“ Yes , But You Shine the Brightest , Big Brother .”

Zemus Alkyone, the youngest brother of Avis Alkyone, was seven years younger.

Avis Alkyone had shown to be very promising, but Zemus had not. He had always heard about the greatness of his brother and he wanted to follow but it was impossible, his mother had said so. He didn't have the talents his brother had shown, his mother had said so. He didn't deserve to go to school, his mother had said so. And lastly, he was not his brother, his mother had said so.

Avis, his great brother had smiled upon him at his ceremony, it was kind and true. But it wasn't enough to comfort him when everyone laughed. His mother looked happy, why was she happy? He remembered what the Stone had said.

Afraid is the hen, bore and raised a craven

There would be no gifts or drapes of golden dressings,

Return from pain as you break from the chain,

Come to me and you shall receive your blessings

But as the Stone stopped talking to him, nothing happened. Zemus didn't understand what that meant. But all he knew was he didn't belong with the other children. He was put to school but dropped out after he had learned how to read and write.

He wasn't with the rest of the children who were blessed, he'd watch them from his mother's room as they went out to school with the instructors. He noticed that his brother wasn't in sight, he'd love to ask about Avis but he was afraid of everyone and everyone seemed to be afraid of Avis. But he could hear the servants and maids talking, his brother was sent to the army, and mother seemed pleased when he had told her, once. But then refrained from ever mentioning his brother again.

Zemus was now eight years old, sneaking out to read books (that would break his mother's heart and throw them into a fit) and making potions, following the instructions of the book. But he had no blessings or power inside of him. He couldn't even do a simple enchantment such as making pebbles float. He'd read about them and pretend he was doing so, he had a strong imagination, and it was all he had.

He loved going outside and picking ingredients that were difficult to find, he'd bide his time as his mother went out to do whatever she does on the day. He'd take out his mag glass and then observe the odd plants he found, one time he found what he needed for his healing potion on the ledge of the chasms beside the castle, he heard someone calling out to him from the abyss but he knew better than to answer (he ran). He wondered if Avis was scared of the chasm as well.

He didn't see or talk with his brother, Avis was sent off outside the country most of the time and when he'd return with the other commanders, Zemus would watch with everyone else as the crowd paved way for them. Avis would scowl and glare at everyone, despite him looking smaller than the other commanders. Zemus thought it was funny. While there were people who feared his brother, there were also who admired him, he was both.

No one dared approach Avis unless they wanted their face to get burned off. Zemus liked that, he imagined himself as strong as him, able to tell everyone to back off. But just as his mother said, he wasn't him but that didn't stop him from ever wanting to meet him. He jumped off a rock and onto the ground, but then felt a push on his back.

"Oh look. It's the shame of the family." said one of the big kids as they cornered him against the wall. "You got books? Do you even know how to read?"

"Y-Yes, I do," he said, trying to act brave. "Don't you have school?"

The second child pushed him to the ground as he tried to stand, "Are you going to tell on us?"

But Zemus shook his head, and the second kid grabbed a herb out of his satchel. He tried to get it back but the third kid pushed him again, he yelled, "Give that back or I'll scream for my brother."

"We're all your brothers, aren't we? And Avis isn't here, so go ahead and scream." dared the first child, an amused smile playing on his lips.

Zemus didn't know why he bluffed about his brother but he tried and screamed for help. For anyone, really. And just as he expected, there was no one. They laughed at him and grabbed his shoulders. The second kid shoved the herb into his mouth, it was bitter and tasted weird.

After they had fun, they left, laughing at each other. Zemus spat out the herb, wiping his tongue with his clothes. Thank goodness the herb wasn't poisonous, he didn't have enough for an antidote. But still, what a waste of an ingredient.

"But they didn't take my food," he said, relieved. Zemus raised his head and saw a bright flame jump down on the chasms, he smiled, knowing who it was.

It was his first time down there, he hoped it wouldn't be the last. It was used as training underground for soldiers and prisoners, unwillingly. But there wasn't anyone as young as he was to have gone through the chasms other than Avis. The place was filled with lurking old beasts and humongous reptilian creatures, others had thought the place was perfect for Avis as that's what everyone had thought of him anyway, a beast.

Zemus didn't care that he was a beast. He remembered bits of memories of Avis, and it was all good until the Stone Ceremony. He wondered if Avis himself still remembered him.

So pretending that his anxiousness was a thrill for adventure, Zemus followed the light, through the sharp dirty walls, most likely filled with feces of different creatures (he shuddered at the thought). It wasn't until then that they finally spoke after such a long time.

