"Ce pacat (How unfortunate) ..." 

How will I get out of this chaos? I was paralyzed. Vines bound me from my arms down to my legs. I was placed over his shoulder with my legs dangling on his front.

The constant bounces from the rough handling woke me. The first thing I saw was the ippótes chasing us. I briefly thought that this was merely a dream. I was wrong.

I was undeniably wrong.

“Put me down, baka (fool). Do you understand the consequences that you will face after this?”

How foolish could this man get?

My eyes unwillingly feasted the view before me. It was my first time being able to get out of the palace let alone see other Ancients residing in the Great Genshi tree.

Everything was very colourful...

Lucius hummed joyfully; his merriness was a grave threat to my emotionless perfection.

“I will show you the world and make you see how beautiful it is compared to your dull and fucked up life.”

There were hundreds of ippótes pursuing us. The only beauty I could see after this was him rotting for his crimes. 

The ground trembled beneath us; this rampage was clearly gaining too much audience from every house we passed by. 

The sound of the floor crumbling apart occurred from my blind spot. It was difficult for me to perceive what exactly was happening. Lucius leaped, commanding the zephyrs to lift us up from the serrated metal bars that sprouted from the ground that could pierce through flesh.

My chest was doing something unfavourable.

“Troublesome…” Lucius sighed, turning around to see the swarm of ippótes getting ready to fly.

There was a rise of water surrounding the kingdom. The water elevated into divisions of hovering forms coming towards our direction. Whirls of winds were tossed towards us. 

“Sloppy forms, weak execution of elements, and unguarded stances…Hiding did not do any good to your skills as knights,” 

Getting cocky I see.  

“Why do you continue to resist? If you want to perish, then do not involve me in your stupid plans.”

“You think I’ll get caught?” Lucius teased. “Think again,” he shouted. He extended his free arm out. The winds carried us in a whirl to face the knights.

The incoming winds and approaching waters were redirected to the soaring ippótes, wiping them out. Lucius carried me into his arms; sparks of electricity cascaded down from his back. 

Loud and irregular currents crackled and acted as his cape. The currents attacked the pursuers. 

"Feeling excited yet, chii?”

“I refuse to believe that we are of the same flesh and blood.”

"Quickly, don't let them escape!" 

The ippótes desperately struggled to dodge the electric currents that Lucius effortlessly released without even paying much attention. They were struck and left with the essence of electric currents as they convulsed on the ground.

My body trembled. My stomach fluttered. The farther Lucius took me from the palace the more he showed his formidable skills in battle against the hundreds of ippótes chasing us.

Who was this man?

Lucius whistled. The piercing call of the wind broke through the ruckus going around. His lips curled into a wide smile when a four-legged creature emerged. Its white feathery wings fluttered. It had two horns in which one was visibly broken. 

The armoured creature stopped before us. Lucius got on its back. I let out an "oof!” From having my bottom receive all the impact as I got dropped in a hurry.

I was seated sideways. My whole body began to numb from being wrapped like a cocoon.

A new set of ippótes closed their distance around us. I was speechless for the first time. I was being taken without a plausible reason and I had no power to struggle for I was never trained to fight.

Fighting brought out anger and pleasure, so I was forbidden to engage in such activity.

Lucius clucked his tongue and shouted: 

"Ejam (let's go) Argo!" 

Argo neighed. It darted towards the perfectly carved white doors that were heavily guarded by more ippótes. They were very much aware of the situation now.

"You will lose, I am sure of it." 

He will get captured and punished by my father and the Higher-Order.

Lucius grinned. "You still underestimate me little brother? I was a general of our army in the past.” 

That was the past.

"So, you aren't a general now? They must have forced you out of the position," I deadpanned.

I watched his expression twitch from my statement. 

"You are getting on my nerves, chii. Have some pride for your brother.”

"Why should I be proud of you being a general before? Your previous position does not mean that you'll win."

I just realized how incapable these ippótes were when it came to protecting the Ancients. They got single-handedly taken down by this man.

I looked ahead, finding that we were closer to the gates. This will be where he will get caught. It was a dead-end for him. The tree can withstand any powerful impact and that was the very reason why we survived all these years. 

"Argo, vlastós (shoot).” It was a silent and confident command. 

A blanket of light covered the horn of the creature. The small growing light became a beam that stretched towards the doors. The rippling sound was deafening. The doors were blasted into useless debris, showing a wide expanse of green land.

Argo galloped past the doors. Its wings fluttered quickly while we were still on the ground. Once outside, we alighted smoothly. The breeze brought me unexplainable shivers. 

"Return me," I demanded, showing a disapproving look.

Argo flew higher and higher. My heartbeats kept speeding up. My sides were in loops. My feet and hands became cold as I leaned against Lucius' chest.

"Ho—Hold me, you idiot!” I closed my eyes; my teeth rattled. 

"Are you scared?" he laughed.

"Stop being ridiculous! I fe—feel nothing..." I attempted to be firm, but it came out shaky.

 Lucius nuzzled his nose against the dip of my neck, chuckling.

"Your voice is shaky, you liar! This just proves that no one can stay emotionless. You were hidden behind those walls from the eyes of the world; thus, this made you even more fragile than anyone else. I can prove it."

Argo stopped at a certain altitude. Cold winds latched to my skin. My ears were infiltrated with whispers of the wind while my eyes were watery from the speed.

"I am–I…”

How could I say it? I didn't know how to. How will I express to him what I felt when I didn't even know how to describe it?

"You can't suppress your emotions. They did not do you a favour when they trained you to become a doll. They didn't save you from dying but instead, they prevented you from living.”

I swayed my head.  "I refuse. I do not accept death. I’ll die out here." 

"Going out here doesn’t immediately equate to dying and being stuck behind the walls of Genshi doesn’t equalize living."

"Stultus (stupid), this is unnecessary.”

I was restless. Lucius noticed my fussiness. What could I do out here? How could I survive?

The vines around me unwrapped. My shoulders drooped. 

"You have...you have ruined everything."

After all these years, after everything I did, my efforts became meaningless. I was chosen to rule. I was to get knotted down but now I was exposed to impurities. 

Lucius sealed my waist with his arm, hoisting me against him. 

"No, I'm just starting to piece you back together. If you end up being conceited after I had committed treason, I will push you off from Argo.” 

My eyes snapped open. I looked at him with wide eyes. Lucius’ firm expression trembled from my response. The man couldn't hold it in any longer. He guffawed. 

“Scared you, didn’t I? Onii was just joking~.”