The boy had lost track of the days he had been confined in the dark. The cell that had become his home since his abduction was dank and wet and cold, but he had hardened himself against the physical discomforts as he selected a corner to call his own and curled up against the wall. He held his knees to his chest, eyeing the door and the slim shaft of light that dimmed and brightened with the coming and going of the hours of the day, and forced himself to try to sleep despite the pain of the wounds he had earned in his fight against grown men. The crying of his twin sister had prompted a burst of insane courage, and it had only been when a soldier had knocked him unconscious that he had stopped his desperate attempt to return to her side. He had woken in this place long ages later with a throbbing head and a plethora of sore muscles, but it had been Evelyn's absence that had silenced his desires to protest and cry, and left him silent and worried and quietly rebellious.

He was the elder, and it was his duty to watch over the smaller, frailer girl that had never been apart from him since the moment they had been born. It was not a duty that the young boy took lightly, not when his parents and siblings had pressed upon him how important it was to look after the sickly little girl who looked at him as if he held the world in his hands. The responsibility had aged him long before his time, making him proud and defiant and strong because he knew he was important to her, and the loss of her left him stumbling and confused and angry. Was she crying right now? Was she hurt? Was she again suffering one of those terrifying attacks where her body shook and shuddered as she fought for air, needing him and unable to find him because he was locked away in the dark of this strange new place he could not name and did not want to know of?

The thoughts haunted him, and grinding his teeth, the platinum-haired boy lowered his head onto his arms and tried to forget. The warmer memories of home, of his father and mother and siblings were only painful to recall, and he shut them out from his head as he embraced the dark that filled the cell. He wanted to sleep and to forget, to let the time pass until he was finally released and could see his sister again. The wait was excruciating, the silence and the cold painful, but the boy steeled his nerves and accepted his fate with a grim defiance he did not truly feel. They would not break him. It was his duty to be strong. For his twin sister... No one would make him buckle.

That man had visited him again. It was the only human contact he had been permitted since the violent start that had brought him here to the cells, and Aidan watched with quiet, suspicious crimson eyes as the tall, scarred, lavender-haired soldier opened his cell door and entered the quiet space with him. He carried a plate of food in his right hand, his left holding a small lantern to illuminate the darkness, and as had become his strange custom, he took five steps forward and set the plate down on the floor before retreating back to the wall. He knew the boy would not take his offering from him by hand, he did not trust him enough to let him in close without scorching him with a hateful glare, but the need for food was one even his defiance could not destroy, and after a few minutes, he would always scuttle from his corner to the plate for the much-needed sustenance.

It was strange fare, even for his strange circumstances, but Aidan did not mind as he glanced over at the array of food that had been arranged for him. A handful of days of this odd ritual had taught him that even if the taste and look of the food was strange to him that it was still good to eat, and while he still had no trust or love to give to the soldier who continued to visit him, he was hungry, and it was far better than the tasteless gruel that was shoved at him once a day through a slot in the door. With cool and wary eyes still glancing every so often at the man who stood motionless and resolute at the wall, Aidan ate quickly, barely pausing to savour the full flavours of the soup and meat and vegetables that had been given to him lest it was taken away before he could finish.

There was a quiet click as the lantern the soldier carried was settled on the floor, but Aidan paused in his eating at the noise and looked up quickly, registering the sound and instinctively withdrawing further against the wall lest it was hostile. The man looked at him apologetically, flexing fingers that had no doubt become tense and uncomfortable with holding the object up, and Aidan met his unwavering gaze for a brief moment before he turned his attention back to his food. The light was welcome after so many days in the dark, and though it would only serve to remind him of how black things would become once he was alone again, it also gave him hope that this would not be his world forever... and it reminded him of his sister, and the home he had known before this cell had taken its place.

The thought of her stopped his eating despite his protesting stomach, and he looked down at the small roll of bread he had been in the process of tearing into. The little ball of rolled dough sat half-finished in his hand, and made him wonder if she had learned of this new item as he had. The soldier had told him, in his gruff, quiet way, of what he ate every day, and Aidan stored the information all too willingly away even though he never replied to the words that were spoken to him. He kept his silence, mistrustful and defiant even though no harm had come to him after several days of these repeated visits, but thoughts of his twin continued to threaten that pattern and made him want to ask of her with increasing fervour.

