"Ciel!" Shouting could be heard slowly coming closer.
With a full power hug, Ciel was tackled by his little sister. Swiftly moving and catching her, so she wouldn't get hurt, he caught her in a brotherly embrace.
"It's our first day of training with Father!" After going through many teachers, Ciel and Cece had not failed to overwhelm their instructors. Born with gifted bodies and talents, they learned everything quickly and because of their physical abilities, training them to fight for the Candidate Rights became Ceasar's goal. Realizing that his children were abnormal from a very young age, he quickly and happily took interest in them. And today, he was going to be attending their new training session.
Ciel patted his sister's head gently.
"Yeah, let's go."
On their way to the training grounds inside of the palace, many people's gazes loomed over the two children. Envy. Jealousy. Fear. Greed. Lust. They all coveted the only children Ceasar had ever taken care of. Of the many children that Ceasar had, these two were special.
"We'll be training together like I told you." Ciel had promised his little sister that he was going to make it so that they could train together and spend more time with each other.
"Yeah!"
Ciel was about to turn 6 years old, and he had already shown incredible capabilities for someone his age. Being able to control Alm and enhance his body to perform superhuman movements at the tender age of 5. The first in history to have ever done so. A unique existence that was to be protected.
Cece was 4 years old and she had shown incredible progress in her studies and began taking a hobby in collecting different animals. Everyone believed it to be a normal and cute hobby, however, only Ciel was aware that his little sister made contracts with the animals instead of taming or controlling them. They were there of their own free will based on the contract. Something that had never been done before.
"Young master, young lady, we have arrived." One of their butlers quickly opened the door for them and gestured for them to enter
As they entered the room, they felt the overwhelming presence of their father sitting on a chair while everyone lined up in two parallel lines and sat on the ground. Their greedy gazes landing on them as they walked toward their father.
"Hey."
"Hello, father."
With a lighthearted hello from Ciel and a respectful approach from Cece, the people in the room gasped.
"You're as disrespectful as always."
Ciel looked up at his father.
"You're my dad."
As if implying that he didn't need to show any sort of respect to the ruler of the strongest kingdom because he was his father.
With a loud laugh, Ceasar put his hand on his chin.
"Very well. You will be going first. I found you a suitable teacher."
"Estar, please teach him a lesson."
"Yes, your majesty."
With a quick response, a tall man with defined features and a trained body stepped up in front of Ciel.
But Ciel wasn't interested in him. He wanted lessons from the strongest person in the kingdom, his father. He wanted to excel like his sister did. He didn't want to be left behind. He wanted to show his sister that he was someone she could be proud of.
"You're not gonna train me personally?"
"That's enough out of you! How dare you disrespect his majesty's decision!" Estar, an extremely loyal follower of Ceasar, swung his leg at Ciel, attempting to kick him.
While still looking at his father, Ciel caught his leg in his small hand reinforced by an incredibly dense amount of Alm. Shocking everyone who was present. Estar wasn't some pushover even if he was holding back for the sake of training.
However, with a cold gaze, Ceasar only looked at Ciel. Thinking to himself that his son was incredible. He didn't show any emotion, but he only thought of how to use him. The last son he had was a gift from his beloved.
Ciel clicked his tongue as if he knew what his father was thinking.
With a slow and incredible grip, his fingers began to carve into Estar's leg. With a quick burst, Estar used his power to remove his leg while losing some use of his leg as Ciel had dug his fingers inside of his ankle.
"Ceasar, I'm here to learn from someone powerful, not someone like this."
With an angry expression on his face, Estar moved to attack but only pretended and feinted his approach. Ceasar didn't move as he knew it was a futile attempt, but what he didn't realize was that his target was his sister who was standing idly by watching this unfold.
Unable to react in time, Cece was struck down by a large fist and shoved into the floor of the dojo. She was hit in the stomach and knocked down a few feet. Groaning and almost immediately crying because of the pain.
Ciel saw this and lost his head for a moment.
He didn't like what he saw.
Bloodlust was building up in him naturally. As if the gods had interfered with his body.
Gifting him with powerful and incredible gifts. The Alm around his body began to tremble like a wave. As if it was angry.
"It seems only the young master has incredible reflexe-"
Ciel looked like he teleported as he arrived above and behind Estar. He grabbed the head of the man and swung it down as his face landed on the Alm enhanced floor.
With a crazy smile, Ceasar stood up.
Bloodlust was coming out of an almost 6 year old child. As if that wasn't enough, his attribute was manifesting as well. Blue lightning screeched and sparked from his hand and burned the back of Estar's head.
Lost in his rage, he killed Estar by blowing up his head with enough lightning to make a hole on the floor. His power continued to rise as his small body began to crackle and steam began to leave his body.
