AN: So I happened to come up with a short oneshot and I just had to write it down! :D This one was betad by AlchemyArc, so thank you! And to you who aren't familiar with her works, you should check them out.

The ghost story in it is not mine, so I do not own it. I found it when I googled "ghost stories" And it's called Ghost in the Alley. Neither do I own Final Fantasy III or its characters.

Now, enjoy!

Brotherhood

It was a normal autumn's evening in the village of Ur. Two boys, by the age of ten, had built themselves a little cabin out of blankets and pillows. They used had a small lantern to spread some light under all the blankets. The two boys were named Arc and Luneth; they were foster brothers and lived together with their foster parents, Nina and Topapa.

Arc had short brown hair that matched perfectly with his chocolate brown eyes and the freckles across his cheeks. His brother Luneth was born with silver hair, he was so proud he refused to cut it, and therefore Nina had at least convinced him to put his hair up in a pony tail. His eyes had a rare shade of purple, which never stopped to amaze Arc, and it was those eyes he deeply stared into when he listened to the story his brother was reading to him. If one were to look at the cover of the book, they would see the words "Ghost in the Alley" shine in the light with golden letters against the brown leather cover.

"Rumours were rife about the alleyway behind the tavern. It was haunted, folks said." Luneth read aloud by the aid of the lamp. "Haunted by the ghost of a young girl who had been found murdered in that self-same passage."

Arc bit his bottom lip. As much as he loved books, ghost stories were not one of his favourites, and still he couldn't help but eagerly taking in the words of the story. The scary atmosphere inside their hut didn't really help him as he tried to stay brave. Arc was often teased by other kids, calling him a coward and a weakling. Usually, Luneth would come and scare them away, but those kids, they were real people. Now they were talking about ghosts! No matter how brave Arc thought, Luneth was he couldn't save him from a ghost now, could he?

"At that moment, a horrible scream came from the alley." The silver haired boy continued. "Had there really been a ghost out there?" Luneth read with a dramatic voice. He took a few seconds to cast a glance at his brother and he almost felt sorry for him when he noticed the horrid expression in his face. "Oh come on, it's not that scary." He thought to himself, but he wasn't planning on stopping. He liked to tease his brother and after all; Arc loved stories.

Therefore Luneth continued to read about how people rushed out from the tavern and into the alley, only to be met by a terrifying sight. He made a theatrical break before he continued to the part he knew would scare Arc the most. And as if to make it even worse, Luneth lowered his voice to something near a whisper and leaned in closer to his brother. "His throat had been torn to pieces, and blood was spilling out in gushes." The "he" here, was the victim who the people had found.

Arc failed to hold back a yelp as he imagined the bloody image. Reading as many books as he had his imagination were pretty good and detailed; Arc didn't find that talent too good right now. Especially not as Luneth's voice continued to describe the scene, as it was written in the book.

"Above him hovered the semitransparent figure of a young girl, her eyes gleaming with red fire, her mouth covered with blood."

"L-Luneth, please stop reading," Arc almost begged while feeling tears form in the corner of his eyes.

"Oh?" He looked up from the book and at Arc's trembling features. "Don't you wanna know how it ends?"

"No, no I don't," Arc shook his head fiercely.

"Are you sure? Alright then!" Luneth closed the book and leaned in to blow out the lantern.

"No!" Arc's protest was not unpredictable. "Don't blow it out!"

"Are you scared, Arc?" Luneth asked with a fake surprise.

"No, I just like it like that," Arc lied, even though he knew it was pointless. "It gives a pretty light."

"Well," Luneth smirked and opened the book again. "If you're not scared you should hear the rest of the story."

Arc gulped but he nodded. He wasn't a coward. Sure, he didn't like scary things, but that sure didn't make him a weakling, it only made him brave to accept and stand for the fact that it was not in his liking. There was nothing wrong with that.

Young Luneth thought he could detect some determination in the brown eyes of his brother, so he continued. "The spectre licked the blood from her lips thoughtfully," he glanced at Arc, he was proud over his brother who could challenge his own fears like that. With an even more dramatic voice than earlier, his whispering voice tried to shout. "Then she vanished, taking the light with her."

By instinct Arc jumped in his seat on the floor as his heart failed a beat, and his breath got caught in his throat. But he didn't give up; he was determined to hear the end, no matter how scary.

Luneth continued in a normal voice to read the rest about how the owner of the tavern decided to close down. "The memory of the ghost's hungry stares at his neck prompted him to look elsewhere for employment." Luneth finished before snapping the book close a little harder than needed to, just to see his brother jump again. "Now, that wasn't so scary, now was it?" He ruffled his brother's brown hair before crawling out from under the blankets. Arc quickly followed with the lantern tight in his hand.

The silver haired boy put the book back in its place on the shelf with Arc's other books. He yawned, as he stretched his arms over his head. "Let's go to bed, Arc. We should've been asleep an hour ago."

Arc only nodded as he remembered Nina's strict words about not staying up past 10 pm. The analog clock on the wall was unmistakably showing that the time was in fact, 11 pm. Taking the lantern with him, Arc climbed the small ladder up to his place of the bunk bed. Luneth slept in the lower part.

"You can keep that light on if you want," Luneth assured his probably frightened brother, as he took two of the blankets from their cabin. He threw one up to Arc and took the other with him over to his bed, and crawled down under it.

"Thanks Luneth, but I think I will be alright." And with those brave words he blew out the fire that kept the lantern lit. "Good night."

"Night!" When he closed his eyes, Luneth could feel that he indeed was kind of tired, it didn't take too long until he could feel his whole body relaxing and his mind drifting off. Unfortunately, that was when a creaking sound interrupted him.

Sharing a room, and a bed, with Arc had taught him that the sound was nothing dangerous. It was simply Arc coming down the step latter. And indeed the creaking sound was quickly followed by Arc's soft but slightly uneven voice.

"Can I sleep here with you?"

"Of course," Luneth's reply came out as a murmur, as he moved aside to make room for his dear and brave brother.

"Ghosts don't exist, right?" Arc asked, as he quickly got under the covers next to Luneth.

"Only in your imagination Arc." His voice was sleepy but still reassuring.

"What if they come out of my imagination?"

Luneth looked at Arc through half open eyes. "Then I will kick their transparent ass."

That answer made Arc giggle a little, but still he nuzzled closer to Luneth. "Don't let Nina hear you talk like that."

"I won't." His reply was nonchalant.

"But," Arc started again. "If the ghost is like in the story, you wouldn't stand a chance."

"Arc," Luneth stated seriously. "What do you take me for?" Without waiting for a reply, he continued. "If it was like in the story and I would be killed, I would turn into a ghost myself and still kick its transparent ass."

The freckled boy had to admit he felt a little safer after hearing his brother's words. But there was one thing about them that bugged him. "I don't want the ghost to kill you."

"Then don't let it escape from your imagination," Luneth teased as he ruffled Arc's brown hair.

"Alright!" Arc's voice was confident. He wouldn't let something that terrible happen to his brother.

"We should sleep now," Luneth wasn't usually the one who suggested that. He liked late night talks with his brother, but tonight, he was actually kind of sleepy.

"Yes," Arc agreed and once again crept closer to his brother, who didn't mind. Instead, Luneth put his arm around Arc and whispered another good night, before they both drifted off to a peaceful sleep. Arc was even blessed with having no nightmares at all.

The end.