I Am The Third Warlock Lady

A/N: The chapter ahead is raw, which means not been proofread yet nor edited.1

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"Have they returned yet?" The Ki'zaar asked as they enter the dining room.

"Not yet, Ki'zaar. Shall we wait for a little bit more?" Chancellor Titania.

Jeth Draven pulled the chair for the Ki'zaar to sit at the head of the table. When he's sat, he gestured everyone to take their seats. On his left were Chancellor Titania and her friends, while on his right were the Franchetti Xerene and Voltage Xirquit. King Liorei is in the Office and so is Duke Paris. Watts is not with them yet, for he was the one who brought their meals to them.

They heard a bell ring, so Franchetti Xerene stand up, "It's Ohms. Please, have a fill. I will see my son," she said and left. When she got in his room he's sitting upright.

"I'm hungry,"

"I told Volt to feed you," she said as she walk to him.

"He didn't."

They looked at each other.

Voltage Xirquit sat there, thinking about something deeply. Something is bothering him. It's like..he's forgotten something but he can't remember what. He was busy helping Wattroid in the laboratory. Then he went to meet Emperor Claxiord to give him updates about his Aunt and to also check on Emperor Maxism.

That's why when his wife returned with Ohms, he felt shivers spike down his spine now that he remembered what she ordered him to do earlier. And she's glaring at him. Oh, he's fucked.

She settled beside him and lean to his side a little bit to whisper, "A word with you. Later."

"Y-Yes, Ma'am."

He's not wearing a tie but he loosened something that is choking him on his chest. He caught Ohms giving him a smug grin.

"I wouldn't burden you, so let's fill ourselves. Thank you for preparing these,"

Chancellor Titania nodded with a small smile.

While they're taking scoops of the dishes on the table to put on their plates, they felt presences coming. All of them felt it, but the presences were harmless. Whoever they are, they made it past the gates of Watts's villa.

"We have visitors," the Ki'zaar said as he stand up to see who they are. The Earthlings followed, prepared for what's about to come.

The knights marched in perfect unison, their armor gleaming under the setting sunlight. As they approached the courtyard, they came to a synchronized halt, forming two disciplined lines on either side of the path.

Celia went on. She walked forward with composed grace, her gaze focused ahead, as behind her, a grand palanquin draped in fine fabrics and gold accents were carried by sets of knights.

Celia raised her hand and stopped. She went down to her knee and lowered her head.

"My name is Celia, most trusted hand of Warlock Empire's Conquerors, Emperor Ohms and Empress Holy Azarese. May I request audience with Her Imperial Majesty, Empress Azarese?"

They were speechless.

The Ki'zaar stepped forward to answer to her.

"The Mi'zaar is in a deep sleep. I am Valtyremius Lavyreian Zin Draji Teivel, the Ki'zaar of Zin Draji Teivel dragon descent, father of the second Prince. I will answer to you in her place. What brought you and your...few forces here?"

Celia closed her eyes.

"I understand. Then, may I request to speak with the First Emperor, His Imperial Majesty Watts Nikola Xirquit-Warlock?"

The Ki'zaar's brows formed a straight line.

Ohms stood beside his mother to see what's going on himself. And he didn't understand why his mother had to hold his hand tight.

"He is not here. State your purpose now or I will send you back."

"To which I must return until I have audience with the First Emperor. I am carrying the last will of Emperor Ohms. And in his will, I must present it myself to his son, his brother, the First Emperor."

Ohms's eyes widened.

"Emperor Ohms? Me?"

Celia's eyes automatically opened. She raised her head and was dumbfounded to see the counterpart of Emperor Ohms of this Side face to face.

A portal opened behind the Earthlings. They stepped aside but the Ki'zaar ; there came out who she was looking for.

"Let me hear his will."

Celia closed her eyes again and lowered her head, "Then please, allow me to rise from my knee to show you the most important subject stated in his will."

"Allowed."

