Chapter 92
Renji blinked, completely lost.
"Eh? Ehh? What do you mean the story of Januza?" His voice cracked slightly, eyes darting between Hiroto and Takeda for backup but they were just as stunned.
Dracan exhaled slowly. His chest rose and fell like a mountain shifting with time. He lowered his gaze, golden eyes dimming with memory.
"Hmmm…" he rumbled, "You need to know what I know… and what humans have long forgotten."
Renji swallowed.
"...Go on."
Dracan's claws lightly tapped the wooden floor not threatening, just thoughtful.
"Long before your age, before your nations and empires… before your gods even learned to wield creation there were two child born under a sky with no stars."...
FLASHBACK TWO THOUSAND YEARS AGO
PROLOGUE "Blood, Breath, and Cry"
The night felt endless.
A cold wind crawled through the cracks of the old wooden hut, flickering the single oil lamp that struggled to keep the darkness back. Outside, the village slept or pretended to. They all knew Arin's time had come.
Inside, the air was thick with the metallic scent of blood.
Arin screamed, her voice tearing through the night.
"Kael ahh ! Kael, please, please!! It It hurts!! It hurts!!!"
Her fingers dug into her husband's arm, nails breaking skin, but Kael didn't even flinch. He knelt between her shaking legs, hands trembling as he tried to follow every memory he had of the midwife's teachings.
"I know… I know, Arin, please breathe breathe. Just keep breathing." You are almost there please try harder!!
His voice was steady, but his eyes were wild.
He was terrified.
Arin panted, tears blurring her vision.
"It's too soon ... It's early Kael, I.. I can't "
"Yes you can," Kael whispered, brushing her hair back though his hands were shaking.
"You have to. I'm here. I'm right here."
Another contraction hit.
She screamed.....
Her legs kicked against the floor. Sweat drenched her body. She felt as though her bones were splitting apart.
Kael swallowed hard...His wife the woman who always smiled through everything was breaking in front of him. But he couldn't break. Not now.
"I see the head," he said—more to reassure himself than her.
"That's it... that's it ....you can do it pushhh!"
Arin clenched her teeth, voice cracking into sobs as she pushed with everything left in her.
Minutes passed like hours.
Then..
A cry. Small. Weak.
A child slid into Kael's trembling hands.
The baby was still. Quiet. Too quiet.
Arin's breath hitched in terror.
"No— no, why isn't he—"
Kael didn't think he rubbed the tiny back, sharp and fast, desperation making his movements rough
The baby gasped and let out a soft, fragile cry.
Arin broke into tears. Relief. Shock. Pain. All tangled.
Kael placed the baby in her arms.
She held him as though the world would try to take him away.
"He's… so quiet…" she whispered.
Her voice trembled like a dying flame.
Kael exhaled, chest shaking.
"He's just tired. You both are."
But it wasn't over.
Arin's body convulsed again.
Kael's eyes widened.
Wait!!
"There's another Arin you're having two!!"
Arin screamed again, her voice raw, throat tearing.
Her nails raked the dirt floor.
Tears streamed down her face.
"Kael ! I... I can't! Kael, please!!!"
Kael held her hand to his forehead.
"I'm here. Look at me. Look at me."
She did with eyes full of fear.
"You are stronger than this," he whispered.
"You endure. You always endure."
Another contraction.
Another tear of agony.
Minutes dragged.
Arin cried until her voice broke.
And then
Another cry.
But this one was loud. Fierce. Angry.
Like the world had offended him by making him be born.
Kael laughed a broken, exhausted laugh as he lifted the second child.
This one kicked with miniature fury, tiny fists flailing.
Arin sobbed again relief overwhelming pain.
He placed the second son in her arms beside his brother.
Two children.
One silent.
One loud and burning.
Kael rested his forehead against Arin's, breath unsteady.
"You did it," he whispered.
"You brought them here."
Arin smiled ..tired, weak, but full of love.
"What… what shall we name them…?"
Kael looked down at his sons.
The quiet one stared up at him eyes deep, thoughtful, as if watching the world already.
The loud one glared at the cold air as though ready to fight it.
Kael breathed out slowly.
"The quiet one… Januza," he said softly.
