Sorcerer Hunters Fan Fiction ❯ A Brother's Love ❯ 06 - Wings on Imagination ( Chapter 6 )

~Chapter 6~

 

 

 

Hazelnut and Milphey stood before Big Mama, Dota by her side, the other Haz Knights standing in shadow behind. Big Mama smiled kindly at the two of them, "I trust the journey from Marata was peaceful enough?"

 

Hazelnut nodded, "It was... I'm honoured that you call upon me like this, Mamu-sama. It has been quite some time since Celery and Radish attacked at Marata, but I never stopped thinking about them... I had no way to follow them or discover their whereabouts, but I could never forgive them for breaking into my ancestor's grave and stealing the magic that he crafted over the course of his life..."

 

Milphey sighed, "Well, they just want magic, they don't care who they get it from. They don't care if the magic has a big following or past behind it... just so long as they get their magic fix, they're fine..."

 

"Even if it's only in a small way, I'd like to be able to make myself useful in getting rid of those two Sorcerers, Mamu-sama. If I may."

 

Big Mama nodded, "Yes, Hazelnut Brazil, you may... tomorrow, I ask you, Mille Feuille, and my Sorcerer Hunters to leave Facade to reach the Qerada border. Once there, you will find where Celery and Radish are; that is where we must call upon your powers, Hazelnut. After that..."

 

Milphey folded his arms, "After that, we get Marron out of there and kill those two delinquents. Right, Mamu-sama?"

 

Big Mama blinked at Milphey, then smiled kindly, as usual.

 

"... In a manner of speaking. However, if the battle turns upon the Sorcerer Hunters, don't hesitate to eradicate those two as a Haz Knight... such is their power, they have the potential to be a match for you. They have the potential. Until that potential becomes active, you may bide your time."

 

Big Mama turned her attention to Dota, "Oh, and Dota... would you like to accompany Hazelnut to his room? The Sorcerer Hunters are all asleep now, and for the journey tomorrow, you must also get some rest."

 

"Haiii, Mama!"

 

Dota smiled happily and took Hazelnut off down one of the corridors.

 

Milphey watched the two as they disappeared, then looked at Big Mama once more.

 

"Mamu-sama... did you have something to say?"

 

As she nodded, Milphey noticed that Big Mama's face seemed to become that bit more grave. He caught the look and was puzzled.

 

"... Mamu-sama..."

 

Big Mama stepped down from her raised position and started walking in the opposite direction to where Dota had taken Hazelnut. She paused as she stood next to Milphey, looking him in the eye.

 

"Walk with me, Mille Feuille."

 

"Y-yes, Mamu-sama."

 

The two of them walked down a long dark corridor that seemed to slope downwards as it progressed, leading to somewhere below ground level, somewhere deep below Eden's spire. The two of them walked slowly, talking as they advanced along the corridor towards their destination.

 

"The Sorcerer Hunters still don't know of the other day?"

 

Milphey held his hands behind his back as he walked, "About the surge? No, I didn't tell them."

 

Big Mama nodded, "That's good. If only it had remained as just a surge..."

 

"Mamu-sama? Has the situation changed somehow?"

 

A nod, "It has."

 

"Not for the better, I take it..."

 

The corridor eventually opened out into a larger room; in the centre of the room lay an altar of some kind; Milphey remained close to the door as Big Mama walked to the altar and placed her hands gently on it's rim. It seemed to glow, and a kind of orb rose from it; Milphey was reminded of the orbs that Dota used. Perhaps this was their source... he wasn't aware of Dota being capable of magic, on any count.

 

The orb rose into the air, expanding as it did so. Big Mama stepped backwards and turned to face Milphey.

 

"You would be correct, Mille Feuille."

 

Milphey sighed, walking forward as he felt Big Mama wanted him to. He looked up at the orb, blank as it was for the time being.

 

"Is he... dead? Did they kill him?"

 

"No, he's not dead... not exactly."

 

Milphey frowned, "Not exactly?"

 

Big Mama waved her hand over the orb's general direction, and it went from being blank to suddenly showing a view of Radish and Celery's house. Another wave, and it went to the garden, where Celery, Radish and Marron were currently sitting out, enjoying a cup of tea, chatting about unimportant things as the day passed.

 

Milphey was taken aback.

 

"Mamu-sama, what... what's happened? Marron.... he's acting quite friendly to those Sorcerers, isn't he?"

 

Big Mama nodded, "This is where the problem lies. Marron is alive, but... he is not himself. The surge that was felt... Kahlua and I have discussed it at length, and we came to the conclusion... somehow, those two have drawn upon their magic skills, and... they've somehow managed to suppress Marron's usual frame of mind."

 

"Suppress his... you mean they've brainwashed him?"

 

"You could say that. At this moment, we are not aware of how far this goes, or how deeply... but either way, I don't know what'll happen once you reach that house. Once Hazelnut lowers the barrier, anything could happen... that is why I want you there; it is possible- no, it is inevitable that there will be a battle. However, it is possible that this battle could involve Marron, and... I don't know how my children will react to that. You must protect them for me."

 

Milphey nodded, unable to take his eyes away from the orb.

 

"O-of course, Mamu-sama..."

 

"Should the battle involve him... unless it is absolutely the last resort, I don't want him killed."

 

Milphey glared soberly at Big Mama, "I don't think anything could make that group kill Marron, don't worry about that. Do you think a circumstance such as that would arise?"

 

"I don't know... but I want you to be prepared. I want you to be prepared, and I want you to be able to protect those children... I trust you with this task, as I have always trusted you with it."

 

Milphey nodded, dropping to a kneel as Big Mama turned her back on the orb.

 

"Yes, Mamu-sama. I am honoured."

 

Big Mama nodded, then walked past Milphey, making her way towards the corridor once more. The orb fluctuated in the air, and then disappeared. Milphey heard Big Mama's voice, "I would recommend that you sleep now, Mille Feuille. Tomorrow might end up becoming an ordeal... sleep could be good preparation."

 

Milphey nodded, following her along the corridor, "Yes, Mamu-sama. I'll do that right away."

 

Elsewhere in Eden, other people should have been asleep, but weren't.

 

Gateau sat on the end of Carrot's bed, looking sleep-deprived.

 

"Carrot, what do you want? I'm tired, we've got a big day tomorrow, I wanna sleep."

 

Carrot just shifted continually on the bed, "Sorry Gateau, but I can't sleep, I wanted to talk to someone, figured you'd be the best person to talk to..."

 

Gateau stifled a yawn behind the back of his hand, "Oh?"

 

Carrot smirked, "Well, actually, there was something I was wondering..."

 

"And that was?"

 

The room was still for a moment as Carrot ceased his fidgeting. He glanced down at the bed, "Well, it's a bit embarrassing to suddenly come out with..."

 

"Just say it."

 

Carrot traced his finger along the bedsheets in front of him in invisible little patterns as he spoke, not looking at Gateau as he did so.

 

"What'll you... what'll you do once we find Marron again, Gateau?"

 

"Uh?"

 

"I mean... like... well... y'know... we all know how you feel about him now... he's the only one who doesn't, right? Don't you think he should know, a bit?"

 

Gateau froze visibly as Carrot looked up at him. He sighed short-temperedly, "See, this is another reason why I didn't want you guys to know... if it wasn't the thought of you just coming out and telling him putting me off, I don't wanna be coerced into anything either!"

 

"Hey, we're not forcing you into anything, I just thought it'd be a good idea. I mean, come on, you thought he was dead, that's gotta be something bad, right? You're gonna be glad to see him again, so, why not let him know you're glad to see him again?"

 

Gateau glanced away from Carrot, "I'll let him know, sure... I can't really say anything to him, though. You're Marron's brother, you know what he's like more than anyone else, right? I'll be happy to see him, but he probably won't really care. I mean, well... yeah. I'll be happy, and he'll probably just say a few words at best, you know? It'd be nice to say 'We thought you were dead, I missed you more than anything else, oh Marron, I love you so much' and have him come back with 'Oh Gateau, I never realised you felt that way, somehow I've been feeling the same way too, oh, I never realised, but I love you so much too'... buuut I don't see that happening anytime soon."

 

Carrot just blinked at Gateau, "Have you been taking lessons from Chocolat, or something?"

 

"Huh?"

 

"She always seems to be thinking about stuff like that about me, never woulda guessed you're such a puppy when it comes to stuff like that..."

 

"Y-yeah, well, it's Marron, it's different..."

 

Carrot smirked, "That's quite soppy, though. Maybe before we go to Qerada we should stop off somewhere in Facade and get a biiiig bunch of roses. Hey, maybe you could serenade him too! How's your singing voice? Let's practise. You start. La la la la la la, la la la la la la, neon ga tsu-"

 

"Carrot, SHUT UP! JEEZ, have you ANY IDEA how ANNOYING you can be at times?!"

 

A rapid nod and a big smile. Gateau just glared.