Was she suffering in a cell not too far from him in this cursed place? Was she eating similar foods brought to her by this man as she waited in the dark for his visits? Was she asking after her brother as he wanted to ask after her, needing to know that even if she could not see him that he was okay? It hurt to imagine her languishing in the dark when his best memories of her involved the little girl running after the sun, enjoying her time away from the sickbed and devouring the fresh air with a love of life that only those constantly in danger of losing it could possess.

"Something ailing you, child?"

The question seemed ridiculous from the soldier's mouth, but it was also simply answered, and Aidan looked up from the roll he had slowly but surely begun crushing in his hand as the worry gnawed its way deeper and deeper into him. The scarred man was gazing at him with honest concern etched into his lined face, and the sincere expression, the darkening of his eyes, broke the young boy from his silence. He returned the stare, dropping his shields and allowing his own fear and helplessness to show to the man as he answered him quietly, softly with a question of his own, "Where is my sister?"

The speech startled the man, his eyebrows furrowed and he tilted his head as if he hadn't expected his question to be answered, and especially so altruistically. He supposed he had expected complaints. It wasn't as if the little boy in front of him had anything to be happy about in his cell with his stolen meals and the ever-present darkness boxing him in. His wounds from his kidnapping had not been treated at all, leaving him bruised and scraped and pale, yet he didn't seem to notice his pain or the hunger or his exhaustion. Instead the boy was staring at him needfully, asking after his sister rather than himself, and the knowledge made him suddenly ache.

He wished he could answer, but he had no idea of the girl that had been permitted to wander the fortress in the north the week prior with her other "siblings". His duties had been solely left with the boy in the prisons of the castle, the one of the two who had been deemed defiant and in need of breaking in, and he wondered at the courage that had made such a child fight against grown men to protect his sister. It was foolish and futile, but he was young and only knew his duties rather than how to weigh the odds... and the thought touched him in a way he had not expected. He found himself answering the question with sincere gentleness as the boy watched him with helpless need in his strangely bright crimson coloured eyes, "I'm afraid I do not know what happened to your sister, lad... but I can find out for you. I know to ask you to be patient seems unfair, but I will do what I can to get news of her for the next time I see you."

Aidan only allowed himself to nod rather than reply, and he slowly returned his attention to the food on his plate rather than continue to eye the soldier who had spoken. He did not know if he could trust his word yet, but it was something, a glimmer of light like the lantern he brought each day to him, and that was more than he had expected to find in the darkness of the prison cell he called home. He finished the food mechanically, no longer tasting the flavours or feeling the textures in his mouth, and all of his thoughts remained bent on that little platinum-haired girl that was his other half that he missed with every fibre of his being. 'Evelyn... Where are you...?'

He barely looked up when the soldier made to leave again, though he did hear him pause at the door with his lantern, looking back over his shoulder at him with a strange expression crossing his scarred face. His eyes were sad, almost hurting with some phantom pain the young boy didn't understand, but then he shook his head and breathed in deep as if he needed to steel himself again. He turned again for the door as his hand robotically unlocked it, and without turning around, he spoke to the boy one last time before he swept through it, "My name is Gunter, lad. I will see you again soon."

Only when the door shut did Aidan frown at it in confusion, and he repeated the soldier's name quietly, thoughtfully to himself. It was a strange name, much like the rest of this place that he didn't understand or recognize, but he was surprised by the comfort he felt in knowing at least one name to put to a face despite it all. He retreated again to his corner, drawing his knees to his chest and resting his chin on them, and though the darkness had once again swept in to claim the cell, the line of light peeking through the bottom of the door seemed somehow brighter than it had before the soldier had come. Aidan nodded to himself, and sat quiet and motionless in his corner, repeating the name once more in thought and with a bubble of hope he didn't dare look at lest he burst it somehow, "Gunter..."

It would be two more visits before Gunter returned to his cell with news, and with the news there begun a new addition to the strange ritual that now marked out Aidan's days in the cell. Gunter brought him food and news, and Aidan would sit in his corner with his plate, listening to him speak of his sister and asking questions for him to answer either now or later when he could retrieve the information for him. It was strange for the boy to be conversing with this older man who seemed to treat him like an equal rather than a child, but Aidan did not mind the oddness. His entire situation was strange and difficult, and one additional thing did not break him. He was far more resilient than that, and his focus for his sister's well-being ruled him and kept him docile and quiet even as the rebellious spirit within him wished to rage.

