Serendipity

Location: Nevarah : Royal Quarters

Raspen sighed heavily as he set down yet another signed document off to the side to be filed before grabbing another. Paperwork was always tedious to him. But it was never as tedious as it was when The Hunt was just around the corner. Raspen hated The Hunt for two main reasons. The first one was obvious, if you asked him. He was the Crown Royal Prince of the Earth Clan, which meant he was in the thick of everything. Especially this Hunt as it was the Earth Clan time to host. Even more so since his father had started giving Raspen more and more responsibilities to handle to get him ready to take over as King as soon as he found himself a circle. 

Don’t get him wrong, Raspen loved being the Crown Prince of the Earth Clan. He was honored to be chosen by Nevarah for such an important position, but the paperwork was a killjoy.

The second reason was because every time The Hunt rolled around from the moment he inherited, his parents and the Earth Courts were pressuring him to find a circle to bond into. More importantly a Triad circle that was approved of by the Earth Courts. They pressured him outside The Hunt, but that pressure only grew tenfold during the eight weeks the festivities took place in.

Raspen had long since come to terms with the fact that he wouldn’t really have a choice in the circle he bonded into. It didn’t mean he necessarily liked it, but he had understood as much when he gave up his original rank when he took up the mantle of Crown Prince. Still it didn’t mean he didn’t long to bond into a circle of his own choosing. Anyone, even a Crown Royal, had those thoughts pop in every now and again. Raspen thought it was a pretty hands-off non-emotional way of picking the people you would spend the rest of your life with and eventually have children with though. The only chance Raspen had to be in a circle that wasn’t hand-picked by the Earth Courts was the very rare chance of him being pulled by a submissive’s soul scream. Made even rarer due to the soul seal he had to take when he became the Crown Prince. Only a very powerful submissive would be able to break past his soul seal to get him by their side and there weren't many submissives like that. 

Another sigh left Raspen as he tried to focus again on the paperwork in his hand, but before he could start rereading the page there was a knock on his office door. He wasn’t at all surprised when Peryton walked into the room as if he owned the place, carrying a box of take out in one hand. Raspen couldn’t help but smile at his fellow Royal and soulbonded. The two of them had been really close ever since they were children but it really was only around ten years ago that they learned about the soul bond between them. Their soulbond had been in place long before Raspen had the soul-seal in place but they hadn’t noticed until then. When Peryton had learned about it he had given up his place as the Crown Prince of the Air Courts to his younger sister Dawne because he knew Raspen wouldn’t be able to give up his crown in the Earth Clan. It was once again another reason why Raspen hated the fact that he couldn’t pick his own circle. The only way the Earth and Air Clans would accept their bonding was if they were both called in a soul scream, even if it would be an begrudging acceptance. 

Peryton raised an eyebrow at him as he walked in. “I’m assuming you haven’t eaten much today?” He questioned, shutting the door behind him. With a single wave of his free hand the paperwork that Raspen was working on flew into a neat pile on the side of his desk. Even what was in his hands. 

“You don’t even know what order those were supposed to be in.” Raspen stated, shaking his head slightly in a strange mixture of amused annoyance. Still he accepted the food Peryton handed out to him as the other dragel plopped into the chair on the other side of his desk.

“Hmmm.. No I don’t, but I’m sure it will be fine. You know what order they need to be in. And if you really want me to, I can sort it all for you after you eat.” Peryton teased with a salacious grin and a wink as he opened his own takeout box. “I got you your favorite so you’ll have to forgive me, Ras. I even made sure to get it from your favorite place, and the line to order was halfway down the street!”

Raspen chuckled as he tucked into his food, a small smirk on his face knowing how troublesome it would have been for Peryton to get this food for him. That knowledge made up for the trouble he would have when he sorted the paperwork himself. The two of them ate in silence for a while, just enjoying each other’s company before Raspen exhaled heavily. “You’re lucky that you aren’t the Crown Prince of the Air Clan. The paperwork is drowning me and we’re still two weeks away from The hunt.” He told him, glancing at the paperwork neatly stacked up to the right side of his desk before his eyes drifted to the single roll of parchment paper that he knew had all the Earth Court-approved triad groups and single submissives on it. 

“Dawne is drawing in it too. The Air Courts have made her shift the parties around during The Hunt for a third time, along with the introduction placements. It really is too bad you are the hosting element this year.” Peryton frown, feeling bad for his soulbonded. His eyes followed Raspen’s to the roll of parchment. “That’s the list?”

“It is. I haven’t looked at them yet but I am sure the next time I see my father or mera, they will be demanding my thoughts.” Raspen answered, grimacing at the thought. His father, Raspen knew, would be absolutely unbearable about it, while all his mera had ever wanted for her circle’s children was for them to be happy. From the pitying looks Raspen sometimes caught her sending his way, he was certain she knew about his soulbond with Peryton. 