"Brother…" he winced as he was pushed to the ground, harsher than the other kids did earlier, the flaming wings bright enough to make his eyes stricken with tears, although he couldn't tell if it was because of the brightness or because he was afraid.

"Who are you?" he was right, he doesn't remember him.

"I-I'm Zemus. Your brother, I followed you here."

Avis peered at him, suspicious. "Why?"

"Do I need a reason why? We're brothers. We have the same mother." he said nervously. Avis sat down and continued to peer at him, Zemus tried to look him in the eye, but it was different from just watching him from the sidelines, he looked down. "You don't believe me?"

Avis hummed. "I do. I was told I had many brothers and sisters. Of course, any child living at the castle would be bound to be one of them. But out of everyone, I didn't think it would be you," he said, not surprised at all. Zemus pursed his lips and then remembered something.

"I brought you something. These are…healing potions… and some food too, I knew you were going to come down here. You always do so…"

Avis looked at the packed burnt bacon, scrunching his nose when he got too close to sniff it. Zemus stifled a laugh but swallowed it down when he realized that his cooking wasn't very good. But Avis took one bite after he deemed it not poisonous, the one bite turned to two and three, and finally, Avis chowed down on the food, accepting the water as well.

But was reluctant to even touch the healing potions. "Did you make this yourself?"

"Yes," he coughed. "I learned it in an Alchemy book. It's for healing small cuts only and it's not even perfect." He knew it wasn't as effective as the ones their healer offers, and he'd only tested it on his wounds, and the results weren't precisely the same.

"It's good enough," said Avis as he dabbed a tear on his wounds. Zemus beamed at that—his first-ever compliment, and it was from the oldest child, his brother. The cuts healed slowly, almost incomplete, but he felt undoubtedly better. "So, how's mother, does she still think I'm a monster?"

Zemus felt taken aback. "Uhm… she's always scared."

Avis hummed, taking another bite. "So why did you follow me, Zemus? Why were you trying to hide from me?"

Zemus bit his lips, Why did I try to hide even when I wanted to follow him?

"You're scared of me aren't you? Just like mother. I understand."

"I'm not, I was just…trying to be discreet and talk to you when you weren't busy."

"You weren't exactly discreet. But I knew you weren't a threat, I was just suspicious, I didn't think you'd be able to follow me this long." he dabbed the last of his cut, saving a lot more drops in the tiny vial. "But how would you get back?"

He opened his mouth to respond but nothing came out. He panicked, I hadn't thought of that!

Avis scoffed and stood up, stretching his back. "I thought so… but don't worry, little brother— er — Zemus." he rolled the name of the tongue as if it was foreign to him. "We'll get out."

"Alright. Avis," he said.

He hummed, "I don't like that name, given by our mother and approved by our father."

"That's bad isn't it?" I like your name. "But we can't just change it."

He gazed up at the sky, which seemed so far away from where he was, yet Zemus believed it would be simple for Avis to fly out.

"Sure we can, we'll just change it, no one else gets a say in it, other than us two. I want nothing to do with our father or mother," he exclaimed, he was surprised at his tone didn't have a hint of bitterness.

Zemus nodded sympathetically. His father, the King, had never even looked at him more than once after the ceremony like he didn't even exist. The same went for the other weak children as well, but at least they had their blessings. No one was treated as less in their family, as everyone was treated the same in the castle; gruesome whips and forced studies. He wondered what it would be like if they were born into a different family.

"I shall name you Burno," exclaimed Avis. But Zemus pursed his lips, not liking the sound of the name.

"Why Burno?"

"Because you brought me burnt bacon."

"Yeah but we're all fire, aren't we?.." he looked down at his satchel, "Or at least, you are."

Avis hummed. "Good point…How about Baco? For the delicious bacon."

Zemus smiled at that, happy to know he was praised once again, that's the two from the person! "I like it, I think it's perfect."

Avis nodded in agreement, grinning. Zemus—Baco, looked at the stars, thinking of the perfect name for his brother. There were tons in his head but eventually, he decided on one. He coughed.

"Then I shall name you…Brytos, because you are bright."

"But aren't we all fire, Baco?"

"Yes, but you shine the brightest, big brother."

-

When Brytos was sent back to the other countries, he'd stay behind and polish his measly blessing and work on the poisons he got from the book. He'd hide somewhere in the chasm, testing it out on some small pest hiding inside the holes in some wall. They would all end up dead or crazy, either killing themselves to stop the pain or being unable to because it was too much.

It was intriguing to him to observe how various species would react differently. The weaker ones would squirm in agony before succumbing. The larger centipedes, which were as big as his arms, would coil up and die gradually, more slowly than the weaker ones. They'd cough up magma before attempting to protect themselves with their armor-like skin.

