Counterpart

Chapter One

Rin stared at the white leaves drifting to the forest floor. After hours of working away at the fishing docks, this is the one place worth spending the rest of his evening. It felt like a different world entirely, free of the mud and disgusting smell of butchers tearing away at their catches.

"So?" Avelyn leaned against one of the trees, running a hand through her white hair. "Are you finally going to be moving out now that you're an adult?"

"That excited to get your own room? Like I said, I've been considering it." In truth, it would be nice to. But even if Rin could afford it, his family would suffer from one less hand.

"That's fine." Avelyn lifted her arm. Glowing strings floated out from her fingertips, drifting through the air. What used to leave her screaming in frustration now flowed perfectly without a hint of strain. "At least I still have time to teach you."

Rin sighed. "Stop trying. You know I'm not gifted with labia." Countless mages have tried to detect even a hint of the magic within him, all to no avail. "Sure, it's hereditary, but it's skipped siblings before." She just rolled her eyes.

In a flash of light, strings burst from her body. They instantly fell into order, displaying the silhouette of a massive fox beside her. It's head twitched up to sniff the air as fur flowed in the breeze. Avelyn stroked the creature's hair, which seemed to gain a solid presence upon her contact. "I'm never going to believe that. And you better hurry; I might be just two years younger, but you'll never outdo me at this rate." Even seasoned mages would marvel at how she could manipulate the magic. "I know I'll best Idan at this rate." Her smile faded as the words left her mouth. Labia is a holy power, yet a few of it's wielders have been known to grow twisted under the right circumstances.

"There's still a chance he just retreated for a quieter life. There's no way a man like him would choose to start practicing aibal." Avelyn nodded, though Rin couldn't believe it to be true. Labia and aibal cannot exist without one another. Once someone gets drawn to the twisted power, there's no going back.

"Fire wants you to pet her, too." The creature's head snapped to Rin at her words.

He leaned forward, stroking behind her ear. "I still find it weird you gave your own spirit a name." Despite acting like it has a mind of it's own, the fox is entirely controlled by Avelyn. She's gotten good at mimicking the real animal's behavior.

Distant shouts echoed from the village, prompting Rin to sigh. "You'd think they'd have stopped messing up the same job for years. I've seen one of our boats drifting out to sea a dozen times by now."

"Think they need help?"

"...No. They'll have taken care of whatever it was by the time we reach them, anyways. Have you thought of finding a job closer to the capital?" Her magic definitely won't live up to it's potential in such a remote village.

"And leave Bakshir?" She grimaced. Avelyn's never been the more adventurous type. Everyone in the village was shocked to hear she'd prefer to stick with what she's comfortable with. "I don't think so."

"I'd reconsider, if I were you. You'll probably be at the top of your class with a little more practice."

All the noises of the forest faded away as the two talked, until only the noises of yelling men and rustling leaves remained. "You really should try using labia again." She grinned. "I can tell you don't want to spend the rest of your life here. Find a school to join."

Rin opened his mouth to protest, but stammered at the persisting yells. There were certainly a lot more voices than they had fishermen. "...Why don't we start heading back? Mom probably needs help with dinner tonight, anyways."

Avelyn's shoulders slumped. "It's barely six." More foliage rustled from within the forest.

"Let's go." Avelyn gave Rin a puzzled look as he motioned her back to the village. The ground shook. She turned around just as a form rose up from behind the vegetation. It's camouflage of white, green and gray all withered away to reveal charred black scales. The lizard-like being rose up on it's hind legs to tower over both of them as a narrow jaw opened to reveal jagged teeth. Dark mist seeped from it's body. The polar opposite of labia.

Neither of them knew how to react. An akuma-a monster they've only heard of in stories, was now standing just before them. It's own ribs stuck out of it's body, twitching in sync with each breath.

"Rin..." Avelyn's voice quivered. Her spirit stood at her side, whimpering.

The voices grew louder. The two shuffled back, keeping their eyes glued to the creature.

The akuma let out an ear piercing screech as the standoff was broken. The beast dropped on all fours and lunged at the two.

"Run!" Avelyn screamed. She leapt forward, her spirit bursting into a blinding light to repel the akuma's dark energy.

Rin was frozen. It wasn't hard to see the strain in his sister's face now. Streams of light burst from her body, only to be expelled by the dark fumes moments later. Her body started to shake. The aibal gnawed away at her defenses, almost making contact.

Men charged from the village, each stopping dead in their tracks at the sight of the thing. Most of the group were fishermen. They yelled out, none of the words Rin could comprehend. He was dazed at just the sight of his sister's labia about to die out. Every mage's reserve is limited.

Rin's breath caught in his lungs as Avelyn's body went limp, the aibal embracing her a second later.

An energy flowed throughout Rin's entire body, drowning out his emotions as he locked on to the creature. Something inside him boiled to the surface, demanding to be let out.

Gray energy shot out of his body-lighter than aibal, but certainly darker than its counterpart. He didn't try comprehending it, too focused on making the thing hurt.

It jumped back, letting out a howl at the onslaught of raw energy. Rin pushed harder. The akuma resisted at first, but eventually turned to flee back into the forest.

Just as it came, Rin's ability faded away before he could think about it. His knees were shaking as the other townspeople stared in disbelief. He didn't care. Avelyn was left behind, lying motionless on the ground. The villagers rushed over to check on her. Gray skin covered her entire body, riddled with black veins trailing down her arms. She lunged at the nearest person.

The man tried to fight her off as she clawed at his throat. Two others rushed in, managing to pry her away and pin her to the ground.

Rin felt as though he might collapse on the spot. Avelyn struggled with superhuman might as they tied her down. An akuma just attacked their village-far too populated a place to be considered unsafe-and corrupted Rin's own sister.

"What did you do?" One of them shouted at Rin. "Mages can't do that!"

Rin checked his arm. The tattoo-like streaks meant to appear on those gifted weren't anywhere to be seen. They should be glowing after his first use. He looked back up to meet the gaze of several wary villagers,many of whom he'd known for his entire life. "I...don't know."

They pelted him with questions, but Rin couldn't tear his focus away as the men dragged Avelyn-what was left of her-back into town.