A young boy with silver hair and a chubby face stands on his tippy toes as he tries to watch his sister and brother fight one another on the training field. He could barley gaze over the railing, but despite this hardship, he watched with apt attention as they used their abilities with grace and ease.
His eyes followed his brother as he lunged at his sister, sword in hand. His eyes light up as the once silver sword was slowly encased in inky black shadows. The shadows danced off the sword in waves as if it was testing the word itself.
The sword missed his sisters stomach by a single inch. His brother clicked his tongue and turned, this time launching an attack with his hand. A fire ball the size of a persons head manifested in his brothers hand.
His sister's head turned last minute and the fire was doused with a water ball of the same size. She smirked as their brother scowled.
The little boy could barley contain his excitement. "Father, will I have abilities like that?"
His father glanced down at him, his expression hidden by the rays of sun.
"As a Frenzel it is expected that you will inherit the fire or shadow ability, but like your sister it is possible to attain the water ability as well."
The boys eyes glowed even brighter, "then what about my unique ability? Will I be able to control objects with my mind? Or stop time like big brother?"
His father laughed, "What ever it will be, it will be just as powerful as your siblings."
The image disorted, blending the colors and shapes together until a new image appeared.
"Place your hand on the orb." His father said. He stood on the other side of the crystal orb with his hands behind his back. His father was smiling. It was strange to see such a smile on his fathers face. Usually his father would only give a half smile when he smiled, but this type of smile he had only seen on a few rare occasions, like when he was going to war.
The little boy smiled back and reached out with his hand. Almost immediately a bright light covered the room, blinding those that were in it. Despite the blinding light, the little boy kept his eyes open and stared at the small orb.
He had been preparing for this moment for most of his life. In order to understand the process he read countless books on the different abilities, including one on what color the orb would change to if he had a certain ability. It was pretty simply. Black for shadow, yellow for light, red for fire, blue for water, green for earth and grey for wind. If a person had two or more abilities than the orb would be multicolored with the abilities that the person had.
He had asked his siblings prior to today about their orbs. His brothers orb was black and red like their fathers and his sisters was blue just like their mother. This had given him high hopes that he too would have an orb of those colors.
There was one thing that left him stumped. Unique abilities. He wasn't positive on how people knew they had a unique ability. The books never went over them and when he asked his siblings, they simply shook their head and told him that he would know.
Scrunching his eyebrows together and biting his lip, he hoped that he would have good abilities just like his siblings.
The light dimmed down and he sucked in a breath.
Blinking he leaned forward.
The orb was colorless.
He tilted his head in confusion and retracted his hand. "Father, what does this mean?" He turned to his father hoping for an explanation.
He froze. His eyes went wide and he flinched. A cold sweat broke out on his skin and he found himself taking a step back towards the door.
He had never seen his father look at him like that. His eyes were glowing red and his whole body was shaking. He was gritting his teeth and his face was scrunched up as he bore holes into him.
"Fa-ther." He hesitated to say.
"Bert!" His father yelled. The shadows around him flickering as the air in the room physically got hotter. He took another step back, afraid of what his father was doing.
"Father?" He hesitantly called out again. This time his father reacted.
"Stop calling me that!" He yelled, "you do not have the rights to call me that! You are not my son! You are not a Frenzel!" The shadows lashed out towards the boy.
The little boy screamed and tripped over his own feet as he tried to back away. Tears welled up in his eyes as he watched with shock and fear the shadows rushed toward him.
The door behind him opened and a pair of strong arms wrapped around him, pulling him into a warm embrace. The boy looked up with shaky eyes. Bert, his fathers butler was holding him tightly, covering up most of his body from his fathers view.
"Apologizes Master, I will take care of this right away." Bert spoke in a monotone voice and hurriedly rushed out of the room.
He could barley hear his father yelling as they ran down the hall. The little boy didn't want to listen, but the words his father spoke resonated in his head.
He was not a Frenzel. He was no longer his fathers son. His fist clenched onto Berts coat. Worry, fear and sadness flooding his mind.
The image distorted once more into a different scene.
This time the little boy was no longer little. He was a teenager, his silver hair was tied behind him and his red eyes were dull as he walked towards the Royal Academy. His skin was very pale and he had bags under his eyes. Blue and black bruises decorated his skin like jewelry. He didn't try to hide it.
A group came up to him, their intentions obvious from the looks on their faces. The boy with silver hair didn't even try to fight back as the beating began. He knew it was useless. No one would care. Not even his own family.
The boys thoughts drifted into his head.
Why must I go through this?
Why did this happen?
Why wasn't I given an ability?
Why. Why. Why. Why. Why…..there were too many questions with no one to tell him the answer. So he took it into his own hands.
If no one cared about his life, then why should he care about theirs. A smile graced his lips and a heinous plan formed in his head.
He would make them pay.
———————
Aether scrunched his nose, he groaned in discomfort and moved to his side. Nestling into the warm blanket until he found a comfortable spot.
"Young Master? Are you awake?" Mina's voice drifted into his ear. He groaned again and buried his head even deeper into the pillow.
"Young Master." Mina chided. "It's best to wake up now." She gently nudged his shoulders. Aether groaned once more and pushed her hands away.
"Young Master." Mina's voice hardened. The next thing Aether knew his warmth was taken away and the freezing cold penetrated his skin.
Shivering, Aether groaned once more and woke up with squinted eyes. He glared at Mina before rolling over and sitting up. He put a hand on his head and hissed out in slight pain.
He had been dreaming about something, but the images were all a blur. He could only remember bits and pieces, a pair of dull red eyes, shadows moving towards him and two people fighting each other. He had a vague understanding that what he had been dreaming of was the memories of the previous Aether, but something about it was off.
