I was born in the shadow of the lake
facing the white titan at its center. The great castle Huloen. My
parents said it was coincidence. But I think they were lying about
it. The Castle of Bodies, the White Giant, Ayrn's Madness, The
Father's Ode to Man, a horrifying monstrosity of thousands of human
figures – sculptures, though sometimes rumored corpses – fused
together to form a fortress in the center of the lake that shares its
name. That monument to the Old World had been abandoned for over
twenty years before my birth. The Castle had sealed itself when the
Serakes family fled North to avoid the wrath of the New Anezaien
Empire. Not like that matters.
Since my father was the last worthy
heir.
I am Kotaro Cassidy-Serakes. Your
amazing host for the moment. Yes, I am a prince but that fact
largely meant nothing in my day to day. My country is conquered, that
title is meaningless. I just had to console myself with being the
prince of a multinational tech company. My mother is a renowned
neurosurgeon that built revolutionary prosthesis and neural implants.
To the public my father is just a semi-retired chef looking after
myself and my older sister.
The truth is our father is the man
that ended the old monarchies. He was the rogue prince that killed
the three immortal Auravelius monarchs, the Godslayer. Mom's got her
own secrets, which is why we mostly live in a house in the woods
rather than a mansion in the city. We're probably the wealthiest
family in Ausnagenaen yet we live in this backwoods suburb surrounded
by magical tricks and traps. Our closest neighbors are backwoods
weirdos who think footwear is optional. I love my neighbors.
Even if Dad didn't take the throne he
ruled as a king aside Mom who'd become Queen of trash mountain.
Ausnagenaen, the former capital of Riasad, my home, my kingdom, now
it's just a former God City, history site, a post industrial
wasteland, and a place for dreams to die. Not my dreams, of course,
not that I had any back then. I was content with chasing punk bands
and fooling around awkwardly in the dark with boys and girls. I was
a carefree kid, even with Dad's harsh training. (I'll get to that in
a bit.) I enjoyed life, my city was a wasteland but I loved it.
This story begins when I was just
starting high school. Alright, it doesn't really but I'm starting
there because it has a good beginning feel. Don't want you to get
lost when things fly off.
It was the tail end of Guasi, the end
of a relatively mild winter and I was getting ready to start high
school. I was up before the sun. Dad trained us to be early risers
and I curse him for it. My sister Asa was in my room.
“You actually got up on your own.”
Her fist was clenched and her arm was primed.
“It can happen.” Dad encouraged us
to occasionally surprise each other to keep our instincts sharp. It
often involved my sister waking me up with a punch. She never
connected because it could kill me but the wind pressure was still a
wild smack in the face. Every time I tried to do it to her it ended
up with me on my back.
“Since the surprise is out, I'll
just go ahead take back some of the tools you borrowed. Were you
actually building something or messing around?”
“I can't remember.” I might have
had something in mind, got bored, and forgot it.
“Just buy your own damn tools.”
She rummaged through the pile next to my bed. “And organize your
room.” She sighed. Asa my older sister and sometimes tormentor.
“Why do that when I have you, dear
sister?” She was unconsciously rearranging my things as we spoke.
“Because I'm not going to keep doing
this.”
“You say that but you keep doing it.
You're compulsive.” My sister is like a machine she just does
these things.
“No. I'm not. Get ready it's time to
run.”
“Yeah, just get out there and I'll
meet you.” Morning exercise.
“Have a little more respect for your
elder sister, huh?”
“I'm half asleep.”
“Excuses, excuses.” Asa sighed and
left. We wake up early, but we're not morning people. Once she wakes
up, Asa is a lot more kind and I'm more of an asshole.
I found clean training clothes and
started my pre-training prayers. The only god this house truly
respects is the moon god, Avarde but I was praying to the spirits of
the forest to aid in making my training fruitful. I know it sounds
silly for a modern kid but Dad taught us gratitude. When I express
my gratitude to the forest I feel the forest return it.
After that. I listen to a two minute
smash n grab song by the Meirban Monks to fully wake myself up as I
dress. Roaring guitars and pounding drums snap me awake even today. I
stepped out of my door.
“Beyond the walls of Harsakaat to
the Gates of Amararischi!” Out of nowhere comes Mom sleepwalking.
“Mom, your robe is open.” I was
lucky she had any clothing at all. “You'll catch a cold.” Mom
likes to sleep naked which can make it awkward when she passes out in
her workshop. “Dad, come get Mom.”
