Bisomote, a small town in the country of Segrevide which resided on the eastern part of the continent. The town was located in a valley between two mountain ranges to the east and west of it. A few years ago, it had just been another dot along a trade route that ran the length of the continent, mostly catering to truckers and traveling merchants that needed somewhere to stay during their trips.

However, a few years after the Drazah conquest began, it had become the capital of their empire. They had chosen it because of its natural defenses, and had claimed a large area just north of the town as their estate.

Their purpose was not to build a military state, though. It was quite the opposite. After Eleen and Relyk’s first child, Phon, was born, they decided that they needed a place that they could call home. Thus, they sought out the most peaceful and well protected location in their empire that they could find.

Their goal was to build a home where Phon and any future children could be raised quietly, far away from the loud and dangerous battlefields. Additionally, the idea of somewhere they could return to and recuperate between military campaigns appealed to them greatly.

They did not impose the same strict tax regulations and iron rule on Bisomote like they did with the rest of their conquests. They had wanted it to be as welcoming and warm of a town as possible for their children to grow up in. The town embraced their new neighbors, happily enjoying the increased revenue and commerce they brought with them.

In the few years since the Drazahs had moved there, the town had expanded greatly. There were plans to build it into a large capital city worthy of their empire after the war was done, but for now, not much had been completed. In the Drazah estate, despite its abnormally large size, there was only one building: a giant mansion in the very center, and the only tenants were the dictators and their two children.

There were many servants who worked at the estate, but none of them actually lived on the property. A dormitory for them had been built inside in the town itself, just a short walk from the estate’s main gates. The estate was completely walled off from the outside world, with several sentries that patrolled the long length of the outer wall. The estate was so large in fact that the servants were permitted to use golf carts to traverse it.

As the war pressed on, the military presence began to increase slightly over time in Bisomote. A few of the Drazah’s generals had requested that they be allowed to build their own homes in the abundant land that made up the estate, but Eleen had refused, not wanting anything relating to the war impacting her children’s lives. Instead, they were allowed to claim their own, much smaller estates a few lages from the south side of town.

Even though the town was thriving, the regular citizens grew more and more discontent as time passed, afraid that before long their town would be overrun with military forces. None dared to voice their opinions publicly however, afraid of any potential repercussions.

Nonovber 20th, 2064, three individuals were walking down the town’s main street. The first was Phon, a young girl at the age of 8. She had light brown hair, hazel eyes, and was wearing a one-piece dress made of the finest materials. She preferred wearing more simple boyish clothes, but the maid walking beside her had insisted that she dress as a proper lady for this outing.

The maid’s name was Mallea, a 17 year old girl with long dark brown hair that flowed into a braid which extended past her shoulders. She was personally in charge of Drim and Phon, and acted as their guardian when their parents were away. She was carrying a paper bag full of provisions she had bought that the children needed in their everyday lives. She wore a traditional black maid’s outfit, which sported both long sleeves and a long skirt.

While it was late fall and such attire would be called for, she wore the longer versions year round. It wasn’t a fashion choice, rather it was to conceal the small arsenal she had hidden on her limbs. There were several knives, a few pistols, and two small shotguns, one attached to the side of each hip. Needless to say, she took her job of protecting the children quite seriously.

Drim was following them closely behind, not particularly paying attention to where he was going or the speed he was walking. Occasionally, he would bump into them when the two girls stopped before crossing a street. He was currently 6 years old and his eyes and hair color were the same as Phon’s. He was also wearing an outfit she would much rather be wearing.

He was wearing a loose long sleeved shirt with a green sweater vest over top and khaki pants. The reason he wasn’t paying attention was because he was playing with the new action figure Mallea had bought for him. She liked to bring the two children along with her when she needed to run errands in town so that they could have some time outside of the estate, where they were normally confined.

She would always buy them something they wanted every trip. She knew she probably shouldn’t spoil them but could never resist when she saw Drim’s eyes light up. It was usually a small toy or a food they had never tried. She had also gotten Phon a new yo-yo since she had become something of an avid collector. The new one had black rubber around the edges like a tire and rims that spun as if they were on a car. It was still in the box that Phon carried since Mallea had demanded she wait until they got back.

