so basically, he and seth weren’t biological brothers, or i think that’s what i’m aiming for? they were both orphans, found each other, and bonded quickly. they weren’t especially close or a good match, but they were all each other had.

an idea that also came to mind while i was writing this that would be cliche but would probably fit emil’s character would be that he ran from another village because his family was awful and he was convinced they were out to get him.

ok anyways

when they grew up, seth did all of the stealing, got all of the food, found shelter, stood up to rudeass kids n parents in the village, introduced emil to milo (emil’s childhood crush)

so emil admired him and looked up to him a lot. he didn’t think much of it as kid, but part of it always made him a bit upset.

when seth started learning magic, going from not only a better human to a witch, this turned into jealousy. emil grew distant, more cynical. he started getting afraid that seth was tired of him, just wanted to get rid of him, saw him as a stupid responsibility. emil got more snappy, a bit more closed off and haughty.

so emil started going to blacksmiths in the village for lessons, learning to make himself useful in that way, until seth’s magic got found out, they were found out, n seth burned the whole village. seth became a demon.

they just traveled for a bit, seth practicing and emil slowly getting more and more bitter. seth wasn’t quite power hungry then; he was, but he wasn’t actively, chaotically, seeking out power.

when emil asked him to make him a demon too, though, it clicked for seth. he had the power to give people what they wanted. he could help people, yes, but have control and power over them. he’d read about souls. he wanted souls.

so he took emil’s soul, and emil’s fear that seth just wanted him dead increased. why wouldn’t he just do a favor for his brother for free? his resentment increased. he became bitter. he looked up to seth, but he was really just as selfish as everyone else.

the brothers went their separate ways after that, now that emil could look after himself

eventually, he...trapped seth in the book and their real rivalry started

the reason he’s so infatuated with aures is because he’s always wanted to be special to somebody like seth was special to him. he wanted somebody to rely on him. so he goes too far with aures, acts like a Douche TM, does his best to set up scenarios where he saves the day to make himself look like some hero