Special Notes: Again, I’ll edit as I find needed corrections. And as a side note, I’m not really sure I like the direction the story is turning. [The Princes XXVI] [Fox Black] “Get back here, you,” Fox chased the four-year old down the hall. “I’m not tired,’ shouted Jon running as fast as his little legs could carry him. Jon had to stop at the stairs, he could only take the stairs one step at a time and Fox caught the runaway easily on the third step down. The amphibian boy giggled and laughed as Fox tickled him and slung him over his shoulder. “Time for bed, little guppy,” said Fox. The chase down the hall had become a routine and Fox always let Jon slip past him for the traditional bedtime game of chase. Jon’s room was on the first floor, Fox considered putting him in the traditional room Lord Black occupied, but this room had proved more colorful and Jon seemed to like it. Fox dropped the boy on his bed and pulled the covers up to his neck gills and tucked the blanket around him just below the sensitive gill flaps. The two years of Carina’s vision Fox had lived as an amphibian gave him the skills necessary to take care of the young amphibian. “What’s school going to be like, Uncle Black?” asked Jon. Jon started preschool tomorrow and really, Fox had no idea how that was going to work other than it would be another of Carina’s illusion. Fox was getting used to the ever changing illusions the Ocean God provided for his son, Jon Black. After the barrier sealed the island Fox descended the tower to find the castle gone and replaced with a modern manor house. The illusions changed without notice and while Fox was aware of the changes, Jon seemed blissfully unaware of the shifting world around him. A simple walk out the front door and down to the beach could find them instead walking through a small village market. The Ocean God was creative if nothing else; Fox had even seen the castle/manor change to a museum during one outing with Jon. “You will like preschool, nephew,” replied Fox wondering what Jon saw when he looked at him; did the boy see Fox as he was, or as an amphibian? “There will be other children to play with.” Fox hoped that would be true. “Will they be real?” asked Jon. Fox was taken back by the question, the boy shouldn’t be aware that he was living inside an illusion. Perhaps Fox’s presence had changed something more than Carina had expected. “Go to sleep, guppy,” said Fox. The next morning Jon could barely sit through breakfast and hopped around excitedly. Fox was happy for the boy, but this also signaled the days of hours alone while Jon was at school. Fox wondered at that. Sixty-seven years he had spent alone in his own castle, but now the thought of a few hours alone seemed almost unbearable. Though, perhaps there could be some good to come from this. Carina hadn’t barred him from any room in Black Castle, and there were countless thousands of years of history, artifacts, and secrets contained within these walls. “Come on, Uncle Black,” Jon jumped up and down and danced around him and pulling him towards the door. Fox counted how many steps it took to get to the front door, twenty-four. No, that’s the wrong amount; it was fifty-seven steps to the front door. Fox smiled, he caught Carina manipulating reality with illusions. The reached the door and stepped outside and took a left towards the village. This wasn’t right, the last time they had walked to the village the path went to the right; Fox followed Jon skipping down the path, followed the bend in the path. Fox kept count in his head, they weren’t outside the castle at all, the step count and bend in the path meant they were actually in the castle entrance and circling around the statue of the Carinian with the globe on his back. Jon ran ahead and Fox grinned to himself, it appeared they were walking along a palm tree lined sandy lane towards the village, but no, Fox figured they had circled around and were now heading back down the east wing of the castle. Fox was pretty sure he had the mystery of why Jon Black always emerged from the castle at fourteen-years old. The Jon Blacks after that age were too old and would start catching on to the illusions; anything older than fourteen would only confuse them more. Two-hundred and thirteen steps and several clever bends in the path and they were standing in front of the preschool. Fox was pretty sure they were actually standing in front of the castle’s ballroom in the north wing, which made sense; it was a large enough room to serve many different illusions. Jon’s