17 Gone Tomorrow

In the Aubade Palace, there was a seemingly endless array of different rooms. There were dungeons, parlors, infirmaries, observatories, storage areas, and countless places for living. Training areas were also important, for the soldiers living in the palace.

One of them was secluded on a high floor, and only lieutenants and royals were permitted to use it. The space was clean and neat, with dark wood floors and beige walls with gold sconces. A large window at the back overlooked the palace gardens. The room was nicely decorated, with some plants in the corners. Weapons filled the racks on the walls. The space was plenty large, too, fitting four training rings (white boxes drawn on the floor).

"Omph-"

Surei grunted as he was thrown against the ground. Ryu tried to pin him, but Surei broke free and kept fighting. He seemed to be enjoying it well enough, which was no surprise. As long as it was with his brother, he didn't mind sparring. It was one of the only parts of the day he could enjoy, as they were all so heavily restricted.

Meanwhile, Chiro was standing by, sharpening his sword as he watched like an aggressive hawk. Only one other lieutenant was present; a more eccentric one that nobody ever considered listening to. He had the same violet-tinted armor, slicked-back blue hair, and gray eyes.

Both of the sparring brothers were very fast and agile, and tricky with their strikes. Surei seemed to have a stronger hit, which kept him ahead of the game. Even though he was putting up a good fight, though, Ryu eventually tripped him, knocking him down.

Ryu chuckled. "Watch that balance, Shy."

Surei smirked, then lashed his leg out. Ryu collapsed as both his legs were swept out from under him. Before he even landed, Surei put him in a very choke-worthy pin.

"Right back at you," Surei remarked.

Ryu grunted. "Well played."

"Barely."

The fun ended there. Surei looked annoyed, trying not to snap when Chiro stepped in. He released Ryu, standing up and straightening out his garb, which was nothing like what a lieutenant would wear, or even a noble. Just a dusky dark purple jacket, a pewter shirt, and black pants. Ryu was in violet armor, but it was very lightweight. More of the black undersuit was visible, he had gloves instead of gauntlets, and a cloth mask was pulled down around his neck.

Chiro shot a glare at Surei. "Why can't you do anything right?"

"What do you mean?" Asked Ryu, panting. "Shy reversed every pin I had him in. If anything, I should be taking notes from him."

"I told you, he'll never be happy," Surei muttered.

"You're still pathetic without your guns," Chiro insisted. "Ryu clearly slowed down to allow that pin, and your enemies won't always stop to taunt. Be more alert, and be faster!"

Ryu looked baffled. "I didn't slow down. It's only sparring, anyway. It's not-"

"It's training," Chiro interfered. "This isn't some curious citizen's sorry attempt at self-defense. What you use here, you'll use on a battlefield. Make sure it's foolproof while you can, so you're not getting killed out there. Unless you want to end your legacy early."

"You mean your legacy?" Surei retorted.

Chiro looked angry. "Don't talk back to me! Also, before this goes any further, why aren't you in uniform? You should be wearing it with pride!" He sneered, "What's worse is that you look like a girl without it. For the love of gods, get a haircut, gain some weight, and stop wearing such awful clothes."

Chiro kept ranting, while Surei rolled his olive-green eyes.

'Heard this enough times,' he thought. "If I wear the stupid armor, will you shut up?"

Chiro smacked him over the head.

"Stop that!" Chiro argued. "That 'stupid' armor is one of the biggest honors any sylph could ever be awarded!" He looked worried. "Second, you sound far too much like that idiot, Seraphel, which is a horrifying thought. Do you really want to end up like him?"

"The only person with some common sense in this damn army?" Surei muttered.

The lieutenant on the sidelines interfered, "The only one who's any fun. Usually as the butt of the joke, but still."

"Stay out of this," Chiro hissed. "And I mean exiled! Banished! A rebel, smartass, and criminal!"

Surei sneered, "Exiled? He was repositioned in Citadel; that's not exile. That's downright lucky, since you're not screeching at him anymore." He crossed his arms. "I wouldn't know what that's like, but I imagine it's pretty nice. Also, what? He called you a mean name, and that's grounds for banishment? For someone saying I look like a girl, but you sure cry like one."

