Work Text:
Ignite
It was early yet. The sky, clothed in glorious color, spread out above the landscape. Streaks of vibrant orange, delicate pinks, shading down to blue-violet in a prelude of what was to come: a velvety, rich darkness. It had been cloudy during daylight hours. Tonight, the heavens would be mostly starless.
Reiji watched from the woods. He had come through the corridor below ground, following Shu. It had become rather a pattern for him lately. He did not always come to spy on his older brother; occasionally, Reiji came just to observe these peasants living their pathetic lives. He had tried to understand just what the attraction was, but it was beyond him. Though he would like to dissect one someday, he presently saw the human species as beings of little merit, insignificant beyond their uses for scientific study or food.
They could, on occasion, be entertaining.
However, all amusements must end; this was the nature of things. Reiji was still and silent, hidden among the trees, watching. The breeze lifted, shaking loose a few leaves. It was autumn. The colors on the trees were becoming more vibrant, and the silly weeds the humans used for food were tinged with gold in the field below. It was somewhat beautiful. Some of the colors reminded him of his mother’s hair.
He sighed. Mother.
Mother was back at the castle, tearing their residence apart, searching for Shu. Her alarm was understandable; as royal children, their lives were often in danger. There had been more than one attempt on Shu’s life as a very young child. More recently, there had been an incident last year where an assassin, disguised as a maid, had been apprehended before reaching the apartments where the younger children lived. Naturally, when Shu vanished, as he often did these days, Mother became agitated almost beyond reason. Reiji was entirely forgotten. That would not always be the case; the boy had a plan to make her notice him. It was a very good plan, he felt. He could not only bring Shu back to her, as he had promised, but he could ensure that Shu stayed where he was supposed to be. Mother need not worry anymore.
He would take care of everything.
Reiji often carried medicines in the event anyone was hurt, trying to be helpful to his family. It was his duty. He had little opportunity to use them, but he was prepared anyway. Tonight, he had some other things with him instead. Things not intended to heal.
Stiff with apprehension, he stared down at the village. It was going to be a large undertaking, but he could do it. He was certain. Vampires were superior beings, after all. Had he not ample proof of that?
He carried with him a bucket filled with a grainy substance, a concoction of his own making. Reiji had recently been reading books about the Greeks and their civilization, the works of Socrates, Plato and Euclid, and a general history as well. The books were quite advanced for a child of his age, but he wanted to pursue knowledge for a better understanding of everything around him. He worked hard, studying all the time. He struggled to understand the ancient Greeks’ thought processes on beauty, mathematics, and warfare. Father was a wise and brilliant king. Mother was highly educated, an intellectual who wrote volumes. Reiji desired nothing more than to be a worthy son, to make them proud. To earn that love that seemed always just out of reach.
The Greeks were very clever humans and had a very good grasp of certain chemical reactions. The materials inside the bucket were Reiji’s attempt to recreate a particular substance that had been named in their honor, but the precise recipe of which had been lost to time. He made his way down the hill, treading carefully in the fading light. His vision improved as night came upon the world. It was peaceful. The weeds swished around his body as he made his way through them. Crickets chirped. Reiji could smell the woodsy smoke from hearth fires, the pungent, earthy scent of animals and many other things. His sense of smell, far sharper than a human’s, could already detect traces of the dozens of different humans by the time he arrived at the village perimeter. He was unused to such things. He did not, as a general rule, spend much time in the human world. If Father found out about these little expeditions, he had no doubt both he and Shu would be punished. He shivered slightly at the thought of Father’s anger. As long as neither of them were caught, it would be fine.
This, like many other things, was Shu’s fault.
Reiji would never break the rules on his own. He was a good son. That was why he was here in the first place. Mother needed him. He would do anything for Mother. If she would only stop being so sad…and if Shu suffered in the process, all the better.
