Brother

By: Aviantei

[Twelve Shots of Summer: Another D8 2/12]

[Parameters: "Scrambled Crossing" + "Death of Innocence"]

Lon Ander took his first human life when he was five-years-old. It had been a sudden request, one that he watched his mother struggle with and his father insist that there was no other option. If they were to protect their family's bloodline, were to reclaim their long-lost glory in the coming Shaman Fight. Ander would need to not only know how to fight, but also to kill when it was necessary.

He didn't find it difficult. As a shaman, he'd known the existence of death from as far back as he could remember. He grew up with the voices of nature spirits just as familiar as his parents'. Though they were few in number, the spirits of the Ra family also resided in the Lon family's halls, sworn to loyalty to Ander's bloodline. He didn't view death as all that different from life. Yes, the difference between a physical body and an incorporeal form was there, but not all that significant in his mind.

After all, if his father and master could kill so simply, why couldn't Ander do the same?

So he had. The fact that there wasn't any blood made it seem even less significant of a moment. Of all the voices of the elements, Ander had always heard fire the easiest. He'd spoken the command for death, and the flames had responded, turning the once living person into a charred version of their former self. He'd received praise, too, and his parents took care of the cleanup. In time, Ander would learn how to command the earth, but now, his control was too weak for that, so he couldn't participate without slowing everything down. One day, he'd learn how to clean up after his own messes.

Having been dismissed from the gardens, Ander walked through the halls of his family's estate, heading back towards his room. The voice of the fire was still excited from its earlier use; the flames were always happy to get the fresh opportunity to burn, no matter what they were doing. Wielded in combat as a weapon or heating up a tea kettle, there was always a happy kind of excitement in its voice that Ander liked hearing, even if he couldn't decipher all the words.

Ander was humming along to the faint melody whenever a fresh sound came to his awareness: the small but excited footsteps of someone approaching. Ivy, in a somewhat tottering run, rounded the corner, her small purple and gold clothes looking more like they belonged on a doll than on a real person. "Gē-gē!"

Ivy stumbled, almost tottering over in her haste to slow down. On instinct, Ander reached out to catch her, but Ivy managed to regain her balance first, though she had to catch onto Ander's sleeve to stay upright. "Easy, Mèi-Mei," he said, before he frowned. "Weren't you with M—ah, Teacher?" The new referrals were strange, Ander was doing his best.

With her head almost burred in his sleeve, Ivy's quiet voice was even more difficult to make out than usual. "Wanna see Gē-gē." And when she looked up at him, she smiled, the expression so bright and wonderful that it didn't matter that not even half an hour ago, someone had died at his hands.

If he were to look back on their childhood later, Ander wouldn't be able to tell just what had brought about the changes in Ivy. Was her stubbornness and penchant for bickering with him how she would have been no matter what, or did the harshness of their training contribute? The killing test in the garden had just been the first of their challenges after all. Day by day, Ander learned more ways to fight, to injure, to harm, to kill. And, at a somewhat faster pace than he had, Ivy went through much of the same thing.

It was common for practicing onmyoji to have a particular element they exceled at, the one that spoke to them most. For Ander, that was fire, and it was reflected in his elemental name as well. Master had been pleased when he heard it—Huarthian, as part of the priest gathering, was one of the highest affinities possible, meaning Ander had plenty of potential to refine, which would serve him well in the fight.

Ivy, though. Ivy was another matter.

Her innate connection was with wood, and she played with the leaves more than anything else. But that didn't take away her innate talent with the rest of the elements. Water, earth, metal, and fire alike all also answered to her call. This wasn't all that unusual; even Ander had a basic control over the others. But Ivy excelled in a way he did not. Ander didn't mind—after all, as far as Master was concerned, having two powerful fighters was better than one. Plus the stronger Ivy got, the better of an opponent she would make in sparring, though she had get to win against him.

Until the day when the elements screamed, loud enough that Ander didn't even have to mute out the sounds of the ones calling for him, because everything was calling for her.

Aviantei.

Elemental Princess.

If the priest and priestess gatherings were some of the highest possible powers, then a name like Ivy's was even beyond that—some even considered them as royal powers. Very rare names that were more of a myth than reality, and yet, there she was, at five years old, wielding the very world around her like it was her birthright, which it all but was.

That day was the first time that Ivy used the elements to overwhelm him.

Ander hadn't been able to beat her since.

And then, just as fast as Ivy had surpassed him, it seemed that she was gone.

It wasn't just like that, though. They had more time to train, more slivers of bonds formed. They prepared for their impending trip to Japan. They met the Taos and made a small connection, though it wouldn't follow through in the end. They trained together, picked up the nicknames of Avi-hime and Andie for each other, held onto their bond as siblings despite the rigorous training they were pitted in against each other, spilling blood and bringing even more death than ever before. Still, it was their lives, and Ander felt purpose in working towards their eventual entry and victory in the coming Shaman Fight.

And then Ivy was gone.

Ander didn't know how it happened. All he knew was that one morning he woke up before Ivy, which was a rare event in itself. Master had been feeling ill, so he was up late as well. It wasn't until Teacher went to check on Ivy to see if she had also fallen sick that everything erupted—Teacher panicking, spirits rushing back and forth, and Master rousing himself in anger, dissatisfied that he'd lost one of his—children? Tools?—either way, the loss of Ivy destroyed the life as they'd known it.

(Despite all that, Ander couldn't help but notice how the elements had gone quiet.)

From there, life changed. Ander became the sole focus on Master's training. The trip to Japan was canceled. The Lons' relationship with the Taos slipped away. Life became harsher, but it was necessary. After all, both Ander and Master knew that Ivy was stronger. If Ander were to go up against her, then his journey through the Shaman Fight might end right there.

So Ander trained, pushed to the brink of death over and over, gaining mana with every opportunity. The pain compared little to the surge of power that he got from it. Or maybe Ander was just becoming numb. Either way, when he got the opportunity to hunt Ivy down, the order to do whatever it took to bring her back, Ander didn't have any issues following that mandate

(So then why did he let her go?

Why did he decide to treat it like a game?

Why could he murder her newfound parents in cold blood but couldn't kill her?)

Ander didn't have the answers to those questions, but he knew that if he let that scrambled piece of him still exist the next time he and Ivy met, he'd never be able to get what he wanted.

You'll come back home, Avi-hime. I'll do whatever it takes to make it happen.

[Author's Notes]

This time, the prompts seemed to work well with exploring Ander a bit deeper, who is a complicated character to say the least? The Lon family is one big giant mess, not gonna lie. May this provide some extra insight into his character and actions in the main story.

Thanks to She Who Loves Pineapples, Tomtakahic, and stealthclaw for the favorite, follow, and review! May the rest of this summer collection be an enjoyable one.

See you next week for the prompts "Frenemies" and "Jealousy"!

-Avi

[06.12.2021]