Vilhelm's Antics

That evening, just as planned, Vilhelm makes his way to Joshua’s room without issue and knocks on his door. “Pst, Joshua you ready to go?” Vilhelm whispers, clearly excited about the trip.

A smile forms on Joshua’s face. “Yeah, Vil. Come on in. Saria left a little while ago.” beckoning him inside, Vilhelm watches with a strange look as Joshua busily pours a container of dirt onto the floor before dropping to his knees.

Shaking his head, Vilhelm points at it. “What’s that for Josh? Making a garden?”

“It’s so I don’t have to damage the flooring. I’d rather not piss Saria off; she would kill me.” Joshua wears a look of slight terror, whilst Vilhelm snickers.

“Me and Wil just have this old guy who’s been watching over us. At least yours is kind of cute. Ours is a boring stick in the mud. I enjoy excitement and thrills. You should know that by now.” Joshua pinches his brow. “You mean suicidal?” Vilhelm pouts putting his hands together.

Joshua lets out a yawn, before recomposing himself. “That old man has been with the family for years, be grateful and take advantage of his wisdom. He was our fathers servant back when he was young. Saria on the other hand is much younger, she doesn’t have the same experience as him.”

Vilhelm rolls his eyes, “Yeah, yeah, father said the same thing when I complained to him about it. Anyways, are you almost done? I’m getting bored.” Fidgeting his feet around, the floor squeaks faintly.

“Yeah, yeah Vil.” Joshua stands up after finishing drawing a runic sigil into the dirt with his right hand. Rising back to his feet reaches to his side. After, he tosses one of the two masks over as he ties one around his nose and mouth.

Vilhelm catches it casually with his left hand. Eyeing it in confusion, he turns back to Joshua.

“This isn’t like Blackwood; we cannot get caught, do you understand. Unless I signal to you, do not open your mouth or even sneeze as sounds aren’t blocked. I refuse to get fucked over here.” Joshua gives Vilhelm a look that could kill, as his nose snarls beneath the mask..

“Yes, sir captain.” Vilhelm gulps seeing his younger brother acting so harshly. Even his language is off putting.

Joshua shakes his head. “If it makes you listen better, I’ll remain your captain today. Let’s get this over with.” Pulling out a small dagger, Joshua places it against his left palm. Digging it shallowly, blood begins to drip along its blade as he clenches his mouth and fist. The blood drips down from his closed fist into the sigil. Shortly after its begins glowing a faint blue from Blackwood. Vilhelm stares in awe, before looking at Joshua’s hand with concern.

“Wait, are you okay Joshua? That had to hurt.” Vilhelm steps towards him as Joshua waves him off with his other hand.

Mouth still clenched, he speaks. “I’ll be fine just step into the sigils area of effect.” Joshua mutters in a commanding tone as he pulls gauze from his bag and wraps his hand up with some medical tape before throwing on the gloves gifted to him.

“Just tight enough to restrict pressure. That’s good.” Vilhelm takes a step forward as his body, clothes and all are enveloped in a blue light before turning invisible to the naked eye. After stepping out Joshua quickly follows suit. Now invisible to everyone but each other, using a broom he borrowed earlier, he brushes the circle away and all of the dirt into a pile in the corner. “Sorry Saria.” He mumbles to himself as he places a towel over it, hiding it from plain view.

Turning to face his brother who is still enthralled by his invisibility, he snaps his fingers in succession. “Vil, you still with me?” After blinking a few times, he looks up and nods, his vacant stare ending.

Taking a deep breath to calm himself, Joshua exhales. “Okay then, Vil what’s your plan?”

A dastardly smile stretches across his face. “Okay so first things first, we have to get to the other side of the estate and head outside. Think we can manage that?” Vilhelm motions with his hands spastically.

“Easy, let’s get going. The blood magic only lasts three hours.” Joshua replies in a hushed tone. Hearing the phrase blood magic, for some reason causes Vilhelm's skin to crawl as he brushes his hands together.

The two quickly exit Joshua’s room, shutting the door quietly as they make their way down the corridor. Turning to the left, they eventually head to a door leading outside. It's made of solid wood with metal reinforcement. After getting to the door Vil looks at Joshua, before pulling something out of his pocket. It’s a small sheet of metal with some cut outs and folded edges.

“What’s that for?” Joshua whispers in question.

Vil whispers back. “It’s to keep the door unlocked for when we get back. Follow my lead.”

Joshua raises an eyebrow, but nonetheless follows along as they sneak outside. When opening the door, Vil securely fastens his cutout to the latch. To show that it works, he opens and closes the doors a few times. “How the hell did he get a hold of that?” Shaking his head in confusion, he doesn't question further as the two both begin creeping along the exterior of the estate. Slipping past a decorated window and rose bush.

