As he pulled a wounded Fox out of the rubble, Claine heard the cheers and stopped.

Did we… win?

It certainly seemed like that was the case. He could no longer see or hear the hulking thing rampaging through the city, and he could recognize a few voices from the loud celebration as being from some of his trusted comrades.

I guess the devil really pulled it off.

He wanted to celebrate the achievement as well. However, even as he heaved a sigh of relief, he could not shake off the solemn atmosphere he felt.

As happy as the celebrations were, he knew that once the cheering stopped, the brutal truth would come back to them.

As Silver Foxes, they were always prepared for the worst possible outcome, but there were simply too many casualties this time. A lot of their forces had been lost or killed, and even with the angel’s healing ability, he knew most of them could no longer be saved.

On top of that, the ones who did survive had seen a landscape of destruction. They had all witnessed the bodies of their close friends lying crushed under concrete and stone in the complete desolation of not just one but two big cities. He knew that mentally, there was no coming back for some of them.

Finally, to add insult to injury, he knew that everything that happened was because of him.

It’s my fault. I did this.

The consequences of his actions were weighing down on him, and there was blood on his hands he could never wash off.

“Ah… ah… ah…”

Despite everything he had faced before, it was just too much for him to bear all at once.

“Chief?”

He crumpled to the ground, gripping his head tightly as he despaired, while the other Foxes around him were unsure how to react as they all watched their mission leader break down in front of them.

“Ahhhhhhhh…”

His mind was swimming with doubts, thoughts, questions that he no longer had the strength to answer. However, out of all of them, one question was at the front, begging to be addressed.

How could I have let this happen?

He already knew the answer to it, but until he could accept it and move on, there was nothing else he could do.

How…

**********************

Our father used to tell us a story when we were growing up.

It was a strange tale, one that me and bro could never understand until we were much older.

It was not the type of story one would normally tell young kids, but he told it to us all the same.

We never did find out the exact reason why he did it almost every single day, but it slowly became obvious what he was trying to say to us all along.

That the story he was going to tell us every single day was true, without any embellishments or falsehoods.

We did not quite remember how the story went in full, but we remembered how he started it, because he always said it the same way.

“When the world ended, the people who emerged from the ashes were never the same as they used to be. There were normal people, and different people.”

“The different ones were divided into three: The Cursed, the Blessed and the Worthy. All of them were affected by the new world’s irregularities in ways that were either positive or negative.”

“Firstly, the Blessed. They are the people who have received gifts from beyond, new abilities that they can use. To see beyond the surface, to go further than any normal human can, to be one of the strong.”

“Secondly, the Worthy. Vessels of potential, they are free to receive all sorts of abilities given their higher tolerance for power. Those who are worthy are often given the biggest responsibilities and are expected to shoulder the heaviest burdens to support the people around them.”

“Lastly, the Cursed. They are the unlucky ones, the ones who drew the short straw. No matter what they do, misfortune and suffering will always plague them. No one who is cursed can ever escape the bleak fate that awaits them at the sudden end of their lives.”

“And that, my dear sons, is why we can never run, for we are cursed.”

Afterwards, he would give a brief history of the generations before us and the tragic ends they met as a result, but we never remembered any of the specific details.

However, what we did remember was the connection these past people always shared. The so-called ‘curse’ that he was talking about.

For the ones before us, and the ones even further before, all the way until our time, there will always be two brothers born, one older than the other, never the same age.

It never mattered who the older one or who the younger one was, because regardless of who it would be, one of the brothers would always die a painful death in the hands of the other.

That was our curse. For decades, maybe even a century, the cycle repeated itself, one generation after the other, specifically in our family alone.

The details had been switched up over the generations, but it all led to the same outcome. Time, place, or cause were never important as the curse would always be carried out. It was unfair, cruel, and painful for everyone.

That is why our family always had a goal to fix our curse once and for all. To stop it from continuing and save the future generations from pain.

To that end, a lot of our predecessors carried out all sorts of different plans, from sacrificial rituals to complete isolation from each other, but they were all useless. Despite everything they did, none of them would ever work, and the suffering would continue.

However, our father and his brother were perhaps the closest people to find a possible solution.

Rumors had begun to swirl of a place called ‘Paradise’, where even the weakest people could find a home to stay, and the most popular claim about it was that it had an angel who could heal the accepted ones out of any ailment, any illness, and any disability.

So, before the curse could affect any of them, the two brothers set out for Paradise, with us in tow. That way, even if they could not get in, there was still a possibility we could for their sakes.

After a long, perilous journey, all of us reached the town before the city of Paradise. It was right at its doorstep, with only a ring of water separating the two of them. There was no way one could get to Paradise without going through the water channel.

The town was packed, and the people in charge wished to vet everyone who had made the long journey, with the ‘angel’ personally coming down to the town herself to make the final decision.

