CHPT 422: Late Night History Lessons....

Training had come to a close. And with it, Claude was left with much to speculate. Not that he wasn't always speculating things to some degree, but recent discoveries had left his mind on the topic of Romulus and Remus. The two mythological heads of enemy-- yet related, races. Their ability to create what Claude had become felt more grounded than ever. Seemingly, it had a traceable origin-- their power at it's base value suddenly felt tangible in an odd way.

A touch of reality had fallen on their shadowy images in Claude's mind. But only a touch. Nothing more. Possibly never more.

Even so, the more he learned, the more questions he seemed to develop in mind. There were dozens swirling around in his mind like birds in a cage as he walked through the forest back towards his boat full of sleeping teammates. Frosty and Gil followed close behind, playing around with a stick that looked ready to crumble from the multitude of bite marks.

"Arne...."

"[Uh oh...]"

"What?"

Arne chuckled dryly, "[When you go silent for long stretches of time, the next time you speak is usually because you have a question.]"

"Don't make me sound so predictable."

"[I have no choice; I live in your head. Ask your question.]" Arne said.

"Well, I never thought I'd say this..... but in this Tangent, we have some downtime. We're safer in here than out at Sea where who knows what is turning the waters into a monstrous cyclone."

"[Mhm.]"

"So, tell me more about Romulus and Remus. Their story is still patchy in my mind. I know they grew up in the Islandian tundra, raised by Wolves. I know Remus was a jealous, anxious and afraid as a kid. I know that's what led him to slaughtering a village his brother was slowly inserting himself into. And I know that's what led them to being found by Hunters. Everything else comes after they'd become Lupines. What more led up to it?"

"[Well, it's quite simple really. They became teenagers.]"

Claude almost stopped where he stood in the forest simply because of how lack luster the response was, "Arne, what the fuck?"

"[What?]" Arne shot back defensively.

"What does that even mean?"

"[It means everything that could happen to aggravate a troubled bond happened. Drama, misfortune, competition, rivalry..... romance. These things are so profound as a young adult. They are your whole world really.]"

"So.... what? All that happened and they just split?"

"[Not quite.]" Arne replied, "[It's a much longer and more complex process. It started out as a new world of experiences for them both. After they'd been taken by the Hunters-- fresh after their mind opening experience with the Monsters in the Cave, it was all new. New people, new Cities, new everything. Apparently, Romulus said it was stressful in ways he'd never experienced, but fun to learn. He said his brother had scared people off from even looking at him. Romulus was a lot like his handler in those times from how he described it. Even so, I heard Romulus cherished his early years in Hunting Schools.]"

"Sounds difficult." Claude thought.

"[Yes for most. But Romulus was cunning-- observant above all else. And his observations usually led him to wild or uncommon ideas.]"

"Yea no kidding." Claude mumbled.

"[He learned people had a respect for strength, but more often than not, the important ones preferred nobility, refinement and intelligence. He used his wild and combative brother as a weapon-- to increase the contrast between himself and his brothers less than agreeable qualities.]"

"That's cold...."

"[So is Islandia.....]" Arne shot back quickly in defense of their creator, "[My.... mentor, often told me Romulus felt terribly about his actions in retrospect. He said he wished he could've worked on helping Remus integrate more. But what he did helped him. It got him in with important people-- people who recognized that the two were leagues ahead of people years older than them. Of course, their peers recognized this as well, and for a while, the brothers were alone-- save for a few adults and academics. But eventually, they'd made friends-- teammates. One was a Healer who happened to be a giant of a young man. Even for Islandian standards. His name was Luka, and he was the first High Alpha of our Race.]"

Interesting, "And the second."

Arne grunted, "[A Tank... and she was, well Romulus never says it. But from everyone's account, she was the twins first love.]"

"Both....?"

"[Yes.]"

"Damn...." Claude said aloud as he jumped across a river.

"[Exactly.]" Arne commented, "[From all accounts, Romulus always described her as the most unconventionally beautiful woman he'd ever seen in the beginning. In a world of whites and blood reds, her skin was dark as treebark. Islandia demanded you to bulk up to survive the cold, she was tall and rail thin. In a world were hunting and killing was the priority, she wanted to help. Unconventional in many ways it seemed. Not that Romulus was the most reliable source though, it took them years to see their first human. The point is the boys were fond of her. She was the only person to talk to Remus, she helped him before even Romulus understood it would've been good to do so. Hell, she'd even gotten Remus a pet.]"

