another year has passed, zephyr and vols would work out everyday and study every afternoon. her mother was ecstatic that they would spend so much time together but both were getting quiet sick of the other's mug.
the kids in the town didn't like the brothers, one would always glare and the other would only talk about martial arts and work outs.
vols turned four a month ago and he finally read all he thought might be usefull in the library.
he still hadn't asked the professor about the apprentice and was hesitant
' i highly doubt he'll accept eitherway'
but something new he picked up was the sword. vols started learning about swordsmanship from zephyr's master.
he's an extremely talented swordsman that used to be a calvary under his father's command. but after the war with the empire and his father's death, master eira left the army and settled next door to the blamore's after promising his old friend julius of taking care of them
zephyr loved master eira, vols on the other hand only saw him as a mean to an end.
he didn't really care about his late father nor the comarderie between him and eira. but more than that, there was something off about the master.
everytime he talked about their father vols would catch a glimpse of anxiety and guilt from his eyes.
he knew, from the story he told us about how his father died, that things aren't as he made them out to be. he never pried though, not only because he didn't care but because of zephyr. zephyr loved their father immensely, he looked up to him and wanted to be a captain just like him, and the master knew. vols was worried that whatever eira was hiding he was doing it for zephyr's sake.
it was a hot sunny day like all the others when master was sparring with the boys.
master quickly realized that both kids were gifted, zephyr was very strong for his age and had great instincts. he had good sense of comarderie and truly looked like he was fated to lead others. vols on the other hand was completely the opposite, he was quick and nimble, where he lacked in strength he made it up with technique and pinpoint precision.
he had a good head, he never rushed impulsively and always kept an eye out for openings
also, he was a loner and sometimes too cold hearted for a child of his age, he had to stop him many times before slicing his own brother up.
and he has been told that the brothers were inseparable, he didn't want to know what vols would do to a stranger, or worse an enemy.
the spear and the sword clashed, vols' hand trembled from the force so he jumped back. he then ran at full speed towards his brother and ducked when zephyr slashed the spear diagonally, vols turned his sword around and hit his brother's kneecap with the hilt
zeohyr lost his balance and toppled on the floor, vols raised his sword pointing it at his brother's heart
"okay that's enough" master eira clapped
vols put out his hand and zephyr gladly accepted it
" you're annoyingly fast, baby bro. sometimes i see you and then poof you're gone. do you maybe have super speed?"
vols snorted " i don't dumbass, it's because i use your blindspots. you really need to use your head sometimes and not rely on brute strength"
it was zephyr's turn to snort " and you should put some muscles into those scrawny arms. everytime we clash weapons it feels like i'm overpowering a fly"
vols glared at him and zephyr glared back
"you should remember i'm only 5'' vols added
" and i was twice your weight when i was your age"
" that's because you have the blood of a titan! you're not normal" vols rebuked
"oh yeah? then what about you? we're blood brothers, don't you have the blood of titans?" he mocked
" i liked you better when you didn't talk back" vols grumbled
vols and zephyr were so engrossed in their argument that they haven't seen the audience that formed around them. technically, the audience formed around two people, a man who looked in his forties and a kid who looked to be 12, both were staring at the brothers.
vols was the first to notice and turned around glaring at the neighbors, zephyr on the other hand was confused until he saw a kid with long blonde hair and brown-green eyes
vols had learned from the books what each color signified
pale blue meant the person was a water mage blessed by the goddess selkie, bright green for earth mages blessed by the god volos,
purple meant the person was an air mage and blessed by the god amon
silver for light mages blessed by the goddess attanua of light and finally golden was for fire mages bleesed by the god agneyon.
and the stronger the mage is the more color they had in their eyes. that explained why zephyr had 5 small streaks of blue in his eyes while half of zorax's eyes were purple.
at first vols thought that he'd get confused between the natural color of the person and their magic signature, but the magic signature looked less than a color and more like a light.
you could see the contrast between a green magic signature and just emerald eye color for example.
the magic signature would shine brightly even in the dark.
" well well, if it isn't the sons of the failure julius!" the blonde kid yelled out loud on purpose to draw in a bigger crowd
vols looked at the kid like he was brain damaged whilst zephyr glared
" who the fuck is he?" asked vols
zephyr gritted his teeth so hard that even vols could hear the sound
'what's up with him? and why is that blondie calling julius a failure? wasn't he some kind of war hero?'
