Kohra and Levik both felt somewhat uneasy as they waited in the narrow hallway. Sure, they had ten bodyguards with them, two of whom were Rethavok supplied by the Great Arenas, but they were also sharing a hallway with the mighty Lightbearer, a living legend that even the two Rethan guards feared. However, the two Lord Princes of the Kronospasts weren’t there to meet the Lightbearer. In fact, the Lightbearer was also currently acting as a guard for one of the members of their Dessaron team.
The reason they were there was a bit weird. There used to be three Lord Princes. The three sons of Lord King Ahvra, the supreme ruler of the Kronospasts. But back in Dekem, Levik and Kohra’s oldest brother Tanos had… well, everyone had assumed that Tanos had died in a fiery explosion while he was on a diplomatic mission, but his body was never found. Most had assumed that the Heir to the Throne was dead, and, due to Levik’s mental instability, Kohra ended up becoming the new Heir, despite only being 18 years old.
However, not long after the apparent demise of Tanos, a Spast with amnesia that had apparently survived the explosion that had killed Tanos turned up and offered to fight in the Great Arenas. While this Spast, who went by the name Tenuk, was the wrong colour, they had skills that only a few Spasts had access to. Skills that Tanos had. And Levik suspected that this mysterious Spast was secretly their sibling. Kohra didn’t feel the same way, but considering that Levik was both mentally ill but also oddly intelligent and often weirdly right about this sort of thing, Kohra had used his connections and rank to arrange a meeting with the mystery Spast.
That did mean going through the rest of the Spast’s Dessaron team, which the Lightbearer was the leader of. And getting Tenuk to agree to the meeting in the first place had been incredibly difficult. He didn’t seem to have any family or anything, or any Spast connections that Kohra could have pressured. Still, they were close now, and the other two members of Xeno Dessaron One had somewhat convinced Tenuk to talk.
The door next to the Lightbearer opened up, and out of it stepped Kayel, a Skyavok gladiator that the majority of arena fans, particularly Spasts, had dubbed Shadowstalker due to his insane Phantasma abilities. Kayel nodded to the Lightbearer, then exited the room and stood by the Lightbearer’s side. Another being, a beautiful green Temthan by the name of Nyssi, appeared and smiled at the two Lord Princes. Neither Nyssi nor Tenuk had cool arena names, mostly because the fans hadn’t settled on a single, specific name yet.
“Tenuk’ll speak to you, but you have to leave your guards out here. I think the Raptor already told you that, but I’m just reiterating. Alright?”
Kohra hesitated, but Levik simply nodded.
“Thank you, Nyssi. We appreciate this.”
Nyssi moved out of the way and allowed the two Spasts to enter, then closed the door behind them. This new room was clearly a private training area, and weapons lined one of the walls. Four bean bags had been placed in one corner, and Tenuk was sitting in one of them. However, as he spotted Kohra and Levik, he immediately got up and bowed.
“Lord Princes, it is an honour to meet you.”
Kohra turned to Levik and tutted. “I told you. He’s just a normal, albeit weird Spast. He’s not our Tanos!”
“He has to be! He mimics voices! No one but me and Tanos ever mimicked voices! And he does hybrid stuff, I’m literally the only shapeshifter who can do that, and I don’t even believe that I’m a Spast!”
“He’s the wrong colours! Tanos wouldn’t have been seen dead in such common colours!”
“You and Tanos are… were Spasts! You can CHANGE your colours!”
“It’s a conscious effort to change from your chosen colours though unless you’re of royal blood like us! He’s bloody two-tone blue! Holding a metallic is hard enough!”
“He… He…” Levik trailed off, glanced at Kohra and tutted. “I don’t want you to be the Heir. He’s been okay so far, but one day dad will snap and he’ll… hurt you.”
“I… I can cope. It’s fine… It’s… This was a waste of my time, Levik.”
“But… I was so sure!”
Tenuk watched as Levik and Kohra started arguing again, then sighed. He blinked his four eyes, one at a time. As he did so, Tenuk’s colours changed, his dark blue fur turning red, his eyes turning sapphire blue and his mane turning silver.
“I’m sorry, brothers.”
Levik fell silent, as did Kohra. However, Kohra’s silence didn’t last long.
“Where the heck have you been all this bloody time, Tanos?” Kohra snapped. “I’ve been working my butt off being forced to be the Heir and learning everything hecking early!”
“I… I had amnesia…” Tanos tried to explain. “I think I still do, because I’m pretty sure you used to have a pale blue mane, Kohra.”
“Yeah, well, I changed my pale blue to gold to appease dad because he didn’t think I looked regal enough. It’s fine for you, you chose a metallic. How the heck are you holding a completely different look anyway?”