“Hats,” Dad wondered out of the
kitchen sighing. “You're setting a bad example again.” He wrapped
his arms around her tied up her robe and lifted her up like she was a
child.
“Whoa! You're going to make me
dizzy!” My father was a very tall man. My mother was short. They
were a very odd pair. Mom due to various circumstances had stopped
aging at seventeen. Dad even though he could appear any age he wanted
at any time often settled on his actual age out in public. Mom
enjoys letting people think Dad is a pervert even when she's many
many years older.
They were an odd pair, a tall
Ankaasi-Ris man and a tiny Avaeswari woman. Something of an ideal of
progress in a segregated city. A happy mixed family at the top of the
heap to mask the fact that Anezaie and Tehnustod are at each other's
throats over the corpse of Riasad. Here we represented three of the
greatest peoples occupying the country. Mom liked to refer to it as a
propagandistic wonder. She wasn't one to let public image define her
relationship and neither was Dad. They had been together over thirty
years surviving a personal war on a pantheon.
“I have something I want to talk to
you about when you return.” Dad flung Mom over his shoulder. “Time
for coffee.”
I kicked on my shoes and noticed they
were close to done. The wetlands and my intensive exercise chewed
through footwear. I thought about just blowing my allowance on a pair
of Amedi shoes, the kind their mages used when traveling out in the
world. Back then my allowance had been shrunk thanks to my last
couple of attempts at skipping school. I still don't quite understand
why my parents were mad. I still managed to finish middle school at
the top of my class. Probably made them look bad.
“Mom's sleepwalking again.” I
walked up to my sister stretching in front of the house. I joined
her.
“She must be preparing a project. I
guess I'm going to get busier this season. Bad enough that they're
understaffed at the hospital.” Asa was an operating room
technician.
“I bet you're jealous of the easy
student life, huh?”
“I'm less busy than I was then.
Hopefully, high school will keep you too busy to go to those sketchy
places.”
“Ha, supposed to go to Farves with
Mom in two days.”
“Mom needs to stop taking you to
bars.” Asa sighed. My sister takes after Dad and I take after Mom.
Asa is tall with a bronze complexion and piercing gray eyes, I was
short and a bit pale, my eyes were dark brown. People are sometimes
surprised to learn we're siblings.
“I'm not the one getting drunk.”
“Mom has a problem.”
“I was talking about you. You drunk
called me the other day asking about nonsense.”
Asa froze. “I'm very controlled. I
have my moments but...”
“Doubling down, huh? If that's how
you want to see it.” I shrug.
“Race today?” She said finishing
her stretches.
“To the octopus.” There was an old
tree in our area that looked like an octopus.
“Yeah.” I was going to lose this
race. I always did. I would only ever win if she let me.
After I finished my stretches we got
in a line in front of the house. It was still dark and the morning
mist was thick. But with our training we didn't need our eyes. With
concentration I could feel the entire forest and run with my eyes
closed.
The Hand of the Wise, every family
descended from the Auravelius trained in it. Even though Dad seemed
to despise everything else associated with the Serakes family, he
still trained us to protect us from those who would come after us.
“Ready little brother?” She was
already taunting me.
“Unlike you who left her panties in
the hallway again.” I said as I took off.
“I was gonna go easy on you, you
little shit!” She launched forward like a rocket. Her wake was so
powerful I almost got knocked off my feet. Even moving at superhuman
speed she threaded through the trees with precise movement. The race
wasn't even close.
“I guess that's a good workout.” I
said reaching the Octopus. I was minutes behind.
“If you hadn't been rude, maybe you
could be standing here.” She sat on one of the tentacled roots
with her arms crossed.
“Don't humor me, I can't even do
half of what you did back there.”
“Did you learn your lesson?” She
said with a smug smile.
“Yes ma'am.” I said.
“Now on to sparring.” Asa stood
up.
“You sadist.”
“The race was punishment. This is my
benevolence.” Alright, I lied when I said my sister was kind.
“Come on Taro, knock me down.”
I kicked her legs. It was like
striking an iron pillar. Even worse, with an iron pillar I would have
made a dent. She just smiled. “Your heart isn't in it.” She
jumped down as I held my ankle. “If you can't even get me to
evade, what's the point? Come at me like I'm the Winds of Spring.”
I stood up, shook the pain out of my
ankle and took a stance. Asa slapped me, knocking me off my feet.