Reiji smiled then, maliciously. It was time someone took from Shu what mattered most to him. Time and again, Shu threw away everything he was given, and Reiji was thoroughly sick of it. Ingratitude was a sin, as far as he was concerned, but that was a lesson Shu had never seemed to grasp. Reiji had begun trying to teach it to him by taking away what did matter. Small things, at first. Sheet music. Mementos. He had been escalating to larger, more meaningful objects recently. There had been an incident at the birthday party… something precious had been utterly smashed. He still remembered those satisfying coils of snapped strings and splintered wood shards fondly. Shu’s face had been a portrait of misery for several seconds before lapsing into stoic blankness. Reiji knew he had gotten under his older brother’s skin then. It was not quite enough, however. Shu still had not learned his lesson, because here they were again, a mere two weeks later, and the human was still preoccupying Shu. They were away in the woods somewhere, but they would be here soon enough. Reiji would set a trap that was irresistible.
Reiji crept along behind a barn, surveying the cluster of homes and shops. This was primarily a farming community, but they did have a blacksmith. It would be useful. He stole into the smithy, abandoned for the night. The fire was banked, resting. Reiji paused, the glow warming him. It was delicious. The red-orange flames seethed in their nest, waiting to spring up and into life, to devour hungrily. Not unlike a vampire, he thought. We are the same. Endless hunger, the eternal, greedy need to consume what lies in our way. To destroy worthless things.
“A place with no value has no reason to exist. Don’t you agree? If there is no reason to keep something, it is best removed. It is a nuisance.” Reiji murmured to the embers glowing in their ashy nest. He fed the flames some coal from the scuttle the blacksmith kept. They began to curl upward, to awaken to his call. Be my servant tonight, and I will reward you with a grand feast, he thought.
The boy laughed. It wasn’t a nice laugh.
Leaving the smithy, he moved silently behind homes and shops, avoiding windows. He did not wish to be noticed. The sun had set now. The villagers were settling down to their evening meals or tending to last chores before retiring for the night. A few were wandering over to the tavern, and Reiji took care to stay out of sight. The village did not have electricity, which was a benefit to Reiji. The artificial lights would make him more detectable as he went about his work this night, and it would be inconvenient for humans to notice an aristocratic boy with a suspicious bucket. Reiji dipped one gloved hand into the grainy mixture, soiling it irretrievably. A few sacrifices must be made on his part, so the greater sacrifice could be enacted. He carefully left a trail of the substance along the wooden threshold of a house, across windowsills, and then, with the aid of a water barrel, he climbed to the roof. Carefully moving over thatch, he spread handfuls of grey grains. At the end of the roofline, he deftly used his naturally superior vampire abilities and leapt to the low roof of a shed next door, and repeated the process from house to shop, shed to barn, until the bucket was empty.
At the last house, he heard humans praying to their ridiculous god. The man read aloud bible passages in between prayers for good harvests, good health, and prosperity. Reiji sneered. As if supplication to a fictional Deity could provide those things. They were the results of consideration, coincidence, or diligence. Not gifts from a superior being. If anything, they were a product mainly of luck. Humans were such simple creatures. They would believe anything.The catastrophe that would occur tonight might even be attributed to this so-called god they believed in, as a punishment for the sins of the village. Punishment was what was needed here, Reiji could not deny that. Though it had very little to do with these humans, they were going to die. Only one in particular was truly his target, but Reiji did not wish to leave anything to chance. If Shu could become attached to one human, what might happen if there were others around? Eliminating just Edgar would not do, not when he might be replaced with other humans. No, Reiji had realized that the entire village had to pay for Shu’s sins.
That was why he had brought the bucket and its mysterious contents here.
'Here’ is unlikely to exist for much longer, he thought.
He surveyed his work of the night thus far. He felt something akin to what it must be like to be a god, like Zeus or Aries, bringing fire down on mortals. “Hmph. I am in a position to decide their fate.” For the first time in his young life, Reiji felt...powerful. He liked it.
He thought for a moment, a slight hesitation, quickly squashed down by logic. Why have power and never use it? Power was meant to be used. Therefore…
“Therefore, since this place does no good, I am going to destroy it.” He declared to the night.
Reiji had brought along his own homemade Greek fire to accomplish the task at hand. He was eager to see how his recipe performed against historical accounts of the original Greek version. It would be an interesting experiment.
