Kaelen woke up in a panic to the sound of a sharp, grating scream tearing through the morning silence, coming from behind the dilapidated walls of the house. He slowly raised his heavy hand and placed it on his forehead, which was dripping with profuse sweat, then pulled it back suddenly when he felt the coldness of his extremities, which seemed as if they did not belong to his warm body. A strange disturbance took hold of him; he did not know the source of this tension that made his breath tighten, as if his head were still submerged deep under merciless cold water.
He leaned his burdened body over and picked up a piece of dirty, neglected clothing from the dirt floor, wiping his forehead with haste and agitation, like someone who had just stepped out of a steam bath without finding time to dry his shivering body.
I am hungry… I didn't eat yesterday.
Before he could dwell on the bitterness of his hunger, a light knocking reached his ears against the wooden door; it was a polite, gentle knock, unlike anything he was used to in his harsh life. Kaelen rose with cautious steps and headed toward the door. As soon as he pulled the bolt and opened it, he froze in place from the shock of the surprise.
Hanabi was standing at his doorstep, wearing bright pajamas with small cat prints, her blue hair falling in a strikingly neat fashion. Beside her stood Namiro in similar pajamas, her coal-black hair framing her clear face, while her large black eyes shone with a calm luster over her snow-white skin. For a second, Kaelen forgot how to draw air into his lungs.
Namiro did not give him long to recover from his daze; instead, she poked him in the center of his forehead with sudden force, saying:
"Wake up, you lazybones."
He snapped out of his trance feeling the sting of pain, and Hanabi said in a soft tone carrying a warm apology:
"We are sorry for the shouting and the noise… This is the first time we've lived in a real house since our father died."
Then she gently reached out and offered him a piece of soft bread that smelled of fresh wheat, spread with a rich layer of shimmering orange marmalade. Kaelen's body stiffened, and he looked at the food as if he were seeing a miracle, asking her in bewilderment:
"Where did you get this?… It is very expensive."
Namiro laughed with pride and confidence as she answered him:
"Don't forget, we are from a rich family… and from the great Crimson Moon team."
Hanabi smiled a calm smile that lit up her pale face and said as she placed the warm bread in his hand:
"Happy breakfast."
Kaelen took the bread, feeling a shock that shook his very being. For the first time in his long history of deprivation, someone was giving him food without asking for a price or a service. He had always been the one to give and sacrifice; he was never used to being the one who receives. He closed the door and returned to his dark room, sitting on the edge of the bed while contemplating the bread with a sense of sanctity. He tore off a small piece to eat. Then, without warning, a hot tear fell from his eye to drown in the texture of the soft bread as he whispered:
"How delicious it is."
He began to eat with a hunger and intensity like someone who hadn't tasted real food in years, wiping the remnants of the food from his mouth with the sleeve of his tattered clothes without care. Suddenly, the world shook before his eyes, and countless luminous threads appeared in the sky, intertwining on the horizon. Kaelen trembled at the horror of the sight, but what took his breath away were two threads moving outside the house with suspicious vitality.
He jumped from his place and rushed toward the door, swinging it open violently to find Hanabi and Namiro in the middle of a fierce clash and fight. His eyes widened in shock, and the moment he focused his gaze on them, the two threads vanished completely as if they were a mirage. Hanabi turned toward him with a strange coolness and asked:
"Did you finish your breakfast?"
"Yes… thank you. It was very delicious."
Hanabi laughed lightly, melting some of his tension, then followed up with a question that piqued his interest:
"I still don't know your full name or your age."
"My name is Kaelen Arminster… I am eighteen years old. I live completely alone."
Hanabi stopped moving, and a sad look of surprise appeared on her face as she asked:
"Alone? Don't you have a family waiting for you?"
He shook his head slowly, feeling the weight of loneliness pressing on his chest, and answered her:
"I don't know… All I remember is being raised by strangers."
A heavy silence fell, shrouding the place in desolation. Deep features of sadness appeared on the faces of Hanabi and Namiro before Namiro broke the silence with a sudden question:
"Do you know what the Ethereal Thread is?"
Kaelen froze in place and asked her in confusion:
"Ethereal Thread? What is that?"
Hanabi explained to him with seriousness and focus, saying:
"It is an essential magical energy we use in combat. Everyone who possesses it has a unique ability that distinguishes them. My ability is knowing truth from lies… and I can create my own Domain."
He asked her curiously, trying to comprehend:
"A Domain?"
"When you acquire your own thread, you will understand everything. The thread can be developed and refined, and the more skills you learn, the greater your power becomes."
Namiro added with a sharp, arrogant smile:
"As for me… when my anger ignites, my eyes turn a glowing yellow, and I become many times stronger. My Domain weakens the opponent and strengthens me."
Kaelen swallowed hard and asked in a voice full of apprehension:
"How can I acquire an Ethereal Thread?"
Hanabi answered, looking into his eyes with complete seriousness:
"There are two conditions, and no third. Either a tragic accident occurs that tears your soul apart… or you create something that touches the deepest point of your feelings."
Then she added, her voice dropping to become more imposing:
"When that happens, you will feel a pain in your head as if a rock is breaking inside it… and many other things."
