-Brice's POV-
If this kid falls into my family's trap, there is no saving them. The idea of possibly having a sibling that murders people may destroy me if it happens. It can't. I take Sky's hand, even though I can teleport myself. We stand outside the north gate, and Sky slips on his shades.
I'm spotted by the tower guards, and the gate opens. We walk in, and I find my mother by the pond, a baby in her arms. It's been nearly a year since I last saw her. It's been about 13 months. Certainly long enough for this.
I slink closer, and Sky follows at a moderate rate. She senses us before we make ourselves known. "Brice. Meet your sister. Don't be afraid of her." "I'm not afraid of her. I'm afraid of what Grampa will try to do to her. I don't want her following yours or Dad's footsteps in murdering people." My mother looks up at me. "She will, but not in the way I followed my parents. She will follow your footsteps. I can already see it. Brice, I'm not stupid."
I stare, shocked. "She- she will? What will Grampa do when he finds out?" "It's time I tell you. Grampa is on his death bed. His magic is gone." "Oh. It's probably best if I stay away then. He'll know I've been near Seto if I get close. Magic isn't needed for that." "That's true, but I need you here so you can help me with your sister. That's the thing. You'll just have to avoid the north tower."
"But child, I can also catch the scent of the dragon on you. Sky, where is the dragon?" "Um... It uh... should be in the End. I- think it's there." "Hmm... No. It's not. If I can smell it on you two, it's not. You've both been within fifty feet of it in the last day." "Damn your good nose. Amelia, it's at the Hughes home. In the fantasy pocket with Anthony and Ty."
"Hm. Thought so. Don't lie to me again Sky. It won't end well for you. Let Brice tell you." He looks at me, and I nod. "My mother had slapped me across the face, every time I lied as a younger child. And she's super strong. It really hurt for a few days for each hit."
The baby wakes up with our talking, and Mom gives her a toy. "I remember giving you this toy, Brice. It was your favorite, for years. Then when you were taken from me, it was left in the woods a mile from home, and I found it while on a walk around the mansion. It bothered me, because you would never let go of it."
"I hadn't figured it out until I picked up the toy from the ground and felt the tainted essence in it from Herobrine. I cried for days about losing my only child. I've long since removed the taint, but it still makes me sad." "What's her name, Mom?" "Sadie. Sadie Louise Solace." Sky tells her, "That's a good name. Brice, what's your full name?"
I'd never told anyone. Not even Seto, my best friend. My mother looks at me expectantly. Looking at the grass, I state my full name. "Brice Andrew Gold Solace."
"Wow. Awesome. Mine is literally just Skybrine. I have no middle or last name. I know Rob's full name." "What?" "Robert Aaron Latsky. He's the Flower King. Remember? It's always Latsky." "You two are in proximity of the Flower King?" "Yah. But he didn't want the post, and can't figure how to resign. He's still too young to rule, so his mother is ruling currently. I mean, he's 7. He can't rule legally until he's at least 10. He's got three years."
"Um... Sky? How do you know that?" "Why not? Have you heard of my uncle and dad? It's flipping Notch and Herobrine."
"Oh. Yeah. That's right." Sadie pulls her tiny hands out of the blanket, and reaches for me. Oh god. Mom starts to hand her to me. No please.
I take her anyway, and she looks up at me with her big lapis lazuli colored eyes. There are flecks of green here and there, but the main color is blue. She hugs my neck, and I hold her. She is cute, but she terrifies me. Is she really gonna turn out like me, or did my mom fool me to give me a sense of false security?
All I did was refuse my parents' ways, and for that, I was betrayed, and abandoned by everyone I knew and loved, except for Seto. I really do love the guy. Seto keeps me on track with my rampant thoughts, and I help him keep his personal chaos contained. But truly, I love Seto. Just because he's not visibly afraid or even emotionally of me or my name as a Solace member.
My name should scare the hell outta him, and he should be running away from me. But instead, he comes close to me, and enjoys being close to me. I wonder day and night if he feels the same. But now, I have a baby sister to help care for. And I don't know what to do.
Sky takes my mom aside while I hold Sadie. They talk for a moment of two before returning. "Brice. I'll be right back. Two seconds." He disappears. "Where'd he go, Mom?" "To get Seto and the others. The only ones I can't allow are the mortal parents. But Mitchell, Jerome, Preston, Robert, Vikram, Lachlan, Tyler, and Anthony can come."
So many people. So many hybrids and fantasies. Please don't make the guards go nuts. But if Sky's teleporting didn't do anything, nothing will. Actually, Ty and Anthony may. Someone teleports next to me, and it's no one I know. But the wings tell me it's the dragon.
He's like... 6 feet tall. What in the world? His pure black wings are loosely folded into his back. But the guards react to him in seconds of his arrival. They panic, but stop, confused, when my mother waves them off.