Mallea and Phon were arguing about something as they usually did, but Drim didn’t hear a word of it. He was having fun playing with his new figure of a superhero he had seen in a recent cartoon. He was bending the limbs into all sorts of poses and would occasionally lift it up high and swing it around to pretend as if it was flying. The last time he did this, a bottle suddenly came flying at him and knocked the figure out of his hands. The glass shattered on impact and cut one of his fingers.

Mallea acted quickly, she dropped the bag and pulled the two children close behind her with her right hand, and readied her left hand to pull out the blade hidden up her sleeve if needed. A man who was clearly intoxicated stumbled out of a nearby alley and yelled. “You! You’re those damn Drazah brats, aren't you? It’s all your fault! Your fault this town is turning to zjik and you and your parents destroying the world!”

Before he could say anything else Mallea lifted up two fingers on her left hand and swept them in the air. Two men in military uniforms appeared as if from nowhere and dragged the drunk man away. Mallea picked the bag back up and hurried the two children back to the estate. As they reached the gates, a quiet but unmistakable sound of a single gunshot could be heard.

◆◆◆

The mansion was equipped with a full medical station and the Drazahs had their own private doctor but he wasn’t currently there. He would only come to the estate when called upon and worked in the town the rest of the time. Mallea felt no need to call him as it was just a small cut, but knew she would need to report it to him later since he was quite diligent about keeping a consistent medical record on the children.

She sat Drim down on a stool near the station and wrapped a bandage around his finger after disinfecting it. He looked at the bandage and then back at her. “Why… Why did that man hate us?” Drim suddenly asked. At those words the light smile that Mallea had on her face turned to a pained expression as she tried to figure out how to answer.

“That man didn’t hate you Drim,” she said softly. “He was just a little upset at how the world is right now, and not everyone approves of the actions your parents take.”

“But he seemed so angry,” Drim rebutted, not completely satisfied with her answer. “My parents said that they were doing their best to make the world the best place it can be for us.”

Mallea let out a sigh and responded truthfully, “Well unfortunately, the best place for your family may not be the best thing for everyone else.” Drim continued to look at her confused, but decided to drop the matter for now.

Drim had a strikingly different personality from Phon. From birth, it always seemed like Phon didn’t really have a moral focus. She would do whatever interested her and didn’t really care about what that would cause for others. She didn’t really go out of her way to try to bother people, but didn’t mind if she did. The only exception was Drim, once he was born, he was the only thing that would cause her to think twice about her actions.

As such, Eleen and Relyk had never really felt a need to keep what they did a secret from Phon. She didn’t seem to mind or care that they were tyrannical dictators as long as she could keep living a peaceful life with her brother. Drim was quite different from her. He always tried to be happy and was beaming with innocence. He was a naturally selfless person and would do his best to help any one he could, even the servants who would feel a tinge of guilt whenever he offered to assist them.

Once they realized the type of person Drim was, his parents had decided that it would be best to keep their lives a secret from him until he was older and understood the world a bit better. For now, they had told him that they were politicians trying to make the world a better place for their children.

◆◆◆

Two days had passed since the incident and Phon was currently pacing in Drim’s room. Mallea had to leave early today to take care of a few personal errands, and ever since she had left, Drim was nowhere to be found. Phon had looked all over for him, every room of the house and every acre of the grounds. She had asked every servant and guard if they had seen him, but none of them had.

Phon wasn’t allowed to leave the estate without an escort, and even if she did, she wouldn’t know where to begin looking. She had given up searching at this point and figured this was where he’d most likely return. She had been in the room for about an hour now. Unsure what to do with the time, she behaved pretty restlessly. She went from spot to spot in the room; lying in the bed, sitting in a chair, sometimes digging through his things to see if she could find some clue where he had gone, but none of it calmed her down.