“Dammit! What was that?!”
“I said come at me not announce your
intention to come at me. Go into stance in motion. You need to flow
from neutral into action. They can't know your intent until it's too
late.”
I stood up. “Feel dizzy.”
“Ah, I think I hit you too hard.”
She went over to look at me.
I threw a low sweeping uppercut at her
body. She dodged it like a champion. I shifted to try and step inside
her stance and she tripped me. She caught me before I landed on my
face. “Your movements are tighter but you're not reading me too
well.” She sighed. “You're not keeping up on basic technique how
are you supposed to cope when things get hotter?”
“You're just too good Sis.”
“I'm just a nobody.” She was
eighteen years old and there were real adult men who referred to my
sister as Grandmaster in public. She was not nobody.
When I was back on my feet Asa walked
thirty paces away and took a low stance. “But you said not to take
a stance.”
“This is for your benefit.” She
said with a smug smile. “I'm getting more serious now.” Thank
Avarde we never used magic in sparring. She gestured for me to
attack. A thirty feet radius around her, any man who stepped in that
zone would fall unconscious or dead in an instant.
I refused to take the bait. “I give
up.”
“You're no fun.” Asa settled her
stance and sighed.
“I don't know why we even spar.” I
was like a toddler trying to fight a giant. Even if any of my
punches ever landed I'd be more likely to hurt my hand than do
damage.
“Because you need to sharpen your
spirit. Nothing does that like facing an overwhelming opponent. It's
why I keep fighting Dad.” Dad was the only person I knew who could
beat Asa. “Look, you don't have to be strong as me. You just have
to be strong enough to get away. You're beginning high school. I
can't look after you forever. Humor me please. Give me everything you
have. I have a feeling you're holding back.” Asa stood tall.
“Focus, feel your aura, feel mine.”
I turned back to her. The sun had
arrived light peaked through the trees behind her giving her the glow
of a holy being. I wondered what I looked like her. I took a deep
breath. These fighting arts were the burden of our blood. We were
surrounded by a world that would take us and use us if we weren't
stronger. If I couldn't get stronger I'd be nothing but a burden.
I took a deep breath. I focused my ki,
let it flow through my blood, feel my skin, my bones, my muscles. I
was faster, I was stronger. I was the son of a god.
“Ready to actually try? We can go
back if you're not. This is just morning exercise after all.”
Honestly, I don't remember much after
that. Sis says I came at her pretty hard but she knocked me out. To
force her to actually knock me unconscious must mean I did something
impressive.
I woke up back in the house with Mom
and Dad standing over me. “Hmm, still alive. Damn, I was just
about to carve you up for parts!” Mom said.
“You changed my clothes?” I was
wrapped up in a yukata.
“You bled all over your shirt. Asa
really hit you hard.”
I felt my face.
“I repaired the damage.” Dad said.
“You can still go to school.”
I sighed and then laughed. “Only you
would send me to school after I black out.”
“Can't miss your first day. “ Dad
squatted in front of me. “I would have killed to be going to school
when I was your age. Literally, killed. Enjoy your school life, my
son. I have your uniform pressed and ready. You put it on after
breakfast, I made something special.”
“What weirdness did you put on my
plate today, Dad?” My father liked to experiment with ingredients
from around the world. But, he always knew what I liked even when I
didn't so it wasn't bad.
“Alkatra in miso fresh from Silver
Valley, side of mehin salad from the garden outside.” You'll
probably think I'm strange, the northerners always do, alkatra is
local lizard. Dad had the bizarre idea to soak it in miso fusing
Avaeswari imports with traditional Ris cuisine. Chefs around would
call it blasphemy. Every time I eat it around my friends they say it
smells disgusting. I think it's delicious.
“For a second, I thought I might
actually get a bruise from you.” Asa walked in changed out of her
exercise gear and into a floral kimono. “Good job, that's progress
little brother.” My sister is a giant but thanks to expert custom
tailoring of her entire wardrobe she looks amazing in a kimono.
“Ugh, if this is progress is the
next step death?” I had a headache and my body hurt.
Dad cut in with. “You'll be stronger
next time and hit like that won't even faze you.”
“Then she'll hit me harder.”
“I will.” Asa laughed.
“Then you resist again.” Dad put
his hand on my shoulder. “All this muscle is not nothing. Place a
strong spirit on top of that. Let your belief be your armor.”
“Dad please, you're going to kill
me.”