Watts stood beside the Ki'zaar. Celia rose from the ground and turned around. The knights stepped forward twice and turned the palanquin to her. Celia opened the door. She pulled an enchanted chest out. When she presented it to Watts Xirquit, she went down to her knee again. The chest is not too big, not too small. It fits right in the span of her arms.

Watts hesitated to open it, but he still did. And once they saw what was inside, they couldn't believe it.

"The Emperor willed that if his counterpart is not able or deceased, First Emperor Watts Xirquit will take the Imperial Prince under his custody."

***

Ohms grabbed another bottle to drink until the bottom is up. He's emptied enough bottles already, but the shit that was presented before them can't get him drunk.

"Stop drinking, Ohms! If that's what you're gonna do, then leave!" His mother berated him as she was busy. Now, she's carefully transferring the premature Prince in a container that will support his life.

"I woke up and I'm suddenly a father? Mom, I---That's my son!? WITH HER!?"

Once the Prince is in, Franchetti Xerene shortened her distance from her son and almost beat the shit out of him if only he didn't ran away.

"I'm still sick and you're going to hit me!? Dad!"

"And what's he gonna do? Help you? I'll beat you both up!"

When she got her hands on him, she gave him light punches on his head.

"Please, stop," the exhausted Watts mutter as he focus. He inserted the needle in the Prince's arm, and his dry cries made them behave but also in panic.

"Shh, shh. It's okay, you're okay. You'll be fine. Don't cry." He pat his nephew's thigh gently. It's just the first needle. There's still three more to insert in him.

"He would've been fine by now if only he's not immune and resistant to magic," Voltage Xirquit said as he massage his nape. Those are the reason why they couldn't perform healing on the Prince.

"I'm suddenly a Dad after almost dying,"

Ohms shook his head and faked a laugh. He stole a glance of his son. Its cries were dry and breathing is a struggle for him. As told by Celia, the Prince has been inside his mother for almost a year. The Emperor feared that the Prince will meet the same fate as the others who were blackened by her curse, so while he's finding a way to save his son, he delayed the Prince's birth.

Emperor Ohms most loved and most treasured, his son, the Prince.

"Let's give him milk," Franchetti Xerene proposed and left to ask the Ki'zaar some of Prince Valerian's milk.

Ohms found himself walking to the incubator. Among all the Princes, his son is the only one to inherit the hair of their mother. Dry and dull and faded, must be because he's ill and premature. The Prince, his son...is as small as his hand. He's fully developed, but his head and belly are big while his limbs are but stick and bones.

"Do you...want to hold him?" Watts opened the incubator. Ohms did what he must. He gently carried the Prince with both hands.

"My...baby."

He reminisced how it was like when he first had Watts in his hands. His brother was small and very soft. He remembered how his hands trembled when he lifted him. His experience with Watts is very different when he first held Spike, because Spike peed on him when he first carried him. So, he never carried Spike again. On the other hand, Watts was very respectful even as a baby. He will often smile at him while looking in his eyes. Since then, he declared himself the second father of his brother. Whenever Watts is not in his crib, they knew that Ohms stole him again and slept with him.

The Prince's eyes fluttered. The volume of his cries went down, and when he opened his eyes thinly, the blurry sight of his father made him smile.

In that moment, Ohms couldn't deny what he felt. More intense than the feeling Watts made him feel. And he didn't know why, but his tears just began falling from his eyes. Voltage knew why. His mother knew why.

He wanted to be a father, too.

He's never married. Never with a child. The only time he experienced fatherhood is when Watts, his brother, was born. He never married because he clung on a helpless faith where his greatest love will return and admit her wrongs and then they will start all over again. Watts dreamt of having a family of his own, too, but he couldn't because the wife he wanted is out of his reach.

She don't want to marry him, so who's there for him to marry and build a family with?

"My son. You are my son."

The Prince is the newest addition to the family tree of House Xirquit.

***

"Kuya?"

Ohms gave a glance to the person who's in the doorstep. He smiled at Watts and continued drawing.

"Come in. What is it? How's my son?"