The two of them shared a knowing, sad look, but before either could say anything more on the subject Nevarah started to shake underneath them violently. Raspen froze, grounding himself as the paperwork went flying and Peryton had to grasp the desk to keep from following it to the floor. Raspen immediately knew that this was no ordinary earthquake. It certainly was not caused by a shifting of the ground of Nevarah, nor anyone in the Earth Clan using their magic recklessly or unintentionally. No, Raspen could feel a pull in his magic coming from Nevarah herself demanding his attention. 

A flash of light blinded the two of them and when it cleared there was a male standing before them, completely unbothered by the shaking floor. The male had long grey hair with a single braid of it tucked to the right side of his pale face and shimmering multicolored eyes that seemed to be fluxing and shifting so many different colors. He wore a long thick set of robes in dark blue that were embroidered in gold and silver designs that looked like runes to Raspen’s eyes, and he was carrying an old wooden staff with a large opal crystal at the top of it in the clutches of a dragon claw. The opal itself shone with magic, shifting colors as rapidly as the male's eyes. Raspen and Peryton immediately bowed their heads when they recognized who it was. Lord Medeis, the male Immortal of Magic.

“Lord Medeis, pardon our imprudence. What can we do for you?” Raspen asked, keeping his eyes casted down. 

“There has been a plot uncovered against Nevarah and all the Immortals that has been going on for centuries and the perpetrator has finally made one too many mistakes.” Lord Medeis spoke, his voice deep and raspy, holding an almost smoky wise tone. “This perpetrator is the Headmaster of the school you will be going to in a moment. He has forced inheritances out of an entire school of children, both creature and majority wixen inheritances. You two will not be the only two from Nevarah and other Realms called to deal with the fall out, but you have another reason for being called. Do not fight the soulscream. Your submissive is a blessed one of mine.” Lord Medeis’s eyes flashed with anger and retribution. 

Before Raspen or Peryton could say anything in response Lord Medeis was gone in another flash of light. And that was when the two heard and felt it. A pulling deep within their very souls and the tortured scream of a submissive, their soulbonded submissive. Peryton didn’t hesitate for a moment to let the golden soul magic flash him to their submissive’s side but Raspen struggled against it. Only for a moment to call his guards and inform them rapidly what was going on before he let the soul magic engulf him and pull him to his Heart. 

What met Raspen’s eyes the moment the golden soul magic cleared up could only be described as nothing but chaos. Complete and utter chaos. He found himself in a giant room that was being enlarged further by several Mages who were pulled to deal with the fallout. It was obvious that the room had once been used as a dining hall seeing how the long tables were covered in desserts, some of it had ended up on the floor in the mess. Everywhere Raspen looked there were children. Screaming. Crying. Writhing on the floor in pain as inheritances were forced out of them. Raspen’s eyes quickly found the Head Table where the Professors were looking rather panicked. One male stood out amongst them all. He had long white hair, and an even longer white beard, and was wearing the most gaudy purple robes with flashing lights on them as he held up a goblet that Raspen could see was covered in the magic that had caused all of this to happen. The male's magic was dark and twisted in a way that made Raspen’s instincts snarl and demand he get his submissive far away from. Without an ounce of hesitation he casted a spell to stun the man, which was followed with multiple spells shot from several other people who had been ported into the large dining hall. 

Raspen smiled happily when the old man dropped like a fly to the stone ground with a loud thud. It was certainly less than he deserved. Shaking his head, Raspen moved to try and find his submissive in all the chaos. He would help out with everything once he found out they were okay, and not a moment sooner. His instincts wouldn’t rest in the slightest without seeing them. 

It was fairly easy to find his newly made soul-bonded circle considering how the open soulbond tugged his towards the left side of the room nearest to the table with a Basilisk Banner in green hanging above it. While he had been focused on the wizard who created this problem, the rest of his circle had moved their submissive off to the side in one of the empty spaces that was made when the mages enlarged the room. 

The submissive in question, his submissive, was still screaming but it seemed like their soul scream had cut off and their screams was just from the pain of their inheritance. The circle he had found himself in was quite large, however Raspen wasn’t paying attention to who was in it. His entire focus was on his submissive. 

The first thing he noticed was the fact that they were fluxing back and forth between a male and female form, uncontrollably. A changeling then. Raspen didn’t care either way. Not when he knew they were made for each other as all soul bonded were. Two healers, their circle Healers, one obviously half Merrow and the other a Kalzik, Ardi Kalzik to be exact, were frantically trying to help their submissive. Casting spell after spell on them in a somewhat coordinated way with the Merrow taking point and the Kalzik hovering his Nameless Healing Crystal Magic around to help. 

Between the two of them was their submissive. Raspen could see they had long curly red hair that was pulled into a messy bun, and their silver-peach scales that scattered across their skin in strange star shapes that he had never seen on another Dragel before. Intermixed with the typical silver-peach submissive colors were other colors mainly different shades of blacks and blues, and some pops of yellow. Some of the scales were thicker, more armored, which gave him the idea that his submissive was Gheyric in nature. Raspen supposed he wouldn’t know what element his submissive held until they woke up as the last of the magic in star shaped patterned soaked into their body, but he figured they were probably Nameless. 

