by Emily Wilson
Gasping, Syphon opens his golden-gray eyes and sees — no, hears — the world like never before. His brother falls to his knees with a thud, deep ragged breaths filling in that silence and the first thoughts Syph hears clear as day are: “I should have listened to Azrian.”
“Ow.” Syphon rubs his temple but dismisses the discomfort the intruding thought brings him. “Yes, you should have. Turns out, the little human was right. But no matter, consider this another lesson learned. I'm sure he'll have a good time telling you that he told you so... I just hope the cell is big enough for all three of you.”
Kato rushes at his brother before he has time to react, slamming him backwards onto the hard, cold floor. “What did you do to me!” Scared, bright green eyes bore into Syphon’s as Kato sees the gold for the first time. “How?”
“Well, should've seen that coming,” Sy grunts. “Didn’t you ever wonder why I chose this name? Of all the names uttered by all the tongues in all the world, I picked this one.”
“Syphon...” Kato whispers, and Syph sticks to the fact that he’s the only smart one in this family. “But you’re my brother.” Just as Kato brings up his fist, Syph scrambles to put his new powers to work.
“Stop!” he yells, and sure enough... Kato freezes. Emboldened, Sy smiles. “Get up, then help me to my feet.” When he's obeyed once again, Syphon brushes off his clothes and stands a little straighter. Blood pools in one of his nostrils and makes him slightly dizzy, but that's something he’ll deal with later. “Now go, walk down the stairs to the cells and get in the empty one.”
When the giant flinches, Syph can tell he’s fighting it tooth and nail, but ultimately his feet move, not of their own accord. “I hate you,” Kato grunts out, passing him on his way to the stairs.
“Yeah, yeah. I've heard that before. You'll get over it soon enough,” Syph says, but even that brief distraction was enough that his hold on Kato started slipping. “Shadows, wait... just walk. Go,” he commands again, then shoves Kato down the last of the steps. “Six! Tripp! Get him in the cell.”
Tripp jumps up without hesitation and Six stares in amazement. “Sweet shadows, you did it!”
“Kato!” Slait calls out and bangs on the bars. “Snap out of it man... come on!”
But Kato just walks into the cell, his head hung low in defeat. Syphon watches with no small amount of satisfaction. “Enjoy your stay, K8.0. And don't worry... Tripp and I will make sure your little family joins you soon. Just hang in there, okay?”
It gives Kato just enough anger to fight his hold, and he turns with a growl and rushes toward the bars just as they slam shut. “You’ll pay for this.”
He lets out a high-pitched, amused laugh. “Oh, dear Kato. I've never paid for anything in my life, I'm not going to start now.”
Suddenly, Zero slips into the room with a sneer, his irises as black as they were before his punishment. “Thanks, Syph. Nice to see you again K8.0, didn’t I tell you, you picked the wrong side?”
Kato’s gaze narrows as he faces the scrawny intruder. “Maybe I did. But that won’t change your fate either, brother. When I get my powers back, and I will get them back, I’ll make those ghosts you see consume you. You’ll all regret touching my family!”
With a bored flick of his wrist, Syphon shuts Kato up and once again ignores the dizziness he feels. If it's this hard just to control Kato, he's going to have to practice before he’ll trust himself enough to go get the Videre. “Maybe I will, maybe I won't. That sounds like a problem for a later, more powerful version of me. Until then... cozy up, Kato. You're going to be here a while.”
7 The Void
Kato’s been through a lot in his life, but this? This has to feel the worst. The only comparison he can think of is after he and Azrian separated and Axis found him to tell him Az had been taken. That time, he had the valianis to reassure him that Az was okay, that no one would hurt him — but this time, he has nothing. Nothing but a man in the cell next to him he hardly knows, and another he’s supposed to call a brother.
Everyone had been right. Syph and Tripp are exactly who he was warned they would be, and he has no one to blame but himself. He’d walked into this trap willingly and offered them information on the very family he’s supposed to protect.