 

His glare softened after a few moments, "I guess... I guess at least I'm happy that you don't hate the idea, that was something I always worried about... you know... me and Marron, then suddenly you turn all 'oh my GOD' on us... in the past, you have been kinda sharp sometimes, Carrot..."

 

"I didn't know how you felt, though... before, it was just you trying to perve on my treasured little brother, but it's not just that, is it? You're actually in love with him, aren't you?"

 

"Couldn't be anything else. I don't know what else it could be..."

 

Carrot nodded, looking somewhat suddenly serious. "If it's love, it's okay."

 

Gateau smirked, "And what would the insincere girlchaser have to know about love?"

 

"Hey, hey, I know lots about love! The feelings I feel for the girls we meet, they're the deepest feelings in the world! It shatters me from inside every time they ignore me!"

 

Gateau hopped over, grabbed Carrot be the neck and proceeded to noogie him suddenly.

 

"Yep, insincere as always."

 

"GATEAU, QUIT THAT!"

 

"Hehehehehe!"

 

Gateau eventually let Carrot go, Carrot fell back on the bed, rubbing the top of his head gingerly.

 

"Damn, I feel like you wore the top of my head away, leather is not kind to my body anywhere!"

 

While Carrot finished rearranging his hair into some kind of order, Gateau just smirked at him.

 

"Yeah, seems like you're over earlier."

 

"What do you mean?"

 

"Well, the last couple of days, you've been in such a mood... we all have, I guess. But you seem more or less back to normal now, you know? I guess that's a good thing, it's nice to see you acting all stupid again, it's just weird when we see ya acting seriously."

 

Carrot sat back against the headboard of the bed, Gateau sitting next to him in a similar position.

 

"I'm not allowed to be serious? I have to be serious sometimes, Gateau... or am I just expected to act all stupid even while my brother's in serious danger?"

 

"I know, I know, I'm sorry. If it's Marron, it's different, right? I just can't get used to seeing you like that, that's all. You get all mature and stuff, it's creepy. But if it's for Marron... yeah. I act all mad and stuff, don't I? But if it's something to do with Eclair, then I can't help but be serious, she's my little sister, and I need to protect her..."

 

Carrot curled forward, leaning his chin on his knees, "You even died for her though, that's pretty big."

 

"Yeah, well... it was something I had to do, y'know?" He laughed softly, "For the sake of humankind and all of that. And for the sake of my little sister. Hey, but at least we managed to get her back, you know? Whenever I see her it makes me happy that we managed to get her back. There's all that time I missed out with her, you know, while Sacher had her, but... it's like getting a second chance, you know? It's worth more than anything else, I never even thought I'd get that. I didn't even know whether to think she was dead or not... I mean, Sacher killed my parents, didn't he? I don't get why he kidnapped Eclair, I guess it was 'cause she was strong and stuff, even though she was only a young girl at the time, but... why not just kill her too? Why not kill me while he's at it?"

 

Carrot put a hand to Gateau's shoulder, pushing at him slightly.

 

"Hey, hey... calm down a bit, Gateau! Sacher's dead now, buried underneath rubble back at Mount St Hordic. Don't have to worry about him anymore... so Sacher didn't kill Eclair, or you. Isn't that a good thing, though? He didn't kill Eclair, so you still managed to rescue her... and he didn't kill you either, so you were not dead to be able to rescue her... isn't that the most important thing?"

 

Carrot remembered what he'd brought Gateau into his room for in the first place.

 

"And besides. If Sacher had killed you... you wouldn'ta become a Sorcerer Hunter... and if you hadn'ta become a Sorcerer Hunter, you wouldn'ta met Marron, would you? See, everything's got a purpose."

 

Gateau glanced over at Carrot, saw his kind smile. He couldn't help but smile back.

 

"Yeah, you've got a point. I always think I'm lucky to know Marron, whenever I see him... there's only one of him, after all, and only one of me, what were the chances of us even knowing each other? We could have led such different lives... but we do know each other, and... that's the most important thing. Even if it never turns into love, or anything... at least I've known him. And spoken to him. And seen him naked."

 

"Huh?"

 

Gateau chuckled, "At that hot spring resort place, remember? Damn fine body that brother of yours has... not too bad, not too bad at all," another chuckle, a little more perverse this time.

 

Carrot waved his hands, "Okay, okay, I don't need to know, I don't need to know! I don't wanna know! If you wanna perve on Marron then fine but don't tell me all about it, okay? He's my little brother, I don't see him like that!"

 

Another laugh from Gateau, then the room fell quiet. Carrot spoke a little quieter when he next did so.

 

"So... you're not going to say anything to Marron, then?"

 

Gateau wrinkled his nose, "Nah. Just 'cause we thought he was dead isn't anything big, is it? It isn't like he did die, after all. Even I died, and we're all back to normal, right? I'll just flirt with him as usual, and don't you say anything, okay? I don't want him saying anything to me just 'cause he feels sorry for me or whatever. If Marron's gonna like me, I want him to like me for himself, okay?"

 

"But secretly you want me to push him into your direction a bit, don't you?"

 

"Oh, of course, of course. Nice to see we're on the same wavelength, Carrot."

 

Gateau stood up, "Well, much as I'm loving this little man-to-man conversation, I really wanna go get some sleep. Tomorrow we get to see Marron again, right?"

 

Carrot nodded, "Yeah, I better get some sleep too. Night, Gateau."

Gateau smiled at Carrot as he left the room, "Night to you too, Carrot. Sleep tight, now."

 

He shut the door and headed outside into the corridor.

 

Out in the corridor, Gateau was surprised to notice Milphey standing there, leaning against the wall... Gateau smiled in greeting.

 

"Oh, hey Milphey. Shouldn't you be sleeping? It's kinda late..."

 

Milphey just glanced up at Gateau, "I could say the same thing to you."

 

Gateau frowned. "Milphey, are you... okay? You seem kinda... I dunno, kinda cold, almost... finding it hard to sleep?"

 

Milphey stood up from the wall, running a hand over his hair, "I suppose you could say that. What about you? Surely you should be asleep by now... tomorrow we're going out to Qerada to face Celery and Radish. We finally get to face off with them, Gateau... and we get... to see Marron again..."

 

Gateau pulled a victorious little pose, "That's right! We get to kick Celery and Radish's asses, and then we get to get Marron back with us. I can't wait! I won't hold back on those two, stupid little idiots that they are. We'll be doing the rest of the world a favour, getting rid of 'em."

 

Milphey just blinked at Gateau, then glanced down at the floor.

 

"Yes. Yes, we will."

 

That was Milphey's only response. Confused, Gateau tried to catch Milphey's line of sight, "Milphey, what's the matter? You're really kinda... weird tonight, you know?"

 

Milphey started to walk away from Gateau, "I'm just not in the best of moods, Gateau. Nevermind. I'll try and get some sleep now, you should do the same. I'll see you in the morning, alright?"

 

"Y-yeah... night..."

 

Gateau watched Milphey as he walked off, still confused. He folded his arms, "Weird". Then he made his way back to his and Eclair's room in order to catch up with his sleep.

 

****

 

Wherever the field was, it wasn't somewhere that Marron felt he recognized. There was something strange about it, too... the field seemed to extend endlessly around him in all directions, but... there was something about the sky... he looked up. The sky seemed purple, and so did everything around him, he realised. As if he was looking through tinted glass almost, but... there was nothing for him to look through. The clouds moved in the sky overhead, but they seemed to move too fast... as if the world was moving around him, and there wasn't anything he could do about it.

 

Wind blew mercilessly around him, causing his hair to fly out around him. He noticed something tickling at his hands which were by his sides; looking down, he saw that the field he was in was some kind of corn field, or something. The wind was just as brutal to the long stalks as it was to his hair, they were beaten by the wind, blowing against him, against his hand... Marron looked around him. How long had he been in this field? Looking around, he didn't see any trail that he could have followed, or anything... and where could he have come from in the first place? There seemed to be nothing but the field. Nothing and nobody.

 

Marron frowned, looking around him. What was this place? Looking to his sides, nothing else. Looking behind him, turning around, nothing there either.

 

Suddenly, the wind seemed to die down a fraction; Marron noticed this, and turned back to face the direction he'd originally been in. He was surprised to see... a figure? He wasn't sure who it was, but there was certainly someone there. Something about seeing that figure made Marron want to run to see who it was; he ran, feeling as if he was running in slow motion. The sky seemed to overtake him constantly, and that figure never seemed to become any closer... Marron cried out in frustration, seeming so quiet over the rushing of the wind around him. He cried out in frustration, then cried the name that played on his lips, the word that wouldn't let him go...

 

"Ca... Carrot... NIISAN!!"

 

The figure was motionless, standing so far away... Marron just knew, that was who the figure was. Carrot. His niisan. That was who it was... why wouldn't his limbs move as he wanted them to? Why couldn't he run as fast as he felt he was running?

 

"Nii... san... NIISAN!!"

