Denison was a small lakeside town within Kiyene borders. It only had a population of a little over four thousand and its cottage-like buildings appeared to be from another time, but it was homely. Alina had moved here from the city after her mother had remarried into the Kiyene family. Just like Alina, her mother and stepfather were candidates. When Kysor declared war nine years prior they had both been sent east to aid the Kiyene and Aquis efforts, leaving Alina to care for her little stepbrother Tep.

He was a small boy for his age of ten with skinny limbs and pale hair. Alina's build was sort of the opposite, training for the Kiyene family since she was eleven meant she had become notably fit. Her hair was grey-silver not too much like an old lady and it matched the color of her eyes. Mostly, anyway, her right eye was slightly lighter than her left and not for no reason. The power of her candidate mark manifested in a fashion that gave her a glimpse of the immediate future similar to precognition. There was a trade-off for this ability though as no matter how much she practiced she couldn't seem to achieve any worthwhile physical boosting. This tended to balance out, whenever she would spar another candidate she seldom got hit, but could never match their strength. 

She opened the door to her home and stepped inside to be greeted by a dirt-covered Tep. "Sis! Sis!" he started in childish excitement. "Guess what I found!" Alina grinned as she took off her scarf, an odd choice of clothing in late summer.

"What is it?" she asked in the sort of semi-forced excitement one puts on when talking to a small child.

"Look," he directed as he pulled a stone out of his muddy pocket. "It's shaped like a bird!" he exclaimed. This was correct, but only if you viewed birds as the simple v shape children often drew.

"Did you go into the forest?" asked Alina in a more serious tone considering his appearance. "Even though I told you not to go alone," she condoned. It's not that it was dangerous nor big. It was just a small evergreen forest that sat to the north of the town and curved around the lake. Alina was just a tad wary of her brother's safety, the only family member she had seen face to face in the last nine years. Their parents would video call them a few times a week but the physical distance had created a sizable divide between them. Her little brother had become her world and she had turned into a parent figure for him.

Alina kicked off her dark leather boots and crashed on the couch. Their home wasn't big but only having two people live there made it feel incredibly empty. The living room and kitchen were connected by a hallway that let off the bedrooms and admittedly cramped bathroom. One of the rooms held not a single thing within its white walls. The emptiness of the place continuously disturbed Alina, not aided by the aged smell of the house. "Can we go play in the forest?" asked Tep with puppy eyes. She sighed and patted his arm.

"Sorry, Tep I'm super exhausted." He pouted plopped himself down on the laminate floor before proceeding to play with his rock. She watched him for a second before turning her attention to her beeping phone. There was a flashing notification on the paper-thin glass from Brycen, the instructor of the Kiyenes candidate program. She picked it up and read, another pair of candidates will be joining your training group first thing tomorrow. Great, she thought, now Marian has another two to focus her bitchiness towards. She sighed, well, I guess I should make dinner sooner rather than later, she concluded as she got back up and walked into the kitchen. She pulled two ovenable frozen meals out of the fridge and tossed them in an oven that had not yet finished heating with disregard. She was by no means a cook, she resented the process and just wanted quick food. Money dictated they couldn't eat out that often so cheap frozen meals had become their default.

"What are you making?" queried Tep from the living room.

"Lasagna," she called back only to hear her brother's dismay.

"Again..." he muttered. Alina shrugged.

"Sorry, we still have a few meals worth so bear with it." He groaned in response. "Hey I'm going to go to bed pretty early tonight, I have a feeling tomorrow is gonna be a tad more draining than usual. So just don't go wandering around outside past dark," she explained. Tep nodded his head without much actual thought and continued playing with his rock. A ding made Alina turn back to the kitchen. Life had become ever convenient. There was Kinuon in everything now, this made ovens cook near immediately which is all Alina cared for. She slipped on some oven mitts and pulled open the squealy oven door before pulling out the lasagnas and tossing them on the induction stovetop. "Foods out," she called as she turned in Tep's direction. She took a step forwards only to walk into her brother, not noticing him prior due to his height.

Tep had his vision obstructed as his face plunged into Alina's chest. Alarm and the act of her stepping forwards were all it took to make him stumble backward and fall onto his bottom. "Oops," was all Alina said as she looked down at a reddened Tep. She hadn't noticed when he had run into the kitchen, despite his disdain at the dish he couldn't hide his hunger. "Sorry about that," she apologized sheepishly. Alina scooped the lasagna onto plates and tossed the duo of dishes onto the smooth granite island and Tep went to grab two sets of cutlery. They ate in unusual silence, Tep was processing the cushioning of Alina's chest while she was simply tired from the day. The candidate program the Kiyenes ran in discrete was just as physically taxing as any military training program and the mental exhaustion from the chaos of the candidate marks and Kinuon was more than enough to make anyone want a break.

After a few minutes, Alina got up having finished and gazed at Tep with exasperation, not previously noticing the mess he had made. The boy had not only managed to recolor his own face with the Lasagna, much of which had not been eaten but also had turned his white tee a completely new color. "Seriously," sighed Alina, "what on earth am I to do about you sometimes." Tep met her gaze with the endearing grin of a child and giggled. Despite her annoyance, she couldn't help but shake her head with a soft grin.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

"Can we stop getting lasagna now?" he asked.