About another hour passed and it was now completely dark outside. Phon was still pacing, filled to the brim with worry. This was quickly replaced by shock when Drim’s window opened from the outside. She then saw a small hand poke up above the windowsill followed by a shoe.

What she witnessed next couldn’t exactly be called graceful. Drim had now hoisted himself up so he was lying stomach down on the windowsill. He then did a little roll and flopped down onto the floor in the room. He looked around then let out a little yelp when he saw Phon in the corner glaring angrily at him.

“Where were you?!” Phon yelled in a loud whisper in the hopes of not being overheard by any servants that hadn’t left yet. Drim looked down at the floor and began to scratch the back of his head nervously. It was clear that he hadn’t expected her to be waiting for him and didn’t have a response ready. She was also sure of the guilt he was feeling from the somber expression that grew across his face

“Umm, I uhh, went out to the town,” Drim replied sheepishly. “I couldn’t get what happened the other day out of my head so I wanted to go look around, but I knew Mallea wouldn’t take me so I thought it’d be best to sneak out.” He tried to change his face to a smile but failed miserably once he saw Phon’s look of anger again.

“How did you even get out without anyone seeing you anyways?” Phon snapped back at him.

“Oh umm, there’s a small hole at the bottom of the east wall. I don’t think any adults could get through so it was probably made by an animal. I just slipped under that when the guards weren't walking there,” Drim said, sounding a little bit proud of his words.

“Wow, that is a serious breach of security, someone should probably be fired,” Phon responded with a light chuckle before her face quickly returned to a serious state and stared deeply at him. “Okay final question... why didn’t you tell me?!” Phon whimpered with a bit of a hurt tone in her voice.

Drim looked away from her again, most likely out of guilt from the expression on her face and answered, “I.. If I got caught, I didn’t want you to get in trouble too.”

Phon rushed over to Drim, slammed her hands down on his shoulders and shouted. “That doesn’t matter Drim!” She wasn’t even trying to be quiet anymore. She stared in Drim’s eyes while her own were quivering, trying to hold back tears. “Listen to me! I don’t care if I get in trouble. All that matters is that you’re safe, and no matter what, you can rely on me. Okay?!”

Drim looked away again and didn’t say anything for a few seconds. He then dug in his pocket and pulled out a folded sheet of paper. “Then, will you take me to this? I want to see it for myself.”

“Of course!” Phon said without even looking at it. She gave Drim a hug, unable to hold back the feeling of happiness any longer that he was alright. She was also happy that he had opened up to her. When she was satisfied, she let go and took the paper from Drim. She felt a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach as she read what was on it, instantly regretting what she had agreed to. ‘Anti-Drazah Rally’ was written at the top of the paper.

◆◆◆

In the mornings Drim and Phon had lessons with private tutors that would come to the mansion. Each day of the week, different instructors would come to teach various different subjects. Even though they were only two years apart in age the children weren’t taught together.

There were 18 teachers in all under their employ, and the two children were likely their only students. Though with new generals moving to the town all the time, some might hire them as well in the future to teach their own children since Bisomote had no proper school to speak of.

When the afternoons came, Drim and Phon were allowed to do as they wished for the most part, as long as they finished any assignments given and Mallea had no urgent business for them. She usually took it upon herself to plan out an activity for them, since if left alone, Phon would normally wander around and try to get one of the servants to play with her. Drim would usually follow her around and try to help them with whatever they were doing.

Today, however, the children had insisted that they play hide-and-seek and that Mallea would be ‘it’ first. They had told her to wait in the Dining Room and count to 1,000. This would normally be an exceedingly long time for most people, but it was a reasonable request on the Drazah estate. After all, both the mansion and grounds were enormous, and it could take quite a while to settle down in a good hiding spot.

Once Drim and Phon were satisfied that she was busy counting, they bolted to the main door and grabbed their raincoats on the way out. After they made it outside, they dashed across the open grass to the east wall. They hid behind a shrubbery until they were certain that the patrolling sentry was out of range before scurrying over to the hole and squeezing under it.