The weight of his mistakes are so heavy that he falls to his knees and lets his head drop against the cold, metal bars, staring at Six in a way that makes the Praediti squirm every few seconds. “Stop looking at me,” the Tactare says, moving away when Kato doesn’t listen.
For the first time in his life, Kato misses his powers. He still has his healing powers, which brings him to believe Syphon can only take one power at a time. It’s probably the only reason his brothers left him alive. Having a Sana at your beck and call is convenient — especially if you can control that Sana to do your bidding with your mind. As angry as he was in the moment, he still didn’t miss how Zero had his powers again, which probably means Syph can only keep one power at a time and if he chooses to take anyone else’s powers, Kato will be a Cogitare again. Again... because he isn’t one now.
He can’t help but believe Syph will hang onto this particular gift as long as possible. Someone like that thrives with control, and he’s exactly the kind of person who should never have access to such powers. And you gave them to him without a fight. Kato knows that isn’t entirely true, when Syph began ripping the Cogitare from him, the pain was excruciating. Worse than any migraine he’s ever had, and even those made Kato wish for death on more than one occasion.
“Kato...” Slait interrupts his thoughts. “Are you okay?”
Okay. Of course he’s not okay, but even now, Kato can’t find it in himself to take out his frustrations on his cellmate. “No,” he answers honestly. “Are you?” Slait nods from the corner of Kato’s eye, but when Kato finally looks over at him, he can see all the cuts and bruises that cover his skin. In the midst of everything, he knows he has to help, and it doesn’t take long for him to approach the Terrare and reach out a hand. “Let me help.”
“Are you su—”
“No!” Six yells, rushing closer to them. “Get away from each other.”
“Shove off, Six. You don’t have to pretend anymore; we know you aren’t like them. I don’t even need Cogitare powers to know you aren’t as cold.” Kato touches Slait’s arms through the bars and heals him as best he can. He still feels weak from Syphon, but Slait looks like he’s breathing better as Kato walks over to sit on his hard bench. “You don’t have to do this, Six.”
“Do what? It’s already happened.”
Kato lets his head fall back against the bricks and stares at him. “But that doesn’t mean you can’t change. You can right your wrongs. You’d be better away from those two, anyway.”
“Let me guess, you and your boyfriend will take me in and we’ll all live happily ever after? Thanks, but no thanks. I know those don’t exist,” Six argues.
“They do. I’m living proof of that.”
The snort Six releases makes Kato meet his gaze. “Yeah? Then why are you here? Where’s your happily ever after, little bro? Because I’m failing to see it.”
Kato has no argument. He was living it... and he chose to leave it. Shadows... Kato tries to call on his powers. Azrian... Azzy, I’m so sorry. He receives nothing but silence in return, interrupted by Six’s laugh.
“That’s what I thought.”
They fall into a silence then. Slait seems as if he doesn’t want to say much with Six around, and Six seems content with them being quiet. He flaunts his powers around, levitating random objects around the room but aside from that, he seems genuinely bored. The other brothers don’t return, and with each passing hour Kato becomes more and more worried. Did they leave for Embermeadow? Have they attacked Azrian and Ronan? The visual of it nearly makes Kato puke, and he ends up curling into himself on the cold floor. Aside from healing a few cuts... he’s absolutely useless. And that stings more than he ever imagined it would.
IT FEE
LS LIKE AT LEAST a day before Six finally leaves to go and get some food. Time is already blurring together, and the more time that passes the more antsy Kato gets. By now, he’s pacing the cell, praying up to Cettia to watch over Az and Rone but if she hears him, she doesn’t let him know. “I need out of this faeching cell!” Kato growls, kicking at the metal once more.
“It won’t budge... I’ve been here for weeks, Kato. I draw my powers from Athoze and I still can’t manage a way to get free. I can’t work with this concrete and bricks... I need dirt and trees. It feels like my powers are dying without fresh air.”
“They aren’t... they will always be a part of you,” Kato attempts to reassure him, but the way he offers a sad smile, it’s obvious it doesn’t work.
“I don’t mean to be rude, but I’m sure you felt that way only a day ago... and now your power is gone.”