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Consume
The boy returned to the smithy and removed his soiled gloves with care. It would not do to wear them now, they had a coating of the deadly substance on them. He had taken a bundle of dried kindling from a shed at the last house, and he broke it into smaller bunches, makeshift torches. The fire, awake now and hungry, took the offered kindling. Reiji began with the house furthest away from the smithy, working his way back towards it, pausing only to drop the small branches as they burned too close to his hands. He lit the next makeshift torch in succession, watching in pleasure as the flames caught again…and again. The fire spread slowly, until the first of Reiji’s flames found the substance he’d left for them in a trail of destruction. When he reached the smithy for the final time, the first cries of alarm were being raised as the humans noticed the fire, which was already well on its way to a conflagration. Villagers were discovering to their horror that doors and windows, their means of escape, had been useless, already engulfed in flame. A few resourceful humans had hatchets or tools and hacked their way out of their homes through the walls, but the majority would not be so lucky. Even stone houses had plenty of dry wood on the inside, and once a fiery thatched roof caved in, that would be the end of the inhabitants, if the smoke did not suffocate them first.
Satisfied at his handiwork, Reiji tossed the soiled gloves into the smithy’s fire, watching them immolate for a moment before moving on. It was time to take his leave.
The fire crackled and structures began to collapse. The roar of flames and popping of dry wood was the dominant sound of the night. No more prayers, no more singing, no more laughter now. Only the steady seething of a fire devouring its feast.
Reiji bid adieu to the village as cinders and ash floated in the air around him like a grey snow, flaring briefly orange in the breezy October night before whirling away. It was strangely beautiful. He could smell the smoke, see it thickening as the pulsing orange glow lit up the night sky. He smiled when he saw a panicked boy running over what were once the wagon tracks leading to his home, towards a house already well-consumed by flames. He reached the house, halted by the heat and the flames, screaming for his parents. There was a terrible creaking as what had once been a house fell to earth, and the boy…was nowhere to be seen. One problem eliminated. Now for the other…
Shu stood immobile, struck into paralysis by the work of his brother’s hands. “Edgar!” He cried out once, agonized, watching the fire as it levelled the village.
Approaching behind Shu, Reiji spoke, “As it seems you are incapable of doing anything other than breathing…you should stay put inside the castle.” Reiji smiled, and added for good measure, “You are a worthless good-for-nothing, Shu.”
Shu tore his gaze from the horror across the field. “Reiji…?”
“This is all your fault.” Reiji twisted the knife, years of jealousy fueling the other fire, the one that burned inside him. The one that was beginning to consume him.
Shu’s eyes, the same blue as their mother’s, filled with shock and pain, focused on Reiji. It felt good. At last, they were equal. Reiji, always invisible to everyone, always second, always miserable…and now Shu would feel that pain. He would feel it tenfold.
Before that disgusting peasant, it had been almost bearable. Reiji had been miserable because nobody paid attention to him, and Shu had been miserable because everyone paid attention to him. Their mother’s expectations and their father’s status had made Shu the prized and precious child, but he hated it. Reiji was a perceptive boy and he knew that. Somehow, when that human had come along, everything was worse because Shu was running off and disappointing Mother, and he was happier doing it. He was enjoying the pain he caused her, enjoying throwing away her attention and the future he’d been given. The future that Reiji wanted and couldn’t bear to see Shu disregard.
Reiji would make him do what was expected. He would be the heir their parents wanted, and Reiji was the one who would deliver that. Reiji had made everything right again. Shu would go back to the castle, where he belonged, and without any distractions, he would become what their mother wanted him to be…and Reiji would at last be recognized for his contributions.
I helped Mother by getting rid of the vermin. She will at last see that I am worthy, too.
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Embers
Days passed. The village, now a blackened horror on the landscape, was still and silent. Only the breeze moved here now, not even the animals came, still too afraid of the smoke scent that lingered. Reiji stood once again at the place he had been that night. The night of his intended victory. He was looking down from the hilly woodlands at Shu below, who was staring forlornly at the ruins.
