"If you didn't feel pain and you were alone somewhere, you wouldn't perceive the significance of the injury, until perhaps it was too late." "But... I'll never be alone anywhere." Logos growled. "Thou will keep us down here forever." "Of course I won't." Leia scoffed. "What an illogical thing to say. I'm only keeping you two here until you've learned to fully control your powers, as well as reaching adulthood. That is what your training from this point forward will entail, in addition to your physical strength training." "To control our powers..." Leodus mused, thinking back and realizing how out-of-control he and Logos had been while in their chi-powered state. "But why are we here?" Logos demanded. "Why us??" "Because you two were born specifically for this purpose." Leia answered bluntly. "If I wasn't working on this project, neither of you would have ever existed." "So it would've been impossible from the start for us to live normal lives," Logos muttered, "like the children in these history books." "The term 'normal' is subjective," Leia countered, "at least when it comes to how one lives one's life. Cultures, and by extent lifestyles, vary drastically between the tribes, even on this continent alone. Those history books simply give as broad a view as possible; in reality, if thou were to go from one tribe's land to another, thine would be shocked at how different each tribe's interpretation of 'normal' is." "But, but," Logos stuttered, glancing back at the open book, "the majority of children live that way, therefore it must be the most normal way to live!" "So you think in quantitative terms," Leia observed, "equating the majority with 'normal'. You believe that if the highest number of people are living a certain way, than that way must be 'correct'. It seems 'Logos' was a fitting name for you after all. "However, thou is mistaken. You see, the 'correct' way to live also changes throughout the ages, as new generations have different ideas than their predecessors. This utterly destroys any hope of eternal all-around consistency to how we live. Inconsistency in ideas is the cost of imagination, or perhaps it's the cost of free will." "W-what?" Leodus asked, lost at this point. He looked to Logos, but saw that his elder brother looked equally confused. "Ah, so this is the point at which it gets too complicated for you two." Leia nodded. "That is understandable, but just think of it this way: the very fact that what I just said--about eternal consistency being impossible--could be interpreted as a good thing or a bad thing depending on who you ask, proves my point." "Oh, I see." Leodus nodded slowly. "You're saying that everything is subjective, including the way people live, even if the majority of people happen to agree on one way."
"Everything," Leia replied, adjusting her monocle, "except for science. Well, proven science, specifically. Scientific theories that are proven become indisputable fact. Like the theory of gravity, as the biggest example." "Is that why you became a scientist, Dr. Leia?" Logos questioned. "It is indeed." Leia confirmed. "As I'm sure you'll both agree after what I've told you, subjectivity is frustrating. Thus, being able to prove something as objectively factual is liberating, in a sense." "But what about truths that weren't proven by science?" Logos asked. "Like... my age! We all know I'm nine years old. That wasn't proven by a scientific theory, but we all know it's the truth." To both boys' surprise, Leia started chuckling, and her chuckle quickly grew into laughter. "If only..." Leia stared off into space, still grinning tightly. "If only you were right, Logos. But no matter how factually true something is, unless it's as obvious and indisputable as gravity, there will always be people who desire to tweak the facts, to change what is 'truth' to their liking." "That's impossible!" Leodus argued. "You taught us that the definition of 'truth' is--" "Now this is surely the point in the conversation at which you two will be lost." Leia said, holding up a hand. "You'll understand what I meant when you're older... Now return to your studies of the facts, as we know them today." Leia turned away, striding out of the room. That was the last long conversation the brothers had with her that year.