"Fine, we still have to eat what's left though, I'm not throwing it out," she explained again as she ran a cloth under the kitchen tap and proceeded to wipe Tep's face. "There, now go put on a different shirt. And just throw the other away, even Kinuon couldn't fix that mess." He ducked down the hall only to return a minute later in a dark green tank top. "That's better. I think I'm going to go to sleep now as I said," she told him. "The doors are locked so don’t open them for anything, understand?"

"So I'm not allowed to go into the forest?" he asked hopefully.

"Not alone as I've told you many times and definitely not now," she affirmed. "And don't stay up too late yourself. School starts back up in a couple of weeks and I don't need you looking like a zombie for the other kids because you messed up your sleep schedule."

"Alright," he conceded in deflation. Alina grinned and patted his head.

"See you in the morning." She walked away with a smile and entered the farthest room down the hall. Alina did give the boy a lot of freedom. As much as she told him to stop going into the forest alone she really didn't mind in the day. The candidate program had kept Alina awfully busy and over time she realized Tep could watch out for himself pretty well for someone his age. He was sensible at least, of course, he was still highly curious. And when there was a bang creak and crack outside the brain of a little boy saw no other option than to investigate. He opened the white front door and stepped out into the cool late evening air. For a moment he just stood on the old porch and looked out. They lived down a road that turned off from the main town as such they had no neighbors other than the pines whos silhouettes were standing tall for the boy against the newly risen moons soft light.

He strained his eyes for a while to no avail before movement out of the right corner of his vision caught his attention. Something like a massive furry snake wrapped around the tallest pine. He stared at it until a creak made him look up at the porch roof. It was not a snake but rather a slithering root covered in leafy branches. Moving from the tree it had wrapped around the whole single-story house many times over. An end like a head without feature save the woody texture loomed above the boy as if gazing upon him. It smelled like an unnatural and strong combination of ozone and pine. The boy gave an audible gulp as he stared back frozen in fear, his heart rate accelerating. An hour seemed to pass in a second as he stood there, neither he nor the head so much as twitching under the night. "Don't move an inch," commanded a masculine voice from in the trees to the boy's front. Appearing to hear it the earless root turned its attention. A pair in trench coats stepped out of the pines, one shorter and one taller. "And don't make a sound," spoke the taller as he raised his hand towards the monstrosity. Unlike his other, it had no glove revealing a black mark like a crown with a spiny circle around it. There was a gust of wind and Tep flinched as in an instant the whole of the root fell down in a thousand severed pieces all around the house.

"You're all safe now," assured the shorter with a grin as he walked to Tep and knelt down in front of him. "Don't tell anyone about this, they probably won't believe you anyway. Got it?" Not understanding the strange happening the boy nodded, trusting the adults and still a tad anxious. "Thanks. You should head inside as well, frightening things happen this late." He ushered the boy through the door and left with a wave.

Thomas walked back to where Kuro stood with his white glove back on his hand as his expression returned to a usual blankness. "Lovely," he said in sarcasm, "we have animations appearing now."

"It was bound to happen," assured Kuro as they began their way back to the Kiyene manor on the other side of the town. "Sure but not this soon."

"This world is near entirely balanced, it shouldn't even be possible for them to exist," explained Thomas as he put his hands in his pockets.

"There are a lot of candidates in this area, maybe we've simply upset the local balance," he offered.

"Maybe, but that would mean those two are above average."

"In mark power?" Thomas nodded. "A violet mark is something we have never seen before, maybe she'll turn out to be something like us."

"True, I suppose if we can keep anyone from seeing any animations then it'll be fine."

"Precisely, of course, there is the issue of Scarlette to be considered as well." Thomas glanced up at him.

"Go see if you can get any info from her, I'll stay here and keep things from blowing up too early. Your principle is the only thing that can access the complex anyway" Kuro pondered it for a moment.

"Alright, I do however want to see this violet mark in action," he explained. "I'll leave after I get a taste of the new candidates' performance."

"Sure, don't wait too long though." They walked into the town just as it truly became night. The streets were lit by old green streetlights that let out yellow light. A few walked down the sidewalks as floating Kinuon powered vehicles made their way down the street. A young guy with a cybernetic and likely Ki-tech arm talked with a bearded man in the light grey uniform of a Kiyene official. While an old couple sat on a bench looking to the stars.

"What an interesting town," Kuro pointed out. "It's such a unique blend of times isn't it?"

"I guess, I find it a bit boring, to be honest."

"And here I thought I was the one who always itched for action."

"That's because you just want to throw your principle around, I've just gotten so used to these wars and this cursed game that the tranquil feels unnatural," Thomas explained. Kuro gave a shrug and looked up at the night sky.

"If all was an unending war I'd tire and if all was unending peace I'd bore," he looked down at Thomas. "Is it not then fair to enjoy them both because of each other?" Thomas' gaze turned down with a saddened expression.

"I envy your sociopathy," he admitted as he clenched his fist. "But, no matter how badly this game ruins everything I care about I don't want it for myself."

"I don't envy your conscious."