Duality in the Fall: A Requested Flash Fiction

     Winter comes. Both the season and the entity.

    He struts through the town square with his flashiest smile against his most minimalist clothes. Today, he and his roaming troupe of pranksters and jesters decided to look less colorful than rest of the Caelum crowds gathering around them. Caelum's color contrasts their more drab choice of fabrics. 

    "Is this how it really felt to be in the 'it' emo groups during the Forlorn Era?" He asks one of his friends.

    "From what I got told, yeah. And this feels awesome. Rebellious in its own way." The friend answers. A few others snicker in the back, but say nothing when Winter spins to look at them. 

    There is a bit of a quiet tension before Winter spins back around and resumes his walk toward a particular building. In fact, it was the building in the center of Caelum. A beautiful thing with grandiose spires that could give any tourist neck pains just from looking up at it. "Come on. I got to make one visit to my brother. Then we can head out to see what trouble we can get into today."

    "Just remember, if the Creator catches you doing your stunts again, she might-" One of the smaller friends says.

    "I don't care what the Creator wishes to do with me. She's put up with my nonsense so far." Winter laughs off the warning. "Besides, she's the one that lets us stay here."

    The group bow in respect toward the building before entering. Inside, great collections of books and other reading material fly around them, each carried by a small helper called an angelita. The little angelitas avoid Winter and his group as they deliver the requested material to the scholars all over the room. One of the angelitas swoops over Winter and delivers the pile of papers to the person he is looking for. "There you are, little brother."

    "I would like to remind you that we are twins. Just because I'm smaller in stature doesn't give you the pleasure of calling me little." Zeev counters as he keeps his nose buried in the papers. 

    Winter signals for his group to wait in the center of the room while he leans against Zeev's large writing desk. "Oh, come on now! You know I mean that enduringly."

    Zeev adjusts his glasses and stares at Winter for a moment. "You are about as enduring as a fear-stricken hedgehog creature." He looks back down at his papers. "What are you wanting to know now? I'm busy. The Creator gave me a new thing to study."

    "Well, I was wondering if you could do me a favor and let me borrow your-"

    "Not happening. You almost got me hauled off to Neraka last time for it."

    Winter fumes, but tries not to show it as he pats his brother's head gently. "Come on, just let me borrow it for a moment. I just need it for a little video I want to make for the social channels."

    "The answer is still no." Zeev counters him in monotone.

    "Come on!"

    "I said no. Now go away before you get in trouble for pestering me again. And I'll make sure Lord Scholar Fontaine escorts you out, if I must."

    Winter burns with more anger and looks to see if the item in question. It dangles around Zeev's neck like bait: a small vial of poisonous fire ivy leaves on a metal cord. Winter knows that the cord has a magnetic clasp that makes pulling it off of his brother easy to do. In a fit of impulse, Winter grabs it and yanks it away. Zeev grabs the vial to hold onto it, but it's too late. The vial breaks between their grasps, sending glass and fire ivy leaves to the ground and onto Zeev's leg. The fire ivy ignites and spreads as soon as it feels the carpet beneath them. Zeev cries out in pain as Winter tries to pick him up and carry him out. The rest of the Scholars evacuate and try to contain the new fire and ivy spread as they do so. 

    Within hours, the Scholars' Library is saved and the builders are hard at work repairing the damage. Winter and Zeev are swiftly taken to the local judicial system and judged accordingly. Though the crime was contained quickly and safely, they both are charged with a variation of "destruction of important property." The Protectors swiftly escort them onto the trains leading to Neraka. Each brother is taken to a separate city to avoid any problems.

~

    "Hey, did you see the news about the Ziskind brothers?" Lord Protector Faulkenroth comments as he scans the energies around them in Caelum. He and his favorite companion sit atop Caelum's Castle for a rising meal of fruit and pastries just as the sun rises. 

    "Oh, Winter and Zeev." The Creator takes a sip of tea, then clicks her tongue in dismay. "I told those two to behave themselves here. That it wasn't like the place their Otito came from."

    "Well, from what I've been told by my own, they both escaped."

    "How?"

    "The Void, probably. Both of them are smart enough to turn to chaos when needed." The Lord Protector sets his Inane on the table between them. "I have a feeling I should handle this little problem personally."

    "There is a problem now?" The Creator asks.

    "Well, with the Void helping them both, they could end up running into each other and spilling each other's blood." 

    The Creator ponders this thought for a moment, then shrugs her shoulders. "I would say let them. It would serve them right to perish at each others' hands."

    The Lord Protector laughs and holds onto his coffee for a moment. "Spoken like an assassin and a Dominion."

    They smile at each other and clink their cups against each other. "Give them a few days, at least. Then, if the Void turns on them, intervene." The Creator states mindlessly.

    "So either let them die, or let me play with them. That sounds like a plan to me." The Lord Protector chuckles.