesitant about touching it or not before he refrained himself.

"Sethreal...help me. Save me. My name is..." her mouth was immediately sealed by a Psion force.

Seth looked at his brother and said, "I want your help!"

"For what?" The Sixth asked.

"I want you to escort me to the ruin. The one the throne sent me!"

"I don't have time." The Sixth said as he walked to a long cupboard and opened it. Series of eggs were arranged and he picked one.

"Please. I really need your help. Just be present!"

"No." The Sixth walked toward Seth and placed the egg in his hand.

Seth paused. "What's this?" He asked warily.

The Sixth had a subtle smile as he snapped his hand. A lance made of bone appeared before the female creature before it pierced her head.

She trembled and slumped down dead.

Seth frowned. It was hard ignoring the thing in this cruel room.

Thanks to his eyes that focused on what they wanted he appeared nonchalant.

But the Sixth did was too much.

But then his eyes widened. From the mouth the female creature, ethereal milky smoke came out, drifting toward the egg he was holding and seeping inside.

The egg became very cold, then became warm. Then markings formed on it. Then Seth noticed the Psion leaking off him was being consumed by the egg.

"My gift." The Sixth Prince said with a subtle smile.

"What creature is it?" Seth was uncomfortable.

"It's the only creature confirmed to be immortal. Technically, it can die but as long as there are eggs like this, it always undergoes rebirth!"

Seth looked at the egg and then at his brother. "Hmm. Thank you. But I still need you for the ruin."

"No." The smile on Sixth's face vanished. "Leave or I will squeeze you out!"

"Squeeze me?" Seth taunted.

The Sixth Prince can bring himself to physically force his little brother, "Fine. When?"

Seth beamed, "I will tell you when!"

He turned and walked out with a smile.

The Sixth Prince took a deep breath, his aura spreading to envelop the room.

Holding it while he was injured was hard. And the damn brat was an unknown factor.

"Lorna?" He called and a woman appeared. His chamberlain.

"Take that door knob and smelt it into a flute. Make two more other flutes and give them to the Ninth. Watch which flute he grabs first. Do it within four weeks!"

"The flute, my Prince?" She asked.

"Yes. The flute!"

He then stared at the dead female creature. "Can we get one of those again?"

"My Prince, that is a queen. There aren't many of them."

"Find me another one. Besides, I have got all the knowledge I want from this one." He said with annoyance. "It's a good gift to shut the Ninth up."

Remembering his brother, he felt a headache. 'The way he looked at me when he was a baby makes me think he really can recall and… I was right.'

'I need to avoid him more. He makes me uncomfortable!'

***

"Sixth Brother gives me chills," Seth thought.

On the table before him was the egg, still warm.

Seth caressed his hand, covered with goosebumps that refused to go away until when the oval glass ship flew away, he relaxed.

"Rusty Throne!" Seth cursed, "He is a scary man!"

In that chamber, Seth saw multiple heads and organs belonging to different creatures. Some of them were humanoid.

Seth recalled something and ordered, "Go to Lily City!"

The ship changed trajectory to Lily City and he collected something before he returned to the palace by the time the sun was going down.

"Where is father?"

Seth was going to see the Emperor.