*Kun*

While my siblings and other teammates went to participate or watch other events, I found myself with some free time. Decided to check up on Sarah since I didn't see her this morning.

"Kun?" a voice called out. I turned and saw the Queen of Sara. Accompanying her was her son and the twin knights.

"Your highness," I said, bowing my head. "Glad to see you. Do you know where I may find the princess?"

"Aunty? Ah, are you her boyfriend?" Ecelaph blurted out.

"N-no!" Not that I hated the prospect...

The queen snickered. "Ecelaph, don't ask every guy you see with your aunt that."

Did he ask An that too?

"Okay..."

"Plus, Sarah isn't really the type to date. She's too focused on restoring our kingdom's sovereignty." She sighed. "If only matters of love were all she had to worry about."

Yeah, if only...

The queen cleared her throat. "Pardon the tangent. My sister-in-law is currently with my husband to meet with the royal family."

"Really? Well, I'm part of the royal family," I said, pointing at myself.

"You are?"

I grinned. "I know I may not look like it. My mother was supposed to be the heir of Rios. Though I'm only the second child, so I wouldn't have inherited Rios either way. Come to think about it, think Yen is still up for consideration. Uncle Euphonium is acting more as a temporary king since neither of his sisters wanted it."

"A prince, huh?" She smiled. "Say, are you interested in my niece?"

My face reddened. "I... uh..."

"I take it as a yes, Mommy!" Ecelaph said, pointing at me.

His mother chuckled. "Yeah, I do too."

"Wah?"

"If you do then it's a good thing... My husband is considering marrying her off to a foreign prince."

"Wait, shouldn't she have a say in it?" I asked.

"It's just something for consideration. He would rather his sister marry out of love than to continue to pay for his mistakes. Though Sarah's biggest love is her country... I feel that she might go ahead with it, if it's for the benefit of Sera."

"I would help her either way," I blurted out.

She smiled. "My sister-in-law is lucky to have someone like you as a suitor."

"Wait, is the reason Sarah is at the palace in order to get engaged?"

"No. They're there as part of a diplomatic meeting. Your family is the founder of the current Universal Empire, as such, it's wise to ally ourselves with them. Plus, we both share a disdain for H.E.H."

"Oh right, but I'm not entire sure why that is."

"Take it that you aren't aware of the history of your peoples..."

"Well, I was raised in Wahkan. My mother didn't grow up here either, since she got taken away."

"I see. Well then, allow me to enlighten you. H.E.H. would want nothing more than to level this city to the ground along with everyone inhabiting it. That's one of the reasons for why there's heightened security. The King of Rios fears that they would pull something."

"But the Mahoulympics are a time of peace," Ecelaph said.

"Right, child, but H.E.H. already broke that rule by hiring mercenaries to kill us."

He looked over his back as if someone were following us.

The twins formed a wall of water over them. "Don't worry, we'll protect you."

"Stay safe," I said, jogging away. "I'm going to go check out the palace!"

"Bye!" Ecelaph said, waving.

I waved back. "Bye!"

***

It didn't take long before I arrived at the palace grounds in the center of Grasshopper Park, the biggest city park in the western hemisphere of Xeleria. The palace itself was built on top of a hill in the western part of town. It overlooked most the city below, providing some of the best views, if not the best out of any government building in the whole world.

This wasn't the building that my great-grandparents died in, rather that was the Grand Palace in the center of town. That palace dated back to the times of the ancients.

Viento was simply filled with a multitude of sites to visit. The city itself was built over the ruins of an empire with incredible magic. Though that magic depended on blood sacrifice... In the end, that chilling detail was what lead to their doom.

The blood of those mages though ran through my veins, as did the lineage of countless other great civilizations which occupied various parts of this nation.

Perhaps I was the best example of Rios' ancient legacy... a boy bathed in blood.

I stared at the city behind me. It truly was beautiful. Green covered the area until it began to transition to gray, black, and red. It continued until reaching Mt. Rios. It was called the birthplace of the Rios, but there was one even older... Though its location was lost to the sands of time.

"Hey, Kun!"

I looked downhill and saw Eri. Accompanying him were my aunt and cousins.

"Taking in the sites?" he asked.

"So nice here," Serein said, staring at the giant freshwater lake below.

"This place is amazing," Eri said, turning around and taking a seat on the grass. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "The air is so crisp that it's hard to believe that we're in the largest metropolitan area in the world."

"Yeah," I said, grinning as the scent of pine tickled my nose. "I should show this to Lei. He would love it here!"

"Me love it," Serein said, running around in circles. He giggled as he began to fly off a few inches from the ground.

"Uh... did he just fly?"

"Woah, you got wind magic too?" Raul asked.

Serein blinked as he came to a stop. "Wind magic?"

My aunt snickered. "Your feet, they weren't touching the ground awhile ago."

"Huh? Really?" he asked, his eyes glistening. "Me should show me friends!"

My heart sank a little. Serein was already discovering his second element, while Shandian had yet to find his first. Was my little brother not fated to be a mage?

"Kun worried?" Serein asked. He looked at me with those big blue eyes of his. Staring at them really was like staring at the sea. A calm one, not like the stormy sea that haunted my dreams.

My lips couldn't help but curl upward. Serein, there was something about him which I couldn't put to words.

"Yeah, but don't concern yourself with it. If it's meant to be, it'll happen," I said, waving my hand.

He giggled. "Yeah!"

