“Mom, please! I was just —”

Leila struck her across the cheek, spitting with rage at her daughter’s disobedience. “Do you know how much dishonor it brings me, having you associate with him? How much face the family loses, having our heir mingle freely with talentless scum? I provide you dozens of Warriors and Scouts for playmates, and yet you still insist on marring your status as an esteemed Brave.”

Seira fell onto the hard wooden floor, her tiny six-year-old arms trembling. “B-but he’s my brother…”

Another strike, this time accompanied by a flash of fire. “And he’s a Sun! Do you know why you’re allowed out of the house, while he must stay inside at all times? Why you have the finest tutors in the clan while he gets to sleep among the servants? His very existence brings us nothing but shame!”

Kiro quivered in the corner, hugging his legs to his chest. The bruises on his back were still healing from the last time he’d attracted his mother’s wrath, and he didn’t want to get hit again. But now Seira was getting hit instead…

Their mother raised her arm once more, and he gathered every ounce of courage that he had, scampering towards her like a mouse. “P-please… it was my fault. Don’t —”

Her open hand blurred towards him, and he couldn't even wince before it impacted with his jaw. The slap rang out across the room, and his mother growled, scorching her surroundings with conjured fire. “Look at your mark! Look at it!”

Crying would just make her angrier, so he did as he was told, staring as hard as he could at the crimson sun etched onto the back of his left hand.

“Not an ounce of mana runs through your veins, and yet you still dare to interrupt your betters?” She lifted her own, a caricature of a flaming sword, and a look of disgust flicked across her face. “You are nothing but filth! A stain upon the family’s honor!”

He froze, too terrified to respond.

“And you!” their mother snapped, turning back to Seira. “Do you see now why we must distance ourselves from his every action? Your brother is a disgrace!”

The girl frantically shook her head, tears falling from her crimson eyes as she clutched her stinging cheek. “No! Why should some stupid mark mean I can’t play with him? He’s family too!”

Silence. Their mother stared at her, mouth agape, and the flames intensified.

“W-wait, mom! I just mean —”

“You… he has already influenced you too much. I must purge those treasonous thoughts from your mind.” Leila lifted her palm, and this time it glowed a deep, bloody red.

Seira whimpered, and despite the fear coursing through him, Kiro finally managed to move.

“Stop hurting her!” he cried, latching onto Leila’s leg. “Please!”

She kicked out, sending him flying against the wall. “Stupid boy! Oh… I should have never let you dishonor my bloodline a second more than necessary.”

The glow of her hand brightened, and a fan of white-hot fire flared into existence.

“I will wipe your failure from the family once and for all.”

She took a step forwards. Then another. With each step, the fan glowed brighter, and he looked up, confusion etched on his face. Seira was bawling now, sputtering apologies and begging for something he couldn’t quite understand.

Something was wrong, even more wrong than usual. He curled up into a ball, staring at his mother with terror-filled eyes.

“P-please…”

She lifted the fan, and —

The door creaked open, revealing a weary old man in dirt-caked robes. Meng, the family gardener.

“Please excuse this humble Torch.” The old man rushed to bow before them, his left hand closed and his right open underneath it in the customary salute of the clan.

Leila glared at him. “Why in heavens have you interrupted my personal affairs?”

He slowly rose, his long beard brushing against the floor. “Honored Warrior, I most reverently suggest refraining from this… particular course of action.”

“Torch, you have no standing to make any such requests. Step away from the boy, or I shall take it upon myself to discipline you as well.” The flames brightened, and she clenched her jaw, glaring at the old man.

Meng inched towards him, frantically pleading with the Warrior. “Please, honored head of the family. I understand that he is nothing but a burden to you, but the matriarch still requires workers in the fields. By… eliminating him, you would be robbing her of a valuable resource. Let him fulfill his traditional role, and you shall be recognized for both your mercy and your strength.”

At the mention of the matriarch, Leila hesitated, letting the fan disperse in her hands. “I… fine. Torch, take him out of my sight, and tell the other servants to never let him back in again.”

Meng bowed again, taking Kiro by the hand. “I thank you, honored Warrior.”

“But you are not an advisor, Meng,” Leila spat. “You have spoken out of hand, and I have no need for rebellious servants. You are henceforth no longer a gardener for the esteemed Tang family, and you are to leave the grounds this instant.”

The old man bowed once more, bringing his head low to the floor in gratitude. “Of course, honored Warrior.”

Their mother turned back to a petrified Seira, once again enveloping her hand in a cloak of deathly red.

“M-mom?”

“You are to be disciplined silently!”

Even as Meng led him from the room, Kiro could hear the horrible sound of his sister’s screams.

* * *

That night, Kiro crashed into Seira’s room, chest heaving from his climb up to her window. The left side of his face was swollen, and there were bruises all over his body, but he ignored them all in favor of his sister.

“Seira?”

He looked to her bed, and she shivered under her sheets, her face flushed a deep red. She let out a shuddering breath, and he hurried to her side, trying to shake her awake. “Seira, are you okay?”

She flinched at his touch, and he pulled his hand back. “Seira. Seira!”

“K-Kiro?”

A servant rushed in, wrenching him away with a gasp. “How dare you speak to the honored Brave!”

“B-but…”

Seira tried to get out of bed, but she was too weak to do anything, and the servant hurriedly dragged him towards the door.

“You are no longer welcome in this household, Sun.”

“B-but mom is hurting her!” He desperately grabbed onto the woman’s robes, tears streaming down his cheeks as he pointed to Seira’s injured form.

“You are no longer welcome in this household.” An iron grip latched onto his wrist, the next thing he knew he was tumbling out the window.

He crashed to the ground, crying out as a lance of pain shot up his arm.

It hurt. It hurt so bad, but Seira was hurting even more, and there wasn’t anything he could do to help. He wiped the tears from his eyes, looking up towards the boundless heavens.

She was hurting, and he was trapped out here, unable to even speak to her. He was useless. A failure, just like his mother had said.

That night, as the moons of Paradise rose to their place among a sea of stars, Kiro swore that no matter what, he wouldn’t fail his sister again.