 

The figure still didn't move, but Marron felt that perhaps... perhaps he was getting closer, even if only a little. The figure was definitely Carrot, he could see that now. The wind buffeted at his hair, it's soft spikes wavering as they were guided. Marron could see his familiar tanktop, the sword he carried at his side... closer, he wanted to get closer... because... if he was closer, then he could see his brother's eyes, the smaller things that he always noticed, that he wanted to notice...

 

Carrot stood casually enough, one hand by his side, the other resting on his sword's scabbard. He didn't seem to acknowledge Marron's cries, he just stood there... Marron felt helpless, Carrot didn't seem to notice him however much he cried... the wind seemed to be picking up again, and even if he cried Carrot's name until his throat hurt, he barely seemed to make an impact against the wind. He never stopped running; Carrot seemed to be closer now, every step took him just a little closer... just a little... closer...

 

"NIIIISAANN!! NIIIISANNNN!!!"

 

Marron's voice was a shout to his own ears, but against the wind, he was drowned out... as he ran, he noticed something around him, things blowing in the wind. He looked around as he ran; it seemed as if the wind had beheaded at least some of the corn stalks, even though all around him was still battered perfection of a field; even so, beheaded cornstalk heads, seeds and empty husks seemed to fly around him. The wind, the destruction in the air that didn't mirror that of the field... Marron wondered if this was what it'd be like to be caught in a whirlwind. Looking around him again, the field was still endless... and Carrot was still further away, but so much closer than he'd been before... the wind whipped around him, his hair streamed out behind him... there seemed to be so much in the wind now. He half-closed his eyes, feeling the soft sting of that which the wind carried hitting against him; it was nothing though, not compared to the feeling, the need of having to be near to his niisan... Carrot seemed barely affected by the wind; it was as if he was beyond it, somehow... Marron still cried out for him. Still he ran, still he cried out... then, as if the wind wasn't creating a storm around him, he heard his brother's voice...

 

"Marron..."

 

"Ni-niisan!!"

 

Marron didn't shout that last one; it was more his own surprise at hearing his brother's voice than anything else. Nervous excitement rose in his chest as he heard that voice, felt it... had Carrot heard him? If so, he had to be getting close...

 

"NIISAN!! NIISAN, PLEASE... NIISAN!! ANSWER ME!!!"

 

Marron felt so near and yet so far; Carrot seemed close, but he also seemed to be so far away... he was closer than before though, Marron reminded himself of that constantly. And he'd heard Carrot's voice... he was sure that it'd been Carrot's own voice, and not something in his mind, or anything... the clouds rushed on overhead, and Marron's view was still purple-tinted, but suddenly, there was something else that he felt... he felt rain on his body, suddenly cold, not helped by the intensity of the wind around him. The wind drove it against his body, and made him feel so suddenly freezing... he frowned against the wind, the rain and the wind wouldn't detract him from his mission. Carrot still seemed untouched by any that Marron felt.

 

"Marron... come closer..."

 

Marron still felt helpless; what did Carrot think he was at least trying to do?! Even so, it was encouragement. Marron continued to run, not yet feeling tired, constantly fuelled by his want and need. He had to see Carrot. He had to reach him. He had to look at him, look into his eyes, see his smile, hear his voice... Carrot, he was all that he wanted, all that he needed, and despite all of that around him, Carrot was there, and even if he was distant, surely Marron would be able to reach him if he ran fast enough? Marron was nothing if not determined, fighting down his feelings of helplessness as he ran.

 

As he ran, he saw Carrot extend his hand, as if reaching for Marron... no, more as if he was offering his hand for Marron to take.

 

"Marron... I'm still here... I'll wait for you... just... come closer..."

 

"Niisan... I'm trying..."

 

Marron didn't know if Carrot could hear him, but... despite the howling of the wind and the constant battering of the rain, Marron had no problems hearing his brother's voice. Carrot didn't seem to be shouting, but Marron could still hear that voice, warm and familiar... he felt his stomach twist as he ran, more than anything, he wanted that voice... he needed it... he craved it... that voice... Carrot's voice... his brother's voice... saying his name, wanting him nearby... waiting for him... still Marron ran.

 

Marron felt as if he was getting closer. The wind seemed to fluctuate now; it'd force the rain against him, powerful and untamed... then it'd almost die down, letting Marron feel the rain's true power, almost calming, certainly less violent... then it'd flare up again. But as he ran, the wind's power seemed to decrease... he noticed it, his skin feeling chilled as he thought about it. The wind and rain hadn't been kind to him, his face felt numb from running against the wind for what felt like so long... his robe was soaked through, but he didn't care. He was definitely getting closer to his brother... that was the most important thing.

 

"Niisan... NIISAN!! CAN YOU HEAR ME?!"

 

Marron could almost physically feel his brother's amusement, "Marron, you don't need to shout..."

 

"Niisan...? Niisan! Nii.... NIISAN!!"

 

Marron couldn't help himself; Carrot didn't say anything after that, even though Marron wondered if he would. Marron looked up at the sky; the purple clouds still flew by, seeming out of sync with the rest of the world. Marron ran, and... suddenly, as if he hadn't been running anywhere at all, he stood in front of Carrot. Not close, but definitely not far away. Marron gasped as he realised this, and dropped out of his run, his limbs suddenly feeling the effect of his exertion; Marron's legs felt as if they'd collapse from underneath him at any moment, he cursed his body for feeling like that. So close to his brother...! His body couldn't let out now, he wouldn't let it. He clenched his fists and willed himself to walk forward, seeing his brother standing there so calmly as if nothing had happened at all... the rain was nothing but a soft constant whisper in the back of Marron's mind as he approached Carrot. Looking down at the ground, the field seemed to be gone from underneath him. He looked behind him suddenly; he saw the field for a moment, but then it disappeared... it was replaced by an endless darkness. Above him, even the clouds had disappeared, no longer speeding past, but though the clouds were gone, the rain wasn't. Marron wasn't sure where the rain came from or where it fell against to make noise as it did so, but it did, and that couldn't be argued against. Everything around him was suddenly dark, but not quite. A soft light seemed to shine from somewhere, but Marron couldn't work out from where; it was as if it was shining from somewhere at the back of his memory, it illuminated some things, but not others... he could see the occasional shine and glimmer of a raindrop as it fell, hitting into... more water, that was all Marron could see. Raindrops would cause ripples, ripples that grew, extended, and then died out, leaving darkness again... Marron's walk was so slow now, but Carrot was still in front of him. Marron walked until he was a few feet away from his brother, and then stood motionless, just looking at him.

 

Carrot smiled, but there was something about that smile that unnerved Marron; almost cruel in his smile...

 

"Niisan... I... I'm here..."

 

Carrot nodded, "You are. You ran a long way, I'm impressed."

"Ni... niisan..."

 

Carrot stepped forward, his first true movement. He put his hands to Marron's shoulders, feeling how damp they were... the rain still fell, but it seemed to avoid Carrot, somehow. He seemed as dry as if rain wasn't falling at all.

 

"Marron, you're soaked through..."

 

Marron nodded, "Y-yes... as I ran, there was rain... it doesn't matter, though. It wasn't an obstacle to me."

 

"Well, even so, you shouldn't walk around in wet clothes, should you? You feel so cold..."

 

Marron said and did nothing as Carrot silently undid his robe. Carrot pulled Marron's sash out, folding it up against itself a few times, then squeezing it; a small trickle of rainwater fell from it, then Carrot threw it to the floor.

 

Marron's clothes peeled from his body as Carrot pulled them. The feel of Carrot's hand against his bare chest was almost painful; his body felt so cold, so numb... and Carrot's touch was so warm... he felt his wet hair stick to his body as his robe, dampened to an opaque white, was stripped from his body. Carrot's fingers wandered across his skin as they undressed him, feeling dry against his damp skin. Marron still heard rain, but he couldn't feel it anymore... almost as if he'd been running through rain for so long, but he'd returned home, returned to shelter. Carrot was his shelter.

 

Marron's robe fell to the floor, suddenly invisible. Marron realised that he was naked; part of him wondered how, but he barely cared. His body felt so cold, he felt as if he wanted to pass out... Carrot stood behind him now, Marron cried out slightly; he felt Carrot's arms around him, hugging him under his arms, around his chest... he felt him, but as much as he felt him, he wanted to see him... Carrot's body against his own was warm, though. He felt as if his body was thawing at Carrot's touch... his knees seemed to buckle, but he was tightly held by Carrot. Carrot wouldn't let him fall, he was certain of that. Marron sighed and then let his head fall back, leaning it into the curve of Carrot's neck; he could feel Carrot's head next to his own, and it felt warm. Carrot was warm. He was warm, he was comforting... Marron closed his eyes, letting himself relax. The run through that field, the urgent desperation... it didn't matter now, none of it mattered. He was with Carrot now, and that was all that did matter. It was worth it, just to be with Carrot.

 

Marron heard Carrot's sigh, but didn't move to acknowledge it. He just listened as his brother spoke.

 

"It's a shame... that you're dead, isn't it, Marron?"

