Saturday, July 30, 4 S.E.

  Ten minutes later, after an amusingly awkward exchange between Kairi, Uriel, Mithrander, Bardulf, Parnym, Aylar, Synthra, and Ceruviel—with only slight complaints from John and Sonya, who wanted to know about the Challenge—Leonidas settled himself comfortably into one of the armchairs in his apartments’ sitting room, looking across at his auburn-haired, tattooed sister as she casually prowled his bookshelves.

  Kairi had changed more than he’d originally realized.

  His sister moved with a lethality and grace that he’d not been able to properly discern when he’d first seen her again weeks prior, and her entire demeanor had taken on an almost cautious, predatory aspect. The bold confidence she’d wielded when speaking to Aylar and Synthra was matched only by the easy way she carried herself, striding after him through Ceruviel’s halls as if she owned them.

  She showed no surprise when he led her to his rooms, and that alone told Leonidas his baby sister had been snooping, though he didn’t bother trying to raise it. Her mind-glow was also surprisingly impenetrable, giving him nothing despite his best attempts at harnessing [Psionic Focus] to assess it on instinct.

  Perhaps that was for the best, in truth. It would feel weird to read Kairi’s emotions.

  “You have a lot of shit in Haelfennyr here,” Kairi said without preamble, reaching up to snatch a book at random and flip through the pages. “Can you really read this stuff?”

  “Fluently,” Leonidas answered honestly, kicking up his bare feet on the ottoman and relaxing back into the couch. He’d dispensed with his jacket, defaulting only to his shirt and leggings. He wanted to change, but that could wait until the long-overdue conversation. “Can you?”

  “A little,” Kairi said non-committally, before replacing the book with the same meticulous care she’d shown during their trips to bookstores in their youth. “Functional only. It still looks like demented Tolkienian garbage to me half the time.”

  “I take it your time during the Incursion wasn’t spent learning new languages,” Leonidas said carefully, his eyes watching her as his sister turned and walked toward the opposite couch, bending to rest her forearms on it and fix her blue eyes on his.

  “No, Ace,” she said flatly, brow furrowing slightly. “It certainly wasn’t.”

  Leonidas nodded at that and watched her expressions, his own attention drifting back to the inked sleeves of winding black dragons on each arm. “Why the ink?” he asked simply, gesturing vaguely with a hand.

  “Miami,” Kairi said in a clipped, simple response. “Fucking massive Dragon wiped it out. It’s part of how I got my Ambition.”

  Leonidas blinked at that, and the memory of something immense looking at him flitted through his mind.

  “Yeah… I think I saw it,” he admitted after a moment, waving a hand when she narrowed her eyes. “Not, like, fully—just a glimpse, and a sound. Felt like my body was going to explode from the roar alone.”

  Kairi hesitated and then relaxed, nodding in acceptance.

  “Sounds accurate. The thing’s an absolute monster. Most of them are,” she said with a grimace, and then narrowed her eyes again. “Speaking of which, what’s with blondie and the bustinator? I didn’t take you for wanting to stick your dick in Dragon, big brother.”

  Leonidas winced at her verbiage and reached up to run his hand through his hair, shaking his head a moment later.

  “Not exactly what’s happening,” he murmured, and then eyed her speculatively. “And since when do you speak that way? I remember when swearing—”

  “Since the world ended, Ace,” Kairi cut in flatly, and subtly curled her hands into fists. “A lot changed, if you haven’t noticed.”

  Leonidas fell silent at that, and nodded once in acceptance, his eyes searching hers again as he tried to find some semblance of his baby sister within the cold, hard depths of the sky-blue orbs.

  “I’d like to hear about it,” he ventured more quietly, carefully modulating his voice. “You know, if you’re willing to share.”

  Kairi stared back at him in silence at his question, frowned, and then walked around to throw herself into the chair properly, undoing her boots and then crossing her legs beneath herself promptly, the way she’d used to do when they were kids. A small callback, but enough of one to renew his hope that the world hadn’t irrevocably damaged his only sibling.

