The Siblings

In Lumin Village, a small tatch-roofed house sits calmly atop a small hill. Outside, a small group of 6 or so men and women laugh and joke while a short girl stands on a box. She possesses all of the same features as the woman inside, lips arched into a wide grin, small button nose, and dark brown eyes. Her shoulder-length blonde hair is tied back with a blue ribbon. She wears simple green cloth dress that passes her knees. Beside her stands a boy of about 5 or 6, the same age as her. They were twins. The boy had darker brown hair, serious eyes, piercing even, especially for someone who was so young. He wore a black scarf that covered his mouth and neck, as well as the lower half of his nose. Similarly to his sister, he wore simple clothing, but instead of a dress, he wore a tattered and dirty shirt and pants. His hands were scarred and you could see old bloodstains on his shirt and pants.

"Lily," he says, "Is she really alright?"

"Yup! Is little brother Roger worried about his new younger sibling?" she says mockingly.

"Two minutes." he says glaring at his older sister.

"Still makes you the younger brother," she says cheerfully, with an almost infuriatingly large smile.

"Whatever." he says, diverting his eyes to the small group gathered in front of the house. When that happens a click from the door is heard and an old woman walks out of the home with a smile.

"It's a boy, give them some time, but you are free to check in with Rena whenever you like," she says before looking towards Roger. "Don't be as rough on him as you are yourself Roger, I can't spend all of my time healing both of you. You are enough as it is." Roger nods, his serious eyes ease knowing the safety of his mother and his new baby brother.

"Yes Miss." he says, causing the old woman's head to nod approvingly before being clubbed in the head by Lily.

"Hey Granny! Can we go in now? What is baby brother's name!?" the formerly kind old woman turns towards Lily slowly, and Lily begins to sweat as she feels like she is facing the incarnation of an evil demon, looming over her.

"What did I tell you not 5 minutes ago Lily?" she hisses. Lily falls to her knees and places her head on the ground, shaking.

"S-Sorry Auntie." she says. Suddenly the pressure is lifted and the figure of a destructive demon is replaced by a smiling old woman.

"Now that wasn't so hard was it?" she says.

"Auntie is scary! Protect me Roger!" Lily cries, before leaping behind her brother.

He looks down at her pitiful figure and chuckles in his head. "Only if I am the older brother." he says

"Wow, Auntie suddenly seems so nice," she says, her personality flipping back to her cheerful self, and her smile returns. Roger becomes dejected as she narrowly avoids his victory yet again. Granny smiles again and answers Lily's previous questions.

"You can go in, but don't make too much noise. Your new brother's name is Arne. Go introduce yourselves." she says before going to chat with some of the surrounding group.

"Let's go Roger!" she cries, absolutely exploding from excitement. He nods, and quickly follows behind.

In a room within that home, Rena holds her newborn son Arne. She observes him closely and lovingly, noticing his lighter hair, sharper nose, and slightly pointed ears. She sighs, and then smiles warmly. Unless he shows off in magic too much, he shouldn't be found out. She holds his status card in her hand, before hiding it in the nightstand beside her. Until Arne can control his mana to absorb the card, it will not update, and has to stay in the physical world. She looks back into his eyes, the dull grey eyes happily stare back, accompanied by some childish giggles. Suddenly thundering, but light, footsteps are heard outside the door. Rena chuckles for a moment before the door flies open and a blurry blonde-haired figure zooms into the room.

"No wind magic in the house Lily!" she yells, before quickly flinching and realizing that she still holds Arne in her arms. Luckily he doesn't seem too bothered. Lily jumps onto her mother's bed practically bouncing between the bed and the ceiling in excitement. Roger strolls in.

"Mom, can I hold Arne?" Roger asks, mere milliseconds before the same words left Lily's mouth.

"Sure Roger, be careful with him." she hands Arne to Roger slowly and carefully as Lily looks on in agony. She wanted to hold him first.

Roger holds Arne carefully but firmly before looking deep into his grey eyes. They stare back. Roger and Arne look at each other for half a minute, and just before Lily begins ripping up the floorboards in anticipation, he hands Arne back to Rena. "Thanks mom," he says "His eyes are cool". Rena begins to sweat before looking at Arne's eyes only to see they are still grey.

"They are certainly unique," she says, cold sweat disappearing from her back as she smiles brightly at Lily.

"Lily, do you want to hold Arne before I put him to sleep?" Rena says.

"Yes please!" she says before grabbing Arne from Rena's hands, looking as relieved as if a one-ton weight was lifted off of her shoulders.

"Be careful!" exclaimed Rena.

"I know mom," she said, before looking into Arne's eyes and giggling uncontrollably, bouncing up and down. "I like his eyes too! I sure hope he turns out better than Roger though." her face drops pretending to be disappointed. Roger sighs. Lily continues to play with Arne until Rena tells her to bring Arne to her.

Within ten minutes, Arne and Rena have drifted off into peaceful slumber.

Roger and Lily look at each other. Then back towards their mother. "Bread, honey, and milk for dinner." says Roger. Lily smiles before they both go towards the dining room.

"Are you excited Roger?" Lily says. "In a few years, you'll have more than just a log to spar with. Though I'm not sure if he will be much better."

Roger laughs for the first time in a while, and says "I only wish Dad were here to see this. With him gone I'll have to train even harder to protect you three." he pulls down his scarf, exposing a long scar from his left nostril down onto his neck. He looks into Lily's eyes and says "You should learn to fight with more than just wind as well, you rely too much on it. I only use my earth magic to make pillars to spar with, yet you do almost everything with your wind."

"Yeah whatever Roger," Lily says as she grabs two plates and some bread and milk, "You're just jealous that I'm better at magic. Can you grab the honey please?" Roger's eyebrow twitches.

"Sure," he says. As he grabs the honey Lily continues to talk.

"If only it wasn't for this Sword Kingdom, Dad would still be here. Why do they even have war? What is the point? I hat-" before she could finish Roger puts his hand on her mouth and sets the honey on the table.

"You can think it," he says, "But don't say it out loud. Let's eat."

Soon the sounds of munching and gulping can be heard as the kids eat their fill of bread, milk, and honey. Roger leads Lily up to bed, so she doesn't fall asleep before being warm under a blanket. As the sky turns dark, Roger lights a candle in the bedroom then tucks Lily into bed and she quickly begins snoring. He looks around the room. It is sparsely furnished. There is one bed on each side, one for Lily, and one for him, and a chest at the foot of each bed. He blows out the candles so the only light comes from the window between the two beds. There is a table and chair beneath the window. On the table is an inkwell and a quill, as well as a few blank pieces of parchment for writing practice. They can afford to be schooled because of their mother being a former successful C-class adventurer, before starting a family. Meaning she was at least rank 15. Roger sits at the desk and looks out the window towards the woods before picking up the quill and writing on the back of a paper 'TRAINING' shakily. His handwriting was bad, but readable since he wrote in big letters.

He sets the paper on his neatly made bed, and leaves the house to go towards the forest.