The Ultima Paradox

It was a rather slow day really, and Michael did not like that one bit. He sat at the pinnacle of the large palace of Valhalla, looking over the city that stretched below him, brimming with the imperfect that were under the delusion that they had been here since the beginning of the world itself. He pulled knees up to his chest, the silver orbs then turning towards the sun that was slowly setting upon the horizon, its color altered by the radiant Ethereal energy within the atmosphere, one that added a certain color to the sky itself. He hummed lightly to himself, eyes narrowing into slits before widening once again, as if he had thought of something that he had not before. With a quick motion, Michael stood to his feet, undaunted by a large gust of wind that blew past him and ruffled his medium brown hair.  He took a step towards the edge of his standing point, looking down for a moment and with a mental affirmation he leapt off.

One would have thought that he would have fallen to his death, but then again Michael was more capable than expected of a young male. He was falling face first at a very high speed, and within seconds Michael stopped, seeming to float in midair as all equilibrium returned to him. He paused for a moment, foot seeming to stand on something and yet there was no solid ground beneath him. ”Note to self, when testing flying spell, do not hurl self off of building.” Michael noted to himself, crossing arms over his chest, one eyebrow rising curiously as he slowly lowered himself to the ground, making sure that the spell did not give out halfway upon descent. His loose grey sweater flapped lightly in the breeze, Michael pulling the hood closer up to his neck.

Within a few moments he touched down on the ground, bare feet touching softly down as he stepped through the front door of the castle, and going about his daily business. He could have sought out one of his fathers, but then again he was sure that Ouroboros was busy…..doing whatever it is that he did, and his other dad was busy moping, or whatever. It was true that he had never lost an arm before, or any other vital body part, so there might have been a lack of empathy on his part. Perhaps he could hang around with Shael, or do his daily terrorizing with Silus, considering that he made it oh so easy. Seriously, you could walk up behind this kid and say boo, and he would fucking jump. Michael found himself snickering as he walked along, engrossed into his thoughts more than originally expected.

Before he knew it, the dimunitive male had walked into someone, and when he snapped back it was none other than his dad, Sean to be exact. His hair was slightly wet, which spoke of something, but he didn’t really care to go into deeper thought on that matter. ”Something on your mind?” Sean questioned with a certain curiosity.

”No, what gives you that idea?”

’Well…you usually don’t run into me like that….well walk into me anyway.” Sean noted with a slightly smirk on his face, running fingers through the hair at the back of his head. While Sean was not used to having to look down on people, when Michael took on this younger form, he was unable to do anything else but. He was shorter than Silus, but then again he was around eleven physically, and if anything he took more after Ouroboros it seemed.

”Point taken.” Michael ceded, not really given time to protest as Sean mussed his hair up a little before walking away, perhaps to hover around Ouroboros and maybe supplant Silus from his leeching spot. He watched Sean walk away for a few moments, before continuing on his present course and then realizing he had no idea what he wanted to do and meeting up with Sean had only thrown off his train of thought. Silently musing to himself once again, Michael decided that it would be fun to have his daily dose of messing with Silus now. So that was what he would do, slinking about the castle halls until he found Silus or until Silus unwittingly found him anyway. It would be one of the two anyway.  So he would walk about the hallways, quiet as possible until he caught sight of the little bugger.

Eventually he found himself walking along the ceiling to alleviate the boredom, sometimes sideways to avoid all of the precious fluids flowing through his body from rushing to his brain. Well soon enough he found him, walking along and with a sly smirk playing across his face, Michael lowered himself as silently as possible, which was pretty damn silent. He didn’t seem to have noticed him so now was the perfect opportunity and with a small exhale of breath, he said

”Boo.”

Silus was doing his day to day routine, keeping quiet as a church mouse, avoiding all contact with anyone he could other than Ouro, as if everyone but him were a leper or something. Ouroboros had taken a brief leave of Silus for a time, leaving him on his own, a small fish in a big pond. Silus seemed to keep to his room, his magical Lycan Lava-la-whatever that word is around his neck elegantly. Silus was dressed in his typical ethereal clothing. It was an ankle length robe of several portions. Primarily consisting of a deep alluring purple color with silver trim and the silver insignia of the Ethereal embroidered on the back, a wine red colored sash across his waist, and black and silver metal clad metal vest that was strung together with black leather strings. His black boots pattered and pittered through his room as he entered it.
 
      He opened the door, revealing a small and seemingly plain bedroom, it was stale white, along side with everything in it. The second his black boots touched the white-cut off, the color seemed to bleed into the boots, which soaked in the color like a sponge. Within seconds, Silus was dressed head to toe in all white, save the silver pieces to his attire. Silus plopped down on his bed and sighed as he looked around. His room looked like it belonged in the ultimate psych ward in all honestly, he ended up leaning over his bed and grabbing onto a small little figurine. It was something that he held on to, something very precious to him. It was a reminder to him…He knew that things would always be okay, so long as he held onto this. With this in his hand, he began to stare at it, his face void of all emotion He looked to the only source of color in his room. It was a painting, a painting of a person he’d never met before. It wasn’t Ouroboros, or Sean…it was something else entirely. It was a picture of a black raven with six wings flying up into the light. As it flew into the light, it’s wings seemed to touch the light and turn white as snow in some places, and as it ascended it was leaving other black creatures below, all of them black. They were a wolf, a serpent, a brutish being, and a chameleon. He set it back down the trinket with a little extra oomph to it, asserting a small amount of frustration as he set it down, walking out of the room…his clothing returning to it’s original color upon exit.
 