"sir rosta, with all due respect i shall not let you speak ill of my former captain. captain blamore was an amazing man who cared deeply about his comrades and subordinates. he died protecting our kingdom, there's no failure in that"
the kid snorted
" my father says that julius was an embarrassment for kairkar, because of his incompetence a whole unit had been wiped out" he said nonchalantly
vols looked at eira who was just staring with sad eyes at zephyr. the latter was red in anger
'i don't know who that kid is but eira called him rosta, and the badge on the old man's jacket next to him is that of the local small nobel family zelos. whatever happens now will come back to bite us in the ass later on, the kid seems to just want to pick a fight and zephyr looks ready to comply. i can't let him piss off a noble family'
zephyr took a step forward glaring bullets at rosta. the former knew him well, rosta was a dispicable kid that beat up commoners for fun. zephyr heard rumours that he once ordered a man killed because he looked at him funny
zephyr knew he shouldn't let him get under his skin, but listening to him drag his father's name through the mud around all his old friends like that enraged him.
suddenly he felt a hand on his shoulder. he looked back at his youmger brother who looked at him with the same mean eyes he had since he was born
zephyr knew his brother more than anyone, he might be a bit odd and quiet but he still loved him nonetheless. but right now he felt nothing but rage at his brother for not looking the least bit upset about rosta talking shit about their father
vols squeezed his brother's shoulder in warning but for the first time in their lives, zephyr pushed it off and snarled at him
vols knew what was coming so before he let zephyr yell at him he turned to blondie with a lazy look on his eyes
" sir rosta, why has someone of you caliber come here to this poor part of the town?"
vols asked with a calm voice but he felt nothing like that on the inside
rosta was taken aback by the child's question and tone, he thought they would yell and curse at him which would give him a good reason to beat them up
" well, i was bored back at the house so i decided i should walk around here and see how filthy commoners spent their days" he replied smugly
vols nodded " well, as you can see we don't do much. although, the merchant's district is pretty busy at this time of day, maybe you should go there and check it out" vols replied with the same lazy look on his face
he was getting sick of looking at snob face but had to keep indulging him until he left
"are you kicking me out! do you know who i am?! i will have my father kill you and your whole family!''
vols' eye twitched, he didn't like people threatening him or his family
"why do you not understand me sir? i just suggested you should check out the merchant's district, they have quiet a lot of lovely stuff and delicious food there. if you don't want to then that's that" vols shrugged
people were getting bored with the confrontation so they left.
vols looked at them in digust ' all they wanted to see was a fight so they could gossip about it later on. humans truly are disgusting'
rosta looked at the now empty street and glared at vols. he then turned around and left.
eira was looking at vols in awe while zephyr in discontent
"if you have done what you were going to do he would have had a good reason to flunt his status and beat you up'' vols explained
" i know that, it's not what i care about"
zephyr spat
" why didn't you seem the less bit concerned about them spitting these lies about father? not only that, but it seems to me, not just now, that you don't care about him"
'cause i don't'
vols could either lie his way out of this one or be honest with his brother. he thought about what william would do, and he already knew that william wouldn't even have thought about it for a second and lied without even licking his lips. but when vols was still a newborn he promised himself that he would not want to have regrets when it came to his new family.
once he got his feelings, the world turned from black and white to grey and sometimes pink when he saw his mother smile or his brother laugh.
so vols did what william could never do and said the truth
" i think that what rosta was saying held a grain of the truth. i think" and he glared at eira " that things have been kept from us about the real nature of father's death"
"WHY ARE YOU CALLING HIM FATHER, HE'S DAD!" zephyr yelled
vols was surprised by the sudden outburst but didn't show it on his face
"zephyr you should put yourself in my shoes, whereas you lived with father for five years i have never even seen his face. mother burned all the photographs of him around the house so i don't even know how he looked like. so maybe i don't care about him as much as you do and i sure as hell won't let you ruin your future for the honor of a dead person" he said
' is this kid really five?' eira thought
"but he's not just a dead person vols, he's our father" zephyr whispered as he looked down at the ground ashamed with the tears that streamed down his face. he clenched his hands and gritted his teeth
'why is he so cold? he's like that with everyone but me and mom'
and as if to prove his point vols lightly punched zephyr on his chest
" i know that if father was half the man you are he would've been the best dad" vols quietly said
zephyr looked at him with his big teary eyes in sad appreciation and sobbed, vols hugged him and let him cry on his shoulder.
eira looked at the two boys and felt a hard tug at his heart
' you have two wonderful boys captain. they will grow up to be great men'
when zephyr stopped crying and let go of vols, the latter turned around and glared at eira
" master i think you should tell us exactly what happened with dad"
zephyr didn't miss the change from father to dad and smiled inwardly
eira gulped and nodded
zephyr wipped his tears " yeah, i need to know too"
..