Watts entered his room, or his brother's office. There were papers everywhere with drafts of drawings.

"The baby is fine. What are you doing?"

The simple news made Ohms smile, "Drawing clothes for him and drafting his toys. Come and see this stroller. Do you think he will like this?"

Watts went and stood beside him. Ohms showed him the drawing of a futuristic stroller that looked like a motorbike. He remembered that his eldest brother is an engineer.

"It's amazing. I'm sure he will like it. No, he will love it."

Ohms smiled wider.

"Right? I wanted to give you the same thing too, but Dad and Mom told me not to. They said the world is not ready to see technology yet. Who cares about the world? I'll give my son the best things I can make."

Watts is happy for his brother, but his genuine happiness for him makes him miserable. Another Prince and his brother's, while his is so far away from him. He's sinking. He's falling behind. The Ki'zaar is great and so his secretive and enigmatic brother. Both were better than him. What will happen to him now? His son with her is dead, while theirs is alive and faring well.

And since Ohms is so busy about his drawings, he didn't notice how Watts leave with a sad look on his face, on the verge of crying but he braved through his emotions.

How could he envy his brother who's always been good to him? Who had always gave him everything he asks from him? He felt bad.

When the sunrise reigned, Priedo and Lord Feryzen had returned with skeletons and a dying old man. The first person who met them was the Ki'zaar.

"Forgive us, Ki'zaar. It took us time to find them. Two were already...dead. The last one, the youngest, will soon join his brothers. They are not Ancients. They were...Earthlings."

The Ki'zaar went to see the man himself. Soon, he will die of old age. His death rattles were low, but it's enough to tell him just how short what's left in his life is.

"He deserved to see his family in this Side for the last time. Call our companions. They might know whose family he belongs to," he said as he caress the poor man's head with a smile.

"Thank you for helping my people. Because of you, we are here. Altogether."

The old man's lips trembled into a weak smile and slowly, very slowly, nodded.

"We're summoned? By the Ki'zaar?"

Franchetti Xerene looked at her husband. They're in the clinic where the Prince is. They are looking after him, running tests on him, and the like. They are doctors. It's ironic that they are people who kill people but they are people who save people, too.

"Celia!" Voltage Xirquit called. Celia spawned from the darkness.

"Stay here and look after the Prince. We will return soon."

Celia only bowed and stood beside the incubator. They went to the guest room where the old man was assigned too. His shallow breaths were numbered.

Even when he couldn't open his anymore, he still opened them to see the familiar scent and presences around him. Scents and presences that he missed.

And it made him smile when he found his family.

"I told you before about the people who helped us on our way here. They were like you, Earthlings. Soon, he will perish. We wish that he sees his family in this Side for the last time."

But there is no need to search for his family anymore when they're right in front of him.

His fingers flinched. Then he pointed at somebody.

"---an..."

Lord Feryzen went close to hear him speak.

The old man breathed in, gathering enough strength to clearly say it.

"Gran....ma... Un...cle... W-W...atts..."

Franchetti Xerene covered her mouth as her eyes widen with tears.

"My dear... Matthew?"

Matthew's eyes went tired, but he's still awake, just barely alive.

"---my... Mo...mmy..."

Voltage Xirquit pat Watts's shoulder. He collected himself and called for Wattroid to bring his sister---their family to them.

Franchetti Xerene didn't want his last moments be with sadness. She sat beside him, holding his hands. She held her tears back and she's really strong for that.

Once Elektra arrived with Bartholomew and their children, Voltage and Watts brought them to a corner to tell them the summary of the events that had happened. And now, they are walking to him.

"My brave boy..." Elektra's voice broke now that she saw the state he's in.

Matthew opened his eyes again. Tears leaked from his eyes.

"Mommy... Daddy..."

Franchetti Xerene left her post so Elektra can sit beside him. Bartholomew went down to his knees and encapsulated his son's hand within his palms.

"I'm sorry..." Elektra caressed his face.

