KINESIO

Chapter One

Kei stared at the purple sky with the sun shining bright in the middle. He wiped a sweat off the forehead, as the metal glove on his hand clanked slightly. Looking down at his tiny shadow, he rested his hands on the huge sword, bending down slightly. "Hold on, we only have another five hours." Crage brushed his blonde hair, then letting it slip down to touch his nose in strips, which shined with the sun's reflection on the tiny drops of sweat. "This is so unreasonable! Like anyone would even attack this land barely known to outsiders!" Kei gulped down the last drop of water from his wooden bottle, and pushed the lid back in. "And that's it." He swung it down the front side of the castle, facing the desert. Lolling back near the inner fencing, his elbow resting on the ridge, he looked inside. Vast regions of land were covered with edifices of the castle, and the nearest was the ward, which was a garden. A little stream ran in the middle, separating it into two parts. Plants encircled the whole area, with vines growing as long as inches away from the fence on which he leaned. He could see the hallway, lit with torches at every two yards. This part of the castle was barely even used by the royalty, and hence, only the knights and the garners, and other workers moved around here. But for that moment, there was not a Magesteran soul wandering out there. And as Kei pulled his diamond chin up, he could see several mini towers, which seemed to close in towards the huge structure, as one would observe more keenly. And the main tower, where the Rezize, their ruler resided, had the Zaskaeran empire's Red and Blue flag blowing to the east. The flag could be seen from any part of the city, owing to its majestic height. As the saints describe it, "The second path to the seven heavens." It was one of Kei's daily routines; coming to duty, and doing possibly nothing but stare at this wistful, incredibly appealing view. He took a gulp in his dry throat, blowing some air out. "You know," Pern started walking back and forth in Kei's sight. "I know this guy, who can make and manipulated things like water, fire, air, electricity, and perhaps many more things." He stopped right near Kei, with only his neck being visible to him. He didn't look up to Pern's dark face, and kept looking at the Zaskarean symbol on his chest in the metal vest. "Yes, I'm sure I know him too." Crage joined in, smirking for a split second. "I know this guy, really tall, brown hair and skin. You know what he does?" Kei straightened his back, now, his foot placed on the fence. "Hm?" Pern shrugged. "Nothing." Kei shook his head. "Okay, I get it, weird hairdo. Now go ahead and make me some water already." Pern placed his hand on Kei's shoulder. Kei finally looked up, and shook his head again. "You're such a waste of powers! You don't deserve them." He pushed him back against the fence. "Hey! Back off now. You can get the water downstairs." Crage walked closer to him. "And what are you doing? Protecting your tiny sibling from the stupid truth?! We all know he can't use those so called powers of his!" he yelled a little, pushing Crage away, and walking away. "He almost lost it. Poor guy's really stressed about this job." Kei laughed. "It wouldn't kill you to just help with him with a little water, you know." Crage wiped off more sweat from his neck, and looked up at the scorching Sun, his hand covering the heat for his face. "C'mon, we need a break." Kei dragged him by the metal glove, and they walked to the exit. "The last guy gets to drink Seatine potion!" Kei jumped off the stairs, skimming through the sharp curves of the staircase, barely evading the tower's walls. He almost blew off the torches. "Not that again. I threw up everything I ate for a whole week!" Crage followed in, he jumped off each stair, all as huge as half a meter. He was so fast that he almost caught up with Kei, who beat him with three seconds. They huffed as they reached the ground. Walking down the vaulted cellar, they managed to regain most of their energy. Finally, the two brothers reached the ward, as Crage almost tripped over the stone slab at its opening. They moved the long vines away, entering the garden. "Hey!" It was Pern again. "Go on! Lose the only petty jobs you ever got, while I become the Knight of the Outer Curtain wall." His voice echoed through the corners of the hallway. "We'll see!" Crage screamed back, his hands curling around the mouth. "I don't see why you support him in his stupid verbal confabulations." Kei stressed on the last word. "So you finally started reading one of those language books mama wanted you to read." Crage remarked, striding through the little plants. They both moved through the densely planted parts. And as they did, aromas of different herbs and plants hit their noses. Some were pleasant, while some were utterly repulsive. They stopped near the ones such as Rezin Rose, Synthera and Hysterda. While Repuhene, and Erieses simply drove them far away. The stream was the most pleasant to cross, with the crystal clear water reflecting all the creatures inside. Upon reaching the other side, they sat near the pebbles. Kei started throwing some into the water. Staring at the splashes, and ripples. "This is such an uninteresting life, isn't it?" Kei ran his hand in his brown hair, pushing it back, as some strands flung back on his face. "Yeah, and you want to swap bodies with the royalty." Crage stood up, and walked near a huge pebble, and tried standing on it. "It isn't like that." Kei looked at him. "Really? You know you have access to elemental magic; all sorts of it. You have this gift, and you don't bother to use that." 