Then as soon as Brytos would come home and escape from the sights of their father, hiding somewhere in the chasms, he'd tell him all about it. They'd talk for so long that the sun would eventually go down, and if Brytos had returned at night, they'd still be talking when the sun went down.

"I brought something for you, something I found on this huge mountain, there was a school there so I snagged some things." he took out two books, that were laying on his side (Baco had wondered what that was since he was carrying it but didn't say anything)

The book had a brown wash, with the title 'Malediction and the Egotism of Stones' in gold, with a stamp at the bottom of the page, R.A. Baco took it and examined it, scanning the pages, it was filled with instructions of curses and enchantments, with complaints about the behavior of the Stones. "And this," he brought out a glowing golden stone. "I read about these things, they're called Whistling Stones," he explained to him and whistled at it to demonstrate.

"Even without blessings I could?" he said in awe, admiring the pages.

"Yes, there is a scarce amount of artifacts and stones in our country. Very rare, but the Uvites are rich with these, that's why we're so headstrong in conquering them," he explained, amused at the Baco, who looked as though he was handed a new toy. "You're smart. You might want to come with us, the next place we'd be hitting is Azurite, you might find something interesting…" he said.

"I'm sure I would, but I'm not fit," he said, as he read an advance curse.

"I'll make you fit, Baco, I'll make you stronger, then we can go together."

Baco paused at the thought, in a moment of realization, and looked at Brytos. "What if we ruled Carnelia, together? You know…we can make it a better place."

"That's a… nice idea. No more blood in my hands."

"Yes…" Baco closed the book, nodding to himself. "No one gets hurt if we rule together."

-

With the book and the whistling stone, he practiced even further for the years to come.

The larger creatures took their time, and the curse was frequently too weak to have any impact at all, so he'd return with a much stronger curse to bring the beast down, and he'd suffer the consequences if the curse was too much for him to handle. That was his theory at least.

When he had tried to bring down a giant centipede that had tried to coax him into playing with him, the whistling stone cracked. He panicked when he saw the slit but fortunately it was still working, although the glow of the stone wavered from time to time. He was careful to not strain the stone anymore.

"I need something stronger. If only I had a blessing," he whispered under his breath, he heard a knock on the door and immediately hid his book in a hidden sliding compartment under his bed. "Wait for a second!"

"Zemus, dear, hurry up this instance!" his mother called out.

He ran his hands through his red hair, and took a glance at the mirror, he looked awful as he stayed all night reading. Like always. He opened his door and his mother came in and immediately pulled him into her arms.

"Have you done anything wrong lately?"

By wrong, she meant literally everything and anything. But he stood still and let her hands caress his back as if he was a toddler. "No mother."

"Lies."

He winced at the sting of his cheek, glancing at the floor instead of his mother. Calm down. This could be worse. There was no way she found out about what he was doing, he made sure to be discreet, and she would never go near the chasms. But he didn't ask what he had done.

She forced him to look her in the eye, her sharp nails digging into his jaw, "One of your older brothers had lost an arm, they said they saw you there fleeing the scene. Now I know you didn't do it, there was no way you could've, but what were you doing there love?"

"I…" she can smell your lies, just tell the truth. "I-I… was listening in to their classes. I've been doing it for a while now."

She fell on his chair and wept, "I knew it. After all my warnings, after all my efforts. You just don't care." she sobbed into her arms, and he felt uncomfortable like he always did. "You're going to end up just like your brother, a monster."

That was her favorite line to use. You're going to become like Avis. You're going to become like your father. He continued to look down and thought about what he was going to say next, "I'm…ten now. I think I should go back to school."

"Back out there?" she grabbed him by the shoulders, gripping tightly, he winced as there was an unhealed bruise on the same spot, "They will make you kill out there. They will kill you out there, honey, you're weak and I can take care of you, alright? You have nothing to worry about."

"But I don't want to be here!"

She grabbed him by the hair and slammed him against the frame of the bed. Zemus choked back a sob. Brytos, where are you? He cried out in his head, hoping to see him there.

"I'm sorry sweetheart. I know I seem to like the bad person here. But believe me, I'm trying to protect you. Your father won't ever hurt you as he did to me. As he did to your brother," he felt his whole body wrapped in her embrace, and he squirmed under it, wanting to be back at the chasms. "From this day on, you will never leave this room. I will bring you food and books. Everything you need. You'll go out when I permit you so, and you will never leave my sight. You're much safer that way, my innocent angel."

Everything had somehow gotten even worse.

"Yes, mother."