With a roaring laughter, Ceasar Skye voraciously looked at Ciel.
Two attributes; and one of them was water. The legendary attribute said to change the weather and move the land. The almost 6 year old possessed unparalleled talent. Ciel's body should have overheated from using too much lightning without any prior training and died on the spot, but because he had dual attributes, his body protected itself and at the same time, released its power.
A few of the people who were sitting down stood up in anger. Especially those who supported Estar. Ciel noticed this and stomped on the ground hard enough to make cracks around him and his sister, creating a small crater inside the dojo. Scaring everyone who was present and about to revolt.
"Anyone who moves will be punished." With a tremendous amount of bloodlust, those who wanted to move couldn't even if they wanted to. It was as if he was challenging them against his authority. Telling them to move if they weren't afraid. Telling them to take action if they could.
With a few steps, Ciel reached Cece who was crying on the floor.
"It's okay. He won't hurt you again. No one will ever hurt you again." He glared at his father with extreme bloodlust.
Helping her up, Ciel held her in his small but strong arms and took her out of the training dojo, leaving everyone else present in shock and awe.
His father laughing hysterically as he left.
"It's okay, Cece, everything's okay. I know it hurts, but it'll pass." As she cried in his arms, he walked slowly back to their house. His power slowly adjusting and manifesting inside his body.
Once he arrived, he placed his sister down on the bed and ordered for a healer to come by as quickly as possible. Not leaving his sister's side for a second.
After that, Ceasar gave permission and extra guards and servants to Ciel and Cece. Wanting to keep them close. However, his gestures were in vain as Ciel already had hatred in his heart.
Two years passed and Ciel had turned 8. He was now proficient with his abilities and his body's movements were fluid like his attribute. His sister was now 7 and she became a celebrity in the kingdom's main palace and the main street. She became known for being an animal lover and the sister of the kingdom's new hope and leader, Ciel.
Ciel and Cece frequently went out of the palace and visited the main street. They would play with the children there and they got to know the different stores that were in the kingdom. They got to meet all sorts of people from the slums to the aristocratic areas. They were famous for being friendly and were loved by the people of the kingdom. Unlike all the other siblings who only ever stayed in the palace.
And during this time, Ciel and Cece grew very quickly. Under his tutelage, Cece became a ferocious rare ability user. Electromagnetic waves. The ability to control electromagnetic waves was her attribute. It was a special power that absorbed Alm rather than released Alm. The Alm around her was different. It wanted to be used. She didn't have to summon her power and exert herself because the Alm itself was attracted to her. It was the first time something like this had happened in history and she was being taught by her brother. However, Ciel had grown to become desperate. He had seen his sister's talent and realized he wasn't special. He worked harder than anyone and trained in secret at night in order to keep up with his sister. Even though he didn't need to, he stabilized his foundations and learned to use every weapon possible. He had mastered and had learned new ways of training Alm, from breathing to movement. He refined everything on his own and created his own versions and taught his sister. She only excelled further with his help and made him feel like he needed to work even harder.
And today was the day where they would hold a training session in the main plaza of main street. Where people often gathered to watch the two siblings train with fervor.
"I won't go easy on you, El!"
"That's okay, don't hold back." Is what Ciel said, but he knew how strong his sister was and was actually worried that he wouldn't be able to keep up. However, this was needless worry in reality, but in his mind, he felt weak. He knew he was weak. If something happened, he wouldn't be able to protect his sister. It was a fear he always carried with him. His feelings of inadequacy and inferiority were his biggest weaknesses.
In order to not damage the streets, they simply fought with what Ciel liked to call Alm concentration training. He would attack with a certain pattern of Alm on his palm and Cece had to match the pattern as fast as she could while they clashed and fought with each other. It was a unique training method he invented to strengthen his sister's ability to use Alm The purpose of this training was to meet palm to palm with the same pattern of Alm. However, if the pattern wasn't the same, there would be resistance and Cece's arm would recoil back until she got it correct.
With the first swing, Ciel showed Cece the pattern and now she had to match it with every hit she threw. She charged at Ciel with tremendous speed and began barraging him with what seemed like an unlimited number of attacks.
But Ciel blocked every single one without changing his smiling expression and the crowd cheered and cheered. Each hit heavy with Alm and power behind it. Causing small shockwaves that caused air pressure to hit a few of the people around. It was not strong enough to hurt them, but it was enough to make them move back. After an amazing display of agility and combat prowess, Cece was able to match his pattern and they clashed palms. Thus ending the short training session.
