[Kai's POV]
1987
Fifteen years old.
I opened the drawer under the bed and pulled out the black cloth covering my trophies. One by one.
The knife. The first and most important one. A short blade, a metal handle, runes engraved along the steel.
It had taken me two years to create it. The spell was simple, yet brutal: when the blade pierced a supernatural being, it didn't just wound the body—it sucked the victim's magic out. The magic was stored in the core I'd created, and I could siphon it off later.
The core can hold a lot of magic, but it isn't unlimited.
The real problem? I'd never tested it on anyone. I couldn't. Stabbing a rat wouldn't work—animals don't have magic. And stabbing a witch from the coven? Suicide. They were already watching me closely enough. So the knife was a gamble. A theory.
I'd spent months calculating the runes. It had to work. But until I actually plunged the blade into someone, it would be nothing more than… hope.
I tucked the knife into the inner pocket of my coat.
I'd also created the storage amulet.
A metal pendant with a rune engraved in the center. I'd stolen the metal from an old lock at the coven and spent months learning to stabilize the spell. I modified the spell so that the amulet would store ambient magic inside it.
Ambient magic is impossible to siphon, as it is scattered and less organized than the magic present in witches' bodies.
But this amulet has the ability to store it within itself, organizing it so that I can draw it out.
The magic inside it isn't unlimited; it needs time to recharge. I'd charge it at night and use it during the day.
The illusory runes: I'd learned to distort the space around the room. It wasn't like the coven's complete barrier, but it was enough so that no one would notice the faint light from my runes at night. If anyone opened the door, they'd see only a boy sleeping. The circle on the floor? It vanished. The magical objects? Invisible.
Illusion wasn't creation magic. It was perception magic. And I was good at changing what people saw.
I also set up listening devices. Small metal discs, about the size of coins, scattered throughout the house. When someone spoke near a disc, their voice would linger in the air like an echo.
Using a linking spell, I connected myself to the discs, allowing me to hear everything.
That's how I learned about the coven's rituals. About Joshua's plans. Basically, he and the entire coven intend to imprison me in a prison world when Josette and I turn 22.
They probably think I'll try to perform the Fusion with my sister. They know I'll win and become the leader.
In other words, the original Kai killed his brothers for nothing. He would have been imprisoned anyway.
One of my younger brothers, Joey, is completely obsessed with me, unlike my other brothers, who treat me like a monster.
Joey admires me; he's the only person who knows about my true potential. I feel like Toji Zenin, while he's Naoya.
The sound of footsteps in the hallway made me quickly cover up the objects.
The door opened without a knock. "Kai?"
I looked up.
My mom was standing in the doorway, holding a tray with a steaming mug and a small plate covered by a cloth.
"Mom!" I exclaimed. "You know that normal people knock before coming in, right?" I asked.
She raised an eyebrow. "Normal people don't spend the whole day locked in their room either," she retorted.
"I'm not normal. That's already been established by the whole family," I replied with a bitter smile.
Her smile faded for a moment.
My mom stepped inside, closing the door carefully behind her. For a long time, I didn't trust her 100 percent, but now I realized that she truly loves me. That she would never hurt me.
She set the tray on the desk.
"I brought you some tea and cookies, dear," she said. She pulled up a chair and sat down across from me. "Joey told me you said no when he asked to play with you."
"He has other brothers to play with. Joshua must hate it when he gets close to me, doesn't he?" I asked.
Josephine touched my hand. She trusted me enough to know that I would never siphon her magic. That I would never hurt her.
"Kai…" With her other hand, she touched my cheek and stroked it. "Don't think about that, okay? Joey loves you and looks up to you like an older brother, and he won't let that happen."
My mom doesn't know about Joshua's plan. She would never allow such a thing to happen to her children.
I love her. I haven't gone crazy because of her yet.
[...]
Two years later, in 1989, my mother was diagnosed with cancer, and in 1990, she died.
It tore me apart inside, watching my mother die little by little, without being able to stop it from happening...
Even with the best doctors that the Gemini coven's wealth could offer, that fate was inevitable.
In 1990, as soon as I turned eighteen, I left home. They didn't stop me.
The only one who really cared about it was Joey, my favorite little brother.