~.Cosmic Kingdom.~

The next morning, Astral and Astrid awoke to the scent of breakfast cooking. They sat up at the same time as usual and made their way to the dining room with Astrid hurrying over in her usual, hyper self.

They entered the dining room, where their mother and father were already seated. King Zeon took the the head of the table while Queen Astralena sat on the right side. Astral and Astrid sat on the left side, side-by-side with each other since they were brother and sister.

"Good morning, Mother, Father," they said at the same time.

"Good morning," the king and queen greeted.

King Zeon looked at his children with a smile. "How did you sleep?"

"I slept well!" Astrid exclaimed.

Astral pursed his lips. "I had a vision, Father."

Zeon and Astralena both looked over to Astral with a surprised expression. "A vision?" the king mused. "About what, my son?"

Astrid looked over at her brother with a worried expression. These visions always turned out bad. There were rarely any good ones.

As the breakfast was passed to each family member, Astral told the story. "It was a scene in some kind of battlefield. There was a lot of fighting, but what stood out there were two people, who looked like the leaders of both groups, fighting one another. They were holding back for some reason even though they were enemies." He furrowed his brow, thinking deeply. "I cannot remember what happens after that. It is like a dream; there are certain parts that I remember, and those that I can remember are anything but clear to me." He shook his head, resting it on his hand. "To be honest, these visions are very frustrating."

Astrid hugged him. "I'm sure it will be clear later on! We just have to be patient."

Astral smiled. "Of course, Astrid." She always managed to make things better since she was always so happy and looked on the bright side of everything.

They started eating, but Astral couldn't get his mind off of the vision. It was stranger than what he had before, for there was some kind of stirring emotion inside of him when the two enemy leaders were fighting, like they didn't want to or something. Also, there was something he didn't bother to tell his family.

There was no one he recognized; none of them were the castle staff. It also seemed to be in another time period. There were two different people in it. One was a woman with incredible magical powers. The other was a man with incredible fighting skills. They seemed evenly matched, but neither wanted to be doing this. Astral closed his eyes, recalling the vision.

The woman put up a shield to block the man's attack. The man was holding back, and so was the woman.

The man was large and muscular with golden eyes that seemed to reflect darkness, yet they seemed to hold kindness as well. He had a cape and leather armor with leather boots. His skin was black with red markings. His hair was also completely black and long, up to his shoulders.

The woman was slender with blue skin and hair that flowed with every move she made. She had a sorceress's robe. It had long, white sleeves that touched the floor. Her robe swept the ground, and it seemed to glow with her magic. Her eyes were white and filled with wisdom and knowledge.

"Queen Allie!" one of the knights called. "We need to retreat! We're short on men!"

Allie, the woman, nodded. She looked at the man with longing eyes. "Farewell." She turned away, but the man grabbed her hand. She glanced at him. "Kuro, we need to go our separate ways! I'm sorry it cannot be any other way."

Kuro, the man, lifted her chin up. "Promise me to meet me later tonight."

Astral's head dipped down, his chin touching his chest. The vision was continuing from where it left off last night.

Astrid noticed this and started to panic. "A-Astral!?" she called, shaking him. "Astral, what's wrong!?"

Astral's limp, sleeping form didn't respond.

That night, Queen Allie snuck out of the castle with a small ball of light in her hand. She was wearing her white nightgown, which was a sleeveless, thin dress that reached the bottom of her feet; the biting wind struck her arms.

She made it to a forest, spotting a figure out there. She smiled and ran towards him. "Kuro!"

Kuro looked over, his form hidden in the darkness. His smile was very much clear, though, and he walked over to her. "Allie. I knew you'd come."

Allie threw herself onto Kuro, and the king wrapped his arms around her; his warmth engulfed her. The two kissed in the moonlight.

"Allie," Kuro said when they broke the kiss, "we need to stop this war. This cannot go on any longer. The Cosmic and Obscure Kingdoms cannot stay in this state forever."

Allie nodded. "Yes, I agree." She rested her head on his chest. "Why must we fight?"

"A stupid little skirmish about crops and trading."

"How will we get them to stop?"

Kuro was about to answer when a cannon went off.

Astral yelped in surprise when the shot was heard, his head snapping back up. His family looked at him worriedly.

"Astral, what was it?" Astralena asked. "Is it something terrible?"

Astral shook his head. "No...it's nothing..." What was that? Why did it continue?

~.Obscure Kingdom.~

Vector shook Black Mist awake. "Black Mist, hurry up and wake up!" he called. "We have to get you back to the kingdom."

Black Mist groaned and rolled to his side. "Go away..." he mumbled, waving his hand at Vector. "Lemme sleep..."

Vector huffed and threw his friend over his shoulder. "Your parents will worry if you are not home."

Black Mist cried out in indignation. "Let me down!" he demanded. "That's an order!!"

"Since when have I done what you've told me?" Vector paid the innkeeper for their stay. "Besides, you wouldn't wake up, and your parents are expecting you home."

Black Mist huffed and stopped fighting. "Fine, then. Do what you want."

Vector kept walking along the path that would take them to the kingdom. "How are your wounds?"

"They're fine, Vector. And yours?"

"Healing."

They remained silent for the remaining time of their journey. Eventually, Vector set Black Mist down when he knew that the prince would behave and just go to the castle. Frankly, the Dark Number didn't really like going home, but his parents would worry, and when his parents worried, they tended to get pretty violent.

They arrived at the castle just in time for breakfast. "Now, hurry, Black Mist," Vector teased. "You don't want to be late for breakfast!"

