The Zodiac Empire

Chapter 1 - The Raizu Siblings

"Come on Naitey, wake up!"

A young, ghostly pale woman with cerulean eyes was on her knees next to her brother, whom was fast asleep on the floor, cuddling a stuffed wolf. She nudged his shoulders and shook his legs rather aggressively, but he gave no reaction. Frowning, she hiked up the skirts of her nightdress and sat on his stomach. She lifted his arms up and tickled his armpits. For a second she thought he was getting up, but he simply rolled over, causing her to fall off of him.

The young woman clicked her tongue in annoyance. She walked over to a sloppy pile of books, paper, and crayons in the corner of the room and rummaged through them. She couldn't find what she was looking for, so she tossed the dismembered stuffed animals to the side until she found her wand. Raising it over his head, she whispered "Rehugawst!" and a gush of water shot out at him.

He jumped up like a wet cat, frantically scanning the room before his eyes met hers. She was beaming at him. "Alsen! What was that for?!" he demanded, shaking his head, spraying water in every direction.

"Happy birthday, Naito!" Alsen giggled, clapping her hands and bouncing on her heels in excitement.

Naito pulled off his soaked t-shirt, revealing his slim, fit body. Stretching his arms out, he let out a yawn before rubbing his baggy, cerulean eyes. Digging through his pocket, he pulled out his own wand, lazily pointing it at the calendar. A thin, sharp icicle shot out of his wand and pierced through the calendar, marking off the date Juxisnthom 22nd, 4E584.

"Just two years left..."

"And you almost overslept on your sixteenth birthday! How could you oversleep on such a big day?!" Alsen exclaimed, hands on her hips.

"I had another dream."

"Again?" Alsen raised her eyebrow. "That makes three times in one week...was it about Nircogard again?"

Naito nodded. "Of course. I can't really remember what was happening. Just darkness, ice, a blizargwin, and loud noises..." He sat down on the floor and placed his palm on his forehead, as if deep in thought

"Well, there's no point in stressing over that now! It's your birthday, little brother, which means it's time to celebrate!" She ruffled his dripping wet, frosty white hair.

"Celebrate what? It's just another day passing by until my coronation. Everything until then is a waste of time..." Naito replied glumly, drying his wet hands on his shorts.

Alsen shook her head, causing her long, wavy magenta hair to sway from side to side. "Nu-uh. No gloomy attitude on your big day! Now come on, get dressed and let me fix your hair up. You can't be looking such a mess on your big day!"

"W-What? No! I've told you, I can take care of my hair myself!" He protested, slowly backing up with his hands up as if to defend himself as Alsen approached him.

"Nope! You're too little to do it yourself."

"You're only two years and seven months older than me!"

Naito was more than capable of taking care of his hair himself, but Alsen wouldn't let him. She couldn't let her little Naitey grow up too fast.

"Thanks for proving my point, genius. Now come on and be a good little Naitey!" she grabbed him by the arm and skipped over to the bathroom, but Naito resisted as she put her hand on the doorknob.

"Isn't Cosena in there?"

"No...I haven't seen her since last night." Alsen's eyes went downcast and Naito shifted uncomfortably at her words. They both knew it couldn't mean anything good if Cosena wasn't there. Sometimes when their father felt that Cosena needed to be punished, he would drag her out of their room and Naito and Alsen wouldn't see her again from anywhere from a few hours to a few days, nor know what happened to her or where she was.