(POV: Otos Exemplar)
[Otos: Age 9 | Vanitas: Newborn (0) | Aretia & Justitia: Age 3]
"Otos... do you want to hold him?"
I looked at the white bundle in Mama's hands. I hesitated slightly, and Mama affectionately stroked my head.
"Hold him. He is your little brother."
I extended my small arms. Mama placed the bundle slowly.
He was light. Very light, as if he were made of feathers and cotton. His face was small, and his eyes were closed in deep sleep. I felt a faint pulse trembling beneath my hand. In that moment, I was no longer just a child; I became a wall.
"Otos..." Mama whispered, her eyes shining with tears of joy. "Will you promise me something?"
I looked up at her, without letting go of my brother. "Of course, Mama."
"Do promise me that you will protect your brother?"
I looked again at the small, sleeping face in my arms. "I will protect him... even from butterflies."
Mama laughed a pure laugh that rang in the warm room. "You will be the best big brother in the world."
I felt a large, heavy palm patting my shoulder from behind. I turned to see Papa. He was looking at me with a pride I had never seen in his eyes before.
"Your mother is right," Papa said in his deep voice. "You will be a wonderful big brother."
The night was cold. Crying tore through the quiet of the wing.
I ran in my pajamas toward the room. I pushed the door to find the maid holding Vanitas and rocking him with boredom and exhaustion, trying to silence him.
"Young Master?" The maid was surprised by my presence. "Why are you here at this hour?"
I furrowed my brows. "Give him to me."
"But sir, it is my job to soothe little Vanitas..."
"Never mind," I said with a firmness beyond my years. "I want to do it. That is why I am here. I will do it... leave."
The maid bowed obediently and left, leaving me with him.
I sat on the edge of the bed. I began to rock him gently, walking with him around the room.
"Calm down... calm down..." I whispered to him.
He continued crying for a little while, then his breaths began to regularize, and he returned to sleep. I placed him in his small crib with extreme care so as not to wake him. I pulled a chair and sat beside him.
Darkness filled the room, and my eyes began to close from drowsiness. Midnight had passed.
(I must stay awake). I pinched my arm to drive away the sleep. (I must protect him).
I rested my head on the edge of the small crib, and my eyes resisted... until sleep overcame me while I was holding the edge of his blanket.
[Otos: Age 15 | Vanitas: Age 6 | Aretia & Justitia: Age 9]
We were sitting in the sunny garden. The scent of fine tea filled the air.
My father took a sip from his cup and looked at me. "Congratulations on winning that tournament held at the Academy, Otos. You have raised the family's name."
I smiled respectfully. "Thank you, Father."
"Do you desire anything specific as a gift? Any sword? Any shield?"
I shook my head. "I don't need anything. My presence here is enough for me."
My father nodded in satisfaction. "Are you sure? Very well."
At that moment, I noticed that my father's gaze had passed beyond me toward the back. I turned around. Vanitas was standing far away, behind a marble pillar, watching us silently like a little ghost.
My father called out in a quiet voice: "Vanitas... do you want to sit with us?"
Vanitas looked at the marble floor beneath his feet. He took a step back. "I don't want to."
And swiftly, he turned and ran away.
My father sighed a very heavy sigh that almost broke his prestige. He set down the teacup.
"Otos..."
"Yes, Papa?"
"May I ask a favor of you?"
"Of course."
"Can you play with your brother?"
I looked at the empty space Vanitas had just left. "I tried, Father... but he always refuses. He locks his door or runs away."
My father reached out his rough hand and touched my hand resting on the table. He squeezed it with a sudden gentleness. "Try harder... for my sake."
I looked into his tired eyes. "Okay."
[Location: The Garden - Age: 15 Years]
"Brother! Brother!"
I barely turned around before a small body collided with me, and two arms wrapped around my waist.
"Hug! Hug!" Justitia shouted with a ringing laugh.
I laughed and lifted her high. "Alright, Justitia."
She held my cheek with her small hands: "I am beautiful, aren't I?"
"Of course," I replied as I kissed her forehead. "You are the most beautiful... along with your sister."
I looked toward Aretia, who was standing with her arms crossed, trying to paint features of seriousness on her childish face.
"Come on, it's hug time," I said to her.
Aretia raised her nose with an artificial pout. "I don't want to be carried."
I ran toward her. She tried to escape with muffled giggles, but I caught her and lifted her with my other arm.
"I said I didn't want to!" she screamed while laughing.
"Of course you said that."
"I have grown big!"
"Of course you are big," I said, holding them tightly.
Justitia looked at Aretia: "You are jealous because Brother loves me more than you."
Aretia yelled: "I am not jealous of you!!"
"Stop it, you two." I laughed loudly. "I love you both equally. Now, don't fight or I'll put you down and get angry with you."
They said in unison, their arms wrapping around my neck: "Okay."
I started running with them and spinning in the middle of the garden. Their screams and laughter filled the sky of the palace.
"Today you will go to sleep dizzy!"
The world was spinning, the trees were blurring together, and I didn't feel any weight at all.
[The Garden Maze ]
I was walking between the tall walls of trees in the maze. "Justitia? Aretia? Where are you two?"
I reached the center, where the forgotten courtyard was. "Here... I found you..."
I stopped. The girls were not there.
It was Vanitas. He was sitting on the edge of the old, dry fountain, staring at the stone, and beside him stood a maid watching him like an annoying shadow.
As soon as she saw me, the maid bowed politely. "Hello, Young Master."
I furrowed my brows. "Why are you here with Vanitas?"
"I... the Madam told me to stay with him when he goes out to the garden."
My mother. She always overprotects him to the point of suffocating him.
"Ah, alright." I waved my hand at her. "Go. I will sit with him."
The maid hesitated. "But Young Master, it is the Madam's orders..."
"Go," I said with a firm, decisive tone.
The maid bowed quickly and scurried out of the maze.
I approached Vanitas and sat beside him on the cold stone of the fountain. He didn't move and didn't look at me.
I looked around. "It's a beautiful place... do you come here often?"
No response. I tried again.
"This is the first time I've known there was a fountain here. Maybe you, me, and your sisters can come here to play someday."
Vanitas shook his head slowly, his eyes fixed on the ground. "No."
I smiled calmly. "Alright. Then this place is our little secret. Just you and me."
I extended my pinky toward him. "It's a promise. I won't tell anyone."
He kept staring at my extended finger for seconds that seemed like an eternity. Then, very slowly, he raised his thin hand and extended his pinky to wrap around mine.
"Promise?" I asked him.
He whispered in a very faint voice: "Yes. Promise."
I didn't pull my hand back. I wanted this moment to last.
And suddenly, Vanitas raised his head and looked into my eyes for the first time in months.
"Did you know, brother..." he said, and the word made my heart beat wildly. "...that the fountain isn't broken? It pours water... sometimes."
I looked at the completely dry fountain, filled with dead leaves. "Really? You say that?"
I smiled. Then I started to laugh. A pure, genuine laugh, stemming from the depths of my heart.