       He went to the entrance hall, looking at the doors to the outside world. To the city of Ore paradísi. He finally took the step to leave the palace since the last event, three months ago. It was no surprise that when he entered the city, people stopped to stare. Of course the rumors would be circulating. The Ethereals at times were just the same as humans when it came to their rumors. Silus was rather surprised however when he made it over thirty yards before another kid his age ran into him, purposefully knocking him down. Silus looked up at the larger blonde Ethereal rolled his eyes and scoffed down at the prince.
 
      ”Watch where you’re going Hazard.” The boy sneered. Silus looked down to his boots, unable to make eye contact with the lowly Ethereal civilian. Silus got himself up before going down towards the bridge. Once at the bridge he placed his hands on the side and pulled himself up he looked down into the rapid water going out of the city. He turned around, and took a step down, using his boots to grip the lip on the bridge’s design, in order to keep form falling. Once he was there, he lowered himself a little. He was trying to make his way to the doors under the bridge, which granted access to Silus’ favorite thinking place in the whole Isle. Well he was…until he saw a certain blonde Ethereal with a cocked eyebrow and a smirk. Of course lightning strikes twice. It wouldn’t have been reality if Silus didn’t get called “Hazard” and shoved off the bridge, sent to drown in the raging currents. Tossed, thrown and torn. Left without air and with no way to breath. Of course, his heart was racing now too…and with the condition his heart was in…he couldn’t keep this up. Now he remembered why his father kept him to the castle….not that Silus would have ever wanted to leave often.
 
He survived, thankfully.
 
      He schlepped his wet self to land, the brisk chill from The Final Frost sending his mouth chattering and his frail little body through shivers. He rubbed his arms the entire way back to the castle. Everyone was noting his wetness and his freezing state, but very few even cared, and of those that cared, none dared to help him. He had forgotten his place apparently. He was a prince by title…but they would never follow him. He was a Hazard after all…. A hazard being an ethereal “Genetic Mistake” where he was born without powers. Many parents kill their hazards to prevent the possibility of weakening the race. It was all too Spartan for Silus, but that’s their choice. All he knows is that Ouroboros kept him and loved him. His daddy loved him…and that was all he needed. He entered the Valhalla once more, to find that Ouroboros had returned, looking to his son with a smile, one which quickly died into a look of concern. Ouro motioned for him to follow him, and they went for a towel. Zakaken was nowhere to be found, and this almost concerned Silus, every time he couldn’t see Xzakaken, the creepy man was right behind him ready to-
  
      ”I knew you were young but I had no idea you were still wet behind the ears kid.” The creepy voice came. Ouroboros shot the usual glare at Zakaken for this. One of these days Zakaken was going to actually kill Silus like that…and Ouroboros was not bound to let that happen. Ouro let Silus take the towel to try and dry off, and while Pourboires “spoke” to Zakaken he’d dry off. With himself fuly dry the last thing he needed to do was put on his metallic vest over his new robe top, though just as he went to turn around.
 
      ”Boo”
 
      [IMGUNNADIE! Silus thought as he shot back and began to shiver in terror as he audibly gumpled, looking to his little surprise guest. It was nne other than Michael…he could tell. One because of the energy and two…because that was just MEAN. ”W-wh-what do y-you want?”

Upon seeing his young siblings expression, Michael could not help but smirk in an amused fashion, before laughing loudly. No matter how many times that he did this, Silus would always react in the same way, and the reaction was hilarious. He touched down on the ground, leveling out as his hands dug into his pockets, finding himself in a temporary fit of laughing, one that quickly enough ended. ”I think the proper greeting is Hi, how are you.” He tutted mockingly, cocking his head to the side, lips still stuck within a slight smirk. Hell, he was enjoying himself too much, even if his brother had a far different view of the matter. After all, while Michael could have chosen to be more physically annoying, there was no fun in that. He just found no fun in beating around powerless children, and of course one had to bring into account that they were siblings, but he had appearances to keep.

Turning from his younger brothers rather timid expression, he found himself simply looking around, catching the sound of a voice and within that instant Michael closed his eyes and let his senses grow painfully dull; letting that sixth sense grow. In a black scape, he saw what looked like a small fire of energy infront of him; it was Silus for sure and held a certain innocent quality to it. Then there were the two a room from them, one large and holding a certain dual nature to it, rigid and strange enough radiating multiple feelings from it. Michael knew that one to be his father, Ouroboros at any rate. Its hard to really refer to one as his father since he had two fo them, but Michael found ways. The other was dark, twisted and something about it caused him to smirk, Zakaken being one of the auras that he could recognize easily. At the edge of his vision, he sensed  a darker energy, one that was even more familiar, it was Sean for sure.

Exhaling lightly he opened his eyes, all of it happening within a matter of seconds. He looked back to Silus with the same expression, though something about him seemed to change slightly. ”As for what I want, I was bored and you didn’t seem like you were doing anything.” He took note that Silus was looking pale; perhaps he had taken a swim in the cold waters of the final frost or something along those lines. ”Is it so wrong that I want to hang out with my brother?” Yeah, he laid down the sweet tone now. Not that Silus would believe it, he knew Michael well enough, and boy was he a bastard, but hey, Michael never claimed to be a nice guy.

’Liar…” He muttered to himself, picking himself up, straightening out his torso clothing and then putting on the metal armoring over it. He began to tie it on his own, the lace clothing tighter and tighter, all the while trying to not let his racing heart get the better of him, thought his brother’s pranks and tactics are not helpful in the slightest. Silus knew that “sweet voice” and wasn’t buying it at all. He wanted to…God did he want to... But he fell for it too many times before. It eventually got to the point that he ended up worse and worse every time. He finally learned that he can’t trust his siblings. That’s just the way it had to be… not hwo it SHOULD be, but how it was.
 