 

Marron's eyes opened slowly, glancing across at what he could see of Carrot, "W-what?"

 

"As I said... it's a shame that you're dead. This darkness with me, it's all that you can know, little brother... real life can't be like this, can it? We're separated now. It's a shame."

 

Carrot's embrace loosened slightly, Marron willed himself to keep from falling. "Niisan... niisan?"

 

Marron felt Carrot's hands delink from around his chest, moving over his shoulders, slowly slipping down his back... they stopped just behind his shoulders, fingers curved over the tops of them, cupping against Marron's skin.

 

"You're dead, my little angel."

 

"Angel?"

 

Carrot stepped back, Marron felt Carrot's heat leave his body. He wanted to turn his head to see what Carrot was doing, but his body was suddenly frozen; he suddenly felt as if he couldn't move anything. Carrot seemed to be doing something behind him... Carrot brought his hands back suddenly, and Marron cried in sudden pain as he felt something burst from his back; he fell forward almost involuntarily, but some kind of balance prevented him... muscles he'd never known existed seemed to come into action, preventing him from falling; Marron heard the beating of wings. He looked behind him; were those his wings?

 

He stood motionless for a few moments as Carrot walked to stand in front of him, smiling at his brother's confusion.

 

Those wings... so much taller than Marron himself. So beautiful... Marron thought of Dota and Sirius, but Carrot shook his head.

 

"Not wings like them. Those wings are the wings they were born with, those wings are... they're different, Marron. Different to your wings. You... you have the wings of an angel... because you are an angel, aren't you? Someone who died... which is unfortunate. You died, but it can't be helped..."

 

"Niisan, niisan, I'm not dead! I... I..."

 

Carrot's voice was suddenly sharp.

 

"If you're not dead, then what is it that you're existing as now? The life you live, it's not Marron's life... the Marron that's you... the part of you that makes you you, my little brother... that part died, didn't it?"

 

"N-no, no, niisan! Niisan, I... I'm still your brother, aren't I?"

 

Carrot grabbed Marron's shoulders, standing suddenly close to him. Marron stiffened, suddenly afraid of his brother's anger.

 

"How DARE you say that!! I hate that someone like you would say something like that! How can you say that you're still my brother when you died like that? You died, you left me... you died, and now you're living some kind of other life... you soar on wings of indifference, and suddenly, you don't even remember me anymore... and after such love, too..."

 

Marron felt tears track their way down his face as Carrot kissed him. That kiss was so warm and familiar, but yet... if Carrot's words were true... guilt and shame weighed down so heavily on Marron's shoulders, he loved his brother so much, how could those words be true?

 

Carrot pulled back, looking serious and displeased.

 

"How can they be true... you know that they're true... you were my brother, my angel... but something stole your wings away..."

 

Marron heard a dull kind of ripping sound, and then suddenly such pain... he looked behind him, his wings were no longer part of him; he fell to a kneel, and then onto his front, unable to lie on his back from the pain that was there. Feathers blew around him, encircling him... that pain was so intense. Marron could barely keep his eyes open now; all he wanted to do was close his eyes and forget the pain, forget his life, forget everything that caused him pain... or just forget everything... to not exist anymore... to not exist would be the absence of pain... Marron's mental and emotional pain echoed alongside his physical pain, and he cried out, reaching up to Carrot.

 

"Nii... niisan..."

 

Marron saw a trail of blood running down his arm, and when he tried to clench his shoulders, the pain increased suddenly, shooting through his body... he cried out louder, a cry of pain, throwing his face into his arms. Such pain... wasn't there any escape from it? He tried to look up from his arms, any movement was as painful as another... he looked up at Carrot, but Carrot just seemed to glare at him... he seemed so emotionless, so impassive... and then he faded away, and was gone.

 

Marron returned his head to his arms, not trying to fight away his tears as they came.

 

"Nii... niisan... niisan..."

 

Carrot was gone, but Marron still heard his voice...

 

"Something stole away your wings... someONE stole away your wings..."

Marron frowned, looking up. "Niisan... niisan, who...?"

 

Carrot's voice sounded so bitter.

 

"You KNOW who."

 

Marron felt at a loss; the rain was gone, Carrot was gone, his wings were gone, and even that illuminating light was gone. Soon after that, his consciousness was gone alongside those other things... and everything was darkness.

 

****

 

Radish flickered his eyes open to daylight; the first thing he noticed was the daylight streaming into the room, and the second was a feeling of 'this is not my room'... he looked around, momentarily confused as to where he was, what he was doing there... he felt someone next to him in the bed, he turned his head, and saw Marron.

 

He blinked.

 

The thought "Did I sleep with him?" occurred to Radish, but... he didn't have any recollection of that... he sat up, frowning. "Seems like I slept next to him, anyway... but did I... have sex with him? N-no, I'd REMEMBER that, surely? At least, I hope I'd remember something like that..."

 

Radish sat there quietly for a few moments. He looked up out of the window, trying to remember what he could from last night. The wind gently blew at the trees that Radish could see; he thought of Celery. Celery had... he remembered Celery. He groaned slightly as he remembered what'd happened. Celery had come to him, wanting to sleep with him... Radish had refused. He still ended up with an orgasmic oniisama on his bed, but... Radish felt a little guilty about that. Celery'd seemed so sad that last night...

 

After that business with Celery... what then... Radish remembered going to check out Marron in his room, and Marron'd been crying out 'niisan' and 'Carrot' in his sleep... ah, that was what'd happened. Radish remembered.

 

For a moment he felt happy that he'd remembered, but then he felt that sudden unease at what'd happened... Marron had been calling those names in his sleep... he'd been calling those names... Radish glanced down, looking at Marron. He seemed quiet and peaceful enough now, but back then... he'd been asleep, but his voice had sounded so desperate...

 

Radish leant down, running a hand over Marron's cheek. He was asleep, he wouldn't notice. Radish watched him with sad eyes, "He still haunts your dreams, huh?"

 

Marron shifted in his sleep, "Ni... i... sn..."

 

Radish drew his hand away quickly, looking away with a scowl.

 

"... and he still does to this moment... bastard..."

 

He sighed, waiting for Marron to wake up. He wanted Marron to wake up, because then at least he'd be awake, and Radish could be sure that he wasn't thinking or dreaming of Carrot, his beloved niisan...

 

Radish debated going back to his own room. He didn't normally share Marron's bed, after all... that, and he wondered if it might seem, well, a bit forward of him, suddenly being beside him in bed... Radish didn't want to worry Marron at all.

 

Marron frowned in his sleep. He made a slight noise, which alerted Radish's attention...

 

"Nnh... uhnn... ni... i... sa... n... niisan..."

 

Radish fought back the urge to do something violent, instead he reached out, put two fingers to Marron's forehead, and concentrated.

 

"Marron, stop thinking of that name."

 

"Niisan, niisan, oh god, niisan... niisan, where did you go? These wings... who broke them? You... you said that they were broken by somebody, but... but... who?"

 

Radish frowned. Wings?

 

He sighed, Marron was obviously still dreaming, such strange dreams that he had. The first order of the morning would therefore have to be to wake Marron up...

 

"Né, Marron. Marron! Wake up!"

 

"Who are you? What voice are you? You're not niisan! Are YOU the person who broke my wings? Who killed me and tore me from my brother's life? I... I won't forgive you if you are!"

 

Radish rolled his eyes. Such fevered dreams... he closed his eyes and concentrated a little harder, injecting images and memories of their time together into Marron's mind. Days spent out on the lawn. The river, the forests... things like that.

 

"Marron?"

 

This time there was nothing. The dream seemed to be quiet now, but Marron wasn't waking up... Radish sighed, supposing that Marron just wasn't in the mood for waking up at the moment. Fair enough. Radish slipped out of the bed and wandered back to his own room to get dressed.

 

A few minutes later, Radish emerged from his bedroom, wearing his usual clothes. He dusted down his shirt, and debated paying a morning visit to his brother... after last night, he decided against it. Might as well head downstairs and have an early breakfast, if nobody else was awake.

 

Radish made his way into the kitchen and wandered for a little while. Breakfast... Celery usually made breakfast, Radish wasn't really sure what to do. Maybe breakfast could wait until Celery was awake, then.

 

Glancing out to see the morning sun on the garden, Radish noticed that Celery was, in fact, already awake; he was sitting on the lawn, his back turned to Radish, doing something... Radish frowned. What could Celery be doing so early? He opened the sliding door and stepped out onto the steps that led into the garden, "Hey, Celeoniisama? Whatcha doing?"

 

Celery heard Radish's voice and looked up suddenly; he paused for a second, then, realising that it was Radish, he smiled.

 

"Aah, otouto. Good morning. Did you... sleep well, last night?"

 

Radish walked onto the lawn, scratching his chest underneath his shirt as he did so.

 

"Yeah, yeah, pretty well. And, uh, did you sleep okay too?"

 

"I did, otouto."

 

Nothing more was said on the topic of 'last night'.

