Sixth House Princes

[Brayden Smith]

"Welcome back," the Brayden on the throne said softly, reaching out a hand to Bray, for him to take as he fought to maintain a straight face. The throne was large enough for both of them so he sat down heavily beside himself and placed his face into his hands.

He could still taste the desperate kiss. He could still feel Jack in his arms and still hear his voice and it all hurt so much, to be separated from him so violently and abruptly.

A hand rubbed up and down his back gently. "They always did say I had a tendency to be emotional," the other Brayden said close to his ear, before his arms wound around Bray and enclosed him in a warm hug. He seemed to know just what Bray needed--but of course he would. He was Brayden and Braydens always anticipated the needs of others first and foremost. "Guess I haven't changed much..."

"I suppose not." Bray leaned heavily into him and allowed himself a quiet moment to absorb his own grief. To come to terms with the fact that someone had killed him--and this time perhaps permanently. Now his mother wasn't here to push him back from the brink. The last particle of magic she possessed in the world had been expended; she was one of the stars now, twinkling up in the night sky.

So who was left to help save him? A surprising number of people... actually. Jack. Always Jack and he knew Jack would never give up on him. Jack would do everything within his power to bring him back, Bray knew without a shadow of a doubt. And the Brayden beside him knew it too, didn't he? If he went so far as to take over Bray's body just to tell him what to do and how to do it...

There were others too, though. Ken. Bray saw Ken in the room with them but he didn't really acknowledge him, because he was focused entirely on Jack. There were Jack's brothers too--Niall and Rhys. Even if the latter still had reservations about them, Bray didn't think that he was as prickly as he presented himself. (The number of times he caught Rhys cuddling with Raphael--and liking it--was testament to that!)

Niall... Raphael... Bray wished he could have left them some kind of message too but there was no time. He didn't have long to say good-bye and... well, he didn't want to squander that time. Even if he could visit Jack in his dreams, he wanted to say good-bye in person at least one last time.

Bray took in a shuddering breath, still processing what had happened. He only looked up when he felt ready to, knowing there was no pressure--no hurry. "What's going to happen now?" he asked haltingly, unsure if he wanted to hear the answer and yet still needing to know it. For a moment he looked into his own face and as jarring as it was to stare at himself, he felt oddly reassured as well. The Brayden looking back at him radiated a sense of calm and assuredness, of the kind that Bray had never had. And if that Brayden could do it... maybe he could learn to as well.

"We trust Jack. Our Jack." The other Brayden's smile was serene. "And in the meantime you will learn how to fully use your powers, now that you've realized them. There is so much potential that you have yet to tap into, Brayden."

"Um. Could--could we maybe use different names? It's just--it's incredibly weird if we're both Brayden. Just call me Smith maybe?"

Brayden laughed but nodded. "All right, Smith. Even though you are me." He levied 'Smith' with a humorous Look but continued, "Once you have learned how to use your powers to their full potential, you can protect both Jack and yourself from future attacks. You know by now that this Keith is... our brother. Half-brother."

'Smith' nodded--that part was a little hard to accept, to be honest, and the thought of being related (however distantly) to that man made his skin crawl. "What happened? Why does he hate me so much?"

Brayden sighed and leaned back against the ornate arm rest of the throne; his gaze was faraway.

"We were born in a time of war with the Fallen. Keith was born first, the bastard son of our father, the King of our House, and a concubine of another House. Everyone saw that as a sign of bad luck and they blamed our House's ill fortunes on him. My mother was heart-broken but I think she still tried her best to raise him properly, but of course he was a constant reminder of my father's infidelity.

Our father denied him; he saw Keith as a mark of shame and that hurt Keith deeply. Then when I was born, everyone saw me as some kind of savior. I won't deny that my life and my brother's were vastly different. He was forced to hide in the shadows while I lived in the light, and the darkness sank into him and wouldn't let go. He came to resent everyone, but especially me, whom our father loved and protected. He thought that I had stolen everything from him--all the love, the attention, the rights to sit on the throne.

