Disclaimer: I don't own anything from Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic

I'm sorry for taking so long to update...

As requested by Jas and Sakura Hyuga. Thanks for waiting!

Chapter Three: Of Snakes and Family

The weight of the thick leather-bound book in his hands was a welcome comfort as Kouen Ren flipped through its ancient, leafy pages. His large fingers were surprisingly gentle as he turned the delicate sheets, and his eyes greedily absorbed the ornate words that were scrawled elegantly in black ink. Here, alone, surrounded by thousands of books and scrolls, was where he was truly at home. Not even the battlefield could offer him the same sense of contentment and peace.

As Kouen was lounging comfortably in a silken chair, manuscript in hand, he felt his brother's presence before he saw him. The Second Imperial Prince picked his way cautiously through the obstacle course of maps and charts strewn across the floor, an ever-present somnolent expression on his face. His red hair – nearly identical in color to Kouen's – was tousled as usual, and tied back in a sloppy ponytail. "Morning, Brother." Koumei addressed, nodding to him.

"Good morning," Kouen returned, keeping his attention fixed on his book. His brother plopped into the couch opposite to him, a black feathered flabellum in hand.

"You really like it here in the Archives, don't you?" Koumei mused. "When I cannot find you around, I always know where to look."

Kouen shrugged.

Giving a light chuckle, Koumei settled himself comfortably, his head cocked slightly to the side as his gaze drifted into nothingness. Kouen continued to study his text, his cheek resting on his fist. The two brothers could often be found like this when they were in each other's presence – silent, relaxed, but almost as if there was an invisible way that the two could communicate. Koumei closed his eyes and rested the side of his face against the silk armrest of the couch. "Kougyoku passed her arithmetic exam with full scores."

Kouen's eyes flickered over to his brother. "Truly? That is impressive."

The Second Prince nodded, his eyes still closed. "Her tutors were commending her mastery of the subject. From what I understand, she excels in her other courses as well, including Military Arts and Strategy. She will make a fine Commander, should she choose to join the Imperial Army.

"Also, it seems Lady Hakuei has just returned from the northern reaches of the Tenzan Plateau. I believe she will be staying in the palace for several months before she departs again."

"Is that so?" Kouen murmured. "It will be good for Hakuryuu to be with his sister again. He has been increasingly recalcitrant as of late; perhaps she will be able to set him straight."

Inclining his head in agreement, Koumei continued, opening his eyes to regard Kouen carefully. "I have also been informed that Kouha appealed to Father to let him join the Imperial Army."

Kouen paused in the middle of turning a page. He frowned slightly. "He is only twelve. Furthermore, he has not even captured a Dungeon yet. Why…?"

The Second Prince shrugged his shoulders. "This is merely speculation, but everyone save for Kouha has some occupation one way or another, excluding Kougyoku and Lord Hakuryuu, being that she is a woman and he is only ten. You, Lady Hakuei, and I are all Commanders in the Army, and our sisters have been married off to distant warlords and are the pillars that support this country's might. In contrast, Kouha stays in the palace and does nothing except annoy the servants day in and day out, and being that he is the only one of us brothers to not hold an office of military or political standing, I can understand his frustration at not being able to be of use to the Empire."

"Nevertheless, he is too young," Kouen objected, closing his book with a dull thud. "The Army is no place for a child. Surely he can see that."

"You were already Lieutenant-Commander when you were twelve," Koumei pointed out.

The First Prince pursed his lips. "I was an exception. Moreover, I had already captured a Dungeon."

Koumei nodded in agreement. "And that is why he has also been trying the convince Judal to send him on a Dungeon Quest. It appears the Priest continues to refuse. I'm sure you are aware, but Kouha is constantly trying to prove himself. He is very conscious about not being full blood brothers as you and I are." The freckled prince turned his flabellum over in his hands.

"That is foolish–" Kouen began exasperatedly, but was cut off by Koumei.

"Be that as it may, he feels inferior to us, thus he tries to live up to our 'standards', per se. He especially pines for your praise and acknowledgement, Brother En."

Exhaling deeply, Kouen tilted his head back and stared up at the tall ceiling of the Archives. "So foolish," he repeated softly. "I do not wish to be worshipped by my own brother. He need not prove anything to me, nor anyone else for that matter. I will not allow him to be put in harm's way because of such a trivial thing."

