Wings of Punishment
Chapter 4: Two Brothers, Two Enemies
"Kyo!" he screamed after him as the "Phantom Thief" flew past. He pulled off his helmet to reveal the white hair and golden eyes of Kenichi. He let the helmet drop to the ground and tried to follow him. He knew his armor was too heavy to pursue him by rooftop so he ran down to street level and used reports from the guard towers to extrapolate his location.
He had began following Kyo for about two hours now and had abandoned most of his armor to keep up. He had been watching Kyo's route for the entire trip and knew exactly where he was going. He ran on ahead and stopped at the front door of his old home.
The door no longer had any polish and it looked even more like the other doors on the street. He pushed it open with a loud creak and found the inside so much unlike what he remembered. It was in as much disrepair as the door foreshadowed. He stepped in and listened to the crackling of dead leaves under his boots. He stepped up the steps, listening to the creaking that joined all the other strange noises that were here.
He pushed open the door to the Observatory and thought for a second he saw himself again as a little eight-year old, arguing with Kyo about something. He remembered everything, the low light, a faint musty smell, the sounds of a crackling fire, all crystal clear... and he hated every single bit of it.
He threw open the windows to reveal the the sun peeking out of the horizon, its hues painting nearly infinite shades of color. He would have almost been awed by it... if it hadn't been interrupted by Kyo's scream.
He threw himself down the stairs and out into the street, following the noise.
He came to a door and threw it open, only to find his brother gone. The room seemed simple enough, the only oddity being a burn mark in the shape of a man on the wall. He turned and saw a woman, holding his prize, the Cat's Eye.
"Give that to me!" he demanded.
"You humans, all the same! You do not know the awesome power these artifacts contain... They are only pretty things to you..." she raved, her placid face wrinkled with wrinkles of rage and pain.
He took a step forward, thinking she was mad. "In the name of the Empire, Give that to me!" he demanded again.
Her face went slack again. She cradled the jewel like a mother would cradle a child, causing a faint glow coming forth from its depths. "We'll punish them, won't we?" she cooed.
He became angry and drew his sword. "Do not toy with me, woman," he growled, "That artifact belongs to the Emporer."
She looked at him, a bemused smile coming to her face. "Good-bye," she said to him before sealing his fate to that of Kyo's.
Eh... Sorry it's so short but I thought the last chapter needed a follow-up before I went into the next arc. So... uh... I guess I'll see you next!