The Current Guardian

Perfect.

Crouched at the bottom of the staircase, I peered through the black murgin gates of the railing to spot my twin asleep on the couch. Once again, he had fallen into my trap!

Rising to my tip toes, I strode across the white marble floor towards him�"my footsteps as light as a feather. I clutched my black dress with one fist, securing its soft velvet material so no noise whatsoever could disrupt him.

My cunning smile could hide no longer as I stood before him. My limbs tingled�"heightened with giddy sparking from my fingertips.

Inhale, deep but silent, and...

“HIDEO, WAKE UP!”

Arms flailed, hands fumbled�"all to save himself from a head's-length fall to the floor. Hideo was always so amusing to scare, especially at this time. Hideo's keen senses hazed during sunset, making it the perfect opportunity for an early-evening fright.

“WHOO!” I whooped, thrusting my fists over my head. “I have succeeded once again!”

Hideo groaned, rubbing the back of his neck as he dragged his sore blue-grey eyes into mine. “Ugh. Why so early?”

“It is never too early to scare you awake, silly,” I remarked with a light giggle, dropping my arms to my sides. “Especially when I see you react like that.”

Hideo pulled his eyes away, shaking his head. “Why do you always do this?”

I tilted my head to the side with pinched eyebrows, frowning. “Hideo,” I started with a more serious tone, “when will you start using your own bed for once? You could get severe back pain, you know.”

“Haru, don't worry about it,” he rambled in one exhale. Sitting erect, he lolled his head this way and that to crack any stiff bones in his neck. “I'm fine.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

Silence...and then, “Are you really sure?”

His expression fell cold. “Seriously, Haru.”

“Oh, don't be mad.” I reached my arm over his head and landed my palm on the top of his head. Haha, it looked so fluffy when I ruffled his hair, watching his snow-white strands flutter side to side. “I'm just making sure my little brother's all right.”

Hideo brushed my hand off softly. He was annoyed�"it sparked about his entire aura�"but he said nothing. “Haru, I am not a child.”

“Sure you are,” I chirped promptly. “I mean, I am too. We still have another two decades before we reach adulthood�"”

“Haru.”

“What?”

He leaned forward, his eyes tense as if inspecting something on my face. “Your eyes.”

And indeed I was right! “Oh. Have they changed already?”

Hideo nodded and leaned away.

Ever since I could remember, my eyes have always changed colors like this. My natural eye color was Mother's shade�"a deep ruby hue. Sometime during sunset, they would flash a light blue: a symbol of The Black Phoenix's internal flame according to Commander Nerak.

Ugh. Hideo was so awkward when it got this quiet between us. This child was the epitome of an anti-social adolescent, one who never spoke unless spoken to since the age of sixty. Hideo hid himself well under that poker face of his, but one of these nights, I was going to unveil what lied beneath it. And when I would, hohoho, it was going to be very eventful.

Speaking of eventful...“Hideo! Mother's leaving tonight!”

Hideo blinked, struggling to come back from a sleepy daze. “For what?”

“'For what?'” I mimed, my voice two pitches lower than usual. Not that I sounded any less feminine. “For Earth, to visit our...?”

“Father.”

“Nice!” I applauded. “Who happens to...”

Maaaybe I should not have said that. Indirectly bringing up the fact that not only Mother formed a forbidden relationship with a human, but also had children with him, made my stomach churn. It was safe to assume the same for Hideo, being my twin and all.

“Ha...” I rubbed the back of my arm, squeezing it as tension of the silence increased. “Sorry about that.”

“You should be.” Shaking his head, Hideo rose from the couch and loomed towards the kitchen. “I don't need to be reminded of what I am.”

And he flicked me! Right on the temple!

My jaw agape, I slapped my palm on the side of my head. It was throbbing.

“How dare you flick your guardian?” I winced, inhaling to further exaggerate my “pain”. “It hurts, it hurts.”

Hideo looked back and...kept walking.

A growl rumbled in my throat, my hand thrusting to my side in a balling fist. Eyebrows pinched, lips pursed, I stiffly marched towards him. And when I got my hands on him�"!

“Haru, what are you doing?”

My arms froze. I immediately swiveled on my heels, facing the source of that delicate yet sharp tone. Eyes widened, my jaw dropped as a sudden rush of warmth burned the back of my neck.

Mother.

Though her ruby eyes stabbed murderously into mine, her rich, milky brown hair cascaded just past her waist with gentle elegance. Her strapless white dress streamed over her feet, complementing the youthful glow of her supple skin. Her narrow face gleamed a much fairer complexion compared to Hideo and I, almost ghastly-looking. Her light, floral aura gave off a serene appearance, yet her grim stare sent a chilly flow down my shoulders. Placid yet bitter.

