HELLO EVERYONE! ITS ME! IM WORKING ON CHECKMATE AGAIN!
After my UNFORTUNATE temporary hiatus, Checkmate 2 is back in planning, production, and filming stages. Whoops wait, not making a movie. mmrgh. Just writing it. BUT DONT WORRY, I AM WORKING ON IT!
In the meantime, we can finish Anquites’s backstory. Part 6, I believe.
Also, I am doing a lot better than I was at the start of January, for those of you who are wondering. And I am doing pretty well. School finished up with a bang of a 4-day 7-hour-per-day microbiology lab (my lab notebook still smells. For those of you who don’t know, microbio lab is basically growing bacteria in petri dishes. And me and my partner were working with E-Coli *shudders*)
*cough* Suffice to say, I could’ve gotten a deadly illness, or cancer, just a few days ago. 🙂
I’m perfectly fine though.
ANYWAY
LIFE UPDATES OVER, I PUT UP TWO MORE PICTURES ON MY FRONT PAGE GO CHECK EM OUT HERE’S PARTS SIX SEVEN AND EIGHT OF ANQUITES’S LIL THING. Okay and part nine too. WHAT?! They’re SHORT!
Part Six
The months seemed to fly by even faster now that Anquites was growing taller and learning more things. Agnatus still matched him in height, though Anquites desperately wanted to be even just slightly taller than his twin. Alevtina began talking and toddling around on her adorable chubby little legs, and her brothers stayed by her side through all of it.
Meanwhile, Wjnya’s harsh punishments had started once again, only directed at Anquites as Hiffson’s favor still protected Agnatus, yet, as Alevtina was exempt from these awful punishments, Anquites did not mind them so much.
When Alevtina had just become two years old, Agnatus finally found out why Anquites was so sullen all the time on a bright sunny day when the two were sent to fetch their father from the Warlock Council.
“I can’t believe you never told me,” Agnatus told him as they walked through the white marble halls of the Palace.
“I…had no reason to,” Anquites said truthfully. “You’re safe from her because Father likes you better.”
“Yes, but still,” Agnatus said, putting a hand on Anquites’s shoulder and stopping him in the middle of the hallway. “We’re twins, Anquites. You can’t just keep something that big and…and terrible from me…you’re my other half.” Agnatus looked at Anquites sadly, making him sigh.
“Yes, I know, I should’ve told you,” Anquites gave in, continuing to walk down the corridor. “But I know she’s been saying some harsh things to you lately and I didn’t want to make you feel worse.”
“Oh, I’m alright,” Agnatus told him happily. “Don’t worry about me. Her words don’t have any effect on me whatsoever.”
But Anquites heard the slight softness in Agnatus’s voice even through his cheery tone.
Part Seven
When they were 13, Anquites surpassed Agnatus in school.
Now, anyone who had known the Yraishas would not see why there’d be any issue with this, but since Hiffson Yraisha was proficient at keeping secrets, there was no reason to assume anything.
However, for Agnatus, this meant something rather horrible.
“You were surpassed by your brother,” Hiffson said, pacing in front of both of his sons who were sitting on the couch, both staring at the floor. Agnatus was shaking in fear, and Anquites wished for some way to reassure his twin, but he failed to think of any.
Meanwhile, Hiffson stopped his pacing in front of Agnatus and was staring down at the younger twin with an expression of disgust on his face.
“You, the most powerful warlock in our family, fell back on your studies and allowed your…inferior to overtake you.” It was not even a rhetorical question–it was a fact. Anquites felt hot anger bubbling up inside him. He’d always been overlooked, neglected, abused, and still, though for once he had beaten Agnatus, he was not praised, but insulted time and time again, by his own father, no less.
Hiffson began to pace again. “I’m disappointed in you, Agnatus. I thought you were more ambitious than–”
“He tried his best.” The sound of Anquites’s voice startled himself more than anyone else. Agnatus stiffened. Hiffson stopped his pacing and looked at his older son, who took a deep breath and met his father’s gaze. “All we’ve ever done is try. Time and time again, Agnatus was the best. And you believe me inferior to him simply because of it?” Anquites didn’t even think it was he who was talking. Or he rather hoped it wasn’t. “He’s only slipped up ONCE! And maybe if you stopped to think for a minute, you’d see that his was the top score until I forced myself just a bit higher than he was. It’s not a matter of his grades dropping–mine just went a little above his! Do you really expect him to spend his free time worrying about someone trying to get a higher grade than him?! NO! Of course not! His ambition is great, perhaps even greater than mine, yet you still treat him like trash sent here simply to do your bidding!”
There was a rather loud silence. And then Anquites spoke again.
“But what would you know? You’ve never even bothered to raise us. You shut yourself away in that stupid Council chamber with a bunch of old fools who think they know how to run a country. You despise us when you should despise yourself. Have you ever once thought about us as your children? About me and Agnatus as your sons rather than your slaves? And what about Alevtina? Will she have to grow up without a father as well?!” Anquites’s voice began to rise in volume once more.
“HOW LONG WILL IT TAKE YOU TO FIGURE IT OUT?! HOW LONG WILL IT TAKE YOU TO LEARN FROM YOUR MISTAKES?! HOW MANY TIMES MUST WE SUFFER BECAUSE OF YOU?!”
And then Anquites’s voice echoed through the silence, for silence there was as he had nothing more to say. He sat down next to his brother, who had been staring at him in complete shock up until then.
