“Alis!” Trevenor screamed at an impossibly high pitch and volume as his vocal cords were laced with dark magic.

Reeca equipped her pure white armour before she, along with the rest of the soldiers charged toward the three saepenar that had so suddenly killed Alis.

“Wait! Those are saepenar!” Neelae yelled, but by that time, half of her force had already followed Trevenor in his ragged fuelled charge.

His mind numbed as an indelible, yet O so familiar pain assaulted his chest as he ran.

The saepenar then simultaneously dropped Alis onto the cold snowy ground, dying it black.

Trevenor roared as he forged two fosblade which he proceeded to violently swing at the saepenar.

One of the saepenar then dashed toward Trevenor at a speed at which he couldn’t react to.

Trevenor cursed the saepenar as it swung its claws toward his neck, but then a bright light appeared behind Trevenor, which quickly realised that it was Reeca.

Reeca kicked the saepenar in the face, sending it flying backwards. She then landed next to Trevenor before noticing that Alis’s body lay just in front of her.

“Trevenor… try to calm down. Otherwise, you’ll also die-" Reeca stopped as she saw cracks developing on Trevenor’s skin as he slowly walked toward his brother's body.

The saepenar all acted quickly as they swarmed Trevenor.

Reeca did her best to fend off two of them, but one of them had already reached Trevenor.

The saepenar swung its claws at the crawling Trevenor only to be blocked by Neelae, whose light was so overwhelmingly bright, it burnt Trevenor as he crawled.

Reeca resumed her battle against the saepenar alongside a fully charged Neelae as the other soldiers approached the battleground.

“No! Stay back!” Neelae ordered as she swung her fosblade downward, creating a deadly beam of light which the saepenar narrowly avoided.

Trevenor reached Alis’s body and grabbed him. He held him tightly as massive shockwaves threatened to tear them apart.

Trevenor wailed, but his voice was drowned out by the constant explosions Neelae and Reeca created as they fought.

Trevenor looked to the sky and cried as his skin continued to crack, revealing a mixture of black and white skin as it shed.

Trevenor’s left eye had become black and the other had become white. His magical essence flowed in and out of him chaotically as he wept.

One of the saepenar then managed to escape Reeca and it quickly made its way toward the Aventor brothers.

But just as it got close enough to strike, time seemingly crawled to a halt.

Trevenor then dragged his gaze to meet that of the entity that killed his brother.

The world seemingly cried as it desperately begged to move freely through time again, but Trevenor wouldn’t let it. He wouldn’t let another second pass without his brother, so he glared at the saepenar as his magic condensed. Purifying itself in the process. Being a velzen allowed him to tap into a darkness no human would ever know and being a human meant that he had access to the light.

Trevenor looked down and gently kissed his brother's forehead before picking him up.

The world cried again, begging for time to return to normal as Trevenor gently placed Alis within the wall.

Trevenor then walked back out of the wall and saw three saepenar frozen mid-attack.

Trevenor’s tear covered face then twisted into a scowl. He poured every single drop of hatred he had into his fists and in an instant, he found himself in front of the saepenar that attacked his brother first.

Its right arm was still coated with Alis’s blood.

Trevenor bit his teeth before ripping the saepenar’s arm off.

The speed at which he moved sent out multiple shockwaves throughout the surrounding area.

The world slowly started moving again and the saepenar quickly realised what had just happened.

It looked at the place where its arm was supposed to be and its beautiful face twisted in agony, but Trevenor wasn’t satisfied.

He wanted the saepenar to feel as much sadness- as much pain as he did and so he zapped into an extremely low position and kicked the saepenar’s legs off as flares of black and white shot out into the sky.

“Ah!” The saepenar finally managed to let out a scream as its body hit the ground.

The battle between Neelae, Reeca and the others came to a halt as none of them knew what was going on.

All they saw was that Alis’s body had disappeared and that Trevenor’s skin and hair were black and white.

Neelae’s eyes narrowed as she noticed that although Trevenor had become extremely powerful, his total amount of magic hadn’t changed, but his usage of said magic was beyond comprehension.