Then, everyone else appears. Including Seto. I nearly cry out in joy when I remember Sadie had fallen asleep in my arms. I keep hold of her, and Seto comes to see her. My mother tolerates it... barely. "She's pretty. What's her name?" "Sadie. She's growin' on me. My mom said she'd be like me, not taking the bait for the family trap and such."
I don't let my mom take her, because I just wanna hold her a while, and get used to having her around me. My old toy is nestled in her tiny hands, and she looks peaceful. The vibe I get from her is sweet and calm. But the toy... I can tell the taint is still there. The feeling I get from it is angry, and distrustful.
Just how I felt when I was taken. It's a serious matter- a taint. Especially one that dark. It has to be obliterated, and a child can't have it. So I take the toy from her, and stuff it in my back pocket. I summon a small, warm orb to replace it.
I'd deal with the toy problem later. After an hour or so, we got everyone situated for rooming. Seto and I would sleep in my room with the baby, much to my mother's dismay. Mitch and Jerome would take a spare room, so would Preston and Rob. Sky would take the tower top, and the twins would stay at the bottom of the tower.
The dragon would stay outside, not appreciating the confined spaces. The dragon is strange, and I don't know why. My mother would stay in her own room. Night 1 was okay. Except for the fact that Sadie cried a lot until I gave her another warm orb to sleep with. She lasted the night easier than my mom told me that she's ever done.
Apparently, she likes the orbs I give her. Seto ends up away from us for meals, separated out by my mother with his dark magic. In those cases, Sky sits with him. I tried to, and Mom barked an order at me to stay put with Sadie. I follow orders if not only to avoid punishment.
A few months pass of this, and my birthday passes again in September. I'm 13, and the next week or so, Seto is too. Nearly December that year, Sadie turns 1. April- Mitch and Jerome turn 12. The Twins' birthdays come the next week, April 17th. Birthdays left and right.
September is packed for the Solace family. September houses the birthdays of- me, my mom, my Gramma, cousin Killion, and my aunt- my mom's sister. Then there's Seto. He's part of me, so he's part of the Solace clan. My mother hates it, but oh well. If she wants Seto gone, she'll have to kick me out again.
Sadie turns two, and my mother freaks out. The Solace household dims with grief. My Grampa just died. The day after her birthday, Grampa dies. That sucks. Of course, my great gramma died the week before my third birthday, so... we Solace children have a bad habit of accidentally killing our elders.
The funeral is the week after. My mother sets the ash jar on the cliff above the ocean that Grampa loved to sit on. She uses her magic and deletes the top section of the jar, letting the wind take the ashes over the ocean. It was sad for my Gramma, and she took it hard. In grief, I watched as she leaped off the cliff that same day. We lost her too, and that was worse than Grampa.

-Sky's POV-
When I heard of the suicide of Brice's grandmother, I felt super bad. Poor Sadie has to deal with no grandparents. And it's worse because she knows their faces. She'll remember them, and it'll be hard for anyone to explain who they were. It'll be terrible when she grows up knowing her grandmother committed suicide a week after her birthday. She'll think it's her fault that her grandmother died.
As the new year approaches rapidly, I notice the dragon, Ty, and Anthony all get twitchy. During the cold months, I'll see them get very conservative with heat, but the only time I've seen them act this way is the week before the new year begins. They get über twitchy, and it's dangerous to get close to them. I tried to get closer to Ty, and he swiped a claw at me, no questions asked. I stopped trying, and told the boys not to try.
Seto, Brice, and Amelia looked at me weird when I told them. Amelia explained. "Dragons are very sensitive to a new year. The zodiac dragon? That was only on the year 2000 because it was very touchy, and nitpicked to get the thousand mark on the dot." Brice chipped in. "Dragons don't like a new year normally, and will act like this for a week before, and on occasion, a week after as well."
I let them go back to what they were doing. Seto followed me instead. Brice and Amelia went back to helping Sadie walk, and talk. Seto headed back to his room. After a minute, the underside of the door glowed purple, and I can only assume Seto was practicing his own magic.
Year three at the Solace mansion was tougher, because as the boys got older, they detached from the group more. Vikk's wounds had healed nicely, but he still couldn't walk, and his lungs were still fragile enough to keep Vikk an asthmatic. Vikk's birthday passed June every year, and Lachlan's passed in November. By the third year, Vikk was 7, Lachlan- 8, Preston and Rob- 10. Mitch and Jerome- 14, Me- 19, and Ty and Anthony had hit 20. Brice and Seto are both 15.
It's a packed mansion with a set of 4 teens, 2 pre-teens, 3 kids, and 4 adults wandering around. Sadie is 3, and she's been taking her first magic lessons. She's learning fast, and she's already got the hang of Elimonus- the kill spell. Vikk has been crafted a special wheelchair, which molds into leg braces when he wants to walk, and molds to a wheelchair when he doesn't. Josh and Grace can't come here, so every few months, I'll teleport Mitch and Jerome home for a few days, and teleport them back.
It works, so why the hell not?