The news was fuel to that fire, though he kept it close to his heart and never allowed for it to show. Gunter called his sister "Lady Eve", failing to address her by her full name and falling back on a nickname that Aidan did not recognize. His parents and siblings had never once called her by anything less than Evelyn, even he had never used such a tawdry form of address for his own twin, but he held back his complaints and denials and simply listened with a sickening twist to his stomach. He had gotten more than he had expected with knowledge of his twin, and he would not risk angering the man who was bringing it to him with complaints or shows of disdain or frustration. He would bide his time, waiting and collecting himself before he did anything, and he simply listened and devoured every single piece of knowledge that was handed to him.

His sister was living freely in the fortress to the north with her siblings Marx, Camilla, Leon, and Elise, and she was happy in her new home, though she worried for him and asked after him every single day without fail. To Gunter's knowledge, she had not seen a day inside a cell like he had, and the relief Aidan had felt was like the release of a giant weight upon his shoulders. Captive or not for these strangers, she was facing much gentler treatment than him, and it had left him relaxing and sighing quietly. She was far more fragile than he was, and he doubted her ability to stand strong in the trials that gripped him now.

Gunter spoke of her health, too, remarking that the healers of their country, a place called Nohr, had discovered her sickness and were treating it as best as they knew how to. She was a frail little creature but had a spirit of steel, and Gunter had said that even for the horrible attacks that robbed her of breath and scared the life out of everyone and anyone present to see them, she never seemed to be worse for wear when she recovered from them. She would be pale and shaky, but she would force a smile for the worried crowd that filled the healing wards and only apologize for worrying them rather than complain of her treatments and ask for early release.

Yet she was also a troublemaker, and Gunter had seen Aidan's face turn to a small smile for the first time when he had noted his twin's remarkable talent for disappearing under the watch of her guards in the healing wards. Thrice now she had simply vanished underneath their noses, disappearing and sending the whole of the fortress into a wild panic, and no matter where anyone looked or how the guards had changed their patrols, they could not seem to catch her in the act. After a frantic search that lasted hours, they would find her back in the healing wards, smiling and seeming as innocent and sweet as ever, and the anger at her disappearance would melt into relief and leave her scolded rather than punished.

It seemed to be familiar behaviour for her, and Gunter had noticed Aidan nodding along with the story of her escapades as if it was completely unsurprising to him. That small, almost instinctive smile had widened and softened along with the telling, and Gunter had been surprised at the change it had made over the young boy's face. He had adopted a stern and uncompromising scowl ever since his first sight of the child, and it made him seem years older than he truly was as he faced the world with a strange stoicism and anger that no young boy should possess. But when he heard of his sister, the ice and hardness would melt just a little to show a glimpse of the child beneath his anger and resentment, and he would look his age for a few brief moments that were quickly becoming more and more precious to the soldier.

It was that day, when he first glimpsed the smile, that Aidan offered something else that he had never had before in the past handful of weeks of their reports and discussions. As he retreated again to his corner, bringing his legs to his chest in the classic pose that Gunter was beginning to suspect was more of an attempt to recapture an embrace than a defensive position, Aidan had called out to him even as he lowered his head to his knees. He was only looking at him through the corners of his eyes, but his voice was quiet and almost gentle as he spoke without being spoken to as was his custom, "When Evelyn runs away again... Look for her in high places. She likes to be close to the sky."

The advice proved fruitful in the following week, something that Gunter had been greatly amused, and surprised by when Camilla had taken the words to heart and had found Evelyn sitting on a balcony not an hour after she had snuck away again from the healers who had been performing a standard checkup on the ill princess. The older girl had scolded her something fierce, but had been genuinely glad to find her sweet little sister so quickly, and she had thanked him profusely for the guidance she had not expected to be all that useful for their little escape artist. Gunter had simply smiled and shrugged, intending to only play it off with an old man's knowledge of children until Camilla had paused, looking troubled, and then said to him that Evelyn had remarked that only Aidan had ever found her so quickly before... and she fallen into a melancholy that no one was capable of breaking since.

A full month had passed since their separation, and while Evelyn had been thriving, adapting quickly to her new home and making herself belong, Gunter had watched with increasing worry and smoldering anger as Aidan grew paler and thinner in the cells. His wounds had healed but he was languishing in captivity, and Gunter could only petition time and time again for his release with the king who showed no interest in his failing health when he had fought so hard upon his capture. It was a personal affront, Garon reasoned, and with a feral wyvern, only breaking him entirely could fix his attitude and command the obedience he wanted from his new son.