Keith turned to the Fallen, our enemy. He fell in love with one of the Fallen princes and even went so far as to bring him into our kingdom, disguised as his companion. I think it pleased him to flaunt our father's rules and laws in his face, and to openly defy him. And I... knew what he was doing, but I said nothing. It was foolish of me, I know, but at the time I thought maybe if he saw that he could trust me... That he might love me as I loved him, and we could repair our fractured relationship.

But the problem was, the Fallen prince--Jack, although he went by a different name back then--was not Keith's soul mate. He was mine. And I'm sure you know--" he paused here with a little twinkle in his eyes, "--how difficult it is to resist his many charms."

'Smith' nodded with a similar twinkle in his own eyes. Yes, he knew how hard it was to resist Jack. Coupled with the fact that he had no defense and plain didn't want to deny him, and it was a pretty bad combination. (Or a very good one...)

"I tried to refuse and refute my feelings at first. And his. I told him that we couldn't betray Keith, and that we could only remain friends, but... well. Love doesn't work like that, as you well know. And when Keith found out, that was the end. He Fell. The Fallen King claimed him with promises of revenge and corrupted his already wounded heart. Keith came to my room one night and killed me. He stabbed me through the heart and tried to corrupt my soul to bring back to the Fallen King.

I don't know how I managed to save myself. I think part of me always knew that Keith would fall so I had been unconsciously prepared for that moment. And I'm sure my love for Jack also saved me. It's powerful, ancient magic that not even the Fallen or the Celestials can overcome. So I came to be trapped here, watching myself go through different lifetimes, always with the same result. I left messages for myself to find in different lives, hoping that one day one of my reincarnations would fully realize his powers and find them, and--here you are! The only one to do it."

"I..." Smith sat there for another long moment and attempted to digest the information presented to him. "I'm not--nothing special, I just--"

"Ah, that's something I would definitely say," Brayden laughed. "But you are special. Only those with awakened powers could see my messages. It might not feel like it, but you are more powerful than you think. Once we train you up a little, you'll feel better about all of this. And just think of Jack--he is vulnerable right now. You can help close his mind to outside influence."

[Brayden Smith]

It was a whole lot of information to digest. Smith—Bray—sat for what felt like an hour or so just... doing what he did best: think. Thinking was his specialty and for once in his life it was paying off in a big way. There was nothing else to do here but think. And learn. He had a lot to learn from Brayden, it seemed, and truthfully he welcomed the opportunity.

He only wished that he didn't have to die to do it but maybe this was one of those silver linings in dark storm clouds situations...

There was no choice but to see it that way. He wasn't the kind of person to mope around when he could be bettering himself and practicing his powers to help protect Jack. If he trusted Jack to do his best then he—Brayden Smith—had to uphold his end of the bargain, too. Slowly, he turned to the other Brayden, who was patiently waiting for him.

"Did he ever love Jack? Keith... did he..."

Brayden thought for a long moment and then nodded. "I believe he did. Once. It was the first time that he... had something all to himself. But now I don't know if he is capable of loving anyone, even himself. Everything is dark in him." His head dropped along with his gaze and the guilt inside of him couldn't be missed. Still. Even after all these lives and after Keith had assassinated him all these times, there was still love inside his heart for the brother who hated him. And somehow, that was reassuring, that nothing could extinguish the light in his heart.

"It's not your fault." Reaching over, he squeezed Brayden's shoulder. "You didn't set out to steal Jack from him. And... well... Jack chose you. Us. I'm sorry that Keith had to go through all of that but it's not fair to pin all of that on one person. You didn't do that to him. You tried to love him."

Keith chose not to accept Brayden's love. That was squarely on him, because the love and acceptance that he sought was right in front of him and he refused to acknowledge it. As tragic as that was, it wasn't fair to Brayden to still have to...

Apologize for something that wasn't his fault...

Hm.

Well, some traits withstood the test of time, apparently. Smiling softly despite the sadness weighing on his very soul, he stood. "Let's get to work, Brayden. I have a lot to learn before Jack brings me back, right?"

Brayden stood too, nodding, smiling softly at him. Still eerie to watch himself but he was getting kind of used to it. "Right," said Brayden. "First, let's learn how to help Jack seal off his dreams. That will stop Keith from being able to track him."