Hiffson Yraisha was shaking with anger, and perhaps shock as well.
And then, at last, at long last, he spoke.
“Get out of my sight.”
Part Eight
Anquites stopped speaking to his father. He spent more and more time out of the house with Agnatus at school and hanging out with their mutual friends and spending time talking with Rucchio. He often took Alevtina with him and Agnatus, hoping that he could protect her from their horrible parents. Agnatus encouraged this rather than rejected it, for he knew how terrible Wjnya and Hiffson could be as well.
This carried on for the longest time, though the time seemed to fly rather than slow down, as good things often seem to pass by quickly.
It was one fateful day that changed everything.
Now 14-year-old Anquites had not taken Alevtina to school with him that morning and was walking back home to pick her up to take her to Rucchio’s, where Agnatus and a few friends would meet them.
As he walked along the dusty road, everything seemed normal. The sun shone down upon the houses and the trees swayed in the slight breeze. Anquites lazily kicked a stone with his sandaled foot, sending it rolling across the street and into the gutter. Humming a happy fishermen’s tune to himself, he continued to walk peacefully towards his house.
He opened the front door as silently as he could manage and shut it even more quietly. His feet made no noise on the rug as he made to go past the kitchen door without being noticed by Wjnya.
But he saw something through the kitchen door that made him stop. Something that made his mind go numb and his muscles stop working.
Anquites thought his heart must have stopped, that he must be hallucinating. He did not know whether he were standing or lying down. He did not want to watch, yet he could not tear his eyes away from the horrid, horrid sight. He could not be hallucinating. His mind could never make such a horrifying image.
The blood on the floor made his stomach churn. He could not breathe, he could not think, he could not hear. He was almost sure that he could not see, but he must be able to see, for the sight before him was in motion.
He felt a cold trickle of sweat roll down his neck, but he could not spare a thought for it. His hands were shaking and his heart was pounding, but he was absolutely sure it had stopped long before then.
He could no longer breathe, or perhaps he was never able to. Nothing…nothing…nothing…
Footsteps. Small footsteps, made by small feet. Something warm and short hugging his middle. Anquites did not move even as he heard his sister’s voice. Four-year-old Alevtina barely had caught sight of the horrific scene in the kitchen before her oldest brother had swept her up in his arms and sprinted out of the house as fast as his legs could carry him.
Anquites did not stop running, nor could he even notice that there were tears streaming down his face, until they reached Rucchio’s front door. He flung it open and ran inside. Agnatus and his friends Herwanae and Kujio were there. Anquites dumped Alevtina into Agnatus’s arms in a rather unceremonious way and flung himself into Rucchio’s arms, sobbing on the old man’s shoulder.
Part Nine
Alevtina was crying as well, and could not be persuaded to talk. Rucchio told Herwanae and Kujio to take a short walk and possibly come back later, and he took Anquites to a separate room, telling Agnatus to calm Alevtina down, if he could.
Once they were upstairs and Rucchio had closed and locked the door, Anquites spilled everything. He told Rucchio every horrifying element, every tiny detail of what he had seen. Terror and shock tore at his insides as his heart beat irregularly against his ribs in a violent way.
Rucchio sat next to him on a small couch and put his arms around the boy gently. Anquites, though he tried, could not stop sobbing, though Rucchio somehow seemed to understand.
It may have been half an hour, or perhaps a few days later that Anquites’s crying finally stopped. Rucchio didn’t let go, however. Anquites kept his head on Rucchio’s shoulder, sniffing every now and then, staring at the far corner of the room unblinkingly. It was a very long time before Anquites pulled away, still in shock, but feeling much better than he had before his uninterrupted cry.
“Your father has never been right in the head, laddie,” Rucchio told him softly.
“Where’s Alevtina?” Anquites asked, wiping his face dry.
“She’s with your brother. I’m sure he’s calmed her down by now.” Rucchio put a hand on Anquites’s shoulder and led him towards the door. “I’m sure Agnatus is very confused about everything.”
Anquites stopped in his tracks. “Agnatus,” he whispered.
“What about him, laddie?” Rucchio asked.
Anquites’s heart pounded against his ribs. “What on earth am I going to tell him?” he whispered fearfully.
“The truth, laddie–there’s nothing else to tell him,” Rucchio insisted, still steering Anquites towards the door.
“I…I don’t want to,” Anquites said childishly, moving away from the older man. “I…can’t tell him.”
Rucchio nodded. “You’re still in shock, laddie. Would you mind if I told him, or would you want to tell him later?”
Anquites shuddered. “You can tell him. But…” Anquites trailed off and didn’t finish his sentence.
Rucchio raised his eyebrows at the boy. “But?” he asked.
Anquites took a deep breath before replying. “But I don’t want you to tell him the details.” Rucchio nodded in understanding and motioned for Anquites to proceed him out of the room and into the foyer.
Herwanae sighting! She’s in Checkmate. She shows up in a bunch of the other books too (I know she’s in book 4. I think she’s in book 3?)
EH anyway! HOPE YOU LIKE IT, AND I HOPE THIS UPDATE SUFFICES FOR THIS WEEK. Im gonna try to post every week or two weeks. It’s gonna be a stressful summer, but hopefully this blog can become a good spot for me to rest and just post stuff.
Alright everybody. Thanks for sticking by me, whoever’s around.
I love y’all with my whole heart and I appreciate you guys more than you’ll ever know,
—TheNoelleBird 😉
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“But that’s what I do, Grandma,” –5 year old Noelle
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