As spring dawned, the soft tolling of church bells resonated across the town of Nebo, calling its people to the morning mass in celebration of the season's first day. From the east, the sun crested on the mountains of Muchu Chhish, casting a warm orange hue over the rooftops of houses and glinting gently through their window panes. Inside a modest home with a blacksmith workshop near the town's edge, sunlight filtered through a small bedroom window, landing softly on the face of nine-year-old Kael. He lay sound asleep, limbs sprawled, his blanket kicked to the floor and his bedsheets tangled in a mess of restless dreams. A dark silver pendant rested on his chest, and his ash-brown hair tousled from his movements.

The bedroom door creaked open slightly, enough for Matthew, his eight-year-old brother, black hair, with grey eyes glinting faintly with mischief, stepped in quietly, still in his sleeping garments. His right hand covered his mouth to control his laughter while a pillow hung limply in his left hand. With practiced stealth, he eased the door shut behind him, careful not to make a sound that would trigger Kael's sensitive hearing. However, the rooster outside their home had other plans; with a shrill crow that pierced the morning stillness, the rooster let loose its triumphant crow just as Matthew took his first step forward.

Kael stirred, his brow twitched, and one eye cracked open, still hazy with sleep. Before he could fully register the source of the noise, thwack – Matthew hurled the pillow straight into Kael's face.

"RISE AND SHINE SLEEPING BEAUTY!" Matthew teased, already laughing as Kael flailed beneath the sudden barrage of feathers.

Kael groaned and pulled the pillow off his head. His ash-brown hair stuck up in all directions, and his blue eyes were still foggy.

"Matt," He mumbled. "It's too early," he then embraced the pillow and positioned himself in a side-lying position.

Matthew took the pillow where Kael's head rested. Thud! Kael's head hit the bed frame.

"It's spring mass sleepyhead," Matthew replied cheerfully, hopping onto the edge of the bed. "First sneak attack of the season. Tradition!"

Kael blinked at him, then sat up slowly. "You're the worst of all the traditions we had."

Matthew only laughed proudly. Outside, the bells of the church continued on their steady toll, mingling with the sounds of waking birds. Then they heard their mother's voice echoing from downstairs.

"Matthew! Kael! Wake up! We'll have no chairs to sit on at church! Roger! Check on the boys, and let them get ready or I'll swoop their asses’ downstairs."

"Kael just woke up, Mom! Dreaming about Diana's pan—"

Matthew was interrupted as Kael lunged to cover his mouth. Matthew took notice and darted out of the room screaming, "Mom! Kael's going to kill me!"

"I'm going to kill you here and rip that tongue of yours Matthew!!" Kael screamed angrily.

Kael followed close behind, pillow in hand. As Matthew ran down the stairs, he tripped over his left foot, losing his balance and falling slowly straight down the staircase.

"Matthew!" Kael shouted. With desperation to save his brother, something inside him stirred and time around him slowed. Without hesitation Kael rushed forward, grabbed Matthew's clothes and pulled him back up to the second floor. Once Matthew was secured, he let out a sigh of relief and time resumed its normal flow, but Matthew still fell, landing hard on the floor and hitting his nose.

Thud!

"Matthew, are you alright?"

"My nose…" Matthew replied, his voice muffled as he covered his nose and wiped away the blood, while he straightened himself up.

"Let me go down stairs and get some clean cloth and warm chamomile to clean that off."

 Matthew grabbed onto Kael's arms.

"Have you felt something weird lately Kael?"

"No?" Kael said unsure. "I haven't felt anything weird."

Matthew looked up at Kael and noticed that both of Kael's arms were glowing with unknown runes that wrapped around his arms, and a wavy line extending up from his forearms to his neck, then it extended up to his lower eyelids.

"Kael… Your arms…" Matthew lip-pointed to where the symbols were.

Kael froze, his breath catching in his throat as he inspected both his arms.