Reiji had expected everything to return to the way it was, before that…human…had ruined things. He had formed the perfect plan: destroy the village, and once it was gone, there would be no reason for Shu to run off anymore. Shu would no longer be distracted or tempted by the human world; he would become the heir his mother wanted. Mother would, of course, be grateful and reward Reiji for his cleverness. She would finally approve of something he had done. Shu would succeed their father someday and prove that they were better than that woman’s children, just as Mother wanted. Mother would be proud of both of them.
That was not how it had played out.
Shu was sneaking off more than ever, failing to do what was expected, and worse, failing their mother. The good-for-nothing kept returning to the ruins of the village, moping. The village was nothing but a blackened pit. Edgar clearly wasn’t there. Edgar wasn’t anywhere anymore. Yet, Shu stood, staring into it, hollow-eyed, seemingly mesmerized by the ashes.
Reiji had done what was necessary to place his brother back onto the correct path.
Unfortunately, Shu was becoming more of a good-for-nothing than ever before. He had begun to slack off at their lessons. He spent his time alone, withdrawing into silent wandering in the garden, or playing his old violin. The screeching irritated Reiji to no end. He kept trying to cajole Shu into doing what was needed of him, but without success. He insisted on moping about, visiting the place where the village had once been, day after day. Reiji did not understand this attachment to a prey. It was madness.
Reiji trudged down the hill, through the now fallow field, the wind whipping the last of the leaves around in a frenzy. It was the time of year when the human world became deathlike, all the plants dead or dormant, the first signs of winter in the air.
Mother had noticed the change in Shu, but she hadn’t noticed that Reiji had been the cause of it. There was talk at the castle of the village burning and the complaint because of the lack of convenient humans to hunt. Surely his mother would have realized the connection? But no. Not even this, it seemed, was worthy of her notice. In fact, she gave Shu more attention now than ever before, encouraging his spoiled older brother to try harder at his studies. It infuriated him. He had gone far above what was necessary, he had destroyed an entire villageto please her, all for nothing. Reiji had brought Shu back without fail, as promised, and he had seen to it that it was permanent. There would be no more village children to distract Shu.
Not one word of gratitude ever escaped her lips. She did not love him, he realized. But he at least thought she might respect him a little, or see how much he cared about their family, and acknowledge him for it. That would be enough, that small thing, but it was always nothing, for him.
It was Shu’s fault.
If Shu hadn’t been disobedient in the first place, hadn’t had this irrational need for the company of a human, none of this would have happened.
Shu was holding a partially charred apple in his hand, staring at it desolately. The apple was perfect on one side, a juicy and vibrant red tinged with green. It had survived the fire, but not without scars. The other side was blackened, tough and crackly.
The blond head of his older brother raised as Reiji approached. There was a certain blankness, a lethargy to Shu’s gaze that had never been there before. Reiji began to feel the first tingles of apprehension in himself.
Had he done something he shouldn’t have?
No. That was ridiculous. Humans were disposable creatures, they were nothing. Shu was being his usual spoiled self, unhappy to have his toys taken away, not appreciating that his responsibilities were more important than any trifling distractions.
He was just taking longer to learn this than Reiji would have expected. Eventually, Shu would forget all this. He would realize how foolish he had been and return to the castle and his duties as the heir. Mother would be happy.
Everything would be alright again. Shu was just being stubborn.
Wasn’t he?
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Ashes
Reiji stood alone, staring out the windows of his laboratory. Today was the anniversary. Shu was off in the garden, moping. He was sitting, staring at nothing, while Reiji, from his third-floor sanctuary, stared at Shu…yet both of them were seeing the same thing.
Flames against the night sky. Piles of ash and the blackened remains of a village, now silent for eternity. A charred apple.
Why was I so foolish…? The thought plagued him sometimes. Though he would not admit it, there were days Reiji thoroughly regretted his actions. His childish self would not fully understand the consequences of the fire for some years, until he began to see the changes within Shu were permanent. Shu was a wreck of his former self. Unable to move past that one moment of incineration, Shu was locked in the past, a prisoner. Reiji had become his jailer and tormentor.