 

Radish walked the rest of the way over to Celery, dropping to a kneel and slipping his arms around Celery's neck, leaning against him. It seemed as if Celery was doing some washing, or something. A large bowl sat in front of him on the grass, full of water. The water seemed to be... purple, though?

 

"So what are you doing?"

 

Celery picked up the item that he'd been working on, lifting it out of the basin. Water cascaded down it back into the bowl, he replaced it and continued to work on it with his hands.

 

"Ah, well... a while ago you suggested Marron changing his clothes, or something... something so that he wasn't wearing things that might remind him, or us, of his past..."

 

Radish didn't remember saying that. "When did I say that?"

 

"It was a week or so ago, maybe you don't remember... anyway, I found some dye in the pantry, I thought I might experiment with a little of it... it... doesn't seem to be going too well, though... I thought that perhaps black might be a nice change, you know, it'd suit Marron... I thought that one was black, but it seems to be purple instead. Nevermind. Purple is also nice, I suppose."

 

Radish noticed a small jar of something to Celery's left side. He picked it up and shook it; the powder inside did seem to be dark, but dust of the powder gathered in the grooves near the lid told Radish that yes, it was purple. That'd explain the water.

 

"I see... so that's Marron's robe, then?"

 

"It is."

 

"Oh..."

 

"Is he awake yet? I was hoping to get this done before he was awake... though it would take some time to dry. I looked out some of my other clothes that he could borrow in the meantime, since we're of a similar build. He's been using one of my nightshirts without problem, anyway."

 

"That was one of yours? Oh, I wondered where that'd come from."

 

Celery nodded, "I didn't think he'd mind. So... is he awake? When I left my clothes in his room earlier, I couldn't help but notice that... you were there too... totally gone, though. You were asleep."

 

"That... aa, don't worry, oniisama! I haven't had sex with him yet."

 

Celery allowed himself a smile, even though he doubted Radish would be able to see it.

 

"Oh, I wasn't suggesting that you had..."

 

"You thought it though, didn't you?"

 

A pause.

 

"... perhaps. B-but that's not important... well, I suppose I should leave this to soak for a little while... did otouto want some breakfast? You're awake quite early."

 

"Y-yeah... the sun woke me up and I couldn't get back to sleep. But how come oniisama's awake so early? Don't tell me you only woke up early so you could do the robe thing..."

 

Celery paused, stopping even in his robework as Radish spoke.

 

He seemed harried somewhat as he continued.

 

"Nothing. It's nothing."

 

"You wouldn't be all pissy if it was nothing, Celeoniisama..."

 

Celery sighed, "Well... I don't know. I woke up earlier, and I just had this feeling... I can't explain it. It wasn't a good feeling, though..."

 

Radish looked curious, slipping his arms from around his brother, and sitting cross-legged to Celery's side. He gazed up at him with wide eyes.

 

"A bad feeling, huh? Can you describe what it was like?"

 

Celery didn't look at Radish as he spoke, "Barely... all I remember is just suddenly... some kind of oppressive feeling, like a thunderstorm, or humid weather... it's as if something's getting closer to us. Something, or someone... Radish, later on, I want to borrow your body..."

 

Radish smirked, "Kinky."

 

A blush, "N-not like that!! I mean... I wanted to cast a spell of watching, I... I have a feeling that this feeling that I had... still have... I think it might be something to do with Big Mama. Her and... maybe her Sorcerer Hunters..."

 

"Huh?! Her Sorcerer Hunters?! But... but... we killed them! That fire near Qeran... no-one coulda survived that! It's a good thing it's magic we can tame, 'cause otherwise we woulda been killed too!"

 

Celery glanced sardonically at Radish for a moment.

 

"And my brother would have started a fire he couldn't control? No, that'd never happen."

 

"Hey, shut up! No, but... like... when we first met those Sorcerer Hunters, the fire thing that Marron did, we couldn't fight against that one, could we? It's a different kind of magic, I guess..."

 

Celery nodded.

 

"Yes, it'd seem so. I suppose it would stem from his magic being learnt as opposed to an inborn power... I hope that he doesn't pick up on too many differences whilst reading the books that we keep here. No, but... as I was saying, Big Mama and her Sorcerer Hunters... Carrot and the others... they wouldn't be her only Sorcerer Hunters, would they? There's probably a lot more of them than we know about, but we only happened to encounter those ones... who's to say she doesn't have a whole army of them, even? She might be sending them in this direction as we speak..."

 

Radish brought his hand down none-too-gently across the back of Celery's shoulder, "SHUT UP!"

 

"Aa... otouto?"

 

"Sorry, but fuck, you're being so gloomy all of a sudden! Man, I almost wish we could kill Big Mama right now 'cause then at least we'd be rid of her and rid of worrying... do you think we could kill her? Ya think it'd be possible?"

 

"She's like a goddess, Radish... for all we know, she might well be a goddess, sent down to watch over earth... I don't think we should make ourselves want to slay a deity."

 

Radish folded his arms, "I guess. But still... if she was gone, at least it'd be something we wouldn't haveta worry about anymore, right? Then again... those Sorcerer Hunters are dead, and..."

 

Celery stood up, picking up the robe as he went. Radish noticed Celery's movement and followed him as he walked; Celery walked over to a clothesline suspended between two sturdy tree branches in the lower right corner of the garden. He brought a pair of pegs out of a pocket in his trousers and hung Marron's robe up to dry, watching it as it dripped.

 

He glanced at Radish.

 

"... and? You're still worrying about them? I didn't know you were worrying about them at all, otouto."

 

Radish shook his head fitfully, deep in thought for a moment.

 

"N-no, not worrying about them as such..."

 

"Then...?"

 

Radish stared at the grass below him, shifting one foot against the ground.

 

"Marron was dreaming last night, that's how come I ended up in his bed and all... he was cryin' out Carrot's name in his sleep, all 'NIISAN' and 'CARROT'-like... nothing could calm his nightmare! He was all fine once he woke up, but in his dreams... I tried going into his dream, even... tried going into the dream so I could, you know, comfort him and all, but... in his dream, he remembered... he remembered that I was the person who killed his niisan..."

 

Celery just watched sympathetically.

 

"Well, you can't hope to suppress all his memories, can you? I'd say you've done well to have him this far gone, but the realm of sleep is something different entirely..."

 

"FUCK, but what if he REMEMBERS the things he dreamt about?! I don't want him to remember who Carrot is! If he remembers who Carrot is then he'll probably remember that I killed him and if he remembers that I killed Carrot then he's gonna wanna kill ME and I don't want him to do that 'cause I don't even want him to remember Carrot and-"

 

"Otouto, CALM DOWN!"

 

"Aau?"

 

Radish looked up at Celery's half-shout. Celery wasn't angry though, just serious.

 

"It can't be helped. If that's what Marron's sleeping mind dreams about, then it can't be helped. All we can do is try to make sure that he doesn't think of things like that in his waking life; as much as we can, we should stop him having the chance to think of such things."

 

"Uhuh..."

 

At that point, the two of them turned around, hearing the sound of the slide-door on it's rollers. Radish gasped, "Oh, Marron's awake!" and ran over to greet him. Celery just watched for a few moments before sighing, "You can't be changed, otouto..."

 

Celery walked over to join the two of them.

 

"... Good morning, Marron. And you, did you sleep well?"

 

Marron seemed as calm as he always did as he answered, "Yes, thankyou... though... I woke up and saw that my usual robe was gone..."

 

Radish nodded, "Yeah, we took it away to wash it but something happened in the wash and it turned purple. It's over there hanging out to dry, sorry about that. But hey, oniisama's clothes look fine on you."

 

Celery idly remembered the clothes from a while back; a green button-up shirt with dark blue trousers. The collar of the shirt went up, not unlike Celery's current cape.

 

Marron smiled, "I found them underneath the window when I woke up."

 

"We meant for you to wear them..."

 

"I thought you might."

 

Radish smiled at the scene for a few seconds, then clapped his hands together, heading back inside the house. "Well, I don't know about you guys, but I could really go for some breakfast or something... I was gonna make some earlier but I thought I should wait until everyone else was up."

 

Celery smiled self-indulgently, "You mean you didn't know how to make it on your own?"

 

"Ssshh! I can't help it if I'm not into that kind of thing."

 

The three went into the kitchen, and Celery proceeded to prepare food.

 

The day continued on uneventfully, Marron not seeming to remember the dream he'd had, Radish not mentioning that he knew about those dreams, and Celery not mentioning that which'd happened the night before. Despite hiding things from each other in different ways, the three of them seemed relaxed enough.

Radish's worst fears arose after the afternoon meal had been eaten.

 

Celery sat in one of the comfy chairs on the area between the kitchen and the sliding door, a pair of reading glasses perched on his nose as he involved himself in a large thick book. Marron sat opposite him, staring out of the window as it proceeded to get dark; stars were just starting to become visible in the sky above. Radish sat between the two of them on the carpet, glancing from his brother, to Marron, to the sky outside. No-one said anything, but there wasn't really anything that needed to be said. Not until Marron happened to speak.