       He practically ignored his older brother as he brushed past him to try and make it to the next room with Ouro and Zakaken. Zakaken scared Silus, but he was better than Michael when it came to the Pro’s and Con’s. Silus sighed to himself, a crestfallen face as he passed. If Michael had been in the slightest a good guy, even so much as to show in the slightest that he even cared, or if he had taken the time to be even a DECENT brother rather than the one who harassed him, then it might be different. But no…Silus just had to look up to him…and hate himself for it. He looks up to the one who mentally torments him, like a beaten woman with Stockholm’s syndrome.
 
       Silus noted a pattern here. Michael was a manipulative kid, and mentally bullied Silus. Jordan was physically the strongest of them, and he physically bullied Silus. Shael was the most loved of them, everyone loved that charismatic bastard, and all of course that indirectly abused Silus, reminding him of how much everyone loathed him. Shael was the only brother who didn’t attempt to belittle Silus in that respect.

       ”We still are no closer to recreating the Arm of Ragnarox, much less giving it to your broken toy.” Zakaken said. The word “Toy” never sat well with Ouro, but at this particular moment it had driven him off the cliff…again. He shot an arm out, his blood rushing in to augment his muscles with Ethereal energy, lifting and choking the vampiric Ethereal with a single hand. Zakaken at this point was used to this same response, he knew he wasn’t in any immediate danger, he didn’t even bother fighting it at this point. Ouro would rebuke him, the Zakaken would say he understands, and then do it again in a week. Fun for the whole family.
  
        ”Listen here you testube reject!” Ouroboros said, this time he went as far as to shove Zakaken into the wall, causing cracks all over the wall, the Ethereal well beneath Valhalla immediately preventing the damage from existing for beyond a fraction of a second. He threw Zakaken to the ground, letting him cough out to catch a breath for a moment. Ouro’s hand was already back down to Zakaken’s throat, closing thr airway slowly. ”We have two months…TWO MONTHS! GET.ME.THAT.ARM!” He hissed, quietly enough that he didn’t think Silus would hear it form the other room, but lout enough for Zakakane to see the burning red rage in his face. He released Zakaken and took in five deep calming breaths, because four wasn’t enough obviously. He then cleared his throat a looked around, but Silus had just slipped back into the room with Michael, he looked like he had witnessed a murder.
 
       ”S-so w-what did you h-have in mind?” Silus stammered, reluctant to confess that he’d rather spend time with his brothers than be around an angry Ouroboros. While Ouroboros had never raised a hand to him, it was a mental thing with Silus…Ouroboros was his one constant, always there patient, loving and kind…he didn’t want to endanger that. But now the ball was in Michaels court….what did I just get into?

Jumpy as ever, the male that was his brother would continue to play his role as the shy one. Not that it wasn’t unexpected, considering that he mentally whipped the bastard almost as much as it seemed that Jordan did to him physically. When you had strength, one had to flex their proverbial muscles, even if that meant beating up the runt of the litter. Michael rubbed his jaw lightly, looked down at the kid, before being reduced to look directly at him.  Silus had the nerve to ignore him and just walk on, though that was just his way of coping or something like that; so he didn’t really find a reason to get annoyed, following after all was a viable option. So that was what he did, but only after pausing for a moment  letting his gaze follow the crestfallen male. He seemed to be making a beeline for Ouroboros, his one safe haven.

Something about that was….endearing within its own right, when one did not think to hard into the fact that he was basically a leg leech for the Ethereal king. It seemed however that Ouroboros and Zakaken were having a spat of some kind, and not the one that involved witty banter either. It was more along the lines of angry growling that made Michael recoil lightly, unable to really bear seeing him so,,,fired up. It was a primal sort of fear that coursed through him, one that reminded him that a being more powerful than him was angry and that meant so many things. Without even realizing it, he was slowly backing further than he already was, but that was when Silus turned to him and went about in that stammering manner that was ever so irking. So would he legitimately hang out with Silus or stay around to witness his father’s wrath?

Given the choices, dealing with his younger brother was going to be a godsend. ”What did I have in mind? So you’ve actually come around?” He had to keep that fear locked away, not showing in the surface. What would he do really? ”Well actually I was going to see what Shael was up to, but…you can come along if you want to.” Michael noted running fingers through his hair before walking off, wondering where exactly that magnificent bastard was these days. He would find him though, his brother always had a way of turning up.

.
       Shael was where he always was, the training area. This area was so…primitive compared to the rest, but then again when you had Shael and Ouroboros tearing the place up every other day, you don’t exactly invest in tons of expensive equipment. If you wanted permanent high tech equipment you went to the gym, NOT the Training area. It was Shael and three others, members of his little “group” he ran with in the human society. They were the few humans that were allowed on the Isle, mainly because Shael seemed to have this charismatic personality that even made Ouro do double takes after agreeing to something. Shael rotated his arms in circles, as if stretching and warming up. The six foot, one hundred and fifty pound ethereal wore a confident smile, like always, as his three meta-human friends got ready to fight. He stood there, black torn up jeans, a black jean jacket that was torn off arms, and a dirty wife-beater to contrast the black steam punk-esque combat boots and the fingerless padded gloves. Chains on his jacket and jeans, Shael was the epitome of a rockstar biker in attire.
 