And despite his hatred for such reasoning... Gunter could, in a purely logical way, understand it. Each and every time he saw the platinum haired boy with crimson eyes, he understood where Nohr's king was coming from. Even a month in the cells had not broken Aidan's spirit. He remained fiercely rebellious and defiant underneath his quiet stoicism and his pain and exhaustion. It was all in his eyes, in those burning and unforgiving eyes that met Gunter each day he walked through the door, and though he smiled now and spoke with him of his own free will, Gunter knew he was not allowing himself to forget or to forgive. He was simply waiting, like any patient hunter would, for the right moment to reveal himself for what he truly was... and Gunter caught himself wishing that he could be there for that time, so he could watch the outcome with his own eyes.

In the meantime however, the great knight did all that he could to sway the king's opinion to letting the boy go and join his sister in the northern fortress. It hurt him too much to see a child treated like a prisoner, to see the yearning in the youth's face to be with his twin again, to see the light of day again, and Gunter devoted himself to bringing him freedom. It would be several more weeks before his word finally was heard, and by the time the young boy was given permission for his release, it had been nearly two months since he had been imprisoned.

The boy who walked out of the cells was much thinner, much paler, and far more haggard than the one who had been thrown in, but only Gunter noticed that his eyes retained that fiercely rebellious glint. The boy kept his head down and his arms wrapped about his thin frame, looking for all the world like a beaten prisoner who had learned the lesson of obedience, and Gunter marvelled at the acting skills he had never expected of a child. He held his tongue when spoken to, never lifting his eyes and merely nodding or shaking his head to respond, and he made no sound as he was lifted up into the saddle for the ride to the fortress that he would soon call home.

Aidan sat silent in Gunter's lap for the trip, only listening to the whispered speech of the knight and tilting his head only slightly to acknowledge him as the ride to the north was made. He had been told he would not see his sister right away upon his arrival, that he was to be introduced to the girl who was still in the fortress as her caretaker, but he didn't mind the delay or that his cell had been traded for a fortress. He was aware he was still a captive, was aware that he was trading a small cell for a much larger one, but his focus remained perfectly singular as it had been since the moment he'd woken alone. He was going to see his sister, and nothing mattered but the impending reunion.

Still, for all Aidan's patience and defiance, he was a still a boy in a new place, and he couldn't suppress that icy rage that had become his primary source of fuel. Though he knew what would come of it, he couldn't resist his defiant impulses, and as he was led into a new room in the tall fortress where a single girl stood at attention as she waited, Aidan narrowed his eyes as he looked her over dismissively while she greeted the man who had come in with him as "Father". She was tall and pretty, her lavender-coloured hair falling in long elegant curls around her face and down her back, and when she greeted him with her name and a formal curtsy, he looked away from her in pointed rebellion when he was nudged forward none too gently with a heavy elbow and a gruff order to return the introduction. He would not greet her as he knew the tall man at his side wished for him to. He would not become a puppet so easily, and his reward for his rebellion came swiftly and with cruel calculation.

The backhand sent him stumbling as pain exploded across the right side of his face. His teeth ground down to swallow his instinctive yelp as he went staggering across the plush carpet, and only his outstretched hands saved him from going down as he caught the edge of a nearby table and held on for dear life. It was a heavy blow, one that the Nohrian king had not checked, and it taught the boy a valuable lesson of the power the man wielded and was willing to unleash in answer to disobedience. Gripping tight to the stone and the wood, Aidan took a moment to force air into his lungs as he found his feet again, and he flexed his jaw experimentally as a thin line of blood trickled down his chin from his split lip.

"Greet your new sister, Camilla, Aidan."

The order was repeated in a snarl, and Aidan had no doubt that if he showed defiance again that he would taste that hand until he obeyed, and with a deep smouldering hatred, the young boy released the table and turned to the girl again. He would not acknowledge her as a sister, he had decided that the moment he had laid eyes on her, but the look of disbelief and pained pity in her startlingly bright wine-coloured eyes made him check his automatic decision to hate her as an extension of the man that she called father. She was gazing at him as if she wanted to reach out to help steady him from the blow even though she had not moved a single inch, and he remembered dimly that Gunter had said this girl had been a source of comfort and protection for Evelyn in his absence.