Leandrew hugged his brother Kendrew when he turned to him to hide his crying face. Matthew was watching with innocence, while Franchette turned her back on them. She's biting her lower lip to hold her tears back.

"Is...the Empress...defeated?"

Nobody could say a thing.

So Ohms, who just got in, answered him, "She was."

And it made Matthew so in happiness.

"Fi...nally... She can...rest now, t-too..."

His eyes slowly panned to his mother's face.

"I...didn't ate poison this time, M-Mommy..." He softly whispered as his eyes forced themselves to shut.

Elektra dived into his body when his heart finally stopped beating.

"No! Please, just a little bit longer! My boy! Please, you haven't met Franchette yet! Your sister! You have a sister! My sweet boy, please. Please, come b-back..."

Their Matthew went to his grandparents to cry. They accepted him in his arms and kissed his head as they mourn for their loss. Priedo presented the remains of his brothers to them shortly after. Elektra broke down until she fainted. As their father, Bartholomew asked that they'd be cremated. And to honor them, Lord Feryzen offered that they be turned to ashes by dragon breath.

"We didn't even exchange goodbyes..." Elektra trembled as she gaze at her sons' flower beds. Her tears were dried. She still got lots to say. She wanted to show Franchette to him. He said he didn't ate poison this time.

But the last poison he took was leaving without saying goodbyes and closures.

Their Matthew placed his most treasured toy in the world on the Other Side Matthew's chest. An army figurine of his grandmother when she served before for the United States.

"You did well, self. I know you did. Thank you for your service, soldier." He stepped back and gave him a salute while holding back his sobs.

He will never be the same again after that.

Franchette stood before her brothers. She spawned the artifact her Uncle made for her in its simple form, as a knife. She cut her hair short using it and placed them on her brothers' chest.

"I-In another life, y-you will know I am your baby s-sister."

Just like her brother, she gave them a salute before marching back to their side.

"This is from me," Duke Paris placed a dagger on their flower bed, "And this is from Maxism." He gently placed a gun after.

"Your versions in this life will be free from grief, fear, and suffering. We promise you that. So please, rest in peace. You brought us joy ever since. You will go to a better place. I'm sorry if we failed you. We won't this time."

He smiled on Matthew while caressing his head.

Hearing that, though already gone, it made him smile even more, because he knew that they will. His Uncle Paris will never lie.

The last to bid their goodbyes were their parents. Elektra didn't cry anymore. She want to send them off with a smile instead of a frown. She want them to know that she's happy that their pain has ended, that they were found, and will always be loved.

She gave each of them a kiss one last time.

"Mommy will always and always love you. Leandrew, Kendrew, Matthew... My sweet, good boys... You have given me so much joy that I can never forget. I will never forget. You will always be mine. Second life, third life---as long as I am your Mommy, you are my sons. And I-I love you. Run free, my boys. Run free."

She kissed Matthew's cheek one more time and so the skulls of Leandrew and Kendrew. She left her husband Bartholomew with them. When she returned, her mother is already waiting for her with open arms.

She tried but she failed, so she cried on her shoulders, hoping that it will relieve her pain.

"Shh, you will be alright. The boys are brave. They're very brave. Hush. We will be fine."

Voltage stepped in and kissed his daughter's cheek. He tasted the saltiness and bitterness of her tears. He hugged both of his women and kissed them on their heads.

"I love you, my boys. Thank you for being mine." Bartholomew hiccuped and kissed his sons' forehead. Before he walked away, he turned to see them one more time. And he swear, he saw a trail of tear fall from Matthew's eyes as his smile grew wider.

The only comfort Ohms can give him was by ruffling his hair. At least Bartholomew felt seen and validated. Ohms gave Lord Feryzen a nod. Priedo built a sphere to surround them. Lord Feryzen positioned himself and shifted into a dragon.

"The moons will guide you the path back to your rightful heavenly realm," the Ki'zaar blessed one last time.

They stood hand in hand. Nobody looked away. They watched how the dragon's fire kissed and burned their bodies.

All while it's happening, Matthew and Franchette were standing straight with a salute.