Here is a story I've written for a friend of mine, featuring Aira, Holyn, Shanan, Lakche, and Skasaha. These characters are nintendo properties, I hope you like my fanfiction.

Memories

She couldn't even touch the sword's sheath, her hand grabbed by Shanan's one. Lakche couldn't help it, once again. When she saw the Balmunk, she was like mesmerized and had to touch it. That was why Lakche used to follow Shanan everywhere since he got this Holy weapon. This wasn't the first time she secretly came in his back to grab the sword and Shanan expected it. He stopped her hand and strongly dragged her in front of him.

"What are you playing at?" He asked, deeply annoyed now.

Lakche tried to withdraw her wrist from her cousin's hand, but the latter held it tighter.

"Aouch ! Let me go! And why are you getting mad all of a sudden?" She groused.

He pushed her against the wall and began to speak:

"I'm worried about you, since I got the Balmunk, you're like "compelled" by it, and I'd say that you're not aware about it. You're acting unconsciously." He released her.

"It's just that it's so impressive, so powerful! I wish I could use it!" She claimed, staring at the sword.

Shanan sighed. He put a hand on his cousin's shoulder. She raised an eyebrow.

"These words are the proof you can't handle the Balmunk. You're maybe strong at fighting, but your heart is still too weak. You let your feelings guiding your life, without having self-control. That's what would lead you to death if you tried to use this holy weapon. Your soul would be eaten and you would become crazy. That's why only the royal heirs of the crusaders with major holy blood are able to handle it. Do you understand?" He explained with a solemn voice.

"Yeah, yeah, I know! But please, allow me to hold it, just once! I need to feel its strength!" She replied, looking at him with an imploring gaze.

With despite, Shanan removed the sheath from his belt and gave the item to Lakche who grabbed it, greedily. He was to warn her saying: "You'll even not be able to put it out of its sheath…" but Lakche had already drawn the sword with a metallic noise. Her cousin couldn't believe his eyes. She rubbed the blade and made it swing in the air with and incredible accuracy and speed. She kissed the blade before putting it in its sheath again. She gave it back to Shanan.

"Here! That's what I thought; it has such an amazing quality! But… I feel weird… As if…" She couldn't finish her sentence and fainted. Shanan held her before she fell on the ground. He whispered:

"… I understand better…"

When the young lady opened her eyes, she noticed she was in his arms, and blushed while standing up.

"Wha… What happened?" She asked. Her cousin waited for a few seconds before answering:

"You fainted after having handled the Balmunk."

She raised an eyebrow again.

"Are you kidding? That's impossible! I know very well that I can't use it just because I don't have major Odo's blood!" She shouted.

"We believed it because we didn't know your father's identity. Aira was really secretive about it. But now, I know… I'm sure of it… Lakche, go and find your brother, there are things I must tell you." He ordered.

She remained stunned a moment before going to search Skasaha. When both were back, Shanan began to speak:

"I will tell you the truth about your father."

The twins looked at each other, wondering.

"Your sister has just drawn the Balmunk out of its sheath, which is not possible for someone who has no major holy blood of Odo."

Skasaha could barely believe it, but he decided not to interrupt his cousin's explanations.

Shannan went on speaking, his words taking a darker undertone.

"In other words, it means that your parents both had to be from Odo's lineage, even if they only had minor blood. It's obvious for your mother, my aunt Aira; because she was part from Isaac royal family which infers that she had minor Odo's blood. Concerning your father, there is just one man during the war who could correspond to this description: Holyn. I don't know what he had become and you know as well as I that we can't find Aira. I already had thought about him as your father, but I wasn't sure about it. Aira didn't like talking about herself and raised you up without a father. But I remember that he was one of the only men who she was speaking with. Unfortunately, I can't give you more details…" Shanan was looking at them, with a deep gaze.

The room became silent. It was Skasaha who broke the silence:

"How was he? I guess it's the most important for us."

Shanan hesitated a bit before replying:

"I've never talked to him personally, I was just seven years old during the war and he was only a mercenary who had joined our army. All I know is that he decided to join us thanks to your mother. They met at the arena. Like a lot of men, he was really amazed by Aira's strength, and she defeated him. There was no better myrmidon than her. That was what enticed him to accompany us. I don't know more about him, or else, I forgot… It was 17 years ago and I have not a lot of memories about this period…"

Lakche and Skasaha knew that the war had deeply affected Shanan, even though he had never complained about it. Thus, they decided to let him in peace.

"It's already helpful, thank you! You'll tell more on our parents later, if things come back to your mind!" Lakche said, smiling to cheer him up.

They left the room and it was already late at night. Shanan went out in the yard and looked up to the purplish sky, where some cold stars where glittering. A cool wind blew on the desert, but Shanan didn't mind. He felt like lost in this wideness and powerless. Normally, he was always trying to be calm and reassuring. He wanted to protect everyone. That was why he had searched the Holy Balmunk. But today, he wondered if it was enough to prevent a disaster from occurring again. Lord Sigurd, with his powerful Tyrfing had died. Most of the people he had known had passed away at Bararha. Even his aunt he thought invulnerable had disappeared.

