It is a cold night, and Silver has to fight his brother.
He never called him his brother, and so had he. But there was always this acknowledgement between them â that the two of them were intertwined familially. Malleus was his brother, and Silver was Malleusâ, but the two of them could never say it.
( At least, he thinks so. Had Malleus never seen him as such? It was only natural, he was the son of the enemy after allâ)
For days, stuck in that dream, he had wished for another way to end this. He doesnât want to be brave, he doesnât want to fight anyone, all he wants to do is go home. His father had once said to him that wishes were the purest form of magic â and this once, he prayed that it was true. That somehow, another solution could fall into his lap, and theyâd all be able to go with nothing but a few bruises and a light-hearted story to tell to others.
But it is a cold night, and Silver still has to fight his brother.
He watches Malleus fly above them, each flap of his wings causing its own storm. In the distance he can hear the shouts of his fellow students, desperately trying to defend themselves against his brotherâs magic. A part of him wants to reach out to Malleus, to cry out â ask him if he can stop. Another part wants him to turn to them, to tell them that thereâs no need to be scared because itâs just Mallyâ even if his dark horns and pretty magic could be scary.
But he canât. He canât run into Malleusâ arms and ask him to stop playing his silly tricks, he canât go to father and complain to him about his pranksâ because he is no child. And this is not just a silly trick. He doesnât deserve to be that child anymore, oblivious and innocent and still being carried in his fatherâs arms.
It is a cold night, and Silver doesnât want to fight his brother.
He and Sebek charge into battle â sword and shield at the ready. He watches as Malleusâ bright flames ignite the dark sky, and the shouts and screams of the others nearby. The flames do not burn him â he must thank the engineers at styx later, it is the only reason he is alive â but pain twists his heart and he cannot help but wish that it did.
Sebek guards him against the flames, and Silver scouts for an opening in Malleusâ defenses. His roars deafen his ears, and he nearly stumbles, but he cannot allow himself to do so â so he gets up. He makes himself face the twisted, painful form of his brother and ignores the pleas in his heart to reach out to him.
(Later, he will sob over the futility of it all. He wants to cry so badly, but they need him to be brave, so he wipes away his tears and keeps on going.)
Sebek is pushed back by Malleusâ flames, and Silver catches him in the nick of time â right before he goes tumbling over the stone bridge. Sebek whispers some hurried thanks, but not before he hears another blast of flames go by, and two of them are pulled back into battle.
He canât look at Malleus face â itâs too painful, his heart hurts and if he does he doesnât think heâd be able to stop himself from crying â but he does see his gaping jaw, another blast of fire starting to form inside. He knows what he has to do, and he points the Aletheia blade towards him, and prepares to strike.
⊠But Malleus?
Strike, Malleus?
Mally?
The Mally that used to read him bedtime stories to fall asleep? The Mally that helped him make flower crowns for Lilia? The Mally that held him in the cottage, when storms got bad?
Strike.. Mally?
His hands shake.
He canât do it.
His sword fails him.
Silver falls, and Lilia is the one to catch him.
...
bonus paragraph so i don't get sacrificed :
"Are you fucking kidding me?!"
Idia screamed as Silver let go of his sword, watching as Lilia jumped infront of him to protect him from the flames. Noob, doesn't he know that Silver's wearing top tier gear? No nevermind that â he's about to lose a critical hit in the boss battle!
He cursed as he pulled up his computer, holograms of swords floating around him as he started to activate the sword. Silver-shi owed him big time after this! "Now, target lockedâ Aletheia Blade, full power!"
"Fly swift, and strike true!"