I
Change of Pace
Our story begins,not in a town, a village, nor a home. However, it starts in a forest. With the moon shining over the tall dark oak trees. The wind rustles the leaves, and they gently whisper into the night. Can you see it? So relaxing and comforting. And, as we go through this forest, we see that there is a vast plain that accompanies this forest, and through the plain stood two figures. One was adored in an outfit that resembles that of a rouge with a black hood over his head that had a symbol of the sun at the end of it,and a mask that covered his face; leaving nothing but his eyes visible.. A long black scarf, with numerous cuts and slashes through the fabric, hung around his neck. His outfit consisted of a simple blue and black tunic that reached to his knees, where numerous cuts and rips were seen. Dark pants finished the outfit, and a set of light armor and boots, made with a midnight blue tint, allowed this person to barely be seen in the dark.The most appealing thing about this person was the weapon he was carrying on his back. It looked like a bow staff, but it was carved into the shape of a dragon with an orb in its mouth. Clearly, it could be used considering that the man had a quiver hanging on his waste. Along with his bow and arrow, he was also equipped with a dagger that had one cut close to the grip of the blade and designs were etched all into it. He may be better identified as a rouge if anything else. The other person was dressed in a hood as well, but unlike the rouge, his hood was loose as the wind in the air was able to move the hood edges and sides. The hood was black with a silver trim around the edge end a symbol of the crescent moon was stitched onto the edge of it as it covered the eyes of the man wearing it. This man had no mask nor a scarf. His outfit consisted of a long black shirt and harem pants with different symbols detailed all around it. A loincloth with a red, black, and green trim was worn around his waist. A pair of red cloth shoes finished his outfit. Hanging on the man's side was a scimitar blade and sheath, wrapped around his chest were dagger holsters, and equipped onto his left arm he wore a silver pauldron that reached from his shoulder to the end of his forearm.
These two stood there in the plain as if time had stopped moving for both of them. Then, out of nowhere, a low rumble was heard. The rumble started getting louder and louder with every passing second. They were like loud footsteps that could shatter the earth. Over the hill of the plain, there stood the cause of the rumbling. Three minotaurs, and they didn't seem so happy that those other guys were there.
The pack of minotaurs let out a blood curdling howl, as they began to charge to the two hooded men.
The man with the scimitar looked over to the Rogue as he saw him arm his bow with an arrow. "You ready for this?"
"You see me pulling the bow don't you," the Rogue answered.
"Hmph, right," The man with the scimitar scoffed as he unsheathed his blade. "Let's get this started then." The two warriors instantly dashed towards the pack of beasts.
"Get me in the air," the Rogue said to the man with the scimitar. The man had palmed his hands together to allow the Rogue to springboard into the air. The Rogue had a birds eye view of the monsters. He knocked three arrows into his bow, and the orb started to glow a whitish color. As soon as he let loose the arrows, a sonic boom was made from the speed of all three. All three hit one of the minotuars in the head, and as soon as this happened, the ground shook with a great force, halting the the rest of the pack. The man armed his scimitar in his right hand, as he dashed towards the rest. As he ran straight towards the pack, the leading minotaur was the first one to charge back, with nothing but rage in his eyes. As he got closer and closer, the man began to slide under the charging minotaur, and threw his scimitar from behind him. The blade hit the minotaur in his back, getting wedged in as well. The minotaur screamed in pain, but this did nothing but enrage him even more.
"Whoops," The man said.
"As the Rogue landed next to the man he looked at him with disappointment. "Not your best plan bro. Also, the other one is charging at us."
"They both looked back and saw the other minotaur swing its gargantuan fist right at the two. The man barely dodged as the minotaur barely scraped his head, making his hood fall down and revealing his face. He had skin of bronze, silver eyes, and locs that went down to his shoulders and blonde at the ends, but black from the root. The man stretched his right hand out towards his sword that was stuck in the minotaur's back. In an instant, the sword glowed and immediately shot itself out of the minotaur's back and into the hand of the warrior. As the minotaur began to swing his fist again at the two, they both saw his attack coming, and quickly jumped onto the knuckles of his fist. The Rogue took out his dagger, and they both jumped into the air, over the minotaur's head, and came behind it stabbing the minotaur down it's back with both the scimitar and the Rogue's knife. The Rogue then backed up and knocked his bow back again with only one arrow this time. The orb glowed white again as he launched the arrow into the back of the head of the same minotaur, and pierced it. The minotaur slumped over onto the ground.
"That's two for me bro, you might want to step your game up," The Rogue taunted.
The warrior looked back at the Rogue with a nonchalant expression. "And, you might want to not get caught by the last minotaur."
The Rogue looked back at the warrior with a questionable glare. "......What?" As soon as he said this, the minotaur had caught the Rogue in his gigantic fist. the force from the grab had knocked down his hood as well. He had brown skin, silver eyes, and black hair styled into two french braids at the top of his head that went back to his spine, and a fade on his sides. ".....didn't see you there."
