Nikolas and Antoine Shadow

Nikolas and Antoine Shadow are 2018-introduced characters. They are the sons of the Shadow and his princess from ‘’The Shadow’’ by Hans Christian Andersen. Nick and Antoine are the next shadow and learned man, respectively. Bound together by their fate and feet, these two are a literally inseparable pair, at least for now. They are indifferent to the destiny conflict as neither can identify himself with either side. Their destiny is undesirable for both of them yet inevitable. And not even an artifact like the Storybook of Legends can put a stop to mother nature’s plans. (Note: Antoine’s words are formatted normally while Nick’s lines are bolded and in italics.)

Personality
Antoine is sweet and humble. He’s a dreamer.

To not let himself be taken for granted, Nick makes himself look larger than life. His expressions are exaggerated. He’s unforgivingly brash and loud. Ironically, Nikolas seems to be the realist of the pair when it comes to problem solving, preferring to create concrete plans to simply wishful thinking.

Appearance
Antoine is a handsome young man, with a chiseled face and clear skin. He has sleek black hair and a goatee. Though this isn’t normally visible due to the fact he’s nearly always wearing shoes, Antoine has black roots growing between his toes and from his soles, physically connecting him to Nick as well as allowing some nutrients to be provided for his shadow.

Abilities and interests
Nick has the same properties as a regular shadow but possesses some unique abilities. He has his own voice which sounds like a robotic version of his brother’s voice sometimes with static noises, as if Antoine did the voice acting for Siri. Unlike a normal shadow, Nikolas is grounded due to his roots but can still stretch as far as he pleases and can interact with three dimensional objects by manipulating their shadows. This means he can lift objects much heavier than what can be normally carried, given that its shadow is small enough for Nick to pick up. Nick can control projections of himself created by other nearby light sources. His powers are weakened if he is out of focus, so Nick prefers well-lit rooms with smooth walls.

Aware of Nick’s limitations, Antoine uses a bright flashlight to keep his brother under control. The light to Nick is like a spray bottle to naughty cat: its effects are temporary but annoying. By shining the light onto where Nick’s head is, Antoine effectively silences him, because then he has no head to talk with.

How the story goes
A pale dude gets a heat stroke and dreams of his shadow running away through a neighboring window. He wakes up to find he no longer has a shadow. Some time later a rich guy arrived at his door claiming to be his old shadow, decides to take the dude on holiday. They a pretty princess, the shadow falls in love but doesn’t want her to know his secret so he had his master executed.

How do Nick and Antoine come into it?
The previous shadow married the past princess just like in the story. The princess later gave birth to these weirdos. Nick and Antoine were not the first of their kind. In fact, since the second generation of their story, every child of the shadow and princess came with a living shadow that would surely outlive the child itself.

Nick is a textbook parasite, destined to disconnect himself from his host in search of a mate once he reaches maturity. Once this happens, Antoine can only survive for a few more years before his body becomes too weak to function, while Nick will slowly grow a physical form that looks exactly like his brother’s, only taller. He will no longer be able to use the supernatural abilities he once had as a living shadow and instead become a regular human being, flesh and all with his own non-living shadow.

Thoughts on destiny
Nikolas wishes Antoine could live.

Parallels

 * Nick is a realist, because the shadow claims to know the word as it is.

Each other
"Someday I’ll be just like you. But with a nicer tan."

As much as he enjoys picking on his meek brother, Nick cares for Antoine beyond survival reasons. Bullies and pickpockets alike fear this personal bodyguard who can lift them up like a feather then beat them senseless.

Mr Shadow
Mr Shadow did not hesitate to tell his children the truth behind their destiny. He prepared his sons from a young age by informing them.

Romance
Unknown to Antoine, Nick has been using some of Ant’s photos for his own public mirror blog. He’s

Trivia

 * Given the fact they have different expectations for destiny, Nikolas takes his classes at night, via online exercises and lectures using their shared computer. Nick can still function even when Antoine’s asleep. Subjects from their courses that overlap are taken in the daytime according to Antoine’s schedule but the brothers are still graded individually. Antoine is always seated at the side of class next to an empty seat by the wall so that Nick can show up clearly.