The thought softened his spike of anger, but he decided to reserve judgement as he stood up straight and fastened his eyes on hers as he had been ordered to do. The entire right side of his face was throbbing, and blood was trickling in a steady flow down his chin, but he made no move to wipe it away as he felt the heavy gaze of the Nohrian king on his shoulders. He was learning quickly as survival demanded he should, and he buried his anger and defiance down underneath obedience. He did not allow his voice to shake and betray the pain or anger he felt, and his voice was calm and quiet as he introduced himself to the older girl, "My name is Aidan."

Camilla answered him in a low murmur, obviously far more shaken than he was by the exchange, but Aidan did not care to question her attitude. He simply stood silent and observant, listening intently to Garon's exchange with the princess of how he was now to be left under her supervision for the remainder of the night. This fortress was now to be the shared home of both twins, and further instructions would be sent as the boy acclimated to his new home. Camilla nodded and answered dutifully, her eyes lowered and her voice quiet and submissive, and Aidan took advantage of the lack of focus on him to brush away the blood that had begun to creep down his neck to stain the collar of his new shirt. He had been dressed in tailored clothes for this exchange, and the garments were stiff and uncomfortable, but he had no desire to ruin the few new things he could now call his own with blood.

It wasn't until Garon had left the fortress with a careless farewell that he noticed Camilla's posture relax, and she seemed to sigh with the same relief that Aidan felt at the huge man's absence. His very presence was oppressive and cold, but Aidan didn't allow for his emotions to show even though Camilla didn't seem to share his thoughts. She turned to him immediately when the large doors shut behind her father, and her wine-coloured eyes were warm and vibrant as she spoke to him with that same accent he now could identify as Nohrian, "That was very brave of you, standing up to Father like that... but you shouldn't do it again. Father doesn't have patience anymore for disobedience... Not even from his children."

Aidan didn't reply, though every ounce of him burned with anger at the insinuation that the man who had just left was his father. He shared absolutely nothing in common with the monster that was Nohr's king, and it only made him long more fiercely for the home he had been so forcibly dragged from. His true father was a good man with a gentle hand and laughing eyes, and his mother was a beautiful woman with a loving smile. He did not know why he was being claimed as Garon's child, but he knew that he had to say nothing and pretend... At least until he was with his sister again. Everything would be all right when he was back with his twin again.

His cold silence had a quieting effect on the older girl, something he was beginning to understand how to use to his own benefit, and he followed her obediently enough as she murmured that she'd show him to his chambers now. He fell into step behind her, taking the time to study his surroundings as she led him through the huge place he had not known would be so intricately built. The stone halls were all opulently furnished, as if they were trying to make up for the sprawling emptiness and weight of the dark, and Aidan felt his stomach twisting with discomfort as he wished for the open warmth of the home he had known in the sun. It was too different, too alien, but he swallowed it down as he forced himself to remember that somewhere in this labyrinth of stone that his twin was waiting for him to find her.

He was led to a room that he was told almost offhandedly would belong to him now, and Aidan only acknowledged the words with the smallest nod as the door opened to allow him entry. He barely swept his gaze through his chambers' trappings, not caring about the rich furniture that spoke of luxury as his heart rebelled ferociously against it all. It was a beautiful prison, but a prison nonetheless, and he would never find happiness as a captive. He had only traded his small cell for a larger and better furnished one, and his spirit roared with defiance and demanded the freedom that had been taken from him.

The game however demanded he continued to pretend, and Aidan stepped inside of his new room as he cast a glance about his surroundings as if he was interested in everything. He only turned after a minute of feigning interest, and he looked to the older girl who was standing quiet and polite in the doorway as she waited for him to finish. There was curiosity alight in her pretty face, but she was holding back the multitude of questions he knew she wanted to ask, and instead when he showed he was finished, she asked him gently, "I suppose you want to see your sister now? Is it okay if you wait here while I get her? I haven't told Eve that you were coming yet... I thought she could use the surprise."

The words were kind, and her tone was gentle, but Aidan couldn't suppress his instinctive frown at the nickname that he still was not used to hearing for his sister. He could tell immediately from the way the princess spoke of her that she loved her, and the knowledge that she was caring for her was enough to soften his heart and remind him that not everyone he would meet here would be an enemy. Anyone that showed kindness to his sister was someone that he had to respect, and if Evelyn was attached to her, he resolved that he would not treat her badly. It was unfair to her, and the thought made him soften his frown and nod in response to her question before saying quietly, "That's very nice of you. I would like to see her now, please."