      Silus recognized his brothers three little followers, each one with a tattoo on their arm. The tattoo was of a flag, divided into six portions, each portion was a different Superpower, all blending into one flag. This flag had burn marks all over it, as if it were burning away, and in the fire was a clenched fist with a shackle on it. That tattoo was Shael’s little group thing, when you were accepted into the group, you got that tattoo. Silus knew his brother well enough to know he wasn’t a bad guy, but Silus wasn’t under the delusion that Shael was innocent. People aren’t just given the name “Riot” for no reason after all. Anyway, his little team there consisted of Chandler, Lucas, and Gabriel. Chandler had fire powers, Lucas had Kenetic energy reflection, and Gabriel was an Ethereal kid form the Isle that grew up with Shael and Michael and left with Shael when he first ventured to human society. So Gabriel had the obvious Ethereal energy, but his seemed to manifest in a form of healing ability. Chandler set his hands and feet on fire, charging at Shael. There was a loud crash as Lucas’ hands seems to magnify, he took marbles from a little pouch, and threw three at a time, all towards Shael. This didn’t look scary, until they actually hit, each marble doing a punch’s worth of damage to the second son. Chandler’s skin began to eat away, but thanks to Gabriel, there was no real damage to sustain there. Fists and feet of flaming fury connected with Shale with a loud crack across the face. Chandler threw a kick to the knee, and followed it with a jab to the gut and a round house to send the second son to the ground. Shael placed his hand on the ground and used it as a pivot, letting him shift and end up on a knee. Not that it would do him any good, since Lucas had an entire bag of the marbles and he jut kept vamping up the kinetic energy and bombarding him with tiny beads of death. Gabriel kept on the healing, making sure Chandler didn’t lose anything less than he needed to. Lucas let up on the beads as Chandler closed in with both hands clasped to strike down at Shael. Shale lifted his hand, and grabbed onto the fists, stopping them with relative ease due to his superior strength…but the fires were another issue entirely. Silus cringed when he saw Shael at such a disadvantage, though…he had forgotten that Shael was perhaps the strongest of them…at the given moment. Shael basically turned Jordan into his rag-doll for life after six failed attempts. The fire left Chandlers hands. Shael looked up, his brown eyes turning lighter, into a brownish shade, and then red seemed to form the outer circle of the iris, the orange consumed the majority, only to have a bright yellow surround the pupil, as if his eyes themselves displayed the energy he absorbed. Shael smirked and gave a slight disappointed grunt as he twisted his body, placing Chandler between him and Lucas, using him as a meat-shield against the kinetic marbles. Shael lurched forward, ramming his shoulder into Chandler, throwing him into the pasty white kinetic empowered. Shael stood up and walked over to Lucas, grabbed him by the throat and kept a hand on him as he started towards Gabriel.
 
 
 
      Long story made shorter, after Shael had Lucas, they had no chance, and in fact he utterly destroyed them. Figuratively that is. He wasn’t about to kill off his friends. Silus smiled, excited that Shael was victorious, despite his doubt in his brother’s circumstance earlier. Shael was sweating, but he was in such good condition that he wasn’t even tired in the slightest by it. He cracked his neck, and then his knuckles, before sighing, as if he were disappointed, but his friend’s didn’t seem to catch on to it. Silus remained in awe at how his older brother managed to be so cunning…and so strong at the same time. Something he also saw in Michael…and something he admired in Michael…something he looked up to in a sense.
 
      ”Yo, t‘sup guys?” Shael said with an arched eyebrow and a slight smile. His tone was warm and friendly enough, but then again Shael didn’t need to be an ass…he’s proved on plenty of occasions that he was more than capable of it, and the memories alone were enough to keep people thoughtful of it. Shael was an award winner in personality though…it was almost impossible to hate the guy. He shook his head, looking slightly confused for a second. ”Oh shit man. You guys are both here? Which one of ‘em died?” He asked with false concern, and an undertone that made it clear that he was shocked that they had even remained within twenty feet of each other.
 
       ”Hi” Silus said, happy enough, a smile on his face, but he didn’t really make eye contact or speak after that. Instead he began to look around the old training area, seeing straw dummies, random body parts splattered everywhere from previous brutal training sessions. It made Silus scared, this was true, but he remembered that amputation within the scope of Valhalla was not an issue, the Ethereal well just restored your arm to it’s former glory in an instant. He looked to Michael, still a little uncomfortable, almost asking permission to tell Shael about what happened.

He did not have to wonder where Shael was really, it was obvious when he actually thought about it. He was likely in the training room, with his metahuman friends, though technically there were only two that he really used such poultry titles on, one of them being an Ethereal just like him. He walked ahead, with Silus trailing behind him like the male always seemed to do, keeping a certain distance between him, and it was expected. Beat a dog enough and it would either grow shy, or rip your throat out, and luckily Silus was the former. Somehow the thought of the little Ethereal ripping some bullies throat out was fucking scary, and strangely hilarious. Hell, he actually found himself chuckling with the thought, getting a look from the little guy. Was Michael thinking up some horrible plan to make him cry his eyes red?

Well, he might have been, but that would have been easy, considering how easily he made the kid almost wet himself not long ago. It took only a few moments for them to reach the training room, a threadbare looking place that was made to handle both Ouroboros and Shael when they went all out. Nothing of importance, and nothing beautiful was there, and that made it perfect for honing ones power. While Michael himself did not spend much time practicing there, he was there to watch Shael do his stuff, not being the fanboy that he was. Hell, if he was a leather kind of guy, Michael would have dressed in it, but on his thin frame, it would have looked horrible. Upon appearing at the threshold, he noted that they were doing their usual training.

Shael vs the others and he already knew who would win in this little tousle. Luckily with that healer around, there was no real harm; otherwise his brother would have had to….find new friends often. In the end Shael was victorious, and Michael could not really hide his amusement at it. Out of the four, Shael was the most powerful, and Michael held no qualms in admitting that Shael was even stronger than he was.  With training done Shael turned his attention upon the two, Michael smirking despite himself as the male approached them. There was always something about the way he spoke, something within his voice carrying a certain power with it, as if he could talk anyone into anything at anytime.