"I don't want to." 

"Then why do you even complain?"

"I don't know, It's wrong to do that."

"Then stop pitying your life, and do something." Crage jumped off the pebble, as he said that. Kei looked up at the sky, not knowing what to say. "Use that stupid coin for anything you want." Crage pointed at Kei's belt. Kei's utility belt had a huge coin stuck in the center. "Should I?" he said, looking at it, rubbing its surface. "I guess you should, since it's your sole ability. You must have the choice to do whatever you desire." Crage slipped down to sit beside Kei, his elbows resting on the knees. "But that's not what mama or any other person would prefer or expect." 

"Why do you care? They don't have the power, so they shouldn't get decide. Embrace the power you have, and use it as you wish." He picked a stone, and swung it into the stream, splashes of water hitting his boot. "That doesn't sound like being responsible."

"Responsibility and liberty aren't the same." Crage said, pushing his little red cape down from the shoulder, while Kei lolled on the rock half a yard away from the stream. He raised his hand, and pulled it up. The coin on his belt gleamed. A huge drop of water from the stream floated in the air, and moved towards him. He brought it close to the mouth, and gulped it down. "Hm! Show off, Super-natural." Crage crawled down, and cupped his hands down in the stream, drinking a handful of water. "Really?!" Kei waved his hand, and a huge wave of water splashed on Crage. Crage wiped some off his face, and pushed some water on him. But his magic hand, perhaps, his magic coin, helped him stop it in midair. It flung back on Crage. "So you're itching for a fight? It's okay, I'll cure it." Crage smiled evilly. Kei stood up, and started stretching. Crage's eyes started glowing. He formed a ball of arcane energy pulse, and pushed it at him. It took Kei flying into the stream. "See? Problem solved." Crage chuckled. Air started rushing at him, and Kei flew up from the stream, landing down, facing about him. "Fine, lets kick each other's backs!" Kei smiled back. Crage formed another arcane pulse and blasted it at Kei, who shot up, evading it. "You sure this a friendly fight?" Kei shouted, descending down. "Nope. This is a brotherly fight!" Crage screamed, laughing madly. His nerve popped up the neck, as he continued. They were probably the weirdest brothers, anyone would think. Kei swung a boulder up from the ground. Crage formed a shield, and the boulder burst into pieces as it crashed, flying all around the place. "Ow, that must've been hard. That face you made when that rock hit explains it." Kei pressed his stomach, sticking his tongue out. He darted through the grass. Just as he would bump into Crage, he flung up, as the air pushed him. He landed behind him. Crage spun back, and surged a whole beam full of arcane mana. A pink aura surrounded Kei, and he moved his hands behind. As the beam threw him into the stream, a force pulled Crage into the water too. They crashed in, and floated for a while, laughing all the time. A pain channeled through Kei's gut. He sighed. "What stupid soul takes over your body when you fight?! Why do you use that power of Telekinesis, when you're not supposed too?!" Crage crawls to the bank. "I don't know, it's just a whole lot easier to use than any of the other Kinesis. It's so painfully addictive." Kei sighed again, following his brother. Kei lay down, his head resting on the hands crossed. The sky dimmed for a few seconds, as clouds few over. "Then I want to explore the worlds." He uttered slowly. "You mean going on an adventure to Sciragia and Grivda? Forget it! We cannot afford a good night's sleep with this job." Crage rested his back on the ground too. "Standing out in the hot sun, facing the wasteland, looking for trouble. Sounds so fun for an everlasting job, right?" They stared at the sky, as dusk was only an hour away. "Just find out what you want to do. Uh." Crage pulled himself up, and wiped the dirt off his back. He stretched his arms, "I'm not your uncle or anything, but remember, with great power…" Kei's eyes widened. He jumped up, crying, "Look at that!" a huge beam of white light surged down from the sky. The boys saw it shoot down somewhere near, perhaps inside the castle. And that was it. Trouble was here. The Grand Bell was rung. Knights started moving around. Whispers and murmurs echoed in the hallways. And metal boots clunked the ground together. The air blew faster. Heartbeats got intense. The Bell was rung louder, all while Crage and Kei stood glued to the earth. "Stop right there!" and "Hey!" and some other words were screamed. Lights of different colors, showing different magic used, flashed through the dark sky. What should they do? If caught off the job during duty hours, they would be punished. "Kei, Crage!" A voice yelled. Upon turning back, they saw Pern standing on the wall, looking down the fence. "I-it's your uncle, he's…" "Now what has that idiot done?!" Kei yelled back. "Join me near the unhoused edifice." Pern streaked down the wall, jumping down the wall, disappearing beyond the tower beyond the other side. "Two months out of prison, and busy getting his hands deep again! What do we flood that nasty rat's brain with?!" Kei stamped the ground. The bell's sound increased. The ringing went faster. Crage ran a few steps, and looked back at Kei, "I'm not carrying you!!!" he jumped through the stream. Kei followed. While Crage had to intense-parkour through all the buildings, Kei simply jumped around, or he was pushed up by the air, all while his coin simply kept glowing. They bolted through the buildings, swinging around the towers and columns. They were incredibly fast, but the castle was huge. Crowded with buildings, gardens, tiny streams, and many more, it was hard getting around from one place to another. Moreover, it was a moonless night. The two brothers reached the roof of a house, in front of the unhoused edifice. They jumped down. Kei bent down to check on one of the collapsed knights. He had scars and bruises all over the face, with the nose bleeding. "Ugh!", Pern crashed down, rolling on the steps. Crage rushed at him. Pern climbed the stairs back. "S-stop your uncle!" He murmured. "Don't worry, we'll pay our respects to our dear uncle." Crage's face turned all wrinkly. He took a leap inside. Kei pulled Pern down the stairs. "You've done enough. We'll do the rest." He said, nodding his head. Air flung him inside. "Uh, we're all losing our jobs," Pern took a deep breath, passing out amid the pile of Knights. He looked around, "sleeping around, playing dead, eh?" his lips wouldn't move. 

