𝑫𝒀𝑵𝑨𝑺𝑻𝒀 𝑶𝑭 𝑺𝑶𝑼𝑳𝑺 ⇢ Gojo Satoru

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐗𝐗𝐈 - 𝐀 𝐂𝐔𝐑𝐒𝐄𝐃 𝐁𝐋𝐎𝐎𝐃𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐄

TEN YEARS AGO, June 7th, 2007 –

NEITHER OF THE TWINS REALIZED SOMETHING WAS WRONG UNTIL MIDNIGHT STRUCK. The music halted, the sweet melody of the violins coming to a gradual stop while the chatter slowly died down. Everything slowed down, the world moving in slow motion as the beautiful enchantment of the party disappeared, a sharp sting of awareness stabbing at Keisuke's heart the moment he felt the air shift. The Kinzoku heir inhaled deeply through his nose, cradling his sisters' hand in his while the crowd around them parted like the solemn sea.

Keisuke felt the moment came long before it did, the silence that reigned in the ballroom a careful warning for what was to come. It was war, the crack of lightning before it struck the ground, leaving nothing but destruction in its wake. It was wrath made flesh, an uncontainable storm materializing from thin air. It was Kinzoku Asahi in all of his glory and all of his fury.

The young Kinzoku stepped back instinctively, taking Mikazuki with him as he put as much space possible between them and his father. The gesture was futile, for Asahi was faster than his teenage son, quickly cutting through the air while his body was still incorporeal. He was a flash of lightning, a crack of thunder moving between the folds of reality, in a state between Everlasting's glittering mess and his usual fleshly grandeur.

He looked dishevelled; his usual composure replaced by the look of a madman. Keisuke knew that look; he'd seen it first hand, when he found his father standing atop a pile of disembodied corpses almost four years ago. The Edamura massacre was still fresh in the boy's mind – he would never be able to unsee the cruelty of his father – and, overtaken by a sense of dread, Keisuke let go of his sister's hand. It was only for a second, his fingers leaving hers for a brief flash, but it was enough for Asahi to divide the twins, standing between them in all of his golden glory.

Mikazuki stumbled back, yet her mind went completely blank the moment her father laid his hands on her. The sorceress felt his hand closing on her shoulder, fingers digging into her flesh and exacerbating the pain from her wound. It was pure agony, the pain carrying across her whole body as the spiderweb around the injury pulsated vividly. Mikazuki let out a cry, doubling over as she fell to her knees, clutching the sight of her wound.

"Father! You can't–" Keisuke tried to walk over, yet Asahi's cold stare stopped him dead in his tracks, that familiar dread pooling in his stomach.

"I can't... what!?" The King of Sorcerers asked harshly, his voice loud and booming as he turned to address the room, as if challenging anyone who dared interrupt him. "Discipline my own daughter?" He spat, applying more pressure on the wound and rejoicing when Mikazuki sobbed.

The young sorceress was completely helpless, her small body hunkered on the ground, the cold tiles of the floor turning her skin to ice while the pain wreck through her body like a ranging thunderstorm. She couldn't talk – couldn't think. All she could do was feel the blind hot agony that ran through her veins.

Keisuke balled his hands into fits, quenching down the anger he could feel bubbling under his skin while his heart shivered in pain at the sight of his twin sister.

"Please, you're hurting her." He tried again, his tone soft and defeated.

"That's the whole point."

Asahi scoffed, looking down at his daughter with disdain. He let go of her, kicking the girl down harshly enough the sorceress fell back, head cracking against the tiled floor. Keisuke gasped, making another move towards her, yet the moment his feet began to move, he felt his father's gold encapsulating him, pulling in the opposite direction and keeping him rooted in place. The boy tried to fight back, summoning his Everlasting in an attempt to break through Asahi's hard technique, but his gold was no match for his father's, the sparkling mess disappearing less than a second after he called it forth.