"Okay. Please wait here. I won't be long."

Aidan gave her another nod, and he watched her skip from the room with a speed that promised she did actually care about reuniting the twins. The thought was a strangely comforting one, and he let out a sigh he had been holding as he turned his attention back to his room with a twinge of unease. The room was overlarge and crowded with shelves and furniture, but it felt empty and quiet and haunting to the young boy. The opulent four-poster bed dominated most of the space, and the thick sheets looked luxuriant and comfortable, beckoning for a long night of sleep in warmth that he had not felt in months after his stay in the dungeons.

The very sight of it made his body ache with exhaustion, and reminded him of the throbbing pain in his jaw and the hunger that was still gnawing away in his stomach. He felt shrunken and weak, his body craved sunlight and open air, and though the new clothes he wore were far thicker than the rags he had in the cells, he still didn't feel as if he could get warm in them. He had been dressed nicely and his shaggy mane of platinum hair had been cut into a somewhat presentable mess, but the repairs had only been on the surface and did nothing to change what lay beneath. He felt older somehow, stretched and worn, and all the energy and optimism he had once known and embraced had been drained away to leave him with a permanent chill somewhere deep within.

"Aidan?"

The call, soft, familiar, hopeful and cresting with joy snapped him abruptly from his troubled thoughts, and Aidan spun about from the bed he had been staring at absently in his musing. Standing at Camilla's elbow was the girl he had not seen since that horrible night two months ago, and though she was dressed in a gossamer white gown that he did not know, everything else was just as he remembered. Her wide ruby eyes, lighter than his own and liquid with their perpetual sunniness were shining with joy, and her entire face lit up as their eyes locked and their gazes held. Any and all signs of wistfulness and troubled worry vanished from her face in an instant, and her smile spread across her face from one tapered ear to the other, and she bounded away from the girl who had escorted her with single-minded purpose. Her arms were stretched and her voice was almost a squeal of joy and pleasure as she bounded across the room in an instant and threw herself bodily into the embrace of her twin brother, "Aidan!"

In days past, Aidan could have caught her bodily and steadied her before his much thinner and smaller sister took him down with her sheer exuberance, but his weakened limbs and the too-recent injury in his face had robbed him of his former strength. He was thankful in the back of his mind for the sheer size of the bed behind him as both he and his twin crashed onto it from the force of her tackle, but everything else quickly became background noise to him as his arms automatically enfolded the familiar form of his twin sister against his chest and squeezed down tightly. Her laughter was music to him, and her familiar scent of plum blossoms was a welcome reminder of the familiar as she nuzzled against his chest and repeated herself joyously, "Aidan! I've missed you so, so, so much!"

"I've missed you, too." Aidan muttered hoarsely into her hair, and he closed his eyes as he relished the embrace that refuelled him in a way no food or rest ever could. The phantom emptiness in his chest, the feeling of being incomplete and broken fell away from him like a snakeskin, and he allowed himself a real smile that he had hidden down deep ever since he had woken up without her near. For the first time since that night, for the first time in what felt like a lifetime, everything was all right again, and Aidan couldn't express the happiness he felt as he clutched his twin tightly to him. "I love you..."

"I love you, too, Brother." Evelyn's voice was muffled but still so warm and happy as she buried her face against his shoulder, and she clutched him like a lifeline as the world seemed to come to a halt around the two of them. Aidan was faintly aware of Camilla chuckling softly to herself before she closed the door to seal the two in the room and give them the privacy they needed, and he thanked her mentally as he kept his arms wrapped firmly about Eve's waist to ensure she didn't draw away yet. His little sister nuzzled him again, relishing his warmth and all the same familiar scents and feelings of her twin before she drew back, ruby eyes glinting with cheer as she chirruped again, "I really missed you! It's so good to have you back!"

The warmth and cheer in her voice told him everything that he had worried and feared had happened to her was only all in his imagination, and another weight slid from his shoulders as he finally relaxed his hold on her and let her sit up beside him. He took her in with a clinical stare, wanting to take in everything at once and comparing it all to his last memory of her to ensure that she truly was okay. Her hair had grown longer but was still that healthy shade of platinum he recalled, and her pale skin was bloomed with pink from her cheer and exertion in knocking him over. She seemed the same in every respect he knew, though he noticed with furrowed eyebrows that just underneath her elbows, she wore matching strips of white bandages on both arms as if she had been an accident of some sort. Reaching out, Aidan touched the thick wrapping as he asked quietly, "Were you hurt? What happened?"

