Chapter Text
The Kingdom of Fervor was beautiful. Is beautiful. He’d always thought it was amazing. Cross admired it, longed to feel it in its full essence. To at least scratch its surface. Everything about it made him desire it. He’d always thought it had to be some kind of obsession due to the way it had perpetually been presented as an elegant, untouchable place. But it existed. Simply heavily veiled. He’d never expected to actually be standing in a line of soldiers, stiff and poised up professionally, waiting to be chosen or turned down by one of the princes. One. Each brother chose one guard. This was Cross’ one chance to be chosen. He didn’t mind which brother chose him. Even being able to gaze upon the marble insides of the palace would be enough. Cross let not even a breath escape his closely shut mouth, eyes staying in place, making sure to keep every last drop of freedom out of his reach as he stood rigidly, unyieldingly posed in the same way all others were. The pale walls hardly even echoed, not a sound from the stiff soldiers standing in lines, waiting.
That is, until a singular misbehaved, admittedly improper being started attempting to provoke others. Why had this imbecile even been picked to be here? It must’ve been a mistake. He wasn’t even wearing his armor correctly. What a joke. Cross allowed himself to divert his eyes over to the insubordinate soldier. His sallet was up, and his soul was outside of his ribcage and floating at the exterior of his armor. He had been suited up in the same uniform armor as the rest of them, iron armor polished to the point of looking silver with silk pieces of flowing fabric, each of their representative countries or village’s colors dyed proudly onto them. A black liquid dripped from his empty eye sockets, devoid of any eyelight or pupil of any type.
Cross’ eyes darted back into place as his analysis on the soldier was cut short by the sharp sound of footsteps in the grand doorway directly next to the lines of soldiers that had all been waiting for this very moment. It didn’t seem to matter much for the indisciplined soldier who continued to provoke the warrior next to him, who, nonetheless, only quieted down a bit after the two princes were directly in sight.
Cross straightened up, inhaling sharply as the two princes swept by them, their royal air just grazing his nose. It was pricklingly refreshing, like small raindrops pelting down onto rocks, eating slowly away at it until it was nothing more than sand. It was the prince of Negativity who had walked past him first. He hadn’t exactly expected to be directly affected by their mere presence—-especially not the stark differences in it. The Positivity prince was a breath of fresh air, a burst of energy, pure positivity and peace. This was absolutely in contrast to the prince of Negativity, who absolutely drained him. He could feel close to nothing when he walked past. It felt as if his emotions were sucked out of him all at once, and he immediately came close to breaking position. The only soldier that didn't seem to react to the Negative being’s leech-like aura was the indiscipline one. He stopped himself from looking sideways toward him, well, before he was promptly chosen by the prince of Negativity? Cross quickly went stiff again, watching and listening closely. The two were speaking. Quite improperly, at that.
The indiscipline soldier spoke first to the near silent prince, the void of his eyesockets squinting up a bit, with a streak of mischief seeming to lace his expression.
“Awe, how flattering! Choosing me over the rest of these prim, proper soldiers?”
“Unless you’d like to be returned to your line, I suggest you seal your impudent lips before I do so for you.” The prince almost immediately fired back, managing to silence the soldier for a few moments before he had decided to respond. Cross’ eavesdropping had been cut short when an elegantly trained voice spoke up toward him, ordering him to follow in that royal manner that had made him sure that it was the prince of Positivity speaking to him. He looked down respectfully, bowing his head at that perfect angle before silently complying to his will and following closely behind, just as the other soldier had, except in a much more formal manner.
“What is your name, Guard?” The being of Positivity asked him just as the heavy doors shut behind them, the banter of the Negative’s guard long gone into his chambers. All he had to do now was to pay close attention to the Positive’s words.
“Cross, your Highness.” He bowed his head once more in utter respect.
“Well, then, Cross, I hope that you’ll be able to enjoy your time as a Royal Guard here at the Kingdom of Fervor. I apologize in advance for any inconveniences that we may encounter together, as you’re my first guard I’ll ever have. You may call me Dream.” Dream flashed a gently charming smile. Cross nodded, exhaling softly.