When he was very young, time was still a friend.
He only has a few faint memories of before the curse began to take effect. Curled up by the roaring fireplace, his brother huddled besides him, feasting on roasted apples borrowed from the kitchen. Lying in bed together, surrounded by mounds of silken sheets and pillows, Yui's nose almost brushing his, his brilliant sapphire eyes hidden by thick sweeping lashes, like looking into a mirror at himself. Their mother smiling down at them, long, silky fair hair tumbling down her slender shoulders, her blue eyes shining down at them as she gathered them up in her arms and held them close. "You two are special," she whispered. "You are my blessing."
He does remember when the priest came, tall and gaunt with age and wrapped in ceremonial robes of velvet and crimson. He remembers how their mother lay in her bed, the color gone from her face, her eyes closed. No longer breathing. Their father, the king, his bearded face twisted with grief. The murmurs of the courtiers. The priest, standing aloof from it all, watching the two of them with piercing dark eyes.
Cursed, the priest whispers. The Cursed Twins will bring disaster upon us all.
He watches the mourners wail and tear their clothes by his mother's bedside, not understanding. Yui, only a few seconds elder, but still old enough to sense the foreboding thickening the incense-stifled air, tightens his arm around him and pulls him closer. Fai curls his small fingers around his brother's arm and watches with wide blue eyes as the priest begins to chant the familiar words of the blessing ritual.
Blessed is this beloved soul, who now flies to her eternal home
Blessed is her husband, who will follow in time unknown
Blessed are her offspring, which will give her life anew
Blessed may we all be, who seek to follow too
"Yui?" Fai whispers.
Yui hushes him, his eyes flickering to their father, who stands hunched by the bed, shoulders stooped. He doesn't move, even when the mourners cease and the priest makes his way slowly through the crowd to anoint the body and say the prayers that will let their mother's soul fly swiftly to the Everglade.
"Yui," Fai says again, a little louder. Yui shakes his head, holding a finger to his lips. A few of the courtiers murmur, speaking softly of the poor young princes who are too young to understand that they will never see their mother again.
Fai doesn't know why they whisper so he won't hear. He understands death. He has heard the priests talk about it, how the soul and the body must part so that the soul may find joy in the afterlife. He understands that it means mother will never wake up again, because now her soul is gone. He could feel her life fading away during the sickness, could see her light flicker and die even before the physicians rose from her bedside with a sorrowful shake of their heads. What he does not understand is why Yui seems so sorrowful, why their father won't even turn his head to look at them.
"Yui," he starts to say again, raising his voice over the sound of the priest's cracked chanting. Their father stirs, seeming to come to life once more. He looks around, and the look in his eyes is that of someone who is lost and can no longer find his way. Fai grabs his brother's hand. Yui looks stricken. It is the look in his eyes, the dawning of something that Fai does not understand, that makes him frightened. "Yui, why-" he starts to ask, but the priest turns, breaking off the chant. The crowd goes deathly silent.
"The twins," the priest says, pointing a gnarled finger at them. Yui stiffens. Fai clutches his hand tighter. "It is the twins' fault. They are the ones who brought the sickness upon the queen."
The king stirs again. "Enough," he says, but his voice is low.
"They are cursed," the priest says, ignoring him. His quavering voice rises harshly. "The twins with the blue eyes, the blue eyes of witchcraft, are cursed. They have caused the sickness. They will bring much misfortune upon the land, the people will suffer-"
"Enough," the king says sharply. "I have told you, I will have none of your prophecy." His voice breaks. "My wife has died. That is enough suffering for one kingdom. Speak no more of your prophecies, priest." The crowd murmurs uneasily.
The priest raises himself up, bracing himself with one gnarled and wrinkled hand on the scepter of immortals. "Your grief blinds you to the truth, my king," he says. His milky eyes sweep over the crowd until they find Fai and his brother, tucked away in a corner of the room. His crooked fingers grip the scepter convulsively. "I give you a warning from the gods, as I did when your wife's womb gave birth to the cursed ones. The magic that lies within them is too powerful. It will suck the life from the land, and lay waste to the people unless you prevent it. I speak from the gods!" he cries, now addressing all of the crowd, not just the king. "The twins are cursed! The land shall rot, the people shall die and the king perish if the curse is not broken! Sacrifice the twins! Throw them back into the oblivion from whence they came, and the curse shall not affect us! But," -he raises a gnarled finger and points it at the crowd- "If the twins are left to grow, the land shall perish, and all the peoples with it. Heed my voice! Obey the will of the gods!"