Joshua speaks up quietly as they go along. “How far is it from here? I don’t remember coming out this way before”

“About thirty minutes at this pace. We have to reach the complete backside of the estate to even get started. Once we get there the security increases drastically. Apparently, father and the overseers want to make sure nothing goes wrong.”

“Why? It’s just an old tradition.” Joshua brushes the concerns off.

“I’m assuming it’s because father wants to make sure everyone's viewing is safe, after all unlike previous patriarchs he just changed a hundred-year-old rule on a whim.”

“I doubt it, father wouldn’t waste resources on safety. He expects us to grow fast and exceed expectations, after all everyone attending should be providing their own security.”

“If that’s what you think, from my experience father does care about guests. Even if he tends to be a dick to us.” Vilhelm and Joshua pause as a patrolling soldier passes them by. He doesn’t even flinch and carries on.

Vilhelm, motioning with his right arm, throws his hand forward. “Let’s continue.” They continue creeping alongside the side of the building ducking around bushes, windows, and building paneling.

“How did you figure all this out?” Joshua questions as Vilhelm doesn’t reply as a faint sweatbead forms on his temple.

Eventually the two of them make their way to the backside of the estate where soldiers are swarming about patrolling the entrance to a trail surrounded by forestry.

After motioning with his hands, Vilhelm and Joshua make their way to the edge of the forest as Vilhelm whispers. “Okay so first, we’ll have to climb over this fence then we’ll have to watch out for the sensors.”

Joshua nods his head, clearly confused on why the security is so tight when from what he can recollect. It also occurs to him that he’s never tested invisibility on people whose job it is to sense intruders. Quickly the two climb over the fence making as little noise as possible as a guard makes his way over to see nothing out of place.

“Must have been the wind.” He mutters as he gets back to his post. His gray and black uniform sways with the wind, his beard tickled by the cool breeze.

Looking back after somersaulting forward, Vil motions with his arm in a ‘sweet’ motion; his elbow lowering as his fist rests near his face. Joshua shakes his head as they continue along the outer edge making their way forward, slipping past the unknowing guards along the way until they reach a man with his eyes closed, his dim blue aura peering outward.

“From here on out, no aura can be used or we’ll be immediately exposed. Got it. I hope they can’t recognize blood magic.” Joshua whispers to his brother. They slowly and quietly creep by the man until Vilhelm steps on a branch. The sound catches his attention as he opens his eyes looking towards the two of them.

“Smooth..” Draxis snickers from within. Joshua doesn’t have time to respond, kinda confused on just why he’s been so quiet so far.

Thinking that he was caught, Vilhelm freezes in place as Joshua takes hold of his hand as he ushers them on further. The brown-haired man in a black overcoat with red epaulets continues looking around the area, his eyes glowing with a blue hue.

Joshua quietly grits through his teeth. “Don’t stop moving, he hasn’t seen us yet and I don't want to find out if he can.”

“Understood captain.” Vilhelm replies with a nod.

Now a bit further away from the sensor, Joshua quietly questions his brother. “Any idea how much farther?”

“If the map I saw was accurate, we should almost be there.” Vilhelm answers. As the two creep through the forest, they avoid a few other sensors, passing through more trees and another checkpoint before eventually making it to a clearing. In the middle rests a large space with a dirt ground with metal seats encircling it. There are wooden gates and framework surrounding it making it a perfect place to view from the seats.

“This is it? This doesn't seem right.” Vilhelm looks at Joshua with disappointment.

Joshua chuckles, “I don’t think so, Vil. I bet we’ll have to flex our combat skills to the guests so an arena makes sense. We probably have to go further in to see where the naming ceremony will occur. I’m surprised that our father set this all up in just a week.”

Vilhelm nods in agreement as the two make their way around the large arena. About five minutes later, they slip back into the treeline and start to approach some something akin to a shrine. Whilst eyeing all the flora around, Vilhelm begins to speak, however Joshua covers his mouth, pulling him in close. “Quiet Vil.” He senses someone nearby. To their surprise it’s their father heading back to the manor.

“What is he doing out here?” Joshua thinks to himself as they wait until he leaves. “Probably checking out the grave kid.” Draxis’ voice casually replies.

“I can see that master, why are you being so quiet tonight?”

“I just want to see how you do without my guidance. Think of this as a test of freedom.” Joshua sweat drops before returning to the situation at hand. Turning to his brother he whispers.

“I don’t think this place has to do with the ceremony, Vil.” Pointing to the shrine, he sees a bouquet of flowers resting against what looks to be a grave stone.

Vilhelm nods, before stepping away from Joshua. “I can see that, you want to investigate here while I continue looking around? We’ll probably get this done faster if we split up.”