177 BR... Leodus gritted his teeth as he held fast to the pull-up bar. "Thir...ty!" He ground out as he concluded his set, then let go of the bar a half second after his chin had come above it. Leodus let himself fall into the soft bed of leaves and grass that'd been set up below, and simply lay there panting. He turned his head to the left, where a gloved Logos was smashing his fists against a training dummy nearby. The seventeen-year-old leopard snarled as he increased the speed of his punches, dodging each time a hit triggered the dummy's "arms", formerly wooden planks (which Logos had eventually insisted be replaced with metal slabs) that would spin all the way around the circular metal rings lining the dummy's body. Logos' speed was impressive given that he had no chi plugged, and after years of training, the white leopard now dodged every one of the dummy's counters, no matter how unpredictable they appeared. With a roar, Logos landed a punch that caused the dummy to snap off of the wiring affixing it to the Test Room floor. Logos was on it in an instant. The second the dummy hit the floor, he landed upon it, straddling it and hammering in punch after punch. "I think you... got him... Logos," Leodus observed between pants. "Oi, Logos!" Right, left, right, left. The rhythm of Logos' punches continued, and his eyes were completely focused on the downed dummy, as if he'd not heard the other leopard. Finally, after apparently deciding that the dummy's head had loosened enough, Logos grabbed the sides of the head, and with another roar, pulled and wrenched it to the left. The dummy's head turned almost all the way around with a loud snap. "Well alright then." Leodus muttered, turning his head toward the ceiling. "Very good, Logos," came the Doctor's voice from her window above. "It is necessary to eliminate an opponent the majority of the time. Otherwise, who's to say they won't get back up and strike a fatal blow when you have your back turned?" After a few more moments of rest, Leodus brought his knees up and launched himself forward, landing on his feet in a squat. He picked up his mug from the floor and walked over to Logos, who now stood over the dummy with a proud smile. Despite Logos being two years his elder, Leodus stood at the same height as his brother (and at the same height as Dr. Leia, for that matter). This made sense after the Doctor had explained that almost all chi-evolved beings (with some exceptions) had the same standard height upon reaching their mid teens. "Even so, what was the point of that in this instance?" Leodus asked casually as he took a swig of water. "Why break our dummy?" "I imagined it was someone trying to harm you, brother," Logos explained. "Now you can rest assured that the threat will be vanquished in such a scenario. Er... assuming the assailant doesn't have a ranged weapon."
"Not necessarily, Logos," Dr. Leia spoke again. "You'd simply have to employ those same dodging maneuvers to avoid enemy projectiles." "Oh yeah," Logos nodded. "I get you." Leodus could hear the Doctor sighing from her window above. He knew why; no matter how much she'd tried to drill it into them, the brothers had all but abandoned the old-fashioned, "eloquent" manner of speaking as they'd gotten older. "So when can we get out of here?" Logos asked. "I'm pretty much a man grown, and Leodus isn't far behind." "We've gotten control over our powers now as well," Leodus added, recalling how he and Logos could now be fully in control of themselves while having chi (fire chi in Leodus' case) plugged, and even while activating their ocular powers. "True," Dr. Leia conceded, "but you still lack humility, and leadership abilities." "And why would we need any of that?" Logos asked. "Because you are to be in a leadership position in the far future," she answered. "I never told you when you were younger, so that it wouldn't go to your head." "What kind of a leadership position?" Logos persisted. "How about I tell you as a reward," Dr. Leia reasoned, "for learning humility? I believe this power has gone to your head, Logos, though that was expected. Simply put, you must be 'likable' if you expect the citizens you'll lead to respect and follow you." "Simply put, I don't care." Logos countered. "Who says I want to lead? I don't remember ever demanding that." "You may not want to," the Doctor said impatiently, "but you must. Think of it this way: you are strong, and the strong lead the weak. That's just nature. Though in civilized terms, I believe it's the civic duty of the strong to lead the weak. If the weak led the strong, that would be a broken and illogical world." "Hm, the strong lead the weak..." Logos echoed. "Yes, I do see what you're saying. If the strong are meant to lead, then it's surely my duty to do so." "What about me then, Doc?" Leodus piped in. "Am I meant to lead the 'weak' as well?" "Yes, in the event of Logos being slain," Dr. Leia replied evenly, "you'll succeed him. For you are his younger brother." "Well, you need not worry about that," Logos assured Leodus. "I can't be beaten!" "And that," the Doctor called out, "is what I mean when I say you must learn humility. You're far too confident, Logos." "This is a farce!" the white leopard growled. "I thought confidence was a good thing??" "And have I not told you two, time and time again, that 'good' is subjective?" Logos turned away, scowling. "Nearly everything she says is nonsensical." Leodus heard him mutter. "I'm sick of this..."
