Markis

(Markis's POV)

I'm worthless... and I've known it for a long time. My mother never paid any attention to me—she was so focused on winning my father's affection. And Vetro... my dad. I wish he'd paid even less attention to me. I thought doing well in school would impress him, or Mom, and maybe they'd praise me. I finally got disillusioned the day my father cussed me out for rushing to his room to announce an achievement I was proud of. He told me that things like school achievements are meaningless in the long run, and if I weren't the top student, he'd have had me killed. There's no way he'd let such a disgrace as a son live. My existence itself was already a disappointment.

So after that, even without the motivation to please him, I had no choice but to keep trying to outshine the others because I knew he was serious—I was one mistake away from death. I invented new techniques for fire and studied hard, but I think it was the anxiety, the fear of failure, and lack of affection that pushed me to find solace in drugs or bane; anything to numb the constant dread and sadness that plagued me.

One day, my mother was pregnant again. I was 19, finished with school, and only visiting to check on her welfare. When she saw me, she frowned and said,

"Oh, it's you... I was hoping Vetro had come to visit."

I sat next to her on the couch and sighed.

"Hey, Mom... how are you? Do you have everything you need for the baby? I saved up some mo—"

"I have everything I need. I only gave birth to you hoping it would make Vetro love me more, but... that was stupid of me. I don't need you or anything from you anymore." Her words hurt, so I clenched my fist, digging my nails into my skin until I drew blood. I bit my tongue to hold in the rage I felt.

"But this child is different... I can feel it. He's so powerful, Markis. I know when he's born, Vetro will finally love me." She went on about the King—my father—how he'd been visiting her more since the pregnancy and how excited she was. Then she scornfully mentioned Tana:

"Can you believe he visits that ugly bitch more than me? What's wrong with him?! Well, regardless, he'll soon realize how valuable I am." She mumbled, rubbing her round belly.

She kept talking even after I left the room; it didn't really matter if I was there or not. I gave the nursemaid the money I had intended to give Mom for the baby and told her to spend it on whatever was needed.

Even though the visit went horribly, she was still my mom, so I planned to visit her again after my brother was born... but she was dead. Some servants claimed the King had killed her, others said the baby was so powerful she died in childbirth. Either way, the baby was the clear cause. I'm not sure why Vetro would have killed Mom otherwise.

Mom was right, though. My father was happy when my brother was born—especially when he turned four and revealed his power by incinerating a servant who was being too rough with him. My little brother was freaked out by the incident and cried whenever someone brought it up. He was so soft. My father praised him, acted ecstatic, even complimented Mom when the Chosen of Fire tattoo formed on Raijian's arm. None of this praise made me happy, though... and I hated my brother because he got exactly what I wanted but wasn't grateful.

By then, I was living outside the castle and only invited to the palace for family dinners, once a year. Because of this, my brother was the only Chosen I ever interacted with. He never spoke to me and had nothing but disrespect when addressing our father.

"I don't want to eat with you! You make me sick!" Raijian yelled after one of their trademark disagreements. I struggled to enjoy my food without getting involved.

"You think I'm pleased with you? Your only redeeming feature is your power. If you were born normal, I'd have gotten rid of you years ago." My brother was only six at the time. He slammed his fist on the table, breaking it and causing a whirlwind of fire that scorched the ceiling. Then he rushed out of the room with tears in his eyes.

"Whatever," Dad muttered, leaving his half-eaten food and not bothering to say bye to me. So I finished my meal alone and went outside to smoke.

A year later, my brother was banished for f**king one of Dad's concubines. Father took that opportunity to get rid of both of us, sentencing me to be his guardian—unsure when I'd be allowed to return home. He's always making trouble for me. I'm trash, no one cares about me, and it doesn't matter what I do—there's no point trying to be good or do right. No matter what I do, I'll just be a disappointment. If I treat my brother too well, I'm sure it would piss my dad off, but I can't abandon him either. This situation has me feeling trapped.

I sent him to school and stuck mainly to minding my own business, staying intoxicated to stop myself from thinking or feeling too much, and feeding on the humans lured in by my looks.

Even if an Infaniyan catches on to what I'm doing and attacks me, it'll be fine. It's not like I want to live anyway.

