4: Darken War

18: Alexandria

we made our way to the bottom of the stairs. I knew exactly which way to go, in my time here i had learned every inch of this castle.

"Stop." Seraphina whispers to me. "Thalira is leaning against that wall there." she motioned to an empty wall farther down the hall. "her chosen power is invisibility. shes just a kid and is being mind controlled."

i nodded. "can you remove the control before she knows you see her?" i whispered .

"i can. the problem is it is hard to do it with more then one person." she motioned to her sister. "i need to protect her."

"thats okay." i said. "i can take the control off of more than one person and protect them."

"that will weaken you more sister." Alexander warned. 

"i am at full power right now." i told him. "and who do you think has been protecting your mind since we stepped into this place?"

"i need to see her first." i told Seraphina. 

"let me." Seraphina said. "she hasnt seen us yet since you have been cloaking us. just uncloak me."

"got it." i focused of taking the spell off of just Seraphina.

she walked to the wall. "Hey there sister."

"Seraphina." i heard a voice. "what are you doing here? i thought brother told you to watch the outer reaches of the castle."

"he gave me new order." she lied. "i need you to come with me to help. Calista is missing."

the air around the spot Seraphina was talking to rippled. a younger girl appeared, no older than 14. her short yellow-blonde hair was a dead giveaway that she was a Darken.

i focused my mind on driving Theos influence from Thalira's mind. 

she looked like she just got dizzy, Seraphina steadied her. 

i dropped our cloak and walked over to them. "She should be safe now."

"Who are you?" Thalira asked, sounding confused. 

"your older sister Alexandria." i answered. 

"Brother Theo will want to know you are here." she said, looking confused. "i thought i wanted to help him. but... my mind is fuzzy."

"Brother Theo has been lying to us." Calista placed a hand on Thalira's arm. "Sister Alexandria is not evil." 

"if you say that then i know its true." Thalira looked at Calista. 

"lets continue on." i said.

"we cant." Thalira looked scared. "the triplets are just ahead."

"Thats not good." Seraphina clenched her fists. "they are not mind controlled. nor are they kids. theyre 20 and believe in Theos cause."

"They control ice, fire and water." Calista sounded as scared as Thalira. "they're not very nice either."

"i wanted to avoid hurting any siblings." i said honestly. "but i am afraid i may have to, this is the only way to the throne room."

"We will do what we must." Alexander placed a hand on my shoulder and nodded. he looked to Thalira. "can you make others invisible?" 

"i can." she nodded. "but wasnt Alexandria just doing that?"

"yes. but we need her to conserve as much powers as possible as she is protecting our minds right now." Alexander explained.

"okay." Thalira smiled at our brother. "i can do it."

"when this is over." i looked to my brother. "i want all of the siblings we can save to come home as the royalty they are."

he nodded. "i couldn't agree more. they are our family now. but only if they want to come."

"i speak for all of us when i say, it would be better than how we have lived so far." Seraphina said as Thalira made us all invisible, we could see each other but just barely. 

we continued down the hall, were we saw three men dressed in tight leather clothing leaning on the walls, two on one side and one of the other. all with the same yellow-blonde hair color, cut in a shaggy short style, all identical right down to the clothing.

"theres no was to sneak by." i whispered. "we will have to fight." 

"sadly i believe it is the only way." Alexander answered. "make me visible first, ill try to reason with them."

"be careful." i warned him, trusting in his choice.

Thalira made Alexander visible. he approached the three, hands in front of him in a stance to show he means no harm. 

i got my bow off my back and nocked an arrow just to be safe. 

"Who are you?" one of the triplets asked, standing straight. 

"were were told a woman would be coming through here." Another crossed their arms and remained leaning. "you are not a woman."

"no shit Silas." The third spoke. "this must be her twin brother we were told about."

"didnt Theo want him brought to him alive?" the first asked.

"indeed Alaric." the one called Silas spoke. "and the girl was to die."

"sorry, but i cannot go with you." Alexander spoke calmly. "we are sibling are we not? why fight against our sister?"

Silas summoned fire in his hands. "because she was never meant to have the throne."

"Theo was heir until she came along and ruined everything." the one who must be Sebastian spoke. 

"how did you get by Thalira?" Alaric asked. "she was supposed to warn us if anyone came through."

"stupid kid." Silas threw a ball of fire past Alexanders head and right at were we were standing.

i held up my hands, creating a shield. but revealing all of us in the process as i had to push Thalira out of the way.

"traitors!" Silas yelled at the three who had joined us. "you betrayed our brother!"

"They are our siblings too." Seraphina yelled back. "why do we have to fight with them?"

"theyre nice, and not lying." Calista said a bit quieter than her sister.

"they dont try to control us like brother Theo." Thalira said. 

"too bad." Sebastian spoke next. "we believe in Brother Theo's cause."

"you are the reason father would have nothing to do with any of us bastards anymore." Alaric created two ice swords, on in either hand. 

"we were just babies." Alexander spoke calmly and he backed up to stand by my side. "how could we have had anything to do with that? why blame us when we were never told of your existence?" 

"he was a king." Silas created two more balls of fire in his hands. "of course he would have bastards. every ruler has bastards, even her." he pointed to me.

i clenched my fists. "were you told that i had a choice for that?" i put the arrow back into its quiver and turned my bow into two swords. "i was kidnaped, enslaved, and... and..." my voice cracked.

"it does not matter." Alaric held one of his ice blades in front of him, "why do you get to keep your bastard when father abandoned us?"

"because i am not a monster." i gripped my swords tighter. "i would never abandon my children. just like i would never abandon my siblings." i looked to the group behind me then back at the three ahead of us. "i do not want to hurt you, but i will if i have to."

"she's telling the truth brothers." Calista pleaded with them. "please, just stop this. Sebastian, your better than this."

"we cannot sister Calista." Sebastian spoke, summoning water in his hands. "i really wish we could, but my brothers have made their choice, and i stand by them."