Chapter 1

The slums were a dirty place. That much was obvious to the purple haired teen as he trudged alongside the rest of his family and his first brother’s assistant. Hands pocketed, his green-silver eyes held just the slightest tinge of annoyance. Indeed, Stein Aitelorn, sixteen years in age, was not happy in being dragged away from the comfort of his family mansion’s training room; especially not for walking the slums. Even his most modest of garments stood out within the vicinity. It made him all the more tense at the stares he and his company were receiving. Stein resorted to glaring at anyone who dared meet his eyes, clutching the hilt of his dual-swords (the weapons dangling in their hoists from his belt) to subdue his discomfort somewhat.

Several steps ahead of him were his parents, Nerion and Yula Aitelorn. The Head of the Aitelorn House was a highly no-nonsense type of person. He bore piercing silver eyes and neatly combed reddish-purple hair. The man’s very presence commanded utter attention and respect, and his sword skills were not to be trifled with – simply the sight of him with a blade was proof enough. His life-long companion, Yula, however, was a much gentler figure. Her eyes, lovely shade of green, were graciously expressive and her lengthy auburn hair was almost always left loose. A healer by profession, Yula was not meant for combat and yet her accuracy with her chakrams (which she always summons – she never has the weapon on her being) was not a laughing matter. It was not very well-known, but the Aitelorn matriarch was also quite the sadist…

To Stein’s immediate left was the Aitelorn’s second son, Rityu. Much like their father, Rityu had reddish-purple hair that was nearly as long as their mother’s and silver eyes that seemed to find a sense of amusement in everything. While Stein was younger than Rityu by three years, they were the most identical in looks, eye and hair colour being an exception. They were also remarkably alike in built – both being lean and athletic. Rityu was rather akin to the Aitelorn patriarch in terms of swordsmanship (his sword lay in its sheath on the right side of his belt, the same position the oldest had his), though it was apparent he was less exposed to the art in comparison to his father and oldest sibling.

Said oldest was walking to the right and slightly behind Stein. Phiol Aitelorn took after his mother most amongst his brothers. His auburn hair was cut short and messily styled. And while his eyes were the trademark Aitelorn silver, they were as expressive as Yula’s. Phiol’s slightly heavier body build was similar to his father’s – the only physical trait he’d taken after. While his swordplay style differed from that of Nerion’s, it was a slightly more efficient way of fighting – proven through the times he had been forced into combat against those wanting to take over their family business by force. His second in these duels was, more often than naught, his assistant who was deadly with her scythe.

Standing beside Phiol was the only non-family member and Phiol’s assistant, Seloria Thyride. Rescued by Nerion and Yula at fourteen from a bloody massacre that cost the young female her left eye and the kidnapping of her younger sister, it took Stein and his brothers four years to help her recover. Now 18 (which made her four years younger than Phiol), she assists the elders in the family business, more often than naught hitting the oldest Aitelorn son on the head with the huge file she was prone to carrying during business hours. A simple yet stylish eye patch covered her missing eye, and her remaining good eye, a dark shade of blue that could be mistaken as black, was oftentimes cold. Her light brown hair was never allowed to grow past her shoulders. Much like Yula, Seloria never had her scythe on her being – she summons it to her hand with a mere thought.

Taking another look about the slums, Stein was hard-pressed to hide his discomfort and disgust. The place made the mess of a battlefield seem clean. Puddles of water (some were probably human excretion, Stein thought in disgust while bringing a gloved hand to his nose in an effort to stop the foul smell from reaching his nose – he failed that task splendidly) were aplenty along the paths they walked on, and blood stains, both new and old, decorated the walls, pathways…everything.

“What’re we doing here again?” he muttered, stopping in his tracks for a moment to eye a cut-off limb before side-stepping the stray leg, cursing under his breath. Seloria, who had moved up to match his pace, eyed the younger male with a bit of amusement in her sole eye.

“You should’ve listened to what Master and Mistress Aitelorn said this morning,” she spoke, tone one that screamed disapproval as she shook her head slightly. She also had a habit of pretending to be high and mighty with Stein, which was what she was doing right now. “But since you didn’t, I’ll enlighten you.”

Stein rolled his eyes, too used to her behaviour around him to feel insulted. “Then by all means, please enlighten me,” he said in a deadpan manner. Seloria almost pouted at him for not rising to the bait as per usual, but understood his reaction somewhat. The slums were making her feel uncomfortable too.

“I don’t know how they found out,” she told the younger, “but Master and Mistress Aitelorn managed to retrieve information on where my sister is and their sources point here. They believe they may need our help, hence why we’re all brought with.”

