The King's Remorse

"I'm the one killing him! I called dibs on him, so he's mine and only mine. Understand?" Phoenix snarls

"S-sorry," I say softly.

"And stop stuttering. It's annoying me."

"Phoenix!" Ky leaps to his feet. "That's rude!"

"Wolf and Dove are prophesied to bring down King Garonda XIV in a poem that was written long ago. It is believed to have been written by the first Midnight Wolf, and it is called The King's Remorse." Brook starts speaking to prevent the two brothers from getting too far into their bickering.

"How does it go? I didn't know that anything had been written by a Midnight Wolf." Ky's eyes are wide with awe.

"I only know the first two lines, but I know nothing after that. The lines go:

The Wolf and the Dove shall rise

With the help of the Phoenix whom the King will despise."

"The Wolf and Dove are gonna rise with the help of the Phoenix whom the King will despise?" Phoenix asks, clearly not believing Brook.

"Yes," Brook replies, searching for Phoenix to speak up in his disbelief.

"Doesn't that seem just a little odd? Who would believe that? How is The King's Regret or whatever the hell the poem is called saying how the future of KG14's reign going to play out? Why would anyone believe that?"

"Language, Phoenix," Ky mutters.

"What the hell did you just say?" Phoenix asks with a smile.

"Language! Language! Language! There are children present."

"Whatever." Phoenix snorts with a flick of the tip of his tail.

"So, Brook, who knows the rest of the poem? Perhaps it'll help us." Dove peels the bark off of a stick he'd found on the ground.

"Any guesses?" She swats at a fly on her side with her tail.

"Arcane!" Ky jumps with excitement.

"Arcane doesn't exist, Ky!" Phoenix groans in frustration.

"Sure he does. Why wouldn't he? He's been the Midnight Wolf for over sixty years now." Brook looks at Phoenix in confusion.

"Arcane is dead! No one has seen him for, like, ever. He's dead."

"Who's the new Midnight Wolf?" Brook challenges. Yay! Go, Brook!

"We don't know yet since they haven't come forward."

"Surely they'd've come forwards; why wouldn't they? The Midnight Wolf holds an awful lot of power as they can wield the cosmos. You know, the constellations and galaxies across their body? And let's not forget about the Midnight Tear. I don't know about you, Phoenix, but I'd be willing to bet an awful lot that Arcane still exists. But now, that's just what I think." Brook smiles innocently.

"Arcane doesn't exist. He's dead. He died after he killed Freedom."

"Wh-what proof d-do you ha-have that he's d-dead?" I pitch in with a frown.

"What proof do you have that Arcane isn't dead?" Phoenix counters.

"I-I'm the wrong person t-to a-ask."

"No one has found his body, Phoenix. No one has found his body, just like I've told you a million times before," Ky says.

"That's not proof!" The flames burning across Phoenix's black fur crackle with his anger.