Black Mist gave him the finger and flew inside quickly to the dining table. To his luck, his mother, father, and cousin were just sitting down. Then, something hit him.

Wait, what!? M-my cousin!? Black Mist stared at his cousin for a long time.

"Black Mist, don't you know it's rude to stare?" Kai, his cousin, sneered.

Kai was a lean, muscular Number. His skin was a dark, tanned color, and his eyes were a ruby red. His hair was gray, his clothes were that of an aristocrat's, and he always had an air of being "high and mighty" toward Black Mist. He was much older, which would explain why that was. Even so, he annoyed the living shit out of Black Mist. Not only that, but he had telekinesis, which meant he could tattle on the prince without any consequences since he had information in his mind ready to back him up. One more thing to know about Kai was that he was not Black Mist's cousin by blood. He was taken in by Minerva's sister and her husband, making him their nephew.

"Oh, shut your face, Kai!" Black Mist huffed, sitting down in his chair and resting his chin on his hand, his elbow plopped on the table. "Why are you here, anyway?"

"Your father and mother invited me to give you lessons on courtesy." Kai inspected his nails nonchalantly. "The first lesson is to get your elbow off of the table."

Black Mist snorted rudely and didn't do as he was told. He never did, and he never will listen to anyone if they demanded something of him. He wasn't one to take orders from anybody, no matter how important they were.

"Black Mist," Queen Minerva scolded, "do as he tells you!"

Queen Minerva was also a 96, and just like all of her kind, she had the red markings that ran from her forehead to under her eyes as well as the black skin and black hair. Her eyes were a deep red with white pupils, as the inside of her eyes were white. Her purple tongue constantly whipped out like a snake's, and her long, slender fingers were normally curled into her palm when she had nothing to do. She wore a maroon dress that touched the floor with a velvet, scarlet cape fluttering around her. She wore a dainty crown upon her head with a veil that flowed over her hair instead of in front of her face. Despite her feminine looks, she was more of a man in the relationship than Pluto, and as a result, she spoke in the place of the king whenever she felt like it.

"Oh, can it!" Black Mist rested his arms on the table, slumped in his chair, and rested his head in his arms. "You just invited him here because you like him more than me!"

"Number 96 Black Mist, you know well that what you said is not true!" Pluto scolded his son. "We just-"

"You just want him here because he's better educated in etiquette and better skilled in swordsmanship than I am!" Black Mist buried his face in his arms. "Just face it already: he is your favorite! You favor him more than you care about your own son!"

"Black Mist, stop with this childish behavior and sit up!" Minerva shouted while Kai snickered.

Grumbling and remembering how frightening his mother could be when she was angry, Black Mist sat up in his chair but didn't even bother to sit up straight. Kai clicked his tongue in disappointment, but Black Mist merely stuck out his purple tongue at his cousin with scorn.

"Such childish behavior." Kai looked at Minerva and Pluto. "Aunt, Uncle, how did you ever put up with him?"

"A lot of disciplining," Pluto sighed. "I was hoping that you could teach him something, as you have already said." He glared at Black Mist, who was sitting with his arms and legs crossed, his finger tapping on his arm and a scowl on his lips. "I hope he will not be too much of a bother."

"Not at all, Uncle."

After breakfast, Kai grabbed Black Mist by the wrist and led him off down the hall. The young prince protested, but Kai was much stronger than he was; there was no way he would get out of his iron grip.

"Kai, let me go!!" he demanded, but Kai wouldn't listen.

"The second lesson is how you talk to your elders," Kai sighs. "Goodness gracious me, we have a lot to work on. Your manners are in deep danger, your swordsmanship is lacking skill, and your tongue is as sharp as a knife."

"Like I care! I do not want to learn how to use a sword!! Listen to me when I talk to you!! I am your prince; you listen to me!"

Kai stopped walking and faced Black Mist with a smirk. "My dear cousin, what shall we do about you. I am surprised that Aunt and Uncle did not already throw you out for your petty behavior. After all, a prince that does not know how to behave might as well be the son of a criminal."

Black Mist growled. Kai knew that Black Mist that suspected his parents liked Kai better, and he also knew that it was a fact. The king and queen rather preferred a son that did as he was told, and they were jealous of his parents for having the perfect son.

"Come along, cousin dear," Kai chuckled. "We need to get started."

"Never!!" Black Mist kicked Kai right in the side.

The unsuspecting Number gasped form the shock, letting go of Black Mist in the process. The prince cackled and ran off into the forest to look for Vector again.

~.Cosmic Kingdom.~

Astral sat in the garden with a white rose in his hands. It was one he materialized by his magic since they couldn't grow white roses in the garden. He twirled it in his hands, wondering what that vision at breakfast was about.

Astrid sat by her twin. "Astral, is there something wrong? Was the vision that bad?"

Astral pursed his lips. "No, it was more confusing than terrible." He always felt that with Astrid, he could tell her anything about his visions. "There was a king and queen, and they were in love. They did not seem to want the war to continue, and they even planned on how to stop it until something sounded."

"And that was when you woke up?"

Astral nodded. Astrid thought about it in the same way her brother did. At times like these, they managed to think the same way. It was rare, though.

"Could it be a message that they wanted to send to you?" Astrid suggested. "I mean, it is possible, yes?"

"It is..." If it was a message, then what could it be? Did it mean to tell them to stop the war? "It could be telling us to stop the war somehow, but how...?"

His sister sighed. "All this thinking is hurting my head! I'm going to study potions and healing herbs." She got up and walked back to her room with a sway in her hips. "Good luck figuring it out!"

Astral nodded, accepting the task of unmasking the truth behind his vision.