Prologue
Rui Kamishiro was 6 years old when he was called a monster.
It hadn’t been his fault, and yet people treated him like some cold-blooded, vile creature who had a thirst for blood.
He had been walking along with some of his friends, including his closest friend, Nene. He hadn’t known what he was capable of at the time. There was this dog that wandered the streets, he had no owner or name. Most people called him “dog” or “puppy”. Regardless of what he was called, he was a very friendly dog. The group of children saw him and got excited. They all wanted to pet the dog, of course.
Each kid took a turn: kissing his face, rubbing his belly, petting his ears. It was all fun. Until Rui’s turn. He squatted down a bit and was petting his head. The dog was panting happily, and even licked his cheek; that action earned a giggle from him. He continued petting and patting when suddenly—
A spark of red, flame-y magic burst from his hands. In a split second, the dog was no more. Instead, he’d become a pile of mush, limbs, and blood on the ground; Rui’s hands and face were covered in that same blood. He didn’t know he could do that, and tears flooded his eyes as he saw what was left of the dog in front of him.
There was a wave of silence from the children around them before all hell broke loose. There was screaming, there was crying—it caused a huge scene in the middle of town. Adults and children alike were yelling at Rui and staring at him in horror. While Nene herself was scared, she still went over to comfort him. He was trying to keep his cool from what he’d done when he heard those awful words come from one of the old men in his village:
“You’re a monster, Kamishiro!”
The group of people made sounds of agreement; as they began to chant the word “monster”. They only stopped when Rui’s parents pushed through the crowd, although they also looked at him like he was a danger to society. His father grabbed his arm—rather aggressively—and dragged him home.
Once there, they were yelling and distraught, clearly in disbelief at what happened. Their son—their flesh and blood—had exploded a dog with his own hands. Mages were possible, yes, but they were rare. And dangerous. Rui couldn’t be one of them! Their family name would be dragged through the dirt, and they’d be shunned away.
“What did you do, Rui?!” His mother exclaimed, with tears in her eyes. She could barely look at him; he was covered in that dog’s blood.
“I’m sorry, mommy!” He cried, “I—I didn’t know… I didn’t know this would happen! I don’t even know how it happened…” It was obvious Rui was scared of himself right now, he’d just killed something. With his own hands—more specifically magic—he took a living thing’s life! The people in the village are right, he is a monster.
“I… I can't even look at you.” She turned her head away from her son. But that wasn’t enough, so she walked off, to another room in the house.
“Rui, you’ve brought shame to our family.” His father stated coldly. It was a fact; everyone knew that. If Rui stayed… his parents would surely face tremendous backlash for “raising the devil’s son”.
But that was only if he stayed, right? Surely… if Rui were to leave… That was when Rui got his big idea. He wiped away his tears—which only ended up smudging more blood onto his face—and ran off to his room.
Once there, he packed a bag with just a change of clothes and his favorite stuffed animal, his little 6-year-old brain wouldn’t know he’d need more. He then wrote “I’m sorry” in his best handwriting on a piece of paper, and placed it on his pillow. He opened up his window and crawled out, hopping down onto the soft grass. The moment he made contact with the ground, he ran as fast as his little legs would take him; straight to the forest, where he’d have to live out the rest of his life.
He ran and ran until he was deep in the forest, and could not recognize his surroundings. He clutched his lightly packed bag a little tighter as he looked around. The trees covered so much of the sky that the woods were dark, and he could barely see the things in front of him. He ended up tripping over a branch that poked out and fell on his face, scraping his knee in the process. It hurt and he was already stressed, so he sat there on the ground and began to cry. He wanted his parents. He wanted warmth. He wanted love. But those were things he wasn’t allowed to have anymore. All because he messed up; because he was born wrong.
“Ah, you poor thing…” A man’s voice rang through the darkness. Rui’s head snapped up and his tears stopped immediately, he whipped his head all around, but he couldn’t see anyone. “Those people shouldn’t have treated you that way,” he continued to speak.
“Who… who are you…?” Rui asked, still trying to spot even the faintest shadow of a person. His voice was shaky, but he still tried to sound brave.