-

When Brytos returned, he wanted to head straight for the chasms, where Baco was usually waiting for him. To his annoyance, the king had sent someone to tell him he was needed. He sneered, frightening the poor girl to her knees. He felt a sudden pity for the girl but didn't say a thing before going to the all too familiar side of the castle.

When he arrived at the King's window, he observed the chamber was lit but empty. Only the king's infamous golden armor remained, with the spear displayed beside it, there was a dragon engraving on its side, a pompous artistic touch, he thinks. The dark eyes of the helmet stared at Brytos, who was sitting on the sill, glaring at it. That armor never sat well with him, he always thought it was alive, more so, he had never seen anyone wear it, despite it being owned by the King, who had never accompanied them with the Uvites, who in turn, had their King always at the front lines.

He scoffed. Must be a trophy of some sort. He stepped in, knocking over a vase and letting it smash on the ground but didn't bother picking it up. Finally, the door had opened, and in came the king. Brytos sneered at him.

"You've come a long way, Avis," Igneous remarked as he approached him, used to his disrespectful attitude towards him. "The crown would fit perfectly on your head."

"I suppose it would," his wings remained on his back, "if I had to wear it."

Igneous approached Brytos and clasped his hands on his shoulders. "You are meant to be king. When I saw what the Stone had blessed you, I knew you were going to be special. Once we've taken over all the other nations, the Carnelian Stone will take its place as the Godstone, like it was always meant to be, and you will serve under greatness as I've always had."

Brytos laughed bitterly, stepping away from his touch. "That stone had messed up your brain. What greatness do you think you're in, your majesty? Your wives hate your guts, your children are full of menace, and the people are afraid of you."

"It's the price I'm willing to pay for the good of our nation. Once you're seated on my throne, you'd understand."

The flames on his back flickered strongly. "Oh, I understand your life, better than you. But I'm done."

"You think your hands would be cleansed just because you say you're done?" Igneous said, his blessings heating the whole chamber, "You're more gullible than I thought. You bathe in blood, son, that's not something you can simply turn away from. You are a great beast, just as I am."

Something broke within Brytos, and the shelves and books caught fire, and the drapes fell from their hinges, spreading the flames to the carpet floor. Igneous remained unconcerned and did not prevent Brytos from entirely broadening his wings. The chamber was decimated in seconds, and everything around them crumbled.

"Kill me, if you dare," said Igneous, he grinned menacingly, something Brytos had never seen him do but it only fueled his anger even more. "And after that, you will be free. You will know that you are worthy to take your place as the next Carnelian King."

Brytos's rage boiled over the entire chamber, all I have to do is to kill him then I'd be free. But could he? He remembered the fear on Zemus's face and his unstable mother. Then he looked at his father's wicked one. No more bloodshed, he promised himself. He turned his back and flew away.

-

"Volares has changed so much. I don't remember her being like that, she was always so caring but mostly afraid," said Brytos, he then turned to Baco, who was twiddling his sleeves. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," he said simply, although he knew later he wouldn't be so. He had escaped through the window when he noticed the time, locking the door, for good measure but he knew she had a duplicate key. "Once I take my place as king, every single one of them will pay."

"That would be great," he hesitated and looked up, "but I was thinking and I think we should just leave this place."

Baco turned to look at him now, trying to see if he was serious, he felt something boil inside him, "Leave? Where would we go?"

"Anywhere. I was thinking about Tanzanite. They don't know who we are, I could hide my blessing and we could fit in with the people as civilians. No more bloodshed."

Their voice was starting to raise now, echoing in the chasms. Baco slammed his book shut, not bothering to remember where he had left us as he read it a hundred times already, he put it aside and scooted closer to Brytos. He was enraged. Years of pent-up anger threatened to explode inside him, but he has no idea why he was so angry at Brytos. His one and only friend.

"Where would you find the country anyway? For all we know, they could be dead, and let's be real here, you're not welcome there at all. They hid because of the Carnelians, because of us, if they find out about you, they're going to try and kill you! If you go out there, they will kill you!"

"Death doesn't seem so bad," he said as he stood up in a defying stance, "I've seen it happen, by my own hands, it's something I deserve," he said as he stood up, looking at Baco sadly, an expression he had never seen before from him.

Baco understood, he always did, but he couldn't help but feel betrayed. "What happened to making Carnelia a better place together, Bry?"

"I'm sorry, but tell me now, Baco, are you with me or not?"

"I…of course, but I want to rule but I don't want to leave, I want my revenge."

Brytos remained quiet for a minute, refused to look at him, and instead gazed up at the sky.

"I see," he summoned his wings and turned his back. "You're smart Baco, make this place into something better. Something brighter for everyone…" After that, he lifted himself off the earth, leaving his brother alone in the abyss.