It always started the same way…
But tonight, this was no nightmare. This was something more.
It was as though Aaron were taken from his body and thrust into his memories, reliving the night in vivid detail. Every smell, every sound, every feeling was as fresh as it had been all those years ago.
He was thirteen, standing before the wooden door of his mother's study, staring at the dim light shining through the crack. He was nervous, and when he felt the object he was holding behind his back, he remembered why.
It was a small pot filled with soil where a flower had been grown and subsequently died, the red petals wilted to brown and the stem turned brittle and sunken.
How often had he thought about this flower? If only he had taken better care of it, maybe what happened next would have never come to pass.
A soft humming penetrated the door and filled Aaron's ears. It was soothing, but Aaron knew better than to let the false sense of security take over. He knocked, his body moving on its own, and there was the response from that beautiful voice that always made his stomach drop.
"Who's there?"
"It's just me, Mother." Aaron entered the room apprehensively. The warmth from the fireplace was cozy and there was the slightest odor of smoke and perfume in the air, mingling into a strange, complex atmosphere. His mother sat beside the fire in a rocking chair, the large purple tome they both knew so well open on her lap. She turned to face her son, her kind, beautiful face attempting a stern expression.
"Aaron? What are you doing out of bed? It's late and you have an early morning tomorrow." She peered behind him. "What's that?"
Aaron revealed the wilted plant slowly and got the exact look of disapproval he was expecting.
"That flower was a gift," his mother spurned. "How could you forget to water it after all the trouble I went through to bring it back from the Salikwood?" She placed the book on the side table next to her and turned her attention to her son.
"I know, I'm sorry… I've just been so busy with all that father has me doing and sword-fighting with Fi, and I just came back one night and… it was wilted." He frowned. "But I was hoping maybe… Can you make it better?" The Prince didn't give his mother a chance to answer before adding in, "I promise I won't let it die again! Just this once!"
Alma smiled, not truly angry with him but simply trying to teach him responsibility. "Alright. Just this once. But remember, this is our little secret. Bring it here," she gestured and Aaron held it out for her.
Alma placed a hand gingerly over the petal of the flower and stroked it. She took a deep breath and white sparkles appeared on her fingertips, dancing onto the plant and the soil below it, filling it with life. Suddenly the stem was green again and the plant gradually grew taller. The petals of the flower darkened to the deep red they once were. All it took was a few seconds and the flower was healthy, restored perfectly to its former beauty. Aaron smiled ecstatically, marveling at the magic his mother possessed.
"Now don't let it happen again," Alma told him. "Off to bed now."
Aaron nodded, but when he turned to leave he stopped dead in his tracks.
"Oh, Uncle," was all the response he could think to say.
Alma's eyes shot to the doorway where Alexander Sinclair was standing, one hand on the door and a look of pure shock plastered on his face. His eyes were a light green, almost like Aaron's, and his hair was long and straight falling to his shoulders. He was taller and lankier than his older brother, with a more serious face and demeanor.
"The gift…" he whispered in his deep voice, eyes boring into the flower in Aaron's hands, slowly drifting to the queen. "Alma… you have it as well."
The woman stood, facing her brother-in-law, attempting to mask the panic in her voice. "Alexander! I didn't see you there. How long…" she stopped herself, realizing it was no use to play dumb. "Please, you… you were never supposed to know." She clenched her fists. "Nobody was."
"He knew," Alexander said as he took a step inside the room and thrust a finger at Aaron. The fireplace crackled and a wave of heat washed over the room as he crossed the threshold. "And I assume Harold did as well. Why… why would you not tell me, of all people?" He sounded genuinely hurt, and at the time, Aaron could not figure out why.
"Harold is my husband," Alma retorted sternly. "And the twins are my children. Nobody else knows, and it's better that way. I've kept it a secret all of my life, and now I expect you to keep it as well. Please, don't be angry. It was nothing against you." Alma did not sound pleading, but demanding.
"Angry? You misunderstand me, Alma… How could I be angry? I'm… I'm happy!" Alexander beamed. It was the happiest look Aaron could remember seeing on his uncle, who was usually as stiff as an icicle. Alma looked confused, so he elaborated. "Don't you get it? This is a sign! Your magic and mine… It's bringing us together. It's been there all along and we just never saw it."
When Alma realized where he was going with this, she went ghost white. "Alexander, wait… It isn't… T-this doesn't mean…" She was so flustered she could barely put a sentence together, but the man didn't let her even try. He walked over to her and looked deeply into her eyes, taking her hands into his own.