It was mere seconds after Leodus laid his head on the pillow, that a blinding light washed over his face. "Bloody Cavora, Logos!" Leodus cursed, putting a hand over his eyes. "Sorry brother," the elder leopard replied, moving the torch away. "I wanted to make sure you were awake."
"What for!?" Leodus growled. "It's the middle of the night! Let me sleep." "No Leodus!" Logos shook his head. "Now's the only timeframe we can plan our escape!" "Escape? What are you talking about?" "Getting out of this wretched place, that's what!" Logos whispered hoarsely. "I've been planning this in my head for months. I am sick of Leia not telling us anything, and beyond sickof being a test subject! Don't you feel the same way?" "It's the reason we exist," Leodus argued, "and Dr. Leia has said many times that she'll let us leave--" "She was supposed to have let us leave by now," Logos growled, but kept his voice a whisper, "if she was telling the truth before! She'll clearly keep us here until she sees fit to let us leave! "I will not wait any longer! Leodus, we've never even seen the outside world, aside from art in history books!" Leodus remained silent, thinking back on all the years spent in the compound. "I know you and I are thinking the same thing," Logos continued. "The only ones who should dictate our reason to exist, are us." The younger leopard rubbed his brow, his eyes half-closed. "...Can't lie to you, brother; you're right. I don't want to fight Dr. Leia after how she's taken care of us all these years, but I'm sick of being trapped here too. Enough is enough." "Alright," Logos nodded, "here's how this'll go..."
After creaking Leia's door open as quietly as possible and quickly checking to see if she was asleep (which she was, huddled under the blankets), the brothers crept through the tunnel that connected the bedrooms, the Test Room, and the meal room. The meal room had a staircase at its far corner that led into Leia's locked office/viewing station above the Test Room; Logos' deduced that it was the only way out of the compound. When the brothers entered the meal room, they went behind the counter where Leia prepared food, and Logos dug his claws between the doors of one of the many locked cabinets. "Careful!" Leodus whispered, looking back into the tunnel. "Try not to be loud." "I know," Logos replied. "...I need some help with this." he then said, sounding almost embarrassed. Leodus nodded and provided his strength. Working together, the brothers wrenched the cabinet open as quietly as they could. "Yes!" The white leopard whispered as he pulled two bags (one filled with chi, the other, fire chi) out of the cabinet. "I knew I saw her take chi out of this!" Logos plopped the sacks on the counter. "Use the type you're more used to." Leodus nodded as he plugged an orb of fire chi, resisting the urge to roar that came with the burst of power. Without the accompaniment of a battle cry, the sound of the chi aura erupting above Leodus was surprisingly quiet, simply sounding like a light windy breeze. Leodus turned back to the cabinets as Logos, having plugged his own orb of chi, used his newly-enhanced strength to easily and gracefully pull open a tightly-locked drawer.
Logos took out a fork as he'd said he would, using his chi-enhanced strength to twist around one of the utensil's prongs into an ideal lock-picking shape. He then drew two large kitchen knives from the drawer. "Logos?" Leodus questioned as his brother held one of the knives out for him to take. "For defense," the white leopard explained. "We don't know what exactly awaits us in the outside world; for example, any enemies Leia may've made, who might immediately see us as enemies by extension." "You're right," Leodus nodded, taking the knife as Logos made his way around the counter and to the end of the meal room, past the tables and to the stairway. The younger leopard followed up the stairs while Logos began picking the lock on the door up top. "Where'd you learn to do that, again?" "From a footnote in some book or another; Leia must've overlooked it-- Got it!" Logos pulled the fork out after a snap sounded within the keyhole, and he turned the doorknob. Logos swung the door open, only to stop dead in his tracks. Leodus craned his neck to look around his brother into the room, and saw what Logos was seeing; sitting on the chair in Leia's office was the Doctor herself, her head turned toward the arrivals, and a blank stare on her face. Leia stood up from her chair. "As I suspected. I'm guessing you two aren't going to go back to your room if I tell you too. Then..." she reached a hand up toward her monocle, and casually removed it, revealing a glowing red eye beneath; a stark contrast to her blue right eye, "...you leave me no choice."
