The graceful rays of Woewyn's morning sun didn't exactly burst through the sky; they streamed slowly over the capital's aesthetic bridges, dissolving the morning fog and mist.
Outside the palace, a few white birds flew low across the royal gardens, making a faint rustling noise before they settled onto the stone balcony railings to pick at their feathers.
Inside the majestic halls, the palace was already moving.
Several maids walked quietly in pairs, their skirts brushing the carpeted stone floor as they carried sheets and silver trays with unlit candles. They kept their voices low, glancing briefly at the heavy doors of the royal quarters as they made friendly chatter.
Further down, somewhere in the castle, several palace soldiers proceeded with their usual morning patrol. The rhythmic clack of their boots echoed gently, enough to signal a comforting sense of security as their gold-lined armour caught the light. One guard paused briefly by a large window, adjusting his heavy sword with a small click of metal before continuing his route.
The entire castle was running smoothly in its usual morning routine.
But behind the thick door of the prince's bedroom, the dawn light only crept slowly through the gaps of the curtains, hitting the edge of the royal couch where the earpods lay completely silent, and his mind entirely asleep under the sheets.
Damon Vale shifted in his sleep so he was now facing the window where the light was coming from.
As the sunlight hit his face, his eyelids trembled faintly with the weight of the exhaustion left behind by the purge. He blinked slowly a few times, his vision blurry as the bright silver rays cut right across his eyes. He looked at the light with squinted eyes, holding a hand up slightly to block it, but slowly his eyes adjusted, and they stopped squinting as they became normal.
Prince Damon's body and mind seemed incredibly heavy. He struggled and shifted against the cushions, moving reluctantly so he was now looking up at the ceiling with his head resting on the chair's armrest and a palm pressed flat against his forehead.
He stayed like that for a long time, his gaze fixed on the intricate lines of the ceiling as the absolute quiet of the palace atmosphere pressed down on him, and his morning thoughts slowed into a steady rhythm.
His eyes noticed the hound still sleeping under the warm duvet, and Damon let out a breath. His legs were free, yet his knees felt weighed down by the softness of the couch, but he grunted slightly as he shifted his weight, pushing himself up so he now sat up in his white shirt.
He let out a heavy sigh, the silence of the massive room catching the sound.
'At least I'm alive,' he thought to himself.
He looked down at his palm, turning his hand over slowly before he clenched his fists a couple of times to feel the grip.
'I do feel stronger, though. That's the entire point of Purges… but those alone won't get me to the Ascent Stage fast enough.'
He leaned his back into the chair again, letting his head drop back as he looked at the grand chandelier. Under the morning sun shining directly through the glass windows, the crystals glowed so brightly that they looked like they were actually turned on. The light reflected softly across the dark-blue wallpaper, casting long shadows over the open space of his training zone.
'The stronger I get… the more likely it is I'll beat Gamishi. The quicker I can go back to Natsuki. I still wanna see Mom and Nyra… but Natsuki…'
He paused for a while as his mind drifted back to their conversation last night, how he laughed and how he heard her laugh. He looked toward the right wall, where the basketball she had given him was still sealed in its packaging, hanging quietly in the morning light.
Seeing the packaged item, he felt a certain smoothness in his body. Then he quietly spoke out loud in his royal room.
"At the same time, I still hope I can just… change his mind on the whole multiverse destruction thing. School will be closed for a while so I can train more. On the bad side, Bravira will most likely have me at the brink of death, which is a good and bad thing at the same time. I guess this is what Natsuki was saying about being used to… problems."
He paused for a while, letting his own words settle in the quiet atmosphere, before he finally forced his feet onto the warm stone floor laced with carpets and got up.
"Still, I hope she never has to feel the same way. Well... that's also one of the things I'm fighting for." Damon said with a smile.
He rose to his feet and stretched forward while touching his toes, feeling the tight pull in his hamstrings from the night before, then he bent all the way backwards to crack his spine against the stillness of the room. He stayed in that stance for a moment before moving into dynamic arm swings to loosen up his upper body.