The glow pulsed faintly and delicate, shimmering like fireflies trapped beneath his skin. The Baybayin script flickered.

Ipa-anak sa isang bakunawa (born from a moon dragon).

Kael’s heart pounded. He didn't understand what was happening. Matthew curiously touched Kael’s arms, but he immediately pulled his sleeves down, dimming the glow beneath the fabric.

"Matt," Kael said quickly, kneeling in front of his brother.

"You just hit your nose. You're probably seeing things due to the pain." Kael laughed nervously.

"Just stay still. I'll call Mom to clean that blood oozing out your nose."

But Matthew wasn't listening. With his sharp eyes darting across the room, he followed the white flames licking the edges of the wooden beams, yet burning nothing.

"I am not hallucinating, Kael. You haven't noticed these white flames around us." Matthew whispered.

Kael was too focused on his brother’s condition that he didn't notice the trails of small white flames that danced on the floor. Some were on the walls and ceiling. Desperately, he rushed to his room, took the bucket filled with water and went back to the hall. He began sprinkling the fire just enough to extinguish it, but no matter how many times Kael tried, the fire didn't extinguish. It still continued burning, but it didn't consume the wood beneath it.

Matthew touched the flames cautiously, but it felt off. No heat, no smoke. Just that eerie, beautiful light dancing above the wood. He noticed that his fingers weren't burned. He was able to scoop the fire from the wooden floor and scream.

"Kael! My hands are burning!"

Kael without any hesitation tossed the bucket of water onto Matthew.

"Yeah... didn't see that bucket of water on your hand."

Kael laughed.

"Ha ha, very funny. You're done laughing?" Matthew asked sarcastically.

"Just one sec. Let me compose myself."

"Hurry up Diana's simp! Get me a towel and some new clothes. I'm freezing my ass here."

"Alright."

Kael went back to his room, got a spare towel for Matthew and a used towel to wipe off the wet floor.

Matthew then spoke. "I felt someone pull me out from the staircase. Though it was blurry, I knew it was you that pulled me back before I hit the ground. No one is around except the two of us," he paused before he continued, "but I still fell, which I knew you did it on purpose." Matthew laughed nervously.

Kael looked down at his own hands.

"I don't know how," Kael admitted softly. "It just… happened."

Their mother's voice rose again from below, sharp with impatience. "Roger! Are they still not down? We're going to miss the mass!"

"BOYS!!" Roger called them.

"What in the name of the Seven Gods and our ancestors are you sitting there reading some newspaper, Roger? Go upstairs and get the boys down!"

"Just a second mom! Matthew pissed on his sleeping garments," Kael shouted from upstairs.

In the dining room of their house, Roger glanced at Emily with that same lazy smirk that always got under her skin; but then his expression shifted. His eyes sharpened. "Have you noticed anything, dear?" he asked quietly. "Something... familiar?"

Emily didn't stop scrubbing the utensils, but her shoulders tensed. "I did," she said. "There was a familiar energy. I tried to trace it, but it vanished before I could lock onto it." Roger nodded grimly. "We must trace the source for our lady's safety."

Without another word, Emily chanted anino and twenty shadow soldiers appeared. She dispatched several to the walls of their house as silent sentinels, while the rest dispersed into the town of Nebo to scout every corner for the source of the disturbance. "Roger," Emily called while scrubbing and rinsing the utensils.

"Yes, dear?" Roger said in a seductive tone.

"You haven't touched your food!" Emily snapped.

She ordered one of her shadows to appear at Roger's left side to snatch the newspaper from his hands. As it reached for it, Roger caught the shadow's hand and kissed it.

From the kitchen Emily called out again, her voice softening just a bit. "Just... hurry up, or we'll be late."

Roger smiled and replied, "Yes, darling."

Upstairs, Matthew came out of his room with fresh clothes ready for church. He glanced at Kael who was still drying the floor using his used towel.

"You've missed a spot here, peasant." Matthew pointed to the missed spot.

"What did you say?" Kael asked.