Reiji had effectively committed both of them to an endless punishment. Shu no longer cared about anything, and if Reiji had believed him to be a good-for-nothing when they were children, he had been mistaken. Shu was far worse now than he had ever been as a child. He was still spoiled and selfish, but now he dumped all his responsibilities on Reiji. Taking care of the mansion, tasks from Father, looking after their brothers, the brides…everything. Shu lacked any interest in anything and allowed himself to be little more than a leech, hardly moving, expending no effort, spending most of his time asleep. Doing nothing other than breathing, as if it were truly all he was capable of.
It was not what I wanted,Reiji thought. This is not the man you were supposed to be. This is not…who I was supposed to be. How have we come to this?
Reiji sighed, once, and pushed his glasses up his nose. They were all prisoners of the past here. The house was silent, but the ghosts would not rest, tormenting everyone loudly inside their minds. A silent misery.
The ghost of Mother loomed before him, smiling at him in her death throes.
“I had always held onto the hope…”
Reiji silenced her. Not now. I will not allow it.
Edgar, too, haunted him sometimes, the vision of an awkward boy at a ball, Reiji mocking him gleefully as he stomped gracelessly onto the dance floor. How he had laughed as Edgar had accosted a pretty young girl and clumsily attempted to dance with her, trampling her toes, stepping on her skirt, and nearly crashing them into other couples. It had been amusing, a childish vengeance. Shu’s face had been the picture of mortified helplessness.
It paled in comparison with what happened later, when the village had burned.
What would have happened if there had never been a fire?
It was pointless to speculate, an exercise in frustration. The past could not be altered.
Reiji turned from the window, pacing. Perhaps a cup of tea. Tea was always so calming. He doubted even tea could ease his melancholy frame of mind tonight. It was worth the attempt, however.
Reiji boiled the water and warmed the teapot with it inside. As the delicate china grew warm, he discarded the water, and reached for the tea tin.
His only real indulgence, tea was one of the only pleasures he allowed himself. Reiji had learned young that a disciplined life was the only way to accomplish one’s goals.
Discipline was everything.
The tea leaves, carefully measured, rested in their tea strainer as he poured the boiling water over them. The water swirled, cloudy trails of honey brown blooming, escaping the strainer.
Where there was no discipline, passion and sloth and all other disdainful things took over. He could never allow that. A lapse could mean allowing the dirtiness of unbridled emotions to touch him. The fire had taught him about that. Shu, unfortunately, had not learned the same lesson as he had.
This endless jealousy, this petty vengeance we wreak on each other, is a cycle we are powerless to break. I cannot move past it. Neither can you.
Three minutes passed, the tea steeping perfectly. He removed the strainer with one gloved hand. It was an odd, hinged spoon-shaped device, with delicate holes to release the tea leaves’ elixir. He treasured his possessions, chosen carefully for their aesthetics and usefulness.
He raised the tea tray and carried it to his solitary armchair by the fireplace.
Someone had to maintain the standards of this house, of the Sakamaki name. Reiji was the only one left who could do that. The idiots were hopeless, though he never gave up on them. There were days, however, when he was tempted to just let it all go…but that he would never do. It would be wrong, to abandon his duty. Everything…was for the family.
He poured the tea into the waiting cup, a pretty thing with cherry blossoms painted delicately by hand. It was one of his favorites, though not especially valuable. It had a certain quality, however, one he found pleasing. As he raised the cup to his lips, he inhaled the delicate fragrance of the darjeeling.
Tea was perfect. It was a calming ritual, one he took solace in. There was so little left to him that could offer that. He had gradually seen that he was becoming servile, the ‘butler’ everyone around him seemed to view him as, even as he strove for perfection and yet seemed to affect nothing around him but himself. Perhaps that was his punishment. Reiji took another sip of the steaming liquid.
Is this how we are to spend eternity?
Or must we end it the way it began, with spilled blood?
The pocket watch ticked softly, keeping time in this long eternity.