“I've been living with this for over
three decades.” Mom sighed.
“Well, we can work on your technique
later.” Dad stood up. “There's nothing wrong with taking a little
longer to climb the mountain. Asa is a special case. You're already
far ahead of most already, Taro. You could beat any master in this
town I'd bet.” Any Master in town wouldn't be my sister.
I stood up. “Ugh, I'm sick of this.
I'm going to eat.” I didn't need to hear anymore how I wasn't as
special as my sister. You probably don't either. This story isn't
even about that. I just wanted to give you an idea of my shitty
morning. “At least I'm better with boys than she is.”
Mom laughed. Dad sighed. Asa froze in
a neutral expression but I could feel her anger through her aura.
There was a little blood in my mouth
so my breakfast was slightly spoiled. But nothing overwhelms the
savory power of alkatra in miso. I have a powerful sense of smell.
Sometimes, when I have a pungent meal it can be like eating twice.
Alkatria is traditionally eaten with the hands but with this dish I
eat it like a filthy Avaeswari and use chopsticks. Despite an intense
look alkatria is actually a fairly light meat, Dad used a certain
type of red miso soup that was incredibly rare on this side of the
Denof. Dad placed the bits of alkatria delicately around the edges of
the bowl emphasizing the miso more than the alkatria which made think
he was more fond of the miso. I remember that meal so strongly I can
still feel the room. If I lived a hundred lifetimes I doubt I could
make that dish better than Dad did.
Asa sat down in front of a plate of
ham and a half dozen eggs. Our routine burns an insane amount of
calories. “I'm going to be in surgery today. I might not make it
to the evening celebration.”
“More food for me.” I was a
little disappointed but my sister had to work or risk breaking
anymore than she already has. (I'll let her talk about that whenever
she steps up)
After eating, I got dressed for
school. My uniform was different, the high school uniform was
different than the middle school sections, I may have only been
moving to a different building but it felt like ascending a new peak.
Even if I knew I'd probably be bored in class. They'd approached me
about skipping straight to second year but I couldn't be bothered.
“You look good.” Asa said. “That
emblem makes me feel so nostalgic.” She touched the school emblem
covering my heart.
“Patterning that ridiculous sheep
mascot in gold is a little bit much I think. But, don't I just look
like a rich shithead in my crimson jacket?” I combed my hair. “I
look like an Amedi.”
“It is an affiliated school. Even if
there's no magic program.”
“Don't want the lowlanders getting
any ideas.”
“But the school is still eighty
percent Uensgar. Exaggerated cynicism doesn't make you cool, Taro.”
“But it's still true we don't have a
magic program and that's really suspicious. Maybe I should start a
magic club this year. It's our place isn't it. You have drama and I
have science. Speaking of that, how is your latest theater project
going?” My sister is a theater girl following after our mother's
other love of theater.
“I've been using my spare time to
research ideas for new sets. Don't tell Dad but I went into the ruins
underneath the Old City.”
“Fight any demons this time?”
“Don't be ridiculous, they don't
come near me anymore.” Because of course they don't. “I'm not
sure if I got any usable ideas though. Was still a fun trip. I
picked up a few souvenirs too.”
“What'd I tell you about stealing
from ruins?” Mom sat down.
“If there's a curse Dad can eat it.”
Asa said waving off Mom's concern.
“That kind of attitude can get even
you killed. You didn't forget all the curses I taught you did you?”
Asa went pale.
“They can kill or maim you quickly.
You're Dad might not make it in time.”
“How could a Serakes artifact kill a
Serakes?”
“Very quickly. Don't put too much
stock in royal blood. You're family has a looong history of
infighting.” Mom grabbed Asa's hand. “Those curses were made for
princesses with sticky fingers.”
My sister liked to sometimes collect
antiques. She told me it helped her feel closer to our history.
“I can be careful.”
“How about you just stop taking
things from random ruins instead?” Mom sighed.
“I think it's time to go.” I stood
up. “Don't want to be late for the shuttle.” I took the air
shuttle to school because our distance from the school would make
driving a pain. It's probably strange to hear a rich boy like me
takes public transit but that's the price you pay for living out in a
rural suburb. I stand at the stop with the usual cast of country
weirdos
“Hold on, you're not leaving yet.”
Mom stood up and opened her arms.
I hugged her. Then breathed in her
face.
“Shitty little boy!”
“Bye Mom.” And I left for my day.
