Chapter 2:

Love is watching the petals fall

To the one who fantasizes, this is not your story.

Aria knew this, her opportunity had long since passed, she would not leave behind legend in her name. Merely because that is not what she wished for. No, what the woman wished for was to create a legacy, one not necessarily in her name.

A modern day legend. The modern hero's story.

That was her wish, that was her obsession. The moment she heard of an existence that protects the whole of humanity– the collective unconscious of mankind– she jumped right in without any doubt, without any second thought.

But she did not consider herself worthy. The title of "Modern Day Legend" was one she was obsessed with, but not one that she wanted for herself.

Rather, she wanted to create that legend.

So she began her goal.

And she began to hesitate with her decision day by day.

Why put an innocent soul through that kind of torment? Even if she could create a hero, it was all based on luck. She could raise a child to be a decent human but she cannot raise them up to be a savior like she wished they would be.

Ironic is it not? Her goal was right in front of her, yet she hesitated. She grew attached.

Love is one of humanity's strongest emotions, yet it could be their greatest weakness.

Aria should have known this. Yet she still fell prey to it.

So she decided that she couldn't do this alone. There were two people in the world who knew of her true intentions, so she went to one of them for help.

That one was her pupil in many aspects.

"Teacher." He greeted her. He looked to be around 17 years old. His medium-length dirty blonde hair slicked back into spikes. There were bags under his cold blue eyes. He wore a long black trench coat that covered most of his body with the exception of everything below his knees.

"Daybit." She greeted him back.

"I need your assistance."

She needs someone else to form an attachment to them.

She can't be the figure they need.

She can't show them the love they need.

Or else it will break even more.

An hour has passed since the two brothers went outside for a breath of fresh air. Kane felt a new sense of accomplishment that he hasn't felt since he was a child in his previous life. He and Adam were currently sitting on the living room couch, just watching the clock tick–the time passing by–when he decided to do something until their mother came back.

First things first, he decided, was to find out exactly where he is.

"Adam?" Kane looked to his little brother for clarity, hopefully he won't ask too many questions. Actually he thinks that might be a little rude, it's not like Adam could ask anything– from what Kane has seen, the younger boy couldn't speak at all.

Adam tilted his head like a cute cat. "Hm?"

"Where exactly are we?"

The mute boy raised his eyebrow, as if to say "shouldn't you know that?"

"I-I know, weird question, I should know that, but I uh–I forgot."

"..."

Kane wouldn't deny that Adam's deadpan expression was hilarious. But right now he had more important things to think about.

"Don't give me that look, just answer the question."

"..."

"Not, literally–just– is there a map around the house?"

Adam stared with squinted eyes; it was hard for Kane to tell exactly what the mute was thinking. A few seconds of awkward silence continued between the two before the younger brother shook his head. He got up in front of the couch and walked to the kitchen, where apparently, they left the T.V remote. With a click of a button, he turned the television on, the news channel appeared–being the default channel.

"...California…" Kane ignored the rest of the reporter to hear that one word. Coincidentally playing as soon as the T.V turned on.

So I'm still on Earth. He thought. He had half the mind to breathe a sigh of relief, though he outwardly kept quiet. He turned around to gather his thoughts but quickly found himself staring at an extremely disappointed look.

"What?"

Adam kept staring.

"How long are you going to keep this up?"

He kept staring.

And he kept staring.

Kane sighed, not knowing exactly what was going through the mute boy's mind he just went for whatever thought came first. "Thank you for helping your idiot brother out." When in doubt, self-deprecate. Maybe he should get rid of that habit.

Though it was the right choice in this instance as Adam straightened himself, looking rather proud of his accomplishment.

Come to think of it, Adam couldn't be any older than Kane, so for him to understand language even when he can't speak says a lot about the mute boy.

Perhaps just to quell his curiosity…

"Adam?" Kane asked, wanting to test something out that he just thought of.

"Hm?"

"What's two plus two?"

Adam tilted his head to the side again, looking even more like a cute cat. He tapped one finger against his chin whilst looking upwards.

He finished his thoughts within a minute and held out four fingers.

"Nice, what's two times two?"

This time instead of thinking, the younger boy tilted his head in confusion.

What school are we supposed to go to? Kane couldn't help but think.

He mindlessly turned his head around, not paying attention much to where he was looking. Right at the center of his vision he saw the date on the T.V screen.

The day was Sunday.

The month was August.

The year was 2003.

I'm back in time?! Inwardly, Kane started screaming. In fact, he wanted to scream outwardly too but the presence of another person kept him from doing so.

This is so fucked.

The screen faded to black for a few seconds, preparing to play a commercial, but it was in those few seconds that Kane finally got a look at his body in this world.

