Chapter 9.2

Side A - Her Place Between Them -

The evening sun was overbearing and washed everything around out in hues or red, orange, and yellow. Three small figures scurry around the vendor stalls in the capital city of the Tricot region. The Tricot region is best known for its connection to the cavern system and its long since abandoned royal palace.

Its connection to the cavern system is called the Entrance to the Unknown. It was said that it was the original entrance to appear in the world. As such many adventurers are called to the region to begin their journey into the mana infused Cavern.

One such soul, a young boy named Silas, born in the region, has felt the draw of the cavern since he can remember.

The three small figures run past the last vendor stall and make a sharp turn down a narrow side street all while laughing together.

The three figures, one an older boy, probably around the age of 12, shouts out to the other two, a younger boy around the age of 10 and a girl the same age as the older boy.

“I mean it though. One day I’ll be an S rank adventurer and I’ll get a family name.”

“Sure you will Silas.” Suddenly the girl stops running. “No matter how much of a big shot you become you better come back to me. You too Nikolai.”

The two boys stop and turn to her. She is bathed in the overwhelming orange color.

“No way I’m too afraid of going into that dark scary place.” The younger of the two boys, Nikolai, grabs onto the girls shirt. “I’ll just stay on the surface with Astrid's big brother.”

Silas gives Astrid an expression that screams ‘really’. “You spoil him too much, you know that right?”

Astrid just pets the younger boy's head and then pointedly looks at Silas and sticks her tongue out.

*****

The two brothers walk Astrid up to her house. They already tell the tall tell sounds of her most likely drunken father. Tons of banging and whining.

Silas looks angry suddenly, and Nikolai notices. Attempting to break his brother's fury and avoid a conflict he makes a suggestion. “Hey Astrid, why don’t you come over to our place for dinner at least. I’m sure mom won’t mind.”

She looks excited until an increasingly louder round of banging picks up in the house in front of them. “I’m not sure dad will allow me to do that, Nikolai.”

“Tch, screw that damn drunkard!” Silas lets out his rage in a shout. It’s hard to tell if it was intentional and meant to provoke the older man in the house, but if that was his intention it would appear to have worked as the drunk man bursts out of the house as if he had ears in the outer walls of the house.

“Who are you calling a drunkard you little piece of shit!” The man stumbles around in a drunk stupor. Face red as a tomato.

“Silas didn’t mean it, father!” Astrid is basically pleading with the old man.

Nikolai used his quick thinking to attempt to discharge the situation. “I’m sorry sir. My brother didn’t mean it. He just had a rough day… Astrid was getting picked on by a group of bullies. Thankfully my big brother was brave enough to stop them and scare them away but he is probably still heated from the fight that broke out.”

The old man stopped ranging and stared at Silas. Then in a sudden and surprising moment the old man stumbles up and gives Silas a hug. The smell of booze made the three of the children feel nauseous.

“You little twerp really got into a fight for my darling daughter? I’m so proud of you three… I know, let's get you two married right now!”

“Well sir my brother and Astrid are a bit young for that don’t you think?”

He stepped back, nearly falling on his ass. “Oh yeah the little ones right. Besides, if I gave you astrid who would make my dinner and clean the house, and get me more booze.” He lets out a bellowing laugh.

“Well sir we best be going before our mother worries. See you tomorrow Astrid.” Nikolai is practically dragging Silas away from Astrid and her father all while waving goodbye to Astrid.

*****

Once the two brothers were far enough away that their conversation wouldn’t be caught by the old man, Silas finally speaks again.

“One day I will kick that old drunkard's ass and we can run away with Astrid.”

Silas walks ahead of Nikolai while he stands still letting his brother go ahead a bit. Then he whispers to himself “Then one day I may have to do the same to you big brother.”

Silas stops and looks back to his brother with a puzzled expression. “Hey Nikolai, did you say something?”

“No, nothing at all big brother!” He proclaims with a smile.

*****

The sun is over bearing as Astrid and Silas are digging through a pile of metal scraps. Silas has recently begun to convince the other two to help digging for ‘treasures’ in the local junk yard. His end goal is to save up enough money for the three of them to run away together. Of course Astrid is unaware of this shotty plan.

“Hey Silas, check out this shiny ball!” Silas looks over at the object Astrid is holding up. “That would be great for our collection.” Of course in his head he is calculating just how much the scrappers would pay for the object.

Watching from on top of a fresh pile Nikolai watches them. Plotting on a way to show off to them. In his head he thinks to himself, “I have to find something really cool and valuable. Maybe then Astrid would look at me with those same eyes she gives big brother.”

As he starts to dig through the fresh pile he ends up with a nasty cut on his arm. “I have to keep going. Just ignore the pain.”

Finally he discovers it. A bit metallic arm with ornate gold accents. It looked like it may have been used in some sort of magical construct at some point. With a bit of polishing it would really shine.

“Hey Astrid, check this thing out!” He jumps on top of the massive junk pile. He holds the object up with the arm that didn’t get nicked.

He quickly works his way down the pile to run it too her so she can get a closer look. “Do you think this is real gold?”

Once he is nearby he’s surprised to see the look of horror on her face. “Nikolai! Why didn’t you tell me you were bleeding?” He looked down and realized that in his excitement he stopped hiding the bleeding arm.

“Astrid it’s nothing I promise, but look at this thing.”

Astrid ignores the object and inspects his arm. Meanwhile Silas makes his way over to him to evaluate the damage. Astrid looks to Silas with concern, “We should head to your house to have your mom get him patched up.”