Chiro looked infuriated. He raised his fist, but Ryu quickly intervened.

"All of that was true," Ryu remarked. His eyes narrowed. "Although it's not illegal, it's still not good to disrespect authority. Right, Surei?"

"When the authority is an egotistical piece of garbage, it is!" Surei insisted.

Chiro facepalmed. "What am I going to do with you?"

"Hey, you already said it," Surei remarked. He smirked. "Being mean is grounds for leaving, so have me discharged."

"No!" Chiro snapped.

Surei groaned, while Ryu was giving him discreet signals to calm down and keep quiet.

Chiro jabbed a finger at Ryu. "As for you, pick up the blades and get to work. You can't be so focused on hand-to-hand."

"Why not?" Asked Ryu. "It's what I'm good at."

"Then fix it," Chiro argued. "Only weapons will work against demons, and you're too much of a lightweight to use proper gauntlets. Focus on the swords I assigned you; the shamshir blades."

Ryu arched one brow. "What happened to the katanas?"

"Too light," said Chiro. "These are well-balanced and better for your style of combat, at least in my eyes. They're on the weapons rack, over in the corner. Fresh from the forge, as well, so they should be ready to use."

As Ryu ran off, Surei looked irritated.

Chiro's eyes narrowed. "Problem, Shy?"

"'At least in your eyes,'" he muttered. "Because that's all there is, right?"

"Don't start this," Chiro retorted. "Ryu, hurry it along! We have a lot more training!"

"We've been training for hours," Surei argued. "We've been catering to your every word, because gods forbid we do anything ourselves. Can you just leave us the hell alone?"

"That's child's play," Chiro insisted. "A mere warm-up! The real training starts now. You'll need it if you expect to be real lieutenants."

"We don't expect that, you do," Surei muttered.

"Surei, enough," Chiro commanded.

"Forget it -you know it's true!" Surei retorted. "I don't even want to be here, and do you give a damn about that? Have other people's thoughts even crossed your mind, or is the whole word limited to what's right 'in your eyes' alone?"

The other lieutenant looked interested.

"Some drama, hm?" He taunted. "Chiro, is he right?"

"Can it, Gara!" Chiro snapped. "Seriously, you can't even remember the mission you're supposed to be on, but you think you know anything about what to do, here?!"

Gara raised his hands. "Easy does it, now." He headed toward the exit. "I understand your point, just not your unnecessary anger." He smirked tauntingly. "Although, I wouldn't say the small ones are completely wrong, either."

Surei arched one brow. "Small? Hey jackass, I'm twenty-five."

Gara sneered, "Oh, only by a few days, and that's still young for a lieutenant. I should probably leave before your dad kills me, too. Goodbye, and good luck with that!"

Finally, the eccentric man left the hall, leaving the others more irate than before. The tension between Chiro and Surei was nearly suffocating, while Ryu stood awkwardly nearby. This was a very typical setup among the family. Surei and Chiro were both very stubborn, and their tempers weren't very great. That frequently led to fighting. Meanwhile, Ryu just wanted everyone to get along, and tried to diffuse situations before they got out of hand.

"Stupid conman," Chiro muttered. "No wonder he bums around with Seraphel."

"Will you leave Nagiri out of this, already?" Surei spat. "You can't blame everything that annoys you on one person you don't like."

Chiro glowered. "Fine. Then we'll move onto the next problem among our ranks."

"And dare I ask, what would that be?" Surei interrogated.

Chiro shoved him. "Who else?"

Ryu interfered, "Not this again. Surei, father, please just-"

"Quiet," Chiro retorted. "You're on thin ice as it is, Surei. If you think this is getting you anywhere you want, I guarantee it's not."

"Brilliant," Surei said sarcastically. "I can either hang on your every word, like I already did for years, and not get where I want. Or I can call you out as the obnoxious prick you are, and not get where I want. Yeah, these are great choices you're giving me." He looked confused. "'Choice.' I barely know what that word means, because you never let either of us have one."