"I ought to be asking you that. Look at your face... and you're so thin. Haven't you been eating well at the castle?" Evelyn withdrew her arms automatically from his touch, shaking her head as if she wasn't bothered whatsoever by the bandages before she reached to gingerly, carefully touch the side of his face that was rapidly swelling and reddening from the slap he had earned earlier. Her eyes shone with concern and her fingertips applied only a breath of pressure to his wound as she asked him worriedly, "What happened to you? That looks like it hurts."

"It does." Aidan admitted with a bitter smile, and he cringed guiltily as Evelyn immediately withdrew her touch and put her hands in her lap as if she had been the one to strike him. Instantly contrite, Aidan squeezed her hand apologetically, telling her wordlessly that she hadn't done anything wrong in her worry, and the timid little smile she gave him in return was enough to remind him that even for the separation and isolation in this strange place that she was still that gentle-hearted little girl he loved so fiercely. He shook his head and sighed deeply before looking into his twin's eyes before he explained to her quietly, "Garon struck me earlier for disobeying him."

"Father struck you?"

The reply was startled and almost incredulous, and it went over him like a cold pail of water had been dumped over his head. The unease he had expected to have fully vanished came back almost as if it had never left him at all, and he shook his head slowly, aching for it to disappear again as Evelyn looked at him with a mixture of worry and pain. Her words resonated in his head, repeating themselves loudly and painfully, and he shook his head again as he heard himself arguing, "Why are you calling him Father, Evelyn? It's just us now. You don't need to pretend in front of me. Garon isn't our father. Father should be at home. Where we should be. Not here."

"What are you talking about? And why are you calling me Evelyn, Aidan?" Evelyn's voice was slow and unsure in echo of his own, and a dark cloud of confusion had dulled that striking ruby of her eyes and made her look small and scared in the face of his words. She shook her head as he had, biting her lip worriedly as her arms curled protectively about her middle in an unconscious rejection of what he was saying. It clearly made no sense to her, and she began hesitantly, trying to force some form of cheer into a voice that had begun to shake, "Y-You're really bad at joking, Aidan... Nohr is our home, Father is Father, and I'm Eve. Are you just teasing me because I've been here and you've been at the castle all this time?"

"What are you talking about?! What happened while we were apart?! What did they tell you?!" Aidan heard his voice rising, something he had not expected himself to do and could not remember ever doing in his history with his twin. It was wrong. He was meant to protect, never to hurt, and raising his voice at his sister was something that always made her upset. She was fragile in both body and heart despite her mischief, she couldn't stand to be yelled at by those she loved, and he felt almost as if he was being split into two as the anger he had thought he would share with her was instead projected out, "Evelyn, why are you saying those things?! We were taken here, it's not home! Home isn't here! Mother, Father, our brothers and sisters aren't here! This isn't home!"

"No, no, you're wrong! This is home! It's always been home! Marx, Leon, Camilla and Elise are all here! I don't know what you're talking about! This isn't funny!" The words came faster in her denial, and to Aidan's utter horror, tears began to shine in her ruby eyes and spill over her reddening cheeks as the upset got the better of her despite her efforts to stymie it. There was confusion and loss in her eyes, and she was shaking her head and gripping at it as if there was some part of her that registered his words somehow despite her denial, and she closed her eyes tightly as her shaking of her head came more violently like she wanted to dislodge what he was saying. "Stop it, Aidan! It's not funny anymore! Stop it!"

Aidan could only gape at his twin as she sobbed out her pleas for him to stop, and his heart twisted violently within his chest as he understood dimly that whatever had been done to her he was only making worse. He understood the truth, but in a way he could not fathom, that knowledge had simply been wiped away from her while they had been apart. Now she was sitting on the edge of the bed next to him, weeping and shaking and scared in the face of the truth, and he was hurting her with his desire to make her remember what she'd forgotten. He was hurting his little sister, and that violated every single brotherly instinct he had and made him feel absolutely and utterly lost.