Michael found himself blinking lightly when Shael pointed out something interesting, and that was the fact that him and Silus were actually twenty feet within the same area of each other. The guy kinda avoided him as much as possible, and Michael could not blame him for that within the least.  ”Hey.” His voice was distinguishably chipper, smirk plastering itself across his face as if it threatened to split his skull him half. Okay, it wasn’t that severe, but he was smiling in a way, and no one was in mental anguish, so yeah. He quickly noticed Silus looking at him, but why? Was he asking permission like some kind of battered housewife? ”Well his usual perch is experiencing…technical difficulties, so he came along with me.” Code for Ouroboros was fucking pissed.

”Well who pissed in his cheerio’s?” Shael said with a slight scoff and a roll of his eyes. He ruffled Silus’ hair with a strained evil chuckle, knowing how badly Silus hated having his hair played with. Shael didn’t do it out of malice, but he did it to get his little brother’s attention. He started to wipe the sweat off of his face with a towel, looking to his friends to see their reactions.
 
     ”Shit Riot, Never seen that trick before.” chandler said as he stood up and rubbed his knuckles. Shael nodded and chuckled. His energy absorption wasn’t something he flaunted, unless it was to mess with the geeks in his dad’s lab. He loved making their precious electricity go out in the middle of their work, though he DID receive a stern warning from Ouroboros earlier. It made him wonder. Why was Ouroboros NOW all of a sudden cracking down on keeping them from the Hybrid labs? Oh why, oh why. Shale hated having questions. He wasn’t the brightest bulb, but one had to give him credit…when he had a question, he FOUND the dang answer. ”Get to the dining hall and eat
something, you’ll feel better in no time.” Shael said to the three underlings he had brought with him.
 
     ”Got it boss”
 
     ”hell yeah!”
 
     Food? THAT’S what I’m talking about!” They all cheered and started walking for the stairs, to go up and wander until they found the sustinence they so craved. Shael on the other hand wiped his face off again, clenching a hand, sending a surge of Ethereal energy sparking over his hand. With the same hand, he ran it back through his hair and then swiftly cut back, giving it the same spike it always had to it, similar to Ouro’s but not with the blonde and not with as “Upkept”, still having a few rough and tough stray spikes to it.
 
     ”Well…what now?” Silus asked innocently, after having suffered through Michael’s grin. He managed to scoot away a little, though knowing Michael he was bound to close the distance. Something Silus did not look forward to. Shael looked to the uncomfortable Silus and smirked, highly amused at Michael’s attempts to make the younger brother uncomfortable. Shael remembered the days whern it was just him and Jordan. Same shit, different pair. Well, actually the difference was that Shael was like Silus, up until he was about “twelve” when he finally grew a pair and fought back, totally throwing Jordan off his game. Shael kept on it, and ever since Jordan’s been HIS victim…and Jordan hasn’t quite recovered from it. Granted, Michael was too young to remember Shael as a victim. Though it would be interesting if history would repeat itself, as Ouro so preached it did.
 
     ”Well…I have an idea…” Shael said, trying to jump on the opportunity. He just sat there nodding, keeping his siblings on edge, slightly intrigyued about what he was going to say, but not holding long enough for Michael to lose interest. ”What if we- now bare with me-…what if we figure out what the Hell dad is keeping from us?” He asked.
 
 
     ”W-w-which dad?” Silus asked, immediately not liking the though of betraying Ouro’s trust. Shael looked at him with an amused smile and chuckled, as if he couldn’t believe that Silus had even asked that.

 
     ”Wh-haha-who do you THINK I mean?” Shael said as he rubbed his eyes, slight tears beginning to form at the comment Silus made. He couldn’t help but wonder how Our managed to whip that kid so well, then again…Silus was sheltered more than autistic bubble boy in their society. Not having powers was a…hard thing to live with. Something Shael was almost convinced that Michael didn’t know of. He couldn’t imagine that Michael didn’t care, maybe he was just hiding it. Then again, he had been wrong about Michael before. He didn’t think Michael was willing to turn into a woman just to mess with his mind…and that happened. Shael still has to get that bastard back for that practical joke.

 
      ”I-I don’t wanna, what if they find out!” Silus stammered, he was obviously afraid of the ramifications. To be honest, Shael was too, but then again something wasn’t right. Ouroboros had a wild hair across his rear about something and it was enough to stress him out…anything able to stress a man with THAT kind of power out had some pretty heavy fire under his feet.

 
     ”Look, man. It’s this simple. We’re just gonna find out what’s making him so stressed out so we can help him. You don’t want him to be anxious and sad right?” Shael asked. The second his voice had that “good big brother” tone and he meantioned helping Ouro it was hook-line and sinker, and everyone knew it. Silus looked away for a second, trying to not show the cnflicted feelings inside him. He looked back to Shael with a slight smile and nodded. He wanted to make Ouro happy…make him proud. He knew he’d never be able to do it any other way…so why not here and now?
 
     "Kay" He chirped quietly, still bashful but now smiling. Shael smiled back and then shot a glance a Michael. He leaned back and yawned, his face was practically just screaming to Michael Now THAT’S how it’s done

as the question that was running through Michael’s head the moment he came upon the scenario, the one where Zakaken was being asphyxiated and whatnot. What had caused him to react in such a manner that he would react like that? Granted he was not known for being the most patient person around, Michael rarely saw that side of him, one that was so…scary. Thinking back on it made Michael shiver, a few hairs rising upon the very thought of it. He took notice of the Metahumans saying something before scampering away, perhaps to get sustenance or whatever it was that they were doing. Something about their enthusiasm was refreshing, but then again that was the common emotion around someone was persuasive as Shael. His grin subsided, returning to a subdued line that purveyed both controlled intelligence and a playful streak that one did not want to be the center of.

