Many years before on the planet of eternal twilight: Tendyis
 
The pale light of day on Tendyis was waning into the deep darkness of night as the white light of Larian sank below the horizon in a purple haze. The dimmer yellow glow of the stars was left to light the cool, dreary night, peering through the patches of grey clouds. A slight drizzle wet the thick green-blue grass that blanketed the ground around a small, isolated town. The houses were spread far enough apart to give each family their privacy but close enough together where you could distinguish your neighbors. Inside the windows of the houses, the dim glow of aromatic candles indicated the presence of occupants inside. The usual clattering of conversations and evening meals was going on within the majority of the houses, and the hum could be heard in the quiet outside if one were to listen carefully.

Inside a particular house, with a tire swing hanging from a gnarled tree out front, a young girl sat on the landing of the stairs to the second floor, legs swung over the last stair. Her hands were cupped about her face and propped up by her elbows on her knobby knees bared by her long night shirt. Her mother had put her and her brother to bed early that night, but she was not tired yet, and her curiosity had always been piqued when she was turned away from something. Kaitzen was content to stay in his room and work on his latest scheme.

Her parents had forbidden them both from using their natural born talents as seers, a talent that was shared by the majority of Tendyians, because of the complications that arose from it. They believed in living a simpler life here in a small town without everyone meddling in what was to come. Whatever would be, would be, and they would reap the benefits or weather the storm as needed. The residents of the small town that surrounded them all maintained a similar mindset, and they lived in some sort of secluded harmony from the rest of their planet. Kaitzen was none too happy about this decision and secretly did experiments in his bedroom, planning to escape this life once he came of age. Scilla, his twin sister, was the only one aware of these experiments. She was willing to keep her brother’s secret, as they were the closest of friends, and she hadn’t personally seen him do anything too worrisome yet.

Her father had come home in one of his moods and had gone to the cupboard where they kept the lakka root concentrate again. Scilla was used to the yelling now. It had been happening more frequently lately. One time she had even come downstairs to try to reason with them, but that had gotten her into even more trouble and was not appreciated by either of her parents. This time was one of the scary times. One of the times where she would not go downstairs, no matter how much her curiosity prodded her, and she would watch silently from her darkened perch. She was sadly sure that when she awoke tomorrow her mother would bear some sort of black and blue mark that she would deftly cover with her makeup, or she would wear a long-sleeved shirt when the weather would deem something lighter more appropriate. She could hear crashing in the kitchen as her father screamed obscenities at her mother. She never did understand why he needed the lakka root so frequently, and her mother tried to keep him away from it.

This time the crashing was getting louder, and she saw her mother running for the stairs calling Scilla and Kaitzen’s names. Her cream dress that she wore that day was rumpled and torn at one of the sleeves. Her dark hair, matching the color of Scilla’s, flew out behind her. Kaitzen came running out of his room, hearing the fear and urgency in his mother’s voice, and passed Scilla as he ran down the stairs. Scilla, always the more hesitant of the two, hung there for a moment meeting the desperate dark eyes of her mother as she feverishly waved her down off of her perch.

Then, as Scilla was about to come down, she saw him behind her. The man who was supposed to be her father. Dark fire glowed in his eyes as he carried the remnants of what used to be the cabinet that held the drinks he so desired. His body, toned from years of physical labor in his woodworking shop, wielded a splintered wood plank as a weapon. Scilla tried in vain to tell her mother to leave, to escape through the front door that was feet away, but it was too little too late. Her screams and flailing arms were not enough. The crazed man let the board fly, and he hit his mark. The cream dress slowly turned red as the life fizzled out in her mother’s eyes, and she sunk slowly to the floor.

Scilla shrieked. Kaitzen ran. The running boy caught the attention of the monster. Scilla flew from her perch to her mother’s side frantically trying to figure out what to do. She desperately reached for her forbidden magic, something she hadn’t done in years, in order to see if there was anything she could do. It was too late. All paths in this instance led to her mother’s death. So, she held her mother in her spindly child arms the best that she could as her mother whispered nonsensical words to no one in particular. Scilla called upon all her strength, inner and physical, as she held her mother tight. She told her words of comfort in her pain as she simultaneously cried, not knowing what else to do. When her mother’s pain was gone and there was no more breath within her body, Scilla turned her attention back to her house.

Her father was kicking and beating Katizen with the same wooden plank. With the loss of her mother so fresh a wound on her small heart, the blood still fresh on her hands and clothes, she was not about to let the monster take her best friend and brother as well. She would protect him and not let this beast harm anyone else. She looked around and found miniature toy logs that were strewn across the floor. She and Kaitzen had been building houses with them earlier that day. She picked them up and one by one hurled them at the monster that had once been her father. A person who had once carried her on his shoulders as she giggled and had pushed her on the tire swing out front before walking her to school. The person who had lovingly built the many wooden toys that she played with regularly around the house. The person who used to tell her bedtime stories and play silly games with her. The betrayal of her implicit trust and respect of this man is what hurt her the most. “Pick on someone your own size, you brute!” she screamed with all the intensity of the fear, anger, and disgust she could muster in her broken soul. After a few well aimed throws, she managed to draw his attention away from Kaitzen, who was now a crumpled mess in the corner.

The raging monster roared, and then directed his anger at her. She had nowhere to go in the short distance that he stood away from her. Not even the front door was close enough for her small body to reach and open before he could take the three big steps across the living room to her. Before she knew what had happened, she was in his grasp. His strong hand tightened its grip around her small neck as he lifted her and held her against the wall at arm’s length. Her legs dangled helplessly in midair.

