Continuation of previous chapter

    They all turned toward the large structure and smiled, all of them with different things in mind. Upon command and verification, the gates were opened. The three males hurriedly walked to their rooms and met in the Great Hall to gather for a brief intermission before dinner. Once again, they feasted until their bellies were plump, and they headed down the winding hallways to their chambers, where they all fell fast asleep.

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    Boom bang bang. All around me was smoke. I rolled over and crawled towards the door on the other side of the room. Once I could see the knob, I quickly grabbed it and yanked with all my might. I went looking for my brother, but he was nowhere to be found. I ran through burning hallways infested with smoke and soot, looking for a living soul. I hurried to the Great Hall, where I hoped to find someone who could tell me what was going on, but what I found instead shocked me more than anything.

    I looked away, even though the images kept flashing through my mind. Blood. Everywhere. On everything. But even more terrifying than that were the deformed and ashen bodies of my parents, sitting in their chairs as if they were alive, the blood from their wounds still flowing. Even through my watery eyes and pained heart, I looked up once more toward my singed parents, and then my heart broke completely. Naked. Not only were they stripped of their robes, but they were stripped of their lives as well. Next to them was a man in a purple cloak, whose eyes looked shocked at being discovered, but his features otherwise were relaxed. Mortified, terrorized, and appalled, I cried out with a loud voice, and white fire enveloped my very being.

    He looked away from me. He tried to run, but he did not get far. I was able to tackle him and burn the right side of his face, along with the hood of his cloak. He screamed out, pained, but I didn't care. I jumped off of him in alarm as one key detail cycled through my mind. He wasn't alive. No heartbeat. No breathing, yet he was able to move. At that moment, he put the fire that had scalded his face out, and he placed a tengu mask on to hide his face. He jumped out of the window, and I was left alone, horrified. I ran to my parents and cradled them in my arms, praying and hoping that there was still some breath left in them. The blood that once ran through their animated vessels was all over me, making my white robe stained with red.

    "W-what did you do?" I heard a shaky voice behind me.

    I turned around slowly, letting go of our parents, tears streaming down my face, a crooked grin threatening the corners of my lips. "Tsuin, w-what- Where were you?"

    My brother looked at me, then towards our mother and father. "K-Kie-Aniki told me to meet him b-by the lake, so we could t-talk before he left, b-but he never showed. I- I heard the sound of explosions and came back here, w-where I found him injured at the front gate. He told me to hurry here, and then he passed out. I came as fast as I could, o-only to see you, surrounded by dead bodies and covered in the blood of our family and friends-"

    "I can explain-" I inched closer to my shaking twin.

    "DON'T TOUCH ME, YOU- YOU MURDERER!"

    I was frozen in my tracks by the sudden outburst. I was struck with grief, with my beckoning hand outstretched to a frail, twitching body. I could see that Tsuin's eyes were shut tight, and not even the tears that were trying to escape could get out. My younger brother had not only rejected me verbally but had shut me out mentally as well.

    "I understand." I slowly started to back away.

    "Wait, ______-" The last part of his sentence never reached my ears, only the sound of the heavy footsteps of the Imperial Guard. As I zoned back in, I ran. Like the coward I was, I ran from my problems, ran from my duties. I ran from my brother. That was the last time I heard him utter my name.

    "Brother, wait! I will listen this time! I'm sorry! ____,____,________!!!!!!!-"