Who was she? The only word we could use to describe her at the time was ‘pretty’.

Disturbingly beautiful, radiant like a star, a gentle, motherly expression on her face, and a pair of large wings that shimmered in the light.

She was the first angel we had ever met, and as soon as we saw her, we did not believe there could be another person who could be better-looking than her.

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

After meeting with a few applicants, it was finally our turn to appeal to her.

“Please let us get into Paradise. If that’s not possible, please remove our curse. If not for me or my brother, then for my sons. They still have a bright future ahead of them. That is all we want, to be healed. We will do anything you ask, just please do this for us.”

That was the plea our father gave. It was simple, direct, and humble.

If she was truly an angel as the rumors had said, she would understand it and she would accept it. That was what we believed from all the claims.

“Ha.”

But she laughed. A short, quick laugh that could be heard by no one other than us.

“You think… that you can order me to remove your curse without sacrificing anything equivalent in exchange? So greedy. Don’t waste my time.”

Her voice throughout her whole response was light and airy, a complete contrast against the sharp and malicious words coming out of her mouth.

“I… see…”

Our father was kind and soft, so he took the rejection and insults easily with no issue.

However, our uncle, on the other hand, was fierce and stubborn. He would never take no for an answer.

“Perhaps you are the one who has wasted our time.”

Walking right up to her, he sneered and spat in her face. It was a quick and surprising action, and he was completely unconcerned about the potential danger of the whole situation that he was in.

There was an uproar soon after he did that. The military soldiers who had accompanied her as though they were her bodyguards aimed their guns at him, ready to fire at her command.

However, with a raised hand, she called them off.

“It is quite alright. Our friend was just misguided, that’s all. In fact, I admire this type of resolve. I shall reconsider your application and come back to you tomorrow.”

Once again, she spoke those words cheerfully, and her bright smile had never wavered a single bit during the entire confrontation. At that moment, it felt as though the cruel response she gave earlier was just a trick, and that she was truly and simply an angel.

All of us blindly obeyed her, fully believing in every word she said. Our father and uncle had sacrificed a lot to get to that point, so there was no way they would back down.

We were old enough to understand, but still too young to know any better, so we just followed them, never questioning the uneasiness that she put into our childish selves from the meeting itself.

“Did you guys see? We may finally have a chance to break this curse!”

“I was the one who did the convincing, little brother.”

“Come on, stop talking, and drink!”

The mood that night was incredibly optimistic. All the people who had successfully appealed for a re-assessment had all gathered together, celebrating the second chance they had been given to get to the land of Paradise.

Everyone was laughing, drinking luxurious alcohol, and experiencing the liberating effects of a beverage they rarely had, and the rowdy atmosphere grew louder as the party went on.

Meanwhile, the two of us were sitting at the back of the hall, too inexperienced to get used to this type of noisiness. Although we were also caught up in the excitement at first, the mood had quickly disappeared, and we just wanted all of it to stop for the time being, being too tired to continue.

It was at some point, when we were both starting to doze off, that the atmosphere abruptly changed, and the angel came back with a whole army at her back.

“My sincerest apologies, everyone.”

After she gave her announcement, her soldiers began to relentlessly fire.

It was then everyone knew the truth. No one was going to get a second chance. None of the people in the party were going to be spared. That was the fate we had been assigned to the moment we tried to appeal.

As everyone ran to the back to avoid the gunfire, we were quickly overwhelmed by the chaos and desperately tried to find our father.

“Claine, Aleby! Come to me!”

Our uncle was the first one to find us in the panicking crowd, and with the surge of people breaking down the flimsy walls, all of us rushed outside at once, where another squad of soldiers were waiting.

The rest of what happened afterwards were a blur to both me and bro, but by some miracle, all four of us had managed to escape the initial attack and hide in a dark alley while the smell of blood and dead bodies filled the town.

“For those of you who want to try again, you can come and speak to me, and I’ll be happy to listen to your troubles!”

Her voice rang through the streets while intermittent gunshots continued to ring out. A simple and obvious trick to lure the survivors out so that they could finish the job. As the hours wore on, it only became more effective as more of them gave up due to exhaustion and turned themselves in.

“Take the kids and run.”

Eventually, as the soldiers’ voices got closer to us, our father stood up and, after entrusting us to his brother, ran out of the alley and yelled to get their attention.

It was the first time we had heard him shout like that, and it would be the last as well.

Our uncle insisted that he should be the one to go instead, but that decision was immediately rejected.

“I was the one who brought you guys here, remember? This is on me.”

He ran into the streets alone, chased by the threat of death and the odds completely against him. There was no way he would survive.

“B… Brother?”

The next time we found him, he was lying in a sandy pit, slowly succumbing to his wounds. Surprisingly, he had made it just outside the town, and we had accidentally stumbled onto his final resting place when we were escaping.