When I did not answer, her stare softened to a sedate gaze. A gaze so calm despite the strained fingers clenching around the handle of her suitcase.

To loosen the silent tension, I whipped up a warm smile. “It looks like you are about to take off.”

“I am,” she said, her voice suddenly light as her arms spanned outward. “As soon as I receive my hugs goodbye.”

I huffed out of relief, my smile widening. With open arms I dashed towards her and rammed right into her embrace, rocking side to side as her arms fastened around my chest. I hoped she'd have a wonderful time visiting Earth, seeing our father for a few weeks, partaking with him to fun activities. If only they could be together all the time...but they couldn't. Malune was created to escape humanity, and our barrier was created to repel it.

She must love him so much.

“Hideo!” I hollered, our embrace half-broken. With the eyes of a beggar, I rapidly fluttered my hand back and forth. “You should come join us!”

Hideo glowered at me with slitted eyes, his grim frown stiffening my already-recoiling stomach. But following a wordless sigh�"and perhaps a nanosecond eye roll�"he strode towards us and wrapped the both of us in his ridiculously long arms.

“Group hug!” Tightening my grip, I squeezed Mother and Hideo to the pulp. Both coughed out a surprised gruff before I buried my head in the middle of the circle: the area right below Mother's collar bone and the lower bicep of Hideo's arm.

“Jeez, do you have to squeeze that hard?” Hideo groaned.

After a couple of mischievous giggles, I piped, “Of course I do! I don't get to hug you all like this often.”

“There's probably a reason, Haru.”

“Hideo, stop saying nonsense,” Mother joked, her voice shockingly sarcastic. Her sharp aura she initially gave off threw me for a loop for a second. This side of her rarely surfaced, but when she showed it, she showed it. If only it lasted.

My smile widened to the point that pretty much my entire face creased with wrinkles. I just aged a century in two-point-three seconds. A record!

Mother broke free from the hug laughing, and so both my and Hideo's arms clapped back to our sides. I shot a quick glance up the side of his face, then flicked my gaze towards Mother.

“You two work together, okay?” Mother's eyebrows furrowed sternly as she retrieved her suitcase. “No matter what happens?”

“Yes!” I cheered, showcasing my two rows of amazingly perfect teeth with a broad smile. Haha, they were not perfect, but they were very white.

Her floral aura lingered into my senses as she brushed past me towards the door. I could not help but awe at Mother's elegance. Her simple yet fierce strut, her thin yet curvy body, how did she maintain all of that???

Right when she was about to open the door, she reeled her hand and craned her head back at us. The corner of her mouth twitched up into a half-smile, a soothing warmth that every mother should provide to her children.

“I love you both.”

The door swooshed open to a view of the early evening. My eyes watered from the rushing crisp breeze, so I closed them. When I fluttered them open again, the door was shut. Mother was gone.

I folded my hands in front of me as I stared intently at the door, my head tilting to one side. Hm...she must had been really eager if she left that hastily. Though, I still wondered how long her flight was from here to that one secret short cut�"

Hissing a sigh, Hideo lightly thumped the back of my head. I whipped an arm back, clutching at the slight tingle it left as I snapped my head back. My eyebrows crunched downward to a puzzled glare when I focused in on Hideo.

He's getting away.

“Hey!” I barked, rolling on the balls of my feet as I playfully yet determinedly sped towards him. “Who gave you permission to thump me?”

“You didn't do anything to stop it.”

“But I was thinking deeply about things.”

“And that is why you were unable to stop it.” Hideo eyed me as he grasped onto the railing of the staircase. “Dazing off like that is dangerous. Especially when I'm around.”

“Ugh! Whatever,” I flimsily cast my forearms up and swatted them downward. “You think everything I do is dangerous. And I am very observant.”

“I beg to differ.”

“Well, you should beg because you differ with yourself.”

Hideo was a fourth of the way up when he turned to face me, his eyes scrunched. “That doesn't make any sense.”

“Yes it does. We're twins, so we pretty much think the same.”

All Malunians were keen when it came to sensing other citizens' auras, but I always failed to sense Hideo's, and he with me. Our auras were very similar, so we could not sense each other all that well. I could easily scare him when he was asleep as he could easily thump me when I dazed out.

“So just admit it.”

“Admit what?”

Profoundly, I stomped onto the bottom step of the staircase and inhaled deeply. “I am the sharpest, most badass girl ever! I mean, check out these moves!” Pouncing off the staircase, I started a series of kicks with straightened legs, chops with stiffened forearms, and semi-sharp twirls with my body.