Drim hadn’t been kidding about the size of the hole. He seemed to squeeze through it easy enough, though his chubby belly did seem to struggle ever so slightly. Even though Phon was just a bit bigger, she had a hard time, having to get down on the ground fully and slide through. It would be impossible for a full grown adult to squeeze through the hole.

After they had made it through, they headed towards the town, hugging the wall and crouching so they wouldn’t be seen by a guard walking above. Once they made it to the town proper, they put their raincoats on with the hood up so that they wouldn’t be recognized. Luckily, the sky was gray with overcast so it was unlikely anyone would question their attire.

They worked their way through the city down south to where the rally was being held. They walked as fast as their short legs could go, but didn’t run in order to avoid drawing too much attention. They were in a hurry since it was already approaching the posted time when they had left. The town wasn’t that large, but it would still take a while to cross in its entirety on foot.

The rally was held in a field just outside the southeast part of town near the base of a mountain. Drim and Phon had managed to get there only a few minutes after the appointed time, but it was already in full swing. There was a large crowd, way larger than Phon had expected, all staring at a man at the front up on a crudely-made platform.

Phon had wanted to stay near the back, but it was admittedly harder to hear and almost impossible to see with all the tall people in front of them. Drim had begun wandering ahead of her towards the front, but she quickly dashed after him and grabbed his hand to stop him and gripped tightly to ensure she wouldn’t lose him in the crowd. They ended up right at the front but in the far left corner.

Drim was hanging on to every word that the man at the front was shouting. Phon wasn’t really paying attention to him and was instead constantly scanning the area around them. She recognized several people from the town, even ones who had always seemed friendly and didn’t appear to hold any animosity towards their family. It seemed that she had underestimated how many people weren’t happy with the status quo. There were also way more that she didn’t recognize, guessing that quite a few had come from out of town for this.

Though she wasn’t actively listening to the shouts, she did pick up a few key things. There was lots of ranting about how the Drazah tyranny had gone too far, that they should all join together to rebel against them, and quite a few mentions about a man named Franchess who had been ‘unjustly murdered’ a few days ago, and how he was now a martyr. Phon guessed that Franchess must be the man who yelled at them. Wow, it really does just take a small spark, huh? she thought to herself.

Stolen novel; please report.

It wasn’t long before she noticed a few soldiers in the distance walking out of the town and in the direction of the rally. It wasn’t every soldier stationed in Bisomote, but it was definitely too many to be a regular patrol, and their trajectory definitely seemed to have intent. Phon whispered to the still mesmerized Drim, “We have to go,” before she forcefully began pulling him away in a direction opposite of the soldiers.

Drim resisted a little at first but then began walking obediently. She guessed he must have seen the soldiers and had at least a simple understanding of what was going on. After a few more steps though, he stopped dead and pulled on her sleeve. He was definitely avoiding looking directly at her, and pointed to a ledge a shortways up the mountain.

It definitely wasn’t a bad location. It wasn’t right near the rally but it was close enough that they could still have a decent view of it. Phon hesitated a moment before nodding and they climbed up. They crouched down on the ledge and watched.

They watched the man carry on with his shouting. They watched the crowd cheer and yell back in response. They watched the soldiers surround the entire rally without a single person taking notice. They watched the first drops of rain fall from the clouds above them. Finally, they watched the crowd massacred by a hail of bullets before the first droplet hit the ground

◆◆◆

“HEEEUUURGGHHH,” Drim was vomiting in a toilet back at their home while Phon rubbed his back. They had only been home a few minutes, but she estimated that he had to have puked up at least a week's worth of food already. She could hear the sounds of crying coming from the bowl in between the bouts of stomach churning noises and it made her want to cry herself.

After the scene they had witnessed, Drim had all but shut down and Phon had to basically drag him all the way back. She had tried to sneak them in the back door but Mallea was there waiting for them. The maid was about to give them a stern talking to but at that moment Drim had snapped back to reality, likely due to the familiar setting.

