Nero Nox sat on his bed in his New York penthouse with his eyes closed. He took slow breaths in and out, calming himself for the coming mission. He had been in contact with Kryptos, the United States premier magical detective agency. He had been working freelance under them for a bit to get them to trust him. Finally, they trusted him enough to go along with Nero’s plan to take down Nero’s family’s crime syndicate. The Nox family was the most powerful family in the magical side of America. Their influence wrapped around every corner and infiltrated every nook and cranny of politics and business in the magic side of the US.

Nero finally felt calm and stood from his bed. He exited his bedroom and walked toward the living room. In his living room, in front of the fireplace, a large slab of white marble set in the ground. Instead of the normal striations of dark rock in the white rock that marble usually had, the dark striations formed into an intricate magic circle filled with runes. Nero stepped into the middle of the magic circle and pulled a small red gemstone out of his pocket.

He spoke the incantation to teleport to his family’s ceremonial cathedral, “Nox intra ecclesiam.” Light began to emanate from the magic circle and swirl around him. However, Nero had to say the password. The incantation was like knocking on a door, but the password would “unlock” the door. “Ventri et bestia torsiones et fame magis et magis et delectationibus mundi.” It was a broken Latin way of saying “The belly of the beast pangs with a hunger for more and more of the pleasures of the world.” Nox hated the phrase, but it summed up his family’s greed and lusts quite well.

After saying the password, the light from the circle swirled faster and faster, fully enveloping Nero. After a few seconds, the swirling light slowed and eventually dissipated. Nero was no longer in his penthouse. He was standing in front of a gigantic gothic cathedral made from black granite and ornamented with blood-red stained-glass windows. The sky was a strange deep purple color with stars flecked all over it. However, Nero could see everything like it was daytime. The Nox Cathedral existed in an alternate dimension created through magic. There was not much in this area, just the cathedral, the family graveyard, and a few miles of barren plains. If someone attempted to walk off the plain where it ended, an invisible wall would keep them from going any further.

Nero approached the cathedral and entered through the large door. The door groaned loudly as it moved, alerting his family inside that Nero had arrived. He entered the massive chamber, observing the skilled craftsmanship of the church. The marble floor that stretched through the room was covered with many pews with red velvet cushions. Chandeliers lit with deep red flames hung from the arching ceiling, giving the room an eerie glow. At the end of the room was the altar, where a large marble magic circle (like Nero’s magic circle in his penthouse) in front of a towering obsidian podium. On the wall was a rose window of red stained glass that depicted a black thorny vine encircling the globe.

Nero’s mother approached him. “Here are your clothes, dear,” she said as she handed him a black outfit. His family members were all wearing the same garb for the ceremony. “Go get changed quickly please, we would like to start soon.”

“Yes, mother,” Nero said as he took the cloak from her and walked to the right side of the room where one of the bathrooms were. He entered, locked the door behind him, and let out a sigh of relief. Good, he thought. They seem none the wiser.

Nero hid his affiliation with Krytos from his family, as he should have. If they found out, they would be extremely suspicious of him. Luckily for Nero, he was not the firstborn child, so he did not have to be fully involved in all the Nox family’s affairs. That gave him space to secretly work with Kryptos and craft the plan to take down his family. Unfortunately for him, he still had to accomplish the occasional mission his parents gave him. It was not often, but a few times a year he had to break the law for his family. Assassination, theft, you name it, Nero’s probably done it. Kryptos knew of this and gave Nero immunity of everything his family put him up to. If they didn’t, Nero’s family would find him out and no one would have a shot of knocking them off of their throne.

Nero took off his shirt and pants and placed his wand that had been in his pocket on top of the sink counter. He donned a black clerical cassock and a blood-red clerical collar. His family was a fan of perverting religious imagery and iconography. They were not religious in the slightest, but they treated themselves as gods. Nero was thinking about researching religion after he distanced himself from his family to see if he thought they were wrong about that as well.

Fully dressed, he looked at himself in the bathroom mirror and scratched his chin. Steel yourself, he thought. You’re strong enough, and you will be even stronger after the ceremony. You can do this. He shook his head, picked his wand up from where he placed it and put it in his pocket. He had grown accustomed to the Kryptos administered short sword and pistol; however, he would have to use the wand his parents gave him for the ceremony. That was fine, Nero was confident in his skill with a wand.

He exited the bathroom and walked toward his family in the main room. Everyone was accounted for. His grandparents on both sides, his parents, and his three siblings. “Pluto dear,” Nero’s mother said to his father, I think we should be getting started.”

“Yes, Lucretia,” Pluto responded, “I do think it is about time we perform the ceremony. All right everyone, let us get in our places!” Nero knew how the ceremony functioned, he and the rest of his siblings had to study it for a few months beforehand. The ceremony was how the head of the Nox family passed on the unique Nox family magic down to the new head, the firstborn. Nero’s older brother, Thanatos, was the one who would be inheriting the magic and becoming the new family head. At least, that’s what was supposed to happen. Nero planned on interrupting the ceremony and stealing the family magic, the Black Thorn. It was a powerful magic that created black thorned vines that drained the life of those whom it hit. Once Nero stole the magic for himself, he could incapacitate his family and arrest them.