From where he stood, Leodus was able to duck behind Logos, but the elder brother didn't have time to react as Leia locked eyes with him in an instant, freezing him where he stood. The knife Logos held clattered to the floor as his hand went limp, then stiff. "I had a feeling you would be attempting an escape like this tonight," Leia said, not taking her eyes off the white leopard. "I knew it would be an inevitability when I kept seeing that look in your eyes over this past year, Logos, especially today. "Thus, I stayed up here tonight in case. Were you to pull the sheets from my bed, you'd find the training dummy laying atop it." "You can't... keep us down here... forever, Leia!" Logos ground out as he tried to move. "We are living beings, not your toys!" Leia cocked her head to the left while keeping her eyes locked with Logos', ignoring what he said. "Leodus, do come out from behind Logos. Now." Crouching behind his brother, staring with uncertainty down the stairs they'd so victoriously climbed just a minute prior, Leodus heard what sounded like a slight chuckle from Logos. "You made a mistake by paralyzing me while he's behind me," Logos snarled. "You're right," Leia admitted. "It was an instinctive reaction. I had to make sure I froze you first, Logos, due to your unpredictable nature. "Oh, and if you're wondering why this paralysis is lasting more than ten seconds, it's because I discovered that focusing this power into one eye, through an injection of liquified fire chi, makes the effect last far longer. Don't expect your paralysis to break anytime soon." "That power might last, but can your gaze?" Leodus spoke up while still looking down the stairs, as much a genuine question as it was an attempt to distract Leia. "An astute point, Leodus," Leia replied, with a hint of pride in her voice, "but alas, I've spent years training my left eye to stay open longer. You just never noticed, beneath the monocle--" "Leodus!" Logos exclaimed suddenly, and the younger brother looked up in response. "Throw your knife at Leia, now!" "But--" "Do it!" The white leopard roared. Leodus, not wanting to put a knife into the leopard who'd raised him (even under these circumstances), looked around Logos' left hip, and a solution of sorts came to him. "I'm sorry, Leia," Leodus whispered as he threw his knife from around Logos' left side, straight into the control panel on Leia's desk overlooking the Test Room. Lingering chi sparks exploded throughout the circuitry as the knife, propelled by a chi-enhanced throw, buried itself into the panel. Leia was thrown to her left (Logos' right) by the small explosion, instantly breaking her gaze's hold over the white Leopard. Logos grabbed his knife from the floor and sprung forward without hesitation, a blue aura surrounding him as he moved at supernatural speed, thanks to both the chi and his own power from the experiments.
TheFirstDecadebatonmaster500TheNebulousMysteryRider Finally getting back to this... "Logos, wait!" Leodus shouted as his brother brought the knife down toward Leia's left eye, only for that eye to freeze him in place. The Doctor swept up her left hand to grab Logos' wrist, keeping her gaze on his eyes just above her as she placed her right hand on his abdomen, throwing him over herself with fire chi-enhanced strength. The white leopard slammed into the wall and slid down, his head hitting the floor first since he'd been flipped over. Leodus bounded forward into the room as this happened. Leia, likely predicting this, stood up fully and turned toward Leodus in time to stop his charge with a paralyzing glare--or so she thought. Leodus, who'd turned his head sharply when he got inches away from Leia, his eyes now fixed on the wall to his right, had already reached out with his left hand, grabbing Leia's snout and pulling it into the wall he faced with the full force of a throw. Leia's head smashed into the wall, and she coughed as she slid to the floor. "Not--bad--Leodus..." she sputtered. "...Very good." As Leodus let go and stumbled back, panting, he looked down to paralyze Leia with his glare, only to be blasted across the room at that moment by an invisible wave. Leodus felt the wind being knocked out of him as he slammed into, and knocked over, the chair at Leia's desk, falling on his side. He groaned as his head spun, and he realized, once his mind was clear enough, that Leia had empowered a roar with fire chi. As he felt his own orb of fire chi fizzling out, Leodus looked up to see Logos dash toward Leia, who was shakily getting to her feet. This time, however, Logos did what Leodus had done, avoiding the Doctor's gaze by ducking his head down as he got near. He focused his own gaze on his opponent's shaking legs, using a combat art he'd been trained in by Leia herself; "falling" backward and supprting his weight with his hands and left leg, he swept his right leg sharply forward, knocking her off her feet. With chi-enhanced speed using the last of his plugged orb, Logos leapt up and dashed around behind Leia before she could hit the floor, locking his right arm around her neck as he used his free hand to grab the orb of fire chi she had plugged. The white leopard used the last of his own chi-enhanced strength to yank the orb out of Leia's harness, managing to do so before his chi fizzled out. "G-good Logos, good!" Leia proudly ground out, chuckling despite having her breath nearly cut off. "Concede, Leia! It won't do you any good to--" Logos was interrupted as Leia suddenly lurched her head back, slamming into Logos' snout and forehead. His choke hold loosened long enough for Leia to slip out of it, spinning to face her opponent, though both she and Logos stumbled and barely remained standing. Leodus saw his opportunity, pouncing forward with a growl. Leia turned toward the sound--in time to be frozen by Leodus' gaze.