"You chose wrong. This is proof. This has always been destined. You and I, together, ruling Astor with our magic. Fire and life. Life and death. Destruction and creation. It must be. This is no mere coincidence." There was a passion on Alexander's face that was making Aaron uncomfortable, as if the man had just discovered the meaning of life. The little prince took a large step back.
"Stop it!" Alma barked, ripping her hands away from him. "You're speaking nonsense, Alexander. This was over years and years ago when I married Harold and you know it. What makes you think it's okay to bring this up now? Especially in front of Aaron? Now let's just pretend you never saw anything and move on."
Those last words cut Alexander deep, even Aaron could see that. His face fell in an instant and his shoulders slumped, as though his soul had just shattered into a million tiny pieces.
The fireplace was roaring high now and Aaron pulled at his damp collar as he began to sweat. He wanted nothing more than to run back to his room, but something made him stay, a gut instinct telling him he should. He inched closer to the fireplace and clutched the flower pot a little tighter. An ember crackled from the fire with a pop and landed near his foot. He stamped it out in a panic.
"I just don't understand…" Alexander whispered. "How can you not see it? How can you not see how much I love you…?"
Alma remained unfazed, crossing her arms in equal parts confidence and insecurity. "I do see it. I'm sorry Alexander. We have talked about this. I never meant to hurt you, but… Harold is my husband and that will never change. So please leave me and my family be."
My family. Aaron remembered thinking those words were strange, as if Alexander were not a part of their family. Was he not?
A long moment passed as the man eyed Alma up and down, pain clear in his eyes, and then he turned toward the door looking utterly dejected. He took one step and then halted, turning his chin towards Aaron.
"Aaron… My boy." He came closer. For some reason that made Aaron nervous.
"You were supposed to be mine, do you know that?" he asked the boy with a gentle voice. Aaron's eyes flickered to his mother. She said nothing, but her eyes were trained on Alexander with a sense of primal protection. "You should have been mine. My little boy. My son. But your mother made a mistake. And look what's become of you."
Aaron didn't know what to say. "What do you mean…?"
"Your Father has never been there for you… it was always me, ever since you were a babe, I was the one looking out for you while Harold ignored you. Don't you see that?"
Some instinct made Aaron quick to come to his father's defense. "My father is a king. He's been ruling Astor. He is just busy. He never…"
Alexander sighed and suddenly Aaron felt an unnaturally warm hand on his shoulder. "You are so naïve. I suppose that's to be expected. You will understand one day just how wrong things went for you because of your foolish parents."
The insult to his parents pushed Aaron to anger and the urge to hit his uncle came upon him, but he knew better. Instead, he batted away Alexander's hand upon his shoulder in frustration. The act took the man by surprise and in response, a burst of flame shot from his palm, scorching Aaron through his cloth shirt. Aaron let out a yelp and backed away, clutching the burn. He let the flower pot in his hands drop to the floor and shatter, sending dirt and clay shards in every direction across the wooden floor.
Alexander was equally taken aback. He pulled his hand away and clenched it into a tight fist. "Aaron, I…I-m sorry, I didn't mean to-"
Before the man could finish, Alma had come between the two, fully engaged by her motherly instincts. "You need to go, Alexander," she demanded.
The man looked offended. "Alma, you know I would never –"
"Just GO!"
The fireplace surged high on the last word and all three of them glanced uneasily at it. Despite the heat, Alma stood her ground by the fireplace in front of Aaron who was furiously rubbing his shoulder, tears welling up in his eyes from the pain.
Some combination of the pain from the burn, the tension in the room, and the fact that he was already upset made Aaron speak up. "At least my father would never do that. And at least Mother's magic fixes things. All you can do is hurt people. At least my father isn't some… some freak!"
Alexander looked even more heartbroken hearing that than he was before. "I'm not a freak… I'm not a freak… I just can't..." The fireplace raged, sending small red embers into the air around them. Aaron began to cough. "Alma, you don't think I'm…" Alexander couldn't bring himself to finish the sentence.
Alma paid the fire no mind. "That's enough Alexander! Just leave. Stop trying to change what you have no control over! You have to accept the way things are." Alexander looked as though he was being physically beaten by her words. He held his hands to his head and closed his eyes tight, something horrible building up inside of him.
"I'm not… I'm just tyring to… Ahhh…"
The fire roared, but Alma did not stop. "Harold is my husband. Aaron is my son. He has been raised to know right from wrong and he can see through you. So just go. I will never love you!"