"Nothing." He looked up whistling.

"Matt... Let's not say anything, Okay?"

"Okay… But if you start breathing fire or grow wings, I'm telling everyone. Also telling Diana about your feelings for her."

"Fair enough…"

Kael rose to his feet, and went back to his room to change his clothes. They made their way downstairs, trying to shake off the lingering weight of what had just happened. As they reached the last step, Roger looked up to them, raising a brow.

"Do you feel something unusual for a second boys?”

"Nothing," Kael replied quickly, nudging his brother.

"Yeah, we didn't feel anything unusual… except for Kael's fascination with Diana's pink pant—" Kael smacked the mouth of his brother, before he continued his sentence.

"SHUT IT, MATT!"

Roger laughed. "My, my. Did you hear that love? Our boys are already showing early signs of manhood."

"I hear you loud and clear dear.” Emily replied as she stepped out of the kitchen. She immediately noticed the blood under Matthew's nose. "Did you two break something again?" she asked.

She returned to the kitchen, grabbed a clean cloth and a small basin of water, then came back to where the boys were standing in front of Roger, who was seated in the table. She soaked the cloth, wrung it out until no water dripped from it, and gently began cleaning the blood from Matthew's nose.

"Just Matthew's pride," Kael replied quickly. "He tripped."

"Matthew?" Roger looked at him, clearly expecting an explanation.

"Wait a minute, dear…" Emily said, placing the clean cloth Matthew’s nose. "Matt, blow your nose."

Matthew did as he was told, and Emily carefully wiped away the remaining blood. She then conjured a healing spell. A small magic circle appeared in front of his nose, glowing with a soft green light as it mended the injury. In the middle of the healing process, Matthew answered his father's earlier question.

"I… smacked a pillow in Kael's face the moment he woke up. Then I ran. Because if I didn't and he caught me, he'd probably kill me, chop me to pieces and toss my body into the river to cover up the evidence… Then I tripped. Hehe."

Roger raised an eyebrow. "Is that true, Kael?"

"Yes, Father!" Kael blurted out.

A brief silence followed. Three full seconds of awkward stillness. Then Kael's eyes widened as the weight of his words sank in. "No! I meant yes. Just the part about Matthew hitting me with the pillow. Not the part about chopping him and tossing his body into the river." He then lowered his head and turned a wide-eyed glare toward Matthew, silently demanding an explanation. Emily, still holding the damp cloth, let out a sigh and shook her head. 

"Honestly, with the way you two talk, it's a miracle no one's called the town guard."

She gently smacked Roger on the shoulder with the back of her hand. "And you just sit there encouraging this nonsense."

Roger chuckled. "Boys will be boys."

Emily shot him a look. "Boys won't be anything if you don't all hurry up and eat. We're already running late. Tania woke up early in the morning and is probably waiting for us at the entrance of the church again." Emily then went back to the kitchen, and washed the blood-stained cloth she used on Matthew, and poured the water out from the basin. Once she's down she went upstairs to prepare herself for the mass.

Kael scratched his head, then lowered it and turned a disbelieving stare toward Matthew—eyes wide, silently demanding,

"What the hell was that?" he silently demanded an explanation for his choice of words—words that could escalate things for the both of them, possibly earning them the belt or the iron hanger from either their parents. Matthew grin mischievously and silently laughed inside.

"Thank me later for diverting their heads," Matthew whispered.

Roger both looked at them for five seconds then finally said, "now enough with that ruckus. Sit down, eat, and get ready. You know how your mother gets when she's late for mass."

"Yes father," they both said in unison.

Both of them sat down, silently spooning rice and chicken adobo onto their plates, but Kael's mind wandered. The script in his arms wasn't of anything he read at the church library during his studies with Father Howard.

"I'm going to ask Father Howard," he thought to himself as he ate alongside Matthew who kept whispering.

"Still thinking about Diana's red pan—"

Kael nudged Matthew’s side with his left elbow.