Shael was more than aware of what he could do in the name of harmless fun, and he was still far from forgiving that incident, not until he got his revenge. Michael could not blame him either, considering how close that situation was from turning awkward. He took note of Silus trying to make some distance between him, as was expected from the meek child. Not that he would be allowed to escape just yet, when Michael was just getting started on making things a little awkward, he was just beginning. As slyly as Silus was trying to be, Michael would make sure to close the distance, not letting him get more than two extra steps of distance before he managed to close that with a certain skill. Shael seemed to be silently enjoying the little dynamic they had going on, so there was that.

His question however was a legitimate one really, considering that Michael had no idea of his own at the moment. They could have done the usual mischief, but it seemed that Shael had something brewing within that wonderful brain of his. Hell, he even said he had an idea and let there be a silence that had Michael on the edge of his metaphorical seat, silver pools widening as he seemed to lean in slightly. He was of course doing this to add some dramatic tension, and because that was just how the male did things. This suspenseful silence was eventually broken, and before Michael found his mind wandering off onto things. His attention snapped back all at once, soaking up every word like a sponge; a very absorbent sponge. The plan was rather interesting too. He suggested that they find out what was bothering Ouroboros and Michael had found himself wondering the same thing. He had asked Sean before, but the Titan seemed to know little about that.

Silus had to ask the easy questions of course, considering that both him and Silus did have the two fathers, and so did Jordan…until his dad killed his dad. Michael smirked lightly; chuckling lowly along with Shael….god he was pathetic. Shaking his head, Michael turned his attention to Silus response, one that was equally expected. The kid was glued to their father most of the time, considering how the other children didn’t take well to the powerless kid. He was surprised they hadn’t managed to kill him, granted Ouroboros would have subjected them to a fate worse than death, and that was if Michael hadn’t worked them over first. Getting Silus to agree to this would have been a simple matter of cajoling the male, and Shael did so as he always did, giving Michael a look as if he were showing how it were done. The only difference was that when he whipped out the good brother voice, it worked, while Michael abused that so much that it didn’t. Well, there was also the fact that he was a shitty brother. ”You can count me in.”

       ”Sweeet, alright. Let’s get going then.” Shale said, a little more enthusiasm than one might have thought coming from him. He did as he always did, and took the lead. He had very little time getting people to follow him, especially when it promised a little bit of mischief and messing with others. After all, Shael knew how to do it, and ALL of the ethereal kids loved to cause a little trouble…though the degree and how far they pushed the envelope caused a little divide in their schemes. But whenever it took three of them to do any form of “mission” It was always a general good time. Until Silus ended up hurt or he got the blame pinned on him. It didn’t take too long for them to approach upon the throne room, where Ouroboros had been with Zakaken not all that long ago. Zakaken was still in there, tending to his duties as Seneschal. Shael walked up to the Ethereal vampire, warranting only a raised eyebrow. Before he returned to reading over the current agenda. ”Yo Zak, got a question for you.”
 
     ”No.” He said, cutting Shael off short. Shale shook his head and scoffed.
 
     ”You don’t even know what I’m gonna ask!” Shael said. Zakaken let out an irritated sigh before he closed the agenda book, looked down to Shael with the sadistic smile he always wore, unnerving Silus to the point of actually optioning to be closer to Michael.
 
     ”True…how rude of me. Ask away.” Zakaken said, strained politeness in his voice, the kind that made Shael snicker. Shael got along with Zakaken well enough, but Shale did have a history of annoying him for the purpose of solely pissing him off. Zakaken was always on his guard while dealing with this particular prince. Michael he could handle, mostly because he didn’t need to have extended interaction with him…but Zakaken was Shael’s original baby-sitter of sorts. He watched the prince grow up to being the manipulative cunning creiten that he was today.
 
     ”Where’s dad?” Shael asked politely. Zakaken glared at him, obviously suspicious of the innocence of the question, but he would not deny them their opportunity to speak with their father.
 
     ”Lord Ouroboros is out to The Final Frost, hoping to tamper with the monstrosities there to increase the danger of the lands. I’ve not seen the other one for quite some time. He’s somewhere around here though.” Zakaken offered up, he then returned to his agenda, not paying the others much heed, unless they spoke to him.
 
    ”Thank’s Vampy” Shael teased as he walked away, towards the occult labs.
 
     ”He’s crazy.” Silus muttered to himself. The kid had a permanent stutter at this point, he trembled at the thought of speaking to another, but when he spoke only to himself he was fine. The kid was odd…he was definitely Ouro’s son. Shael led them to the thrweshold of the occult lab, before he peeked in, to see the scientists and occultists all working double-time.
 
      ”A’ight. We gotta get to the inner sanctums, that’s cake. The problem is not knowing who we’re gonna run into when we’re there. We already know Ouro’s gone and Seans off doing-what he does best.” He said as he looked around. Many of the scientists didn’t pay any real attention to who came in or left the labs…or the inner sanctum, but to be safe they needed a little “security”. Shael looked to Michael and gave THAT smile. Part of why Shael was the best of them (for the moment that is) was he was a natural at this leadership thing. He knew what everyone who was with him could do, and he put it to use. This time, Michael had been chosen. ”You’re on. Get us into that lab without suspicion. You comfortable enough with Ouro or Sean to know how they’d interact with whomever might be in there?” He asked.

The time for mischief was now, and Michael was more than ready to breed the seeds of….well of mischief. His mind was already running over what they would, ways to go about it and everything else. If anything, he just had the mind for that kind of thing, even if Shael was just better overall with it. It didn’t take long for them to reach the throne room, Michael and Silus following not too far from Shael, making it obvious who was the leader within the situation. It was going to be fun all around, well except maybe not for Silus, who was too easy of a scapegoat. However, the only one there at the moment was Zakaken, the vampiric Ethereal with that rather creepy grin. He was doing his usual duties, whatever it is that was and Shael had question, whatever it was they were.