Snow white hair, much like the other two family members, but instead of blue his eyes were a bright violet.

The commercial played right after. Kane gawked in shocked silence. White hair was one thing, but his bright violet eyes looked so real in the reflection. He jumped off the couch and quickly turned to his younger brother.

"Where's the bathroom?" He quickly asked. Adam shook his head and pointed towards the opposite end of the living room at a door.

"Thanks!" Kane ran right towards it, opening and closing the door shut as he entered the bathroom. Luckily there was a stool right in front of the sink. He stood up on top of it and peered into his face. The reflection of the mirror is clearer than a black screen.

Pale face, white hair, violet eyes. To be completely honest he would have mistaken himself for a girl—except for the fact that this is his body, and he knew exactly what was hanging between his legs.

He left the bathroom with some more clarity about this new life. When he returned back to the living room, he met Adam's curious stare.

"Don't worry about it," Kane waved his hand, attempting to wave away the younger boy's curiosity. "I was just checking something."

Adam continued to stare a few seconds longer, until he eventually shrugged and turned his attention back to the television.

Kane sat down next to him. Though while Adam absorbed himself into the television, Kane was busy with his own thoughts again.

This was Earth, he's back almost two decades into the past, and he was in a body that has features that would not be possible in his previous life. Well, not possible by natural means. He doubted a six-year-old would wear both colored eye contacts and white hair, and considering the two other occupants of the house have equally bright features it had to be genuine.

As he continued to think about his current circumstance, memories of his old life began to resurface.

His constant arguments with his parents. The lonely teen who would rot in his room alone. The young boy who was scared of the world— no that's not right.

The young boy who hated himself, the socially inept idiot that feared company, yet hated being alone.

Those thoughts that are common among teenagers filled his head, the conviction that he had only thirty minutes prior slowly began to fade. Soon only melancholy would remain.

Which is what would have happened if he was alone, luckily for him he forgot someone else was in the room. Adam leaned his head against his older brothers shoulder, closing his eyes.

Kane snapped out of his angsty stupor and looked towards the disturbance. His face was blank so there was no way for the younger boy to notice his dampening mood. The mute merely just laid his head to rest.

But surprisingly, that was enough.

More than enough.

Kane exhaled and leaned back. Closing his eyes and clearing his thoughts, their breathing matched in a rhythm.

The two fell asleep minutes later.

"You're wasting your life."

Those words were said to him multiple times. Each time he would respond with a lie or an excuse.

"I'm not."

"I'll find something soon."

Yet each time he did nothing, each time he was berated he would continue on this pitiful path of self-destruction for the sake of temporary pleasure.

He said he would change, but he never listened. Not to anyone, not to himself.

In all honesty the only thing keeping him from living a happy life is himself. No one else but him is holding himself back.

No one to blame but himself.

It's a sad display, the kind of person you are.

But don't you worry your cute little head anymore; your life, your fate, your soul is no longer yours to control.

Kane woke up to a clicking noise. He stood up, yawning and stretching his neck—leaving a still sleeping Adam to fall into the couch. He rubbed his eyes to get rid of some fatigue. He did not have any time to question his dream as he turned around. He saw the door open and two figures walking in. One familiar and one unfamiliar.

The unfamiliar figure closed the door behind them and looked around. The woman (their mother) from this morning continued walking forward, going into a room adjacent to the kitchen, Kane assumed that was the master bedroom.

The dirty blonde teenager walked around the living room, examining almost every inch. Until his eyes landed on the two young boys.

There the two got a good look at each other.

To the teenager, he saw what looked to be two young clones of his teacher (that's not actually what they are but they might as well be, the teenager could tell from a glance that they were related to Aria).

To Kane, he saw a teenager that looked a lot like himself in his previous life. Messy hair, dark bags under his eyes, and a dead stare. The exception here was that Kane could see a spark of curiosity in the older boys' eyes.

A tense and awkward silence continued between the two before it was broken by movement. Adam woke up with a yawn, stretching his arms out as he sat up.

"Hm?" He let out a soft grunt, rubbing his eyes and trying to refocus them. What he saw was not what he expected.

Might as well play my part, Kane thought as he looked at the teenager.

"Who are you?" Kane tried not to outwardly cringe at his voice, he did not mean to make it sound so innocent and high pitched.

This is going to be a bitch. He internally cursed, not wanting to deal with another shitty puberty.

"Daybit." The teenager answered, his voice rough but not too deep. Kane was slightly surprised that the older boy answered so plainly.

"He'll be Adam's trainer for the time being." Kane and Adam's mother appeared from the master bedroom with a book, one she tossed over to Daybit, who caught it with ease.

"As for you Kane, grab the sword."