As he stretched, he thought, 'I wonder what time I should go meet Draven today. From what I remember, the capital has a 600km radius.'
He dropped down to the stone floor, spreading his arms wide into a deep chest stretch to prepare his joints for the high-intensity overhead movements coming up next.
'And Mr Draven over there has asked me to come on foot. Now that I think about it, that's such a pretty boy move. But I guess it works out since I can get a run.'
Damon stopped stretching and sighed like a grunt. He walked over to his curtains and opened all the windows in his room, letting the cool morning breeze flood into the open space.
As he looked down, he noticed a strange, silver-furred squirrel sitting quietly on the branch of a nearby tree. That seemed to make his eyes brighten a little. The squirrel held Prince Damon's gaze for a brief second with a curious tilt of its head before going back into its hole in the tree.
Damon sighed and looked outside shortly, seeing the vast expanse of the capital, the majestic spires of buildings gleaming under the sunlight, and a faraway body of water rippling beautifully as everything woke.
He then went to the training part of his room and took the heavy plates. As he wrapped them on his waist with a belt, he thought, 'With Thorpax's idea, mostly Aunt Seren's creation, I've been using these compressed plates.'
He grabbed the pull-up bar, his fingers locking onto the cold metal. As he began to do pull-ups, his entire upper body tensed under the sudden, massive strain.
'Strapping the weight of mountains to my waist to do my pull-ups should increase my strength,' he thought, his jaw clenching.'Thorpax says I need a lot of it to master Earth. It's been a while since I awakened fire and wind, and I still haven't awakened Earth yet.'
He began grunting slightly. His muscles burned against the extreme weight of the plates, and he was now going slower on the pull-ups, moving more gently and more smoothly to ensure his form was perfect.
'Well, my wind does need to get better,' he thought. 'So I guess I have time to train that before Earth awakens. Normally, I'd be doubting the vial King Cassian gifted me, but it helped awaken my fire and wind quickly, so maybe I'm not strong enough to awaken Earth. So... what? I'm not fluid enough to awaken water?' He made the last thought with a strained laugh.
'I wonder why they call the affinity Earth when we're not on Earth? I need to check—'
He grunted, his arms trembling violently as he forced his chin over the bar again. 'C'mon… 49. 50.'
His body locked up as he hung with a sweat dripping from him down to the floor. The staggering weight pulled at his shoulders, his muscles screaming under the extremely tight tension. Every fiber of his upper body threatened to snap, yet he held the position, defying the crushing gravity beneath him.
'Just five more.'
He struggled his way through the final five with his breathing growing uneven and heavy as his compressed muscles screamed in agony under the immense pressure.
With a final, agonizing effort, he completed the fifty-fifth rep and dropped down to a dead hang. He tried to pull a fifty-sixth, but his elbows completely locked. His grip failed, and he dropped to the floor. He unclipped the belt, letting the compressed plates hit the floor with a muffled thud.
"I should… check the Eldion Archives for the Earth affinity thing," he said while heaving.
As Damon had his hands on his knees, catching his breath, the small shift on the bed made his ear twitch. Daichi stirred under the warm duvet, his paw dragging across his face as he rubbed his eyes in a sleepy motion. A long, wide yawn escaped his snout before he stepped over the duvet and padded toward Damon.
Damon sensed him before he heard him. He turned, still sweating lightly, and the moment he saw the sleepy hound, his expression softened.
"You look cute when you wake up," Damon said with a profound smile.
Daichi blinked at him, then basically sat neatly on his hind limbs. "You should tell that to Natsuki."
Damon let out a small laugh as he sat on the bed and lifted the hound into his arms, ruffling the fur on its head. "Did you sleep well?"
Daichi didn't answer immediately. Instead, he looked straight into Damon's gold‑tinted eyes with a quiet, sharp concern laced with curiosity. "I have a feeling you didn't."
Damon smiled gently, "It's nothing to worry about. I just… I really missed Natsuki a lot, that's all," he said in a softly reassuring voice.
