Half Brothers

Chapter 3: The Child of the Red Hands

~.Black Mist.~

No response from Nova yet. Something must have gone wrong; I can feel it.

I go to the knights' quarters to find the Number worthy of the task I need him to do. It will require stealth to go over the border separating the Number Realm from the rest of the Astral World, so I have the perfect Number in mind.

Without knocking, I throw the door open to find many of the knights checking their weapons, cleaning them and their armor, and everything else they do. I look around for the Number that isn't a knight at all, but rather our own ninja. I find him in the way back, meditating like usual.

"Number 12 Crimson Shadow Armor Ninja," I call with a sharp snap that makes my ears twitch.

Crimson opens his eyes slowly and looks up at me with his serene gaze. "Yes, my prince?" he answers in a slow tone.

"I need you to run an errand for me."

"And what errand would that be?" He gets up from his meditating position. At his full height, he's much taller than any of the knights and slimmer than them.

"I need you to bring back my brother."

~.Astral/Nova.~

I sprint back to my room to keep Bura and Amber from finding my notes from Blackie while Momma charges after me. I know they're only a few notes, but they're meaningful since I know he wants to help me now, and they're a sign that someone out there cares. No one else has ever done that!

Momma scoops me up by the waist with her iron grip, and I do something I've never done before.

I start to scratch her, bite, kick out, anything to release myself from her grip as my hands turn increasingly red. I try to do everything I can to get back to my room and keep those two demon siblings from seeing those notes written in a foreign language. I'm sure that if Momma can read them, so can they.

"Momma, Momma!" Amber cries triumphantly. "We found more!"

The two come out with broad smiles on their wicked faces, holding the letters from Blackie. I cry out in fury as I struggle more, my still red hands grasping the air to reach for those precious pieces of paper. Momma only tightens her grip.

Amber and Bura giggle as they read the words only my eyes should see!

"Momma, the one who wrote these is names Number 96 Black Mist," Amber reports, which Momma already knew.

"And he claims to be his brother!" Bura chimes in.

~.Crimson.~

I enter the house by picking the lock silently. For a while, I have waited for the last people to come out of the house before making my move, which is what I am doing now.

Before I open the door, I take out a small can of oil and grease up the hinges to elimitate the sound that will surely be produced if I skip this step. I slip inside as silently as a shadow.

As I make my way by creeping upstairs, the sounds of struggles accompanied by a small voice that sounds almost like Prince Black Mist's, except it's higher and slightly less demanding, grabs my attention to go there. Well, the small voice is certainly demanding something of the other people, the three others I was told he lives with.

I make it to the top. A young child is struggling from the grasp of his mother while two children read notes that have the young prince's handwriting.

The little girl, who I was told is named Amber, is white with baby blue hair that reaches her waist. She has a pink dress with a white heart on the chest, and on her feet are pink shoes. Her eyes are magenta, and on her lips plays a smirk as she reads the characters of the Number Realm.