The warrior put his left hand out beside him and it looked as if wind itself was being channeled in his hand. It began to take form as a spear. The warrior positioned himself with his left hand behind him, and in one full motion, threw the spear right to the minotaur, piercing through his chest. The Rogue took this moment as his chance to escape the minotaur's grip. He pulled out his dagger, and jumped towards the face of the minotaur, landing a deep stab into its skull. With the dagger lodged in its head, the Rogue hung there as the beast slowly began to fall to the ground. The Rogue began to climb off the beast and dislodged his dagger as he wiped it back clean. He looked towards the warrior as he had a serious demeanor to his look. The Rogue looked back with a calm expression as he raised his fist towards him. "......Twin win?"
A few seconds past, and the warrior bumped his fist towards the Rogue's. "Twin win." The warrior went towards the downed minotaur, and cut a piece of its horn off with his sword. "We'll need a piece of evidence to show the Mentor how good we are."
"Like he doesn't already know," The Rogue said as he walked to his brother.
With their task completed, the two warriors pulled a little crystal out of their pockets and tapped it. The crystal began to float and spin as the two were enveloped in a field of magic. And, in a flash, they were gone from the plain.
****
A flash of light could be seen in the air, as the two warriors transported themselves to a new location. They looked around the area, and noticed all the people around them. Each with their own weapons of their choice to use. Their own way of dress. Everything was completely independent.
"We're back," The Rogue said as they both began to walk onto the grounds of an academy, but not just any academy. This was the....
****
"The Brotherhood Academy follows only a specific set of rules," An unknown voice said. " 1.We value everyone's life.
2.We value the education to bring new men and women and forge them into warriors. Someone that people can look up to.
- And, this is the most important, cooperation between all students, because we are all brothers and sisters in this academy. So tell me why you two choose to go on a dangerous mission where you have to fight minotaurs by yourselves?"
The two twin warriors looked at each other with blank stares as to what to tell this guy. They both answered at the same time. "We thought it'd be fun."
"*sigh* I wonder what I should do," the man said. "I should scold you, I should punish you two, but I've these things already and you two just seem to don't care about anyone but yourselves."
The twins put their heads down as this man made his statement.
The man looked towards the sibling with the braids. "Look me in the eyes, Aurion." "He then looked at the the sibling with the locs. "Gemini, you too, look at me."
The twins saw the face of the man who was talking to them. He was ahead a couple of decades but his face and body did not show it. His black hair was tied back into a ponytail and a growing beard was seen on his face. A scar grazed his upper and bottom lip, and he was seen wearing a black and red jacket with a cape attached behind him. His face showed a serious demeanor into what he does. "You can't be by yourselves forever." The twins looked at the man with disbelief in their faces. "Where is Salena?"
"She's in our room, probably sleeping," Gemini said.
"Go see if she's ok," the man said as he turned around to face his window.
"Yes, Mentor Aetos," the twins responded as they walked out of the Mentor's office. Aetos looked out the window and looked down at the city that his academy was built in.
"They seem to be a different pair than anyone else hear,"**
Aetos looked backed and saw a woman with long and flowing pastel colored hair wearing a beautiful white gown. "You don't know what this world has done to those two. Only seventeen-years on this world, and they've been by themselves since they were born ."
"What do you mean," the woman said.
"It's a long story," Aetos said.
****
You could say that being a warrior or a hero is a part of their heritage. Their mother and father were legendary alumnus from this academy. They were a force across this land, and I happened to be their partner. We created a bond that couldn't be broken. But, something started to change. This was all they thought about was the next fight. Who would it be, when, where, how. They couldn't stop. They adopted some kind of thrill from it all. Then, they had twins. Their lives stopped. It was as if they were going mentally insane. They couldn't handle what the universe had made for them. I was there one day at their house just to see if they were alright. I walked in, and all I saw were bodies on the floor and a knife. All four of them, they actually did that to their children. I thought it was all lost, until something came into the house. The two twins, the Air spirits Castor and Pollux. There in my face, and I thought they were a myth this whole time. They took the newborns and reborn them, but they were now under the air sign. They named them Aurion and Gemini, and on their arms are markings of the Gemini, and their eyes are pure silver. They took the kids and told me that they would return when the time was right. For a few years, they raised them from the heavens as if they were their own brothers. Nowhere to be seen, but Castor and Pollux watched over them from above. As years went by, there was no one else to care for them. They were by themselves. No one would give them a chance, so their demeanors turned cold, and they could only find warmth from themselves and their bond. But, it was one faithful day here in the city where it all changed."
*3 years ago in Manehatten*
It was a wet and rainy day on the streets of Manehatten, and everyone seemed to mind their own business here. It was cold if you thought about it. No one cared for anyone. That's probably why my brother and I are here standing in the rain with no umbrella. Surrounded by a lot of people with umbrellas but they don't want to help us out. But that's fine, as long as I got my brother Aurion with me, I know we can handle anything in our way. Walking through the crowd and the hustle and bustle of everything, we just try to make it to a place to hide from the rain. We find an alleyway where it seemed to be alright I guess, but something happened.