The people cheered and everyone began to offer things to Cece for doing so well in her training against Ciel. Everyone knew how talented she was. However, they also knew that the young Ciel was a monster in his own right. They heard the stories told from the palace and how the maids and even some of the senators would often talk about him. Everyone who held a powerful position liked to talk about Ciel's abilities and often encouraged rumors to spread.
The next king. The next ruler. The one who will change the future for the kingdom.
While Ciel was congratulating his sister on doing so well in the training, he noticed a boy that was looking at them with awe.
There was a boy around his age looking at him with an intense gaze. It was the same feeling he felt from his sister. This boy was someone who could climb the mountain.
He looked like he was from the slums and was wearing rags and no shoes. He was a short kid with black hair and eyes. Pale skin and a scrawny body.
All of this happened in an instant and Cece noticed where his brother was looking.
A few birds landed on her shoulders and on her finger.
"The birds say he smells like fire."
"Oh?" To his surprise, it seemed his sister also noticed the anomaly before them.
Ciel walked up to the boy and extended his hand out.
"Come with me."
The boy looked confused but wasn't scared even after that display of power.
"Are you going to leave me hanging?" Asked Ciel.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I'm the third son of count Frenziel. It is a pleasure to meet the rising hope of our kingdom!" With a nervous and agitated tone, he introduced himself, but it made Ciel wonder why he was in rags if he was the third son of a count.
That was when Ciel realized he didn't introduce himself with his name but as the third son of the count.
"What's your name?" Asked Ciel with a demanding tone, as if he was angry.
"I don't have one."
With a silent nod, he looked at his sister. She looked at the boy with anger as well. Thinking he had done something wrong, he cowered before them.
"Follow me." The nameless boy couldn't defy the words of the future king of their kingdom. He followed politely and meekly behind the siblings, the crowd moving apart for them as they realized the expression on their faces.
Eventually, they made it back to the main palace and went inside without the guards batting an eye to them bringing a poor looking boy in. Having been given orders from the king directly to not interfere with them, they simply overlooked everything, even if they were curious. They had heard about the stories that go on in the main plaza, but had never seen it.
The people inside the palace wanted to learn about what they were like outside the palace, and those outside wanted to learn what they were like inside of the palace. The whole kingdom revolved around the rising hope of their kingdom. The most talented person to have ever been born.
They made it to their house and Cece quickly made her way to her room to say hello to all the different animals she had now made a contract with. She had 5 different small animals happily coexisting inside her room because of the contract she had made with them.
Ciel took the boy to the training grounds and then asked him a question.
"Show me what you can do with your Alm. Release it." The boy tightened his grip and looked down, ashamed.
"I'm weak. I can't do much. I-"
"Show me." The boy felt an intense pressure he had never felt before. He felt small. He felt the pressure of a higher being before him. Someone so powerful that he could not defy.
Instinctively, he released his power in the form of a small flame on his palm.
"This is the best I can do." With sorrow in his voice, he showed what he had worked so hard for all these years only to be met with contempt from his family. He didn't want to show Ciel because he knew it wasn't much.
"You're using your power wrong. It's surprising enough that you're using fire."
That's right. The boy knew. He couldn't use fire correctly like the rest of his family and that was why he was treated the way he was treated.
"Remember the flow that I'm about to teach you." The boy was confused, but not for long.
Ciel rushed in and landed his palm on his chest and sent waves of Alm throughout his body, making his body almost explode.
"Focus on the flow. This is how you use your power."
The boy did as he was told. The Alm inside his body began circulating in a completely different and specific way than before.
And his body showed signs of it. Ciel noticed his hand was getting warmer. And then hotter. And eventually, it began to burn so he removed his palm from the boy's chest.
The boy then began spitting out what seemed like blood but wasn't.
It had an incredible amount of Alm radiating from it as it dripped on the floor and melted the ground. Leaving a small puddle of red liquid.
"It's lava." Said Ciel, surprised and in shock.
He couldn't help but think to himself how many special people were around him. If he could feel heat from someone who wasn't even able to control their power, then what would happen if he knew how to control it?
Ciel's thoughts spiraled as the boy worked hard to make the Alm circulation his own. He could feel the power coming from his body and could feel the power of the lava he spat out. Something had awakened in him.
"You'll be staying with us from now on. Don't worry about your family. We'll get you a room." With sincerity and interest, he gestured to a maid nearby and had her arrange all commodities for him.
As he went on his way with the maid and tried his best to focus on the Alm circulation he had just learned, Ciel stood staring at the lava that had poured out of the boy's mouth.
Thinking of a way to use his power. Thinking of a way to train him. Thinking of a way to make him a bodyguard for his sister.
Out of all the weapons he had learned how to use, he believed none of them fit him better than the bow. A bow with blades at each end for close combat and long distance. He had found the first bodyguard for his sister.