His voice felt the name more than he chose it.
"And the loud one…" Arin whispered, brushing the second child's hair.
"Azerin."
Two names.
Two souls.
Two lives forever intertwined.
Their father gathered the three of them into his arms.
No gods spoke that night.
No prophecies awakened.
No fate revealed itself.
Just a family.
Fragile.
Fighting to exist.
But the world outside…
had already begun to whisper.
And from then on they had each other
Three years passed.
The village never softened.
Whispers still followed Arin and Kael everywhere hushed, cruel, always just loud enough to wound.
"There go the cursed ones."
"Those children were born under a bad moon…"
"Mark my words nothing good will come from them."
But inside the small wooden home near the edge of the fields…
none of that mattered.
They had each other.
A Sunny Morning
"Januzaaaa! Wait for me!"
Azerin's small feet pounded across the grass, his laughter ringing through the quiet countryside. Januza, only slightly taller, ran just ahead silent, but smiling wide.
Azerin tripped over his own excitement splat!
face-first into the grass.
"Mmmph!"
Januza skidded to a stop, turned, and blinked down at him.
Azerin lifted his head, grass stuck to his hair and cheeks like decorations.
Januza leaned forward, expression serious…
Then poked Azerin's nose.
"Boop."
Azerin stared.
"…Mother!!!" he yelled dramatically, rolling onto his back. "Januza attacked me!! He poked my soul!!"
From the cottage door, Arin sighed but she was laughing.
"Oh no," she called, hands on her hips. "Did he really poke your soul? That sounds serious."
"Yes!!" Azerin sat up, pointing a tiny accusatory finger. "Right here!!"
He tapped his chest twice.
Januza mirrored him and tapped his own chest twice.
Azerin blinked.
Januza blinked back.
And pulled off a wicked smile..
Azerin puffed his cheeks, frustrated.
"MOTHEEER!!! He's mocking me!!"
Arin wiped her hands on her apron and walked over, kneeling beside them.
She flicked both their foreheads lightly.
"There. Now you are even."
She smiled.
Both boys rubbed their foreheads in exaggerated agony.
"M-mother… why…?" Januza whispered dramatically, falling over like he'd been gravely wounded.
"It was justice," Arin declared proudly.
Azerin jumped to his feet, triumphant. "Mother is fair and wise!!"
Januza poked him again.
"Aah!!! Mother!!"
Arin laughed so hard she nearly fell sideways.
Nighttime
Every night, no matter how difficult the day was, they gathered around the small fire.
Azerin curled under one of her arms, Januza under the other.
Kael sat at the table nearby, carving wood, listening.
Arin would speak softly:
"Once, long ago, the sun and the moon were not enemies, but brothers…"
Azerin always listened with wide, shining eyes.
Januza always listened quietly, but his small hand always searched until it found his brother's.
And Azerin always held back.
No matter what the village said…
they only needed the four of them.
Years Passed and the boys grew.
Their legs stronger.
Their laughter louder.
Their bond unbreakable.
By the time they were fifteen, they were nearly men.
Azerin was fire loud, confident, always ready to fight anything.
Januza was calm quiet, observant, always knowing what his brother needed before he asked.
They worked in the fields with Kael.
They cooked with Arin.
They played, sparred, and teased each other endlessly.
One Afternoon
Azerin: "Januza, you eat like a bird."
Januza: "And you eat like the bird's entire extended family."
Azerin: "Mother!!! He called me a hippo!"
Arin (not looking up): "Drink water, Azerin."
Azerin: "That doesn't even.."
Januza: hands him a bucket of water
Azerin: "MOTHER!!"
Kael: (from outside) "Boys, stop terrorizing your mother."
Azerin: "It's him!! I'm innocent!!"
Januza: (slowly raises eyebrow)
Azerin: "…Okay maybe not innocent, but still—!"
Arin tried she really tried but laughter spilled from her lips and soon all four of them were laughing.
Their Bond
They were hated by the village.
Feared.
Watched.
But inside their home, there was warmth.
The kind of warmth that makes even the cruelest world feel distant.
They didn't know it yet…
But this was the happiest their lives would ever be.
Because happiness, in stories like their never lasts.