  “There’s a lot,” Kairi said simply, her voice tense. “You already know the beginnings of it, and I won’t get into the gory details, but after I joined the Nomads, things got rough. Lots of fights, lots of manabeasts, lots of Fantasies and their bullshit. I almost died a few times, which earned me a neat little title, because apparently, almost being murdered is enough for the System to reward you.”

  Leonidas grimaced at that.

  “It’s not exactly altruistic, no,” he agreed grimly.

  “It’s fucking sociopathic, is what it is,” Kairi said, though the venom in her voice was half-hearted at best. “Still, it made me stronger. I eventually fell in with the Orlando Nomads and worked my way into their Council. Started running their Intelligence for them, with a group I call Shades. Nasty bunch of psychos, but effective.”

  Leonidas pursed his lips at that and nodded at her revelations.

  “Is that why you came to Dawnhaven? Intel?”

  Kairi hesitated at his question and then lifted her left hand, wobbling it back and forth.

  “Sort of. I came because I wanted to find you, maybe rescue you from wherever they theoretically locked you up. It just tied into my overall mission nicely enough that nobody asked questions,” she said honestly, while gnawing her lip. “Didn’t expect you to be shacking up with a pervy Duchess, though.”

  Leonidas paused at that and then sighed heavily.

  “You walked in without knocking—”

  “I walked in without knocking,” Kairi agreed with a very clear blush to her features. “I will never make that mistake again.”

  “...been there,” Leonidas murmured, and met her gaze with a faint smile that his sister mirrored.

  A beat passed, and he glanced back at the bookshelves before turning to her again.

  “So, the Nomads. That’s all you’ve been doing all this time?”

  Kairi swallowed and then nodded, idly flexing her hands as if she wanted to grab a weapon. He could relate. He understood that trauma without having to name it.

  “That,” she continued with forced casualness, “raiding, killing assholes who think I’m an easy target, the usual Apocalypse bullshit.”

  Leonidas’ heart broke a little at her words, but he accepted them for what they were. The vain hope his sister hadn’t been forged into something more vicious had already had its day, and been swiftly disabused when she’d torn through the Duskguard during his Return.

  “Are you… Do you have a boyfriend, or—”

  “No, he died,” Kairi answered curtly, her expression twitching slightly with remembered pain. “A while ago, now. I gutted the cunt that set him up, though.”

  Leonidas paused again at that and then let out a sigh, grimacing as he thought about what she had said. “That sucks, Kai. I’m sorry you had to go through that.”

  Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

  “That’s life after the end of the world, Ace,” Kairi said in a hard-edged tone, her eyes shifting as she idly picked at a fingernail. “It sucks, but it’s life, in all its fucked-up glory.”

  Leonidas stared at her and then frowned, feeling an irrational level of annoyance welling up in him.

  “You know, you don’t need to cuss every time you speak.”

  Kairi looked back at him when he spoke and raised her eyebrows.

  “What?” Leonidas asked pointedly.

  “You’re seriously lecturing me about swearing, Ace?”

  “I’m your older brother,” Leonidas said after a moment. “Someone has to, I dunno, curb your—”

  “Like fuck!” Kairi said abruptly, glaring at him with renewed force as her tone adopted a sound of indignation. “Hey, you died, asshole! You left me alone with our fucking family and whatever the fuck else happened after that. You don’t get to come back here and—”

  “I didn’t die! I got kidnapped!” Leonidas corrected with a flash of responsive indignation.

  “You were dead to me, Ace!” Kairi yelled back and then threw up her arms. “God, you’re so fucking annoying. You come back, and what, we’re supposed to go back to how it was? Pink fuzzy sweaters, and stockings, and blushing at the cute varsity boys while you read Manwha and pretend our idyllic lives are only barely worthy of your attention?”