Unsurprisingly the first word out of his mouth was no, and Michael found it rather amusing really, lips curling into a smirk. Shael however had his ways, and then the grilling would go on, well it was more like a simple question but grilling just sounded more intense. His interactions with Zakaken were limited at best, but from what he knew; Shael and the Ethereal had a rather interesting history together. He could have deigned to inquire further into that, but then again Michael was rather selective in his curiosities, and nothing about the imperfect was something that he wanted to know more about. It was interesting how Silus reaction around Zakaken usually end up with him moving closer to Michael, considering how he couldn’t trust his siblings, and that was the expected response.

His attention snapped when the question was asked, which was the location of their dad. He was half waiting for the which one question, but Zakaken just covered both bases, though where his shorter father was remained unknown, even if he saw him not too long ago. Michael crossed arms over his chest, as that wonderful brain in his head though over something else for a moment. Ouroboros was in the frozen hell called the Final Frost, which made Michael shiver just thinking about it. If anything, he would have preffered to stay as far away from that winter wonderland as possible. One could call it distaste for the cold, perhaps an overall fear of it, but then again Michael never did elaborate on weaknesses of his own, ones that people could use against him. With questions answered they left, going for the occult labs as Silus made note of his opinion on Zakaken.

”He is? I just thought he was eccentric…or weird.” Michael noted, musing out loud to himself. They came upon the threshold of the occult lab, where everyone was hard at work, doing whatever they were doing at the moment and he was more than sure that they could have walked in without trouble but that was how things were. Shael looked at Michael with that smile, and damn…it seemed like he would be doing something. ”Very comfortable.” he said with a sly smirk, cracking his knuckles as if he already had an idea what was expected of him. Making sure that he was not standing right in the middle of the threshold, Michael did the trick that he was best known for, which was changing shape.

A purple vapor moving from his body, as everything shifted within an instant, clothing, flesh and even his hair. Within seconds he was someone else, taking on the form of Sean, considering that while he had studied Ouroboros personality, it was much easier to replicate the Titans. He was more direct with things, and Michael just spent more time with him. He even went so far as to copy the clothes that he last saw his father wearing, and made sure that every marking was within place. ”Viola.” He said, making sure that even the voice itself was flawless. Luckily his father still was at that point where he still needed to actually exert his Nether to be felt, so that was another plus for him. If only he could have two damn arms, but one has to keep the illusion. Putting on the typical Sean expression, he went on through.

There was very little issue with them getting into the inner sanctum, though…it was a place that none of them had ever been in before likely. It was the most complex conjuncture of Technology and enchantment Silus or Shael had ever seen. Shael kept walking just a stride behind “Sean” as he normally would when he traveled around with his “father” and others. Silus was close in stride with Shael, keeping close to him. The Sanctum was only medium sized, but it was gorgeous. The intertwining of magic and mundane was almost as flawless as the energy it hummed and emitted. It was there that the three boys could see it. Six scientists all gathered around before a large, levitating sphere of Untouched Ethereal energy. The seventh member was unexpected, although it was not unpredicted. Shael pulled both boys aside, seeing the skeletal finger in the Deathstench robes.

”Woah, okay. Well if dad’s letting Lych this close to the Ethereal well, UNSUPERVISED at that…then shit is SERIOUS!” He said in a hushed voice. The Lych’s head turned, the ragged cloth of the Deathstench covering one eye socket and half of his grey skeletal face. They were spotted. Shael let Michael do his part and speak to “Sean”

”Well, if it isn’t the inevitable end. Come to check up on an old friend?” Lych said, sniggering at the use of the word friend. Lych looked back as the six scientists all began to go about their own business. Shael let Michael lead the way up to the Lych, Silus trailing behind by Shael, trying to avoid the visage of Death. ”And you brought your spawns! How precious, though I’m not entirely sure that Ouroboros would like them here, do you?” Lych asked, almost for a moment as if he cared enough abut Sean to pose the question. Silus kept clenched onto Shael, whimpering a little. Lych froze after a sudden jerk of his head. He chuckled a little, a boney finger going down towards Sius, making the young child shut his eyes and tremor, almost powerful enough to shake Shael. The Lych tapped the child on the nose, and then withdrew his hand, suddenly…Silus was not shaking as terribly, but he was still terrified, totally petrified as he seemed to cling to Shael for his life.

Michael took in a conservative breath, fully aware that any misstep could lead this thing into a painful spiral down. As long as he used his skills when it came to acting to their fullest, then Michael would have nothing to worry about. As long as Ouroboros was not in there, they would have a slightly easy time….unless something unexpected happened and that tended to happen around him. His only hand curled into a ball as they walked into the sanctum, a place that Michael had not really went into, considering how Ouroboros did things recently. Of course there had to be a complication, which came in the form of that bastard, The Lych. If anything, he knew that Sean did not like him, and Michael was not overly fond of him either.

Luckily the Titan loved to vent to his favorite son, and that meant that he himself would have an easy time replicating a simple conversation with him. He let his lip curl into a lopsided line, one he had seen his father make many times, one that transmitted both annoyance and an underlying desire. ”you could say that.” His approach was a slow one, well not too slow considering that his father was rather speedy, but enough not to show anything out of the usual. The spawn comment however got on his nerves slightly, even if the method of birth was basically spawning. ”If I didn’t know any better, I would say that’s concern I hear.” He knew better however. He took note of Lych doing his usual teasing towards Silus and then thought of something.

”What’s going on here anyway?” If things went south from here, he was ready to make a break for it.