It isn’t rude, not really, but the truth of it aches all the same. “You’re right.” Kato doesn’t argue, he truly doesn’t have it in him. “You said weeks? Why did they take you?”
“For the same reason they took you,” Slait says flatly. “I don't know why, but Syphon’s obsessed with the Videre. He wanted to know how many there were at Deadrun and where they all went after you and Azrian set everyone free. He sent Zero with Teagon and Aleon to spy on you guys directly, but I don't really think Syph believes anything that comes out of his mouth.”
“Can’t blame him there. I can’t believe I fell for this... I had no idea such powers even existed. But I’m learning that there’s a lot I don’t know.” Kato bites his nail while he resumes pacing, trying to think of why someone like Syph would want Videre. Is it because he wants to be one? Pick up where Melior left off? He doesn’t have the resources for that, especially here, so Kato settles on the fact that he wants the power. Maybe not even inside him, but if he brought light to Athoze... he could possibly become more powerful than the Regnum. Power is power after all, and now Syph can control whoever he wants. “Can you tell me about how you were taken? Were you immediately brought here? Is your grandfather okay?”
Slait shrugs one shoulder, the change of topic not landing well with him. “He was. I don't know if he still is. They used him to get me to talk. Kept telling me that if I didn't give him names, they'd start bringing me pieces of him. I'm sorry, Kato. I think this is all my fault.”
“Don’t blame yourself, Slait. You did what you had to do; this isn’t your fault. It’s his... and Tripp’s. They will pay, and if I can help your grandfather, I will.” He doesn’t know how he’ll ever get out of this cell with only healing powers, but he knows he will.
“Right.” He doesn't sound convinced, but Kato doesn't have it in him to push the subject at the moment. Slait watches him until long after he gives up pacing and sits down again. “Kato?” he says quietly. “You haven't changed, have you? You still see this world as something that can be saved.”
For the first time since he ran away from the only home he’s ever known, Kato doubts that. He knows in his heart that he has to believe it, has to hold onto that last remaining light... but not seeing that light makes it difficult. Now isn’t the time to contemplate this; not while he’s sitting in the darkest place he’s ever been — but the question was asked regardless, and Kato feels Slait deserves an answer even if he doesn’t fully believe it himself. “Yes.” Knowing that isn’t good enough, he meets Slait’s gaze. “I have to. There are more good people than bad people, Slait. Those people deserve a voice... deserve not to live in fear. Don’t you agree?”
“I do,” he says slowly. “But that isn't what I said. I wasn't suggesting it doesn't deserve to be saved, I was suggesting it can’t be.”
“It can.” Kato lays back and stares at the ceiling, running a hand down his face. “It has to be.”
They fall into a silence then, which only worsens when Six returns with bland food. They have a total of four bites between the two of them and it’s obvious it’s just enough to keep them alive. Not enough to give them strength by any means, but neither of them complain. It isn’t like they have an appetite anyway.
It continues this way: hopeless conversations, two bites of food, a sip of water, nightmares on a cold floor. Kato has no idea how many days have passed, but his eldest brothers haven’t returned, and all Kato can think about is Azrian. He misses him so much he finds himself not wanting to wake, because the second his eyes open it hits him that he’s alone. That Azrian is far away... possibly in danger.
It’s almost too much to bear, the physical ache in his chest feels as if it can consume him at any given moment, and he knows he’d let it — it’d be better than this.
Somehow, Kato finds the strength one morning to try and get through to Six again. He fails, as he expected, but he manages to get some information out of him. He’s just as much of an outcast as Zero and although they’re both indecent people, they are this way because of the lives they’ve lived. Both of them follow Syph around like flying volucrae on a hot humid day, and he swats at them in the same way. He doesn’t get it, why anyone would follow around such a bully only to be treated like a stranger. That isn’t what family is. Family is warm, loving, comforting and most of all, family is light. It’s in that moment that Kato finds it again, finds that sliver of hope he’s been desperately searching for. He has to survive this, has to make it home... for them.