 

"... I don't suppose that you might..."

 

Radish looked up, making a curious noise as he did so.

 

"Nh? Might what?"

 

By the time Radish turned to look, Marron was staring down at his knees.

 

"... n-no, it's nothing..."

 

Radish smiled brightly, "Hey, you can tell us anything, right, Celeoniisama?"

 

Celery hadn't really been paying attention, but at hearing his brother's sprightly exclamation, he looked up from what he'd been reading, finger keeping place on the page, nodding.

 

"Oh? Um, yes, of course. I agree."

 

"So you don't have to be unsure about anything, Marron!" Radish smiled sweetly. "You can talk to us if you need to."

 

Marron looked up, glancing back out to the garden. Some birds had flown onto the lawn, flying around, chirping in whatever language it was they understood. Birds weren't a threat to anyone in the house, birds could come and go as they pleased. Marron watched them for a few moments, then sighed.

 

"... I... want to know who Carrot is..."

 

The change in mood in the room was almost physically noticeable. Radish had tensed suddenly, just staring at Marron. Celery had been keeping a careful ear on the conversation since Radish had said his name, half paying attention to his book. He looked up once he'd heard Marron mention Carrot; he looked immediately at Radish. How would his brother react to that?

 

Radish's brow twitched, unsure whether to scowl, frown, or remain untouched.

 

"Ca... rrot..."

 

The frown won.

 

"Where did you hear that name?"

 

Marron just blinked, not sure where Radish's seeming anger had come from.

 

"I... last night, I had a dream... I barely remember anything from the dream. All I remember is that there was darkness... some kind of powerful, intense feeling... and that person's name... did I dream about them? I'm not sure. I can't remember who that person is... should I be able to remember? Is it someone we used to know?"

 

Radish's mind worked quickly, mentally working out how much he should tell Marron.

 

"Someone we used to know... you could say that. Carrot is... Carrot was one of Big Mama's treasured Sorcerer Hunters..."

 

Celery frowned, "Radish, what are you saying? He might remember!"

 

"He won't, not while he's awake. He'll accept anything I tell him while he's awake, remember?"

 

Celery decided to keep out of it.

 

"... he was the one who took you away from me, Marron... that is, I mean, Big Mama took you away from us, but he was the one who took you away from me... he convinced you that you and him were so close... you believed him... so much time spent with those Sorcerer Hunters, I suppose it might play upon your dreams, but... why dream about him..."

 

Radish trailed off, speaking quietly. He looked back up at Marron.

 

"Still, he's gone now, we killed him at the battle near Qeran. You don't need to worry about that name anymore, so just try and forget it, okay? He took you from me, but... he's not around anymore to try anything, so just relax and feel safe here with us. He's not someone you should be remembering."

 

"I see..."

 

"Nothing more you remember, is there?" Images of the other Sorcerer Hunters played upon Radish's mind.

 

Marron just shook his head, "No..."

 

Radish nodded, "Good... I'm glad. Thoughts such as those could be... disturbing..."

 

Marron stood up, dusting his robe down. During the course of the day it'd dried, and so he'd taken to wearing it; Radish loved it, and even Celery had to admit that it didn't look half bad. Marron had just smiled with his usual distanced embarrassment, saying about how it was only a change in robe colour, it wasn't anything big... Radish had still proclaimed how much he liked it, though. Which was how Radish was, after all. He wanted Marron to know how great Radish thought he looked.

 

Radish looked up as Marron stood; he shifted as Marron made his way to the door, and put his hand on it, preparing to pull it to the side.

 

"Marron?"

 

"I... want to be alone for the time being... I could do with some fresh air."

 

Radish just nodded dumbly, "Uh... uh-huh..."

 

The temperature in the room dropped momentarily to Radish's immediate senses as Marron opened the door and stepped outside. The cool feeling stopped abruptly as Marron shut the door; Radish watched as Marron walked across the lawn. The tiny birds playing there were disturbed, escaping to the trees and bushes to the sides as Marron walked through them... Marron walked until he was on the edge of the garden, staring down into the river. His usual vantage point.

 

Celery felt unease from his brother; he took off his glasses with a sigh, closing his book and placing it down on the chair next to him.

 

"Radish, are you alright?"

 

Radish looked up as Celery stood up and knelt behind him. Once behind him, Celery looped his arms around his brother's neck; he figured that Radish wouldn't mind. He didn't. Radish just sighed, holding his brother's arms around him. Celery relaxed as he felt Radish's fingers close around his wrists. Some things were no longer allowed, but... some things were still comforting to Radish, it seemed. This served in turn as a comfort to Celery.

 

The two of them stared into the garden, saying nothing. Celery let his question remain unanswered for the time being; it wasn't really important.

 

In his previous robe, Marron had always stood out in the garden when he'd stood there as night approached. As they'd been sitting inside it had got darker, and Radish noticed that Marron was suddenly not as visible... the robe did it, he supposed. It irked at him that he could no longer see Marron so well, but... he decided it didn't really matter. After all, it wasn't as if Marron could go anywhere, was it?

 

Celery tightened his arms around Radish, "If you want, you could go out there and be with him..."

 

"And what would that do? He'd probably just ask me more about Carrot and Big Mama and the Sorcerer Hunters and people... maybe that bad feeling you had this morning was something to do with him dreaming of that? I don't know what that means if it's something he's able to remember... even if it's only a name he remembers, it's... not good, is it? And to make him forget... I dunno, it just seems a bit TOO manipulative to make him forget every little thing I don't want him to remember..."

 

"Says the person who has the will to bend someone to their will like this in the first place."

 

"I know, I know... it's not just that, though... it's like... I dunno, I've been feeling really tired really early these days. You know what I'm like, I could stay up all night if I wanted to! ... Or at least, I could... nowadays, I dunno, it's more like when you go to bed... and I always used to complain that oniisama went to bed too early... maybe I'm just stressed? I don't know, but thinking of having to use more power on Marron..." Radish yawned. "Just that thought's enough to make me feel more tired."

 

Celery had known of Radish's increasing tiredness, he'd felt it and noticed his brother's early bedtimes throughout the past week. He hadn't said anything, though. He didn't want his brother suddenly thinking Celery thought Radish was weak, or anything; it might have inflamed his anger, being someone who prided himself on his power, magic, and strength...

 

Celery supposed that Radish's tiredness was a side-effect of the magic. To keep someone under the Farra Kinju in that manner for all their waking life would have to require some pretty strong power from the person implementing the magic; Celery thought of the Sorcerer Aboros. Had he had problems like this? If he had that kind of power to effortlessly enslave so many Parsoners, Celery had nothing but respect for the dead Sorcerer. With a sigh, he wished that he had some kind of power for communicating with the dead. Maybe he could pick up some hints and tips. Still, the only people that Aboros had used his power against were Parsoners and the like, broken and hopeless as they tended to be; Marron was someone who was powerful, even now his life had been changed so abruptly... Celery only felt a small amount of the power taken from his brother, magic being channelled partly through him as it was, but even that reduced effect still felt quite powerful... Celery wondered if keeping Marron under tabs was proving too hard a task for his brother.

 

"Perhaps you should have practised on rabbits and other animals beforehand."

 

"Huh?"

 

"The Farra Kinju. If it's tiring you out to keep Marron under the spell... I don't know, it's too late by now, but perhaps you should have taken your time until you were ready to handle such a strong-willed person..."

 

"Hey, I'm perfectly fine! I'm not having any problems keeping him like that! Okay, there's the dreams, but that's... that's something different entirely, I don't have the power to manipulate people's dreams and such. There's probably a kind of magic out there like that, but I don't have it, so we've just gotta make do with what we DO have, okay?"

 

Celery nestled his head against his brother's, leaning on Radish's shoulder.

 

"Hey, I wasn't trying to be angry with you. If you need some more power, I'd happily lend you my power..."

 

"Then it'd tire oniisama out too. I couldn't do that."

 

"I'd rather be a bit tired myself than have you get ill or anything. So if you ever do feel really tired, just tell me, and I'll take over for a while, let you get some rest."

 

Celery felt Radish nod against him, and felt reassured.

 

He smiled, "Magic that manipulates dreams? I have heard there's magic out there like that... where was it... oh, in some small town called Kalen, or something like that. A long way away from here, but... the last I heard, a Sorcerer ruling the town from the top of a tall tower had something like that. I forget his name, though... I could swear it began with a v... maybe we should go after him next?"

 

Radish laughed softly, "Sorcerers killing other Sorcerers? Isn't that some kind of frowned-upon thing?"

 

"It's nothing we've not done before, otouto."

 

Radish nodded, leaning his head against Celery.

 

"True, true."

 

The two of them fell into silence, just watching Marron as he stood silently. Radish sighed.

 

"I... wish I knew what he was thinking about."

 

Celery nodded, "I can't help but be curious alongside you, otouto... he seems to spend so much of his time outside in the garden, just thinking... and he never really tells us what he's been thinking about..."