We always tried to convince ourselves that it was a complete coincidence, but deep down we knew it was all planned by fate. As we watched our uncle cradle his body sobbing, the tragic irony came to the surface, but both of us did not fully understand it until we were older.

The cycle could never be broken. The curse would stay with us forever, no matter what we did.

On top of that, we realized that Paradise was a lie, and the angel was the liar in charge.

From that day onwards, our uncle gave up on the search for a way to break our curse, and he began a mission of revenge against Paradise, creating a resistance group to counter the forces guarding it. When he eventually died as well, he passed that mission onto us.

“Listen, Fox…”

Before he died…

…he sat me down and talked to me personally.

“…you must keep fighting. For us. For the people who cannot fight back. That is how we break our curse. But even so, you must still protect your brother no matter what. If you two can look out for one another, you can overcome the curse and be better than everyone before you. Can you promise me that?”

“… I will.”

“I will.”

I gave my answer to him…

… pledging my resolve.

“No matter what…”

“… I will protect him with my life.”

Even if it meant letting my worries go…

Even if it meant sacrificing myself…

As long as his world was safe…

… that would be fine.

**********************

“Dear brother.”

At the sound of his voice, Claine slowly lifted his head up.

Standing in front of him and looking down with a grim expression was his brother, surrounded by some of the survivors, including Yuu, Dauma and Anten.

“Bro…”

Aside from the two brothers, everyone else was quiet as they watched the confrontation unfold in front of them.

“Dear brother…”

Aleby stepped forward, and Claine slowly stood up, with tears starting to well up in his eyes.

“Bro… I’m so glad you’re sa—”

In an instant, a fist slammed into his face, cutting off his sentence and causing him to fall onto the ground with a painful thud.

H-huh?

His shaken mind tried to process what had just happened as he recoiled on the dirty surface, his nose broken and bleeding.

He was surely not mistaken on what had happened, but he had a hard time believing it.

His brother, normally a man who was all business and who did not like to get his hands dirty, had just punched him directly in the face.

“Br… o…”

“Why didn’t you listen to me?”

Aleby’s voice had dropped its formal politeness and was now cracking with emotion as he picked him up by his ripped collar and looked at him with teary eyes.

“I know what you’ve been trying to do!”

Before Claine’s eyes could focus on him again, another fist came down, then another, and another.

“I know what you think about me!”

A few teeth flew out, and he coughed blood out of his cracked lips.

“You think it should be you, shouldn’t it? That you should be the one to suffer the curse? Did you really think I was going to let you do that?”

His eyes were both bruised and purple, and his vision was starting to blur.

“I’m your brother! I need you with me, and I can’t do that if you intend to throw your life away!”

Several Foxes looked away at the brutal sight, and some began to move towards him, but Anten quickly raised her arm out and stopped them from advancing.

“Calm down, this is between the two of them only. We cannot disturb them.”

“… I’ve made mistakes too,” Aleby sniffed as he stopped his relentless pounding and let go of the collar, “I should have done more to stop you. Despite everything, I still had hope, just like you did, and I didn’t want to trample all over your dreams. But I guess my idea of ‘protecting’ you was wrong. I guess that what we both needed was to protect ourselves first before protecting other people. We need to believe in each other to survive.”

“… B…”

Claine was wheezing, his breath labored amid the numerous bruises on his face as he attempted to respond but could not.

“It’s funny, isn’t it?” Aleby weakly chuckled as he continued to confess, “an angel taught me that lesson. You know, maybe angels aren’t so bad after all, dear brother.”

“Th… cur…”

“Fuck the curse,” was his blunt reply, “I couldn’t give a single shit whether you or me would die today, tomorrow or in a few years. What matters is that we look out for each other at this moment. If one of us dies, so be it, but I don’t want our last interaction to be painful or depressing. If it happens tomorrow, we’ll make today count. If it happens today, we’ll make this moment worthwhile. That is what our father would have wanted for the both of us. That is our Paradise.”

“…”

“I need you to promise me. Promise me that you’ll be with me until the end. That we’ll stay together until the day comes. That is what I want.”

“You… gack!”

Another bloody cough interrupted Claine’s reply, and Aleby leaned in closer to get a clearer answer.

“What?”

“You… should see… your face… now… it’s hilarious…”

“!!!”

He shot up in embarrassment and desperately wiped his face clean as a bloody smirk appeared on Claine’s face.

“T-that’s not funny! I’m serious, you know!”

“What… so I can’t… even crack jokes… now?”

He paused in realization as some of the other Foxes began to chuckle as well.

“… I guess Kara really takes after you, huh?” he remarked, a smile appearing on his tear-stained face as well.

“Yeah… she does. Ha…”

“… ha ha…”

“Ha ha ha ha ha!”

“Ha ha ha ha ha!”

And just like that, the reconnected brothers shared a laugh together, shaking off their worries about the future, the curse, and the consequences of their actions, if just for a little while.