***
This story is set up in a magical world, once which has elements of the world we know, but elements of a world we don't. There will be a lot of relationships growing through this story, but the main one is a gay one, and that is the one it focuses on. Enjoy a look into our fantasy side!
***
Astrophel Walter Whitmore, heir-apparent to the Whitmore Estate and all that went with it, absolutely despised his name. The entire name. Alas, he was stuck with it, thus he tolerated it and tried his best to embrace "Walt", despite the dubious origins of both his and his sister's name. She was perfectly happy being Stella Aurora Whitmore, even considering the vaguely incestuous suggestion based on their names coming from a sonnet series that their mother was absolutely obsessed with.
Walt stood nearly two meters tall and maintained a lean musculature through various outdoor activities that left him fairly strong despite his build. He wore his medium-length blonde hair in a stylized pompadour that helped to emphasize his rugged good looks and strangely worked with his consistent stubble that was far too neatly kept to be as accidental as he would like for it to be perceived. His fashion choices were usually utilitarian until he was summoned to court among his father's cronies, at which time he dressed as he was expected to, though he still preferred dark earth-tones and greens.
Walt was wearing one such outfit as he hurried through the halls to the minor court where his father held audiences for the more common folk in the realm twice per week. He was a bit pressed for time, as he had been notified late of the hour by the staffer who was assigned to fetch him to court each day. Walt had been engrossed in a tome written in the old language, parsing out a particularly troublesome passage, when the man found him. He just hoped Father didn't punish the man too harshly.
Walt slipped into the drafty chamber and quietly stepped to his place behind and to the right of his father's chair. The thing was quite throne-like, with clawed feet and an impressive hawk-shaped back designed to look over the head of the man sitting in the chair, fixing its gaze upon the petitioner. His father, ever hypervigilant, was not fooled by Walt's attempt at stealth. He twitched his right hand in an impatient gesture and the guard waiting by the door opened it to allow the petitioners through.
Surprisingly, the usual flood of commonfolk was not present today. Instead a single robed figure approached the dais. The man was bald and clean-shaven, his robes of expensive make in a carefully neutral gray color and simple silver embroidery adorning the sleeves and hood. The set of the man's mouth made it clear to Walt that he had expected to be received in the grand court. The glare that the man leveled at his father was audacious, suggesting that he was well aware that he was an emissary of someone with more authority than Lord Wilhelm Whitmore.
The man gave the merest of bows, bending only his neck in the gesture, before speaking in a deep voice that nevertheless carried well. "The Head-Minister of the Aegis Academy of the Arcane bids Lord Whitmore greetings and extends his personal invitation for two students to seek admission from among your progeny. I will, of course, await your answer and accompany the students to the Academy," the man intoned with nearly no emotion. He then simply waited for Lord Whitmore's response.
Father had a tendency when receiving official visitors to extend the silence following their request as a tactic designed to unbalance the petitioner, but this man seemed immune from such effects. Still, Wilhelm waited longer than was probably advisable before responding confidently that his two oldest children, present on the dais, would accompany the man to the Academy on the morrow, whereupon the man nodded, turned on his heel, and left the room.
~~~
Kageo Blackwood was in the deprivation tank, floating in the water in meditation, when he heard a knocking sound from far away. Of course, he knew it wasn't actually far away. It was just on the outside of the tank, but with how deeply he was under, it sounded like it could be from quite a ways away. The knocking continued until Kageo brought himself out of the meditative state he was in. He opened his eyes, but he was surrounded by pitch black. He brought his hand up out of the water, feeling around the tank until he felt the button to open up the tank.
He was suddenly washed in a soft blue light, and he closed his eyes against it for a moment while he adjusted to the new light. He always kept the blue nightlight on for when he went into the tank. It was easier to adjust to a low light than a bright one from pitch black.
When he finally got used to the light, he looked up to see his sister, Yami, looking down at him with a look of excitement on her face. Her thick, long black hair hung down toward the water and her eyes crinkled in a smile. "Papa would like to see us in his den."
Kageo frowned at that. Papa was actually their Uncle Adiran, who had taken over raising them with his wife, Lilith, after their parents died. Kageo was only seven when they died, while Yami was five. He loved his uncle, but usually when they were summoned like this, it was something Kageo wouldn't like.
"Let me get dressed," Kageo replied and pulled himself up and out of the tank, dripping down onto the ground as he walked over to grab a towel. He grabbed his clothing from the nearby bench and slipped into the bathroom to get dressed.
He dressed in simple black jeans, a long sleeved red button up shirt, black vest, and black boots. He looked in the mirror when he was done, taking in the sight of himself. He stood about three inches under six feet tall, with a thin physique that belied just how strong and fit he was. His jet black hair was shaved on both sides and long in the middle, and he quickly pulled it back into a braid that fell down his back. His skin was pale and he had eyes that were so dark they looked like they were black. His eyes and skin tone both came from his mom, whose Japanese heritage stood out in her children's features. His face was clean shaven, mostly because he had gotten his dad's inability to grow much facial hair.
Looking at himself was like seeing an almost perfect mix of his parents, and it made his heart ache for a brief moment before he pulled himself together, put his glasses on, and headed off to meet with his Papa.
Adiran Blackwood was sitting at a giant cherry wood desk and he looked up when the two of them entered. "Ah good, I'm glad you're both here."