Kick! Chop! Twirl and...!

“BOOM!” I finished with a powerful kick, well...sort of one that barely passed my stomach. Haha, I was not the most flexible girl in the world...but still.

“No.”

“No?” I repeated. “No?”

With that, Hideo continued up the stairs.

“Wait!”

Wait was right. Why did I just blurt that out?

Nonetheless, Hideo halted and glanced back, his ice-blue eyes piercing into my own. His eyes matched the sharpness of his bulky square jaw, yet both seemed to have a soft tint to them. Like Mother, Hideo had an ice-like exterior and a tender, warm interior. (Like mother, like son, I supposed). But the difference between Hideo's and Mother's was that his never melted.

Until now.

“You were smiling.”

Hideo stood there silently blinking a few times.

“I caught you, Hideo.” A smile soon appeared on my face out of mischief. I was so glad I blurted that out now, otherwise I would not have caught this. “I caught you in the act!”

“Haru, what are�"?”

Too late. I just rammed Hideo with the hug of the century. And we were still standing after impact, which I was honestly surprised about. Either I did not gather enough strength in my momentum, or Hideo was just naturally strong. It was a strange concept to accept seeing how lanky he was. But he did have a broad set of shoulders and a lean torso, so I could see potential.

“You know, it makes me kind of sad that I never get to see you smile much.” Wow. I did not think I would be this shocked to hear my inner thoughts spoken out loud. I was, though...but I continued on anyway. “You used to smile all the time when we were younger. I think you should start doing that again.”

As crazy as it sounded, it was true. Hideo wasn't always the passive citizen he was now. Up until our sixtieth birthday�"well, our twelfth birthday in human years�"he was all smiles, and quite the adventurous child, too. After that night though, he began acting strange: locking himself away for hours, talking only when spoken to. He then broke off his friendship with Yori, who had been his closest friend for as long as I could remember. And to this night, I still did not know why. Not that I asked him a billion times already.

“What if there is nothing to smile about?”

That made me snap my head up. “Huh?”

Shaking his head, he softly plucked my arms off his back. “I'm going to take a nap in my bedroom. Don't disrupt me unless it's urgent.”

And just like that, he slipped up and away. Off he went to cloister himself in his bedroom. Again.

We were supposed to be the same, but I simply could not figure him out.

~��~

Dockdockdockdockdockdockdockdock!

“Hideo, wake up!”

Dockdockdockdockdockdockdockdock!

Ugh. No response. And my knuckles were starting to get sore from all this knocking. If he did not answer soon...

“What?”

Gasp! It's a miracle!

“Hideo! Thank goddess! Okay, we need to go to Maqu Square right now!”

“Haru, come on.” Hideo slapped a hand on the top of his head and let it slip off. After a few moments, he sighed and glowered at me, his eyes irritated and puffy. “For what?”

“The strawberries are gone!” I bellowed, soon finding myself out of breath. Huh...all my energy must have crashed along with my built-up worry.

“But we just got some a few nights ago�"”

“But they're gone, though!”

Hideo's nostrils flared, and I swore I just saw smoke puff out of them. “Do you honestly expect me�"?”

“Please.” My hyper-creased face fell, sedate and smooth. “Can we go?”

“Haru, I can't just do everything you want all the time.”

“It's not like I want to drag you wherever I go, either.”

That was true. Hideo had to accompany me pretty much everywhere I went outside this mansion, and it was tiresome for the both of us. Sometimes Hideo's annoyed-ness was contagious, and it irritated me. At other times he looked just about ready to kill, and that...freaked me out. But there was nothing we could do about it. Hideo was my protector�"the guardian's guardian essentially�"and he must follow what the pastor decreed. If he did not...Mother refused to tell us what would happen.

“And was there not a snowstorm just a few hours ago?”

“I do not care in the slightest.”

“But you know how dangerous it is to be outside, especially during this time of the year.”

That was also true. Snow�"no matter how minimal�"was fatal if I contacted it with my bare skin. “Why?” many citizens asked me in the past. Tah�"as if I knew.

But right now it was winter. And snowstorms were prone at any given time.

“Oh, come on. It's not like if I touch the tiniest speck of it I'll die.” Though, I didn't know for sure, haha... “But can we go, please?”

“No.”

“Pleeeaaassseee?” I heard Hideo take in a breath to repeat himself, but I cut him off. “Pleeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa�"?”

“Fine!” Hideo snapped, flicking his forearms up beside his face. His semi-clenched balls loosened as he calmly said, “Just stop, your voice is annoying.”