Flying knights crashed on the walls, fell on the floors, went outside, cracking window panes and mumbled in pain. Kei ducked to a knights who flew across him and went out. "Looks like it was quite the party in here." Crage forced himself through the cyclone of knights. Kei followed blindly. It was a hard time going beyond the huge curtain, which was flinging people away. "Kei!! What is with you today?! Stop this already!" Crage's elbow covered the face, his hair wildly waving behind. Kei stretched his hand high, and pulled it back. The rushing air stopped all of a sudden, and the flying knights hurtled down, crashing down. The earth shook for a moment. "Nothing stops you two from getting in my way." A deep voice mumbled. They looked up ahead. Five men, in all black stood with a huge Sciragian gun in hand. It was easy to say that they weren't from around. And behind them, was this man, who wore a Magesteran shawl. He, unlike the others, didn't cover his face. A small beard did the job. "Reane! Won't you ever learn anything! You've done nothing but bring disgrace to our house! Now stop salting the wounds!" Kei yelled. "There isn't any time. There never was." Reane shouted. One of the men powered the gun, all ready to fire. Reane pulled his shoulder, and whispered something. The man stopped. "All weapons down!" A knight came jumping through the pile of collapsed soldiers. He swung by the window, and jumped at the closest man. The man powered the gun, and green-blue wave of energy smacked the knight back, shattering the pane. The knight flew out. "Enough! Kei, stop that idiot." Crage yelled. "I'll call for more help." He jumped on the wall, and ran across it, and left. "Please. I don't want to fight with family, Reane. Understand, and stop your pointless run for money with crime. It'll get you nowhere." Kei went on his knees. "You cannot fathom my doings with mere morality. So let me do my job." Reane pulled out a rune carved on the Magesteran metal from a pouch held in the hip. He pushed it on the wall behind. And as he did, it burst apart. Fragments flying around. There was a darkness inside the wall. Reane grasped the edges of the huge opening, and pulled them apart, tossing them down. He squeezed inside. The other men stood around the opening, their Sciragian guns held firm. Kei's head felt like it would burst apart. He staggered up, and started forcing gales of wind at them. The men held their own, amid the storm-like waves of air. Two fired an energy wave, ramming him into the heap of fainted men. Kei faced a strange discomfort near the chest. He broke through the load, and stood strong, facing them. The marbled floor ruptured apart, and a huge rock rolled down at them in the air. Another energy wave reduced it into tiny stones shooting everywhere. One such bit hit Kei's head, and he stumbled down. Blood slowly trickling out near the forehead. He barely felt agony with wrath welling up. "We cannot hurt you beyond this. So do not try to retaliate." One of the men said, lowering his gun. "Why would I bother your petty baby-threats?!" Sparks of electric current flickered near Kei's hands. As he raised his hand to aim, a really bright pulse of electricity zoomed at them. One guy jumped to the center, and held his arm high, a shield covering them all the pulse died to a bare speck of spark. "We are warning you. Stop attacking." They repeated together. "Can't help but think that you all might be machines." Kei smirked for half a second, and waved his arm around. The guns floated up in the air, while the group of Sciragian smugglers did so for a mere moment. The guns crashed on the walls, ricocheting off with the sound of metal ringing. They crawled near their sole weapons. "So, should I threaten you? Like you did?" Kei dragged them back with every metallic object they had on themselves. As he played around with them, one guy pulled a small disc out, and pitched it near Kei. The disc glowed and sucked him closer. For a few seconds, current coursed through him, and it didn't come from his magic. "Ugh!" His chin banged on the ground. With the given time, the crooks grabbed their cannons, and made their way back to guarding the wall. "Try one of your filthy tricks again, and we aren't grazing this place again. We will…" Crage soared across the huge doors, and rolled down near Kei. "Looks like you tried really hard to not hurt them." He eyed Kei, and looked at the smugglers. He cupped his hand, and a sword forged out of pure