He wanted to scream. She was gone, forsaking him and his cousins. He had to handle a role he feared not to be able to do: protecting them, like an older brother would do. He had already been asked to do it before. He still could see Sigurd's face saying: "I leave my dear Diadora and Celice to you. I know you will protect them." Shanan had failed. Since then, He swore he would raise Celice and avenge Sigurd to be forgiven. He felt so resentful that, glancing at the dark sky, he yelled with sadness and anger:

"WHY! WHY? YOU'VE NEVER BEEN ABLE TO ANSWER!"

He fell, kneeling, trembling and sobbing because of his tragic fate. He looked up to the sky again and whispered:

"Aira…"

He would have loved her to be near of him now. He had always considered her as a second mother. The cold wind blew again, making his long black hair flying. He jumped. He heard a sound that froze his blood. He had already heard it before, in this same very desert. He felt like if something touched his shoulder. He closed his eyes a moment. He could see her, he didn't know if it was his imagination or not, but Aira was standing by his side, her hands covered with blood. He sat down and it seemed to him they were staring at each other. He kept his eyes closed, fearing that she could disappear again. She smiled to him.

Shanan felt another presence: the one of someone he didn't know much and that he hadn't seen since 17 years… The blond man came to Aira. The latter turned round and looked at him. Both drew their swords, ready to fight. Shanan remained voiceless in front of this silent spectacle, unknowing if he had to open his eyes or not, feeling at the same time far and really close to these ghostly apparitions. He was watching a fight as he had already seen so many years ago: his aunt, who was still so powerful, against a determined opponent who didn't know it would be useless because he would succumb to her blade, or to her charm. In Holyn's case, it would rather be the second option, because Shanan had to admit that the very blond man was strong enough to spar with his aunt. He wasn't surprised at all. If Aira had chosen him, he had to be worth it as a proud warrior, which could infer that he would be from Odo's lineage because it provided high sword capabilities. Actually, the better myrmidons could be found in Isaac, kingdom of Odo's royal family whose Shanan, Aira, Lakche and Skasaha were part.

Aira rushed to Holyn, determined. He didn't move and waited for her, his sword on a shoulder. At the last second, Aira glided on his side and tried a horizontal attack that Holyn parried, putting his sword vertically. That was Aira's plan. She wanted to prevent her foe from having time to put his weapon horizontally to counter in order to execute a meteor sword attack, beginning by a high jump and ending on the enemy's head. Holyn fell because of the first hit. Aira didn't expect it and missed her second hit. She fell on him. They looked at each other a moment and they seemed to be laughing. Shanan had the impression that he could hear their laughter. Holyn held Aira tight and caressed her hair. She seemed to be ill-at-ease and removed herself from his arms. She picked her sword up and drew it to Holyn. He stood up and took his weapon. It was him who rushed to her this time; she seemed delighted to see the fight going on. But, instead of hitting her while in front of her, he glided on the floor and gave a kick in her legs which made her falling backward. In a second, he was already behind her to prevent her from falling on the floor. She looked up at him and seemed furious, ready to hurt him. He stopped her hand before it came to his cheek, she tried to struggle, but she couldn't. He looked at her who was mad; he grinned, and kissed her. She tried to struggle harder in vain so she let him do what he wanted. Of course she had strength, but she couldn't be as strong as a man. They remained in this position looking like a tango movement for a while. When he withdrew his lips from hers and released her, he received a violent slap. She seemed really furious but something told Shanan that Aira's blush on her cheek was rather due to her shyness than to her anger. Holyn rubbed his cheek as if he enjoyed the fact that she touched him, what made her still more upset and she left. Holyn stared at her, leaving. She stopped a moment and glanced behind her. He waved his hand. Furious, she ran to him and jumped on him, what made them falling on the ground. He seemed a bit surprise and frightened. He put his hands in front of his face, to protect it from Aira's wrath, because she was already preparing her hand to hurt him. Instead of this, she put her hand on the ground, just next to his cheek. Holyn felt her long black hair on his skin; surely it fell from her shoulders when she lowered her arm. He removed his hands from his face and noticed her cynical grin. He mumbled and dragged her with him in a roll. He was now above her. Aira blushed and seemed to be worried. Holyn smiled with satisfaction and kissed her. This time, she didn't try to struggle, accepting him.

Shanan felt as an intruder and decided to open his eyes. Oddly, he wasn't outside in the yard, but inside in a bed. He tried to stand up. Skasaha and Lakche were there, sleeping on two chairs, not far from him. Was this entire spectacle just a dream after all? Was he sick and did he faint in the desert? He knew he felt Aira and Holyn's presence though… All of a sudden, he glanced at his shoulder and saw a blood trail… How could a ghost touch someone alive?