A few days before Istantinople was beset by the flying machines of the Greater Darksol Empire, a pair of seemingly unassuming children snuck their way into the city. Their presence there was part reconnaissance and part entertainment, after all, there were only so many ways to enjoy themselves on their airship and the crew aboard it was not at all receptive to the idea of being played around with. Thus, the twins acted as the children that they were, and ‘ran away from their duties’.

Of course, everyone in the armada knew that was a bullshit excuse, especially after knowing how Alexis would make their lives very, very aggravating if they ever tried to do that for real. Besides, while the twins may very well have been pre-teens, they still demonstrated absurdly adult ways of thinking from time to time, almost like they were trying to hide their true mental and emotional age but occasionally slipping up and letting the truth shine through from time to time. So, despite the poorly written note that also happened to be written in crayon saying that they were not coming back, no one aboard the flotilla was the least bit concerned that their leaders (who had been hand-picked by Alexis, of course) would vanish for good.

In their eyes, it was only a matter of time before the twins came running back, having fully entertained themselves, and most likely at the expense of other people.

…

“Huh. Neat.”

Raziel’s eyes darted from object to object as he and his sister made their way through the city. Both of the siblings were fully capable of seeing the flow of magic in the world, and this was a trait that they did not share with their parents. Or rather, their parents could see such things, but the ability was not a passive one like the one that the twins had. The twins could, essentially, see the world as though it was a fusion between two worlds, both overlapping each other at the same time, with both of the ‘worlds’ existing both in the foreground and background simultaneously.

It was something that should have been headache-inducing at the very least, if not something that would drive one absolutely bat-shit insane, but to them, it was nothing major. They were, after all, born of a fusion of the mundane and the magical, descended from two gods, both of which were already quite bizarre on a physical standing, to say nothing of a biological standing.

So, what had Raziel’s eye this time? Well, he was looking at the distinct (at least to him and his sister) magic flow that moved along the ground and into and out of certain buildings. The whole city was, for the most part, a massive series of magical wards, all overlapping each other and amplifying their individual power. This was what made the twins realize that the only way to destroy the magical barrier that kept the Naga out of the Shadow Sea was to raze the city not just to the ground but past as much of its foundations as possible.

Besides engaging in that little bit of recon, the twins were having a decent enough time perusing the shops and wandering through the city of Istantinople. The sights, the smells, the sounds, the tastes, all of them, while not overly enjoyable, were decent. This city had nothing on the marvels of technology and magic in the major cities in the Empire, but it was nice enough to see these people and places, especially before destroying them.

Then, of course, and at last, came the intrusion that they had both been not so secretly hoping for.

“Hey!”

The sound of a child roughly their age but almost certainly younger polluted their ears, but they smiled internally as they turned around to face a gang of children and one gaudily dressed one in particular. This was what the twins had been waiting for!

“You! Weak little girl! You are coming with me!”

Elizabeth looked around in pretend astonishment before asking a ‘stupid’ question.

“Are you talking to me? I don’t see anyone around who could be called a ‘Weak little girl’ aside from you brats, so who on Mortis could you be talking to aside from… Oh, I see! You’re talking to yourselves! Silly me! Come, brother, let’s go.”

This caused the gaudy brat to stamp his feet in anger.

“NO! NO, NO, NO! I’m talking to you, girl!”

Raziel chuckled at the distress and responded in place of his sister.

“There are many ways to a woman’s heart, but you can’t find your way to my sister’s using such manners. I suggest you beat a hasty retreat before things get out of hand.”

“NO~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~!” the little shit screamed, which brought those who could be assumed to be his bodyguards out of hiding. As the gang of child thugs and adult thugs came together, the brat with obviously poor fashion taste laughed and demanded that Elizabeth come with him, although he did not use her name, as he did not know it. Elizabeth, of course, turned him down, and the nasty little snot-nosed imbecile of a self-centered child pulled the most obvious and foolish card he could in order to try and claim what he felt was his.

“Do you know who my Father is?!”

The twins shared a look at each other, which was enough to give them both enough information about the others’ plans to set their plot in motion.

“Oh? Do tell. Who is this ‘great and might Father’ of yours?” Elizabeth replied.

The little shit smirked and responded in a boastful manner.

“My Father is the governor of this city and the surrounding districts! You know what that means, right? It means that I can get whatever I want, from whoever I want! He was hand-picked by the New Sultan, so my authority is absolute! You know what that means, don’t you?”

The twins paused as if to take in the words before snickering in derision at the kid.

“It means jack shit to us, that’s what.” Raziel retorted with a sneer.

“Besides, do you know who our parents are?” Elizabeth added, with equal derision focused at the brat that had started all of this, much to the twins’ delight.

“Why would it matter?” bragged the little shit, “You two aren’t anything special. A little pale, maybe, but that’s probably because your parents were ashamed to let you out and see the sun and risk people seeing you!”

At this, both of the twins started laughing menacingly as magic conjured up darkness and fog in a brilliant yet excessive display of theatrics. The lot became as shrouded in shadow as if it were the inside of a theatre right before the curtain lifted for the first time, and as the twins took their place, a light began to shine on Raziel from above, revealing him posing elegantly.

“Behold the Black Sun that Darkens the Day! Here stands Raziel Sanguine Nekronus von Darksol, Blood Son of the Abominable King!”

A light then shone on Raziel’s sister as she too posed for all to see beneath the cone of light.

“And alongside that Darkened Day stands the Crimson Moon, hanging overhead and coloring the night in its cruel glow! I am Elizabeth Baothry Nekronus von Darksol, Blood Daughter of the Vampiric Primogenitor!”

“We are twins, born of Star-Crossed Gods!”

“We are the Heirs Apparent to the Greater Darksol Empire!”

“And.”

“We.”

“Don’t.”

“Give.”

““The slightest flying fuck about who your pathetic parents are!””

As the last word exited the mouths of the perfectly synchronized twins, a massive magical explosion appeared behind them as they posed for the stunned, confused, and, in some cases, scared people.

As the magical theatrics died down, Raziel and Elizabeth stood stock still before teleporting back to their aerial warship.

…

“You, know, did that whole thing we did seem a little cringy to you?”

“Yeah… well maybe going for the whole ‘Crimson Demons’ kind of introduction wasn’t the best idea.”

“That was not kek, sister, that was cringe.”

“Oh, shut up. It was as much your idea as it was mine!”