The floodgates of mory burst open, a torrent of forgotten monts crashing over Baines like a tidal wave.
-Banny, what would you beco in the future? Ralph’s youthful voice echoed, a playful lilt in his tone as the two brothers sat beneath the sprawling branches of an old oak tree in their family garden.
-Hmm, I want to own my own plant shop in the future.
Young Baines had replied, his small hands cradling a delicate seedling.
-Haha, you can do it now, why later?
Ralph had laughed, ruffling his little brother’s hair.
...
-Baines, w-we can’t find Ralph anymore. H-he-
A frantic servant stamred, tears streaming down her face as she delivered the devastating news.
-Baines, you have to stay strong for us.
His father’s voice followed, strained but resolute, as the Baek family grappled with the loss.
...
-I’m sorry, Madam Baek, but we couldn’t find your son. We searched everywhere,
One of them said, bowing his head in sha.
-You call yourself finders, but you can’t find one person. HE IS MY SON!
She scread, her voice breaking as she collapsed to her knees, the weight of despair crushing her spirit.
...
-Mother, please wake up! Let’s go look for Ralph and Rokin!
Baines’ own voice, younger and desperate, rang out as he shook her lifeless form, tears staining his cheeks.
...
"Kuk..."
The weak, dying sound of his brother snapped Baines back to the present, pulling him from the abyss of his mories.
His heart clenched as he knelt beside the bloodied figure, tears pooling in his eyes like a madman’s rage.
"WICK!" he roared, his voice a thunderclap of urgency.
Wick materialized in an instant, his hands weaving a spell with practiced precision.
A shimring orb of ti-stop magic enveloped Ralph’s broken body, freezing his condition in stasis.
"I will need so Dark Sun."
"TAKE IT," Wick replied without hesitation, accessing Baines’ reserves and extracting 1/8th of the stored energy.
With a chant,
"Asheal-sant-nel"
The magic circle descended, bathing Ralph in a cascade of golden light. Accumulated scars, fresh wounds, and hidden internal injuries lted away, leaving his body whole once more.
Baines remained kneeling, his mind a chaotic storm. His focus was singular, locked on the soul within the ti-stop orb, its faint glow a lifeline to his brother.
Unbeknownst to him, his Ashenfall energy began to leak, a suffocating violet aura that thickened the air.
The executives and guards in the room gasped, their breaths labored under the oppressive weight.
"Leave now," Wick commanded, waving his hand to clear a path. The room emptied as the stunned onlookers fled, and Wick erected a protective and defensive barrier around the space.
Ten agonizing minutes passed, though to Baines, it felt like another year of tornt.
Finally, the figure within the orb stirred, and Baines’s fingers tore through the ti-stop barrier.
Baines lunged, wrapping his arms around Ralph in a desperate embrace.
"Banny, is it really you?" he whispered weakly, tears streaming down his dirt-streaked face.
"I-I—" Baines stamred, words failing him as emotions overwheld him. He didn’t know what to say, where to start.
"It’s been a long ti," Ralph spoke in his stead, his tears flowing freely as he clung to his brother.
For thirty minutes, they held each other, crying and whispering fragnted mories, the years of separation lting away in their shared grief.
When they finally parted, Baines studied Ralph’s face, dark hair reaching his shoulders, eyes that had embraced the shadows of hardship, a jawline mirroring his own, and a matured, handso visage etched with the trials of survival.
This was his brother, Ralph Baek, and the second child of the Baek family.
"Haa... What kind of healing was that? All my years of injuries are gone," Ralph marveled, flexing his joints, expecting the familiar ache but finding only freedom.
"Ah, Wick," Baines said, gesturing to his subordinate, who reappeared with a respectful nod.
"B-B-Banny, what is that thing?" Ralph’s instincts flared, and he darted behind a chair, his posture poised to flee or fight.
"No, this is Wick, my second hand," Baines reassured him, a faint smile breaking through his tension.
"Y-Your WHAT?" Ralph’s jaw dropped, his disbelief palpable. "What happened to you?" he asked, his voice a mix of awe and concern.
"I-It’s a long story," Baines stamred.
Ralph cald and took a seat, "I’m listening." His insistent gaze prompted him to begin.