"Maybe it's not something he can easily explain."

 

Celery glanced at his brother. That'd been unusually philosophic.

 

"Radish?"

 

"Well, as far as he knows, he lost his memory, right? Maybe he's trying to do whatever he can to remember stuff... even though we won't let him, he doesn't know we're not letting him, does he? So he'll probably try his hardest to remember..."

 

"Mmm, you're probably right... hm, I'm surprised otouto doesn't just reach into Marron's mind to see what he thinks about..."

 

"Hey, I wouldn't wanna do that. He might notice. He noticed when you looked into his mind when we first got him here, right? Besides... he's someone I want to get to know and everything, and manipulating his mind is bad enough, to keep looking to see what's in there, I dunno, that's just having too much power, I suppose."

 

Celery smiled sheepishly, "I won't pretend to ever understand you, otouto. You've never really been so ethic over anything else... usually it's just about killing, fire and destruction... what makes him so different?"

 

A pause.

 

"I... I don't know. He just is, okay?"

 

Celery nodded, "I... I know. I know."

 

Outside on the lawn, Marron was indifferent to what was going on inside the house; Celery and Radish wondered what he thought about... Marron himself wasn't sure. He was content to focus himself on the sights and sounds of the garden, different as they were when night fell.

 

He looked above him; stars were bright in the sky. The stars were calming, somewhat. No matter what, they calmly shed their light, insignificant as it might have seemed, down upon the earth. There were so many stars... too many to count, ever. Marron didn't care how many there were; it just mattered that they were there... and so beautiful... one star on its own would probably have been beautiful in it's own way, but the way that the many thousands of them streaked and dotted the sky... Marron sighed, feeling confused. He'd noticed Radish's reaction when he'd mentioned Carrot, anyone would have, but... why that reaction? Marron supposed it was because Carrot had stolen him away from Radish, whatever that meant. So there was something different...? Big Mama had turned him against Celery and Radish, but Carrot had done something different? He'd convinced Marron that he and Marron were 'so close'... Marron wondered... in what way was that?

 

He sighed. It wasn't as if he wasn't content with Radish's explanation, far from it, but he couldn't help but feel that there was something wrong there, almost... maybe it was just something to do with what Big Mama had done to him, but when he thought of that name, he didn't feel as if it was a bad thing, or anything... no, he supposed that must be because of what happened. Radish and Celery clearly remembered who that person was better than he did; they'd know better, Marron supposed.

 

The stars silently twinkled in the sky above, saying nothing, offering no opinion of their own. Marron wondered if he was expecting them to answer; he knew they wouldn't, but... it was almost as if he wanted another opinion. He wanted someone neutral, almost. Someone separate from Radish and Celery, someone who knew of the situation, someone who could talk to him without being clouded by opinion...

 

Marron wondered if such a person existed. Someone unclouded by opinion... probably not.

 

Even so, if there was someone who could just make everything clear again... that would be the next best thing, Marron felt.

 

He thought about his dream from the previous night. Was there anything else he could remember from it? He remembered the feeling of that person, a feeling of Carrot, whatever that was... it was suddenly frustrating, he could almost see Carrot in his mind, but it was as if his thoughts were clouded... he could almost see a face, a body, a person... but just before his mind saw it, it was as if something prevented him.

 

Marron folded his arms, wondering what kind of person Carrot was. Wondering how he'd been close... close as friends? Close as comrades? Close as... lovers?

 

Marron frowned, feeling still so confused.

 

"Perhaps... we were lovers?"

 

Saying it out loud didn't make anything clearer. Marron gazed intently down at the river, invisible as it was through the now dark night; he could see the outline of trees that dipped into the water, he could hear it's distant roar, he could see the stars reflect on the water, shaking through the fast current... outlines of currents were visible, places were the water was broken by rocks that stuck out of the water... small things were visible, but the general area was still undeniably dark.

 

Marron looked back up at the stars; maybe it'd be different to talk to them.

 

"Carrot and I... were we... lovers?"

 

"You wish."

 

Marron felt the voice in his mind before anything could prevent it; he gasped, looking around... no-one to the sides... behind him, he could see Radish and Celery still in the kitchen... it hadn't been them. They were too far away. The voice... Marron had felt as if it'd spoken to his mind. No, it'd spoken in his mind... had it been Radish's voice? Or Celery's voice? No... the voice had been sharper than that.

 

Marron breathed deeply; he knew who the voice was. It'd been his own voice.

 

He stared at the trees on the other side of the river; they moved quietly to their own tune. The river, the stars, the trees, all seemed suddenly distant... Marron hugged himself tightly. Why did his heart beat so fast? Why was his breathing suddenly so heavy? Why had his mind reacted like that at the thought of him and Carrot... being lovers?

 

Was that something he remembered?

 

"Him and I... lovers... Carrot..."

 

A series of lightning-fast flashes seemed to play on Marron's mind; somebody's smile, the touch of somebody's hand... someone's hug, someone's cry, someone's scream, the deep look of someone's eyes... was that... Carrot?

 

Marron with his back against a wall, gasping as someone spoke to him in such wicked ways, gasps alight with desire and passion that no longer had to be repressed, controlled... being on the floor as that person touched him, making him cry out in forbidden passion... supposed to be forbidden, but it didn't feel like that... that person touched him, then was inside him, making his eyelids and heartbeat flutter as he gasped that person's name, yielding and submitting to their touch... he gasped that person's name, that person's title... he was... a lover... he was... a... brother? Carrot?

 

Marron with darkness all around, crying out in sudden pain as shining wings tore themselves from his body; a voice accused someone of stealing them away... Marron saw Radish's face in his mind. Radish accused? Or was he... being accused? Who was accusing him?

 

Marron dropped to his knees, an intense and powerful headache ripping it's way through his mind. Had he been in the kitchen, he would have realised something similar was happening to Radish; Radish had complained of a sudden headache, then cried out at how powerful it was... Celery looked into his brother's mind, felt his pain... he held him, worried about what the pain could be, rocked him gently, and tried to convince him that it'd be alright...

 

When Radish looked outside, he'd seen Marron's fallen form; with a "It can't be alright..." he'd pulled himself from his brother's arms and hurried outside. He ran across the lawn, called Marron's name... Marron was barely aware of it, only able to concentrate on his pounding headache... Radish slowed to a stop as he reached Marron. Concern was the only thing on Radish's face, despite his own pain; Marron hadn't even noticed him. He reached out, kneeling next to Marron, putting his hand on Marron's shoulder. Marron shook and trembled, his breathing came as a series of gasps... he looked up in shock as he felt Radish touch him, looking up and around with a sudden "Niisan?!"

 

Radish retracted his hand, looking at Marron with shock and confusion. Marron noted the pain on Radish's face when he said that word... his brow furrowed into a sad frown.

 

"... Marron? N-no, not... not him... n-no... it's just me... Radish..."

 

"Radish..."

 

A small nod.

 

"You... remember who I am, right?"

 

"Of course I do, but... this headache, this pain... all I can feel, suddenly... is it because I... because I thought of him? Because I... I... because I remembered? If that pain is what comes with remembering, then... I don't know if I even want to remember anything else..."

 

Radish gingerly replaced his hand on Marron's shoulder.

 

"You... remembered? What did you remember?" He placated himself with the fact that Marron wasn't trying to kill him or anything, so he couldn't have remembered too much...

 

He saw Marron's eyes seem to twitch as he tried to recall.

 

"I remember... that name... Carrot... when I think of that name, I think of another word... of... 'niisan'... but more than that... feelings that... I shouldn't have? Feelings of someone... him, I suppose... feelings and thoughts of him holding me down... he's so strong as he holds me down, but I don't even try to fight against him... and he takes me..."

 

Marron had made vague hand movements as he spoke; Radish just watched, blushing slightly.

 

"Marron... 'niisan' means 'brother', though... you thought of someone who's a brother doing something like that to you?"

 

A mirthless little laugh, "I know. It sounds so strange, but... that was what I saw in my mind, what I felt... I wondered if Carrot and I had been lovers, but my own voice in my head told me so spitefully that that was impossible..."

 

Radish just nodded, unsure of what to say.

 

"... he hurt you, Marron..."

 

"Radish?"

 

"Carrot. He hurt you... he must have done for you to be reacting like this. I... know little of what happened while you were with him, but... to remember him suddenly now... it's painful, isn't it? He must have caused you some kind of pain... do you really want to remember everything?"

 

Radish shifted in his kneel, moving his hand so he held Marron by the shoulders. Marron sighed.

 

"As I said... if remembering is this pain, then... I don't know. Perhaps it's better that I don't. But dreams such as that... I can't help remembering, if I keep dreaming like that!"

"If I could make it so you didn't dream of unpleasant things, then I would..."

 

Marron nodded, "I believe you."

 

The two were silent as they remained in that kneel. Radish eventually made to stand up, Marron noticing this and standing up alongside him. Radish attempted a smile.