"Yours will... only hold for... ten... seconds," Leia ground out. Logos retorted, "Then I suppose we'll finish this the old-fashioned way!" as he drop-kicked the Doctor just before Leodus' paralysis could wear off, sending her rolling. Leia lay still for a moment, before pushing herself into a sitting position against the wall, holding up her other hand. "Alright, I concede," she affirmed, coughing. "Finally," Logos said. "Though now, of course, we'll need to take care of that left eye." He picked up the knife he'd dropped and moved toward the Doctor, but Leodus put a hand on his brother's shoulder. "Stop, Logos. She surrendered. If she intended to paralyze us again, she would've done so already." Logos nodded slowly, but held the knife out in front of Leia's left eye. "Fine, but if I see that eye start to glow for even a second, know that you won't get to keep it much longer." "Duly noted," Leia inclined her head slightly. "I commend you two for using your powers and skills to triumph over me. It is clear that you two are ready to fulfill your purpose, at least physically. The problem is that neither of you seem mentally ready, which is why I've still kept you here even after you grew into young adults." "Then why are we here to begin with?" Logos growled. "We are sick of being living experiments! What is this 'purpose' you want us to fulfill? You now have no choice but to give us answers, Leia!" "Indeed," Leia agreed. "It's clear that I'm in no position to withhold the information you desire. Truthfully, I did expect this outcome; I mostly wanted to test you. If I'd won this battle, what would I have done? Put you two back in your room and hope you don't try to escape again?" "Let's not worry about the 'what ifs', and get back to the 'whys'." Leodus replied, crossing his arms. "Right," Leia nodded, "then I'll tell you why you're here, why you were raised in this way, and what your purpose has always been."
Leia looked toward the ceiling, recalling the past. "Eighteen years ago, it was discovered by the King and Queen of the Leopard Tribe that the latter was woefully inept when it came to bearing offspring. The general populace wasn't aware of this. The King remained staunchly unapologetic regarding his choice of Queen, refusing to remarry; apparently, many couples have a sort of symbiotic relationship that mentally binds them to each other or something, even if one of them is useless when it comes to contributing to their species population. I don't understand it myself, but that's just how it is. "Anyhow, since the royal line must continue, the Prince Project was started; in which at least one 'lesser known' female leopard–logically one from the Leopard Intelligence division–would serve as a surrogate mother for the King's heirs. The rest of the tribe wouldn't know about this, and would be led to believe that the Queen was the mother of these princes, as has been a strict tradition of the Leopard Tribe in particular for our entire history." "How does that translate to keeping us locked up in–?!" Logos started. "Let me finish", Leia interrupted with a sigh, "The only beings in the world who knew of this were the monarchs, the Director of Leopard Intelligence, and the two LI agents who volunteered for the important task; that being me, and Logos' mother. Though you two have different mothers, you share a father: the Leopard King." "So we're princes..." Leodus murmured, then spoke up, "And you're my mother?? Why didn't you ever tell us this–?!" "Isn't it becoming obvious?" Leia poised. "Not telling you that you're royalty, or that one of you was my son, was an essential part of my project." "Your project?" Logos zeroed in on her penultimate word. "Indeed", Leia nodded, "Now you're starting to understand why this all began, yes? Seventeen years ago, before I'd volunteered–though I already knew of the Prince Project, as I'd been the Agent instructed to inform Logos' mother about it–I began to realize that this was an extremely unique opportunity to do something never before done in Chima's history." "What, keeping royalty locked up in a lab for seventeen years?" Logos scoffed, dumbfounded. "Precisely," Leia said, and (to both half-brothers' astonishment) smiled widely, appearing genuinely happy, "but that's not entirely the point. This would be the first time in history that princes of a tribe would truly be raised like warriors, and–ideally, if my project was a success–warriors with a unique set of powers, at that. "Sure, there have been examples throughout history of various tribes' leaders growing up among the peasantry, and being perhaps slightly more humble than the average ruler upon taking the throne..."
