Tied By Fate.

The Kismet Empire, Barronia.

At the Royal Palace, a fair-skinned man with spiky black hair and bright brown eyes walked down the halls. After reaching his terminus, the man sighed, idle before the wide kingly door. About to knock, his blurry hand halted—paralyzed at the sound of one distinct voice.

"Enter."

He obeyed and walked inside, hastily kneeling before the man standing at the steps leading to the throne.

"You, the final Rank-0 Fate user on this island, are to be given a task of utmost importance. I ask you once more: are you sure you're up for it… Samael Andras?"

The Syndicate Agent stood. "Seriously? You're still asking me that shit?" Tightening the strap over his shoulder, he glared at the official questioning him. "I don't care if he's the Unconquerable—he killed my entire family in Jotan. I'll avenge them by personally butchering Talen Amit with my own two hands."

...

A field of memories. To Apollo's eyes, it was seemingly infinite--and he'd be right. Aella's younger self dashed right past him and sprinted down the street, opting for the boy to catch her. As they bumped through the stiff crowd encircling the sidewalk, the siblings laughed. Eventually, Moloch's extended, and just before she could stumble into the street, she was pulled back by the collar of her shirt. She pouted.

"C'mon! I thought we were racing--" She gasped.

Apollo pushed through the people. "Hey! Are you alright?!" The sound of her distant cries beckoned him closer.

Bursting from the crowd, he scanned his surroundings--immediately spotting Aella hovering off the curb and the large hand supporting her. It was their older brother: Samael.

"And here I thought your dumbass was busy at work," he said.

The man released Apollo and grinned, looking down at the boy. "You two are stupid. You might be sneaky enough to fool mom and dad, but I invented that shit. So fess up. Tell me what you were doing and MAYBE I'll keep it a--"

Moloch kicked his older brother across the face. Hopping back, he glanced at Aella.

"Go! I'll hold him off in the meantime--"

Raven jolted back the moment their sibling retaliated with a hearty punch across Apollo's cheek. With the brothers' blood splashing into the air, she was briefly stunned, left to note the situation's hilarity the moment she heard sirens turn the corner.

"HEY!" She pointed at the cop car parking at the curb.

Their fists in each other's faces, the brothers turned around; their faces falling upon seeing Raven and her pointing to the idle patrol vehicle. About to yelp another warning, Apollo dashed past, sweeping his little sister off her feet--lunging down the street with their older brother in tow. The cops wasted no time jumping out of their car and chasing after the siblings.

Aella laughed after glancing down the street. She flipped off the cops and grinned. The cop on the left couldn't take such blatant disrespect; reaching for the walkie-talkie strapped to his chest. Samael smirked. Flicking his wrist over his shoulder released a miniature dagger from the sleeve that shot through the air and sliced open the transmitter across the enforcer's chest.

Apollo, carrying Aella on his back, looked back at his brother and the officer. "Nice shot."

Sneering under his breath, Samael shrugged. "Just lucky I guess." He pointed ahead. "Shortcut here."

"Uh, you sure?" Raven put a hand over her eyes. "That just looks like a dead end!"

"Trust me."

They didn't have any other choice. So, they relented. Apollo and Samael turned simultaneously, vanishing around the corner into an abandoned alleyway. Because the cops were gaining on them, they closed the distance quickly--the officer duo stumbling into the alley the siblings ran into. There wasn't a single trace of them anywhere whatsoever. They'd simply vanished.

Or so it seemed. In reality, they simply appeared on the other side of the street, giving them a moment to catch their breath. Apollo removed the hands from his knees, looking up at his brother through unrelenting breaths.

"How'd you... do... that?"

"Huh? Oh, don't worry about it. We didn't get caught, right? That should be all that matters," Samael shrugged, still smirking.

Aella started to walk. "Hey, idiots. If we don't have to run or worry about getting caught, let's go. I don't wanna hear the old peoples' mouths again," She looked back at them before advancing down the block.

Apollo wiped the blood from his nose. He sniffled. Turning to Samael, he noticed his older brother smiling and handing him a handkerchief.

"Thanks."

"It's nothing." Sam smiled. "What are brothers for, you know? Also—" his arm snuck around Apollo's neck, pulling him closer. "—you two were smoking, weren't cha?"

His green eyes rolled. "Oh, fuck off—"

"Now, now, don't worry. Why don't we all smoke on the way home? If they catch us, what's the worst they can do? Send us to our room?" Sam chuckled.

"You sure?" Apollo asked. "You're the oldest. You know you're the one who's gonna get blamed if we all come home and high as hell."

He shrugged. "If getting yelled at is the price I have to pay to spend a week with my darling brother and sister before returning to that wretched family home then SO BE IT!"

"You're the one who wanted to get married…"

The curtain of night fell over the city.

Hours later, Aella was closed up in her brother's room and hanging upside-down from the bed while he sat in front of the tv. She glanced at the door; the moon peeking through the window, brightening her pale cheek. The sound of people arguing was muffled by the door.

"They've been at it for 30 minutes now…" She sighed.

"I told him there wasn't any point in getting himself in trouble for our sake. Then again, I guess we didn't get blamed, so there's that," he said.

"Shouldn't we try and defend him or something?"