"I agree," Koumei intoned sleepily. "But I suggest you consider speaking to him yourself on the matter – he could use it." Stifling a yawn, he continued. "And you need not worry; I do not plan on doing any worshipping any time soon, no offence intended."

Kouen raised a brow at his brother, who hid a somnolent smirk behind his fan. "Very well, perhaps a little offence was intended." Koumei admitted.

The First Imperial Prince walked silently through the halls, his feet not making a sound on the polished wooden floors. Koumei's words echoed in his mind. He had been aware that Kouha tried to do everything to mirror that of himself and Koumei, but joining the Imperial Army at twelve years of age when he didn't even have a Djinn was suicide. Either that or he would be coddled and never allowed out onto the battlefield, and that would likely hurt Kouha's pride even more.

Kouen sighed. Koumei had suggested talking to him, but unfortunately, consoling had never been one of his strong suits. About as close to comforting as he came was rallying soldiers before a battle, and he doubted that was what Kouha needed to hear.

He was jerked out of his myriad of thoughts by a scream and a loud crash that reverberated down the hall. His hand instinctively going to the nonexistent hilt of his sword, Kouen sped toward the disturbance. Rounding a corner, he was met with the sight of a maid kneeling on the floor, what remained of a priceless vase in shattered pieces around her. The woman wept into her hands, her thin shoulders trembling at her timid sobs.

Relaxing slightly, Kouen approached her. "What happened here?" He asked, not unkindly.

The maid jumped, leaping to her feet to face the prince, quickly brushing aside her tears. She bowed, her dark bangs falling forward to hide her white face. "Please f-forgive me, Your Highness. I-I thought I saw a s-snake, and the vase slipped from m-my hands…"

Kouen surveyed the broken urn, and as his eyes perused the porcelain pieces, he paused. The curve of his mouth tilting upward ever so slightly, he bent down, his fingers grasping the head of a large snake buried amidst the shards. It was red with black diamond-shaped patterns running from the top of its head down to the bottom of its tail in a geometric pattern.

The servant gasped and shrank away from it. "Your Highness, it could be poisonous…!"

The First Prince chuckled. "No, it is all right, seeing as it is made of wood."

"My prince, please I… I beg your pardon?"

Holding it up for the maid to see, Kouen told her, "It is very well made; the craftsmanship is extremely detailed. I do not blame you for thinking that it was real." Narrowing his eyes, he mused softly, "And I know of only one individual who would play a prank like this." Turning to the servant, he offered her a small, reassuring smile. "Do not worry. I will make sure that you are not punished for this. Go about your regular duties, and send someone to clean this up later."

Relief evident on her face, the maid bowed low and scurried off as fast as her legs could carry her.

Tilting his head slightly, the prince waited until her footsteps faded before calling to seemingly no one. "That was a rather nasty prank, don't you think?"

The presence hiding around the corner stiffened, before the culprit slowly stepped into the hall, head hanging. "I'm sorry, brother… I didn't mean any harm by it."

Kouen regarded the child, before glancing at the wooden snake resting in his palm. "No, I am sure you did not. However, you gave that poor servant quite a fright, and you also indirectly broke a vase that is priceless and cannot easily be replaced."

Kouha seemed to become smaller with each word that Kouen spoke. Inwardly, the Third Prince cursed himself. He had only wanted to have a bit of fun! He never meant for the maid to startle so much and drop the urn, much less have Kouen stumble across his childish prank and the consequences it wrought.

"I expect you to reflect upon your actions today, and the trouble you have caused." Kouen paused, and a ghost of a smirk brushed across his lips. "Be that as it may, it was a rather creative prank."

The Third Prince started, turning his face upward to stare at his brother in disbelief.

"Where did you even get this wooden snake? The detail is astounding." The taller man turned the serpent over in his hands. It truly was a masterpiece; the scales had been intricately carved into the wood so that no two were identical, and the body had been painted in an expert rendering of a desert adder. Even Kouen would have thought it were real had he not known better.

"Oh… er…" Kouha flushed nearly the same color as his hair as he suddenly found something immensely interesting with the floor. "I… uh… made it. The snake, I mean."

Kouen paused and looked at his brother with a countenance of mild surprise. "You…?" A rare smile graced his generally stoic features. "Impressive, little brother. You will have to teach me your skills sometime,"

Kouha's expression brightened, and he nodded vigorously.