“My apologies,” the man’s laughter rang through the forest, leaving a bad taste in Rui’s mouth. Then suddenly, a man emerged with a lantern, and he held it up, illuminating the forest. The strange man had blue hair covering one eye, and a holster that held a pistol in it. He was very intimidating—from Rui’s perspective—and yet, he wore a kind, understanding smile. “My name is Kaito. I happened to be passing through your village when I saw what happened earlier.” He explained, sighing lightly, “I saw you run off to the woods, and I couldn’t let a child get lost in here, so I followed you.”
“Oh.” It was the only word Rui could find, despite knowing many more than that. No other word could describe what he felt at that moment. “Well… my name is Rui.”
“That’s a nice name…” He’s silent for a moment. “I think what they said to you was wrong. You’re no monster…” Kaito walked a little closer, squatting down and using his free hand to place a gentle pat on Rui’s head. “No, you’re just special. You’re different. You’re way cooler than anyone else in that village, got it?”
Rui was stunned, but his eyes shined with hope. This strange man was so kind… “Really?”
“Of course!” He laughed, pulling his hand away. “Say… how’d you like to come with me? I can patch up that knee of yours and you’ll have a nice place to stay, one where you’ll be welcomed with open arms. I can even teach you to control your magic, if you’d like.”
Rui had been raised to not trust strangers. He knew going off with a man he did not know wasn’t a good idea, but what other option did he have? The promise of a home—a safe home—was one he could not deny. “Ok. If you really want me to.” He agreed.
“Wonderful, let me help you up.” Kaito stood from his squatting position and held out a hand. Rui took the hand and stood, careful not to put too much weight on his injured leg. Kaito began to lead him down a hidden path—holding his hand the entire time. Rui was limping a tiny bit, but Kaito promised he’d patch up the wound the moment they had arrived.
The walk seemed long and tedious, but the end result was nothing short of a fairytale. The two arrived upon a palace. It was large, and very clearly old. “My father came across this palace with his own father when he was just a boy.” Kaito began to explain, “back then, it was nothing but ruins. However, the two of them worked hard to rebuild. And when my father met my mother, she helped, too. And when I was born and old enough to lift heavy things—I was helping with the construction, as well.”
“And it’s all done, now?” Rui asked, curiously.
“We finished building 10 years ago. And now it’s my home, where I live all on my lonesome. It’ll be nice to finally have some company, again.” He looked down at the boy, a bit of a sad smile on his face.
“You’re all alone? What happened to your family?” He furrows his brows in confusion. If they had built the home, where were they, now?
“Maybe that’s a story for another time…” He laughs gently. “Now come along, I promised I’d patch you up, didn’t I?” He tugged Rui along, bringing him into the palace. He led him to a room—one with a bed—and sat Rui down on the bed. He rummaged through a desk drawer and pulled out a bandage; along with a piece of cotton and some alcohol. Kaito poured a small amount of alcohol onto the cotton, “this part might sting a bit.” He warned, before rubbing the cotton onto Rui’s knee. He was right, it did sting, and the boy flinched at the sudden pain. Once he finished cleaning the wound, he pulled the cotton away and pressed the bandage to his knee, making sure it was tight enough to ensure the bleeding would stop.
“Thank you…” Rui said softly, once Kaito pulled away from his knee and disposed of the used cotton. “You’re very nice, Mr. Kaito.”
“Calling me ‘Mr. Kaito’ makes me sound old…” The man laughed, ruffling Rui’s hair. “No, why don’t you just call me… your new dad!”
“My new… dad?” Rui tilted his head. He couldn’t imagine anyone other than his actual father to be his dad.
“Yeah, if you’re comfortable with that, of course. You likely won’t see your dad again, which means I’ll be taking care of you. That makes me ‘dad’ now, right?” He explains, smiling at the boy’s hesitation. He wouldn’t force him to do anything he didn’t want to, that much was clear.
“That makes sense…” Rui nods along slowly. That logic was sound enough for his 6-year-old brain. “Then… I guess I’ll call you dad.” He’s still a little unsure, but he can’t argue with Kaito’s logic.