Daichi fully looked at Damon now. The hound shifted and sat across from Damon on the bed as Damon sat with one leg crossed on his bed, lounging casually as he leaned back to prop his upper body up with his arms behind him and his palms resting flat on the mattress.
An absolute quiet settled between the two for a brief moment as Daichi searched Damon's eyes. His gaze scanned every inch of his face before the dog's eyes moved down to Damon's arms and the slightly visible veins pulsing on his skin.
Then, Daichi's eyes suddenly glowed blue.
"What's wrong?" Damon asked.
Daichi was now looking at Damon's body, but as if deeper into his outline and through him, watching the way Damon's blue aura moved—like a doctor watching a heartbeat. The air in the room slowed down completely, catching the heavy pause before the hound spoke.
"Damon…"
Damon's eyes shifted as he already knew the question.
"Did you have a purge last night?" Daichi asked Damon with an unwavering voice and eyes that mirrored his tone.
Damon looked at the hound for a long moment, and a heavy silence settled heavily over the room, stretching the seconds until the only sound remaining was the faint rustle of the curtains by the open window. Damon's shoulders slowly dropped within those seconds.
After a while, he shifted with his eyes closed.
He pulled his arms from behind him and let his posture collapse, slouching forward with his forearms resting heavily on his knees. His eyes stayed fixed on the pale sheets between his feet, tracing the gold threads as if searching for an excuse inside them. A slow, shaky breath slipped out through his nose, his shoulders sinking under the weight of the silence before he finally forced his lips to part.
Then he asked, "How did you know?"
Daichi barked his reply firmly, "You let it slip to Princess Alya that you were holding it. And your aura… It's different. I'm your bond," Daichi barked as he shifted and rested both front paws on Damon's lap, tapping it lightly. "You're my bond too, I can see almost every change in this body. Why didn't you tell me?"
Damon breathed out and said, "There's no point. Waking you up wouldn't do anything, I'd just be disturbing you." He tried to get up. "Besides—"
Damon was suddenly pushed straight back into the bed as Daichi transformed into his bigger form, though still keeping his dog appearance, big enough to stand fully over Damon from shoulder to toe. Damon fell back into the mattress as Daichi planted himself on top of him and began to bark almost furiously, yet somehow full of affection.
While Damon entirely understood what the dog was barking, two maids passing by his closed door shortly stopped and blinked in confusion at the sudden noise before moving on.
Inside the room, Daichi continued barking, "—I hate your powers."
Damon blinked, genuinely thrown off. "Hmm?" he said, without even realizing he'd said it.
Daichi barked again sharply, "Before we got to Eternum, I only hated the caretaker at the dog prison and her cat. That's all. Now, I hate your powers because it hurts your body. But it's better to hurt with someone than to hurt alone," Daichi barked in finality.
Damon's slightly confused face shifted to a soft smile, and he asked, "Is eight years old old in dog years? 'Cause you seem too wise for your age."
Daichi huffed, "Well… Yes. But I'm a wolf too now, so now eight is small. And also I'm nine."
Damon shifted up, grabbing the dog under his arms to lift him. The once furious hound was now dangling above the bed in his bigger size with his tongue out.
"You're not nine," Damon said. "'Cause it's not your birthday yet. It reminds me of the first time we met, when you tried to ask me to tell Natsuki my feelings. You're oddly wise, Daichi."
Daichi replied casually, "For someone with a brain like yours, I get surprised when you say the things I say are smart. It's simple to me. You share your victories and all the nice things with everyone, the same way I share my hunts with you. Why can't you share your pain the same way, too? The same way I tell you I injured my paw, even if it's a little."
Damon let out a laugh and said, "You've got a one of a kind mouth on you."
Daichi still looked slightly confused.
"But you're right. I'm sorry about that, and while I won't be waking—" Daichi frowned before Damon could finish.
Damon chuckled, "I'll try. Is that good enough?"
"Not really, but I'll take it," Daichi said, shaking his fur out. "What a way to start the morning. When are we having breakfast?"