If he had been dreaming if the previous Aether's memories, why couldn't he remember them clearly?
"Mina?" He called out. He sighed as he let go of his head and glanced around the room. He was back in his new room in the Frenzel Mansion, though for some reason it seemed a little too bright. As if someone had gone through and replaced the furniture that looked a little dull with bright new ones.
"Yes, Young Master?" Mina was folding the comforter that she had ripped of the bed. Neal stood like a knight on the side with his hands outstretched, ready to take the comforter away when it is placed in his hands.
"How long have I been asleep?" He pushed his hair back, grimacing at how dirty it felt.
Mina gave a strained smile and rushed to his side, holding onto his arm as he got out of bed.
"It's been three days Young Master." Mina replied effortlessly as if it wasn't abnormal to sleep for three days straight.
Aether frowned at the news. 'Why did I sleep for so long?' The time frame and the blurred images in his mind gave him an ominous feeling, but nothing more.
Aether pushed the worry out of his mind and decided to focus on other matters for the time being. "What have I missed while I was…sleeping."
Mina helped him to the bathroom as they spoke. He didn't bother looking in the mirror, knowing that he probably looked like shit.
"Hmm," Mina pondered, "Not much has happened while you were asleep."
Aether glanced at her. He couldn't believe that nothing had happened while he was asleep. Especially because this world was too chaotic for nothing to happen.
"What is my brother and father up to?" He decided to change tactics. It was normal for a maid in the Frenzel household to see everything crazy that would happen as a normal day occurrence especially if they were used to serving a Frenzel personally.
Mina did not hesitate when she spoke, "Master Leon has spent his days training and Master has been either in his study or observing Leon in his training."
Aether nodded. 'So nothing abnormal about those two.' He idly thought as he washed his body.
"Has there been any news on what transpired at the Palace?" Aether asked.
Mina froze. Her smile faltering for a single second before being replaced by her normal smile. She probably thought that Aether couldn't see her expression, but he was able to see her reflection in the water.
"No." She replied crisply. "Young Master, how about we go for a small stroll in the garden today." She quickly changed the subject.
Aether internally sighed at the others obvious change in topic, but nonetheless agreed.
The previous Aether had probably seen the training grounds a couple of times prior to him being discovered to having no abilities, but he had personally never seen them. Perhaps he could see them while out on his walk, though he knew that Mina and Neal were going to do everything they could to change his course and keep him away from the training field. After all, with how the previous Aether was treated it wasn't hard to assume why Mina would try her hardest to keep him away from any signs of danger.
Mina and Neal dressed him up in a basic outfit. Black pants and a white shirt. It was light and easy to move in. Perfect for a hot day.
The garden was boring. Yes the roses were pretty and the air was refreshing, but that was it. There wasn't anything special or unique about the garden. It was like any other garden and that bored him. He had been walking the gardens paths for at least an hour now and he hadn't come across any obvious paths that would lead to the training grounds and he was beginning to loose hope.
"Mina." Aether paused in his steps and glanced at two paths possible paths before him.
"Yes, Young Master?" Mina tilted her head to the side.
"I would like to visit my brother. Which way leads to the training grounds?" He pointed to the two paths before him.
Mina began to panic, "Young Master, I don't think it's wise to go over there right now. Why don't we head-" Mina had grabbed his elbow and nudged him towards the left path just a tiny bit, but that was all Aether needed.
"Oh? So it's this way." Aether smiled then quickly turned away from Mina and headed straight down the right path.
"Wait! Young Master! I don't think you should head over there." Mina yelled as she followed behind him.
"It will be fine." Aether reassured her, "Leon is the one training and besides its not like I am going onto the training field. I will just be watching."
Mina was not reassured. If anything the worry in her eyes were growing the closer they got.
CLANG
CLANG
Aether's head perked up at the sounds of swords clanging and he smiled brightly when the training grounds came into view.
"See, nothing to worry about…." Aether face grew pale.
His brother Leon was training with a real sword. Blood was dripping down his arms and forehead and he was breathing heavily. The shadows around him mixed in with burning flames. Like spikes they attacked their opponents with sharp accuracy, kicking up dust as they pierced the ground.
Eight men shrouded in darkness attacked Leon from all sides. Their attacks were merciless and brutal. Most of them missed, but some landed. Aether flinched when a sword slashed down at Leon's head. Leon barley managed to dodge, but the sword still grazed his shoulder causing a long dark red gash to seep through his clothes.
Aether took a step back. Mina grabbed his arm once more and urged him, "Young Master, please it's best not to be here. Especially not now." Aether had to agree with Mina. Obviously his brother was undergoing intense training and from the looks of it was not fully aware of his surroundings. The area surrounding the training ground was in ruin. The make shift seating area was destroyed and the few areas of greenery were scorched.
Aether nodded, "Perhaps it's best to-"
"Aether. What are you doing here?"
Aether turned towards the voice. His father was walking towards him. His hands were behind his back and his face was neutral. He wore the same outfit that Leon was wearing.
'Was he also training?'
Bert followed close behind him with a towel in his hands and a tense expression.
"I, um…" Aether glanced behind him. Mina now stood a couple steps away with Neal, their heads lowered. "I was taking a stroll in the garden when I came upon this area." He glanced down for a second before changing his expression to one of worry and distress, "Am I disturbing you?"
His fathers calculating eyes stared down at him for a moment. He let out a puff of air and turned to face Leon on the training field. "No. In fact your presence might be what Leon needs." He outstretched his arm and gestured to Aether.
"Follow me."