"On a different note," Kouen continued. "I wanted to tell you that after my campaign in the Eastern regions, I was thinking of going on another Dungeon Quest."

All of Kouha's excitement and exhilaration seemed to deflate in an instant. "Oh. I see." He forced a smile. "Good luck, Brother! I'm sure you'll be able to conquer it and gain another djinn. Then you'll have four, and you'll be invincible!"

"Actually," Kouen began slowly. "I was hoping to have a companion on this journey. Koumei has little interest in obtaining another djinn, and I'm afraid that he'd fall asleep in the middle of the Dungeon and get himself killed. Hakuei is far too busy with her duties, and both Kougyoku and Hakuryuu are not yet ready for such dangers." He paused, his crimson eyes watching the Third Prince thoughtfully. "Would you like to accompany me on this Quest?"

Kouha blinked, then his jaw fell slack as the weight of what the First Prince had uttered finally sank in. "You want me to…? I mean, I can – with you? On a Dungeon Quest?" His voice rose an octave with each word he spoke. At the elder prince's nod, Kouha could have jumped out of his silken slippers with glee. "Yes! I promise I won't let you down. Thank you so much Brother!"

The corner of Kouen's eyes crinkled in amusement, but his tone was serious. "I expect you to hone your sword skills in my absence. I will not be able to protect you in the Dungeon; you must do that yourself. I hope to see your improvements upon my return." His voice softened. "Perhaps we can spar together sometime in the future."

"I won't let you down, Brother." Kouha repeated, a delight the likes of which Kouen had never seen before crossing his brother's face. Was this what Kouha had needed? A little nudge in the right direction by the right figure?

For all of the First Prince's knowledge and intelligence, relationships with his family seemed alien to him, and try as he might, he felt detached from his brothers and sisters. The Emperor had once stressed to Kouen the importance of strong sibling ties. The look of melancholic forlorn upon his Father's face as he remembered his late brother remained forever etched in the eldest prince's mind: "Family is everything. You have only one in this world, and it is your greatest treasure. You can be the most powerful man of the realm, but without a family, you have nothing. My greatest mistake and regret is allowing myself to become estranged from my brother. I spent all of my life being jealous of him; he was the smart one, the strongest one, the favorite child. He was the one who united the clans and created the Kou Empire, and reigned as the Emperor who was loved by all of his people. I thought I hated him, but only after his death did I realize my terrible mistake. The only thing I could do to honor his memory was to take Hakuei and Hakuryuu under my wing and to try and keep the Empire together. Remember Kouen, as the eldest, you are responsible for keeping the family together. This you must do at all costs."

That day, Kouen had vowed that he would not make the same mistake as his Father. True power came in numbers, and his family was his power. The Empire would most certainly fall if the Imperial Family was not united, and he would not allow that to happen. Perhaps this was the first step of many in ensuring that the bonds between his siblings remained strong.

Kouen glanced down at the snake still resting in his palm. "This is extremely well made. Would you allow me to keep it?"

Kouha mouth opened slightly, bewildered. "You…want it?"

Turning the wooden serpent over in his large hands, Kouen said, "It is such a masterpiece, I felt that it would be a waste for it to be used to frighten palace servants."

"It's not worthy of being a gift to you… I'll make a better one." Kouha murmured, blushing. He fidgeted with his hands, his gaze lowered.

"Will you?" Kouen asked thoughtfully. "Then how about I keep this one until I return from the Eastern Plains, and you can work on crafting a better one while I am gone?"

Immediately standing at attention, the Third Prince bowed, clasping is hands before him in a rare show of formality. "I accept this task and will most certainly create something worthy of my King."

Frowning slightly in bemusement, Kouen corrected him, "I am not King."

When Kouha looked up to meet Kouen's eyes, absolute loyalty and trust shone within their amaranth depths. "You are my King." With those words, Kouha turned and ran down the hall, shouting over his shoulder: "Just wait! I'll make something that will amaze even you, Brother En! It's a promise!"

Watching the Third Prince's retreating form, Kouen let out a laugh. A fond smile on his lips, he glanced down at the snake. "It's a promise." He echoed.

Author's Note: I felt Koumei needed some love, so I added him in here XD