Chiro sighed, "Alright, wiseass, what will it take for you to pull your act together? You don't like your weapons, or who you're working with? Fine. Just do your duty!"

"Get it through your skull, will you?!" Surei retorted. "I don't care about any of that! I just want out of this army, and you know that! You just don't care!"

"Because this is where you belong!" Chiro argued.

"I never even asked to be here, nor did Ryu! You've been cramming this garbage in our heads, blocking out everything else, to the point this is all we know!"

"None of it matters!" Chiro retorted. "It's all pointless! Soldiers are what keep this land safe, so those petty commoners can scuffle and mope about the way they do. Do you want to be oblivious, or do you want to be doing something with your life?!"

"There's more to life than fighting," Surei retorted. "What's the point of defending a culture when there's no culture to protect? You just don't realize that because all you care about is yourself. You don't care about Sybilius, you don't care about the people you're supposed to protect, and you definitely don't care about us. When you do, it's only because we're being obedient!"

Chiro sneered, crossing his arms. "Very well. Tell me, then. If you're not going to be a soldier like every Hitai before you, and everyone around you, what would you like to do?"

Surei sneered, "Why would you care?"

"You don't even know," Chiro muttered. "So why are you so mad about it?!"

As the two argued, Ryu sighed sadly. "Three times this has happened, and three times it turned out bad. I should really start-"

"SHUT IT!"

Ryu flinched, alarmed. Even Surei looked a bit startled after Chiro yelled so loud. Even when things barely calmed down, Ryu looked very anxious. Neither of them would've expected the words that came next, though.

Chiro facepalmed, growling, "Why are you always such a disappointment?"

Surei glared at him. "You think you're the one who should be disappointed?"

"I've done nothing but give you opportunity after opportunity. The only thing keeping you from ignorance in the streets is my name. What have you to be disappointed in? That I respect my ancestry instead of shaming myself over it?"

"I didn't say I was ashamed of it!" Surei retorted. "The problem isn't me 'disgracing' it, it's the fact that you treat it like a damn religion! We should be able to break tradition if we want, and that shouldn't be considered some graven sin!"

"Then you're not a Hitai!" Chiro snapped.

Ryu flinched. "Father!"

"No, Ryu, he's right," Surei growled. "I never asked to be one, and I never wanted to."

-CRACK!

To their further shock, Chiro punched Surei, knocking him down. Ryu panicked, rushing over to him. As Surei scraped the inside of his cheek, his finger revealed a fair amount of blood. It seemed concerning, but he knew worse had been done, before.

"Shy, are you okay?" Asked Ryu.

Before Surei could even respond, Chiro shoved Ryu out of the way, jabbing a finger at him.

"Enough of your petty rebellion," he spoke darkly. "All I hear when you speak is a whiny child. You will not convince me of anything else. Now, you better shape up and start obeying my orders. I've stopped you from leaving before, and I will do it every single time I must until you get it through your head. You are a Hitai, you are a warrior, and you will not change that. If you say anything else about it, I'll tell you what you aren't. You're not my son."

Surei stood back up. "I never wanted that, either."

Chiro went to strike Surei again, but he dodged, then did something shocking. He punched back, making Chiro stumble. Ryu froze, stunned by what he saw. Outside of training, he had never seen it.

Surei's eyes narrowed. "I am not your fucking puppet."

"You think you're a match for me?!" Chiro snapped.

Chiro went to strike again, throwing several punches, but Surei dodged every one of them by just a hair. Soon after that, he got angry. He went to hit Chiro again, but he blocked. Instead of retreating, he kneed Chiro in the stomach, then kicked him back. As Chiro stayed there, on his knees, he looked infuriated.

Ryu stepped between them. "Okay, take it easy. This is starting to get out of-"

Chiro shoved him aside, confronting Surei again.

"I bet you think you're bold right now, don't you?" Chiro spat. "You're proving my point. Look at the power you have! A fusion of natural talent and priceless training, and you want to waste it!"

