Anarion heard soft cries coming from his usual hiding place. A recent entry into the academy, a boy with short black hair was crying. “Mommy, Daddy, I want to go home.” The child reminded Anarion of himself, especially during his first six months at the academy.

Anarion sat down next to him. He didn’t even notice Anarion beside him. The child sniffled up a ball of snot that was oozing out of his nose. That was a reminder to Anarion how disgusting children could be. Anarion put his left hand on top of the kid’s head and smiled at him. “What’s your name kid?” he asked in a soft voice.

“Ryusen” the child replied honking back more snot into his skull. Anarion continued to smile. “I’d love to show you the ropes kid but I’m out of this place in less than a week. So I suppose I can give you some wisdom.” Ryusen looked up at Anarion, tears still welling in his eyes. “Find some friends, don’t become a miserable sad sack like me.”

Ryusen looked confused. “I spent so much time hating this place and the people in it. Before I knew it I was full of nothing but resent and loneliness. Take that piece of advice from a miserable failure like me.”

Looking up at Anarion Ryusen nodded, trying to hold back his tears. “What’s your name mister?” Anarion put his arm around Ryusen to offer him comfort. “My name is Anarion, try your best.”

As the day came to an end Anarion found himself reminiscing about his time here. Ryusen reminded Anarion of himself, and his early days in the academy. Every day during free time Anarion would go to cry. One day however a fellow student stumbled upon him in the act.

“Why are you crying?” asked a little girl from behind. Anarion had tears flowing down his face. “I miss my brother.” The little girl sat down next to Anarion, it was Amma. Her hair was shorter, shoulder-length. “I miss my family too, but you’ve been here for almost six months now. You're a man, act like one.”

“Shut up!” yelled a crying Anarion. Amma looked at Anarion with concern. “Go away, leave me alone,” he said pushing her away. Amma did not leave, so Anarion got up and left. Six months later Aenos was able to make it to the academy for a brief visit. This made Anarion happy, but the amount of time they spent together was little because Anarion could not stop his training.

Shortly after people began to compare Anarion to his brother. Aenos was stronger, faster, and more skilled at his age. Eight years passed without a visit from Aenos. Every day Anarion how felt inferior to his older brother. Every day people spoke about Aenos’s accomplishments as a Swordsman.

By the time Anarion was fourteen Aenos was one of the most renowned Swordsmen alive. When Aenos came to visit Anarion after all that time, Anarion met him with extreme anger and hostility. Aenos, who was eighteen years older than Anarion had responsibilities. The more his fame grew, the less free time he had. He loved his brother but did not know how to react to the person he became.

Aenos’s fame grew considerably since then. He was a Swordsman on par with legends of old. The comparisons grew as his brother’s name did. This twisted Anarion, causing him to hate the only family he knew. Anarion stopped trying, knowing that he could never hope to amount to anything close to what his brother was. His brother’s fame destroyed Anarion’s self-esteem.

The next day during breakfast Anarion noticed Ryusen talking to a group of children in his age group. Anarion smiled briefly at him when Ryusen looked his way. “Harassing children now?” asked Ithilious sitting down at the table with his tray of food. Amma always sat next to her brother.

“Fuck off, It’s none of your fucking business,” stated Anarion coldly, he was trying to keep face. Looking at both Amma and Ithilious, Anarion asked “What the fuck do you want?” Amma remained silent and instead opted to carefully chew her food carefully. “We are going to be in the same group, we might as well get along,” said Ithilious with an awkward look on his face.

Anarion coldly replied “I don’ need your companionship.” then picked up his tray and left. Despite his regrets, it’s difficult to teach an old dog new tricks. “What the hell is his problem?” asked Ithilious to his sister sounding rather pissed off. “You can’t expect to suddenly become buddies with Anarion just because we are in the same group now. You’ve known him for thirteen years, you should know he prefers his own company.”

Amma looked at her brother with a cheerful expression. Ithilious looked at his sister with a look of confusion. “How the hell do you know so much about him?” Amma cleared her throat quickly replied. “I pay attention to the people around me. I’ve also made it my business to know something about every student in our age group.”

“Here I was about to tease you. I was beginning to think he was your type.” Amma without warning punched Ithilious in the arm.”Oh, I guess he is.” Ithilious was now laughing at his sister. “Don’t be stupid, what gives you such an idea?” She was trying to hide her embarrassment, her face was turning red. Ithilious pointed to Falcon, sitting with his peers. “Any time someone makes a rude comment or generally says something rude about him you get violent. I don’t see you doing that when it comes to anyone else.”

If Amma were a tea kettle steam would be blowing out of her ears. She was angry. Just as she was about to beat the daylights out of Ithilious someone appeared behind them and put an arm around both of them. Ithilious looked back and remarked, “Oh, Caend.”

Caend was Amma and Ithilious’s little brother, he was sixteen. He looked like a smaller version of Ithilious. “I see your teasing Amma. Has she confessed her undying lo..” before Caend could finish she wrapped her hands around his neck and flung him on the table.

She grabbed Ithilious behind the head and smashed his face against the table. Blood began oozing out, he began rolling around on the ground yelling in pain. Caend on the other hand was laying on the table laughing. This pissed Amma off more than anything. She climbed on the table and began punching him in the face. Caend’s laughter did not stop, instead, it grew louder while his older sister was beating him up with a flurry of fists.

This caused such a scene that everyone at lunch was watching. Finally, Bwoire stood up and restrained Amma. He dragged her out of the room apologizing to everyone. Finally, he let her go and said “Amma I know you anxious to become a Swordsman, but please wait until we begin training to physically injure people.” Amma stormed off, not saying a thing. Anarion ate at his usual place, on the front steps of the academy. "I'm quite the hypocrite, giving advice and doing the opposite." he thought.

There was conflict brewing in him. Especially now, the thought of getting out of the academy weighed on his mind. However, he did not want to see his brother. It was because of Aenos that he began distancing himself from others in the first place.

Anarion punched the stone floor. "Nothing is going to change even after I get out of this place. Instead, I'll just become a cog of the order. Fucking assholes, what gave them the right to decide my life." he said softly while looking at his bloodied knuckles.

"Instead of cursing your lot in life why don't you make the best out of what you have," said Bwoire from behind him. Anarion fumed with anger. He stood up and yelled right in the face of his future master. "It's none of your fucking business!" He stormed off without giving Bwoire a chance to reply. What made Anarion angry was he knew Bwoire was right.