In a kingdom far away, settled deep in the valleys, was a town. A small farming village home to an average couple. The father, a farmer, and the mother, a teacher, were waiting for the birth of their first child which was soon at hand. When the time finally came, with a mighty cry, a strong baby boy was born. A child they named Kinin. However, a twist of fate bestowed young Kinin with a brother. To great surprise the mother had been carrying twins and only minutes later a much smaller boy was born. A frail, timid boy who would come to be named Endrick.
Throughout their young life they were inseparable. Every moment of the day they were together eating, sleeping, playing, and generally exploring the world around them. Kinin leading the charge with happy Endrick in tow. They were the closest brothers could be until the age of ten. At ten the time for playing was over and they began their training to become men. Every day Kinin, with a strong will and a body to match, followed his father into the fields for long days of farming while the much weaker but sharper Endrick stayed with his mother to read, learn, and study. The two easily fit into their new roles as the strong, capable, working man and the intelligent and wise scholar. Unfortunately along their different paths the brothers slowly drifted apart into separate worlds, only crossing when the sun set and it was time to rest.
Those peaceful day lasted for five years. During the year of their fifteenth birthday the town was descended upon by a dark cult under the leadership of a mad alchemist who had recently made a very interesting and important discovery. He needed two very special subjects for his newest experiment. Despite the best efforts of the parents the boys were taken, leaving the rest of the town to be slaughtered by the cult. Deep in the alchemist’s lair they were locked in cages. They were left for days. Told nothing. Fed only scraps to weaken them. To hollow them. To prime them as vessels. To prepare them for the upcoming transfer. After preparations were complete the brothers, barely able to stand, were taken to the main experiment chamber. A room with instruments and materials of all kinds lining the walls and two empty tables waiting in the center. Each was placed face up on a table and the alchemist began to explain the experiment. He said many things that were beyond understanding for the boys with Endrick piecing together the most. What Endrick did manage to understand was the stuff of fairy tales. Angels? Devils? Souls? All apart of this crazy conspiracy. The alchemist claimed to have somehow obtained the souls of an angel and a devil. This was supposedly what was sealed inside the containers made of strange alien technology that the alchemist presented to them. One container shined bright gold, reminiscent of the sun they hadn’t seen since arriving, and the other glowed a deep ember, the shade of red only found in the deepest point of a raging fire. Apparently the alchemist planned to transfer these souls into their bodies to observe the effects and they were chosen because as twins they were the closest to identical vessels the alchemist could find. Once Kinin heard that something changed in him. Something deep in his heart. Explanations complete, the experiment continued and the procedure was completed successfully. The angel now housed in Endrick and the devil in Kinin. Endrick handled things better than even the alchemist expected as the divine presence settled comfortably between Endrick's kind heart and peaceful soul. Somehow despite everything happening a wave of tranquility and homely warmth filled Endrick's body and he soon fell into a mercifully relaxing sleep. Kinin, on the other hand, was immediately crushed by crippling intense pain. He fell to the ground screaming. As the alchemist expected the devil soul was far more rebellious to the transfer. The torture went on for hours before a deal was struck between Kinin and the new voice deep in his mind. A deal for power and strength. Strength to withstand the pain and power to destroy those who forced it on him. And in return? Control.
After the initial experiment a year passed. A long year of imprisonment, tests, and training. Hard training to harness the new powers the boys held. Thanks to his natural strength and the deal he had made Kinin took to his powers with ease. He displayed great control over the element of fire and even the earth itself. Endrick, despite his first impression of aptitude, had trouble controlling the mass amounts of radiant energy he now held inside him. While showing meager levels of control his tests often resulted in explosions of energy that injured both him and those around him. The worst of the bursts even emitted surges of concentrated electricity as if he was calling down bolts from the heavens in his defense. Over time they both went through unnatural transformations. Kinin sprouted horns and a long tail while his skin darkened to a crimson red. Endrick developed a much paler complection while his hair shifted to a lustrous silver and his eyes changed to a shining gold color. With their lives reduced to sleep and training the boys forgot everything associated with the outside world and even forgot the meaning of time itself. However, while Endrick almost lost himself among confusion and panic, Kinin stayed strong and focused like he was waiting for something. A vital moment that would arrive very soon.
One day Endrick awoke from his rest to find the lair in chaos. Everything in sight was ablaze and his brother’s cell was destroyed with him nowhere in sight. Endrick sprinted through the halls past countless bodies of dead cultists. He arrived at the center of the commotion just in time to see Kinin slam a large axe of stone and fire down on the alchemist severing his head from his body. From the open wall behind him, completely destroyed by some explosive force, the outside world awaited. A trail leading out into the unknown. The two who were once brothers but now stand in separate and opposing worlds gazed at each other from across the room bathed in the brilliant light of the sunrise. Kinin breaks the silence “My vengeance is complete, I release you to live your own life. Taste freedom once more. But remember this brother…” as the two lock eyes Endrick understands his brother’s feelings in a way he hadn’t since they were kids. On the day of the experiment something in Kinin changed. A seed was planted. A seed of hatred. Not just for the alchemist and his plan but for his own brother as well. If Endrick hadn’t been born, if he had no twin, his family and town wouldn’t have been destroyed. He would be back home happily working the days away with his father. In the evenings returning to his smiling mother for a good meal and a well earned rest. But all that was gone now. In its place a blooming crimson flower of hate. “...remember if you follow me I will kill you because I hate you most of all.”. With his business finished Kinin completed his devil transformation by sprouting a pair of large leathery wings and taking flight out the hole into the distance.
Endrick, now truly alone, steps out onto the mountain peak where the lair was built. A place where the earth and sky collide. Atop that mountain Endrick makes a silent vow to get strong so he can one day free his brother from the darkness that has taken him. He descends the mountain into the great open world to begin a new life of training. This time on his own terms and with an important ultimate goal.
Another year after his escape Kinin’s inner voice leads him to a temple. A long forgotten monastery called the Temple of Negatace. This monastery served as a vault for a particularly powerful artifact. An enchanted stone with the power to warp it’s wielder through space and even break through the dimensional barriers that keep the multiverse separated. After destroying the monastery, easily slaughtering the monks guarding it, and taking his prize in hand Kinin makes to leave but is finally confronted by Endrick. After a year Endrick was much stronger and the trail of destruction made Kinin easy to track. Now was the time for their final confrontation. The ruins of the Temple of Negatace would be their battle ground and both knew it would also serve as one of their graves. Without a word they leapt into combat. Weapons were swung and spells were cast in an all out brawl to the end. Kinin held more power but Endrick could easily analyze him to keep up with strategy and speed. The battle raged on until in the final moments of desperation both stood almost completely out of energy. Endrick took the upper hand and moved for the finishing blow but it was then that Kinin’s inner voice took control. He activated the stone tearing a hole in space. In shock Endrick fell back as Kinin escaped into the portal to the unknown. Endrick stood helplessly with his mind still blank from shock. Then without him making a single command his body began to move on it’s own. Maybe it was Endrick’s own silent inner voice that pushed him forward or maybe it was his own unbreakable desire to see his brother free that every fraction of his body shared. Either way he dove straight into the portal, moments from closing, with only one thought in his head. He would save his brother from the darkness even if it meant he had to follow him to the end of the world. Even if it meant he had to give up his own light. Even if it meant he had to kill him.
