Jace Brontarion
I wanted to be far away from this place. Far away from… Him.
To others, they saw him as a great, strong leader; to me, he's a cruel man.
Just thinking about him caused my cloud to darken and spark.
I practiced what my master taught. Your greatest weapon is the ability to choose one thought over another. I calmed myself, and my clouds brightened, no longer sparking with light.
But I noticed something strange. Normally, all clouds in contact with mine are manipulated by my emotions or intent.
These clouds, on the other hand, were not affected.
Stange.
I swiped my hand through the cloud.
It feels like a normal cloud.
I let the cloud sit in my hand and focused on changing its shape with my mind. There was no movement.
There were a few clouds like this in Xhatal. What is happening?
I grabbed more cloud pieces and performed the same tests. Some responded to my intent, and others didn't. More often than not, the clouds didn't.
Since when have artificial clouds rested above our city?
I scanned the horizon and looked at the vast nimbus blanket over our kingdom. I felt uneasy and gripped the cloud that I was riding.
I descended to the palace and went to find Sora.
Inside the palace, everything operated as if nothing was wrong. The guards stood at their posts, the servants transported food, and cleaned common areas.
It took a few left and right turns to get to Sora's room.
I knocked in our secret code we made when we were little: five taps, two taps, three taps.
The date of our birthday.
"Come in, Jace," she said, her muffled voice barely audible over the palace white noise.
I twisted the nob and floated into her room, closing the door behind me.
"To what do I owe the pleasure?" she said, looking up from a book about formations.
"Have you noticed anything weird since being home?"
Her eyes widened, and then she waved for me to come closer to her.
"So it's not just me?" she whispered, closing the book, her gaze unflinching.
"What did you feel?" I asked her.
"First, I got a very sad feeling from the storms, and when I went to the Stormglass Spire and tried to communicate with Grandma. I got nothing. That hasn't happened before. What have you noticed?"
"The clouds are off."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, more so, a lot of them are fake. I can't manipulate them at all. I noticed a few like that at Xhatal."
"Do you think they are related?" Sora asked, looking out the large picture window in her room.
"I believe so. But why would someone make fake clouds?"
Sora's hair frizzed as she stood up and began pacing her room.
Then she stopped.
"We should probably tell Dad."
"I'm not big on that idea," I said, my arms crossed, as I turned my cloud away from her.
"I know things didn't go smoothly in the past between you two, but you can't keep running from him, Jace," she said, giving me a sincere look.
I let silence fill the space.
"But something like this should be brought to the leader of our country. Maybe this can help you guys make up?" she continued.
I sank further into my cloud, staying silent.
"Jace!"
I rolled my eyes.
Then something tugged my ear, and began dragging me.
"We are going and facing him together."
Sora dragged me through the halls of the palace until we got to the throne room. I hate that I couldn't say no to Sora, because now I would have to face the potential burden of whatever father assigned me to do.
I just wanted to relax during the break.
The room was closed, but one of his assistants sat at the desk, rummaging through paperwork.
"How can I be of service to my dear prince and princess?"
"We would like to speak to our father."
The assistant swiped a screen to her right a few times before responding.
"It appears he has an opening. I'll buzz him."
Then a spark ran through the door and cracked open.
'Thank you," Sora said, dragging me along behind her.
The throne room was bright, with white marble walls, statues of the previous Storm lords lined up leading up to a chair and desk fit for a giant.
At the far end sat our father, his white eyebrows furrowed as he skimmed through the pages.
We were halfway down the hall before he looked up.
When he did, his electric-blue eyes lit with delight.
"You guys never visit me while working. What do I owe this surprise?" he said, dropping the paperwork from his hands, as a smile grew across his face.
I wasn't expecting that.
Sora even stopped and gave me a look.
Our father wasn't always cruel when we were younger. But ever since we became starbounds, his mood has shifted violently, his kinder side barely shining through.
Sora spoke up.
"We wanted to tell you we have noticed some strange things since being back home."
Our father remained silent for a few moments.
"So you noticed too?" he said, piquing my interest.
"Yes."
Our father stood up from his seat and stretched.
"I recently found out about them shortly after you guys left for the Academy. We don't know where they come from, but they have been appearing more and more lately," he said as he sat on top of his desk.
"What did you notice, Jace?" my father asked, his voice and expression warm.
My cloud sparked ever so slightly.
Who is he? And what did he do with my dad?
My body was preparing for something else; I nearly choked on my next words.
"Well, the clouds feel artificial, if that makes sense."
One of my dad's white eyebrows raised.
"That's what I thought when I examined it, but it appears to be made of elements we have not recorded here in Valonara."
Is this why I couldn't control them?
"But I want to inform you both that you have nothing to worry about. We are investigating. All you should be worrying about is your training."
Then his brows narrowed.
"Care to explain your current standing at the academy?"
Sora and I shared a glance.
"Sora, you are one of the top-ranked Arbiters, but your team is ranked at the bottom of your class. Do you think that is a good representation of our clan?
And Jace, you are sitting at the top of your position; see, it was a good thing to get rid of the things around you that distract you. As my heir, I expect nothing less." My father said, exerting his cosmic energy, its strength so immense it caused Sora to drop to a knee and my cloud to sink.
"You know what, I'm going to cancel the rest of my meeting today. We are going to the Strom Plains for a training session."
My twin and I both gulped.