The saepenar Neelae was fighting dashed toward Trevenor at a blinding pace, but Trevenor caught the creature by its face and in that instant, he chopped off its legs and arms using nothing but his hands.

“No!” The saepenar who was fighting with Reeca yelled as it charged towards Trevenor who zapped into an extremely low position before kicking the saepenar in the abdomen. His leg tore through the belly of the creature, tore open its intestines and broke through its ribcage before tearing the saepenar in half.

The saepenar fell next to its sisters.

Trevenor then looked up into the sky before looking back at his targets. He walked over to the one he attacked first and knelt over it as it bled

Its sisters watched in horror as Trevenor grabbed its head. He then touched the space just above its forehead.

“No! Please, don’t!” The other saepenar screamed as Trevenor dagger-like nails dug into the saepenar’s forehead.

“Ah! Aaahhhh!” The saepenar screamed as Trevenor dug around its skull as he searched for something.

He quickly found what he was looking for and so he grabbed it and pulled it out.

“Aaahhhh!” The saepenar screamed as Trevenor pulled out a long fluffy organ.

The saepenar’s eyes rolled back and it stuck its tongue out as it convulsed. The bloody creature then bit its tongue off as Trevenor reached into its forehead again, pulling out its other antenna like organ in the process.

Trevenor then got up and repeated that process on the two remaining saepenar. He then collapsed and fell to his knees as the seeing pain from earlier returned.

“Hhaa.” Trevenor wheezed as the snow fell.

“Hhaaaaaaa!” He cried out as the morning sun bathed him.

Neelae and Reeca approached him as he wept.

Reeca quickly ran to his side before hugging his cold body.

Some of the soldiers eventually found Alis’s body and they hurriedly prepared it for burial.

Trevenor noticed this and although he could have run to stop them, he didn’t.

“Shh,” Reeca said as she rubbed his hair.

She then coughed as she felt a bit of Trevenor’s magic. His light had become so pure, it was comparable to that of Raymond and his darkness had become so black, it threatened to steal Reeca’s essence, but she didn’t let go.

Trevenor reached out to the sky and begged it not to take his brother as he wept, but the sky maintained its eternal silence.

Reeca then helped Trevenor stand and with the help of Neelae, she led him back into Marf.

They then led him to the house he had chosen for him and his brother. There, Neelae left him in the care of Trevenor who watched him weep as the morning sun rode across the sky.

.

..

Reeca noticed that Trevenor had stopped crying, but it was noon at this point. She then heard the sounds of footsteps outside and so she got up to find a Marfen man.

“He’s ready.” The man reported.

Reeca nodded before turning, only to find that he had already awoken and stood right in front of her.

This caught her off guard as she hadn’t felt his life force move as he got up.

The two then followed the Marfen to the southern part of Marf where Alis’s body awaited burial.

Reeca noticed that only about three people awaited them.

“Sorry, but I thought it would be best if we kept things as small as possible,” Neelae said as she walked toward Reeca and Trevenor, whose eyes were swollen.

The burial eventually concluded and Reeca led Trevenor back to what could be considered their house and she left him in his room where he slept with teary open eyes.

The sun slowly set, casting Marf in a new kind of darkness.

Reeca thought about her experiences with the Aventor brothers.

She had seen and experienced so much in so little time that it pained her to see Trevenor in so much pain.

Reeca took a deep breath before walking over to Trevenor’s room.

She gently knocked the not so metallic wall, but Trevenor didn’t respond.

She entered the warm dark room and sat by Trevenor’s side.

She could hear his heavy, hateful breaths and so she placed a hand on his back.

Trevenor didn’t move as she gently tried rubbing his pain away.

Reeca realised that she would have to take more drastic measures to comfort him and so kicked off her boots and tore off her coat.

This managed to get a reaction from Trevenor.

“What are you doing?” He asked in a low, yet non-threatening voice.

Reeca removed her pants revealing herself to Trevenor who finally turned to look at her.

“You can use me…” She whispered as Trevenor sat up.

She looked into his white eye and almost couldn’t find his black eye in the darkness of the room.

Half of his hair had turned black and white, as well as many other parts of his body.

“I can’t tell you how sorry I feel, but maybe I can provide a little comfort,” Reeca said as she tucked some of her hair behind her ear.