In the corner of her eye, she saw Kaitzen drag himself out the front door. Good, he was safe. Relief flooded through her momentarily. The monster gripped her tighter, and the pain of her crushing esophagus ran through her. She began to feel her lower body numbing, and the lack of oxygen began to burn. She realized now what she had done. She had sacrificed herself for her brother. He had run, but he was safe now. As she struggled with the pain, Scilla eventually decided that she was not going to die with her eyes closed. She was going to face this monster eye to eye, so he could watch the life leave her body, just as she had seen her mother’s spark take leave. The life of the child he was supposed to love and care for. Defiantly, she opened her tear stained eyes and peered into those of the monster. What she saw there terrified her even more; the hatred, the anger, the disappointment, all in the eyes of someone who was supposed to love her. He was supposed to care for her. He didn’t. She held the stare until her head was too light for her to create a lucid thought.

For a moment, she thought that she saw something in her attacker’s eyes. A change, a hint of recognition, or even remorse. His grip slackened around her neck, and he threw her onto the couch nearby. He said something to her, but she couldn’t make it out through the drums sounding in her head. The return of oxygen to her limbs hurt worse than it being taken away, and she fell into a deep sleep.
 
***
 
Kaitzen ran. His little legs churned beneath him as reflexively as his heart beat. His mind whisked between thoughts, fueled by the blinding fear that presently overpowered his mind. He ran into the streets, feeling the gravel poke the soles of his bare feet and the aching pain in his back from the board with which he had been beaten. The people in the houses nearby noticed his flight, but ignored it, going back to their dinners and evening past times. They all whispered of his father’s problem behind closed doors, but no one ever wanted to get involved. They used the excuse of it not being polite to pry into other people’s business, but the truth was they were too lazy to care. They were too lazy to stand up for someone when they would have to risk their own necks or reputation in the process. It was easier to accept status quo, pretend like everything was okay as is, and let life happen to them. They would let others make the decisions in their lives for them, then they would never have to feel accountable for anything bad that ever came of their decisions. They would always have someone else to blame and point their fingers at. It was easier to judge others for their faulty decisions and look back onto the situation saying what should have been done, rather than to be the one to take action.

Kaitzen hated them. All of them. The hatred roared through his veins with an intensity akin to burning. Banish them all to the unknown depths of universe. They all treated his family as some sort of taboo, and none of the other children were allowed to play with him or his sister. They all hid in the safety and supposed ignorance of their day to day lives. He would leave this place. He wanted to leave it now. The clouds opened up pouring sheets of rain onto Kaitzen. Something nagged at the back of his mind… A cold raindrop hit him in his eye, causing him to shake his head, and the thought came to him as the motion tumbled his thoughts. Scilla was still back there. The cool rain felt nearly freezing for a moment as the recent memory came back to him, as well as the realization that she was in grave danger after her little stunt to rescue him from his father’s wrath.

With a groan that was silenced by a boom of thunder, Kaitzen halted his retreat. Mud from the gravel road splattered all over him as he hastily reversed his direction. With a second wind of breath, he ran back the way he had come from with the lights of the nearby houses blurring as he galloped past them. He tried to grasp for his seering talent and attempted delving into the immediate future to see if Scilla’s life was stable or hinging on the action of someone… namely himself. He did not have control of his mind now though because his emotions were too strong, and the visions that had assaulted him randomly before had never given him a glimpse into this future, at least not that he could remember or discern the meaning of. So, on he ran in the pouring rain back to his house. His feet would slide randomly in the mud at times, but he only fell once skinning his knee and palms on the rough stones in the road.

When he returned to the front door of his house, he paused for a moment. He knew that his mother’s body would be lying lifeless on the floor when he entered. He had to mentally prepare himself for that. He listened closely for any noises that would indicate what had transpired inside. There were none. At least none that he could hear over the storm swirling around him. He felt the intensity in the burn of his hatred increase. It was mixed with fear and anger now as well. His skin felt visibly warm in the cool rain, and his head began to feel as though it would explode from the pressure building up within. When he couldn’t take it anymore, he burst through the front door.
He scanned the horrible scene, looking beyond his mother’s body to see his sister lying unmoving on the couch covered in blood and tears. His father knelt before her with his forehead on the cushion and hand outstretched towards her. In his blinding rage, Kaitzen ran into the kitchen, grabbed a cooking knife in each hand, and ran at the stationary man. “Die Monster!” He screamed and forced both the knives into his father’s back where each shoulder met his neck. His father screamed a last painful screech before falling backwards, pushing the knives further into his body.
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Kaitzen felt the enmity leak away for a moment as he looked down into his father’s eyes… they were no longer those of a monster as they shone crystal blue and empty at the ceiling. He looked up and saw his reflection in a window, now the monstrous, blood-shot, rage-filled eyes belonged to him. He clawed helplessly at his face. What had he done?! He looked back to the couch in confusion. The tears on his sister’s body had been his father’s, and before he had fallen back onto the floor, he had been holding Scilla’s limp hand in his own. Before the flood of memories of his father could penetrate his mind, he threw up mental walls to block them. Refusing to think anymore, he crawled onto the couch next to his sister, curled into a ball next to her, and fell into a nightmare riddled sleep for the remainder of the night.
 
***

The next afternoon they came, when the kids didn’t show up at school, nor the parents at work. The carnage they saw was absolute, and the smell of rot had begun to fill the air as the survivors curled close and bloody on the couch. Clearly, they were the ones guilty of this monstrosity. Someone had to be or else the town’s people would have to feel guilty of their inaction. “To the portals with them!” The chant was taken up by those of the town, and the two children were taken by the local authorities to be tried and sentenced at the Plain of Portals.