Tanos shrugged. “I don’t know why, but, well, when I got amnesia from the hotel explosion, I just… woke up in two-tone blue. Gave myself formified amnesia, had no fucking idea who I was and no idea how I ended up nearly 100km away in the Torn Islet, where Nyssi found me in her bed.”
“But you eventually remembered, right? Why didn’t you come back? I DON’T WANT TO BE THE HEIR!”
“Clearly neither of you do…” Levik put himself between Kohra and Tanos, a vague attempt to keep Kohra calm. “And I’m too much of a fuck up and a lunatic to be the Heir either.”
Tanos sighed and closed his eyes. “Has he hurt you, Kohra?”
“No, not yet. But he’s started pushing, more and more. It won’t be long before I find myself studying to death… like… like you were…” Kohra hissed. “I can see why you pretended to be dead now. To get away from this crap.”
“Yeah…”
Tanos hesitated, considering his next words. He felt awful. He’d lied to his own brothers. Worse, he’d made Kohra’s life a misery, to the point that he’d been forced to change his own colours.
“I’ve never been happier living this new life…” Tanos eventually muttered. “But I can’t let you be the Heir. I already suffered, it’s wrong to make you suffer as well… Listen, I’ll… I’ll become the Heir again. But please, let me have a couple of years of freedom. Let me be Tenuk for a while. Then, when things have settled down and people are sick of me, I’ll, I dunno, claim that my amnesia is cured and that I was Tanos all along or something. And I’ll go back to being the Heir and you can have your freedom back. I know it’s a lot to ask of you, Kohra, but please, let me have this. Just for a bit.”
Kohra took a deep breath, but quickly relented. “Fine. You can stay as Tenuk for a bit. But if dad dies before you become Tanos again, you have to come back immediately. I CAN’T be Lord King. I’m a child, I can’t do this.”
“That’s fair. I’m sorry I lied to you. I’m sorry that you’re struggling, Kohra.”
Kohra shook his head, then put his hand on Tanos’s shoulder. “It’s alright, brother. I forgive you. You forgive Tanos too, right, Levik?”
Levik smiled. “Of course. And I promise I’ll keep your secrets, Tanos. It’s stupidly impressive seeing you fight and shapeshift. You’re nearly as good as me and you don’t have the downside of being mentally ill. Well, not… not like me.”
“I appreciate that…” Tanos blinked his four eyes again, turning back to his dark blue fur, light blue mane and red eyes. “I have to go back to being Tenuk now, before anyone gets suspicious.”
“That’s fine!” Kohra immediately seemed happier. “Tanos… Tenuk… you have no idea how much of a weight you’ve lifted from me. But we… we probably have to go now. Dad’s already pissed about how much time Levik and I have wasted in neutral lands, and, honestly, I’m kinda screwed. But now I know it’s temporary and you’re the real Heir again, I’ll take whatever dad will throw at me.”
“Yeah…” Tenuk made his way to the door, leading his brothers outside. Levik and Kohra both bowed, and Tenuk bowed back. “Thank you for letting me speak to you, Lord Princes, I wish you a safe journey home.”
“It was nice meeting you too, Tenuk. Good luck in your endeavours!” Kohra smiled. The two Spasts waved to their guards, who followed them down the hallway. Once they were gone, Tenuk grabbed the rest of Xeno Dessaron One and dragged them back into the private training room.
“How did it go?” Nyssi immediately asked.
Tenuk threw himself into his bean bag. “I told them the truth. I also promised Kohra that I’d go back to being Tanos in a couple of years. I couldn’t let him go through the same shit I went through as the Heir.”
Everyone else hesitated. After a moment, Retvik made his way over to Tenuk and gave him a big hug.
“That is a brave and honourable thing to do.”
“You did the exact same thing except way more brave!” Tenuk hissed. “I’m just avoiding responsibilities! Kohra is a baby! I’m in my fifties! I’m still young but I’ll have at least had a chance to live some of my life before being forced to take the throne.”
“But…” Kayel seemed confused. “But you’re immortal now. You’ll end up being Lord King for, like, ever. Unless you somehow convert Spast society into a democracy or something?”
“Yeah but…” Tenuk blinked, then blinked again, checking that he hadn’t accidentally changed colours. “That… Holy fuck, Kayel, you’re a fucking genius!” Tenuk smiled again. “Sure, it’s gonna be hell to set up, but I can kinda start doing that almost right away, especially if I hide it behind a council of advisors or something… You know what? Maybe this wasn’t so bad after all…”
Nyssi and Kayel both joined Retvik and Tenuk on the bean bags.
“So, now that’s out of the way, do you three wanna go back to Retvik’s place and get drunk?” Nyssin grinned. “It’s been a while.”
“Eh, sure, why not?” Tenuk shrugged. “It’s been one hell of a day, I’d like to try and forget and relax, just a little…”