Leia's words grew increasingly enthusiastic as she explained the evident difference, "...but these princes, they'd be on another level entirely, in terms of humbility, intellectual prowess, physical strength, and a hypothetical new kind of power added to the paradigm, thanks to my experiments; the perfect leaders, or at least, the closest Chima will presumably ever get to perfect leaders. "By spending your childhood and teenage years completley unaware of your status as royalty, focused entirely on strength training, maintaining a balanced diet, experimentation with powers, and studying applicable subjects, you'd be brought up as the ultimate warriors and leaders, either of you becoming the literal best Leopard King ever bred. Depriving you two of the posh, lavish, spoiled lifestyle that about ninety-five percent of princes have enjoyed, raising you in the most humble way possible, with only the necessary experiences that have been proven effective in building a competent leader and warrior, would have ensured this. Even your lack of a present father figure would be made up for; all the things a father would've taught you being learnt from the sheer amount of books I had you spend your time reading, instead of wasting it playing whatever pointless games children play these days. "It was–is–logically best for the tribe, and too excellent an opportunity to pass up. As such, when I presented this idea to the King and Queen early that year after the Prince Project began, I was eventually able to convince them, for the most part, of how much better an outcome this would be for the tribe. Thus, the Prince Project became my Ultimate Prince Project, evolving an already good idea into something truly extraordinary." As the last word left Leia's mouth, Logos brought his knife up, pointing it close to the Doctor's neck. Leodus turned, startled, and reached a hand toward the white leopard's wrist. "Logos–?" "Relax, Leodus," Logos replied calmly, though he kept both his eyes and the blade locked on Leia. Leodus moved his hand away slowly; the motion felt reluctant. He turned from his half-brother (a term he now recalled from one of the books, referring to siblings who shared one parent) back to the Doct–my mother, Leodus corrected himself mentally. Even though he'd long felt a sort of indescribable connection to Leia, and as such had begun to suspect something like this to be the case as he grew older, it was still jarring to have had it suddenly confirmed a minute prior. A distant memory sprung up into the forefront of the fifteen-year-old leopard's mind, of something Leia had said when he was much younger: "Your parents are very busy, and have entrusted me to educate you." And yet, one of those parents was there all along, being the very person to have said that.