"Don't move, and give us everything you have," A mugger said as he stood in front of the boys in the alley. The boys looked back and saw that there were more of these thugs surrounding them. "You really don't have any other choice, I mean that's if you don't wanna die that is." The boys stood still and said nothing to the muggers. The leader shook his head as he pulled out a bowie knife. "You're brave kid, I'll tell you that." The mugger started running towards Gemini with knife in head, and he lunged, the brothers simultaneously dodged the mugger. Aurion grabbed one of his legs, as Gemini grabbed an arm. The hold the mugger in the air this way, and at the same time broke his arm and leg. The thunder and lightning shrouded the mugger's screams. The twins looked at the other thugs and quickly went to work on taking them out.
*A few minutes later*
"Man, those guys sure had a lot of money," Gemini said with delight.
"That's probably because they robbed other people too bro," Aurion said.
"Hey, it's survival of the fittest for us," Gemini said. "We do what we do so that we can live to see the next day. Gemini look up and saw that someone else was walking into the alleyway. Gemini picked up the knife that the mugger had and armed himself. "Aurion, follow me."
"What are you trying to do," Aurion said.
"Just come on," Gemini angrily whispered.
The man had on a black coat with his hood up blocking most of his day to anyone else. As the man continued to walk deeper in the alley, he noticed the collapsed bodies that were on the ground. Before he could make any suggestion onto what could have happened, he noticed that someone was behind him, holding a knife to his back.
"Make one move, and you'll be paralyzed for the rest of your life," Gemini threatened. "Now, give me all your-"
Gemini was cut off as the unknown man quickly moved the knife away from his body, and twisted the young boy's arm so that he would drop the knife. Gemini had no choice but to let go, and the man kicked the knife away from them both.
"Get away from my brother," Aurion yelled as he ran towards the man. Launching a series of kicks and punches, Aurion could not connect a single one. On his last kick, the hooded man quickly grabbed Aurion's leg and held both him and Gemini in the air.
"Alright, enough you two," the hooded man said but to no avail. "Aurion Castor and Gemini Kloud are your names."
".....How do you know our names?" The twins said.
The hooded man chuckled as he tilted his head to let his hood slide back down. "My name is Aetos, and the air spirits told me that I would see you two again." Aetos began to let the two back down on the ground. The boys didn't move away form the man he knew something that the boys did not. Aetos pulled out a small crystal from his pocket and tapped it. As it began to spin and glow, he motioned the boys to come closer so that the magic could get around them as well, and in flash, they were gone.
****
The twins and Aetos were teleported into an office room that would be fit for a headmaster.
"Take a seat," Aetos said to the boys. "We have something to discuss."
As the boys took their seats, it was Gemini who spoke up first. "Alright, who are you, and how do you know us?"
"Like I said, I am Aetos, and this is my school for gifted individuals in the way of fighting and maintaining peace in the world, and I the only reason I know is because I knew your parents," Aetos said. "Your birth parents, not Castor and Pollux. We all shared a bond together, but something happened, and the bond was broken between us. Then, the air spirits came and announced you as members of their family. I see you still have the silver eyes and markings."
"What do you want from us," Aurion asked in a defensive tone.
"I know that you might not trust me," Aetos said. "I understand. Being alone for you whole life and not being able to trust anyone else but yourselves is something I wish no one should experience. I brought you here not just because the air spirits told me that this would happen, but I think this is something you need. Being surrounded by different people, ages, and styles. Surely there's something that you can open up to. Would you like to take the offer?"
The twins, lost for words, both shook their head yes.
"Hmph, well then, Aurion Castor and Gemini Kloud, I welcome you to the Brotherhood Academy," Aetos said. "I'll handle your room situations, just start getting comfortable being here."
****Present Day****
"And that's why they're here," Aetos finished. "I thought they would become more open and start to let people in at this point, but they don't seem any different than they were 3 years ago.
"Maybe, you're letting them see the wrong people," the woman said.
"What do you mean," Aetos said.
"All that they see everyday since they were boys was violence in their lives," the woman said. "I would say no more missions, but that would interfere with something that they have passion doing." "So, why not station them somewhere so that they are technically still on a mission but there will barely be any fighting."
"But where can I station them for them time being," Aetos said. The lady in the white dress smirked at Aetos, for she knew exactly where to take those two.
****
Gemini and Aurion enter Aetos's office again and see the lady standing there next to him. "Ummmm, you called us in again Mentor?"
"Yes I did, and I've decided on a particular mission only fit for the two of you," Aetos said with a grin on his face.
"Well, don't keep us in suspense, what is it," Aurion said. "Is it something dangerous and awesome?"
"Trust me, you're gonna love it," Aetos said.
