THE KENSHI RESIDENCE WAS DARK INSIDE, just as it was on the outside on that night. Only one room had been subjected to the artificial light we’ve grown so accustomed to. The only person in that room was Hana Kenshi, a mother of two young boys, a ten-year-old named Yukan and an eleven-year-old named Lars. She was washing the dishes from their supper that evening while her husband Oto was upstairs, trying to get the kids to go to sleep. The children’s bedroom was pitch black save a candle on the ground that Oto had lit.

“You boys need to go to bed or your mother’s going to kill me,” Oto said as he relit the candle, which had previously been blown out by the playful Lars.

“But I’m not tired and what Mom doesn’t know won’t kill her,” Lars replied. Even at a young age, Lars always had a knack for talking people into doing what he wanted them to.

“Come on, Lars,” Oto protested. “Your brother looks tired.”

The two gazed upon Yukan as he lay in the bottom bunk of their bed, absentmindedly flipping through a book with his headphones on. The others in the room could faintly hear the orchestra roaring from its speaker as Yukan let its dulcet tones shut out the noise of the real world and let the words in his book decide his stream of consciousness. Oto walked up to the young Yukan.

“You’re going to hurt your eyes with that, Yukan. Don’t you want to hear this story?”

“Sure, sure,” Yukan answered, casually dismissing him and continuing to read, squinting his eyes a bit harder to see what was on the page. “Whatever you say, Dad.”

Oto took the book from Yukan’s hands and placed a postcard that had been lying on a drawer on the page that his youngest son was on.

“I think you’ll like this story,” he continued. “It has to do with history. About fifty years ago, a bit before my time, and far before yours-”

“This sounds kinda boring,” Lars yawned as he interrupted his father’s story and began tucking himself in. “I’m just gonna head to bed.”

Oto took the blanket off of Lars as his eldest son giggled before he continued with the story.

“Two countries, Akuni and Aotoshi, were facing harsh times,” Oto recited. “Food was scarce and medicine was close to impossible to get. This was all because Medikai had been taking constant siege upon their land. When both countries were under the threat of collapsing, two men named Oji and Kawata were granted swords and went against Medikai. These were not your regular swords, as they could only be used by the heir of each respected man. They were powerful, far more so than any other.

“The Omega Blade was crafted from one of the last known roses in a dwindling species. The blood of anybody sliced by the Omega Blade turns into karlek roses, the same ones used to make the sword. It would feel as if it weighed a ton and a half for any who did not rightfully possess the blade.

“The Alpha Blade, on the other hand, was crafted from a mummified heart. It is capable of making the wielder immune to any mortal physical damage sustained in battle. It had a unique hilt that only opened for the rightful owner.

“Lastly, both swords granted the users a power that gave them the strength and speed of the gods: a power titled Suornha.

“The two of them worked very well together and made the Medikai army look like child’s play. However, this story does not have a happy ending. After the Great Trifecta War ended and Akuni and Aotoshi were victorious, Oji and Kawata’s friendship grew bitter and they went their separate ways. Kawata would pass on to the next world, leaving behind two children. Oji would only leave behind one, a boy named Sofu who would later be killed by Kawata’s grandson Kunshu. After this, the Omega Blade was lost, never to be seen again.”

“There you are, Oto!” exclaimed a voice from behind him. It was Hana, checking to see if the children were in bed yet. Seeing that they were still very much awake, Hana approached the foot of the bed. “What are you boys still doing up?”

“It was their fault!” Oto responded, trying to defend himself. “I was just trying to tell them a bedtime story!”

The two boys put on an innocent grin to hide their guilt. Hana placed her hand on Oto’s shoulder before continuing.

“Right. Goodnight, you two.”

She placed a kiss on Lars’ forehead as he climbed to the top bunk. She also did so with Yukan, who reacted rather quickly, seeing himself as the more mature of the two kids despite his youth.

“Mom!” Yukan protested. “We’re getting too old for this!”

“Not under this roof, you’re not,” Hana responded. “Sleep well, and please put your headphones on the desk.” Yukan heaved an annoyed sigh but complied nonetheless.

Hana then exited the children’s room with her husband before blowing out the candle. The flame’s fiery dance reached a crescendo before dying off in a final tableaux and dissipating as if it had never existed. Then, once more, the room was engulfed in darkness. However, now a certain silence was also present. Lars broke this silence as he lay in bed.

“What would you do if you had one of those swords, Yu?” he asked his brother. “Do you think we could go find one of them?”

Lars, despite knowing how to trick people very well, was also rather gullible himself. Often, when he would be told a story, he would take every word of it as reality, no matter how far-fetched. Yukan, on the other hand, held up the guise of a brutal realist.

“You do realize that was a bedtime story Dad probably made up, right?” he said in his usual bluntness. “He still thinks we’re kids.”

“I know,” Lars replied, getting on the defensive. “I’m not a baby, you know. I’m just asking. If you had a sword like that, what would you use it for?”

“Beats me. I’m going to bed since I can’t read anymore. Goodnight, Lars.”

“Night, Yu.”

The two boys fell asleep. Yukan had a dream that night, one in vivid color. Although he had acted as if he didn’t believe a word of what his father said, he found himself encapsulated by the tale. He felt as if each sentence coiled itself around his brain like a boa constrictor and burned itself into his subconscious, branded permanently within his mind. He dreamed about coming across the Omega Blade as it stood, stuck in an anvil. Yukan then saw himself pulling it out before being joined by a group of knights, one of which was his brother Lars. The two nodded to one another as the ground beneath them collapsed, submerging the knights and Yukan in a black cloud of dust. After a while, all of the dust pooled together in the form of a dark entity. Yukan, showing no fear of this malevolent anomaly, charged toward it before stabbing it with the Omega Blade. The pitch-black amalgamation froze for a short period before dissipating into nothing, pulverized once more into dust. In the real world, the young Yukan had grown a smile upon his face as he slept peacefully.