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His motivation burned like everblaze an unstoppable flame. Kenric Fathdon, his brother. Everyday his parents would tell him that, and how Clay should be more like Kenric. How Kenric let nothing stand in his way. He told Kenric once, and in response he said
“Don't listen to them kid I'm sure you'll do great things one day.” But that's the thing, what if Clay didn't want to be extraordinary, or amazing, or change the world. What if he just wanted to be plain ordinary Clay Fathdon. He tried to talk to one of his friends about it once they just slammed their locker and told him
“Boo-hoo you have expectations from your family and a councilor for a brother.” They didn't talk for a week after that.
It got even worse when he was twelve. He manifested as a telepath. It didn't help that he and Kenric looked identical with the bright curly red hair, right down to the same shade of blue eyes. The only difference was that Clay was smaller than Kenric was. So since he couldn't do anything about his eye color he grabbed his dad's razor and shaved his whole head, completely bald. He was tired of being known as “Little Kenric” “that one councilors brother” “the second Fathdon” He was his own person, not his brother's brother.
He walked down the stairs to the leapmaster grabbing breakfast off the table as he walked past. He ignored his parents even as he heard his mother scream, a plate drop and crack, his father demanding an explanation, what has gotten into him, and to get back here. He'd show them, he'd show them all. He was nothing like his brother.
Years later as he watched a whole being dug in the ground, for a tiny seed, nothing like the larger than life figure his brother was. He thought the topic over again. Yeah, why would he want to be like his brother, sure he was an amazing ruler and role model but look where it got him. He's dead, killed by everblaze the unstoppable flame. But even still he wipes the tears that fall as that seed gets planted into the ground.
And nothing was ever the same again.