The kings brother, always and forever

Andrew Leywin was not having a good day, first they lost the palace, and now two Scythes of all people were attacking them. Damn it, why did Tessia have to run off on her own!

Cadell Vritra was a strong foe, one he was being hard pressed to defeat, even with Sylvia's advice, even his godrunes weren't of much help. He needed more firepower. He may have the knowledge of a thousand-year-old Asura but his body was still human.

He moved out of the way to dodge the Vritras swing, which disintegrated the ground below him. He knew not how much longer he could fight. His reserves were being spread thin, yet Cadell hadn't broken a sweat.

A white figure burst out of the ground below Cadell, coiling itself around him.

'Father, run. I cannot hold him for much longer.'

'I will not leave you Jor.'

Rationally speaking running would be the best choice at this moment, but that wasn't an option, not when Arthur was quite literally killing himself with that form.

"Looks like you need some help." A cocky voice spoke from behind me.

'I didn't even sense him sneaking up on me, was I so focused on my fight? You have to do better Alexander. '

Alexander tilted his head as if listening to something. 'He's what? Are you sure Sylvia?'

The man in black walked past him, not even acknowledging his existence any further, focusing only on the Vritra in front of him.

Cadell stared warily at the man who appeared out of thin air, his aura seemed familiar for some reason, pure even. For a moment he thought this man was Agrona, but that thought was too absurd to be true.

"Who are you?"

Fayden brought up his hands, the silhouette of a blade forming in his hands. The sheer gravity of it was pulling Cadell towards it. It was as if he was wielding a blackhole in his hand.

With his sword held high, he said one word, "Come."

Cadell had no choice in the matter, his body was simply yanked forward. He could do nothing, not even as the phantom edge tore into his flesh, imploding him from the inside.

The wound left behind by such a strike was unlike any other, where a normal blade splits apart flesh and bone, this fuses them forcefully, grotesquely. Even Soulfire wouldn't heal such a wound easily.

But this spell was taxing, costing an absurd amount of mana. In fact, Andrew could barely feel any mana in the atmosphere anymore.

Fayden had maybe one more strike, but that's it. He will not have another chance.

"You know," He spoke, "The best thing about crossing worlds is that no one knows what skills I have."

Cadell had no idea of his aetheric capabilities, he had no time to react to a well-placed Void Step. Not like he could if he knew, the weapon in Faydens hand restricted his movement by a longshot.

Cadell felt something grab his head, he felt claws dig into his face, he felt the sheer force behind the grip, and he felt his eyes popping. That's the last thing he experienced before his head burst open.

Fayden retracted his ruby-like claws as Cadells body fell face first, "Huh, maybe I have gotten stronger."

"What just happened…"

"That," Fayden said, wiping the blood off his hands, "was me saving your ass. Now, where's that little masochist?"

Andrew's eyes widened, Arthur he could barely sense his mana anymore.

Following Andrew's gaze, Fayden looked towards Arthurs general direction. Something was very wrong, he could feel it. In a burst of black smoke, he was gone.

A few minutes earlier

"Arthur, you're not going to make it,"

"The portal isn't—it isn't going to stay stable for much longer, Sylv. P-please, I can't have you die too," Arthur was barely able to speak properly anymore, yet he did not regret his actions.

Nico Sever had long left, especially after seeing his comrade being killed so easily. Arthurs pocket dimension had holes cutting into it.

"Sylv? What are you-" Arthurs eyes widened as he saw his bonding glowing an ethereal purple.

"Try to keep yourself alive while I'm gone, okay?" Sylvie had a grin framing her face as her body disintegrated into lavender motes, attaching themselves to Arthurs body.

"Sylv, no! Don't do this!" Arthur screamed with all his being, he couldn't lose her too!

It was at this moment that Fayden Leywin arrived. But Sylvie wasn't worried, no one could harm them now.

Fayden could do nothing but stand and watch as his brother from another universe disappeared through a portal.

"Until we meet again…" Sylvie spoke those last four words before dissipating completely.

"..."

Andrew Leywin appeared mere moments later, "What happened, where are they?"

"They went through a portal." Fayden answered, "Come, we need to move."

"We need to look for him first."

"It's pointless, he could be anywhere. He had no control over the portal, as unstable as it was, for all we know he could have been sent to a whole different planet."

"That is no excuse to not look for him."

"Knowing him, he'll be back as soon as he can. We just need to wait."

"Dicahen cannot wait, we need him. He is our trump card."

"Well," He grinned, "good thing I'm here now then."

Andrew narrowed his eyes in suspicion, "Asuras cannot partake in this war, the treaty forbids it."

That didn't stop them from sending a Vritra to kill me. Fayden withheld rolling his eyes, "Fortunately, I am not one."

"You have the body of a pure-blooded Asura."

"..." Fayden deadpanned at him, "Allow me to rephrase, I am not one of the Asuras who partook in that treaty."

"Who are you then?"

Fayden bowed extravagantly, "Fayden Leywin, certified asshole and otherworldly Asura. Pleased to meet you."

He looked at him strangely, "That's…an interesting way to introduce yourself. Wait, did you just say Leywin."

"I also said otherworldly."

"..."

Faint voices assaulted my ears as I sensed dozens of mana signatures coming closer.