I screwed up. Raijian brought a human home, and because of their closeness, I assumed he had feelings for her. So I thought it would be fun to steal her affection away from him. It wasn't hard—seducing a young human girl was child's play, just a few sweet words and a smile. He attacked me, and I didn't even try to fight back. There's no point when he's obviously stronger. The girl told him to leave, and that seemed to be enough to persuade him. I thought making him miserable would make me feel better—but it didn't. What's worse, I got her addicted to being fed on to the point her family no longer recognized her. I had no choice but to keep her around, but... having a human pet is proving difficult. They need food so often and defecate just as much. I'm not cut out for this—I can barely care for myself.

A year after Raijian ran from home, there was a knock at the door. The energy felt familiar, so I thought it was Rai returning for the human. Instead of my brother, it was a thin teal-haired woman. She was beautiful, with eyes matching her hair. The only disappointing thing about her was she was as flat as a board.

"Is Jey home?" As soon as he spoke, I realized this wasn't a girl.

"He... I don't think he's coming back here," I replied. The boy brushed past me and plopped down on the couch.

"I said he's not here," I repeated, and he laughed.

"That's fine... I was really looking for Zai, but if Jey isn't here, Zai won't be either. Looks like you have inspiration. Can I smoke with you before heading out?" I was dumbfounded but closed the door and sat beside him. I haven't had anyone so pretty in my house; for some reason, it made me self-conscious about the mess. I handed him an inspiration cigarette, and he lit it up. He couldn't be much older than my brother, so it was odd that he smoked.

"Are you a Chosen... like my brother?" I asked. In response, he rolled up his sleeve, revealing a tattoo going up his right arm, which looked like a series of bubbles.

"Yeah, the Chosen of Water. I'm glad you can tell. I'm Cera, by the way," he stated, taking a long drag on the cigarette and then passing it to me.

"I'm Markis," I replied.

"I know that," he said bluntly. "You look just like Jey. Of course, you're his big brother, and I was told he lived at your house."

"Oh..."

"He would bring you up in training sometimes. He even bragged about how you broke a few records in competitions and academics. You were his fire-user goal for a long time. Jey was so proud you were his brother." He was? This guy had no reason to lie, but it was hard to believe.

"I should go now," he said, starting to get up, but I panicked and grabbed his wrist. It wasn't much, but he's the only person who's said something nice to me without an ulterior motive.

"Let's exchange numbers. I can help you contact him..." He tilted his head.

"Numbers?" I forgot that in Afaria, most people use telepathic codes instead of phones to communicate. It's a symbol drawn on the palm that allows you to contact someone's mind and have secret or long-distance discussions. Usually, only close relatives or lovers use them.

That evening, I helped him get a cellphone and explained how to use it. Even now, I cover the bill so we can stay in contact. He left that day but began texting me like a pro every day, updating me on his location and taking pictures of anything he found interesting. A few weeks later, he found Raijian and Zai. After that, his texts frequently mentioned Zai... It stirred up a strange new emotion inside me.

I was with a woman whose name I was too high to recall. We were kissing on my couch when I heard Cera's unique ringtone and pulled away instantly, checking my phone.

"Hey! I hope you actually slept last night. Tired of you going days without rest. By the way, I saw this rabbit outside our house. Rabbits are cute, I wish we had them back home." There was a picture of a rabbit attached, followed by a selfie of him smiling and waving at me. "We should hang out again soon. When are you free?"

I started to reply when the woman snatched my phone away.

"Who the f*ck are you talking to at a time like this?!" She snapped. Then she looked at my phone's screen, saw the picture of Cera, and immediately became jealous.

"You're talking to some other b*tch when I'm right here?!"

"You are the only b*tch I'm talking to," I replied, pulling my phone out of her hands.

"What are we, Markis? I've been coming over here every day, I have to put up with you caretaking some elderly lady, your disgusting house, and now you're cheating on me on top of that?"

"I'm not cheating on you," I replied honestly. How can I cheat on someone I'm not even with?

"We're not dating," I added to make it clear. Her face turned red with rage, so I said, "You're just someone I f*ck when I'm bored. I don't care if I never see you again."

That's when she swung at me but only ended up hurting her fist and running out of my house in tears.

It was five seconds after she left when I replied to Cera, saying, "You can come over whenever you feel like it, or I can come to see you. I'm not doing anything important."