"Like every other thing you just brought up, I never asked for it," Surei retorted. "You didn't give me a choice. You force this on us, just so you can brag. Ryu fell for it -no offense, Ryu- but I won't. Why don't you get it through your skull? I'm more than just a weapon!"

"Fine!" Chiro snapped.

Surei arched one brow. "What?"

"You want out so bad? I'll let you see what it's like," Chiro retorted. "But if you don't want my name, you won't have it. You can shape up and stay here, or you can abandon every single thing that this family has given you. That means getting the hell out of the palace. You'll get no money, no bed or board, no palace servants or other benefits..." He glowered. "And no sympathy. Let's see how long you last before you starve to death, alone in the streets. Maybe then you'll understand how good you had it, here."

Chiro stormed off.

"B-But father, wait!" Ryu yelled.

Chiro stopped at the exit. "Stay out of this. Keep training as you were; get used to the shamshir blades." He looked down. "And you may revert back to the katanas if you think they work better. Got it?"

"Y..." Ryu nodded. "Yes, sir."

That being said, Chiro left for good. Once the sound of his footsteps completely faded, Surei spat on the ground, clearly still irritated.

Ryu, however, smacked Surei on the back of the head. It didn't hurt, of course, but it was enough to make him flinch.

"Ow!" Surei hit him back. "Ryu, what the hell was that for?"

"What the hell was that for?!" Ryu argued, pointing toward the exit. "I understand that you don't appreciate being 'forced into this life' and whatnot, but that was a little overboard, don't you think?"

Surei shoved him. "You too?!"

"I'm just saying, you were wrong to handle it like that," Ryu insisted. "Convince him by talking it through like a sane person, not an angry one. You went way too far; you probably just crushed his soul!"

"Unbelievable," Surei muttered. "Ryu, wake up. He doesn't have a soul, that's the problem. you know I was just telling the truth, and he just started it by calling me a disappointment. I didn't hear you, then."

"That was wrong on his end," Ryu insisted. "He definitely wasn't helping, and he definitely shouldn't have attacked you. You're still family, though. No matter what the tradition is, or how much you hate it, that is undeniably true. You need to at least try to get along."

Surei crossed his arms. "When was the last time he did that?"

"Well, now is a bad example," Ryu agreed. "Again, he went too hard on you, but-"

"And the time before that?" Asked Surei. "And the time before that? And the time before that?"

Ryu sighed, "I know. Shy, he does care about you, just in his own way."

"Yeah, as his personal punching bag," Surei muttered. "This is ridiculous. Although, at least I got what I wanted, out of it."

"What?" Asked Ryu.

"Didn't you hear him?" Surei remarked. "He said I could get the hell out of here if I wanted, so that's what I'm going to do."

Ryu shook his head. "Please tell me you're joking."

"Hell no!" Surei insisted. "You know the lengths he's gone to keep me here, even when I was just a letter away from getting out. If you look at 'Surei' as far as legalities go, he practically owns me and everything I do. If that changes, which I'm assuming it will..." He smirked. "I finally have another chance."

Ryu looked uneasy. "That's it? You're just going to ditch us?"

"Ditch you?" Asked Surei. "Of course not, I'll always stay in touch with you, but I'm not going to keep fighting in a stupid war I don't even care about, and I'm not going to spend another day fighting with that jerk. I've wasted too many, already."

Ryu gained a stern tone. "Surei, father is a warrior. If you leave right now, he could be gone the very next day because of the 'stupid war.' Maybe you'll feel no remorse because of that bad blood, but what if you do? What if this is just a senseless phase after all? It's just like they say; you don't know what you have until it's gone."

"Is this really what you think about all day?" Surei muttered. "Gods, that's awful. I'm not an idiot, Ryu, of course I'd have some regrets. I'm just not going to ruin my life over it, especially when he's the one that fucked it up. I'd rather take what I have now and run."

"Please, just..." Ryu sighed, "Can you give yourself a week to change your mind? Don't waste it by pouting in your room, either."

Surei crossed his arms. "You make it sound like I'm a child."

"That's not my fault," Ryu remarked. "Listen to me. In the next week, talk to father and patch things up, and try to see this the way he does. It may remain the same, but maybe you'll surprise yourself. At least you'll be able to say you tried."