enthusiasm waned slightly and he gripped Fox’s hand now that they were at the school. There were some children inside and several more trying to push their parents away from the embarrassing obligatory kiss on the head. Fox knelt and brushed imaginary dust from the shoulders of Jon’s body suit, the traditional dress of Carinians, then gave the boy a hug and pushed him towards the door. Jon tentatively walked up the steps to preschool. Fox squinted his eyes and measured the angled distance up the stairs. Jon climbed the stairs, but didn’t change position in height to Fox; more illusions. Fox decided, this had to end. “Jon, wait,” called Fox. Fox ran up the steps and grabbed Jon’s hand; the boy looked up at his Uncle and wondered what was wrong. Fox looked up at the sky and spoke. “Carina, you said I could raise him,” shouted Fox, “And this is no way to raise a child, take away the illusions and let me raise him in reality.” “Uncle Black?” asked Jon. “Jon, you are the son of the Ocean God, Carina,” said Fox. “All your brothers before you were raised in this fantasy, none of this is real.” “I know it isn’t real, Uncle Black,” said Jon. The sky clouded over and the wind picked up. Fox picked up the boy and held him tight. “Let me do it my way,” shouted Fox at the sky. “He is already aware, this isn’t working.” “Who are you talking to?” asked Jon. “I know this hard to understand at your age, but you are the Ocean God’s son,” explained Fox. Jon looked up at the sky but said nothing. Fox was fairly certain Jon could not possibly understand what was happening, and may even become frightened, but Fox had seen the Vids of the Jon Blacks when they emerged at fourteen. Nearly every one of them were terrified that their world had crumbled apart and it often took years to help them understand. Fox was going to change that now. The wind roared; the Ocean God was angry. Fox closed his eyes and held the boy tight and started walking. He carefully counted the steps and turns and headed for where he knew the front entrance of the castle should be. Fox had spent a year in this castle as a boy, and the last several months, he had memorized the floor plan. Fox reached the front door and put his hand out. His eyes told him he was in the open, but his mind told him the door was right here. Fox pushed the door he could not see or feel and walked out of the castle and carefully down the stairs of Black Castle with Jon Black. Near hurricane force winds had come out of nowhere and the waves slammed against the side of the ship. Captain Ryota’Sar called out the command to drop the sea anchor and secure for storm conditions. “I want eyes on the castle,” shouted Captain Ryota. “Sir, I see Master Fox coming out of the castle with Jon Black in his arms.” Captain Ryota lifted his binoculars from his command chair and looked at the entrance to the castle. Visibility was poor between the storm and the barrier between him and the castle. “What in the name of the ancestors is he doing?” whispered Ryota to himself. Ryota watched his father battle the winds and walk down the steps of the castle with Jon Black in his arms, and then Ryota saw something that made his blood turn cold. A figure carrying a massive Trident and appearing to be made of water emerged from the ocean and walked up the beach to Fox. “Oh ancestors, it’s the Ocean God!” shouted the Executive Officer. “Calm down people,” ordered Ryota, “concentrate on your jobs.” Ryota continued to watch, the Ocean God hadn’t manifested in over four-thousand years. What has Fox done now? The Ocean God and Fox looked like they were arguing with each other. Carina held his arms out and Fox turned away and held Jon Black tight, then turned back and was pointing his own Trident at the Ocean God. The waves reached record levels and any further observations were not possible. Captain Ryota and his crew concentrated on keeping the ship from capsizing. The entire Guard Flotilla was in danger of being sunk in the Ocean God’s wrath. Then just as quickly as the storm had started, it was over. The waves returned to normal and the winds ended. The ship listed dangerously to starboard and the crew frantically worked to save the ship. Ryota tried counting the ships of the flotilla and came up three short. There was little chance of the amphibian crews drowning, but three lost ships were still a problem. Ryota staggered off the bridge and to the railing of his ship. He lifted his binoculars and scanned the castle, the Ocean God was gone and Fox and Jon Black were now standing on