 

"Well... panic over, I guess we can go back inside now. Maybe things'll seem better after a night's sleep or something... it was warm today, it'll probably be warm tomorrow too... maybe you can read s'more of those books you're always reading, how 'bout that?"

 

Marron's arm shot out, grabbing Radish's sleeve as he turned to lead the way back into the house.

 

"If it's not a problem... at least for a little while... I would rather stay out here."

 

"Marron? Oh, uh... sure, it's no problem, but... why?"

 

Radish turned back again, standing next to Marron.

 

Marron turned his head to Radish, smiling softly.

 

"Standing here like this, I usually feel calm. Sometimes I try to remember things, but... I barely remember anything. I try to remember things that you've told me, but... it's impossible, I can't. The memories just don't come to me. Then when I did remember, it was suddenly so painful... but now that you're standing next to me, it's almost as if... I don't feel those painful feelings anymore. To have those feelings disappear when you're close by... what could that be?"

 

Radish felt guilty somewhat; he wasn't sure what Marron's little smile was implying, but he supposed it wasn't 'it's because you're manipulating my mind so that I forget the things that could break us'.

 

He just shrugged, "I... I'm not sure..."

 

"You're always trying to make sure that I'm alright, Radish. You want it so that there's no pain... you don't want me to have any pain... you always insist that it's no trouble or inconvenience... even if it is... you wouldn't tell me, would you? Then you seemed so angry when I remembered Carrot's name... saying that he took me from you... were you angry... just because you lost someone who was a friend, or... because... because of something more?"

 

Radish felt his heart skip a beat; what was Marron implying? He hardly dared to believe...

 

"Marron... what do you... mean?"

 

"The closeness, the comforting... wanting me to be without pain... holding me when I have a nightmare... the lack of painful memories I suddenly feel when I'm beside you... it's a comfort in itself. I don't remember anything from... longer than two or three weeks ago, however long it's been. But... could it be... do you care for and about me so much... because you love me?"

 

Radish froze.

 

"Ma-Marron!"

 

Marron shrugged lightly, "That was how it seemed to me... perhaps there was love for Carrot, I don't know... but that pain... that pain was so intense... I don't feel that pain with you, Radish. I don't feel pain when I'm with you. What is that? It can't be..." Marron reached over and brushed green strands of hair from Radish's forehead, touching his forefinger against Radish's contrary triangle. "... some kind of magic..."

 

The word 'actually...' played upon Radish's mind before he dismissed it. Marron seemed happier suddenly, more laid back... was it because he, Radish, was close by? Radish didn't doubt that it was because of the magic that he was using. He almost wanted to say something, tell Marron that actually it was some kind of magic, and that he was only being manipulated anyway, and that maybe it'd be best if he quit it with the magic and then they could all go home and have a cup of tea, but on the other hand, he didn't want to... Marron's hand moved from Radish's forehead, down to his cheek. He gently cupped his hand against it, quite a tender gesture... Radish blushed.

 

"Marron..."

 

"Maybe it's only what I thought, and maybe my mind isn't such to make proper judgements on these things... but... do you love me?"

 

Radish just stared at Marron. Did he love Marron?

 

He'd certainly wanted him. When he saw him that time, that first time, near to Qeran... when he'd been impressed by Marron's calm air and deep, deep eyes... had that been love? He'd wanted Marron... had that been love? Radish wasn't sure. The times that came after that; deciding to chase after, deciding to make the calm young magic user his own... had that been love? It was definitely something. His thoughts, twisted as they'd been... the fire at Qeran... the fire that'd been born of that sudden passion, whatever that passion was... such twisted passion, but passion was passion, and it couldn't be denied... then, against all odds, they'd somehow managed to get Marron back to their house, they'd managed to suppress his memories enough for him to remember nothing of his anger or hatred... and Radish had suddenly found himself denying his brother's urges in favour of what he felt for Marron.

 

Was that love?

 

Even if only for the incident with Celery, Marron had changed him... and Radish wasn't someone who let himself be changed easily. He battled his conscious for a few moments; Marron had asked Radish if he loved him; this was what he wanted, wasn't it? Back when they'd first met, after that time, Radish had ranted to Celery about how he wanted to get to know Marron, about how he wanted to get closer to him... how much more closer was there than this?

 

Radish shivered, only partly through the chill of the night's air. He let out a breath he realised he'd been holding, and before he could convince his mind against it, he nodded.

 

"Do I love you? ... Yes. Yes, I love you."

 

Marron just smiled serenely, "I thought you did."

 

There was a warm silence where the two just stared at each other; Radish was a little amazed. Marron'd picked up on such a thing? Still, he had been quite obvious, he supposed... he wondered why Celery hadn't said anything.

 

Maybe he hadn't wanted to. Maybe he couldn't. Maybe things like last night were the only things he knew how to manage.

 

Radish felt a twinge of guilt at thinking of Celery; Celery was his brother... and he loved him more than anyone else, right? Yes, of course. Surely it'd hurt Celery to have Radish act and react to Marron like this? Undoubtedly so. Did that thought stop him? Of course not. Celery was Celery, but Celery wasn't Marron, and there was no-one else who was like Marron... of course, Radish thought, not even Marron was like Marron anymore; this was someone else who was identical in looks and manner but totally unrelated in memory and experience... was that right? Was it alright to love someone like that, who he'd essentially created to a mould he'd specified with hands that were his own?

 

"So you guessed..."

 

Marron nodded, "I did. You always acted so amusingly, though... rushing around, making sure my every need was attended to..."

 

Radish laughed nervously, "Did you think I was stupid?"

 

"Stupid? Not really. I was bemused, I suppose... but you only did it for my own wellbeing, I can't think you stupid for caring for someone."

 

Radish laughed again, still feeling a little nervous. Marron had guessed his feelings... but how did Marron feel? Would it be alright to ask? Radish decided to bite the bullet and just go for it.

 

"Ha ha ha, I guess... but, uh... Marron..."

 

"Yes?"

 

"You guessed that I... that I love you... but, uh... how... how do you feel about me? I- I mean, if it'd mean rushing any feelings you have then you don't have to say, but, well, uh, I'm just curious, y'know?"

 

"How do I feel about you? Hm, I'm not sure... let's see... well, I don't hate you. And I like how you try to always make me comfortable and relaxed, and how you're always concerned... you always seem to be happy to have me around. You comfort me when I'm in pain, and you relax me when I'm not. Is that love? I don't know. But apart from that... when you're close to me, and it's as if my past memories don't matter to me, because... I don't know, it's almost as if you manage to block them, somehow... you make my worries about the past go away. You make me feel safe, Radish. That... is that love? I don't know that either. But if you're so sure that you love me... I don't see the harm in saying 'I love you too', because... well... I'd like to. I'd like to love you, if you love me too..."

 

Radish waved one hand, "I don't want you loving me just 'cause I love you!"

 

"Have you been listening to me at all, Radish? It wouldn't just be because you love me... all those other things... they build up, I suppose. You're... a good person, Radish. I like that about you."

 

Radish's eyes dropped, suddenly unable to meet Marron's gaze.

 

"I... I'm not that good."

 

"No? What about you makes you bad, then?"

 

"I... I... I kill people! I kill people, I set things on fire 'cause it's fun, I like it when people scream as they die... I like to kill people, I manipulate them... you can't say I'm a good person, 'cause it just isn't true!"

 

Marron's look softened, "You've been nothing but kind to me, Radish."

 

"I-I know... I guess it's 'cause I didn't want you thinking badly of me..."

 

"And I don't. You love me, Radish... don't you want me to love you back?"

 

"No, it's not that! It's just... well, I don't know. I guess I... I dunno, it's been so long since you've been around, I can hardly believe that, well, you know, that you're back, that you're back with us, back with me, and that you... you feel that way..."

 

"Did I feel that way in the past?"

 

Radish stared at Marron.

 

What would the answer be? He nodded quickly before his mind could convince him otherwise.

 

"Y-yes... yes, you... you did."

 

Marron smiled and looked back at the trees across the river, "I see. Well then, we're just adjusting back to life as it was then, aren't we?"

 

"Y-yeah..."

 

Another silence, one that hung on Radish's pause. Marron glanced back at Radish, waiting for him to speak again. "You were going to say something?"

 

"Y-yeah... uh... look, er... 'cause we've said that and all... would it be okay if I, uh, like, well... if I kissed you?"

 

"If you kissed me?"

 

Radish nodded nervously, "Y-yeah."

 

Marron held off his answer for a few moments, enjoying Radish's nervous unease. Did Radish think he was going to refuse?

 

"If you kissed me... well, I suppose it'd be alright. I wouldn't mind." A wry smile, "I'd like to kiss you too."

 

Celery had watched wordlessly from the kitchen, unable to hear his brother and Marron converse, but unable to take his eyes off of them; he could hear the sound of their voices, but not what the words carried... he'd watched for the entire duration of the conversation, but once he saw Radish and Marron kiss, he didn't want to watch anymore; he left the kitchen, quietly making his way to his bedroom, feeling sadly isolated as he did so.