Chapter 6 - Brothers

Fye was wiping the heavy ceramics that was used during dinner with a dry cloth after rinsing it. He was in charge with the kitchen, seeing as the queen he was so loyal to, liked to cook for them. Fye isn't really much of a cooking person, but he'd do anything to be of help to his dear queen.

He sighed, rubbing his crystal blue eyes in weary. He lacked sleep the night before. Sometimes, he couldn't succumb to the dreamworld, and always ended up watching his queen sleep. Admiration, as he calls it. He feared that his Majesty would get another nightmare, and it hurt to see the despair in the queen's eyes after she wakes up, distraught from the dream.

Fye stopped wiping the dishes dry when he heard footsteps coming. He gently placed it by the sink when he heard the door click and shut. Without turning around, he already knew who it was.

"Brother."

Fye lightly smiled. One way or another this was going to happen. But it isn't the right time for his twin younger brother to know the truth.

"Yes?" Fye went on to wipe the goblets this time.

"You know my purpose."

Fye stopped once again and sighed. Turning around, he faced his brother whose short hair was blonde, in stark contrast with his long deep black hair, tied loosely on the nape of his neck.

"And you know I'm not the person to ask."

Yuui's brows lined anxiously on his face. "I wanna know what happened to you."

Fye stared at his twin in a serious manner. "It wasn't easy Yuui. After falling like that, I really thought it was the end of me. I thought that I'd just disappear from the universe."

"And? How'd she find you? How come you're serving her?"

Fye closed his eyes, "I fainted, or well, I thought I did since I died. It was hard to explain. One moment I felt someone holding me close, then the next moment I woke up, found myself in the middle of the Royal Hall, being judged by the Queen."

"It was weird. I was scared, beyond scared. I faced death square on and then I was facing someone who scared me to death. Even the hall we were in gave me chills. there was this heavy weight in the room that I couldn't knock off. The Queen always looked so serious while doing the judgment. She'd look at you, through you, and you won't even know she's looking at your soul. Looking at all the things you did. All the good deeds, all the sins. She saw what happened to us, Yuui. How we were trapped there. I realized she was the one who took me from the cold land and brought me here. I wasn't dead yet when she found me."

"What?"

"She can't save me Yuui."

Yuui stared at Fye in a crazy, furious manner.

"I mean, she can't meddle with what happened. The Queen's job is to govern and protect the dimensions. She isn't supposed to change fate."

"You would've lived!"

Fye shook his head, "I've accepted my fate Yuui. Yes, I died, and I'm sorry I made a choice that made you choose bad decisions. You were used by someone evil, and I couldn't do anything about it. I'm sorry."

Yuui tightened his fist in suppressed anger, his knuckles almost white. Fye looked at his brother sadly, "I'm happy where I am, Yuui. I don't know if the choices I made for myself, for the both of us, were the right thing. But what I do know is that I'm happy by my Queen's side, and I'd do anything to be of service to her."

Yuui calmed himself and breathe deeply. After what seemed like hours, he asked calmly. The very first question that he wanted to ask ever since he saw his brother. "Why is your hair black?"

Fye blinked in surprise and recovered quickly. He took a few long strands of his black hair and gazed at it lovingly. "It's a symbol of loyalty. Of change."

...

Kurogane took another sip of his sake peacefully. He chose to drink in the porch, gazing at the starry night. With his eyes closed, he thought of his princess back in his world. He missed her, no matter how much the little girl frustrates him.

The glass door slid open and came Yuui, who plopped down beside Kurogane.

Kurogane glanced at Yuui and knew from the look of his face that something was troubling him. A moment of silence passed, neither one eager to share or ask.

Kuro sipped his sake and paused, then held it in front of Yuui. Yuui shook his head lightly and smiled, "No thanks. You know I'm no drinker."

"With the way you look right now, you probably need one."

Yuui lost his smile and his mask. "I'm confused."

"Why's that?"

"I know I should be happy seeing him, but somehow I don't feel that way."

Silence passed before them.

"Because no matter how you see it, he's dead."

Yuui smiled sadly.