Trevenor let out a deep sigh before looking up at the roof.

“There’s no need for that. Alis… Alis would have wanted me to treat you with the same respect as always.” Trevenor said, but Reeca could hear him twist the blanket he sat on with his hands.

“Trevenor… I’m not asking you to do what Alis would have wanted. I want you to do what you want.” Reeca said as his heartbeat hastened and her breaths shortened.

“Mmm…” Trevenor droned as Reeca inched towards him.

She then placed her hand on Trevenor’s cheek.

Trevenor gently held her hand, making her gasp.

“I cannot take away the pain, but I can help you bear it," Reeca said before Trevenor pulled her towards him.

Her face was only mere centimetres away from his and she could feel his magic flowing deeply inside him.

She leaned in towards him and pressed her lips against his, but her heart sank when Trevenor didn’t respond in kind.

Reeca’s face twisted slightly, but she didn’t give up.

She tried kissing him again and again to no success.

“Why won’t you take me? Use me! Break me as well!” Reeca screamed as she wept.

A single tear ran down Trevenor’s face as he gently placed his hand on her face.

“Why would I want to do that? You’re all I have left and there’s no way I’d ever hurt you.” Trevenor said softly.

“Even if I begged?” Reeca asked as Trevenor leaned in towards her.

“Even if you begged,” Trevenor said as their lips touched. He then gently placed her beneath him and looked into her eyes as his heart ached.

Trevenor dove in to kiss her again as she undressed him. He kicked off his boots and pants and eventually, his new form was there for Reeca to see.

She slowly moved her fingers across his skin, making sure to feel every pore, every scar and every wound.

“How does it feel?” Reeca asked.

“Empty,” Trevenor said before falling into Reeca’s arms.

.

..

Trevenor awoke with a soft yawn. The morning suns rays bounced carelessly into the house, revealing a sleeping Reeca.

Trevenor got up, got dressed and walked out of the house to see a bustling Marf.

So many people were working to ensure that everyone was fed, clothed and had a roof over their head.

Well, Kalos helped with the last part.

Trevenor looked to the south and his chest once again ached as he thought about how he’d never hear his brothers voice again.

Tears threatened to fall from his eyes, but then a Marfen ran up to him with a panicked expression.

“The eminence has returned!”

The Marfen yelped, prompting Trevenor to run to where the western gate.

There, he found a rather frustrated Neelae.

“What’s wrong this time?” Trevenor asked as he tried to replicate his brother's cocky smile.

Neelae noticed this and patted him on the shoulder, melting Trevenor’s smile away.

“It’s the people of Marf. They won’t let me go. I even told them that I was a dead woman walking and that seemingly reinforced their belief that I was their one and only leader.” Neelae said with a sigh.

“Oh? Well, I also think that you are a good leader.” Trevenor said as he walked toward the gate.

“Mind if I had a little chat with the eminence?” He asked.

“Sure, just don’t do anything that would risk the lives of our people,” Neelae said as she chased away the Marfen’s who had appointed themselves as her security guards.

Trevenor walked out of the gate to find eminence Vinaar and a reasonably sized group of soldiers who all looked ready for combat.

Trevenor took a deep breath before smiling. This time, he didn’t try to emulate his brother.

“What brings you here?” Trevenor asked as the Vinaar hopped off her horse.

She was in full battle mode and even had her Eexel in hand.

“Under the order of Emperor Pleetus Yel Run the fourth, we’ve come to free this city from the rebellious force that holds it captive.” Vinaar declared.

Trevenor looked behind him and wondered when Marf became a city instead of a simple farming town.

He looked back at Vinaar.

“I'm sorry to disappoint you, but Marf is already free,” Trevenor said as his eyes glowed.

Vinaar’s knights all drew their weapons and pointed them at Trevenor, who casually stood in front of the gate.

“I see. It seems as though Marf's corruption goes far deeper than I thought. We may have to kill most of everyone to get to the root of the corruption.” Vinaar said as she readied herself for battle.

Trevenor zapped into position as well, before smiling cockily.

“Bring it on." He said before dashing toward Vinaar at breakneck speeds.