"Enough!" the king says, but his voice lacks conviction. The crowd's murmur grows louder.
Yui squeezes Fai's hand tightly. "Let's go, Fai," he whispers urgently, and pulls him through the crowd.
As they're leaving, Fai hears the priest say, "The sickness did not take the queen, my lord! It was the sickness of the heart that made her waste away and take her own life!"
"Silence!" roars the king, and the crowd falls silent, like a waiting storm.
Fai's head is whirling. "Is that true?" he asks the moment the great double doors close behind them. "Is what the priest said true? Are we cursed? Is Father going to die like Mother? Are we going to die?"
"Hush," says Yui, still pulling him along. Fai trots to keep up with his brother's faster strides. "Is it?" he persists, breathless. "Are we cursed?"
Fai slows down. "Of course not," he says, his thin voice carrying the conviction their father lacked. "I'm not cursed, and neither are you."
"But what about the prophecy?" Fai tugs his hand free and turns to face him, his sapphire eyes wide. "Father said there was a prophecy."
Yui hesitates. It's only for a moment, the tiniest of flickers in his blue eyes, but it's there. Fai's heart sinks a little lower. "What's the prophecy?" he asks in a small voice. "Please, Yui. I want to know. I want to know why Mother died."
Yui's small mouth tightens. "Alright," he says at last, reluctantly. He tugs Fai's hand. "Come with me. I don't want anyone else to hear."
"Okay," Fai says, and follows him up the sweeping marble stairway, past the carved wooden doors of their parents' chambers and through a winding corridor, past even their bedchamber and the side wing where the servants sleep. He opens his mouth to ask him where they're going, but Yui only holds a finger to his lips and keeps walking, tugging him along.
Finally, when Fai's feet are starting to hurt inside their velvet slippers, Yui leads him up a cramped spiral staircase and into a small corridor. Dust lies thick on the floor, swirling in the musty light filtering through slitted windows in the stone wall.
"Where are we?" Fai asks, wrinkling his nose as their feet stir up clouds of dust. He sneezes. The sound echoes dully off the dusty walls.
Yui finally slows his pace. "This used to be a servants' wing, I think, when the castle had more people." His face lights up. "Did you know, Fai, that years and years ago if the castle was ever attacked, all the people would come to live here? Our tutor told me so. He said centuries ago, lots and lots of people would come here to be protected by the royal family."
Fai sneezes again. "But they don't come anymore," he says, more focused on the clouds of dust invading his nose than the history lesson.
"No," Yui says. "But they used to. That's why there's still so many empty rooms in the castle."
"Oh." Fai stares at the dusty floor. Tiny motes of dust drift onto the tips of his slippers. "So what's the prophecy?"
Yui sobers again. He sits down on the floor, ignoring the dust, and curls his legs against his chest, hugging them close. Fai sits down next to him, their shoulders brushing.
"Our tutor told me," Yui says slowly, his small face grave. Fai wriggles a little in protest. "But he taught me too!" he says.
"It was after lessons," Yui says. "You fell asleep in the library again. I went back because I'd forgotten my scroll. Master Toyoshi was packing up." He shifts a little. "I'd gone into the kitchens before, for apples to roast, and I heard some of the servants talking. One of the cook's sons had died, and she said it was because of the prophecy. Because of us," he says quietly. "So I asked Master Toyoshi about the prophecy. I just wanted to know," he says quickly, the words suddenly a rush. "Because in all the stories, all the heroes have prophecies told when they're born, and I thought that maybe we were like that, that maybe we had a great destiny since we're twins, even though everyone says twins are cursed." He hugs his knees tighter. "So I asked Master Toyoshi. He didn't want to tell me at first. He said the king didn't want for us to know. But I kept asking, and finally he made me promise I wouldn't tell anyone."
"Even me?" Fai interrupts, a little indignant. Yui flushes. "I'm sorry," he says. "I'm really sorry, Fai. I should have told you, but I didn't want to." He twists to face him, his blue eyes earnest. Fai shrugs, stifling the tiny twinge of pleasure he feels at having his brother look at him like that. "It's okay," he says, and straightens up and puts his arms around his brother's neck. "It's okay, Yui."
Yui hugs him back, so tightly he can't breathe, and lets go again. "So Master Toyoshi told me the prophecy," he says quietly, and takes a deep breath.