He begins asking for more food, and every time Six complies, Kato gives it to Slait. As much as he needs it, he isn’t the one with a useful power in this situation. He heals him more as well and soon, Slait looks as good as new. When Six disappears for a bit, Kato walks over to him and grips the bars. “Try and move the ceiling.”
“What?” Slait frowns and looks around. “It’s cement.”
“And what is cement? Rock. I don’t know how it’s made, but Athoze is in the cement. Just try.”
It takes him a moment to try, and when they finally feel the cells rumble, his eyes light up with promise. “Shadows.”
Kato grins, excitement lining his features. “It won’t be easy, who knows how long it will take... but soon, Slait... we will be free.”
AZRIAN’S MOOD HASN'T been this sour since... well, he's not sure when. He knows it isn't fair to snap at Roe and Ronan for simple things like not making sure the windows are shut tightly at night or for eating all the sweetbread, but he can't seem to stop himself. He's angry, he's scared... and he misses Kato even more than he thought he would.
“Do you think he's ever coming back?” Ronan asks quietly. The question makes Azrian angry, but he bites back the immediate retort and takes a breath. It isn't Ronan’s fault, and he likely misses Kato just as much.
“I don't know.” It's an honest answer, and Az knows he probably should've lied for Ronan’s sake, but he can't bring himself to. “I really don't. His other brothers were here for a couple of weeks, so maybe he’ll spend that much time with Syphon and then come back home?”
Rone doubles his focus on the tunic he's trying to clean in the river, but ultimately drops it and looks back up. “I’m afraid, Az. I don't think he's coming back.”
“Don't say that,” Az says a little forcefully. “He’s coming back, Ronan. This was just a fight, and this is his home. He’ll come back either when he realizes Syphon’s just as bad as Teag and Aleon said, or when he's had his fill.”
The problem is... Kato’s never gotten his fill. He's one of the most insatiably curious people Azrian’s ever met, and once he gets his sights set on something new, it can take weeks or months to get him to relax about it. It used to be something Azrian admired about him, but now? Now he just wishes Kato could be a little smarter about the things he finds curious.
They fall into silence as they continue the laundry, but the air is chilly for the season and he can see Ronan shivering as he scrubs the fabric. “Hey,” Az says gently, “Ronan, why don't you finish up and head inside? I can take it from here.”
“Really?” Hope blossoms over his face as he starts scrubbing a lit
tle faster. “I hate doing this,” he admits.
Everyone hates doing laundry, but Roe won't set foot in the river because of the craivil and Rhix laughed himself silly the last time Azrian asked him to do his own, so he doesn't really have a choice. Kato usually helps and makes the process a lot more fun, but he sharply reminds himself that Kato left and he's on his own. He can handle it, though. He always does. “Yeah, go get warmed up. Will you start a fire in there though? I don't want you to have to keep the lamps lit tonight, you need a break.”
Ronan stops, then wades through the river until he's standing right in front of him. “I don't mind,” he says in a small voice. “I know you hate fire. I can keep—”
“No. I'm not going to keep inconveniencing the people I love because of my own fears. I did it to Kato, and now look — he's gone, and we don't know if he's ever coming back. I'm not doing it to you, too... and you need to rest. It's a weekend, I don't have to work for a couple of days so if I don't get a lot of sleep, that's okay. Promise me you'll start a fire when you go in there.”
His body language suggests he's going to say no, but Azrian can see the shadows under his eyes. It's a look no one Ronan’s age should have, even if that's the age when Azrian started working. He remembers all too well how hard that was on him and vows not to push Ronan to that same, rough edge. “I promise,” Ronan finally says, and Azrian watches until long after Ronan ducks inside the house.
Once the smoke can be seen oozing its way out of the chimney, Azrian sucks in a breath and keeps working. It takes him another two hours to finish and get the clothes hung up on the line to dry, and by that point, he's shivering and beyond ready to be done for the day. He heads inside and ignores the crackling fire as he fixes himself something to eat, but as he looks around to offer the others food as well, he realizes he's alone. Maybe it had taken a little longer than he thought to finish the clothes — Cettia is now fully visible in the night sky and the house around him is mostly silent.