peculiar boy- sleepyboisinc royalty au + dreamteam

chapter two, empty castles

Wilbur POV

It's cold.

The once lively Antarctic Empire has become a broken kingdom. The disappearance of the young prince and my little brother caused the kingdom to break down on the inside. From the outside, they appeared the same but anyone who lived in the Antarctic Empire knew that nothing was the same.

"Wilbur," Techno sighed "You spaced out again."

"Oh sorry, I was just-"

"I know, Tommy right?" he murmured.

I gave him a subtle nod. I turn my head to view an old painting. It was a family portrait including me, Techno, Phil, and our lost younger brother. He brought so much warmth and life to the castle. Techno grabbed my shoulder. I shivered. "We'll find him," I promised.

I look back at Techno he gives me a weak smile. He continued walking down the hall. His knee-high boots make a clanging sound against the marble floor. I took one last look at the old painting before following him.

We arrive in the throne room. We se what's left of out loving father. The throne room is beautiful with its blue color scheme and gold accents. The atmosphere is anything but beautiful. It's a mix of awkwardness and sadness. Why is everybody acting like this is normal? Nothing was normal about this. "Hey, boys, what's up?" Phil asks smiling.

He was faking the smile. You can see the pain in his eyes. Techno cleared his throat "Since it's Tommy's 16th birthday Wil and I decided we wanted to go personally search for Tommy together."

Phil looked down. His eyes were cold and dark. Techno is the only one brave enough to even mention his name while Phil couldn't even bear to hear it. "Oh, you're still doing that," Phil muttered.

"Yeah, he's our brother. I know he's still out there. I feel it," I responded.

Phil's eyes wandered around the room. He sighed "Isn't it time to move on? I miss him as much as you both but this kingdom will be in shambles by the time you find him."

I feel offended. I can't stop looking for my brother. He's out there somewhere alone and scared. I refuse to sit here and do nothing while he suffers. I take a step forward about to respond but Techno puts his arm in front of me hinting for me to back down. Techno glances up at Phil. "I understand, go ahead. Please just come home safely. I refuse to lose two more."

Techno and I give him a nod and we leave the depressing atmosphere. After we're out of the room I mutter "Thanks."

Techno smiles "It's nothing."

"I'm really worried about Phil. He was making progress but he's starting to look worse."

"It's probably just because Tommy's been gone for four years. I can't believe he's already sixteen." Techno grinned. He acted like he was still here.

"Yeah, he's basically grown up now," I laugh shakily. I and Techno sit in a brief silence.

Silence is usually bad but this is a good silence. A hopeful silence. The silence between the two brothers determined to find the third one. Techno puts his arm on my shoulder pulling me closer to him as we walk. It's comforting. For such a big and powerful guy he can be very calming.

"Hey, Wilbur, Techno?" A small voice asked.

I turned my head around to face Ranboo. Poor Ranboo took my younger brothers disappearance horribly. He constantly blames himself for it. He looks better than before but I can still see the guilt in the bags under his eyes. "Hello Ranboo. What's up?" I ask.

Ranboo extends his arms towards us holding a small box. "Me and Nikki made cupcakes for you guys. Well, Nikki did most of the work but I assisted."

I grab the box from his hands to find two vanilla cupcakes. They have blue frosting but only about half the frosting was actually in the cupcakes. The other half was spread all around the box. "Sorry if they don't look that good, they got smushed against the box but I assure you they still taste good," Ranboo apologizes.

"Thank you Ranboo. They look delicious," I assure him. I take one cupcake and hand it to Techno while I take a bite into the other cupcake. My mouth feels like heaven. It's a perfect mixture of moist and dry. The frosting and cake work in perfect harmony to create the tasty symphony in my mouth.

"We have to get going but thank you for the cupcakes they're very good. Goodbye," I wave. Techno and I continue down the endless hallways as we make our way closer to the outside of the castle.

...

Techno and I arrive at the stables behind our castle. We already finished our delicious cupcakes. We walk into the stables crunching the sprinkled hay beneath out feet. We both have done this so many times before that it was almost routine. "We haven't looked together in while, have we?" I ask Techno.

"I think you're right, we probably took a long break after we turned twenty." Techno replies.

I gave him a playful shrug. I opened the gate to my horse and throw the saddle onto his back. "Hello Milo, long time no see huh?" I greet him.

Milo gives me a little neigh as a response. Milo despite being a horse cheers me up. He can't understand me nor can he actually respond to me but it's him being there makes me a little happier. I grab the reins and slowly steer him to the front. I check my bag to make sure we have enough supplies for a few days. "You ready?" Techno asked.

I combs my hands through the bag making a mental note of every item. "Yeah, I believe we have everything. I was thinking we should go through the back entrance to avoid the village and then search very far North."

"That sounds great," Techno approved.

We both smile. I hold out my fist and gives it a little bump.

"Let's go find Tommy," he grins.

Word count:1033

Sorry this chapter is short but I like it. It's short and sweet.