“Yay!” I bounced lightly on the tips of my toes, clasping my hands in merriment as my lips curved into a wide smile. “Thank you, thank you, thank you~!”

“Just let me change, and I'll be out in a bit.”

“Got it.”

Silence now sat between us rather awkwardly.

“That means leave.”

My jaw dropped as my lips created a tight, o-shaped hole. “Of course!” I giggled. “I'll leave you to it.”

Before I had the chance to take one step, Hideo slammed the door in my face. After a startled jolt, I stood there frozen, blinking. He was lucky I wasn't standing close to the doorway; I might have thrown a punch or two. Hmmm...actually no, I was too nice to do that.

Rolling on my heels, I took a few steps away from Hideo's bedroom door. I titled this way and that, then bent down to examine my attire of the night: a black, string-tied corset dress. Its skirt puffed in multiple layers of wavy black satin to my mid-thigh, and it felt so smooth on my fingers! But so did my black tights though...and my three-quarter-length sleeves, and my stubbed boots�"wow, I was fascinated way too easily.

Hideo wasn't ready yet. At least five or ten minutes probably passed by now. What was taking him so long?

No, Haru, he's just getting ready. No need to disturb him.

Just kidding. I was impatient.

“Hey, Hideo, you should hurry up now. I mean, if you take any longer�"”

THWACK!

I gave out an agonizing yelp as a sharp pain inflamed my entire nose. I squinted my eyes shut, pressing my fingertips all around the upper half of my nose. When the inflammation subsided to a mild throb, I snapped my eyes open to glower into those same, dumb eyes on that same, dumb passive expression on that same, dumb face. The only difference was the slight raise of his eyebrows.

“Your idiocy shines once again.”

My nostrils immediately flared. “Excuse me, you're the one who opened the door! Ugh.” I let my hands slip to my sides. “Hurry up and button your shirt.”

Hideo was dressed for the most part. He wore a black semi-formal jacket�"collared around his neck�"and a white button-up shirt (which wasn't buttoned) underneath. His trousers fit him semi-tight around his legs and were also black, which complemented his black leather loafers. For someone so dull and emotionless he had quite the fashion sense...though he rarely wore anything besides black or gray. But I mostly wore black clothing too, so I couldn't really say much...

No matter how much I distracted myself with my thoughts distracting, I could not help but notice how surprisingly toned Hideo's torso was. And chest...and arms.

This child literally never moves unless he's going to the bathroom or getting food. How does he have this toned of a body?

“Haru!”

“What?”

Hideo's eyes softened, just a little. “No wonder you're an idiot. I catch you dazing out every five seconds.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. Let's go already!” Without much warning, I snatched Hideo's wrist and dragged him with me down the hallway, skidded down the staircase, whirled past the dining room and kitchen, and zipped out the front door.

When we reached a quarter of the way down the driveway, I decided to take my time and walk down it alongside Hideo. My wings itched under my skin, begging to unfurl its magnificent raven feathers into the crisp stillness of the night. To unleash what I could of my malunian form: the wings of the black phoenix.

Murgin trees over thousands of years old shrouded, hiding most of the midnight sky from our sight. I could only see a mere sliver of the evening luminance through tiny crevices of their branches. But this darkness...something about it made my insides leap. Out of delight, out of the sense of adventure...I really didn't know.

A sturdy arm hooked around my lower waist, lifting me effortlessly into the air. My legs cycled rapidly as my hips were hoisted onto a boney yet broad base, but they were soon forcibly pinned down by another arm. No matter my efforts, I still ended up seeing the back of Hideo's coat.

“Hideo, let me down,” I commanded.

“Why?

“As much as I love to have an easier life, I'm sure I'm capable of walking on my own.”

“I don't trust you.”

My jaw fell agape in disbelief. “I am Malune's guardian, Hideo! Your guardian! How can you not trust me with just walking?”

“Walking is a choice.”

Walking is a choice? “And you have the authority to choose whether or not I walk?”

“Certainly,” Hideo said promptly. “I'm your protector.”

“Are you serious?”

“Did it not just snow?”

I remained silent, trying so hard not to release my seething rage. This was ridiculous! It always seemed that Hideo always had to be the right one! He was most of the time...but that didn't matter!

I wiggled my legs out of Hideo's arm only for him to recapture them again. I attempted to wiggled them out again, but Hideo had them stiffly wrenched. Ugh! I was so sick of Hideo carrying me like some sort of juvenile delinquent! “Hideo, let me dooown!”

Hideo was unresponsive.

“Hideo, come on,” I whined. “I wanna be put down!”

Still unresponsive.

So, with a determined huff, I proceeded with, “You will put me down or I will burn your face off.”

