Chapter Text
Lyney was 12 when he killed for the first time.
It was the night of their first benefactor’s party, where the twins were showcased like toys for the aristocrats’ pleasure. Even though Lyney was distrusting, he was still naive, and he had not noticed the noble who eyed Lynette. Once the party was over, he was helpless when his other half was sold away as a gift, a mere object to appease the rich’s desires for a night.
Lyney had gone after his sister armed with only a kitchen knife. Objectively, it was a stupid plan, but Lyney was desperate. He hadn’t even gotten out of their benefactor’s home before he was cornered by guards.
“Here, kitty boy~” the first guard had cooed, beckoning with her hand. Although Lynette had inherited the more obvious feline features from their parents, Lyney had to wrestle with stronger instincts than his sister.
He hissed at the guard.
Guard 2 had rolled his eyes. “We don’t have time for this. Bring him back to his room.” He grabbed at Lyney, igniting further the spark of terror that had been nurtured by Lynette’s disappearance.
Lyney’s knife was in the second guard’s throat within seconds. The wound sprayed iron blood across Lyney’s face, but he couldn’t care less at the moment.
The first guard gaped at him, her eyes wide as they took in her fallen colleague. She, too, died like the first, eyes still widened at what Lyney had done.
Lyney was 12 when he killed for the first time.
****
Lyney was 12 when he killed for the third time.
Having finally made it to Lynette’s captor’s mansion, it was child’s play to sweep through the halls like a ghost. The few guards in the noble’s home were removed rather quickly. Blood coated Lyney’s footsteps.
When he finally made it to where his sister was held, Lyney was stopped by the noble himself. The noble said, “Silly boy, what are you doing wandering around this late at night?” Only then did the noble notice Lyney’s knife. “Boy… what have you done?”
Only then did Lyney truly look at himself. His clothes were ruined, and his face was dripping in the blood of others. He tasted the iron tang in his mouth, and he knew, then.
Lyney tried to drop the knife, he did, but soon the noble, too, added to the grotesque painting on the orphan’s face.
He hated himself for it. He hated himself, then, too, because of the fiery manifestation of his passion that descended and bathed him in red light.
Lyney was 12 when he killed for the third time.
****
Lyney was a terrible brother, as well as a murderer.
Standing there, in front of the door keeping him from his twin, he hesitated. Lynette, undoubtedly, was facing a trauma that would scar her for the rest of her life, and Lyney was scared to see her.
What if she hates you for what you’ve done?
Like the coward he is, Lyney ran away, trusting the Maison Gardiennage to take care of his sister in the way he never could.
Lyney was a terrible brother.
****
Lynette was 12 when her brother died.
She’d been curled on the noble’s bed, rocking back and forth and trying to calm herself down. She was failing in the latter part when the Knave had opened the door. Immediately, Lynette’s nose picked up on the iron stench in the hallways, and it wasn’t hard to put two and two together. The Harbinger had picked Lynette up with the claws that she must have used to kill the guards, and brought her to the House of the Hearth. Yet, despite all the goodwill Lynette was being showered with, the first thing out of her mouth was not gratitude, but, “Where’s my brother?”
Arlecchino had frozen at that moment. “...brother? What brother?”
Lynette flinched at the ice in the woman’s tone. “My twin. Lyney. We were separated when I was given away. He’s still with the man who took us in.”
Frosty eyes met fearful ones. “He’s still with that man?”
Lynette only nodded in response. After their exchange, Arlecchino had personally gone to their benefactor’s house, and came back empty handed. She even initiated a manhunt, which ended quickly when Lyney’s signature hat was found with blood-soaked clothes. Her grief lasted months, and only ended when an Anemo Vision descended and reminded her that life still goes on.
Lynette was 12 when her brother died.
****
Arlecchino was puzzled. Stumped, actually.
Lynette, Tsaritsa bless her soul, was unaware of this, but the Knave had not been the one to completely eradicate the noble’s house of other living things. Nor was she the one to kill the two guards at the house of Lynette’s benefactor. Both places had an exceptionally sloppy method of killing. Perhaps the culprit was an inexperienced admirer of Lynette? If so, the girl would have to be protected from any ill-intended advances.
But.
Then there was the matter of Lynette’s brother. Allegedly killed and dumped in the ocean. Lynette’s old benefactor had claimed innocence for the deed in the trial, and there was no real reason to kill the boy if one wished to grow close to Lynette. Unless they wanted no competitors for her attention?
Safe to say, Arlecchino was puzzled.