Priam

Practically the majority of his life was spent being taken care of by his brother instead of even being allowed to try to fend for himself. Most of the time he was grateful for that, but there were times that he genuinely wondered if that's what was best for him. After all, he wasn't learning many life skills and his brother just seemed constantly tired. Priam was always a bit of a crybaby and didn't like getting himself into trouble, so maybe that's why Nilus always jumped to things before he did. The effort that was put into caring for him got so much worse when their parents just disappeared one night. Nilus had to have them move, had to get a job, and still refused to let Priam do more than casual household chores like sweeping or mopping. There were several times his brother went without food at school because all of his lunch money was given to Priam. Watching his brother basically destroy himself just to make sure Priam didn't have to do much in life was a bit depressing.

There came a day that he was able to convince Nilus to teach him how to properly cook for himself. Hesitance could easily be spotted in the older brother's words and actions, but he didn't want to deny his brother something he seemed passionate about. Not too many dishes had been taught to him. It was all just a few that could be easily prepared, leaving Nilus to do anything big if special dinners were to come and the like. That was okay. Being able to help his brother lay down and rest for even a little while longer than he had been was good enough. Every night that Priam would say he was handling supper for himself, Nilus would always fall asleep on the couch almost immediately. Those were the only nights that he would actually be able to wake up and seem well-rested.

Nights that Nilus would spend awake despite his sleepiness were still quite common. All it was now was that he wanted to always make sure Priam wasn't going to start to panic or anything of that sort. One of those nights was different, though. Right as Priam was getting ready to go to bed, Nilus having done most everything that day, his brother had come running into his room right as he was drifting off to sleep. The older brother couldn't stop rambling about some message he'd gotten from something or someone that had to have been watching over them. Something that knew of their situation and supposedly wanted to help them. Whatever was going on just made it seem like Nilus had gone crazy due to the stress, but he would likely regret it if he didn't listen as his brother pleaded for him to come with on a journey.

Travelling to this location unknown to either of them would be a while. Nilus didn't sleep the entire car ride, but Priam had. It was just a short nap as he waited for their arrival. If what he'd been told were true and there was money waiting for them, he'd have to get his energy up to pack it all into the car. Maybe this really was a message from some kind of god and they would be okay now.. The words never seemed to stop coming from his brother's mouth. Not even when Priam had finally started to drift off to sleep, and he still seemed to be going when they reached a stop.

Priam had awoken to a large cave entrance, of which he tried to enter with his brother but was swiftly stopped. No matter how much he wanted to refute his brother's orders to stay outside, he listened. It just meant he would be sitting inside the car with his hands instinctively checking his messages every five seconds. Such would've happened whether his brother had told him to keep his phone close or not. What had to have been a full hour passed before he actually got a text from Nilus. Reading the tone he had to have used was hard, but the message sent felt so cold. Perhaps it was just his worries about something having happened to his brother? There would be no telling until Nilus actually showed up in front of him. Ready to ask his brother about all that he saw, he stepped out of the car and stood in wait for what felt like 20 or 30 minutes.

Something was definitely wrong. Whatever was down there had changed his brother and he wasn't even gone for that long.. The way his brother stood alone was enough to tell the panther that his brother wasn't the same as he had been when he was heading inside. Had he appeared sad when he came back empty-handed would've made even the slightest sense at least, but no, he just appeared so mean.. Then he didn't want to stop trying to order his brother to take the car and leave. As the conversation would just go back and forth with no real direction, Nilus seemed to be getting more and more angered, his tone of voice rising and his face appearing furious. This wasn't something Priam had ever seen from his brother. The last thing he would've expected his brother to do just because of Priam's own worries was to attack him. Yet that's exactly what happened. A large gash was left over the younger sibling's eye, forcing a loud scream from him, followed by a desperate attempt to get back to the car. Blood was pouring from his face, yet there was no way he'd make it back home by walking. He'd just have to try his hardest to pay attention to where he was going.

Leaving his brother there wasn't the ideal, but he needed to get to a hospital before this were to get infected. The trip there was successful with no casualties caused by his wavering vision. Only a small amount of time was spent in the emergency room for him to get everything fixed up, a bandage over his eye for quite some time, allowed to take it off only after a few more visits to the hospital. Staying at home with the pain was so much worse when he was all alone.

For a while, priam didn't even eat. It was only a few days, but that didn't make it much better. He was terrified of running out of food when he had to take care of the apartment they lived in so they wouldn't lose it. Any of the money Nilus has left needs to be used to keep a roof over his head instead of wasted on food. That could only be continued for so long before he had to give in. The hunger eventually got to him, but he would still only eat in small amounts to avoid running out of food.

Whatever problems he had with money had appeared to have been solved when cash was mysteriously finding its way into his home. All of the worries of not being able to make rent while still feeding himself were no longer needed as he was continuously getting paid for doing nothing. Of course, he knew where this was all coming from. A note was often on top of the money he was given, containing a nice message with a poorly drawn picture of his brother and him. Memories of the good times they had before everything had been ruined by whatever lay in that terrible cave. All of the sentiments were greatly appreciated, but this still isn't what he wanted from his brother. The only thing he cared about was his brother coming back to him. Sure the memories of times in the past were great, but why couldn't they continue to be making memories together?

