"Quickly!" Jhin thought to himself.

Jhin was on a tight schedule. Sure the summoners knew his intent now, but they would be too slow. Jhin rushed down the hallway, with one bullet, and one target.

Jhin was trapped. He knew it was his end. Kusho, Shen, and Zed had all caught up to him.

"It is the most beautiful of arts. Look here, and join me."

"You are a monster! You have ended the lives of many. Perhaps the end of yours would serve as a fair punishment."

"No Zed, we must not kill. Do not fall to the level he has sunk to. Stay above, and learn the ways of forgiveness."

"Father, perhaps it would be wiser to end the life of this murderer, should he escape the prison."

"I have faith that this man will seek mercy and forgiveness in time."

"Very well father."

Zed was shocked. The four years that they had pursued Jhin for, only to end in a mere jail sentence? This would not do.

"Are you sure? This man murdered so many! SO MANY LIVES RUINED! All because of this one man. THIS ONE MAN! AND YOU ASK FOR HIS LIFE? Oh very well, I will give you his life, on a silver platter tied to a stake, burning in the depths of hell!"

"Zed! Control your temper. I must teach you the ways of balance."

"You ask for balance and yet you do not greet his murder with his death? You shock me, Kusho. And you, Shen. How can you accept this punishment that should have been much more? His life would not be enough compensation for the lives he has ruined, and destroyed, both metaphorically and literally!"

"Perhaps not, Zed, but I must accept my father's judgement."

The biting unfairness of it all came back to Zed. "Balance," he sneered with disgust. "For when a murderer ends the lives of many, he is only to be put in a cell, but when I become more powerful, he 'balances' it with my eternal loneliness. It was all his fault. It was ALL HIS FAULT!"

Zed broke the table he was sitting at, outraged at his old master's treatment of him.

"What good has hiding my emotions done? Answer me. ANSWER ME KUSHO! Damnit! Damnit..."

Zed began to cry, tears like rivers, flowing unbridled from his face mask, trickling down his face, mingling with the sweat of surprise.

"I just wanted to show you that I could match your son. You rejected me... But even when I try to make amends, the greeting I get is the flash of a shuriken, the gleam of a kama, or the glow of a spirit blade. It is not my fault, father. Even if you are not my father, I regret killing you, even if I taunt Shen with your death. Please father, show me the way."

Jhin ran down the halls, glancing quickly. "Which room is my targets?" He moaned to himself. His gun was impatient, as was he. Tossing his pistol in his hands, he ran, searching for an outlet for his inspiration. "Where can I empty this bullet? Where will it make a bang? All I wish for is a canvas to empty my paintbrush onto."

Jhin thought of murder as art, but really, was it not? All life ended. Jhin just made it beautiful. The dazzling speed and power of his gun. The fallen petals and blood, mixing as one. The beautiful aftermath of screams and echoes of sorrow. Jhin found it beautiful. He thought others would appreciate his past three canvasses, but apparently no one appreciated it. It was all just "You monster!", and "How could you?" with those folks. Jhin sneered. He only wanted to share his talent, but if others did not want it, he would have it all to himself.

Jhin kept glancing, bringing his heels into the ground. "This is the moment." He whispered quietly to himself. He opened the door as quickly as possible, knowing that the noise Jhin made didn't matter. Zed would know.

"Ah Zed, your elegant style. Your angry slashes on the numerous bodies, the lovely scissoring of the clothes. It was so lovely, just to watch you kill like that."

Jhin knew that such beauty simply could not be confined, however much he wanted to keep his art to himself. He pulled Zed quickly out of his room, threw him into the hall, and squeezed.

The bullet fired, and as it drew closer and closer, Zed found time slowing down slower and slower.

Zed looked at the splinters of the table.

"Why have I broken our family, once so well knit?"

Zed's voice cracked. He couldn't bear it anymore.

Zed had realized that since the very moment he opened the box, what he craved wasn't power. It wasn't even revenge. It was acceptance. Zed only wanted to be a true part of his master's family. He only wanted to be treated just like his brother. He wanted to be an equal. Not only a rival but a friend. A true sibling.

He realized he had ruined it all by opening the box. It was forbidden, but Zed wanted to cross any boundaries necessary to show how much he truly loved his master and his brother. But his master did not see it that way.

He realized that it was not his anger that caused so many deaths, but his loneliness.

"I forgive you, and ask for your forgiveness." Zed whispered to himself, and to Shen.

Zed prepared himself mentally, pulling what little scraps of fabric his headscarf had left, after his brutal outburst that had destroyed nearly his entire room.

Instead, he opened the door to a smiling Jhin.

Zed only had one thought as the bullet touched his forehead. He could feel the bullet spinning, twisting his skin and bone to make way for its rude entry.

"I'm sorry, brother. I'm sorry, father. Please forgive me."

Time ground to a halt as the bullet approached his face, and seemed to freeze as it touched his head.

Zed noticed the beautiful ray of daylight that flowed through the tall window that he had often wanted to smash. He saw his ripped headscarf; fibers were flowing off, and he could see how they danced and fluttered in the nonexistant breeze. He looked at Jhin's mask, and his smile he undoubtedly had underneath it. He noticed tears flowing out of his eyes, along with the diamonds spilling out of his pockets. Those diamonds were special. The first reward after Zed and Shen had worked together, defeating a gang of bandits. Shen had given his diamonds away. Zed had kept his, to remind himself that he would never forget. And now they were spilling away, as if nothing mattered.

"This diamond is a symbol of my love. Perhaps I thought of you as more than a sibling, Shen. Why did you think I reacted so harshly to your rejection of my ways?" Zed thought to himself.