“And you’ll be my son.” He seemed happy that Rui was willing. “I’ll keep you safe now, Rui. My son.”
One year later, there was another.
Rui and Kaito were wandering the forest, training Rui’s magic on all kinds of objects. The boy was blessed—but also cursed—with a very powerful and destructive kind of magic. They were seeing just how strong it could be; Kaito had Rui destroying trees, rocks, and anything else they could find.
During this training, however, they came across a cave. Kaito advised that a little curiosity was “good for the soul”, so the two entered. Rui ran his hand along the wall of the cave while Kaito illuminated their path with his lantern. They walked, till they came across a very peculiar sight.
A small boy, about 6 years old, was curled up; he was asleep in the cave. And he was not alone, as a giant dragon was curled up with him, seemingly protecting him.
“My… I’ve never seen anything like this.” Kaito muttered aloud, this was very, very interesting for him.
“What do we do?” Rui asked, looking up at his father for the answer.
Before Kaito can respond, the dragon stirs awake, having sensed their presence. “Who dares to enter my cave?!” She roars. Her awakening causes the boy to wake up as well.
“A—Aryzath..? What’s…” He notices Kaito and Rui, and is immediately scared. “Ah—please don’t take me back…”
“Don’t worry, Toya,” the dragon—Aryzath—says in a motherly tone. “I won’t let them take you away from me.”
“Hm?” Kaito doesn’t seem to be very scared by the situation. “Toya? That’s your name? My, isn’t that…” He raises his eyebrows in realization. “Isn’t that the prince’s name? The one who ‘mysteriously disappeared’ last year?”
Toya looks away in shame, “you can’t make me go back there. I don’t want to be a prince!”
“You don’t have to worry!” Rui butts in. “We don’t like the kingdom! Or the royal family! Right, dad?” He looks up to his father, who ruffles his hair in response.
“That’s right, Rui. They’re all bad…” He turns back to Toya and Aryzath, “we have no intentions of bringing you back to the kingdom. However, I’m rather interested in how you ended up here, if you don’t mind.”
“Ah—" Toya seems more relaxed now that he knows he won’t be going back. “Of course; I ran away a year ago. But I got lost in the rain, so I came to this cave for shelter. I met Aryzath, and she’s taken care of me ever since!”
“Oh, wow! I ran away, too!” Rui smiles, he’s surprised a prince would run away, but chooses not to question it.
“Well, if that’s all, you may leave,” Aryzath says coldly, using a wing to pull Toya in closer—away from these strange people.
“Oh, now wait—" Kaito interjects before they’re pushed away. “I think Toya should come with us. A cave is surely not a place for a boy to grow up. You’d be welcome, as well.”
Upon Kaito’s request, Rui, Toya, and Aryzath all look at the man in shock. “As if I’d just give him away!” Aryzath yells in disbelief.
“Really? Toya would live with us, too?” Rui tugs on his dad’s shirt. “Ah! Would he be my brother?”
“He can be, if he wants.” Kaito gives Toya a gentle smile. “It’s all up to you…” They look at him expectantly.
“Well… if Aryzath can come, too, then… well…” He looks up at the dragon.
“Surely you aren’t considering this…” Aryzath says, unsure.
“It’ll be ok. If he tries to do anything, you’ll just incinerate him, won’t you?” Toya gives her a reassuring smile.
Aryzath is still not completely confident about this idea, but gives in for the sake of what Toya wants. “Alright, Toya, if you’re sure…”
“Right. Then it’s settled, I’ll come live with you.” He nods, looking back to Kaito and Rui.
“Oh, Toya, please say you’ll be my brother! I’ve always wanted a sibling!” Rui runs over, causing Aryzath to be more cautious, but she can tell the young boy means no harm.
“Your brother? I’ve always wanted one, too…” Toya thinks for a moment; weighing his options. “Alright, I’ll be your brother.”
“Yay!”
“All right children—and Aryzath—let’s go…” Kaito says, and the four leave the cave and return to the palace. Which shall now house two children, a man, and a dragon.
Kaito’s once lonely home now has a much livelier feel to it, that’s for sure.