"King of the line of kings, beware," he says softly. "For though tonight you rejoice without care, tomorrow shall bring a greater sorrow. The sons to whom your queen gave birth carry with them a terrible curse. They have been born with great power, but that power shall bring even greater despair. The land itself the curse shall bear. Woe, woe to the cursed twins, for by their birth they bring about the end of all things."
Yui falls silent. Fai listens to the words shatter emptily in the silence, waiting for his brother to keep speaking, to tell him that that cannot be the end, but he doesn't, just stares at the dust-streaked stones across from them, his blue eyes troubled.
"But it's not true, right?" Fai says at last. "It's not true, right, Yui?"
Yui stirs. "Of course not," he says, and puts an arm around his younger twins' shoulders. "Of course it isn't. The priest was old even then. Besides," he adds, "Father doesn't believe it. I heard him say so."
"But the priest said Mother killed herself," Fai says in a very small voice. "Is that true?"
Yui's gaze flickers. He remembers the darkness hovering over their mother, the dark cloud that bit by bit blotted out the light shining inside her. How she stopped telling him that the prophecy wasn't true. Every time another messenger came with more news of drought or famine, when the heavy lines around Father's worn features grew deeper and deeper, Mother stopped saying anything at all, only looked at them with sorrowful blue eyes. How she wouldn't speak to Fai anymore, even when he held onto her long robes and called her name, not understanding why she wouldn't look at them anymore. But all he says is, "Of course not." He scoots up against the wall, a reassuring arm still wrapped around his brother's thin shoulders. "Of course it isn't. Mother loved us."
The words ring hollowly against the stones, and he can hear the lack of conviction in his own voice. But Fai nods. "Mm-hmm," he says, and snuggles up against him and lays his head against Yui's shoulder. "Right."
Three months later, the king passes away from a mysterious illness. The whispers begin to spread.
"The cursed twins…the prophecy."
"They say the queen killed herself."
"The famine has lasted five years now…they say it began with the twins' birth."
"My family has gone hungry these past three years. How much longer will it last?"
"Now the king has died too. What of the princes? They say the sickness never even struck them."
"They say the twins have great magic power, as great as the old emperor's. Why can't they stop the plague? Why can't they fix the drought?"
"…Maybe they're the ones causing it. Maybe the prophecy is true. Maybe the twins are cursed."
Their father's elder brother ascends to the throne. The twins are not allowed to come to the coronation. Whispers spread like wildfire in their absence, murmurs of the new king's fear of the curse. The servants make the sign against evil now when they pass. Yui holds tightly onto Fai's hand.
By the time the Moon celebration has come to pass, the drought has lasted for over six years, the famine five. The plague has claimed eight villages, leaving none alive. The bones of the peasants who died already lie beneath the cold winter sun, rotting. The king calls a council.
Yui stands outside the council chambers, listening. Fai is nodding off on the floor next to him, half-asleep. It is past midnight. Yui hadn't wanted to bring him, but he was afraid to leave him alone in their bedchamber. The voices rumble on inside endlessly.
"…A bad omen. I knew at their birth that the priest was right. The twins are cursed."
How quickly they began calling them the twins. As if they were not even human.
"Their magic has been increasing. I spoke with one of the court magicians. He says that even though they are so young, if their powers were joined, they would be equal to even the old emperor's magic. If they are allowed to live, they will surpass your Majesty."
Could they? Yui wonders, sometimes. He can feel his magic growing with each passing day, can see the light inside Fai blaze brighter and brighter. Could they surpass even the king? If it came to that, could he protect Fai?
He shoves the thought away. It will not come to that. It can't.
"They invite misfortune upon Valeria. Already the old king and the queen have died. If they are let to live…"
"But we cannot kill them. It will bring about even greater misfortune. The auguries have studied the changing skies, and they say that the death of the twins will unleash their power and bring catastrophe upon Valeria."
Silence. Then a cracked voice speaks up. The priest. "There is another way. My lord, my I speak to you in private?"
The council falls silent. Yui listens. Waits.
After an hour, when Fai has fallen asleep and is sprawled on the cold stone floor, his hair spread in a curly halo around him, the council chamber doors swing open. A herald appears in the entranceway. He doesn't seem surprised to see the twins outside. "Come," he says, his face expressionless. "The king summons you."
The council chamber is dark, unlit. Empty lamps cast even darker shadows at spaces in the circular space at the foot of the throne. The king is seated on his throne of ice crystal, the rest of the council standing silently in the shadows. Guards escort Yui and Fai to the center of the circle and lower their spears, forming a barrier in front of the steps leading up to the throne. Fai's small hand slips into Yui's.