Alexander was pushed beyond his limit by that and he finally broke. His scream was so loud that it seemed to shake the whole palace. He directed it at the ceiling, with balled fists at his side, every muscle in his body tensing. It was a sound that would haunt Aaron forever, full of all the rage, anguish, and heartbreak of a thousand kingdoms.
As he roared, the fireplace expelled its pent up energy, and the flames burst from the wall with a giant crash that shook the castle's foundation. Alma was bathed in the flames from the eruption from head to toe, her dress catching first, and then the rest of her.
Aaron fell backwards, just barely avoiding the fire himself, helpless but to watch his queen mother flail in agony and scream. He was too shocked to make a sound himself.
When Alexander finally came back to reality after his mental outburst, he did not seem to process what was happening in front of him right away. As the realization struck that the woman he loved was burning right in front of him, resignation took him over. He awkwardly fumbled backwards from the woman in horror. When Aaron stood to try to run to her, Alexander shoved him away. "No! Get back!"
Suddenly Aaron was surrounded by a half-circle of magical flame that trapped him near the wall, and now he was truly helpless.
Alexander looked entirely subdued as he watched Alma who collapsed to the floor, completely unrecognizable now as her skin was incinerated. Aaron could see the emotional transformation occur in his uncle in that quick moment. There was a morbid acceptance on his face as if the man knew that his life had just changed completely.
Then the magic flow began, and with it came the madness.
There was a flash and blinding light began to radiate from Alma, creating a stream that shot towards Alexander, making him glow like a god. His face twisted into a series of pained expressions and he clutched his head and squeezed his eyes shut. "GRAAAHHH!"
Alma's screams faded as her life finally left her body, and all Aaron could do was close his eyes and cry. Soon, the room was filled with the sounds of the crackling of flames and disjointed, sporadic cackles escaping from Alexander's throat. The man fell to his knees and rocked back and forth as the magic bombarded his mind.
The door flew open suddenly and Aaron could just barely make out the figure of his sister through the smoke. "Mother! Aaron!" Sophie shouted in panicked confusion. She covered her mouth and coughed as she noticed Alexander. "Uncle! What is happening!?"
"Fi!" Aaron shouted, momentarily finding his voice from concern for his twin. "Get out of here! Just run!" But Sophie was too entranced by the sight to move.
Alexander didn't even seem to notice the appearance of his niece. He began to cackle at the top of his lungs now, completely lost to the rest of the world. "HA HA HA – AHAH! – AHAHAHAAAA!"
Then he began to claw at his own face. From his fingertips, bursts of flame jutted out, whipping across his cheeks and forehead and sizzling them down to the bone. As his face burned from his own magic, Alma's healing magic flowed through him, renewing the skin instantly whenever a fresh patch sloughed off his skull from the heat. The man's face fell apart piece by piece and then was reconstructed simultaneously, but the cackling was never once interrupted.
"HAHAHAHAHA! AAAAAAHAHAHAHAAA!"
The moment seemed to last forever. Sophie stood at the door utterly horrified as she realized where her mother was, and eventually Alma's body, exhausted of every resource it once had, finally faded away to ash and disappeared into the smoky air, not a single trace remaining.
The fireplace had turned into a smoky abyss in the wall now, but Aaron could hear something stirring inside of it. He could just barely make out the glowing embers through the greyness – and they were moving. A low rumble emanated from the wall and Aaron realized that the glow was no longer from hot embers; it was from a pair of eyes.
A giant, burning hand emerged from the smoke, made of rock and ash and fire. Behind it, a golem began to crawl towards the howling Alexander, its body being pieced together as it went by magic, fire and stone alike, and it took the shape of a giant beast seeking its master as it growled. Sophie was screaming Aaron's name, but he could do nothing but watch the events in front of him unfold, completely mystified.
"HAHAHAHAHAAAAAAaaaa…" Alexander was looking skyward, his face completely unrecognizable and hideous, deep lacerations masking his once fair face. His eyes were now glowing golden and transforming into a permanent feature that would forever define him as the Fire Lord of Astor.
Then he collapsed into a heap, his body spent from the magic.
The flames around Aaron dissipated and he bolted to his sister at the opportunity, not even looking twice at the state of Alexander or the monster he had spawned, and the two of them took off together through the halls of the palace and out the front gates. The guards let them go as they rushed to see what the commotion was all about and the royal twins disappeared into the night.
They ran and ran, never looking back until the palace was far out of sight and the entire city of Calidae seemed far away, where the two of them were the only living things in existence.
Deep in the woods under a moonlit sky, their tears and cries were heard only by the trees as they clung to each other.
And it was there that their new life began.