*Tap*
A silent palace, one big, but seemingly without life. One moment, its backyard was empty, void of any presence, and the next, a booted foot appeared, one dripping with blood, fresh one, as if coming straight out of a battlefield. The owner of the foot, his armor bearing cracks, blood, and even more grim signs of battles, held his spear, still bloody from the recent carnage, in one of his hands covered in dark battle gloves, its tip pointed toward the floor, as he pushed the door of the building he had appeared in front of, to walk inside.
The corridors were a little dim, and like the rest of the palace, empty. The boots of the same heavy golden color as the battered armor produced the only noise in the quiet environment, leaving bloody footprints on the hard floor they were clanking against.
The feet moved until they stopped in front of an ajar artistically carved wooden door. The heavily armored man pushed it open, and stepped over the doorway, before he used his unoccupied hand to free his head of dark hair from the helmet that had been hiding his features. It was only then that the bloody red cape behind him from which the grim smell of death was wafting settled down.
The dark blue eyes on the handsome face swept over the study, before coming to settle on the only existing life inside.
"Welcome back, First."
The casually dressed man on the couch had the same black hair as the warrior who came back from the battlefield. Only, he looked younger, and more… casual. He gave off a scholarly air, the book he had been reading still in his hands, even though his body seemed to have been sculpted through just as much training, as many battles, as the one he called 'First'.
"Hm. Where is everyone, Second? And where is Third?"
The eldest voice was smooth and calm, rich from all his experiences and his own innate disposition. Even as he was questioning, his steady composure showed no crack, no haste.
The younger man swept his eyes over the cracked armor, before taking his gaze back, after not spotting any debilitating injury. He closed the book and placed it on his lap, before replying:
"While I was looking after the realm, grandfather came back, and he was not happy when he found out about the war."
'First' raised his eyebrows, and waited for the continuation. 'Second' smiled, obviously finding the matter amusing:
"He exiled father to give mother an explanation, and he is not to come back until he has reflected on his gallivanting ways."
That… was harsh. After a thousand years away, the old man came back to send his own son away. But indeed, after what happened, their mother deserved an explanation.
'First' nodded slightly, and let 'Second' continue.
"To stop the war, the old man tried to engage little Third with the little princess on the other side…"
'Second' let the words linger, as he looked at the cracked composure of 'First', smiling with deeper amusement. 'First' calmed the twitching at the corner of his eyes, and took a deep breath:
"Little Third refused, didn't he?"
'Second' laughed:
"Our third brother seems easygoing, but his spine is harder than the pillars of the realm. He would never have accepted even with a knife on his throat. Since threats don't work, the old man got frustrated. He tied little Third's fate with the little princess', and threw them into one of the dimensions below."
'First' turned quiet, before his expression became queer, as he asked, or more like, mumbled to himself:
"He knows little Third's temperament, but he still did that. Is it really not for his own enjoyment?"
Because with the empty palace, he could imagine where everyone else was.
'Second' immediately stopped laughing, and he looked at his older brother in horror just as a fierce sound shattered the calm of the room.
*KA-BOOM*
Lightning appeared out of nowhere, thick like a mythological serpent, and it struck the head of dark hair that did not have a helmet to protect it anymore, making a few dark strands stand on their end, before continuing into the floor and disappearing.
"Cough, let's wait for everyone to come back. Anyway, the war has stopped for now. I will also take a rest from managing things at the back."
'Second' cleared his throat and opened the book he had closed, searching for where to concentrate his attention. As for 'First', he seemed not to feel anything, as his expression returned to normal, and he nodded:
"It is just as good. With grandfather's intervention, the war will end. Blood will stop flowing, and lives will be preserved. I will go take a shower."
Saying that, he turned around to leave the study, only to be met with a cold snort that shook not only his eardrums, but also his second brother's.
"Humph! Since you are interested, go join the rest of the family down there."
It came out of nowhere, like thunder without the lightning strike it usually followed, shaking everything. Before the two men could react, space around them rippled. Their expressions changed just as the ripples swallowed them, leaving an empty study behind.
Finally, the whole palace, as big as a small town, became totally empty, with truly no life inside. It remained nested on the peak at the center of the paradise-like realm, like the centermost jewel of a crown, shining a bright gold. The other eight mountains of neither stone, metal, or jade, kept guarding it like immovable spears with silver tips, even as they teased the azure vault, like they were propping it up.
Only the belts of fluffy clouds remained to accompany the everlasting mountains in the immortal realm from which wide jade roads left, only to lose themselves in the distant infinity.
Only silence remained in the pure realm whose very air screamed of the vitality it was filled with. Silence, and nothing else, as if to wait for the owners to come back, and bring life to it again.