The moment after, tears came flooding out of his eyes and vomit had filled his mouth. He rushed to the bathroom with a hand covering his lips. Phon said that she would explain everything later to Mallea and then rushed after him. Mallea had decided to leave it for now, but still waited outside the door, concerned.

A few more minutes passed, but now when Drim heaved, nothing more would come out. He was completely empty. With the sound of vomiting no longer drowning it out, his cries grew in intensity. This went on for a good while. Phon had gone from rubbing his back and was now just holding him around his shoulders.

Drim’s cries finally stopped and Phon perked up in the hopes that he was feeling better. However, when he turned to look at her, she knew instantly that he was far from it. His eyes were extremely puffy and his entire face was drenched in both tears and snot dripping out of his nose. The expression on his face was what hurt her the most, one of complete agony and pain. She swore to herself at that moment, I will do whatever it takes to never see this face again.

There were a few moments of silence aside from a few sniffles from Drim. He then looked Phon directly in the eyes. She could feel the trauma in his voice when he asked, “How?! How could they do that?!” His eyes continued to stare, begging for an answer, but it was a question she didn’t have an answer for. Unable to stare at his face any longer, she pulled him down into her chest. She stroked his hair as he began to cry again.

◆◆◆

Over the next few days, Drim had become despondent; a far cry from his cheerful self everyone knew. He would barely touch his food, and kind of just floated through his lessons like he was barely there. All of his instructors would notice and complain to Mallea about it, but she really didn’t know how to reassure them.

Eventually, the children’s doctor was called, but he informed them not to worry. Their mother had gone through a similar scenario when she was young that perplexed doctors, as had Phon when she was still a toddler after experiencing heavy trauma. It seemed to be wildly obscure, yet hereditary. While both of their personalities had changed as a result, they had turned out alright, well as alright as a Dictator’s family could be.

After that, Mallea paid off the doctor for the time being to not inform Drim’s parents. His personality was still in flux and she wanted to monitor the situation further before reporting it. He never reached the point of cruelty that his sister would, but he had gone from happy and cheerful to foul-tempered and short with anyone who tried to speak with him.

In the afternoons, Drim had begun locking himself in their mother’s study, which until then he had always avoided. He poured through every record that she kept in there, which detailed an entire lifetime of work. He was determined to read them all; every battle, every meeting, every victory, every surrender, every bomb, every country destroyed or dominated. From the beginning to present, there was almost two decades of detailed history that he could not pry his eyes from.

These normally would be records a child of his age could never dream of comprehending, but that was another side effect of that same medical oddity. It rapidly enhanced maturity. This was a major reason why their mother had been able to begin her world conquest at such a young age. It also meant Phon had been almost at the mentality of an adult her entire life, robbed of her childhood innocence and freedom. Those who loved Drim now anguished in fear that the same fate would await him.

As Drim read more into the war, the look in his eyes would change. They started as an empty sadness but would now constantly change back and forth between ones of total despair and ones of burning hatred. Mallea did whatever she could to try to convince Drim to stop, short of busting in the door and dragging him out, but Phon had managed to convince her to let him continue; that it was something he needed to work through.

His parents returned on the 28th. In the afternoons since their return, Drim would coop himself up in his bedroom and read the books he had snuck out of the study the night before, after his mother went to bed. Whenever he would see his parents, he would do his best to mimic a face of what he thought it must have looked like before, but couldn’t genuinely make anymore. Since avoiding them had always been Drim’s norm, they never grew fully suspicious but still seemed to notice something wasn’t right.

It was the afternoon on the 30th when Phon had entered his room out of concern. Drim had now read through all the direct records of the war, and was now reading a ledger on the scientific advancements the Drazah scientists had made to help the war efforts, including the designs for the nuclear bomb they loved to rain down.

“Hasn’t this gone on long enough?” Phon asked in a worried voice. Drim’s eyes lurched from the book and glared in her direction. He was ready to and wanted to scream at her, but after one look at her sad face, he knew she wasn’t to blame.