the beach facing the barrier and his ship. Fox was waving an arm at the flotilla. “Lower a skip,” ordered Ryota. “XO has the bridge.” The skip was having trouble lowering due to the list of the ship. Ryota gave up on waiting for the skip; he needed to find out what was happening now. “Send the skip once it’s lowered,” ordered Ryota and then dived into the ocean and swam for the barrier and his father still waving at flotilla. Ryota approached the barrier and stopped just short of the barrier and treaded water fighting the tide trying to push him into the lethal barrier. Ryota scanned the beach looking for Jon Black; the boy was now running up and down the beach in the surf happily and diving beneath the waves on his side of the barrier. Fox waded out into the surf and faced Ryota. Ryota wondered how they were supposed to speak; no sounds could get through the barrier. He quickly got his answer when a twelve-meter seam appeared in the barrier and a doorway split open. Ryota hadn’t known the barrier could do that, it had never happened before. “Father, what’s happening?” shouted Ryota. “Listen carefully,” replied Fox shouting back. “Eight children, four boys, four girls, all four years-old, one from each of the eight Great Houses of Carina will be permitted to enter the island and remain until Jon emerges from his cycle. You have four days to gather them together, do you understand?” “There won’t be enough supplies for that many on the island; you being there has already exceeded the supplies stored in the castle,” shouted Ryota. “A supply ship will be permitted to land on the beach in two days,” shouted Fox. “You will have twenty minutes to off-load the supplies.” “The Great Houses won’t agree to this,” shouted Ryota. Fox didn’t get a chance to respond; the barrier slammed shut and cut off any further conversation. Ryota turned around and swam back to his ship; the skip hadn’t made it into the water yet. Ryota climbed aboard, the Great Houses weren’t going to like this at all. Fox waded back to the beach and watched Jon diving in and out of the water. The boy didn’t need to be taught to swim, he was an amphibian and this was as natural as breathing. What wasn’t natural was that nearly every Jon Black in history had never seen the real ocean until after they were fourteen and Fox was going to change that. Fox intended for this Jon to be raised in reality and as much of a normal life as could be possible for the son of a technological superior alien being pretending to be a God. “Uncle Black,” Jon swam up tentatively to Fox but stayed in the water with just his head sticking out. “Are you real?” “I am,” said Fox reassuringly. “How come you look different now?” asked Jon. “I’m sorry, Jon, that wasn’t my doing, your father was changing the way I looked for your illusion,” said Fox, “this is how I really look.” “Are you still Uncle Black?” asked Jon. Fox thought about it for a moment and decided to end all the fantasy for this one amazing little boy that he had come to care for. But, what was so special about this Jon. Fox hadn’t noticed any particular intelligence, or special gifts. But, Fox found himself proud of little things the boy did. Right now the boy was maintaining his position in the surf despite the waves pushing against him, and Fox found himself proud of just that little accomplishment. “No, Jon, my name is Sionnach, but you can just call me Si.” Fox tried figuring out what it was that made this one person feel special to him. There was a mystery here, something different. “No,” said Jon defiantly. “You are my Uncle Black.” Fox chose to ignore the boy’s defiance, it really didn’t matter what Jon called him. “You swim very well, Jon,” Fox praised the boy. “I like swimming,” said Jon. “This ocean is better than the pretend one.” Fox was amazed out how quickly Jon understood that everything had been an illusion and was adapting to this change. The younger a child, the quicker they are to adapt, thought Fox. Fox was certain he had made the right decision. Jon, at this point, wasn’t as completely dependent on the illusion as he would have been at fourteen. Jon didn’t want to leave the surf when night came and discovered he could easily out-swim Fox. Fox chased him for awhile and gave up. Jon finally tired and swam up to the man that had been caring for him and Fox carried the boy into the castle and to his bed. “Goodnight, Uncle Black,” whispered Jon, his eyes heavy from a very busy day swimming in a real ocean for the first time. The next several days went by with Jon