      Lych looked from Silus to “Sean” and chuckled with a low and menacing chuckle. He looked to this “Sean” character and turned his back to him , walking towards the large Ethereal sphere. He crossed his boney arms, long skeletal fingers curling up over his chin and lower jaw. His chuckling turned ever more menacing when he turned into full out laughter. Shael placed a hand on Michael’s back, trying to keep his ground. Shael didn’t have a plan mind you…but if push came to shove he was pretty sure he and Michael could clean his skeletal clock. Though it wasn’t ideal, it was simple, and Simple was how Shael rolled.
 
      ”We’re doing what you asked us to…or rather…what SEAN, asked us to.” Lych said with manic laugh, darkness enveloping the doorway. He looked to Silus and laughed his deathly, dusty and old raspy laugh before he pointed to Silus. ”Nice try boys, your fathers would be pleased…but I’m not sure that little cretin has ever been that close to Sean before. Especially now with your little…Problem…right boy?” The Lych concluded his little speech and darkness seemed to expand through the room. The accentuation on the word problem made Shael look to Silus. He wondered what the skeletal man meant by that…was something wrong with his brother, and why didn’t he know about it? Shael shifted and Silus looked to the skeletal man with a slightly alarmed look, before pointing to Shael.
 
       U-uh…Shael is here…” He said. Shael thought for a second and smiled a little bit brighter. Silus noticed it and returned a small bashful smile, glad that his brothers…or at least his one brother was pleased with him. Shael had almost forgotten how cunning and clever his brother was...and how downright mischevious he could be if he was allowed to break away from his daddy's leg. Shael placed a hand on Silus' head, roughing up his hair as a "Thank you" of sorts before looking to the Lych. 
 
      ”Yeah, I’m soaking up all the excess so Silus can spend some time with Sean…” Shael said. As if on cue, Silus wrapped his arms around Michael and squeezed him with a bit of a happy grin. Shael noticed something that made him cringe though. Silus was watering up a little. He was so scared of Michael that hugging him was that bad? Shael didn’t know of anything Michael to do to be THAT bad. Sure Michael was a prick, but Shael was too.
 
      ”Well then…I suppose I reacted too soon…I’m sure you understand..Sean” He said, his tone basically saying how he didn’t quite trust the situation at hand. He then returned to answer Michael’s question He started walking around the large sphere in the lab, circling it, and Silus followed him, Shael close by, now seemingly more interested in shy Silus had pink eyes and was avoiding all eye contact. ”I’mm afraid I cannot say too much Sean…you know Ouroboros has forbidden me to speak of this before his children…unless…that changed?” he asked with a strange tone...one that was almost...inviting.  Now it was almost obvious from his tone that he was just edging the boys on. He was tempting them with the forbidden fruit…the knowledge they desired. Silus shuttered at the glare, but the eyes of the Lych soon feel upon “Sean”… Silus threw his hand into his face and sighed. Okay not really, but he did in his mind. Likely because he already knew what was going to happen.  The Lych just offered up information to Michael…forbidden information….That’s like handing a gun to a serial killer in an orphanage.

That laugh, it was something that caused the hairs on the back of his neck to rise as it echoed through the room and then further on. It was an ominous sound that Michael found he hated more than anything, and he considered breaking off that lower jaw of his so that he could not produce the sound, but would the well only fix the damage? Still, he had to hide his displeasure with that sound as well as anything else; he had to replicate how his father would react down to the letter. That was when he began to speak, acting as if he had figured them out, and that was not good at all. That is until he realized that Sean would never ask that bastard anything, especially from the way that he spoke about The Lych around Michael; he would have rather cut off his other arm than do something like that.

It was within that moment that Michael realized that he was pulling this information out of that opening in his pelvic region, considering he didn’t really have an ass. He let a tiny smirk purvey his features, more than sure of himself at this point, considering that the bastard had to make up a rather half assed lie, but then again his siblings were sweating pretty bad, which meant that they believed that this skeleton was saying. Okay, then he started to speak some truth, about how Silus could not really be around Sean in the first place and he was at a loss in this area, and that small expression shifted ever so slightly. Michael let his mind reel over the many possible answers, fumbling mental when Silus proved quick on the uptake and thought up an answer for that small inquiry.

Powerless as Silus was, he was perhaps the sharpest one among them and Michael appreciated that, especially within this moment of trouble with the skeletal horror. Shael soaking up the excess with his power was the perfect excuse about why Silus could be so close to Sean and all Michael had to do was just run with what was given him. However, the little hug was unexpected, and Michael found himself slightly uncomfortable and a bit stunned. He knew that he was supposed to be pretending to be Sean but then again he was not used to such displays of affection from his younger brother, and it felt….strange. He found himself actually speechless for a second, though that ended quickly when he noted that Silus was tearing up a little. Was he that unpleasant to hug?

Sure Michael was not the most pleasant person for Silus to be around, but one would think that he had done unspeakable horrors to the boy if they even knew the truth of the matter. He turned his attention back to The Lych, who said that he was reacting too soon, and it took some self control to keep him from agreeing with a smug expression. That was when the bait was thrown in front of him, like an irresistible something that Michael could not quite deny, some tasty forbidden knowledge that was perhaps something that The Lych was purposely throwing out to goad him into revealing that he was truly not his father. If anything, the bastard had Michael right where he wanted him, and it was not a good place at all. From the corner of his eyes, he looked to his siblings perhaps looking for some kind of help but there was none it seemed. He was mentally failing and damn that boney bastard to whatever hell there was.

”Hrrrm fair enough.” Even with this inner turmoil he had to keep a level head, well that was until he heard something.

”I didn't know there were two handsome bastards in Valhalla.” His heart stopped there, considering that he did not talk as Sean, and…the real one was standing right behind him. He looked rather amused, especially by the sight of Silus clinging to Michael. ”So what did I walk in on?” He questioned looking at Michael, then Shael and atlast Silus.