Damon smirked and lifted his palm beside Daichi's face. Outside, with a sharp flick of his wrist, a horizontal arc of brilliant light sliced cleanly through the branches. A smooth swirl of wind whipped through the open air, gathering a cluster of blueberries, apples, and wild strawberries, guiding them effortlessly through the three open windows of his room.
The fruits tumbled softly onto his bed. Along with them, a tiny chipmunk landed with a soft thud, its little paws desperately clutching a stem of blueberries, its entire mouth stained blue.
Damon laughed at the panic in the creature's wide eyes as it landed on the sheets, staring at him with its tiny paws pressed together. The chipmunk sat up on the sheets, its front limbs pressed together as if pleading for its life, staring straight at the Prince.
Damon leaned down in amusement, using a single finger to lightly toy with its tiny jaw.
Daichi, however, was not amused.
The hound's eyes snapped open, locking instantly onto the thickest part of the chipmunk's flesh—its plump little backside. Daichi stared intensely with eyes tracking the creature as it happily squealed under Damon's touch, starting to feel a bit too comfortable.
Suddenly, the chipmunk felt a cold gaze on its back. The tiny rodent froze mid-squeak as its eyes widened in pure horror. It turned around in slow motion, its gaze meeting Daichi's piercing blue eyes and majestically white fur.
Daichi slowly licked his lips.
From the chipmunk's POV, the room seemed to darken. The white hound didn't look like a loyal pet anymore; his fangs grew grotesquely long, and his white fur appeared stained with splatters of fresh blood.
Daichi instantly lunged forward, snapping his jaws across the bed. The chipmunk let out a defensive scream, scrambling frantically up Damon's arm until it moved itself safely onto his shoulder as its chest heaved.
Daichi adjusted his weight to spring again, but Damon's palm blocked him mid-air, pressing firmly against the dog's snout.
"Daichi, c'mon. Why do you even want to eat him? It's not like he'll fill you up anyway."
Daichi let out a low, rumbling bark against Damon's palm with a hungry huff. "It came into our space and stayed. It was practically begging to be eaten. It's the perfect appetizer."
The chipmunk let out a fierce, high-pitched squeal from Damon's shoulder, as if arguing back.
Damon snorted. "I have no idea what it just said, but I've watched Alvin and the Chipmunks enough to know that's a hard no."
Damon lifted the stubborn hound to the side and gently placed the trembling squirrel back onto the mattress. Daichi stopped attacking after realising his efforts were practically pointless, but he didn't break eye contact. He just watched the rodent with a quiet hunger.
Sensing the dangerous atmosphere, the chipmunk hopped its way toward the open window, turned back, and gave its own little version of a farewell.
Damon reached into the pile of fruit and held out an entire branch of blueberries in front of Daichi, slowly swinging it from side to side like a pendulum.
Daichi's ears dropped, his face twisting into the exact expression of a toddler about to throw a tantrum. "I don't want that."
"It's unhealthy for you to eat just meat, Mr Drama," Damon muttered, plucking a blueberry for himself and tossing it into his mouth. "It's not like you don't even like fruits."
He chewed with a self-satisfied smirk. "See? It's nice."
Daichi reluctantly began to crunch on the scattered fruits left on the mattress, and Damon offered a light smirk, ruffling the white hound's thick fur. After a few moments of forcefully swallowing the healthy snacks he previously despised more than Damon, Daichi barked out loud, his voice echoing in Damon's mind.
'Damon, we have to see Draven today!'
Damon popped his head out of the royal bathroom with a toothbrush sticking out of his mouth. "I know. We'll be leaving..."
He turned back to the mirror and brushed his teeth and tongue with inhuman speed.
"...now."
He rushed back into the main bedroom, and Daichi noticed his glowing scar on his perfectly ripped body as he stripped out of his casual clothes and threw on a pair of running shorts and a simple black shirt with gold intricate lines through them.
Daichi hopped off the edge of the bed, tilting his head. "The scar makes you look cool. But that outfit isn't very royal of you... Prince Damon."