"Twins of misfortune," the king rumbles. "The council has reached a decision."
Yui squeezes Fai's hand.
"You will be imprisoned," the king says. His eyes are dark, empty of emotion. "Your curse shall be sealed with you." His face darkens. "Twins born of misfortune, you have brought great calamity upon the people of Valeria. The curse must be broken. The gods have spoken. Only if the twins suffer shall the people be saved. The country shall prosper once more." His words tumble over them, heavy as ice, condemning. "This is your curse."
One of the council members steps forward. Afterwards, Yui remembers only a dark-bearded face, long sweeping black robes and a gaze like ice. "Twins of misfortune," he says, his voice ringing around the chamber. "You shall be sealed apart from each other, in the sacred valley of the dead. Time does not flow there, and magic loses its enchantments within its realm. One twin shall be condemned to the tower temple, the other at the foot of the tower."
Another comes forward. A woman this time, her pale eyes lined with grief, her voice low and hard. "The valley is where all sinners are condemned," she says. "For those who commit such sins, there is no grave, no resting place. Their bodies shall lie there, timeless and unchanging, left as a warning to those who sin. Such is the fate of sinners." She inclines her head to the king and steps back, leaving the twins in the center of the chamber once more.
The king stirs again. "This valley is the most cursed ground in all of Valeria. And you, cursed twins, shall not die. Your fate shall be to exist, to simply continue to be among the dead. Only through the twins' suffering may the people be happy."
Yui's grip on Fai's hand is so tight Fai can feel his bones creak in protest. He wraps his numb fingers around his brother's and squeezes back.
"However," the king says slowly. "If you cannot be resigned to such a fate, there is another choice."
Yui stiffens. Fai stays very still, his gaze fixed on his brother.
"One of you must die," the king raps out. "If you cannot live by such a fate any longer, then die, and whoever lives shall be freed from the curse. That is your choice. Now choose."
Fai looks at Yui, his small face solemn. Yui looks back at him, two mirror-images gazing at each other silently for a long moment, then Yui holds out his other hand, and Fai takes it. They both look back up at the crystal throne.
The king nods. Satisfaction flickers briefly across his face. "So it will be," he says. "Take the cursed twins to the valley of death. They shall remain there, unchanging, until the world itself comes to an end." He raises a ringed hand. The guards stiffen to attention and usher Yui and Fai out of the council chambers. Neither of them look back.
Time is no longer a friend.
The swirling grey sky never changes here. The cold bites through his tattered white smock, leaving dark burns up and down his bare arms and legs that never heal. Yui sits in the slight shelter of the tower, the dark obsidian stones at his back, and waits.
Time does not pass. It could be hours, or days, or merely minutes before he hears faint cries carried down on the howling wind from far above, sees the dark shape hurtle down through the swirling sky to land in a crumpled heap at the foot of the tower.
He runs over to it. He tries not to look at the face as he crouches and wraps his hands in the bloodstained clothes, tries not to grimace as he feels shattered flesh and bone frozen beneath his fingers. Bit by agonizing bit, he drags the body up the growing heap at the foot of the tower, climbing over tangled cold limbs and staring eyes and gaping mouths to finally stack the next body on the very top. He tilts his head back and cups his hands around his mouth and screams his brother's name.
He thinks he hears an echo of his voice as the wind screams back, tearing at his clothes and threatening to pull him down to the frozen earth again. He calls Fai's name again, and again, until his voice is hoarse. Then he clambers on top of the pile of corpses, feeling half-frozen flesh give way beneath his numb fingers and toes, and launches himself at the wall.
For an agonizing second, his fingers scrabble at the cracks of the stones, desperately seeking a hold. They claw against the smooth stone and irreversibly lose their grip, sending him tumbling back down onto the heap of bodies.
He gets up and tries again, until he's breathless. And again.
"Don't worry, Fai," he pants, scrambling back up to the top of the pile. The tower looms over him, a sheer black obelisk that thrusts jagged fingers high above him into the sky. He has to tilt his head back as far as he can and squint to just make out the very top.
"We'll leave this place," he promises, gasping for breath. "We can use magic if we escape. They said when we grow up we'll be even stronger than the old emperor. Remember how we used to read his legends, Fai? Then we'll escape to another country. We'll leave here forever. Right, Fai? Together. I promise."
He climbs until his hands are torn open against the stone and bleeding, when the pain finally makes him stop and curl up back against the tower, out of sight of the pile of corpses, until the next body falls from the sky.
And waits.