Leodus realized then, why Leia had never told the two brothers that she was the mother of one; it would've implied an expected favoritism on Leia's part for her biological son, and even if this favoritism didn't exist (it certainly didn't seem to), the thought of it would've possibly made Logos resentful of his half-brother, lessening the princes' ability to work together as a team in the future, both politically and in combat. Of course, that raised another question, which Logos promptly asked just as Leodus' mind returned to the present. "Where is my mother, Leia?" "Right, that's when it started to go a bit awry," Leia muttered. "Though I'd proposed the Ultimate Prince Project and intended to oversee it, I didn't think I myself needed to birth a prince, since Logos' mother, the first and then-only official volunteer, already had one on the way by then." "You only needed one prince," Leodus presumed. "Not exactly," Leia shook her head, "Multiple potential heirs to the throne is obviously preferable, in case the eldest brother was slain before having offspring of his own. I simply thought that Logos' mother would've had the King's next child as well, a year or two later, rather than needing a second mother. "However, that was not to be. After she learned about my evolution of the rather simple original idea into the Ultimate Prince Project, Logos' mother–" "Why do you keep calling her that?" Logos demanded. "Who is she? What's her name?!" "Calm down, Logos," Leia sniffed. "I thought I already covered the 'who'; as I said, the two of us who volunteered were Leopard Intelligence agents." "Spies," Leodus realized aloud. "Correct," Leia nodded, "hence why I genuinely don't know her name; she constantly cycled through codenames, and I don't remember what her most recent one had been. She may have never even had a birth name, for all I know. "Anyhow, as spies, we were well-accustomed to being 'invisible' in the eyes of the general public. After all, we needed to maintain the necessary lie that the unbroken tradition of the Leopard Queen contributing to the royal line had remained unbroken; that was the initial reason for all of this, as I've said, before I enlightened the monarchs on the true potential the Prince Project had to offer. "Logos' mother rejected this potential, growing 'protective' of the cub she carried; bizarrely and ironically, seeing as my Ultimate Prince Project would have entailed her raising the heirs in secret herself while I educated them and conducted my tests, unlike the original operation, in which she'd have simply handed the cubs over to the Queen immediately, and gone back to her duties as an agent." "She changed her mind about it because of you," Logos deduced with a snarl, "because of your intent to keep her cub locked up in a lab and experimented on for his entire childhood!" "True," Leia agreed nonchalantly, "that was about the gist of it, now that I recall."
"How--how can you be so--?!" Logos stammered. "Ugh, whatever! Just answer the question: WHERE is my mother?!" "I'm getting to that," Leia affirmed. "I merely wanted to attempt an explanation of her ludicrously illogical actions after learning about the King's approval of my project; your mother, while two months cub-bearing, fled from the Valley of Balance–as you should remember from your studies, the place where this city was built–and into the Arctic up north. "As I'm sure you remember, the only ways to traverse that eternally cold region without being frozen are with many layers of clothing, or with fire chi, which disrupts the Elemental Balance. Despite her derangement, I can at least credit Logos' mother with having chosen the former option. Wrapped up in layers of cold-weather gear, carrying packs filled with months worth of food, she zoomed off into that northern wasteland on a speedor; I suppose she thought that was the only way to ensure that her tribe wouldn't find her. I was the first to begin the search, and the one to end it, months later. "I was astonished at what I found: Logos' mother had birthed a cub, as expected, but that cub had fur white as snow, and was somehow alive and well without the aid of any cold-weather gear or fire chi. There had never been a fully-white leopard in the history of Chima before then, let alone one that could naturally survive in the Arctic; it appeared that, by being in the region for the majority of his time before being born, the cub had been evolved by nature into a new sub-species tailored to the climate. Needless to say, I absolutely had to ensure Logos' survival and growth into adulthood for research, even regardless of the Ultimate Prince Project." Leodus looked at his half-brother. So that's why he's always looked like that, the more common yellow leopard thought. "This incredible scientific discovery," Leia continued, "was offset by what I realized after my initial reaction: the public would absolutely not believe that this prince was the son of the Leopard Queen due to his appearance, since neither she nor the King had fully-white fur to be passed down genetically; even if we'd told them that the Queen had given birth in the Arctic, the most clever and observant of our population would be able to argue that the Queen had most certainly been here in the Golden City at the time the prince was born. In other words, there was no way to convince the tribe that the King's firstborn was 'legitimate', unless..." "Unless...?" Leodus asked Leia, though he continued to keep a cautious eye on his glaring brother, who was still holding the knife up to the sitting leopard's neck whilst fixated on her. "Unless the official explanation was that his fur eventually turned white as a result of the 'unique powers' he'd been given," Leia answered. "Incidentally, this would also serve to explain to the public why the Prince wasn't present with his 'parents' until growing up."