"I'll explain later, for now, we need to get our asses out of here."

.

.

.

"How is that even possible. It makes no sense." Andrew mumbled to himself after learning of Faydens dimensional traveling magic.

"Don't question it, magic and science don't go well together," Fayden replied, keeping his senses open to any pursuers. They had hidden themselves inside a cave in Elenoir in hopes that the forests of Elshire would keep any Alacryan soldiers away.

"Why are we hiding in the first place? Either of us could take on all of those soldiers by ourselves."

"I don't know about you, but I'm in no mood to fight right now."

"... Fair enough." he replied, "What is your world like?"

Fayden glanced at him for a brief moment, "From what I've heard from you it is much like yours, the only difference is that I replace you. And some of my friends don't exist here."

"So your Dicathen too…"

"Yes, Kiros Vritra attacked the castle himself, sent by Agrona to kill me. Honestly, I'd be flattered if he hadn't actually killed me."

"Is that how you got your Asuran body?"

"Kinda? I was supposed to ascend, either way, Kiros just kickstarted the process."

"Did your Sylvia leave you a gift too?"

"My worlds Sylvia? She never even met me, although I'd assume Arthur told her about me. Why, what did she give you?"

He shook his head, "It's irrelevant."

Fayden raised an eyebrow but didn't push him.

"You said Arthur is Dicathens trump card, but what about you?"

"What do you mean?"

"Are you not one of its trump cards too?"

He shook his head again, "No, Arthur has the potential to reach the Asuras, I do not. I am a strategist, not a brawler."

Faydens expression turned serious, he couldn't let his counterpart fall behind Arthur, "What core stage are you?"

"White, I have reached my prime."

"Like hell you have." Fayden exclaimed, "What says white stage is the final core stage you can acquire."

"The fact that I have had virtually no progress ever since I reached this stage. And I am still only human."

"Please, every stage comes with its own bottleneck. Being human doesn't stop you from entering the Integration stage."

"That is a stage only Asuras have ever reached."

"Asuras are nothing but glorified mana beasts."

"I'm a bit offended." His bond spoke for the first time since Faydens arrival.

"Am I wrong?"

"Not really."

"Exactly, humans can very well reach beyond the White core. Their short lifespan is the only thing stopping them. But you, you have reached that stage at what, sixteen?"

"Seventeen." He corrected.

"Irrelevant. You have most of your life ahead of you, that's a lot of time to break through white core. And I know I sound like one of those motivational speakers who don't do shit, but I'm only stating a fact. Unless you die in combat or by disease, you have around a hundred years left. While I understand it is too long to be practical, I'm also certain you will reach it sooner than a hundred years."

"..." Andrew was left speechless after that as he began pondering Faydens words.

After a while Fayden decided to check on him, only to see him meditating with full concentration. With a small smile on his face, he extended his fingers to his sternum, the ambient mana and aether responding to his call as he jump-started the process.

Andrew stirred for a brief moment but didn't break his focus.

Deciding to leave him alone, he walked to the entrance of the cave and settled down, staring at the rain wordlessly.

He ignored when Jor sat down beside him, not batting an eye when he transformed into a humanoid form.

"So, did you have a bond too?"

"...I do."

"Is he here?"

Fayden shook his head slightly, "No, I sent him away during my fight with Kiros. I haven't seen him since."

"Oh…what is he like?"

Fayden sighed wistfully, "His name is Ezekiel or Zeke for short. He is a wolf asura, the ancestor race of the Vritra. He resembles both me and Sylvie in personality. While he does try to keep me from being reckless and often proves to be the more mature one, he did take up some of my traits."

"What is his asuran form like?"

"His fur is predominantly black, with a bit of red and white spread around. He can consciously control his size, but the highest he has gone would be about a hundred metres. Heh, I remember how surprised I was when I first saw that. Noctis said that a fully grown Marchosias can grow to be multiple times that, in fact the highest recorded Marchosias has gone just below a thousand metres."

Jormungandr's jaw dropped, that was ridiculously tall, "Holy shit!"

Fayden chuckled, "Yeah that was my reaction too."

"...Do you miss him?"

"Every day." Fayden replied in a heartbeat, "Sometimes I regret my decision to send him away, but he would have died otherwise."

"You must be pissed at this Kiros."

"Oh trust me I am, I'm more pissed than I was when Lucas killed Nathan."

"...My condolences."

"No need, he's alive. Apparently, he got the same treatment as me."

"..."

"Yeah, I only learned that recently."

"How did-"

Jor stopped in the middle of his sentence, "Someones here."

Fayden nodded, "I sense around a hundred."

Getting up from his seated position, he looked back into the cave, "Go, stay with Andrew."

"But-"

"I can handle myself, but I can't be in two places at once. I need you to defend him for me."

Jormungandr didn't argue any further, he nodded and rushed away.

Black wisps rose from the ground in the cave, covering Andrew and Jormungandr in a thin veil, before solidifying into a sphere so tough only a Scythe could break through.

Cracking his knuckles, Fayden walked out, silver sparks emanating from his eyes as his godrune activated. A silver blade formed in his hand as the first of the Alacryans came into view.

[Well, I believe I speak for all of us when I say they're fucked.]