  Leonidas recoiled at her words, and his lips downturned in uncertainty.

  “That’s not what—”

  “Yes! Yes, it is!” Kairi interrupted, shifting her position on the chair to kneel in the leather, and pointing a finger squarely at him accusingly. “I’d ask you to go to the movies, or get some food, or just do anything, and you’d say ‘Oh sure, Kairi, just let me finish this Chapter!’ or ‘No worries, Kairi, but I need to meet with Titty McMassive Ass first!’”

  Leonidas hesitated for a moment and then smiled slightly.

  “Titty McMassive Ass?” he asked quietly.

  “Shut up!” Kairi said, and promptly threw a pillow at him.

  “Hey!”

  “Fuck you! Do you have any idea how lonely I’ve been, you monumental jackass? This world sucks, Ace! It sucks!” she shouted, her voice cracking faintly as her eyes glistened, and he recognized the tears of anger for what they were—her childhood-long reaction to stress. Not sadness, but anger. “You’re—I didn’t want to be alone, you bastard, and you left me here! You went away, and you left me here!”

  Leonidas fell silent when she was done and watched her quietly, allowing his sister time to irritably sniffle and wipe her eyes in annoyance, muttering to herself about ‘stupid brother’ this and ‘complete dumbass’ that until she pushed herself off the chair in one smooth motion and walked over to snatch a box of tissues.

  Kairi glared at him, as if daring him to say something, and then stormed back to her seat, flopping onto it and blowing her nose angrily.

  Leonidas watched her in silence as she did, and finally, he let out a sigh.

  “You’ve had it rough,” he said at last, keeping his voice level and calm, the same way he’d done in their childhood. “I can see that. I’m sorry if I was insensitive. I know it felt like abandonment,” he said after a moment longer, choosing his words carefully. “I hate that you lived through that. It’s not what I wanted, Kai, but I’m here now, and I’m not going anywhere.”

  Kairi sniffled when he spoke, shook her head, looked up at the ceiling, and wiped her eyes again as tears appeared, brushing them aside with evident annoyance.

  “This stupid gimmick,” she muttered angrily without responding to him, “I hate it. I even got a System Title because of it, can you believe that shit?” she asked while wiping her eyes. “The Weeping Death. What a fucking stupid name for a Title.”

  “I dunno,” Leonidas said mildly, choosing to accept her silence as unspoken acknowledgement. “Sounds kind of cool, to me.”

  “Of course it does,” Kairi said, letting out a wet, mirthless laugh. “You fucking dweeb.”

  “Hey! I’ll have you know you’re a dweeb, too! I’m not the one who learned to speak Klingon with Dad.”

  “No,” Kairi countered, “but you sure as shit learned how to read Elvish—and now real Elvish too!”

  “Haelfennyr,” he said automatically, correcting her without thinking. “Elf is considered a slur, technically, when Nyrfenn use it.”

  Kairi stared at him and then promptly threw the tissue box at him.

  “Hey!” he objected with a laugh.

  “Know-it-all!” she accused, and then collapsed back against the chair. “God, you really haven’t changed, you know? I mean, you’ve got new digs, and you’re apparently some big shot Hero Knight, but—I dunno, you’re still you, Ace. How did you even manage that?”

  Leonidas picked up the tissue box that had landed in his lap and casually tossed it back to his sister, who caught it with uncanny ease, as if it were as much a reflex as a conscious act. Another small, but notable change.

  “In some ways,” he conceded afterward, “I suppose I’m the same. Not in others, though. I went through my own stuff.”

  Kairi was quiet for a few moments after he spoke, and Leonidas thought she seemed to be gathering herself before his auburn-haired sister finally nodded and let out a slow breath.

  “Yeah. I heard,” she said more calmly, her fingers idly toying with the tissue box, putting the subtle scars on her arms in full display. “Ceruviel didn’t say much, but she told me you’d gone through the wringer in your own way,” Kairi elaborated, before looking back up at him expectantly.

