Light Em Up Pt. 3

"Heeheehee~ Annoying little brother!"

"Deadweight."

Aybel tried to kick Caine off, but with a vicious tug, Caine yanked him back launching himself towards the chandelier instead.

The wind buffeted against Aybel, throwing him off balance and into turbulence.

Unintentionally, his body twisted mid-air, executing a series of clumsy back flips. All the while Caine soared like a hunting bird, laughing maniacally as his hand stretched to its limit.

Fingertips grazing the golden chain. Unfortunately...

The chain slipped through his grasp, and the darkness returned, bringing with it a haunting silence...

Meanwhile, Aybel's freefall was cut short by a sudden burst of wind that struck his back bringing him back on course. With a blank face he stared at the position of the chandelier.

...That moron... After all that showmanship he put on, only to miss the chain completely.

And then, it happened.

"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!" 

Discarding its ten second rule, in a sudden burst of brilliance, the chandelier emitted an absolute blinding light.

He did it. Aybel thought as he heard the familiar laugh, squinting against the sharp light. The idiot actually pulled it off.

The chandelier was beginning to grow larger as he fell fast towards it.

Crap... is an understatement. The light stopped its pulsing once Caine touched the chandelier. If I want to survive this, I have to get rid of it, somehow.

But his thoughts were quickly derailed as he felt a sudden burst of momentum sending him plummeting downwards.

Opening his eyes for a split second, Aybel saw the chandelier now mere inches from his face.

As if guided by fortune, his hand awkwardly shot out brushing against cold metal.

CLANG!

His fingers wrapped around the chain halting his fall in an abrupt, jarring manner.

And for a very brief moment, Aybel's eyes widened as pain shot through his muscles - they screamed against the force of gravity.

But, ignoring the lingering pain, Aybel's blank face returned.

The light from the chandelier was still blinding, but his eyes had slowly started to adjust.

Now hanging upside down, with an ever-grinning face, Caine stared at Aybel, oblivious to the literal gravity of their situation.

Observation... that is a word that has been the foundation of my entire life thus far.

Your expression. The way you moved. The words that you speak. They're all a part of who you truly are.

It's only by paying attention, by really watching someone closely, that you can hope to understand the kind of person they really are.

But eyes... eyes are especially a valuable thing for someone like me...

Eyes, I've always thought, were the quickest window to a man's soul, allowing people to see your deepest desires, fears, truths and even lies...

Yet, as he stared into Caine's eyes for the first time, in the middle of this dare-devil stunt, he noticed something that felt... off.

Two dark, soulless voids betrayed the wide grin on his face, as void of life as the void that lay beneath them. A dim violet light seemed to glow within them, always hidden behind a shroud of disheveled hair.

Underneath his eyes, a clear sign of exhaustion lingered in the form of dark circles.

Something is definitely wrong here. Thought Aybel, as he looked into the pitch-black voids.

Eyes that lacked the traces of humanity he had come to expect from others. There was no excitement or fear inside them, only emptiness.

...And he couldn't shake off a sense of familiarity.

"Good job, brother! My luck must've rubbed off on you."

Aybel stared blankly back at him for what felt like an eternity.

"Ah, what's wrong? No clever comebacks for this situation?"

"Indeed. No comment." He replied with utter indifference, staring directly into Caine's grin. "Well, I do have one actually: Pull me up. My arm is killing me."

"And why exactly would I do that? I'm sure you must be feeling quite silly right about now."

"I'd tell you that you did well too, but I'll be honest and say that all you've done is manage to get yourself stranded up there. I can't see how this is much of a win for you either."

"Hmm... True. Nonetheless, I'm proud of you for trying that little trick earlier. But next time, make sure you pick the right target~"

"What're you on about? It just happened to be that I chose someone I wouldn't feel a sliver of regret over."

"I see... So how will you have it then, brother? How do you want me to end this little performance of ours?"

"I'll leave that decision entirely up to you. As for me, I can't make any promises that I won't give you the same treatment next time. If you don't like that, then throw me into the abyss right now."

"Hahahahaha~ You truly are irredeemable, aren't you!?"

Aybel sighed wearily at Caine's words. "Honestly, it matters little to me how you want to interpret what I did. You must've sensed it by now. You and I both know the kind of person that I truly am."

"There's no need to continue this ridiculous back and forth. We've already wasted more than enough time as it is. It's your choice. So once again: Pull me up. My arm is killing me."

There was a moment of silence as Caine stared at Aybel with a look of amusement in his eyes. "Fascinating..."

And with that anticlimactic response, the taller boy obliged.

With his feet now back on something solid. Aybel slowly stretched his arms savoring the moment of peace after the wild events that had just taken place.

From here, he could see several pillars rising up from the void towards the distant sky, their tops disappearing into the darkness. Looking too far, all he could see was pitch black.

A light breeze was now swirling through the air, gently blowing past him as he turned to face Caine.

"So are you sure about this? Have you thought it through to its conclusion yet? Or are you still trying to figure out what to do with me?"

"Ah, well..." Caine let out a quiet chuckle as he scratched the back of his head. "You don't exactly make it easy for me."

Caine stepped towards the edge of the chandelier, staring out at the darkness below. 

"Truth be told though," he continued, his smile slowly fading. "I was actually really surprised by you during all of this."

"It was something I never imagined I would feel, not since... well, since I can't quite recall. I've had my suspicions about you... but this feeling is even more than I ever expected."

"...You must think I'm an absolute fool if you really want me to believe that my little act bothered you to the extent of actually hurting you."

"Alright, alright, you don't need to be so rude about it, Mr. "I have no qualms jumping another person in mid-air!"

With a heavy sigh, Caine turned his gaze away from the fall and towards Aybel. "You must be very popular with the ladies with that sharp tongue of yours. But I have to give you credit, you are the smartest person I know."

"Thank you for the compliment. But I still have a lot to learn."

"No no. I mean, you are literally the smartest person I know... because you are the only person I know."

"I really want to meet new people that are not you."

"Ha!"

Letting his head wander up facing the sky, Caine stared at the blank canvas above, as if lost in some sort of deep thought.

Their surroundings grew strangely quiet...

Breaking the silence, his words giving off a slight echo, he asked: "Now, I wonder. What's next...?"

As if in mock reply to the innocent question - The heavens opened forth.

To Be Continued...