She pulls Nikolai into a tight hug. “Let’s go.” Nikolai’s brain overloads due to the embrace. His face is red and he just meekly follows her instructions.

*****

After his mother patches him up Nikolai is left sitting at the kitcken table as she cleans up the mess around him. His mother notices him looking depressed. She hesitates for a moment to think about her words.

Finally she says, “Hey Nikolai, do you mind helping me cut up the vegetables for dinner?”

He meekly gets up and goes to the counter and begins peeling the potatoes that his mother was previously working on.

They work in the quiet of the kitchen. The only sounds being the subtle simmer of a pot on the stove and the laughter and chatting for Silas and Astrid in the kitchen.

“So, why didn’t you notice you were bleeding that bad sooner?”

He looks up at his mother with a look like he’s about to fall apart. “I… Was trying to find something to impress Astrid with. I noticed I got cut but I didn’t want the cut to get in my way… or make her worry about me.”

His mother chuckles lightly. “It’s not funny mom!”

“You’re right it’s not. To be young and in love.”

At her choice of words Nikolai turned beet red. His mother pats his head causing him to let out a soft cry.

“Those emotions. Feel them Nikolai. Astrid is basically family at this point. You don’t ever need to worry about impressing her. She’s like a sister to you two and she’s practically my daughter I never had. No matter who she chooses she will always love you and be there for you. Family sticks together, right?”

He nods his head in understanding.

*****

“What an ugly Bitch!”

A small group of boys have Astrid and Nikolai cornered. The bullies from the other day appear to have taken an opportunity to target the two since Silas was nowhere to be seen.

“Leave Astrid alone and take it back now!” Nikolai is seeing red and standing between Astrid with his arms outstretched. He attempts to block Astrid from the older boys.

“What are you two going to do? Your big brother's guard dog is nowhere around is he?” The boys laugh. One of the boys steps forward prompting the others to start to step forward with him.

“Come on guys, let's teach this little pissant a lesson he won’t forget.”

Another boy in the group chimes in, “What about the Ugly bitch?”

The boys laugh and the obvious leader of the group comments, “We should take her back to our hangout and teach her a personal lesson.”

WIth the threat spoken Nikolai rages and lunges at the leader boy landing a good clean hit to his nose. The leader boy is thrown back from the impact and grabs his nose. Blood begins to seep out between his fingers.

“You piece of shit!”

Two of the boys start to beat up on Nikolai.

Nikolai for all it’s worth grabs one of the boys arms and starts biting and ripping at their arms causing a big gash and tons of blood. The other boy gets Nikolai in a head lock in order to break his hold on their friend.

The leader boy takes this opportunity to punch Nikolai in the face causing his nose to bleed just like he did to the leader boy.

“Let’s kill the fucking brat!”

Astrid lunges forward putting her arm around the boy's neck that has Nikolai in a chokehold. “Let him go! Stop hurting him!”

The leader boy takes another shot at Nikolai this time hitting the boy in his ribs. This causes Nikolai to cough up blood.

“What are you going to do bitch?”

Before the leader can even realize it he is hit in the back of the head with a wooden plank. Silas busts into the scene and takes out the leader with the piece of wood.

“Better back off you pieces of shit!”

“Shit Silas is here!”

The boy with Nikolai in a choke hold lets go and breaks Astrid's grip from his neck. Attempting to run away he quickly learns that he is far too slow and takes the wooden plank to the face. After smacking the boy with the wooden plank Silas sweeps in and hits the boy with a brutal punch to the solar plexus causing the boy to collapse on the ground and gasping for breath.

“If any of you dipshits think of ever touching either of them again I will personally kill you, and it will be a very slow and painful death.

He grabs both Astrid and Nikolai’s hands and pulls them away from the groaning boys swiftly and efficiently.

*****

Once SIlas has the two far enough away from the bullies and knows they are safe he pulls the two of them into a hug. “Are you two ok?” He asks between his choking sobs. They feel his tears on the back of their necks.

He breaks away from them and he and Astrid evaluate the damage done to Nikolai.

Nikolai begins to cry and sob uncontrollably.

Astrid pulls him into another embrace. He breathes in the scent of her and his eyes grow wide. “It’s ok. I know it was scary but you were so brave Nikolai.”

Silas ruffles his hair lovingly. “Good job little bro. Proud of you for standing up to them and defending Astrid.”

With this he cries even louder and more uncontrollably. “You guys! I’m sorry!”

He continues to cry but chokes out more as he cries. “I wanted to do more too them! I’m just not strong like you are big brother!”

“Nikolai, you are strong as well. Real strength is knowing when you need to step up and being there when the ones you love need you.”

Astrid pulls away and frames his face with her hands. “Nikolai, thank you for defending me today.” She then kisses his forehead.

With this tenderness given to him from both his brother and the girl he loves he breaks down yet again.

*****

Later that night Silas and Nikolai are laying in their shared bedroom. The only light being the moonlight from their window.

“Hey big brother? Are you asleep yet?”

“Nope just can’t sleep. What’s up?”

After a short pause to find his words, Nikolai lets his heart speak for him. “One of these days… I know one of us will marry Astrid.”

The declaration causes Silas to jolt up in his bed. “Where are you going with all of this?”

“I mean that no matter who wins Astrid's heart I know all three of us will still be a family. So no hard feelings when I win right big brother?”

“You are such a menace sometimes you know that!”

Silas throws himself back into the bed and yanks his blanket over him. “Good night menace!”

Nikolai chuckles and stares at the ceiling with a smile.