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-Chapter One-
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Icist awakened suddenly to the sight of a boy standing over her, grinning as he watched her. He had strange green eyes that always darted about, making him seem to be nervous constantly. This boy was Ceberus, Icist's older brother.

"Ceberus!" Icist shouted, her voice tiny and high pitched. She narrowed her eyes at him, and he burst into laughter. "That's not funny!" she exclaimed, "You SCARED me!"

Ceberus ceased his laughter, kissing his sibling on the cheek gently and looking into her eyes. God, she had gorgeous eyes... he'd never seen anything like them. They were a bright shade of lavender, shocking, almost. He pulled away from her, still smiling.

Icist sat up in bed, unamused by her rude awakening. "Ceberus..." she muttered impatiently.

"Ici, it's time for school... I had to wake you up. Now get dressed, okay?"

Icist did as she was asked grudgingly, though she really didn't mind too much. Both she and her brother knew it was just an act. They were much closer than most siblings, and their relationship was something she cherished.

Ceberus returned into her room with a brush and some hair ties. Icist sat on the bed, and Ceberus sat behind her, brushing her dark brown hair gently before braiding it carefully. His own, black hair was messy and uncared for, but he would not allow that for Icist.

After he finished, he retrieved for her her pack and a carefully prepared lunch. They headed off to school together, her small hand in his. They passed their mother on the way out the door, a woman with distant eyes and a cold heart. Icist waved goodbye. Ceberus did not bother.

In school, Ceberus seemed to be an outcast. He ate lunch with Icist, and was never seen to even attempt to converse with anyone else. Icist was the opposite. She had many friends, but, despite what she told them, they feared her brother, the boy with the peircing green eyes. Most of them didn't even know he was her brother.

On this particular day, Icist had convinced one of her friends, a small, shy girl named Caprice to sit with her and her brother during lunch. She sat beside Ceberus, as always, and Caprice seated herself at the other side of the table.

Ceberus slowly looked up from his lunch, regarding the frightened girl coldly.

Hoping to break the ice, Icist began chatting. "This is Caprice, my friend, she's sitting with us today so she can meet you, maybe be your friend too, right?" She smiled at her brother hopefully.

"I don't want her here." Ceberus said simply, idly cracking his knuckles.

The girl stood to leave, but Icist looked at her and shook her head. "Wait." She turned towards him, frowning. "Ceberus, why?"

"Make her leave. Now." Ceberus demanded, his tone flat. He'd never understood why Icist needed or wanted to be around other people besides him. It seemed so strange.

Icist sighed as Caprice stood, wandering back to sit with the other girls. "That's not fair."

"Wrong, Icist. She would have hurt you, like everyone else. I am the only one you can trust. I'm the only one that loves you. Everyone else is using you, Icist. I want to protect you." He took Icist's hand in his, smiling in a comforting manner. It was strange how one minute he could be so warm and loving, and another he could be dark and condemning.

Icist snuggled against him, smiling in a trusting, innocent manner. "Thank you for protecting me..."

A knife pierced Icist's flesh. She cried out in pain, and a man's hand gently covered her mouth. His touch was familiar... Her own voice sounded much different than before; much more mature than her previously high-pitched, seven-year old child's voice.

"Shh... Icist, it'll only hurt for a little... trust me." That voice... that was Ceberus' voice! A shudder ran down her spine. His face was a few inches away from hers, both of them lying on the floor next to each other. Both of them were completely nude. Icist's body was smeared with her own blood, and the knife that had inflicted the wounds was in her brother's hand. "That's better..." Ceberus removed his hand from her mouth, and leaned down to kiss her. Icist screamed.

Icist pushed away from her brother with a shriek of terror, backing up so quickly that she ran into the lunch table, tipping it over. She lost her balance and stumbled over the now overturned table, which caused her to fall backwards and hit her head on the hard tile floor. The whole lunchroom went silent, and the teachers in the caferteria rushed over to Icist, wondering what had happened. Ceberus knelt beside her, a frightened expression on his face. What had just happened? Why did she freak out like that?

One of the teachers pulled Ceberus away as the children shouted that he had attacked Icist. They held his arms behind his back, and vainly he struggled to try and free himself. He could see blood pooling where Icist's head rested on the tile floor. "Icist!" he shouted fearfully and recieved no response from his sister.

Icist has been comatose in a hospital for well over five years now. Ceberus, meanwhile, was sentenced to spend the rest of his childhood in a juvenile prison. He was, of corse, completely innocent, but so many were willing to bend the truth to make it seem like what had happened was his fault. In prison, Ceberus' already visible psychosis seemed to be getting worse. He was incredibly paranoid, and often incredibly possessive over anything he believed belonged to him. He had developed violent tendencies, and his eyes reflected his inner demon just as well as his mother's did.

The prison officals had decided to allow Ceberus one visit to his sister in the hospital. He silently shuffled into her room, taking a seat beside her bed. A guard stood at the door to make sure Ceberus did not do anything he wasn't supposed to.

Ceberus sat quietly at her side, examining her features. She'd grown so beautifully, though she was much thinner and paler than a healty girl... she was thirteen now.Would she ever wake up? Would she have amnesia, or mental disablities? He covered his face with his hands and wept.

"....Ceberus? Where am I? What happened?" Icist's weak voice trembled, "Why are you crying?"

"Icist!" Ceberus' attention immediately shifted to his newly awakened sister. He put his arms around her and hugged her tight, tears streaming down his face. Unfortunately, he unwittingly pulled off a wire or two in the process. Doctors and nurses rushed in, and Ceberus was pushed to the side. Dazed, Icist peered at the doctors questioningly.

"You were in a coma for almost six years, Icist. It's a miracle you were able to awaken."

"Oh... did that happen when I fell?"

"You were attacked by your brother."

"After I fell?"

"No, he pushed you and caused your fall."

"I pushed him. I...." Icist remembered what she had seen, and fear crept into her voice. "I thought I saw something, I think I mighta fallen asleep... It scared me and I was trying to push it away and I pushed him and fell."

"Icist, you don't have to lie.... we won't let him hurt you."

"He won't hurt me..."

Icist was sure of her words. What she had seen could have been no more than a dream, some odd hallucination. Ceberus would never hurt her. He was her protector, her own guardian angel.

Authoress' notes: Yeah, I quit role-playing. But I still wanted to write something every now and then. So, this is the result... Yes, it will get more interesting, I swear. I highly doubt anyone will bother reading this, but I'm going to write it anyway because this sort of thing earns me A's in English class for reasons I will not pretend to understand. Please review, I will love you indefinitely if you do so. PLEASE FLAME ME!!!! Good or bad, I need the attention. God, I'm pathetic. For what to expect for the rest, think Jerry Springer meets Lifetime, with a major fantasy twist. Yeeeeah. Let's all clap for ourselves. This story DOES have a plot, and an ending already sketched out. So no weird, unfitting endings this time around... maybe I've figured out how to write a story! Naaah.

I can only be reached through FFXI. I am Icist of the Asura server, a Mithran monk with a whm sub.