"Why doesn't this sound good?"

"[Because you know how it ends.]" Arne replied coldly, "[Naturally, the boys became more aware of their feelings as they grew older. Romulus found joy in how unapologetically human, ambitious and feisty she was, he enjoyed the new experiences she brought and what he could learn from her as a Noble from afar.]"

"And Remus....?"

"[Well. Remus only had his brother, and her. That made his connection to her that much more dire. Wolves need a pack, Claude. By this time, Remus hadn't truly had one for years. But he was managing. Romulus learned to protect his brother, but he found that when they weren't on the battlefield or in the Tangents, Remus looked ready to explode. The jealousy that had slowly grown between them in their longings for this girl didn't help anything.]"

"So, what caused the... explosion?"

"[She was murdered.]"

Claude couldn't help but feel like history was on the verge of repeating itself. Romulus found a connection, Remus became uncomfortable-- unstable, and did what he does best. Murder.

"Remus."

Arne was silent for a moment. Claude wondered if he was nodding.

"[No. Romulus.]"

"The fuck?!"

Arne grunted, "[The one that changed me told the story in the exact same way... bloody hell I might've been the same age as you are as well. Funny how that works.]"

"Wha-- why? You said she liked to help-- didn't she care about them?"

"[Yes. I left some bits out, I'm afraid. You're right, she did like and want to help. Her family, that is. She was smart-- she knew how they felt about her. She was ambitious, and she used those feelings to her benefit.]"

"The pet..." Claude mumbled.

"[She was cunning. And Remus was her target. In those times, he was visibly stronger than Romulus. Her family wanted Remus for something, Romulus never got to find out what exactly. All he knew was, his brother needed protecting. He didn't know what Remus would do upon learning the truth. So, he acted. He removed her to protect his fragile brother, later covering it up as a Dire Bear attack he couldn't get to in time.]"

"What about the family?.... I mean they still wanted Remus, right?"

"[It didn't matter much. You remember I told you they stood out, right?]"

"Yea..." Claude replied.

"[Well naturally, when things go sideways, outsiders are the first to be scrutinized. They descended on the twins like wild dogs, naturally they weren't strong enough to beat them senseless, they had to be more crafty. They had to go after what the boys cared about.]"

"Don't tell me." Claude mumbled as he remembered one key detail in Arne's story.

"[Yes. Remus lost another family member. It was a Hound. The one gifted to him by... well you know.]"

Claude sighed as if he was there.

"[It sounds insignificant to many I'm sure. But Remus built better bonds with his canine brethren than that of humans. He probably understood them better.]"

"I bet he did." Claude said as the boat loomed in the distance.

"[He killed ten students before Romulus and the Huntsman on the grounds could stop him.]"

There it was. The slaughter.

"[Remus found out sometime in between what Romulus had done, and it didn't help that Romulus wasn't on his side for what was to come after. He was later sentenced to life in Deadfang or Mertyvolk Prison. A rough Russian translation. But the name is important.]"

"Why?" Claude questioned.

"[Deadfang Prison at that time had the highest concentration of incarcerated Silver Cursed. Most were kept to be experimented on-- studied and used to entertain Nobles in dog fights. Remus found himself there at the ripe age of sixteen.]"

"How the fuck did they allow that?" Claude asked.

"[It was a different time-- a different world. Remus' strength was enough to overpower a dozen men. He was a Beast-Mage-- a monster in everything but body. ]"

"So that's how it started? That's when they started all this?"

"[Not exactly. Things truly picked up after Romulus dropped out of the Huntsman Schooling System and became a Prison Guard at Mertyvolk.]"

Claude came to a stop, facing his boat pulled ashore, the frozen over remains of the Undead Bladefiend hung off the side of the boat on a long wooden tendril. He could hear Ursula snoring inside while Ma hummed to herself. Once again, he only had more questions after hearing more about Romulus and Remus.

But, it was late.

"[I think that's enough of a history lesson for now, mate. Get some sleep. That'll be thawed by morning.]"

"Then we'll collect our experience, rewards and hit the water again."

"[Indeed.]" Arne replied.

As Claude climbed up onto the boat with Frosty and Gil, he found himself with a question he couldn't hold to himself.

"What was her name?"

"[Who?]"

"The girl in the story." Claude replied. "The one Romulus killed."

"[Oh right. Her name was, Gloria.]"

"....WHAT?"