After he took a moment to calm himself, he knew he still needed to ask, “Why didn’t you tell me about this, all of this?! It’s so much, and so wrong! How could you keep it from me?!”

Phon slowly walked over, pushed away a few books that were littered all over the bed around Drim and sat next to him. “They told me not to tell you,” she responded meekly. “But the real reason is that I didn’t know how you would take it. I mean look at you now Drim, you’re obsessed.”

After hearing that, Drim couldn’t control his anger any longer. He slammed the book down on the ground, spun to face Phon, and yelled, “Of course I’m obsessed! I just found out that my whole life is a lie, and my parents are the two most evil people on the planet. How else am I supposed to act?!”

He didn’t want to stare at Phon anymore so he got up and began stomping around the room. After a short while, he found himself with his forehead pressed up against a wall as he leaned against it. He wanted to kick the wall a few times but decided not to. “I just… don’t know what to do,” he muttered in despair.

“Well, what do you want to do? What would make you happy?” Phon asked from the bed, serious in her curiosity.

It was not a question he had been expecting, and he didn’t really know how to answer. He thought about it for a bit and then said sternly, “I want to make them pay! I want—”

“Okay.” Drim hadn’t been able to finish his statement before Phon responded decisively.

Drim turned around in disbelief and stared at her before he asked, “What did you say?”

Phon got up from the bed, walked over to him, and hugged him tightly. “Okay, we’ll make them pay,” she said, “I promise.” Drim didn’t hug her back, however, he just stared behind her blankly as thoughts and plans began to race through his mind.

◆◆◆

It was the night of Nonovber 33rd and Relyk Drazah was in his study. Mallea and the other servants had gone home for the day after dinner, so he had decided to spend the rest of the night there. Unlike his wife’s, his study didn’t have a proper desk, only a large circular table in the center of the room. On it were dozens of maps with little figures placed on top. He used it as a strategy table.

Countless meetings and war councils had been held in this room. Eleen had originally protested in allowing officials into her home, but could not deny the convenience, and it was usually just for a short time when the children were occupied with other things. For the past years since they had moved there, this room was where the fates of countries and all their citizens were decided.

Relyk was studying over a map of Horage, finalizing his plans for their last assault that would secure their position as rulers of the world. He was in a deep trance and didn’t hear the door creak open behind him, but the familiar sound of a yo-yo spinning broke him out of it. Without even turning around to look at her, he said with a stern voice, “Phon you know you shouldn’t be in here, and it’s late. Shouldn’t you be in bed?”

There was no response. Instead, the sound of the yo-yo spinning just kept getting a little closer. Relyk didn’t really want to take his eyes off the map in fear of losing his train of thought, so instead he hunched down a little and sighed. “Listen Phon, I know this has been tough on both of you, but I promise that very soon this will all be over. Once all this nasty world domination business is finally done with… Then we can be a proper family. Your mother and I will be home a lot more and we can all play together with you and Drim as much as you want, but for now I really need to focus. So could you go to bed for me please, sweetie?”

He could tell that the noise was just behind him before it stopped suddenly. Phon finally responded, “I’ve never really had a problem with what you two do, but you made Drim have that face. And that’s something I can never forgive!”

Before Relyk could even process what she had said, Phon had acted. She leapt up on his hunched over back and wrapped her yo-yo’s string around his neck repeatedly. She dug her feet into his spine and pushed down hard as she pulled on the string with all her might.

Relyk did his best to try to shake her off and knock her away, but she was in a spot his arms just couldn’t reach. After a few seconds he began to feel the lack of oxygen and gave up. He plopped one hand down on the table to support himself and used the other to try to peel away the string from his neck.

It was no use though. It wasn’t long before he could no longer support himself and slumped down on the table. Shortly after, he felt his consciousness slip away and his life with it.