All of his hopes for escape, for a partner and a source of comfort and familiarity were shattered as he watched his twin crumple in on herself, crying into her hands and whimpering out her repeated denials against his words he had already stopped speaking in his shock. Suddenly, despite the fact that the missing link to his completion was sitting right there within arm's reach, Aidan felt very alone again. He wasn't in the cell anymore, wasn't in the dark, his twin was right there with him, but he was alone all the same. How had she forgotten? Why couldn't she remember? Why was he the only one who could? Had he failed somehow during their separation? Was it his fault for not being here to protect her from whatever had been done to rob her of their memories of home? If it was, wasn't it his duty to fix it? Wasn't it his duty to make her remember?

"You're a big brother, Aidan, as well as a twin. It's your duty to protect your sister from the things that might be scary or painful. Remember that, no matter what. It's a man's duty, and you're going to be a good man... Protect your sister with all your might."

"I'm sorry... I didn't mean it. I was being mean... Please stop crying." The words came from somewhere Aidan didn't understand, but as he spoke them, a strange sense of calm came over him and gave him an anchor he needed in the mire of confusion and hurt. He didn't know what had happened to her, but he knew he was making it worse, and hurting her was against the rules no matter how he felt. Making her cry was the ultimate transgression, and his mother's words were loud and clear in his head as they reminded him of the duty that came before his own thoughts and feelings. He reached out clumsily, stroking her hair and pulling her against him as he continued weakly, "I'm really sorry... I went too far... Don't cry anymore..."

Evelyn couldn't fight him as he hugged her, and Aidan was glad for it even though everything was still aching as he cradled her in his arms. Her tears came fast and hot against his neck, and he could sense her pain as clearly as he felt her own. She was just as lost and confused as he was, clinging to lies that had taken the place of the truth for her own anchor, but the anger he had felt moments before was quickly diminishing as he reminded himself again and again of his duty as her brother. It mattered more than himself. She mattered more than him. It was always that way, and he had learned to take pride and pleasure in that fact without trouble. He was the protector. He was the elder.

As Aidan held her close, the solution to the problem he had come to face was glaringly simple in his young mind. It was a child's logic despite the maturity he had developed long before his time to be an adult had come to him, and he embraced it willingly though it caused him to ache deep, deep within. To have what she did not was not permitted, and if he could not share what he had without injuring her, then it only meant that he had to cast it away. He would forget if she could not remember. They were twins. It was the essence of what and who they were. The light of home would fade even as he stepped free of the dark of the cells that had held him before, and he'd be content to live in the twilight. So long as he was with his twin... Nothing else would matter.

"I'm sorry, Eve... It's okay... You're right. This... This is home..."

AN:

And... that's the end of the introduction to my twins for Fates. While I'm sorry I've put the two of them through so much right from the very beginning, this is also the exact way I envisioned them starting out so that their characters make sense as they progress through the story. I've laid out all the groundwork I wanted, and hinted out at quite a few things that will be taking centre stage in future fics, but for now, I'm quite satisfied. (I'm a sadist.)

I am also very aware that Aidan's half wasn't nearly as insular as Eve's was, but... as I write more of him, I hope that everyone kind of starts to understand that this is very true to his entire character. I'll be exploring that in depth in future fics, and there will be many future ones now that I've started my work on Fates, and I really cannot wait to start leaping into friendships and romance and everything else that Fates has to offer... There is so much to work with, and I really am super excited to have this new world and characters to start playing with...! I'm just trying to figure out how to get there without bouncing around to so many different places all out of order! XD

Of course, this leads me to tease you with what exactly I plan to do for romance for my precious Twilight Twins... XD Those of you who know me and have heard me squeal and whine and rail ad-nauseum already, you don't get to spoil it for others. (I'M LOOKING AT YOU, MI-CHAN. YOU TOO, DAUGHTER OF THE MOOSEN. -shot-) I've left hints already in a few different places, and those who've followed my older works have already heard about where I plan to go with this, but if you don't remember... I'm not repeating it! (Because I'm a sadist.)

I will however promise... Angst. Lots, and lots, and lots of angst. If you thought I was mean to Cail and to Skye, you are going to hate me for what I have planned for Eve and Aidan and my other particular favourites in the Fates cast. However, I cannot promise exactly when I'm going to start dishing those out, as I'll be on a vacation to the States a few days after I post this, and Naga knows I'm going to be up to my ears in wild and crazy shit during that particular week. I might need a vacation after the vacation. XD

Anyway, please drop me a review if you feel the need, and thank you very much for reading. I'll be looking forward to writing more for you all, and I'll see you guys all soon with more!

Mood: Accomplished.

Listening To: "My Hero" - Foo Fighters

~ Sky