16 Royal Disputes (1/2)
Darius found himself alone in the forest. His heart was beating so fast and so hard he felt as though it was about to burst from his chest. Each one of his senses were working on overdrive as he flinched at the slightest sound, and his eyes darted back and forth in search of any movement. With every second passing the grip on his hammer was becoming more and more intense.
He could barely remember to breath as he stood completely still, watching and waiting.
Meanwhile from private rooms within the facility, Lionel sat as far away from his father as he could, with the help of his two older siblings who elected to sit between the two. He didn't dare say a word as he felt the hostility emanating from him while they watched his twin, Lara, move stealthily through the arena on a large screen on the wall.
This was one of those rare moments when Lionel actually did feel awkward and uncomfortable. His father had been so enthusiastic to watch his two children fight in the arena earlier that morning only to be met disappointment yet again from Lionel. He had hoped that this would be the one thing that Lionel would have no choice but to excel at only to be told he had somehow found a way to use a substitute! He had half a mind to force him into becoming a Spiritknight right now and sending him to the most Spirit infested hell hole he could imagine.
The Emperor was no idiot. He could see through Lionel's spoiled prince act and new he was a lot smarter, and a lot more capable than he pretended to be. In fact everyone in the family knew it, much to his father's severe disappointment.
”Well Lara's doing quite well.” Said the oldest brother, James, trying to break up the awkward tension in the room.
”Yes, she will obviously win this round. I want to see Lionel's substitute. What was his name again?” The Emperor leaned forward to look at Lionel with a stern, harsh face. The Emperor was old, and to him choosing a successor was of the utmost importance. And all that had been going well...until Lionel came along.
”Darius Omen.” Lionel squeaked out the words. The screen immediately changed to find a young man, dark skinned with black hair standing in the same place. So gripped with fear he could barely move.
The Emperor scoffed at what he saw and Lionel couldn't help but shrink in his seat. His brothers move forward to try and hide him from their fathers view, they had never seen their father this annoyed with them and weren't quite sure just what he was going to do.
The Emperor watched the unimpressive young man, who showed no talent or skill of any sort. He was looking at the Darius with such anger and malice it was as if he was going to try and kill him through the screen.
”Lionel why on earth did you pick this young man? What is wrong with you do you even intend to pass the test?” Even though he was hiding behind his older brothers they may as well have been transparent. Lionel looked down. The truth of the matter was that Lionel didn't expect Darius to pass the test for him. In fact he was almost sure Darius would die, and he was counting on that. If Darius failed that would mean there wouldn't be a chance of him becoming Emperor then, and he wouldn't have to keep up the facade of an ignorant and incompetent fool in front of his father or anyone anymore.
”Please die, please die, please die.” Lionel thought to himself. He wouldn't even dare mumble the words out loud.
Meanwhile Darius was still standing in the exact same place the platform had left him. The challenge was to simply survive the day. Darius' mind was racing. His first thoughts were to try and find somewhere to hide until it was over, but he couldn't bring himself to move. It took all his energy to simply hold his hammer up.