Looking around more closely at Seloria’s words, Stein understood why. While the majority of people in the slums were very much malnourished and did not look as if they could fight, there were people hiding in the shadows with their murderous intent flowing out of them in waves. He let out a small ‘tch’ of annoyance and shoved his hands back into his pockets. Seloria fell back and returned to Phiol’s side, both discussing some matter or other.

The Aitelorns plus one slowed when they heard shouting from a distance. Amongst the cries of “get her” and “she’s getting away” was the familiar (to them) clashing of blade to blade, alongside the occasional female war-cry and shouts of a spell name or other (which was almost always “Fire”). Seloria’s lone eye had widened in recognition of the voice and she immediately broke apart from the group, dashing towards the fight with her scythe in hand. Figuring that it was her younger sister’s voice that spurred Seloria’s actions, the Aitelorns made haste to catch up with her.

Upon nearing, Yula instantly casted a “Shield” spell around Seloria and the younger female she was fighting alongside with. And while Nerion, Phiol and Rityu almost eagerly drew their swords before jumping into the fray, Stein had stopped to pause and marvel at the almost-instantaneously in-tandem dance the two currently-fighting females started. Each twist and slash of scythe and dagger were in direct sync of each other, and every time they turned, it was to strike an opponent or enemy the other never saw.

While he watched, it was also very painfully obvious that the younger female was running on pure adrenaline. She would likely drop in a dead faint soon. Knowing that he and Seloria were capable of fighting in tandem with each other as well, Stein briefly nodded his head towards the girl’s direction, catching his mother’s eye. Yula, understanding his implication, released a nifty replacement spell, switching his position with that of the girl’s. Seloria, who noted Stein’s action, nodded at him gratefully before turning back to the fight.

It took a while, but with the sadistic streak in the brothers that came from Yula, the skirmish did not take as long to end as one would expect when outnumbered ten to one. Seloria’s scythe vanished from her hand as the males flicked their swords (in Stein’s case, both swords) to rid them of the blood that covered their blades. The girl, who Stein was surprised to note, had not yet fallen unconscious. Instead, his mother was supporting her as she had taken to staring at Seloria in shock.

While the girl’s eyes were an odd orange and her hair a touch darker and very much longer than Seloria’s, there was no doubt in any of their minds that she was the very girl that took them four, almost five years to find.

“Kairi,” Seloria said slowly, overwhelmed by the fact that it was her sister standing before her after the adrenaline from the fight wore off. The Aitelorns knew she was – Seloria rarely lost her composure, but she was shaking ever so slightly at this moment. “Kairi…”

The girl stared at Seloria a moment longer and then slowly pushed herself away from Yula. She moved towards the older female slowly – almost as if in a daze. When her knees buckled, her legs too tired to hold her up any longer; Seloria rushed to grab her and held the younger girl in an emotional hug, slowly sinking to their knees onto blood-stained ground.

“Seloria… I’m not dreaming this time, right?” Finally the girl spoke, her voice dry yet thick with emotion. “I won’t wake up in the morning to find out this meeting has been a dream, right?” As she spoke, her hands reached up to return Seloria’s hug. Her hold grew tighter as she spoke.

“No,” the older responded softly, comfortingly. “This is not a dream. I’m here, and I’m not letting you go again. Not anymore.” At Seloria’s words, the Aitelorns glanced, with grim satisfaction, over to the now-dead once-captors that had Kairi in their grasps for far too long.

Kairi leaned away from Seloria for a moment and, with a small, tired smile, closed her eyes and slumped against her older sibling, allowing fatigue to overcome her at last. Stein, who had watched the interaction closely, frowned.

“She still doesn’t believe we’re real,” he pointed out. “She thinks we’re a dream – that this situation was a dream.” At that, Nerion, who had observed the interaction silently, nodded his agreement.

“Well then,” Seloria began to repond, “we’ll just have to show her we’re not.” Carefully shifting the unconscious girl in her arms, she lifted her up off the ground and, nodding as an indication she was leaving ahead of them, vanished from the area. Yula, already in her element, told her boys that she would see them later and followed Seloria’s classy example exit.

“Let’s head home,” Phiol said, slightly miffed that the duo did not perform alongside-teleportation with them, but understanding that Seloria was concerned over Kairi’s well-being, and Yula had gone into full healer-mode...

“There are still stacks of paperwork to be done.”

“And both Rityu and Stein need more training,” Nerion added abruptly, fixing both sons with a stern glare. “You both completely went out of your forms.” Said two ducked their heads, embarrassed to have been caught. “Come.”

With that simple sentence, the remainder of the Aitelorns in the area marched out… and Stein could not help but complain about the blood on his boots.