“Agreed, we don’t have all night after all.” The two go their separate ways, as Joshua walks on up to the shrine. It’s in relatively good condition aside from moss growing up along it. The stone is a kind of gray and black marble. The etchings are faint and the name is too worn to read. What he can make out is a title that seems recently carved: Scarlet Sunrise.

“I wonder who that is?” Joshua questions himself.

“Likewise, kid, I’m also curious. That father of yours seems like a very emotionally distant man. Clearly, he came here to visit, perhaps it was a loved one who perished.”

“I don’t think so, father still has two wives and as far as I know, my mother wasn’t buried in our clan’s territory so I doubt it was that either. If that mystic hadn't died back then, I was going to question him since he seemed to know me, my father, and my mother.”

Draxis muses with curiosity. “What do you know of her?”

Joshua sits down beside the grave stone and lowers his head with a sigh. “I know that she died shortly after my birth due to an accident and that she was the one who named me. I think she may have been a commoner and was buried somewhere in the neutral territories, at least that’s all I gathered as a mercenary. I could be wrong.”

Joshua quietly ponders to himself for a minute as Vilhelm sneaks up on him. Joshua, not expecting it, jumps forward nearly crashing into a rose bush. On his knees his face rests gently before a bunch of briars. If it wasn’t for his cloth mask, he would have made impact.

“Bloody Serox!” Joshua pipes out before glaring at Vil. His eyes ignite with his scarlet red aura. Vilhelm steps back both amused and terrified at the same time. Trying to change the subject Vilhelm helps Joshua back to his feet.

“Gotcha! Captain. I found the ritual site, it's connected to a cave further back. We kind of went the wrong way.” He rubs the back of his neck with a cheeky expression as he pulls out a scratch map of the area pointing out where they are currently located.

Joshua groans in annoyance, face palming as his aura dissipates. “Why didn’t you… You know never mind, let’s just get a move on.”

Vilhelm leads the two of them back into the forest and instead of going straight they turn right going off their original path. Thankfully not running into any more sensors. Eventually the two of them make their way up to a cave entrance decorated with black and gold marble. Two main pillars stood firm beside the doorway as a red curtain was strewn between. Looking around Joshua doesn’t see, nor sense anyone.

Vilhelm clasps his hands together in excitement. “This is the place, come on I went in slightly before coming back to get you, it’s almost completely empty aside from a few bats and I think one guardsman.” Joshua rolls his eyes, not believing him at all.

“Let’s get this over with then, In and out. We have a long day tomorrow and the sun has completely set by this point. Did you tell Wil about this excursion?”

Vilhelm chuckles as he throws his arm around Joshua’s neck. “Nope, he had his fun stealth mission now it’s my turn.” Sighing, Joshua slides him off and steps forward. Facepalming at his brother's naivety, the two head inside quietly making their way down the tunnel. As they spend the next little while walking, they look around and see all sorts of branching paths and hideaways in this place.

Joshua looks around in intrigue. “This place is crawling with pathways and divots; I wonder how it was used hundreds of years ago.”

“Why?” Vilhelm curiously asks, not being interested in a cave.

“Simple curiosity brother, I’d like to learn more about our family's history. It’ll be helpful for when I become Patriarch.”

“Says you, I already said that I’ll be the next one.” Vilhelm places his right fist on his chest.

“May the better son win.” Joshua rolls his eyes with a smirk as they approach a large opening within the cave.

The two immediately stop, looking around in awe, Joshua could barely remember this place. Most of his memories come after this. Gazing around, two things catch their eyes. The large dragon statue with bejeweled eyes and the large pool underneath. Everything is carved out of an unknown dark stone.

More than that though, on the back wall a large monolith of an unknown material covered in slash marks towers to the cavern's ceiling. Joshua’s fingers trembled slightly at the sight.

The two begin walking forward until Vilhelm of all people stop in his tracks, seeing someone jump up from behind the dragon into one the of many pathways and vanish near the ceiling of the cavern. Turning to his brother, he whispers into his ear. “Joshua, someone was just in here.”

“What do you mean, of course there’s a guard here.” Joshua replies pointing towards the guard in the distance, slightly ignorant of what happened as he was mentally distracted.

Vilhelm uses his fingers and tries to explain what he saw. “Not that Josh, I saw someone jump like eight feet into the air and vanish into the holes.”

Joshua’s eyes widen in confusion as he asks if he saw what they looked like. “The only thing I saw was a tiny golden chain that glistened under the sconce lights.”

“That doesn’t narrow it down very far, you wanna see if he left any tracks. You want to go check it out?”

“You bet.” Vilhelm whispers with a grin, his mask nonetheless covering his expression.