arcane mana. The sword glowed swung up, and rolled in the air like a wheel and landed down near the man at the end. The sword stuck his calf, making him scream in pain. He twiddled around, and held the blade near the other person's neck. "Move an inch, and I slice." The man all still, tilted the cannon, and Crage slashed it near the huge barrel. Green-blue light came out of the crack, and Whiz! A huge wave of energy rippled all around, sending everyone inside the radius flying back a few feet. "The wave leaked from the plasma core!" The man screamed. All the thugs creeped back near the wall. Crage jumped down at them. But a gust threw him below one of the huge windows. Reane came out. He looked around; one nephew collapsed, and one badly injured. "I asked you not to hurt them too bad!" He yelled. "Quit giving orders! Where's the component?" Reane pulled out a giant object, all covered in gold. It looked weird and old. There was an opening in the center. He showed it inside his arms, and put it back inside his Magesteran shawl. "You're not taking anything anywhere!" Crage started forged a large arcane bolt. Reane walked briskly, as the bolt blasted ahead, and he held it in the hands, squeezing it inside, as it faded away. "What?! So you ate some spinach for breakfast!" Crage yelped, rushing closer to him. Another rune carved metal piece was pulled out, and pushed on his chest. He dropped dead on the floor. "Reane you old, dumb…" Kei scuttled about him. "Oh, don't worry. He's dead for only around two minutes or so." Reane hovered back near his partners of crime. "It won't happen this time!" Kei opened his palm, and an ember ignited near his finger. It grew larger, and louder to flames. As he turned around, magical fire covered him in a vortex. He faced his uncle again, and the fire sailed around in the air, hurtling down towards the men. Reane jumped forward, shouldering one of his assistants. The fire faded near his raised palm. Kei's eyes widened, "Alright, who's your boss this time?!" Reane gripped the artifact, and looked at the men, nodding his head. Kei launched himself at the men, and as he did, Reane pulled out a rune, Kei glanced at it for a second. It was the teleportation rune. The rune was tossed on the ground. White energy, perhaps arcane mana, used mostly to do this job, came bursting down from the sky, smacking Kei at the corner. The light covered the thieves, and faded away in a few seconds. Leaving no trace of them, until a little badge rocketed out, and hit Kei's head. It fell near Crage. Kei crawled near his brother, amid the tremors as the huge shaft of arcane light hurtled down the ground. Kei's eyes struggled to see the white bright light surging down. The badge. He had to check it out. His hand shuddered, picking the badge from near Crage's short-term motionless hand. The badge had GLADE written above an image of what seemed like Grivda's planetary symbol. The badge flickered for a second, and disintegrated completely. The light faded, making the quake cease. Kei swayed, as he lifted himself up. He drunken-walked near the hole made by the light. It had penetrated through the marble floor, all the way down to darkness. "Uhhh!", Crage sucked air from the mouth, coughing loud for a while. Kei hurried near him, "Alright?" for which Crage widened his mouth, slightly nodding. He stared at the huge, tumbled curtain. Flames soared up, almost touching a knight nearby. Hoses of water from Kei's hands killed it out. Sound and smell of something burning hit them. It must have happened when the magic fire flew up in the air. The other drape was completely on fire. Fumes slowly starting to escape out. Kei again hosed more water, but it wouldn't stop.  Elemental Clouds gathered around the roof, and rained down, putting the fire out completely. Kei brought his hands down, sighing, all soaked up, along with the other knights. "Help is here." Someone announced as more knights poured inside, to end up staring at the scene. Two young knights, all exhausted and drenched, and a pile of collapsed knights, lined down till the door. And amid that was the smell of burnt cloth, and rain together. The curtains all fallen down, vases broken down, a huge opening in the wall, and everything else made the whole scene seem more disastrous. The knight elder stared at the two of them, who had horror stuck to their faces. They kept gasping deeply, eyes all wide. "Please don't tell me that neither of you can speak." He mumbled slowly.