Twins

I was born and raised in an all-male monastery in Rhea Town, Emu Island. Like everybody else in this monastery, we were all orphans who were raised by monks whom we address as “Bhante.”

Unlike other children who knew their parents before they passed away, none of the monks knew who my parents were. The monks discovered a basket with my brother and I in front of the monastery’s gate, along with a piece of paper with our names written on it. The monks never met the person who put us there. Since then, we were raised in the monastery along with the other kids.

I had nobody to call a family, except for my twin brother, Haneul. None of us knew who was older between the two of us, but I’d always thought of him as my older brother. The monks didn’t know anything about that either, so they told us to call each other by our names.

Unlike me, Haneul was a prodigy. He was gifted with the brain and the brawn. He was a quick learner who could memorise verses from the Holy Scripture just by reading it out loud a few times. He also partially showed his Transflage ability when we were 3, indicating his talent in fyx from a very young age. He learnt the basics of fyx just by reading books from the library, without any tutor. He tried to teach me, but I wasn’t able to manifest a single drop of fyx energy at that age.

I’d always admired him and thought of him as my talented brother whom I could rely on. Although I was not half as gifted as he was, I always tried to help him in any way I could. Unlike him who liked to study, I preferred to go to the nearby forest and be in nature. Aside from foraging some stuff to cook later with the rest of the people from the monastery, I really liked “talking” to the animals and plants around the forest. I always went there alone, since I didn’t want people to see me looking weird.

A day before our 6th birthday, Haneul developed his fyx skill which allowed him to make people obey his command. Upon that discovery, the monks immediately called upon the Temple to have him checked. The Temple then came to our monastery to run some tests on Haneul. They found out that he was the Premier they’d been looking for.

The next day, the monk woke me up saying that I would have the room for myself. I noticed that all of Haneul’s belongings were gone from the room. I suddenly started to panic. I asked the monk where he was going, but they didn’t answer me.

I immediately got out of the room to search for him. After running around the monastery, I finally saw him in front of the monastery gate, with guards around him and a carriage waiting for him outside.

I ran towards him and hugged him from behind.

“Please don’t leave me,” I said to him, crying.

Haneul then pated my head and softly said to me.

“Don’t worry. I’ll be back soon.”

He gave me a lighter which I had always kept. Every time I saw it, it always reminded me of him.

Since then, I kept waiting for him to return. I kept going back and forth to the monastery gate, waiting for his return. Days turn to weeks. Weeks turn to months. Months turn to years. Years turn to several years, and he never returned. A decade later, at the age of 16, I decided to join the military to become a Sacred Guard to be able to finally meet him again. Even though he never returned to me, I decided that I would come to him instead.

After being accepted to the Sacred Guard Regiment as a member of the elite Garuda Squad, I was finally a step closer to my dream. Even though there were plenty of occasions where we were put in a same place, I was hesitant to come up to him. What should I say? I was thinking maybe he still remembered me, maybe not. In the end, I couldn’t shake off the feeling that he wouldn’t recognise me the next time we saw each other.

Haneul had become so different. Being raised in different environments, of course I expected us to have differing mindsets and personalities. Yet, he sounded like a totally different person than the one I knew when we were both small. I was not sure if it was just him growing up, or was there something else that caused it.

His hair which used to be black had turned white. He also had long hair in ponytail now, like Prince Yujin, but with a different colour. He used to hate wearing long sleeve shirts because it was hot back in the monastery, but now that was all he ever wore. He said he didn’t like sweets because he preferred spicy food, but he ate something sweet almost every day. It almost felt like the Haneul I knew never existed.

Yet, I wonder if he is still the same inside?

“Brother?”

Haneul was perplexed to hear Haru calling him his brother. He stared at the lighter that Haru showed him, which triggered something in his head.

When Haneul tried to recall his memories, his head suddenly ached. Seeing that Haneul was hurting, Haru was concerned about him.

“Are you alright?”

Haneul then stopped recalling the memory, since it gave him pain. He still didn’t know what was going on.

“What do you mean ‘brother’?” Haneul asked Haru.

Hearing that, Haru felt like his world collapsed. His heart was shattered into pieces upon hearing what Haneul just said.

“Do you not remember me, brother?” Haru asked once more.

Suddenly, an earthquake happened around the palace. It was so strong that some people collapsed and some started screaming. Yujin’s crown fell out of his head to the floor due to the shake.

“They’re here,” Meixia notified Haru.

Haru immediately grasped the situation and halted their conversation. All the guards started getting in position as they were briefed yesterday.

“Guards! Protect the King and the Premier!”

The Royal Guards evacuated the audience to exit the palace immediately, clearing out the room. The Lord Commander, Zum, Arudo, and the Ababiel Squad protected the royal family and the Holy Monastic. Meanwhile, Haru, Meixia, and Xiaohui guarded the Premier.

Suddenly, some people appeared from the shadows at the corner of the room, behind the throne. Hamlet, Four, and Blackjack appeared in the throne room.

“Oh, congratulations on your ascension, Your Majesty,” Four congratulated Yujin with a condescending tone.

The Stainless Syndicate had arrived.