  “It’s not a happy story, Kai,” Leonidas said after a moment of quiet, and tried to ignore the anxious beating of his heart. “Not remotely. It’s… weird, too, but I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t wanted to tell you. I almost did, the day we met again, but—”

  “Yeah, the El—Haelfenn,” she said, catching herself, and earning a smile from him. “I remember,” Kairi finished and reached up to wipe her eyes with her palms, drawing a breath. “Okay, how about this: I’ll get the maids to bring us some snacks, and you can trauma dump all your bullshit on me, and then I’ll take my turn afterward.”

  Leonidas raised his eyebrows at her and then smiled ruefully.

  “You know, you almost sound like you enjoy it here,” he said wryly.

  Kairi glanced at him like he was being an idiot when she stood and made her way to his door.

  “Ace, this place is basically a five-star hotel,” Kairi said with a faint, genuine smile, showing a little more of the sister he’d left behind. “Of course I like it here.”

  Leonidas shook his head at that and waved a hand in concession.

  After all, he completely agreed with her.

  While Kairi rang the bell for the maids and busied herself with speaking to them when they arrived, Leonidas moved to the bookshelf in his sitting room, idly perusing the titles he’d read and the ones he’d yet to crack open. His new, amplified Intelligence gave him insight that he could probably blaze through the various tomes of knowledge in an unprecedented time, and he made mental notes of which ones he was interested in finally reading.

  When Kairi returned five minutes later, he turned to her, raising his eyebrows.

  “What did you ask for?” he questioned casually.

  “Ice cream and chips,” Kairi said shamelessly.

  “Ugh, god, you and those awful combinations,” Leonidas said with a twist of his lips. “Really, Kai? Sweet and salty? Still?”

  “Shut up, it’s delicious,” his sister said haughtily, and flopped back onto the armchair. “It’ll be about ten minutes before they bring it, though—so spill. What’s up with blondie and bootylicious?”

  Leonidas stared at her as his brain raced to catch up, and then snorted.

  “You mean Aylar and Synthra?”

  “That’s what I said,” his sister replied defensively.

  “You know,” Leonidas said while he walked over to her and reached out to gently flick her forehead, which she reacted to with a curse, “that ‘blonde’ is going to be your first sister-in-law.”

  “Yeah,” Kairi grumbled, “so what? I can still be a bitch behind—wait, did you just say first?” she demanded.

  “Oh…” Leonidas said, and then felt his features morph into a guilty expression. “Yeah, so, about that…”

  Kairi stared at him and then shrieked.

  “MOM IS GOING TO KILL YOU!”

  Leonidas laughed at her outburst and danced away when she threw a pillow at him.

  “You don’t even talk to mom!” he shot back.

  “I’ll make a fucking exception!” Kairi answered, while grabbing a small vase and hurling that at him as well, forcing him to catch it with Psi.

  Kairi paused when she saw that, eyeing the floating vase, and then eyeing him thereafter.

  “...so you really are a wizard, huh?”

  “Archon,” Leonidas corrected, calmly levitating the vase back to where it had been. “Ceruviel trained me.”

  “I know, but it’s hard to believe…” Kairi murmured and then shook her head. “Hold on! No way, you don’t get to weasel out of—TWO WOMEN?!”

  “Well, yeah, though I’m not sure it’ll be just two—”

  Kairi threw the vase at him again, and Leonidas laughed.

  “Pig! Bastard! Lecher! What about Aylar?!”

  “Well, it was sort of her idea—”

  Kairi swore at him and threw another pillow as he laughed again.

  The discussion about his past would come, with all of its evils and weight, and all the misery it held. For now, though, the past could wait. His sister was back, and Leonidas was determined to enjoy that.

  For as long as the world would allow it.

  Please comment on what you liked or with theories you have!

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