exploring the Castle as it really was and swimming in the surf. Fox noticed the News Vid ships circling the island and following Jon’s progress as he swam. Fox knew this was big news, it was rare for a Jon Black to ever venture outside the Castle during a reincarnation cycle. He could just imagine the endless hours of talk shows discussing every movement Jon made. Fox took the boy down to the beach when Carina allowed the supply ship through the barrier. Doctor Tage wasted no time and ran up to Jon and examined him. The boy giggled and said the stethoscope tickled. “He’s showing more response than historically recorded for a new Jon Black,” said Tage. “It’s been several months, Tage,” said Fox. “Perhaps his awareness is similar to a new born during those first few days when he would normally be examined.” “I don’t know how you got Carina to agree to do this,” said Tage. “The Senate argued until almost the last moment, but most people think having real children to grow up with will be better for him.” The supply ship crew finished off-loading the supplies, Fox groaned thinking of all those crates he would have to drag up to the castle. “You better get on the supply ship,” said Fox. “The time limit is almost over.” “Oh, I’m not going anywhere,” said Tage. “The Senate only agreed if a Physician and one Black Guard came with the children.” “Tage, you will die,” said Fox. “You know what Carina will do to you.” Tage walked up the beach and faced the castle. “My Lord Carina,” yelled Tage in the general direction of the castle. “Having one immortal child that can never get sick and has existed for thousands of years is one thing, but these eight new children are mortal and can get sick. I’m staying.” Fox looked up at the castle not really expecting anything to happen. “I am starting to regret allowing you on my planet,” said a voice. “You make my children rebellious.” Fox and Tage spun around to find the Ocean God standing on the beach. Tage fell to her knees in the sand and lowered her head. Fox wondered if the News Ships were getting this and got his answer when every one of the Grackle News Ships converged in a circle just outside the Barrier. The Ocean God waved his hand and the ships were pushed back to a more respectable distance. Jon walked over to the Ocean God and looked up at the towering figure. “Are you my father?” stated Jon. “Yes, son,” said the Ocean God. “I want her to stay,” said Jon. “I want real people.” “You are not supposed to have awareness yet,” replied Carina. “I want real people,” repeated Jon. The Ocean God looked down kindly on his son and then back at Fox. Fox noticed that Carina’s face clouded over when he looked him, the Ocean God was definitely upset with Fox. “You have broken the necessary illusion,” said the Ocean God. “There is no purpose in continuing this cycle.” The Ocean God waved his hand and the Barrier began to descend in a slow roaring wave of fire. “If any harm comes to my son, there will be nothing that will save you, Sly Fox,” warned the Ocean God. And then he was gone. Fox realized too late what he had done; with the Barrier down Jon was just a vulnerable to attack as any other Prince. Fox had Ryota seal the island with the Guard Flotilla; they would need more ships and more Black Guard. There was a long argument with the Carinian Senate whether Fox should be allowed to continue as Jon’s guardian, but when a rogue wave crashed through the doors of the Senate leaving the Lords of Carina standing to their waists in water, there was no further argument. The Ocean God had spoken. “Here they come, here they come, Uncle Black!” shouted Jon. “I see,” said Fox. The ship carrying the eight children, representatives of the eight Great Houses of Carina, was approaching the island. The children were coming with staff to care for them, Black Island was about to become a very busy place. Jon ran out into the waves to meet the arriving children and whatever ceremony the adults thought was going to occur ended before it started as eight amphibian children dived off the side of the ship at Jon’s call. The nine children swam off to play in the typical manner of young children, introductions weren’t needed or wanted among four-year olds, they only wanted to play. Extra Story Notes: The eight children selected to be Jon Black’s companions. (males) Roa’Tal of House Matapan Nico’Ar of House Okhotsk Aneri’Rea of House Andaman Ricci’Ta of House Mariana (females) Ambi’Eri of House Baltsk Alessio’La of House Bering Teres’Ona of House Atlantis Valen’Eder of House Sigsbee