The next thing I knew, I was standing up on my own again. Hideo listened to me that time, he listened to me!

My eyes drew up to his, which gleamed in approval. “That's how a guardian should sound.”

Wait a minute. This was just...a test.

Hideo would do this sometimes. He would randomly put me into these ridiculous simulations that I would somehow have to assert myself out of. I knew they were intended to strengthen my authority as a guardian, but sometimes they were so utterly ridiculous, I had to choke down my laughter.

With his bare, slender fingers, Hideo patted my head. “You're getting better.”

And he thought he could get away with that? Walking is a choice??? Such a stupid argument. Heh, even I could come up with a better argument�"

“Wai�"Hideo, wait up!”

“Hurry up, then,” he called from nearly a building width's distant...from the ground.

Huh, he thought he could take off without me.

Well then.

Gathering all my energy, I took a deep inhale through my nostrils. And...

“KAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!”

My ear-splitting screech lashed into the dull night, one that made even the sturdiest murgin tremble. One that should have sliced through those skin-like dragon wings of his. But no, of course not. Their bone structure was too angular, too fixed for such a screech to slash through.

Pumping my legs into a dead sprint, I tread straight towards Hideo. But not without some extra support. Every tendon snapped, every muscle contracted, every bone in my spine cracked as my wings branched out from their cloistered confinement. Each black feather embraced the chill of winter like they were just reborn. Spanning to a width of my height doubled, my wings propelled me faster and faster and faster until my legs were about ready to give out.

With a single pounce, a single thrust of my wings, I leaped into the sky�"shooting over the murgins within seconds.

The panorama ahead�"scattered with vast, spiking shadows�"alluded up into the raven sky. Some were the acute ends of monstrous murgin branches, others were the incisive architecture of the buildings located in Fenisek. It seemed to be another land hundreds of miles in the foreground, but that obscure, ebony city was the heart of Malune.

And its current guardian was about to beat her protector there.

Author's Note

Thanks so much for reading the official first chapter of The Black Phoenix! I appreciate all comments and criticism to help me grow as a writer~

Pssst and if you see random quotation marks in the sentences, those are supposed to be hyphens, but they turned into quotation marks for some reason, so~

Reviews

[Tomoe Tellez]

This seems like a pretty good job for a second chapter, you introduce to characters well defined and let the reader know how they are in the present and how they used to be, and their personality. You also tell us with just this chapter what the main character wants and likes. The flow is fine, and your way of describing feelings and scenes with words helps the reader connect with the story using great imaginary. I really like your use of dialogue, though there were times in which I lost track of who was saying what, but maybe that's just me, I'm not used to reading novels. As far as the world you've made it is very interesting and unique, and I like how you're explaining it as the story unfolds and not at the beginning, with a boring introduction, I've always thought it is better to let the reader discover the wonders of a new fictional world as they go through the story. Instead you started with a scene between the twins that show us their relationship and each of their personalities. Great job!

[Gregory Stires]

for the second chapter i like it. you introduced the characters and how they are personality wise and showed the relationship between them. A great thing you did with Haru and hideo was how realistic they are which keeps me reading because everyone loves realistic characters that are relatable to, not in how their guardian and protector, but as siblings. I like how your explaining the story little by little but still not revealing all thats behind the curtain which keeps the reader reading and let us discover the world setting piece by piece.

[Crimson Apples]

They have wings O-O
No Haru~ You're going to die, or get lost, or something ;-;
But I love the way you chose snow as her weakness. That was cool.
GrEaT chapter!

[NightWatch]

I had a good review pointing out all the things I liked about this chapter and the BAM! My internet decided to have an aneurysm. So, instead of trying to redo everything I said, I'm just going to do a summary (mostly because at heart, I am lazy .-.)
- I was very excited about the wings. I think I mentioned them three times.
- I noted that Haru and Hideo were very different (Haru had a very dynamic emotional range while Hideo was emotionally static)
- Genetically, fraternal twins can't be identical... I said that I didn't really care that much, though, because I was really enjoying what I was reading
- I mentioned that I was curious about the auras you described and also the fact that Haru is "allergic" to snow (I say allergic because I can't think of another word >.>)

Yeah, that pretty much covers it. Can't wait to read more! XDD

[Kyle Wynn]

This was a good follow on to the prologue. I was really able to get a real knowledge of who the characters are and how they behave and their overall personality. The world you are building is very interesting. I would really like to know more about this world and how things work and how the characters fit into it. I didn't see to many grammatical errors or any that really stuck out. Overall great story, looking forward to reading more.

[Yurie Lee]

Wow, thanks so much~!