Chapter 1.
Kira sharply opened his eyes, but the only thing he saw was darkness. He was in impenetrable darkness. He didn't understand what was happening, shouldn't be dead?
'Brother!' A panicky thought flashed through his head.
"Brother! Elen, where are you ?!" Kira began to call for his brother in hope that he was nearby and the only thing that is stopping them from being together is the lack of sight.
"Kira! I'm here!" he heard a familiar voice from behind. Kira swiftly turned around and saw his brother, with all the speed he could manage rushed into his brother's arms, closing his eyes and burying his face into his brother's neck, inhaling the familiar scent.
Elen only hugged his little brother tightly, content with them just being together again. They stood in an embrace, for what seemed like an eternity, simply marveling in the feel of a familiar body so close again. They would have stood there longer if they had not heard a tactful cough. In a second, they were both looking at the place where the sound came from. Since they were young they had to survive practically on the streets, since their parents refused to look after them. They were unwanted, just like their brothers. They were a mistake and their parent made sure they know it. Because of this, they had to survive alone. In time, they learned how to live on the streets. Though it was hard, after a few beatings that could not compare to the ones at home, they had to learn how to fight back. And so they did. They had a perfect memory, remembering everything, even if some things they rather forget. They read books, lots and lots of books on everything they could find. From how to make a bomb, hacking, and martial arts to science, history, and foreign languages. And after a lot of street fights, they were able to get the hang of it and keep away people with bad intentions. Later they were sent to the army where they were royally bullied. Again. But those people were not just homeless drunkards, that they faced on the streets, those were people with training. It took a tremendous amount of work, but they became better. And in time, they became the best. Everybody knew that by messing with the twins, they are going to pay with a couple of broken bones. The fact that their senses were better than an average human really helped. No one was able to sneak back on them since, like, forever! And now here they were!
"Who the hell are you? And where are we?" Asked Al watching cautiously over the blond stranger. He could swear she wasn't there before.
"Me?" The woman asked in surprise. "I am Fate".she said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
Kira just stared at her dumbly, feeling rather than seeing that his brother was in the same state, "Hah?" the twins uttered at the same time, staring blankly at the beautiful woman in front of them.
The rather tall blonde with impossibly long, knee-length hair and deep chocolate eyes just smiled mysteriously at our reaction. The woman, now known as Fate, had soft features with a stubbornly set jaw and overall perfect facial features. She was dressed in a light, white dress painted with a golden pattern along the middle, she had a white cape on her shoulders painted with the same gold patterns along the edge that reached only an inch or two past her shoulders. Her arms were wrapped in different colors of thread, and she seemed to radiate an aura of mystery. Her whole being is practically screaming 'I know something you don't' and it was extremely irritating.
They both believed the woman because they died (that is one thing they are sure about) and where but in the afterlife would they be able to meet Higher Entities. But then again, it's not like they really had a choice, as hard it is to admit, they were helpless right now and were unable to do anything to a person who can appear and disappear out of thin air. The brothers looked at this strange entity with interest, though not without a great deal of suspicion. After all, why should Fate itself come to them, mere humans? And well... fate was never nice to them and their life could not be envied.
Kira was the first one to fall out of his stupor, "Why are you here? And where are we?" he finally asked what was on both of their minds since they regained consciousness in the darkness in a perfectly collected voice.
As soon as Fate opened her perfectly shaped lips to most likely answer the question, two new people appeared right next to her. At this point, the twins were not so shocked to see people appearing out of nowhere.