◆◆◆

Eleen Drazah had been cooped up in her study as she had been for the majority of the last couple of days. Being a dictator wasn’t all fun and oppression. There was also a lot of bureaucracy involved. Their last campaign was quite long and left her with a large stack of paperwork that she needed to review. There were expense reports and invoices, requests for meetings and supplies from subordinates, as well as general reports on the status of each of their conquered territories. She had several assistants to ease the burden and handle most of it while she was away, but she still liked to review as much as she could herself.

Eleen rubbed her eyes while staring at the still large stack of papers and sighed. She leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes for a moment's reprieve and began to think to herself. I can’t wait until this is all over. I can’t wait until I can rule this world with my family and we can finally be happy together.

She then began to think of how little she had seen her children lately, especially Drim, who had seemed even more distant these past few days. I can’t focus on that now. His safety comes first. My children will never be safe until this war… No, until the next war… Until Rathe is finally at peace.

Just as she was about to start reviewing a few more sheets before bed, she heard a knock on the door followed by it opening slowly. It was Drim who walked in, which surprised her greatly. He had never come to her study before while she was still there. She wanted to scold him a little for being up so late, but since she had been worried about his recent behavior, she sent that to the back of her mind.

“Can I help you with something, Drim?” Eleen asked. He slowly walked over next to her, looking a little timid, but this was normal. He stared at her for a few seconds before beginning to stammer something.

“I err umm, I didn’t want to wait until-til tomorrow,” Drim said quietly before taking a deep breath to compose himself. He then closed his eyes and presented a big bright smile on his face, it was a smile she had often heard of but had rarely seen. “I got you this flower!” he said almost gleaming, while he pulled a rose out that he had been keeping behind his back and presented it to her.

This made her heart melt. Despite what others thought of her and all the terrible things she had done, she was still a mother. Since birth, for some reason she could never ascertain, Drim had always kept his distance from her. He would cling to either Mallea or Phon and hide behind them whenever she was in the room.

This warm gesture from her child had made her the happiest she had felt in a long time, feeling like all the struggle she had gone through was suddenly worth it. She stood up and eagerly accepted the flower from him in both hands. She stared into it and was about to give it a sniff until she heard Drim say in a strikingly monotone voice, “Be careful mother, the thorns are sharp. You wouldn’t want to hurt yourself.”

Eleen ignored the strange tone and replied, “Oh, don’t worry sweetie, I’ll be…” It was at that moment she glanced down at her hands. They were covered in blood that was quickly seeping out of fresh wounds. She swiftly inspected the rose and noticed that the thorns had been purposefully sharpened into extra fine points. Before she could collect her thoughts or say anything, ‘it’ hit her.

She knew what ‘it’ was instantly because it was a poison that she had personally requested be developed to aid her in her conquest. It was an extremely potent poison that would rapidly weaken the target and kill them in under a minute. She felt her knees buckle just before she collapsed to the floor. As she fell, she noticed Drim’s smile had turned from bright to sinister. If she wasn’t currently about to die, she would have felt strangely proud.

With the last strength Eleen could muster, she lifted her right hand in Drim’s direction and whimpered out, “Why Drim… I wanted to give you... The World.”

Drim’s smile vanished completely then. He looked down at her with eyes of complete disgust, like she was something he would want to avoid stepping in. This time his voice felt blisteringly cold. “I’m sorry mother, I would never want a world ‘You’ made.” Without even the energy to cry from those words, Eleen Drazah passed from the world.

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Phon was waiting outside at the spot where she and Drim had agreed to meet. Next to her was a bag packed with some of her things, mostly consisting of a good portion of her yo-yo collection. She was shivering from the cold air, regretting that she’d forgotten to pack a jacket. She was using the lighter in her left hand to provide what little warmth it could.

She considered going back inside to get a coat but didn’t want to leave the spot where she had promised to wait. Also, the entire ground of the first floor, except from the base of the stairwell and the small bit from there to the back door, was covered in gasoline that she didn’t really want to walk around in.

They had decided that after they had killed their respective parent, that each of them would cover the floor of the house they were on in gasoline with cans that they had prepared earlier. Phon had the first floor and had doused all the hallway carpets with it. As time went on, the worry she was feeling for Drim began to outweigh how cold she felt. She was just about to head back inside to check on him before the back door swung open.