His head shook. "It'd be pointless. People from back then are still influenced by propaganda and such—all Sam can do is endure it." Digging into the popcorn bowl between his legs, he threw a kernel into his mouth.

The room door opened. Stepping inside after closing it behind them, Samael sighed and fell face-first onto the bed. Aella started shaking his tired body.

"What. The. Hell. Happened. Over. Thereeee?"

He pushed her off the bed. Apollo apathetically watched his sister fall off the bed and yelp upon crashing, groaning into the floor.

"Well?"

Samael pulled his face from the pillow. "You heard it, didn't you? I'm getting kicked back to my home in the countryside… blah." He sighed, turning around on the bed to face the ceiling; arm across his temples. "Those assholes never change."

About twenty minutes later, Samael pulled up the window and Apollo stepped into the room, throwing Aella bottled water. She caught in on his bed seated against the wall, hastily cracking open the top to take a swig. Meanwhile, Apollo sat on the edge of the bed in front of his sister, still watching the tv before them.

An idle flame flickered into existence above the lighter's tip clutched in Sam's hand, igniting the blunt in his mouth and then removing it quickly. After inhaling sharply, he looked out the window, spewing smoke into the outside air.

He looked at his siblings—each engrossed in their little world. Then, he smiled.

"Can I tell you both something?"

"I—"

Before they could make a smart-ass remark, Samael looked at the spliff between his fingers, smirking.

"Say something stupid and neither of you gets to smoke."

Aella reluctantly quieted with a silent pout. Apollo, on the other hand, stifled laughter at her sister's expression and looked at Sam, handing him the joint.

"You sure we can be smoking now?"

"They went out to the store on the Ave to get smokes. They'll probably smoke them there and won't come back until 30 minutes later," Sam turned to them. "I'll take the time we have now to ask you two something. Remember earlier, when we ran from the cops and I vaguely explained how we managed to escape them?"

Apollo squinted. "Vividly." He smoked from the blunt before removing it and handing it to Raven behind him.

"Well, I figure now's the time to show you."

Sam smirked. After raising one hand, the brother's Fate emerged from within him, colored maroon and contorting around him. However, Apollo nor Aella could observe the phenomena occurring around him. Leaning forward, the man's hand hovered before his little brother's face, calmly oozing with aura from the soul.

"It's only natural you can't see anything around you. Both of you… stay still a moment."

Sam released the Fate engulfing his palm into Apollo's skull. The blast shot through not only the boy's temple but Aella's seated behind him. However, despite the beam's puncture, neither sibling was harmed. Watching untouched by the occurrence plaguing them, Sam leaned over, plucking the joint from Raven's hand to smoke it out the window.

Only after he spewed the mist from his throat did Apollo and Aella jerk awake, staring at their bodies newly glowing with life force. They couldn't believe their eyes. Samael smirked, turning to his siblings.

"Every human being is surrounded by something. A transcendental 'thing' that governs the way all beings move. At first, people thought it was fake, and so, the status quo remains intact. Nothing at all supernatural on the surface of the city. But the same can't be said for the underbelly. Fate isn't a God that governs humanity's path—it is a force for us to control and manipulate, dwelling deep within our souls. Only after awakening through my signature and becoming Fate users will you two shed the skin of normal society to achieve truly blessed freedom. That is the path to gaining free will."

Apollo's gaze averted from the aura around him to his older brother. "'Gaining free will'? What's that supposed to mean?"

"Hm…" Sam scratched his chin, looking up. "I suppose that did sound a bit menacing, didn't it? Well, to put it in simpler terms, think of anime. What's your favorite anime, Apollo?"

He shrugged. "I don't have one."

"Ooh, ooh!" Aella raised her hand. "I got one, I got one!"

Sam chuckled, pointing at his sister. "Okay! What's your favorite then?"

"I like HunterXHunter!"

"Really?" Apollo muttered. "I thought it was kinda boring…"

"What, so you dropped it?" He shook his head. "What a dumbass, you're seriously missing out!"

"Shut up."

Sam smiled. "Anyway, think of it like this: you know how you can't see Nen unless you can use it? Well, it's like that, but different. Fate is the same principle—a life force within humans capable of being manipulated with proper training. The difference between a normal human and an experienced Fate user is astronomical, from the way they perceive the world, their brain works, and even their daily diet. In other words…" He pointed to his right eye. "…being able to manipulate Fate allows you to see the unseeable. And in this world? That's infinite."

Apollo and Aella were unequivocally captured by his intonation. Though something still bothered them.

"Why're you telling us this now?" he asked.

Sam sighed. "I don't know. It's odd. All I'd ever wanted to do my whole life was escape this shit hole of a place because of the asshole parents we were unfortunately adopted by. When I was young, I couldn't help but curse them over and over again. I hated them. I wanted to run away. That's why I wanted a girlfriend so badly. I just wanted to leave them. But… I never thought about how I'd be leaving you guys too." He smiled at them. "This is to make up for that. Listen carefully, you two: I will live for Apollo. Apollo will live for Aella. And Aella will live for me. We are all tied by the same Fate."

For some reason, even hours after Samael left, Apollo was left awake in bed at the sound of those words. But even more so than that; his conscience was flooded with thoughts streaming from his present self's bundle of ignorance.

'How could I have forgotten something as important as that? Yes, I… had a sister. But that wasn't all. I also had… a brother.

Whatever happened to them?'