Princes of Phirines

A golden hue had come over the Earth's heavens as the bell rang to signal the end of school. Iscodaya lightly tapped the bottom of the books on his desk to align them before putting them inside his bag. As he stood up, Kaus was already waiting for him, his look spoke of the topic Iscodaya was thinking for the entire day, the topic of his brother’s news.

But as the two were about to leave, Yusuke tapped Iscodaya’s shoulder, “Yo, Iscodaya, we’re hanging out today, you two want to come?” The boy politely asked. But because of his current objective, Iscodaya knew he couldn’t go.

“Sorry, but Kaus and I have something important we need to do at home,” he responded, causing Yusuke to nod in agreement. Though through the group, Iscodaya saw the face of Kei, slightly disappointed. And as they locked eyes, Iscodaya gave a sly grin to her, making her notice her own expression.

The Prince smugly smiled with his chin up as he and Kaus exited the room, which puzzled the servant a bit. But the entire walk home was not one with a joking atmosphere. The Prince and his servant hypothesized the topic before it even began. There were a lot of ideas for changes in the country, scientific findings, or news about the Eternals. But the news the first Prince of Phirines told them, was more worrying than any of those.

“Uncle Jion and some of his apprentices have caught an Eternal group traveling with a bag full of Iokite.” The eyes of both Iscodaya and Kaus widened with shock, as for a few seconds, no noise was created in their small apartment. Daranya and Senodaya stared at their brother from across the table, his hands scratching his head.

But after processing his older brother’s words, Iscodaya composed himself, as he stared into Daranya’s eyes, “When did this happen?” At this question, Senodaya brought out a scroll and gave it to Kaus.

“About a week ago, here’s a report of one of Uncle’s apprentices,” he told Iscodaya as Kaus opened the scroll. He took in the name of the writer, Yuolem, a fellow apprentice of General Jion, and a personal friend.

Kaus then cleared his throat as he began to read for his Prince. The document detailed a tense confrontation between the Phirines General, and a band of traveling Eternals entering Phirines territory. And as General Jion asked to check what they had brought, he found Iokite, the key material that Phirinian scientists used in order to make interdimensional portals.

It was not illegal for the Eternals to possess it, so the General had to let them go. But the information that they know the true power of the thought to be useless material scares Phirines.

And as Iscodaya took all this information in, he now understood why his brothers went to Earth, “So, father and the high senators feared that the Eternals would find Earth? And they sent you two to protect Earth’s knowledge of our realm, but also as a first line of defense if the Eternals decide to take it over?” His question was answered with a nod from the two brothers.

“Yes, you and Irom have given us pretty good information about Earth’s culture and history. I reckon it would take one more year of information until Phirines thinks whether we should show ourselves to these humans,” replied Daranya. Iscodaya agreed on the time, for he and Kaus have only lived in the nation of Japan, and their information about the other nations was only found on the internet.

But after hearing his brother’s reply, Senodaya decided to also tell some information he knew, “I actually overheard Uncle Serioth talking to Uncle Sharusha about sending more spies in, so I think Earth has caught his interest.” Hearing that, Iscodaya couldn’t help but feel relieved. His Uncle Serioth is the head of research in the nation of Phirines, and he is a man who follows what he is interested in. There had been many circumstances where Phirines doesn’t go deeper into a topic because Serioth doesn’t really care.

But as he set aside his own feelings, Iscodaya began to knit the bigger picture, “I see, that is sensible I guess, judging by Eternal culture, they would want to take over Earth. Hopefully they never find this realm.”

Hearing their brother’s worries about Earth, the two Princes were a bit shocked. Iscodaya growing up had always cared for no nation other than Phirines, their father often trying to teach the young Prince that the nations of Eon isn’t all bad. So, hearing his brother hope for Earth’s safety, caused Daranya to chuckle, “Your stay here has really changed you Isco.”

The comment caused the second Prince to realize the things he was saying, but instead of denying it, Iscodaya covered his mouth with his hand and replied, “Well it is a beautiful place.”

The second he said that the two Princes couldn’t help but think of the time they caught him with the human girl. As Senodaya realized the air was changing, he decided to ask for something, “Then could you show us around? We saw in that computer a lot of new things.”

Hearing this, Iscodaya nodded as Kaus smiled, “Should we take them around the city your Majesty?” The swordsman asked, leading his Prince to nod.

“You read my mind.” The four got dressed for the cold autumn dusk. Iscodaya taught his brothers how to speak in a non-formal way, while Kaus had to call Daranya and Senodaya by their names, which made the loyal warrior cringe.

But when they started walking around, the two brothers asked a lot of things to the two, which they answered to the best of their ability. But as they walked, Iscodaya noticed the stares were a lot more apparent. They were four very good-looking young men with uniquely colored hair and eyes, Iscodaya couldn’t help but think that they looked like a boy band.

But something that surprised the Prince were the stares pointed at him. Iscodaya had not styled his hair in his schoolboy way, instead he had his regular, more wavy and styled hair. His lack of glasses also made his piercing red eyes strike more, making girls bashful as he looked at them.

But while they were standing outside a restaurant because something caught Senodaya’s eye, Iscodaya’s phone buzzed. He pulled it out of his pocket and saw that the message was sent by Kei.

“Look behind you.”

The Prince’s eyebrows raised, but he decided to do what it told him. Behind the Prince, inside the restaurant, were a lot of mesmerized people. But what caught Iscodaya’s sight the most, was the beautiful face of a certain girl with a bob cut. Kei and Iscodaya’s eyes met through the glass.

But it wasn’t just Kei, but Yusuke, Rin, Yumma, and most of their friendgroup. Seeing that they had seen what he truly looked like, Iscodaya wanted to be invisible. But his brothers made him stand out a lot more.

“ISCO LOOK! IT’S LIKE A DRAGON!!” Senodaya shouted as he pointed at a screen showing a movie trailer. Instantly Iscodaya put a hand over his brother’s mouth, as Kaus and Daranya turned around.

The first Prince recognized Kei as Kaus’s eyes widened as he also realized the gravity of the situation.