“So many seals,” The half Merrow Healer growled to Ardi, tossing flowy white-grey hair out of his face. “Take a sample of that magic signature. I want to know who the hell has the audacity to not only seal away our submissive’s creature inheritance and the majority of their magic but also their changeling status!” That caused multiple growls to echo throughout the room from their circle. 

“Probably the same person who did all of these seals.” Another Healer, one of the many who had been directed here by the Immortals that wasn’t a part of their circle, yelled. She was kneeling next to some children on the other side of the dining hall, next to a table with a red banner with a lion on it. 

Seeing how his instincts had started to calm down when he saw his circle Healers helping their submissive, Raspen took a look around the dining hall once more, nodding when he saw that various Gheyos from the various different creatures who had responded had detained the adults in the hall, including the man he had helped stun. That man, the one who had perpetrated crimes against the various Realms and the Immortals, was off to the side away from all the teachers still out like a light. Raspen was happy to see, however, that the majority of the teachers at this school looked more concerned about their students than themselves. Some of which were arguing with the Gheyos to be able to help their students themselves. Not that that would ever happen. They had failed their students more than they knew. 

“This is a proper mess we’ve found ourselves in, Ras,” Peryton stated, leaning up against Raspen’s taller form. Raspen turned to look at him but Peryton wasn’t paying any attention, instead staring at their submissive with happiness and worry in his eyes. “I don’t think I would change it for the world though.” 

“Me neither,” Raspen quietly stated. 

“Raspen! Peryton! Were you two sent here by the Immortals too?” Dawne asked as she practically floated over to the two of them with a tense smile on her face, obviously barely keeping it together.

“By the Immortals and our submissive.” Raspen answered, nodding to their soulbonded circle. 

“Really? Then congratulations are in order. I’m really happy for you two. Ebony, Al, and I have been worrying about if you two would ever get together and now you have no choice.” Dawne’s smile softened before she looked back the way she came. “Ebony and Alcandor are both here as well. Did you know that Alcandor is now King of the Merrow? He didn’t tell me anything!” Dawne gossiped, her voice having a bit of a whine to it as she pointed to where the Princess of the Fire Clan and the King of the Merrow stood trading barbs back and forth. Those two didn’t seem to care at all about the mess they were sent to sort out, instead thinking their Elemental issues were more important. 

Raspen and Peryton shared a look, the Air Prince rolling his eyes, before looking for their Alpha. It didn’t take long to find him in a tall, imposing looking male with short cropped black hair and eyes so dark grey they looked almost black. From the look of his wings and the armor he wore, he was a Gheyric Alpha, which went hand and hand with their Gheyric Submissive. Raspen chose not to think about the implications of that and how much the Earth Courts would revolt about it. His Alpha didn’t seem to be in a feral state of mind at all, as his calculating eyes watched everything their Healers were doing to help their submissive. Raspen recognized him almost instantly as Castor Kami. He was a Nameless Shadow Alpha who was known for his Void Magic, a very rare type of magic that sometimes popped out from Shadow heavy circles. The Kami Clan had been all Shadow dragels for as far back as Raspen could remember. From the rumors he had heard, Castor had been planning on challenging the Blood Raven for his title soon but Raspen had no way of knowing if that was true or not. Especially since he was considered the de facto Nameless Blood Title due to his fighting record against other Nameless Gheyo’s. 

“Alpha,” Raspen spoke as soon as he made it to the other dragel’s side. The male slowly turned to look at him and nodded, silently telling him to continue, with a hint of recognition in his eyes. “They need Prince Peryton and I to help sort out the other children. Are we free to help?” Castor’s head tilted to the side before he nodded again, turning back to watch their submissive like a hawk. 

“Take one of our suites with you for protection.” Castor ordered as an afterthought, his voice a deep melodious sound that Raspen hadn’t expected from the Gheyric Alpha.

“My suite will go with you two. We are the only one that is fully bonded and we need to talk with our King anyways.” A Merrow spoke up, glaring daggers at several of the other Gheyos in the group. Behind him were five other Merrow Gheyos, one of which was a Joker. Raspen nodded in response before turning back around to stare at the mess before them. 

Some of the children, those who only went through a majority Wixen inheritance, were starting to wake up and were freaking out about how many creatures were around them. A few Pareya without their creature features out in view were taking them off to the side his circle had claimed, far enough away from them though so they didn’t set off instincts that were already at an all time high with the soul scream, to calm them down and keep them out of the way. The youngest of them was eleven and the oldest barely even seventeen. On the other side of the hall the children who had creature inheritances, or were still in the middle of coming into their inheritances, were being moved and sorted into different creature groups so their people could oversee them properly and explain what was going on with them. Hardly anyone on that side of the room were awake though. 

“Arielle, give me strength.” Raspen prayed before he and Peryton headed directly towards Ebony and Alcandor with the circle Merrow bonded behind them and Dawne walking beside them. Raspen would surely need it with the amount of paperwork he was going to have to do about this whole incident.