"Hey, Serein want to play a game?" Raul called out from downhill. In his hands was a sphere of water.

"Sure!" Serein said, running toward his big brother.

"Hey, careful! You might trip!" I called out.

"Uhhp!" he grunted, jumping to avoid a rock. "Thanks, Kun!"

"You're welcome!"

"Are you going to speak with my father?" aunt Ocarina asked, turning away from her sons.

"I'm actually here to see Sarah."

Eri leaned his head back and grinned. "You like her?"

Why did people keep asking that?

"Uh... Well, she's a friend."

My 'older brother' snickered. "You didn't deny it."

"Kun is really growing up," auntie said, wiping away non-existent tears.

"S-shut up!" I said, turning away.

The two chuckled as I ran off. Those two really were made for each other...

***

I jogged over to the entrance of the palace several meters up hill.

"State yourself," one of the two guards at the golden gates said, likely looking at me with stern eyes. Likely as their faces were covered by black-helmets, so I couldn't be sure.

"I'm Kun Lan, the second child of Princess Harmonica," I said, grinning.

"Hmm, you do bare a resemblance to the princess' husband."

"Yeah?" I asked, putting my hands behind my head.

"Yes. Though that isn't enough to verify you're who you say. We need to make sure you aren't using an illusion to imitate the prince."

"Oh, alright."

They both took out a tiny lens like the kind that pawn shop clerks used when analyzing a piece of jewelry.

"Kun?" a voice called out as the guards looked me over.

I glanced over the guard's shoulder and saw the king of Sera wheeling his sister over toward the gate.

"Hey!" I said, waving.

The two guards glanced over at the king of Shui and Sarah as the gate swung open.

"Seems you're being reviewed. You aren't a fake Kun, are you?"

I scoffed. "Like anyone can copy Kun."

Sarah smiled.

"You have a triplet brother."

"True... but Lei is different. He's cuter, I'm more handsome."

Sarah's smile widened.

I grinned back. Even with the scars, Sarah's face still shone like a precious jewel whenever she smiled.

She opened her mouth but nothing came out. Her eyes closed and her head slumped.

"Don't worry, sis, we'll restore you vocal cords. Even if I must use up all my fortune, I'll return you to how you were."

I walked over to her. Serein was the only one who could understand her right now, but if we taught her another way of communicating...

"Do you have a tablet?" I asked.

"Not on me, why do you ask?"

"Sarah can use one to communicate," I said. "There's text to voice options too."

The princess glanced up and flashed me a bright smile.

"That's not a bad idea! But what if in the event the tablet runs out of electricity?"

"Well, as long as she's around Lei or Alto, they can charge it. Though you have a point, it would be best to teach her various methods of communication." My right fist punched my left palm. "Ahh, I know!"

"Hmm?"

I walked over to Sarah and took her hand. Her cheeked reddened.

"S-sorry, shouldn't have grabbed them so suddenly," I said, turning my head away.

"What method requires you holding her hand?" her brother asked, glaring at me.

My hands flew up in protest. "Hey, it's a real method! My mom taught it to me!"

The king folded his arms together. "Truly? Then go on, show us."

Forgot how overprotective this guy could be...

"Alright. I'm going to need your palm, princess," I said.

Sarah raised her hand out.

My right index finger swerved across her palm. "Did you feel that?"

She nodded.

"Did you notice it was an 's'?"

Her eyes widened. She nodded her head rapidly.

I snickered and held out my right hand. "Now you try."

She quickly spelled out 'k'.

"K, huh? As in Kun?" I asked, a smile tugging on my lips.

She moved her hands across my palm. Y-E-S.

"Yes! You're getting the hang of it! I knew that you were a quick learner!"

"Look, Kun is holding hands with his girlfriend!"

I jumped.

"Raul, she isn't Kun's girlfriend," Ocarina said.

Ha, she was the one teasing me not too long ago...

"Yeah right... Kun and Sarah sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S..."

"Stop that!" I snapped. "Weren't you playing with Serein?"

"Serein threw the water sphere somewhere around here," Raul said, glancing around.

"Can't you just make another?" I asked, narrowing my eyes.

"I told him that, but he refuses. Think he just wanted an excuse to come over and tease you," Ocarina said, patting her eldest son's head.

"Don't you usually tease Lei?" I asked.

"He's busy," Raul said, not blinking an eye.

This kid really is something... and not in the way his little brother is.

Sarah smiled and took my hand. "Y-O-U... G-O-T... C-U-T-E... C-O-U-S-I-N-S. I got cute cousins? Well, Serein and Claudia are, but their older siblings aren't cute at all."

Raul pouted. "Nor are you!"

His mother picked him up. "Come on, Raul, don't pick a fight. You remember what happened last time you challenged Lei. Same thing will happen with Kun."

Raul grumbled. "One of these days I'll be stronger than any of them."

"Then aim for that," I said, grinning.

He smirked and jumped out of his mother's grasp. "I will!" He rushed downhill. "Come on, Mommy, I'll just make another ball!"

"I told you to do that to begin with!" she shouted, chasing after him.

"S-P-U-N-K-Y K-I-D," Sarah wrote on my hand.

"Yeah, he sure is."

"S-A-Y, K-U-N. C-A-N, W-E G-O S-E-E A-N?"

"Sure..." Though, last I heard, he still had yet to wake up. Not even a single sign of stirring such as twitching fingers.

**Solar Note: Hope that you enjoyed the chapter! Happy 4th of July!**