Those two, unlike Fata, decided to introduce themselves on their own, "Greetings, I am Death. Welcome to my domain." The voice came from a raven-haired man with black eyes that looked like endless tunnels. He was strong, with broad shoulders and a proud turn of the head. He wasn't thin, but he wasn't overly muscular either, he was just fit. The man was dressed in black trousers, a black, elegant shirt, and a black cloak embroidered with almost imperceptible silver patterns. "And this Life, my counterpart", he motioned to a petite blonde next to him. She looked similar to Fate but was about half a head lower. She had the same golden hair that fell to her knees and the same soft features that looked more lively that mysterious and were now lit up by a beautiful, carefree smile. Her large eyes that were the color of a cloudless sky with long, fluffy lashes, were a sharp contrast to Fate. Her dress was similar to what Fate wears, only blue. But there was something wrong with her and the twins could not put a finger on it. When the twins finally realized what it was that had alerted them in the blue-eyed woman, they fell into prostration again… Ears! More precisely, real elf ears! They were long, pointed, and there were several beautiful earrings on them.
'The hell?!' Flashed in the minds of the twins. Suddenly, they had an idea and looked at the other two entities.
Death looked like an ordinary man, except that he was too perfect to be human. Humans were imperfect by nature, but when you look at death you realize that perfection exists. But when they looked at Fate again, closer this time. And they saw it! Cute, little cat ears on her head and a long cat tail of the same Golden color as the hair, which used to hide behind the blonde's back, showed that the twins were seeing a... Neko?! No, they certainly knew that cats are considered harbingers of Fate, but so literally?!
This time El came out of his stupor before his brother, "Why are you here? Where are we? Didn't we die? And why the hell do you look like that?!" He repeated his brother's earlier questions though he already started to lose his cool. He was usually able to stay calm in any situation, he could be having a life or death situation and his heart won't even skip a beat! He will have a perfectly calm head, face and just overall be logical. His brother was the same. To any other people, they were always cold and detached. No other person, except each other, could bring them to care about anything. But nothing ever prepared Elenore to this kind of situation and struggled to keep a cool expression, not allowing his inner panic to show on his face.
"You do not have to worry. In time, you will have the chance to learn everything if you would ever need, if you choose to of course," Death said. "Right now I will only tell you the basics considering we don't have a lot of time. You are now in one of the neutral domains. It is not yet the land of the dead, but it is not quite the land of the living, we call it the in-between. You are both dead but you are not destined to go through the cycle of rebirth again like other souls. We are here to explain what is happening, what is waiting for you, and most importantly, what are you. " he said seriously, looking intently at the twins. The blondes on either side of him just nodded, smiling at the twins.
Kira considered this carefully, his mind running miles per second. If they can't go through the cycle of rebirth then where are they going to go? And why? And what do they mean by are they? They're human, aren't they? "In the Inbetween? But why? Why can't we be reborn? And what do you mean by what we are?" El Continued his questions before Kira had a chance to open his mouth so he settled with just listening.
"A long time ago," fate interjected, "I gave out a prophecy about two parts of one whole, born with godly potential that would be the ones who will maintain the balance of the universe and prevent it from collapsing into the darkness. These parts are you, twins who have one soul for two bodies."
Kira began to get irritated, "How do you know it's us? And how can ordinary people maintain a balance? Why does the world even need a balance? And who said we would even agree to this?!" He hated it when someone tried to control and manipulate him or his brother. And that is exactly, as it seems to him, what these individuals were trying to do.
"We all feel the power in you that cannot belong to a mortal, human being. You were always different from other mortals, right? Once in hundreds of thousands of years a mortal is born that has the potential to become a god or even an entity. That is how we came to exist, we were all once human. Of course, not everyone with the potential succeeds and there are lots of requirements to meet but we believe you have met them all," Life spoke for the first time, her voice and speech way more gentle than Deaths and she seemed like the only one who is willing to give them answers without the twins having to pull these answers out of them. "To become a balance, you will be reborn into the same higher entities as we are. As for why we look like this, all entities are of a different race. You didn't expect all gods to look like humans did you? Since I am Life personified, I take the form of a high elf while Fate takes the form of a Neko. All of us are different, there are no two gods of the same subject and no two entities of the same race. Just like there can not be two Entities of Love, there can not be two Neko entities. Though I am not sure how the rule would apply to you since you are one being with two bodies. I would assume you will become one entity and get the power to merge into one being though I am not certain, you might as well become completely separate beings, without the special twin-connection that you share, " she said with a little frown on her face and fell silent for a little while to let the information sink in and then continued with a small, sad smile, "But there is always a choice, and we can't take it away from you. You can choose not to become a balance and disappear, simply dissolving into the universe and ceasing to exist. Or you can go through the recreation ritual and become one of us. The ritual is already halfway over because the true Power has already begun to manifest in you, and your souls have already ceased to be mortal. But you have not yet fully became entities since your bodies can not withstand the new force and will be slowly destroyed, pulling your souls with them if we do not complete the ritual and completely rebuild your bodies," Life finished quietly.