The family gathered around the sides of the magic circle, except Thanatos who stood in the center of the circle, and Pluto who went to the podium. Pluto began speaking from the podium. “Hello everyone. Today is the day that I, as head of our great family, pass the torch to my son, Thanatos, to lead our family in all our ventures from here on out. Thanatos will be receiving the sacred Black Thorn magic, and I will be losing the ability to cast it. Thanatos will become an even greater force to be reckoned with than he already is. Through Thanatos as head of our family, we will spread and tighten our influence over the nation and even the world, one day ruling both the magical and the non-magical sides of the planet. Order will be restored. The strong will be respected as such and the weak will be treated as such.” Pluto locked eyes with Thanatos. “Thanatos Nox,” he said, “do you accept the title as head of the great Nox family and promise to do your best to bring the Nox family’s destiny to fruition?”

“Yes, Father,” Thanatos responded. Nero thought it was funny that Pluto even had to ask. Why would anyone as insane as his family not accept the offer? Even if they did not want to become head of the family, they would be forced and conditioned to. Nero was lucky. For some reason as the second child, his parents’ sort of let him do his own thing, especially as he became an adult. His parents were much more involved in his older brother, younger sister, and younger brother’s lives. And for some reason, his parents never questioned that Nero might not be brainwashed like his other siblings were.

“Thanatos has accepted the headship,” Pluto said. “We will now begin the ceremony to pass the birthright to him. Please, raise your mediums and recite after me.” Mediums were the way mages cast their spells. Wands and staffs were the most common, but many other things could be used a well, such as swords, knives, jewelry, and more. Nero raised his wand in front of him, as did his family members with their mediums. Then, Pluto began.

“Our family, who burned down heaven, hallowed be our name.”

Then, everyone else repeated the chant.

Our family, who burned down heaven, hallowed be our name.

A mist began to form in the air around them.

“Our kingdom come, our will be done, on earth as it should have been in heaven.”

Our kingdom come, our will be done, on earth as it should have been in heaven.

As this line was said, red lights appeared at the tips of everyone’s medium and began humming an eerie sound. The ceremonial chant was a perversion of The Lord’s Prayer. The chant had no actual power, it was just the way the Black Thorn magic was created to be passed down. Because the chant was a perversion of something in Christianity, Nero was most interested in researching Christianity after all of this was over with.

“This day we will seize our daily bread. We will praise our trespasses as we destroy those who trespass against us.”

This day we will seize our daily bread. We will praise our trespasses as we destroy those who trespass against us.

The mist that had formed began swirling around the circle.

“We will lead ourselves into temptation and deliver each other into evil.”

We will lead ourselves into temptation and deliver each other into evil.

The swirling mist began to move toward the center of the circle, coalescing above Thanatos.

“For ours is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever and ever.”

For ours is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever and ever.

The mist had all come together in a small spot above Thanatos. Pluto raised his staff toward the ball of mist.

“Amen.”

Amen.

Pluto’s staff emanated a black mist that shot toward the floating mist. As they mixed, a tiny black gemstone was formed. The gemstone slowly descended toward Thanatos.

Now was Nero’s time. Nero cast a high-level blink spell, disappeared from where he was, and appeared right behind Thanatos. Nero kicked Thanatos in the back of his legs, causing him to fall. He then jumped up, grabbed the gem, and popped it into his mouth. With a quick gulp, Nero stole the Black Thorn magic for himself. No one could take it from him, since it required the ceremony. Nero would get killed before willingly passing the magic on. Now, it was Nero’s time to defeat his family, since no one could perform the Black Thorn magic but him.

Nero attempted to cast another high-level blink spell and teleport behind his father. However, the spell failed. What? A red light then flew into his chest, knocking him on his back.

“You idiot,” Pluto spat. “How dare you. Now you suffer from the curse of the Black Thorn. The only magic you can cast is the Black Thorn. If you were the firstborn, this would not have happened. Now that you’ve had your fun, come up here are lead the ceremony and give Thanatos what is rightfully his.”

No, Nero thought. This is all wrong. He didn’t know there was a curse. The Black Thorn was strong, but to defeat his family he’d need all sorts of different types of magic. The magic that he had been putting so much work into mastering. All of it, in vain. Even if he could defeat them with just the Black Thorn, Nero had never used it before. There was no way he was skilled enough. He failed.

Amid his despair, lying there on the marble, Nero realized something. He didn’t completely fail. He wasn’t going to give the Black Thorn up. That would still be a major blow to his family’s power. It would knock his family off balance… Possibly enough for Kryptos to come in and take them down while they were unsteady. So, Nero either died here, not giving up the Black Thorn, or tried to escape with the magic. Nero would rather live. He needed to figure out what his thoughts on religion were before dying, anyway.

Even though he had no practice with the magic, he could still attempt to use it. He rose from the ground and pointed it at Pluto on the podium. Nero willed black thorned vines to shoot out of the tip of his wand toward his father. It worked. However, his family finally caught on to his act. They all began casting spells at him. Lights, fire, lighting, and other sorts of things shot around the room. Nero dodged them. He may have lost his magical abilities, but his physical abilities that he had honed with Kryptos were still with him. He ran toward the exit, sending bursts of the Black Thorn behind him as he ran. There were some close calls, but no one’s spells hit him. At the door, he cast vines at it, tearing a hole open for him. He didn’t have time to open it. He ran out of the whole and to the magic circle. He stepped on and said “Return.” Thankfully, he did not need to say the long incantation again to return home. Light began to swirl around him. As a fireball came mere inches from his face, the light encapsulated him and pulled him back into the real world. The light dissipated. He was back in his penthouse.

However, Nero couldn’t rest. His family would be after him. He was sure they were already calling their cronies to come after him. He had to prepare, and quickly. These coming weeks would be some of the most difficult in his life.