"I just tried talking to him," Surei insisted. "Look what happened."

"Talking, not yelling," said Ryu. "Act like a decent sylph and approach him. Collect yourself, know what you want and exactly how you'll put it, then say it calmly."

"Do you think I haven't tried that?" Surei argued.

"I know, but it's in there," Ryu insisted. "Trust me. He's capable of listening. You just need to stay patient, even when it seems impossible." He smirked. "You know, as much as you may hate it, you two are a lot alike. I think that's exactly why you can't get along."

Surei looked away. "History says otherwise. AIso, you just made me very uncomfortable.

"Sorry, but it's true," said Ryu.

Surei rolled his eyes.

"Hey." Ryu grabbed his shoulder. "I don't want you to think I'm taking his side, or not taking yours. I understand why you're frustrated, and why you'd be so desperate to leave. Obviously, I really hope you stay with us, but if you can't, I'll support you. I just hope you know what you're doing, out there." He tousled his hair. "You'll still be my little buddy, either way."

Surei smirked, jerking away. "Dork."

While Ryu kept teasing him, Surei felt better. Fights were typical in their family, but so was this. Ryu was only three years older, but did more to raise Surei than either of their parents. They had always been very close; Ryu would act proud of Surei for who he was, when even Chiro wouldn't, and Surei was happy being his 'sidekick' of sorts. Despite being more sympathetic to Chiro, he also knew he could trust Ryu with anything, and it would stay between them.

Ryu gained a joking tone. "I know, I know, it'll be hard to do anything without your big brother's sheer brilliance, but I'm sure you'll get by. It'll be hard! Very hard, indeed. However, you may just pull through."

"I'll admit, you'd be useful," Surei remarked. "Having an idiot follow me around would make me look much better."

"What?!"

"Just kidding."

"You little..."

Suddenly, Ryu tripped Surei, tackling him to the ground. He wrestled him into a pin, with most of his weight directly on top of him.

"Ryu, get off!" Surei growled.

"Not until you apologize," Ryu teased.

Surei wheezed, "I can't breathe, you fatass, get off my chest!"

"Fat?!" Ryu cried. "That is all muscle, you know! Come on, just say it."

"Never," Surei hissed.

"If you don't," Ryu taunted, "I'll knee you in the stones."

Surei's eyes narrowed. "You wouldn't."

"Eh, maybe not," Ryu taunted. "I know you want 'em for a certain dark-haired interest..."

Surei punched him. "I told you to never bring that up again!"

"And you thought I'd listen!" Ryu laughed, "Ah, you amuse me, little brother."

Suddenly, Surei broke his arm free and elbowed Ryu in the gut. He then shoved Ryu back and pinned him in a more uncomfortable hold. Ryu's fist was digging into his own gut, with too much weight on his back to moe it, and his face was pressed into the ground.

"Okay," Ryu wheezed. "You win."

"Say it," Surei taunted.

"Say what?!"

"That you're sorry for tackling me."

"You cretin!"

"Yup," Surei remarked. "It's the least you can do after lecturing me. Now, say it!"

"Alright, alright!" Ryu cried. "I'm sorry for tackling you, Surei."

Surei released him, and Ryu sat up, panting and rubbing his gut.

"Yeesh, that's effective," Ryu muttered. "See, though? You're really good at this. That's not the only time you've dominated in sparing, especially when you're really focused." He gained a taunting glare. "And not trying to take dives. I know your game."

Surei groaned, "Don't start this again."

Ryu crossed his arms. "Regardless of how you feel, you are going to talk to father, and wait before taking up that offer. Right?"

Surei rolled his eyes. "Yes, I'll try. Not today, though, I'll let him calm down." He sighed, "This is going to be very awkward, I can already tell."

"He is coming around!" Ryu cheered. He smirked. "Now, I bet you thought we were done, didn't you?"

"With what?" Asked Surei.

Ryu tackled him again, sparking another wrestling match. That much would continue for the following hours, but the whole time, either of them could sense the remaining tension.