The Eclipsion Kingdom was no different from the other great kingdoms when it came to the succession of its throne.
The crown was not inherited simply through birthright, but by the one deemed most worthy to rule, the one who possessed both the strength to lead and the love of the people.
To prevent disputes from ever taking root, each king devoted himself to preparing his firstborn for the throne from an early age, molding him through years of experience into a ruler worthy of the kingdom.
By every law and tradition, Roderic, the firstborn son of King Rowan, was the rightful heir to the Eclipsion throne.
He had spent his entire life mastering the arts of leadership, diplomacy, and military strategy.
Then, Arlo was born.
At first, Roderic welcomed the arrival of his youngest brother.
Nothing about the third prince threatened his future, and he had every intention of keeping the boy close, raising him beneath his own guidance...until the Eclipse Ritual:
The day Arlo had awakened the legendary Nine Shards.
In that moment, every plan Roderic had carefully built throughout his life began to crumble before his eyes.
The truth had long been recorded within the oldest records of the Eclipsion bloodline.
The Nine shards is the complete inheritance of the Black Sun and whoever awakened the Nine Shards would inherit the throne.
The ancestors believed such a person would possess power beyond mortal comprehension, a sovereign destined to lead the Eclipsion Kingdom into an era of unprecedented prosperity.
Arlo was still only a young man, yet he had already earned the admiration of the people, the unwavering favor of his father, and, before long, the approval of nearly every influential figure within the kingdom.
There was nothing unjust about that, except that it shattered the future Roderic had spent his entire life pursuing.
And so, he reached the ultimate conclusion: Arlo had to disappear.
_______
To Arlo, the man standing before him was an insurmountable mountain.
He understood better than anyone how terrifying his brothers truly were.
Although Roderic lacked Orion’s overwhelming martial strength, he was every bit as dangerous, a man whose skill and cunning had been sharpened through years of commanding armies.
Running was impossible, and turning his back would only hasten his death.
There was only one choice left: To Fight.
If this battle was destined to be his last, then he would carve a wound into the devil before him so deep that it would never fade.
A cool sea breeze drifted between the two brothers, stirring their clothes and carrying strands of midnight-violet hair through the air.
"I can make this painless, little brother," Roderic said quietly, the last traces of emotion disappearing from his eyes.
Arlo lowered his center of gravity, getting into a battle stance, with both fists clenched.
"I refuse to die the death of a coward."
"Then have it your way."
BOOOOOM!
Roderic took a single step forward and vanished instantly, the earth beneath his feet exploding.
In that moment, Arlo’s instincts screamed, and he snapped his gaze upwards.
There, Roderic had already appeared overhead, his sword held tightly in both hands and raised high above his head.
BUUUUURN!
With a powerful downward slash, a massive burst of flame erupted from the sword and descended like a blazing pillar from the heavens.
The sea reflected crimson, the sky burned with fire, and like a divine judgment, the colossal torrent of flames crashed toward Arlo with enough force to erase every trace of his existence.
The crushing pressure shattered the ground beneath his feet before the attack even reached him, while the unbearable heat blistered his skin, and blurred his vision.
Yet Arlo refused to yield.
Drawing both arms behind him, every vein across his body bulged violently, and at once,
BOOOOOOOOOOM!
The ground beneath him shook as Arlo leapt upward, charging straight toward the descending torrent of flame.
ROOOOOOOAAAR!
A roar of defiance as both fists punched outwards with every ounce of strength he possessed, meeting the descending sea of flames head-on.
The world vanished beneath an explosion of fire as the inferno raged, but it had yet to quell when a skeletal hand tore through the explosion.
"What the!?"
Disbelieve filled Roderic face as he watched a skeletal fist punch towards his face, yet when it met, the bones themselves simply turned to ashes, as a body quietly fell down through the explosion.
Roderic landed softly upon the ruined earth.
SHRIIIIING.
CLINK.
The sound of his sword sliding back into its sheath echoed quietly across the shoreline as he lifted his gaze down.
At the center of an enormous crater knelt a charred figure, half skeleton and half-skin.
Every inch of Arlo’s body had been blackened by the flames, yet somehow, he remained on his knees, refusing to collapse.
Footsteps slowly approached, and with immense effort, Arlo raised his head.
His left eye had long since been destroyed, only his remaining right eye still burned with life.
"It was never your fault, Arlo,"
Roderic said softly as he wrapped a hand around his brother’s neck and effortlessly lifted him into the air.
"If there is one thing I can tell you before this end, it is that you were simply born with the wrong blessing at the wrong time."
"....Draw... your sword... Finish it..."
The words scraped painfully from Arlo’s ruined throat, yet Roderic said nothing.
Instead, he turned his gaze toward the endless sea stretching before them.
"I’ve chosen the path necessary to achieve my ambitions," he said at last.
"But no matter what I’ve become... I cannot bring myself to drive my blade through my own brother."
"Hypocrite..."
The curse escaped through Arlo’s bloodied teeth before silence settled between them once more.
After a long pause, Arlo spoke again, a faint smile somehow finding its way onto his burnt face.
"Tell me something, Father... he didn’t lose that battle, did he?"
Roderic’s eyes widened ever so slightly, making a smile crack open on Arlo’s lips.
"Ha..ha..ha...I knew it."
Roderic closed his eyes, allowing a quiet breath to escape him, before he opened them, revealing a cold light.
"No."
"Our father remained undefeated until the very end. He simply trusted the wrong people."
His gaze met Arlo’s once more.
"Just like you."
With a single motion, Roderic hurled him across the sea, and Arlo’s broken body slammed against the water before disappearing beneath its surface.
A lone tear slipped down Roderic’s cheek, but he brushed it away without hesitation.
"May your soul find peace, Arlo Eclipsion."
With that final prayer, he turned away, disappearing into the forest without another glance.
***
As the crushing depths embraced Arlo, his fading gaze remained fixed upon the distant light shimmering far above the surface, and a weary smile crossed his lips.
’Forgive me... Father.’
’I couldn’t be like you... You never lost a war. I lost my very first.’
At last, he stopped struggling and surrendered himself to the sea, allowing the darkness to carry him deeper into its silent embrace.
All of a sudden...warmth.
A gentle heat brushed against his back.
It did not burn; instead, it brought a strange comfort that cut through the cold depths surrounding him.
Confused, Arlo slowly turned, and his remaining eye widened at the sight before him.
A giant gateway stood at the bottom of the ocean, towering through the darkness like a passage to another world.
Even beneath the crushing weight of the sea, the stone remained untouched by time, with ancient runes carved across its surface glowing faintly with a light that should never have existed within such darkness.
And suspended just beyond his reach, only a few inches from his face, floated an object.
Its surface appeared almost entirely consumed by darkness, yet within that endless blackness burned a faint golden glow, like the final remaining spark of a dying star.
"A Black Sun Shard!?"