Joshua nods, “Let’s make this fast.” The two boys make their way down while Vilhelm admires the dragon statue. Joshua’s attention is drawn even more so to the massive monolith in the cavern. Admiring the cuts and slashes, he begins to reach out with his right hand as it begins to glow faintly. Reacting quickly, he withdraws it as the guard in the room approaches from behind.

Holding his breath as he quietly moves away and he hears the guard mumble. “I told him to be more inconspicuous, especially if he wants the plan to go off without a hitch. Our master demanded that this go a certain way.”

“What plan is he talking about? Master?” Joshua thinks to himself as he eyeballs the guard, however nothing about him seems out of place. He was dressed in the traditional gray guardsman uniform. The man sits down in a chair and closes his eyes with a yawn.

A short while later, Joshua makes his way back over to the statue and instantly Draxis takes control of one of his eyes.

“Kid, that’s very ancient.” His tone shifts into something very serious as he gazes upon the statue. A vague reminiscence crosses his mind.

Replying with an eyebrow raised, Joshua places his right hand to his chin. “Really, I thought the naming ceremony only existed for the past hundred years.”

“That might be the case, but that thing was built when I was still free. I just don’t remember who it is. The fact I can’t remember is probably for a reason.”

Joshua begins taking a closer look at the statue and basin with draconic sight and notices a few things slightly off with the ground. Almost like hundreds of white strands of an unknown energy were flowing through them. Acting upon instinct he draws his dagger and swings his arm down. Aura releases from his blade, slashing through them. Startling Vilhelm in the process.

“Bro, what was that for?” Vilhelm whispers as he turns around to gaze at Joshua as he gazes into his draconic eyes. Sweat drops down his neck unsure of what he’s witnessing. Even the hairs on his head start to stand up as goosebumps trickle across his skin.

Quickly, Joshua blinks as it goes back to normal. “I think that person from earlier was tampering with this statue. I just severed what looked to be an unnatural energy nearby.”

Vilhelm pauses, shaking his head trying to forget what he saw. Those bloody red eyes and the slit like pupils that stared into his soul. “That’s creepier than what I saw in Blackwood.”

“What was?” Joshua questions feigning ignorance.

Vilhelm continues in a hushing tone.“Did you not see your eyes just now?”

Brushing him off, Joshua yawns. “I can’t exactly see my own eyes Vil; I just used aura sight.”

Vilhelm shakes his head in disbelief. “Sure, we’ll go with that. Now let’s get the hell out of here. I don’t know how long we’ve been in here, but we’re probably running out of time.”

Joshua’s eyes widen, looking Vilhelm in the eyes. “Shit, you’re right. Let's go.”

Vilhelm nods his head as the two of them quickly race their way out of the cavern and retrace their steps back through the guardsmen’s roadblocks and climb back over the barricades.

A while later the two of them, after avoiding a few more close calls finally get back to the door Vil ‘unlocked.’ Popping it opens with ease, the two step inside. Shortly after, he takes his device off and slides it back into his pocket just as soon as the two become tangible again.

With a grateful look Vilhelm turns to his younger brother. “Hey Joshua, thanks for joining me on this adventure. I couldn’t have done it without you. I had fun.” A smile stretches across his face as he takes the cloth out from around his neck and passes back to his brother.

Joshua looks down with a faint smile on his face before lifting his gaze back to his brother. “No problem Vil, just try to stay out of trouble from here on out.”

“No promises, but I’ll try. Take care of yourself, and use aura sight in the mirror and see what I’m talking about. Those eyes are creepy as hell. It definitely ain’t normal.” Shaking his head, Vilhelm bows and makes his way back to his own room on the other side of the manor.

Eventually Joshua makes it back to his own room where he can finally process his thoughts. Closing his door quietly he walks over to his bed and plops down.The mattress absorbing the impact with ease. “Hey Draxis, that was a close call. Also what the hell were those white strands, do you know? They didn’t look like aura or sigil magic.”

Draxis scoffs with amusement. “Agreed, I’m assuming something has been going on in the background, especially with that rogue man infiltrating this place. I could smell him even if you couldn’t. He reeked of mana.”

“That means there’s a rat somewhere in the estate, and I can’t exactly warn father because I’m not supposed to be out until tomorrow… Great.” Joshua shakes his head in annoyance and sighs.

In a serious tone Draxis agrees. “I guess we’ll have to keep an eye out ourselves.”

“Yeah, and we need to try not to let anyone else see my eyes this time. That was a close call. Thankfully Vilhelm isn’t the smartest.” Joshua snickers as he stands up and walks over to his dresser, changing into his lounge wear.

After these sudden revelations and being quite tired, after dealing with Vilhelm's antics, Joshua drifts off into slumber, his body and mind hopefully prepared for the challenges the following day would inevitably bring.