Drim walked out with a duffle bag over his left shoulder and was pouring gas with both hands. His responsibility was to cover the second floor, and they had agreed that whoever got there second would do the last stretch of the first floor so the other wouldn’t have to walk over it.

When he was done, he tossed the gas can aside and walked over to Phon. He pulled up the jacket that was draped over his bag and handed it to Phon. “I knew you would forget one,” he said as she looked at their mother’s jacket. He must have taken it from her study afterwards, she thought.

“Thinking about someone else even at a time like this, I guess that means you’re back to your old self then, huh,” she said with a light smile as she took the jacket from him.

“Yeah, I feel a lot better now. I really think we did the right thing,” Drim said with a big smile. The expression he had now was his usual one, which reassured Phon a bit, but the air around him didn’t seem to have that same hint of innocence it had always had before. She feared it would likely never come back.

“Well, I think I’ll be fine for now, after all it’s about to get quite warm,” Phon said as she handed the jacket back to Drim who decided to wrap it around himself. It was quite big on him, and she let out a small chuckle before walking back over to the house. She bent down, and lit the gas trail Drim had left and it quickly led a blazing charge into the mansion.

She walked back over to Drim and grabbed his hand. The two of them watched as the house quickly ignited in a gigantic blaze. It was very warm, and very bright. Phon knew that it wouldn’t be long before it attracted attention, and that they should leave soon, but she didn’t want to leave that sight just yet. So she continued to stare, enjoying the warmth of Drim’s hand.

Another minute or so passed before Phon finally suggested that they leave. They both let out a sigh, and were about to lean down to grab their bags, when they heard a noise. It was a sound that seemed completely out of this world, that Phon thought couldn’t possibly be from the fire in front of them. It sounded like a shriek from a banshee she had heard of in stories.

Phon gripped Drim’s hand tight as the shriek cried out again. Two glowing spectral balls soared out of the fire, that were made up of the unmistakable visages of their parents. “You little… Brats!” the two faces cried out. They soared straight at them, but before the two children could react it was too late.

The face of Eleen flew straight into Drim, while the face of Relyk flew into Phon. The two children then both felt an immense burning pain on their bodies. For Phon it was on her back, just between her shoulder blades. She guessed for Drim that it was his chest, right around his heart, based on where his free hand was grasping.

As soon as the pain subsided, both children were enveloped in a bright light. The light seemed to be trying to pull them apart with immense force. It was so strong that it lifted them both off the ground as they were desperately clinging onto each other's hands. With each passing second, the pull got stronger.

It wasn’t long before Phon knew she’d lose her grip at any moment. She looked at Drim, stared him straight in the eyes, and yelled, “I’ll find you, no matter where we go, or how far. I will find you, do you understand?!”

Drim stared back for a moment, before he shook his head and yelled “No! I’ll contact you when the time is right.” She began to panic at his words, about to cry out in desperation, before he yelled. “For now, don’t let the world see your face!” After he said the last word, he let go of Phon’s hand.

The last thing she saw was Drim’s eyes glow green and his hair flow into pitch black darkness before her own eyes glowed. She was blinded in purple light, which was the last thing she remembered.

The two Drazah children blasted apart from each other and soared high into the night sky. The streaks of their glowing light were seen around the world that night. When Phon came to, the first thing she noticed was her own newly white hair dangling in front of her face. She was somewhere she didn’t recognize, which she would find out later was the opposite side of the continent as Drim. The first thing she did was tear off a piece of her sleeve and used it as a cloth to conceal her face, not wanting to deny Drim’s last request.

She felt a little scared, but she didn’t feel weak or alone. Quite the opposite, in fact, she felt like there was a new strength surging through her. There was also a small familiar feeling that would surge through her head whenever things looked bad. It acted as a kind of guiding hand when she needed to know her way, or would take control in an absolutely desperate situation. It wasn’t a gift from Cosmos however, it was her Curse.