Leodus nodded in understanding, but Logos remained still. "Now you must see why the Ultimate Prince Project was–and is–so politically important as well," Leia continued. "No longer just my personal dream, carrying out experiments to grant you some sort of new powers became literally imperative. Additionally, the King and Queen, who'd at first been mostly on-board with my idea, but still apprehensive, fully agreed to move forward with the Ultimate Prince Project in light of this. "...All because of Logos' unique fur color as a result of where he was born, and the situation it put us in. It's ironic; in trying to defy and escape the Ultimate Prince Project, Logos' mother ensured that it would happen, creating the very reason for its necessity." "That sure is funny," Logos replied at almost a whisper, though his voice reflected no humor, "but you're still not answering my question, Doc. Where is she?!" Leia paused. "I thought that would've become obvious. She didn't survive the Arctic childbirth, despite apparently thinking she'd be safe in a cave. You lived, of course, thanks to your pre-birth evolution for that climate--" "A lie," Logos replied, chillingly calm. "Honestly, did you think we'd believe that?" "What?" Leia frowned, staring up at the white leopard. "...He's right," Leodus realized aloud, his own predatory stare still locked onto Logos' knife-holding hand, "as we've learned, leopard cubs, like most species newborns, still need specific care and nutrients at the start, otherwise they won't last long. If Logos' mother hadn't survived childbirth, and you found him after she'd perished, then--" "Then I couldn't and wouldn't be standing here right now," Logos finished, his mouth curling up into a vicious, sharp-toothed grin. "See, that's the thing, Doc; you educated us a little too well to be able to deceive us about such things... Now, I'll only ask once more--" "Fine," Leia conceded with an exasperated sigh. "I give up trying to appeal to those volatile 'feelings' of yours; your mother managed to survive the birth, wrapped you up in one of her layers of clothes, cared for you about a day, I'd guess, then ran out of her little hermit cave as I caught up. Her hormones and maternal instincts did likely contribute to her illogical actions during this time, but ultimately, it was on her. "She soon fell on her face in the snow as expected, and so I recovered Logos to ensure she wouldn't take him with her to whatever next world there is." "Why didn't you take her back too?!" Logos asked with ragged breaths. "You could've--" "I was a twenty-year-old woman with just enough cold-weather gear," Leia answered, "uncountable miles away from the other spread-out search parties, and without a speedor or other vehicle, since I knew it would've frozen up–just as your mother's had–without fire chi. I'd used up a full bag of regular chi on the ridiculous search already."
Leia shook her head. "I couldn't carry both a cub and a woman who was still cub-bearing size all the way back to the Valley of Balance myself on foot, if I wanted to ensure the former's survival. I would've collapsed myself." "You could've at least tried!" Logos protested. "You could've carried her until you got to another search party, then--!" "I thought you were smarter than this, Logos," Leia admonished. "Logically, there was far too much of a risk that I wouldn't make it before even getting close to wherever the 'nearest' search party was. The survival of you and I needed to be prioritized, for the experiments--" "Experiments, EXPERIMENTS," Logos roared, "LOGIC!! Is that all you care about?! Did you not feel any urge to save her, out of basic compassion, AT ALL?! Can you FEEL ANYTHING--?!" "No," Leia answered bluntly, "I can't honestly say I've ever been able to 'feel' anything for anyone. I can't change that. It's how my mind is wired; I'm a sociopath. I was born this way, and so I am." Logos' eyelids twitched as his body shook. "It does have its upsides, however," Leia reasoned, "such as my being naturally more logical in situations where others would be fatally overtaken by emotion. This being a prime example, since if I wasn't like this, or if another chi-expended lone searcher had found you and your mother, you very likely wouldn't be standing here toda--" "You are evil, Leia," Logos interrupted. "What?" the Doctor's ears twitched. "Where did you learn that overused word? Scat, I should've known at least one of the books in your curriculum was biased--" At this, Logos suddenly plunged the knife forward... ...Only to have its course stopped centimeters from its target, Leodus' hand now clenched around the white leopard's wrist in an iron grip. "Wha--?" Logos stuttered, turning to see his half-brother's face just as Leodus, his red irisis turned to slits, moved with the speed of pure predatory instinct. With a martial art maneuver he'd learned during his years of training, Leodus locked Logos' torso in a grip with his left arm, spinning and throwing the white leopard across the room into a tumbling heap.
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