Times after school where he would drive out to the cave entrance in an attempt to see his brother would grow more and more common as the time passed. Each time, he was driven away by people his brother must be working with now. Only to be returned to his lonesome apartment, where he would sleep most all day every day. Getting to do schoolwork was growing so much harder as he had to figure everything out alone. Homework was rarely done and his grades were plummeting. All he wanted was his brother to come back and help him, be there for him, anything. He didn't care what it took anymore.

So Priam got prepared to make a risky move. Everything was being prepared to do something that could put his very life at risk. He wanted so desperately to be with his brother again, even if that meant finding out whatever had changed him in the beginning of this mess.

Sneaking into and through the cave was a tough challenge that he was more than willing to attempt to take on. Being as elusive as he was, it was slightly easier than expected to sneak past the guards and anyone passing by after he was out of his car. Had his brother, the one person who would be guaranteed capable of finding him, not been protecting the entity at the time, he probably would've gotten his way. Instead he was grabbed by two people to drag him out of the cave as his brother disappeared into the tunnel he was trying so hard to make it through.

Little time was spent being dragged before something horrible happened. The two men who had a hold on him lost their grip on Priam as they began coughing up an intense amount of blood. They both fell to their knees in pain, shaking wildly as they held tight onto their stomachs. Everyone in the open area he stood in appeared to be experiencing the same thing, blood quickly covering the ground floor underneath them all. None of these people were much of Priam's worries. As bad as he felt for all of them, what he was most concerned about was if his brother was dealing with something similar. Priam had no idea what was happening, but if everyone who lived here was going through this, there was a great possibility he was too.

Much to his own dismay, his brother was indeed on his knees, coughing up copious amounts of blood. So much that it seemed like it should have killed him long before it actually had. Priam did his best to be there for his brother, as there was no way to help him. Weakness could already be seen in his brother's eyes as he leaned back into Priam's arms. The two barely shared any words as his brother would be unable to respond to practically everything. Instead, Priam just stared at his brother's dying body with pain-filled eyes.

Knowing nothing could be done other than watching his brother die before him filled him with a despair he'd never felt before. Bringing his brother home to bury him after he'd stopped breathing would be suspicious on his part, so Priam just laid his brother down and got up. Little blood had gotten on his own clothes. It would be easy to sneak into his own home without getting questioned by anyone. Hopefully..

There was nothing that could be done now aside from leave. So that's what he did. Priam got up, still in shock from all that had just happened, and left. There were several dead bodies lying around the place, all surrounded by their own blood they presumably coughed up. They all must have died the same way Nilus had. Whatever changed all of these people must have killed them off with it... Nilus must have put an end to it all. Thanks to nobody other than himself. Had Priam not come down here in some attempt to be with his brother, Nilus would still be alive.

Something stopped him on the way out. Just the faintest sound. Far off, the smallest cry of a baby could be heard. Someone was still alive down here, even if it was a little kid. No way could Priam just leave it to die cold and alone now that whoever its parents were had to have died. The fact that these people had even thought to have a baby in their situation was a tad bit irresponsible, but at least they didn't subject it to the curse..

After following the crying, a small baby was found right next to the body of what appeared to be a fairly small faun girl. As soon as Priam had filled up the small light that shone into the branched-off part of the cave, the baby had been slightly shocked to see someone, so it went silent. That must have been something it was trained to do. Stay quiet if someone it doesnt know appears and it would be okay, right? That was incredibly sad if it was truly the case. That's not what mattered right now, as he needed to get the baby and go. Blood was sprayed right next to the small child, but there was hardly anything on them aside from a splotch of blood that stained a part of their blanket. Any blood on the child wasn't what stunned the panther into hesitation as he went to grab the kid. No, it was the scary resemblance it held to his brother. The one he just watched die.

Of course his brother was the other irresponsible parent down here.. Regardless of how painful it would be to take care of this child that looked so much alike to the one he already missed dearly, he knew he couldn't just leave it or put it up for adoption without feeling guilty. Thus, Priam took it regardless of how little he wanted to, tucking it comfortably into the blanket that was lying over it.

Despite having a child to take care of for years after, Priam would still get scarily close to offing himself from time to time. The guilt of his brother's death would grow to be too much for him. Hell, just the image of his brother dying and knowing he wouldn't be coming back was too much. Thankfully, he would realize what he needs to live for each time, another reason being his fear of truly going through with it.

All of Priam's money worries were thrown aside by Noelani's only form of an apology for the deaths she had technically caused. An unlimited supply of money was given to the panther so that he would never have to live in a shabby apartment while he took care of a child, plus he would never have to think he was too low on food. None of that was ever enough to make him entirely want to stay alive. The one thing she said she couldn't give him back was the one thing he wanted. While he tried his best to stay for the sake of the child, he so desperately wanted to die just to see his brother again.