With slight curiosity he did as she said, grabbing the sheathed katana from off the floor.

She walked right in front of him and kneeled down. Her eyes peered right into him.

"Close your eyes." She asked, and he did so. He really wanted to ask exactly what was happening but considering he would be asking that to a woman who gave a genuine murder weapon to a child he felt as though he wouldn't get a straight answer.

So he closed his eyes, and he felt her hand land on his head.

Then he felt the world fall.

The sensation was hard to describe, but it was as if he was suddenly plunged into a giant pool. He felt no water yet he was floating. He felt submerged yet he could still breathe.

He opened his eyes to see darkness. There was no light with the exception of one spot.

Floating up to him was a bright blue sphere of fire. Hoops surrounded it like the rings of a planet. It began to glow even brighter as it approached and he could see it clearer.

The sphere of ephemeral flame stopped some distance away from him.

He couldn't take his eyes away from it.

So he reached out his hand.

I have you now, my guardian.

Suddenly he was sucked back into the real world. His eyes snapped open and his breathing accelerated. He took a step backwards to try and balance his footing.

"Wh—what?" He couldn't think of anything else to say.

"What did you do?" Daybit turned and asked the white-haired woman. She folded her arms, her gaze centered on Kane, but she was not exactly looking at him.

"I just meant to check his magic circuits. I was not expecting this reaction." She clarified, her mind still deep in thought.

"How many?"

"That's the issue." She unfolded her arms; her gaze seemingly being brought out of whatever thoughts she was having. "I couldn't tell."

"Couldn't tell? How could—" Daybit made to ask for clarity, but she shook her head, cutting him off.

"The circuits are clearly there, yet it was completely covered by something. Instead of counting nerves it felt as though I was counting a liquid."

Daybit took in her explanation, hand on chin and looking at Kane as well. The boy held a hand to his head, Adam and quickly walked over and held his hands against his brother's shoulders, fearing he would fall over.

Daybit mulled over his thoughts. "If we can't measure the nerves, perhaps we will have to measure the weight."

"Weight? Ah, the quality, yes that would be a good focus."

"What the hell was that?" Kane finally regained his focus and blurted out the first thing that came to his mind.

Aria turned her gaze towards Daybit with an extremely unexpressed look.

He looked back with a raised eyebrow. "I didn't teach him that."

"I was just going to stay silent but now I'm serious, what the fuck is going on?"

Aria had a rare look of surprise. Her eyes narrowed as she began to observe him more. This time Kane saw what she was doing.

Her azure gaze began to glow.

"Kane, how old are you?" She asked after a moment of hesitation.

He hesitated at her near glare. The question catching him off guard. "Uh, s-six?" She hummed in response, though not one of confirmation or denial.

Shit did I answer that wrong?

"How old is Adam?"

"…Six?"

"Hm." That hum was once again from Aria, she held a hand to her chin and continued to stare at Kane. He felt slightly intimidated under her glowing gaze.

"You're off. Adam is five and you're seven."

Shit.

She took in his look of surprise, going back into her thoughts. She knew his age, yet he didn't, it wasn't like him to forget something like that.

"Is he truly…?" Aria whispered to herself. The only one who heard was Daybit, who turned to her.

"Aria."

So that's her name? Kane thought, just realizing that was the first time he heard her name. He slightly ranted at himself for forgetting to find that out earlier.

"Forget it," Aria waved off everyone's curiosity (and Daybit's concern). "For now, we'll start your training."

This time she held out her hand, but instead of putting it on her son's head, she kept it held out. A light blue flame began to form around her palm, soon extending out and taking the shape of a sword.

"You're going to learn magecraft."

She let go of the blue sword, letting it fall and dissipate into the ground.

"And you'll be a legend."

No one noticed the cringe that showed on Daybit's face for a split second, as if he heard something unpleasant. Well, no one except for Adam.

What the fuck have I been brought into? Kane lamented.

(A/N)

I'm surprised people are actually interested in this shit, 20 follows and 10 favorites in two days? Damn. I wasn't really expecting any traction on this fic, so thanks for that! I'm not one who likes to describe "how things are going to go" in a story because I like the challenge of writing everything unfold in time, and I think the story summary and genres are a great indicator on how things are going to go in this story. But any criticism would be greatly appreciated! (Especially critical reviews, those would help a lot!)

Also I might be shooting my foot with this, but I'm not a nasuverse lore devotee so I might get some things wrong down the line (when it comes to the lore such as the Association and the concepts behind magecraft). If I do I don't mind people correcting me in the reviews.

Well, with that said, I'm glad this actually gained follows! It truly means a lot especially since I was not expecting anything from this story. I'll see you all next chapter.

-much love, an idiot on the internet.