"Alright..." He recounted the horrors that followed Ralph’s disappearance, their other brother Rokin’s abduction, their father’s imprisonnt, their sister’s lost leg, and their mother’s collapse into a coma.
Ralph’s eyes turned bloodshot, a roar of anguish tearing from his throat as he cursed the fates and wept anew.
After an hour of raw emotion, he cald himself, and Baines continued, detailing his plans to save their family, the treasures he’d amassed, his alliance with Elder Kwon, and the betrayal that nearly cost him his life.
Ralph clawed at his skin in fury, the revelations a stark contrast to the hope he’d clung to during his ordeal. He had almost lost everything, and he didn’t even know.
Fortunately, the story smoothed out as Baines described his training, his ti at the Last Front, and his exploits in Darkan, culminating in his identity as Jin.
"So, so you are that Jin!" Ralph exclaid, realization dawning.
"Yes," Baines confird.
Ralph, even during his captivity, had been aware of his brother’s fa. "And you’re saying they aren’t dead yet?" he asked, a deadly glint in his eyes.
"Yes, I think Mother’s family helped," Baines replied.
"Oh, the people that saved you," Ralph said, piecing it together.
"Haa..." Ralph sighed, taking ten more minutes to process the information.
"So, what happened to you?" Baines asked, turning the question back.
"I was kidnapped after seeing that sa Kwon." His voice dripped with anger as he continued, "I think it was because of my ability, they took us through the empire’s route, but soone saved . I don’t know the person; all I know is the person had red hair."
’Darkan?’ Baines frowned. He had just committed an atrocity against them, and here he was realizing they had been his helper once upon a ti.
"I ran away amidst the fight, but," Ralph sighed, it was embarrassing, but he continued, "I was kidnapped again. But I’m not sure I can say this next part."
"Why?" Baines asked, his gaze staring deep into Ralph, "Is it because of that?"
"What are you talking about?" Ralph asked.
"What is that in your soul?" he asked, his frown deepening.
"You can see my soul?" Ralph was startled but answered, "Well, this is a slave contract."
Boom!
Baines’ mind exploded. He wanted to explode with rage, but he suppressed it.
The ti for that would co, soon,
"Wick," he called, and ethereal chains snaked from Wick’s hand toward Ralph.
"What is this?" Ralph asked, alard. "Wait, what are you doing?"
"Removing the seal," Baines said firmly.
"You can’t. They would find out," Ralph protested.
"No," Baines shook his head, his voice cold. "They wouldn’t see tomorrow."
The way he said it was like a done deal.
"Haa... alright," Ralph relented, allowing the chains to enter him.
After a few seconds,
Crack...
Ralph groaned as a fragnt of his soul was excised, weakening him. Baines poured his soul energy into Ralph, restoring his strength.
’It’s exhausted,’ Baines thought.
Boom!
Ralph’s energy center rippled, his mind expanding as he ascended to the ranks of masters.
"Congratulations," Baines said with a brief smile before fading into seriousness. "Who?"
Hesitant, Ralph answered, still a bit hesitant, "T-Treyl family. They colluded with the Black Rose Covenant to reside in their lands and perform experints."
"And you were among," Baines deduced.
"Yes, we were first trained as assassins, sneaking, killing, stealing, dying, and obeying orders," Ralph explained.
"What type of experint?" Baines pressed.
"They were trying to infuse dragon essence into human bodies," Ralph revealed.
"Hmm..." Baines mused.
"You don’t sound surprised at all," Ralph noted.
"I’ve seen worse," Baines said flatly.
"You an the blood deplorable?"
"Much worse," Baines shook his head. He hadn’t told his brother of the way the outliers fought.
"Alright." Baines stood, his decision made.
"Where are you going?"
"Massacre," Baines declared, his voice a blade’s edge.
Ralph’s eyes widened, then narrowed, his earlier deanor a façade lting away. "I’m coming too."
"Naturally. Oh, yeah!" Baines had an idea, pulling out Moonfang and the cloak, and handing them to Ralph. He felt it would be better used in his hands.
"This..." Ralph’s eyes widened in recognition.
"Do you know what these are? This texture alone can withstand sword aura, and that’s not even the main use. Wait, this, this is the moon. But why is it dim?" Ralph muttered, his expertise in weapons surfacing as he analyzed the artifacts.
Baines had forgotten, if his specialty was plants, then Ralph’s was weapons.
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