That is definitely not what the twins expected. They, of course, knew that they would not be allowed to refuse so easily but they did not think that the consequences would be so drastic! Both of them, like any living creatures, strive to live. And just disappearing like that, without leaving anything behind scared the living hell out of them. If they were to disappear it would mean that all their suffering that they lived through, would be for nothing. They were ready to die to live their next life with a clean slate but they are not ready to disappear completely and without a trace. Besides, if the twins were to simply disappear, they will no longer be together, and this frightened them even more. If they agree to become entities, they will most likely become immortal, which means they would never lose each other. This fact alone was enough for them to decide.
Kira turned to his brother and looked him in the eyes and saw all his hidden fears and desires reflect in them. He knew that they came to the same decision. To them, it wasn't really a choice because they would do anything to stay together.
So they turned to the three entities, who were watching them in silence and simultaneously nodded.
"We agree," was all the brothers said, but that was enough for the three higher beings.
A sigh of relief escaped the two ladies, while death stayed silent and distant but even his gaze seemed to soften a bit.
"The ritual must be carried out as fast as possible otherwise the process of self-destruction will start since your bodies are currently working on wear and tear." Death said.
The twins did not have time to understand anything before they found themselves in a huge hall with a flat rectangular stone in the middle that radiated huge waves of power.
There were a dozen people of all races standing around it.
"It's probably the other high ones…" The twins decided.
"Lie down in the middle of the altar. The ritual is not difficult, but it requires a lot of magic since you only need a push in the right direction. Your own power will do the rest. Everyone here will only support you by powering the ritual." LIfe said while walking to her place with Fate and Death behind her, "Even though the process is halfway over, it will still be painful."
The brothers just took each other's hands and walked to the altar and laid down on it without saying another word. Suddenly, all who stood around the altar began to sing in a language the twins did not know. Ancient, powerful sounds flowed from one to another, enveloping and calming, merging into words, and those, in turn, merged into quatrains.
Then came the pain. No, not like that, PAIN. Their bodies twisted, tore and broke. The bones crashed and lined up again. The blood boiled and froze at the same time. The body, as well as the soul, was being rebuilt, collapsing and building up again, only better. And the screams of the brothers echoed through the hall. The pain was so severe that even the twins, who had experienced their fair share of pain in their short lives, soon fell into the saving darkness.
Kiramiel slowly came out of his sleepy slumber, it took him a few moments to remember where he was. Looking around, he realized that they were moved to luxurious rooms that were made in a soft cream color and they were lying on a huge king size bed. Sensing movement beside him, Kira turned his head to look at his twin.
When their eyes met, Kira found himself gaping at his equally shocked brother. There was a lot to look at. Admittedly, they had been pretty before, but now each of them was looking at an incredibly beautiful, porcelain-like doll. Of course, they could not be mistaken for a female but their perfectly smooth, white skin that contrasted with their midnight black, long, silky hair, that seemed to have a blood-red sheen in the light, large emerald green eyes that seemed to glow with power, surrounded by long eyelashes, small nose and full, kissable lips gave them a slightly feminine look.
But their new appearance was not the reason both brothers were so openly gaping at each other while they usually put up a cold, indifferent mask and only allowed themselves to show real emotions when they were alone. No, the reason, or rather reasons were the tails. Foxtails. Nine bloody fox tails! Both of them now were now owners of nine pitch-black tails with a silver tip!
The amount of shocking information sent the twins back into a life-saving swoon...