Kaelen suddenly remembered what he felt at dawn and said eagerly:
"This morning… my forehead was dripping with cold sweat. And when Waldokma died, I had a severe headache that almost made me lose my mind."
Hanabi smiled a mysterious smile as she replied:
"I think… you have already obtained your own Ethereal Thread."
"Can I know my ability now?"
"Yes. Sit on the ground, relax completely, and let the thread merge with the cells of your body."
Kaelen sat before them on the dry grass and closed his eyes tightly. Hanabi warned him:
"Do not speak, and do not scream no matter what happens… just relax."
He felt something strange flowing through his veins; a scorching heat started from his toes and rose to his heart. His heartbeat accelerated like the beating of drums, and a terrible pain felt as if the bones of his body were being crushed and broken one by one. Then, the pain suddenly vanished, replaced by an eerie calm. He opened his eyes to find the sky had turned into a canvas of intertwined threads, each thread shining with a different and dazzling color.
He screamed in terror at the sight, so Hanabi shouted at him loudly:
"Don't look at the sky! Look at me, Kaelen!"
He looked toward her and clearly saw a golden thread glowing over her body, so he cried out to her:
"There is a thread glowing over your head!"
"Calm down… do not be afraid of what you see."
She held his warm hand and continued in a calm voice:
"This is your true ability. Everyone sees something strange related to their essence when they first discover it."
The threads gradually disappeared from the sky, but the threads remained bright on the bodies of Hanabi and Namiro. Hanabi asked him how he felt now, and he replied that he felt a good strength flowing through him. At that moment, Namiro smiled a crooked, death-defying smile and said:
"Come… fight me now."
"Namiro!"
Hanabi shouted sharply to stop her, but Kaelen took a steady step forward, his voice carrying a new certainty despite his tension:
"It's okay. I really want to know the limits of my ability."
Hanabi stepped back, her face torn with features of anxiety, while Namiro clenched her fists tightly and said mockingly:
"Don't cry and beg when I give you a beating that makes you forget your name."
The temperature of the air in the place suddenly rose until the grass dried under their feet. A small flame ignited in the palm of Namiro's hand and expanded with terrifying speed to become a fireball pulsing with heat and sparks. The moment the ball was launched, Kaelen saw it with absolute clarity; he saw a thin, tense thread rushing toward his left shoulder.
His body moved automatically and with amazing speed before he could think. He shifted half a step with extreme flexibility, and the fire passed beside him, the intense heat stinging his skin and leaving a red mark. Namiro shouted with crazy excitement, her eyes shining:
"Oh?! You actually see it!"
She rushed toward him without hesitation; she was as fast as a flash of lightning. She grabbed his shoulder, her grip feeling as solid as rock, and raised her other hand to deliver a direct blow that tore through the air. Kaelen's breath froze as he saw several red lines rushing toward his head at once. He ducked and spun his body, slipping from her iron grip at the last possible moment.
But suddenly, Namiro's eyes glowed a fiery yellow. In that moment, the threads vanished completely from his vision. Kaelen did not see the coming blow; her fist collided with his face with immense force, sending him flying and making him lose his balance. He recoiled backward, staggering, while a sharp, annoying ringing filled his ears.
Namiro shouted, at the height of her power-induced ecstasy:
"I will use my Domain now!"
"Stop immediately!"
Hanabi cried out in real fear, but Namiro had lost control of her desire to fight and screamed:
"Domain… Sunset!"
A brilliant orange light exploded, covering everything, and an invisible shield surrounded the place as if the world had closed in on them. The grassy ground turned in an instant into a surface of still water reflecting the sky with bitterness. Above them appeared a massive, bloody sun, suspended and fixed, spreading a suffocating heat that stole the breath. Kaelen felt a terrible weight pulling his body beneath the water. He tried to move, but every step felt as if it were against a sweeping current.
Namiro said, her voice echoing through the Domain with a terrifying resonance:
"Do not try to resist. This is my own world."
She rushed toward him, her body glowing with the power of the Domain. This time, Kaelen saw the thread clearly and directly like a sword, but his exhausted body would not obey him. He moved too late, and the blow struck him in the chest. The power of the Domain pressed on his lungs and drained his energy, making him weaker and slower than ever before. He screamed in intense pain as Namiro's foot rose and delivered a single finishing blow that knocked him down to strike the surface of the illusory water.
His body hit hard, and spray scattered everywhere. In the next moment, the Domain shattered and scattered like broken glass; the bloody sun disappeared, the dry grass returned, and a funeral silence fell over the place. Hanabi rushed toward him immediately, screaming his name in panic, but he showed no movement; he was completely unconscious.
Hanabi turned to Namiro, her eyes flashing with sparks of anger. Namiro recoiled, trembling and bowing her head, saying:
"I… I am really sorry."
Hanabi answered her in a sharp, stern tone:
"Help me now. We must get him into the house quickly."
They carried him together with obvious effort. Namiro said in a low, raspy voice as she looked at his pale face:
"He was dodging my attacks amazingly at first."
Hanabi replied with bitterness and suppressed anger:
"But your blind rage ruined everything. You must change your savage ways."
They placed him on his wooden bed, and a heavy, desolate silence filled the room. Nothing could be heard except the sound of Kaelen's labored breathing.