"Done!"
Carmilla called out, finally done with styling Julian's hair.
Julian stood up from Carmilla's lap and made his way to the full-body mirror.
His short black hair fell loosely over his forehead. The perfect type of unruly that showed he at least ran a comb through it.
His eyebrows were thick and sharp. His crimson irises carried a redder shade than it did before. His chubby pale chick's had a faint tint of red.
He was dressed in form-fitting black pants and matching shoes. He had on a long-sleeved black shirt with red roses on it.
All‐in-all, he was sure to be popular with the ladies.
"What do you think?" Carmilla asked, she knew that if she didn't, then he would admire himself in the mirror for hours.
'Like father, like son.' She mused with a smile.
"...I'm too sexy for this shirt."
"Haha." His reply caught her off guard. "Yes, you're are, my son."
"Wow brother! You look amazing!" Isadora complimented.
She sat down on a rug in the room, stuffing her face with cookies, that's why she only now noticed her brother's appearance.
Even though Julian looked impeccable, Isadora clearly stole the show.
She wore a long black dressed that came down to her ankles. The dress had the same red roses as the shirt of Julian.
She had on cute red heels, her white hair was tied with red ribbons in a twin ponytail and the the chocolate crumbs on her chubby cheeks only amplified her cuteness.
'Looks I'm going to have castrate a lot of young masters in the future.' Julien sighed, already envisioning a future where he is called the Nutcracker.
"Thanks, Isa. You look very beautiful too."
"Hehe." Isadora laughed cheekily.
"Both my children are going the give the boys and girls a run for their money." Carmilla added with pride, wiping Isadora's mouth.
"Now," she said, turning serious, "it's been two years, and as promised: I will finally set you free."
Julian and Isadora's eyes immediately lit upon hearing that their wish to leave the room is finally about to come true.
"I know that the isolation has caused you pain and longing to explore the rest of the world, but know that what mom and dad did, was with your best interest at heart.
We could have gone about it a different way, but this was the most efficient way to keep you guys safe."
Julian noted that she still refused to say from what they were kept safe from.
"You guys must be very happy, because from now you can see the outside world and you no longer need to wait a year for me to give you a book, you can find any book you want in the library."
Julian was happy to get another source of knowledge. He was grateful for his mother, but the limitations she placed on him was frustrating.
"Come on, let's go." Carmilla said, turning on her heel.
Isadora grabbed Julian's hand and eagerly followed her mother out of the room.
The walls seemed to stretch endlessly in length, and like everything else in this castle; it was made of black marble with red engravings.
A long red rug lay in the hallway, chandeliers on the high ceiling burned with candles that gave of a red light, silverware placed decoratively along the hall and vases that contained red roses with black stems.
They found Magnus in the hallway, leaning with his back against the wall, arms crossed.
"Looks like it's finally time to introduce you to the world." He said.
"Papa!" Isadora released the hold she had on her brother and rushed to her father.
Magnus scooped the child up, and hugged her tight.
"I-I missed you." Isadora said, tears threatening to spill.
"Aww. Papa is sorry, babycheeks."
Isadora's actions is justified. They have only seen their father a few times over the years, and each time he came to visit, he would stay away for a longer period.
Julian didn't blame him, though.
He knew Magnus loved them, and the only reason a father would leave his wife and young kids at home, is when something is threatening their well-being or the thing he is busy with is important enough for him to neglect his family for.
"Looks like someone didn't miss me."
Magnus said to Julian, who haven't yet made his way over to him for a hug.
Julian finally relented and gave his father what he wanted.
He moved to Magnus, intent on just hugging the man's legs and calling it a day, but Magnus wasn't having that.
He picked Julian up and planted a kiss on his cheek before the boy could realize.
Before Julian could protest, Carmilla stepped forward.
"He did miss you, my love, he just doesn't know how to say it." And kissed Magnus on the lips. "And I missed you too."
"Haha," He laughed happily, "I missed you guys too. It has been hell without you."
"Yeah, yeah. You say that everytime, but you still choose hell over your family." Carmilla teased, walking down the hallway.
Magnus followed, with Julian and Isadora in his arms.
"Are you excited?" Magnus quickly changed the topic.
"Yes!" Isa exclaimed.
"You're in for a surprise then, the world is not what you think it is."
Julian wondered what his father meant with that sentence, but something else caught his attention before he could voice his thoughts.
Further ahead, a faint light that glowed a soft red stood out.
The nearer they got, the more pronounced the glow became.
When they got close enough Julian could finally see what is was: it's was doors. But these doors were not ordinary.
Pitch black in color and reaching almost the height of the ceiling.
Etched on the surface was what was responding for giving off the red glow.
A crest.
It was redder than anything Julian has seen in the castle.
A sword ran through the middle of the crest–an estoc.
On the sword–near the tip–was a token with the letter "D" in.
Above the token, red vines with sharp thorns snaked over the blade of the sword.
On both sides of the sword were blood red dragons.
There were words at the top and bottom of the crest that read:
"Nox Arcana Ordo Dracul"
(Picture on discord channel)
Julian recognized the language immediately.
'Latin? In this world?' He questioned.
The books Julian read were in a language that didn't exist on Earth, so he thought that the languages on Earth was exclusive to it.
But the appearance of Latin completely changed that speculation.
"What does it mean?" Isa asked, she too, noticing the foreign language.
"It's means: Mysteries of the Night, Order of the Dragon."
Magnus responded with a prideful tone.
"Why dragons?" Julian questioned.