"Papa," they both echoed in unison.
He smiled at them and then pushed forward two envelopes. They didn't take them until he had leaned back, a gesture meant to tell them that they could grab them. Inside was an invitation to attend the Aegis Academy of the Arcane. Yami got a big grin on her face as she read it, but Kageo looked uneasy.
"Are you sure this is wise?" Kageo asked him. "The Blackwood name is rather sullied in places like this. They believe mom and dad died as traitors. Wouldn't going to Aegis put us at risk?"
"Aegis doesn't only teach the light and fluffy white magic," Adiran replied with a wave of his hand. "Besides, this is a great opportunity for you. Many of the people responsible for their deaths are connected to Aegis in some way, or their kids are now entering the Academy. Work your charms, get close, and see what you can find out."
"Like spy on them?" Kageo asked.
"Exactly," Adiran said with a grin. "I know how capable you are. I have no doubt you'll manage it just fine. You'll both be going, as you both got the invitation. Rinne will stay here, as she is still too young."
Rinne was their baby sister, who was only about three months old when their parents died. She was thirteen now, and quite the little spitfire. Aegis Academy of the Arcane was a higher level education school though, and she couldn't be admitted until she was an adult, like they both were at eighteen and twenty.
"You'll be escorted to the school by train tomorrow afternoon," Adiran broke into Kageo's thoughts. "I have lists of what you'll need to pack. Don't worry about uniforms. The school supplies those."
He gave them each the list and then sent them on their way to get packed up. Kageo was quiet as they walked, but Yami was chatting up a storm about how exciting this was. He wasn't going to crush his sister's spirit though, even if he was concerned about all of this. She was always such a breath of fresh air in a home that was set up to train in magic, fighting, and espionage. How Yami had stayed as happy-go-lucky as she had baffled him some days, but somehow both his sisters seemed to be able to find the silver lining in any situation. It was a skill he himself had never learned.
Maybe that was because he was the oldest and the one who would have to avenge his parents' deaths. He had been training almost all of his life for this. He wasn't sure that at the age of twenty he was ready, but they were on the road to doing it now.
The next day, they were driven to the train station where they were taken to the Capital, Thyllport, and met up with the representative of the school who would make sure they got there safely. There were other students there, of course, and Kageo started taking stock of who they might be almost immediately while Yami greeted a few kindly.
There were young adults of similar ages from throughout the continent, dressed in all manner of clothing from court finery to fashionable outfits like the Blackwoods were wearing to fanciful designs that made even Kageo's eyes ache. As Yami tried to get Kageo to join in the lively discussion she had engaged two fae-touched students in, a carriage pulled by a team of 8 ostriches rolled into the staging area near the train station. The emissary from the Academy stepped out first, followed by two of the most pretentious looking weirdos Kageo had ever seen. He instinctively disliked them. They were resplendent in brilliant white court finery with a golden rising sun embroidered on the left breast of each of their tabards. The fabric making up their clothing could feed a fair-sized village where the Blackwoods were from. The older of the two, with his carefully cultivated outward shows of masculinity, was taller than Kageo and broader across the shoulders, though not overly muscled.
Kageo watched him closely for a moment, trying to figure out if he recognized the emblem from his training at home on knowing all of the main noble families. Adiran had always had Kageo learn the families, their emblems, where they were from, and more, but most of the photos he had were outdated at this point. It was Yami who rescued his flagging memory as she leaned over and stage-whispered, "Ah, we can get on with boarding now that the Whitmores are here."
Whitmore. That name he definitely knew, and he glanced back at the elder Whitmore, briefly locking eyes with him before Kageo turned away from him like locking eyes had burned him or something.
Walt, meanwhile, met the intense gaze of the fellow in black and red, suppressing a feeling that he was falling into the man's nearly black eyes. As he continued to stare into the depths of Kageo's soul, Walt began to feel a surge of magic from deep within himself. He broke off eye contact just as Kageo did, though for Walt it was out of desperation. He had never felt his ancestral magic swell without his control before and he found he was not overly fond of the feeling. He made a mental note to see if the famed Academy Library had anything to say on the subject when they had settled in.
Kageo had felt a flutter of something in his chest and stomach, a feeling he was not familiar with, and he felt the familiar pull in his veins he got when he worked with blood magic. It made his whole body feel warm and rushed with blood, though he hadn't purposely done so. Blood magic was still a very controversial type of magic. It wasn't banned anymore, like it used to be, but people frowned on it. There were plenty of ethical ways to use it, but most people spoke about the unethical ways.
Yami looked at him curiously, having never seen his face flush the way it had then. He just shook his head at her and moved to get into the line of students heading towards the doors of the train. They were all led inside where they were allowed to sit where they wanted. The Blackwood kids, naturally, took a seat together in one of the train cars, sitting on the push seats. Kageo let Yami take the seat across from him so they could both look out the window.
The rest of the seats in the train filled up surprisingly quickly and the "Sunshine Twins," as Yami quietly named them with a giggle, ended up sitting across the aisle walkway from them, also flanking their window. Yami was watching them curiously, while Kageo was trying to ignore them completely. Still, curiosity got the better of him, and he kept stealing glances over at where they were seated.
"We could talk to them," Yami said quietly to Kageo, which made him look at her with alarm.
