The Corruption Within Us

Not Yourself

Scott's Perspective-

There was something...different about Xornoth.

He was acting weird, jittery, and then he ended up snapping and exploding all of his emotions.

He wasn't himself and it was obvious.

To me and Jaxon, at least.

Jaxon is my cousin who visited a lot. He was...well he was something. He wasn't very nice but not a complete bully. At least to me. He was pretty mean to Xornoth, hence the occasional emotional outburst.

Right now, me and Jaxon were playing chess in my bedroom. I was winning, as usual, and Jaxon was getting a bit frustrated.

"Ugh, you're too good at this game. Come on, let's do something else." Jaxon said, knocking over his king.

"Like what?" I asked, tilting my head.

Jaxon shrugged, "I don't know. What's your brother doing?"

"I'm not sure. I think he's doing some sort of sword training."

"Let's go see if he's done." Jaxon said, walking to the door.

"Why?" I asked, following him.

"I'm bored, and he's fun to mess with."

"Umm...I don't know if you should do that. Remember what happened last time?"

"Yeah! It was funny." Jaxon laughed sickly and I bit my lip.

Jaxon rolled his eyes, "Stop being such a baby, come on."

I sighed and followed Jaxon outside to where Xornoth was training with one of our guards, Sir Robins.

"Keep your eyes on the target. Your feet need to be further apart. You need balance." Sir Robins said and Xornoth took a deep breath and nodded before running up and slashing the dummy.

"Good." Sir Robins nodded before looking up at me and Jaxon.

"You two, I suggest leaving. Xornoth needs to focus." He said.

"Yeah, we're just here to watch." Jaxon said, "My guards have trained me, so I can help."

He walked over to Xornoth, who glared at him.

Sir Robins cleared his throat, "Prince Jaxon, I plead you to leave."

"Me and Scott finished our game of chess and just wanted to see what X was doing, chill." Jaxon said, rolling his eyes.

I gulped and hid behind a pillar, watching as Xornoth's grip tightened around his sword.

Sir Robins sighed, "Just try and be quiet, okay?"

"Don't worry, you won't even notice I'm here!"

Jaxon sat down on the stairs and watched as Xornoth's lesson continued.

"Too soft, you need to hit it harder." Jaxon said as Xornoth hit the dummy again.

Sir Robins glared at Jaxon, who smirked.

"Again, Xornoth. Just ignore him." Sir Robins whispered and Xornoth nodded, going again.

Jaxon couldn't keep his mouth shut though. Commenting on people's flaws was one of his favorite things to do.

"Your posture is bad. Stand up straight!" Jaxon said and Xornoth threw his sword at him.

Jaxon jumped and quickly ran out of the way.

"Xornoth! Do not throw your sword at your cousin." Sir Robins said and Xornoth huffed.

"Can you blame me? That jerk is always trying to get me like this!"

"So don't give him the pleasure in responding to him. Just ignore it- "

"It's not that easy." Xornoth said through gritted teeth.

I ran over and quickly grabbed Jaxon's arm, pulling him back into the castle.

"Hey? Why are you pulling me away?" Jaxon asked.

"Because! Xornoth was about to snap again! He always does when you mess with him."

"He literally threw his sword at me and almost killed me, yet you still care about him?"

"He didn't almost kill you! His sword missed you by three feet."

"Doesn't matter, he still threw it."

I looked down and Jaxon sighed.

"Look Scott, you have to do what's right sometimes. Commenting on people's mistakes is what's needed for them to get better. It's for the greater good."

"But- "

"Bap, bap, bap, just remember that. A bit of cousin advice." Jaxon winked before patting my shoulder, "Anyway, I'm gonna go back to Frost Ford."

"Okay, bye."

I walked back upstairs, and I saw Lumi folding some laundry.

"Hi Lumi." I said, entering my room. Lumi was my houseworker and she treated me like I was her own son. She was very funny, smart and caring.

"Oh, hello Scott. Did Prince Jaxon leave?" Lumi asked.

"Yeah, he and his family are leaving now."

Lumi hummed and nodded.

"The Everett family is weird." I said, sitting down on my bed.

"What makes you say that?"

"I mean, Jaxon keeps tryna upset Xornoth, and he says it's for the greater good."

"People can be weird sometimes."

"But he's just mean..."

Lumi smiled and brushed a strand of my hair behind my ear.

"Try not to think about it too much." She said, "I'm sure Jaxon will grow out of it and Xornoth will learn how to handle his anger."

"Okay..."

Lumi left and I sighed, laying down on my bed and staring at the ceiling.

Okay so Jaxon's last name is Everett and he is actually going to be King Everett in Where Home Is and mentioned as the like evil king in The Festival! (Jaxon is Xornoth's age in case anyone's curious)