"I'm going on a 600-kilometer run and then some," Damon muttered, strapping a matte-black tactical weighted vest tightly over his chest. The heavy plates inside the vest settled against his shoulders with a solid weight. "I'll wear whatever I'm comfortable in. Let's go and get there early since Mr Zephyr didn't bother to specify a time."
Damon sealed the door behind him—then reopened it to turn off the lights. A few patrolling guards bowed instantly; Damon waved awkwardly as he jogged past.
A maid was kneeling on the floor, scrambling to gather scattered papers—royal decrees, schedules, letters. Damon jogged by with a "Good morning," and a swirl of wind neatly stacked the papers for her. She looked up just as he disappeared down the hall.
'Thank you, Prince Damon,' she thought with a soft smile.
Out in the sprawling royal gardens, Queen Thessa stood conversing with Nyra, gesturing gently as they seemed to be conversing on an intricate matter.
'Wonder what they're gossiping about.'
Thessa was laughing softly at her daughter's serious expression when Damon suddenly blazed right between them.
"Morning! I'm off to see Draven at... somewhere!" Damon shouted over his shoulder, not even slowing down. "Don't tell me when school's open again so I can skip it and say I didn't know we'd resumed! See you later!"
Princess Nyra immediately facepalmed, letting out a heavy groan. "That's such a good idea. Why didn't I think of that?"
Queen Thessa watched her son vanish, a wry smile on her face, before she turned her sharp gaze back to her daughter. "Have you learned how to fly yet?"
A single, prominent drop of sweat formed on Nyra's brow. "Err... no. However, Mother, I—"
"You do know I have several ways to help—"
Princess Nyra dashed off like her brother. "Sorry, Mother! I'll be at Zariel's Crucible!"
Left alone in the quiet of the gardens, Queen Thessa facepalmed, a soft sigh escaping her lips as she watched both her children sprint away from their responsibilities.
'The day has just started, and yet they're already moving so quickly,' she thought to herself, turning her steps slowly back toward the massive palace entryways.
'I can only hope that they remain careful. We still have to determine a course of action against Doran, and why we're in a situation with a man everyone believed was dead. No. I have to determine it. As much as I'd like them to be cautious, they should live freely. After all, they're still only children.'
She paused near the stone pillars, her eyes narrowing as she recalled the brief flash of Damon's presence as he sprinted past. 'Was it just me... or did Damon feel... stronger? Just slightly. Did he have another purge? No, he would have told me... though, he hasn't mentioned it in a while.'
She shook the heavy thought away as if forcing her mind back to the kingdom's impending crises.
'Tolrex should have updates on Doran. But before that... the Atlanteans have been entirely too silent about their water's contamination. What are they plotting? Or are they plotting at all?'
A heavily bitter sigh left her throat, and an old memory slipped into her thoughts.
An image of her as a young girl in her free white hair playfully squeezing a young boy's neck from behind in a green garden filled with blooming flowers, while the boy dramatically gasped as if he were truly about to die. Yet they both laughed.
The boy broke free from her grasp and began dashing forward, "You cannot catch me, Eldersister! I'm a future King with the swiftness of the wind."
Young Thessa yelled back, "We'll see about that, Lucian!" She ran after him with a smile and laughter on her face. The memory blurred at the edges like white smoke over a darkening view.
'…Whatever it is, I'm sure he'll still defend us.' She thought with a smile
Meanwhile, Damon was already sprinting—not at inhuman speed, but just... fast. He then pulled a card from his pocket and clicked it, opening a grey mini‑dimension beside him, and placed his phone and earpods in them.
Daichi spoke telepathically, 'Ohh… I thought you only took those to school?'
Damon chuckled. 'Who takes a mini‑dimension made by Dr Tolrex to the place they hate most alone? I take it everywhere. Should we speed up?'
Daichi's ears flopped back as he enjoyed the wind, sprinting beside Damon. 'No, going slower feels nicer.'
Damon smiled, adjusting the heavy straps of his vest as they approached the looming palace gates. "Alright, Daichi. Alright."