Cronos Aphelion squeezed Feray’s hand as she labored. His mother Daphnis’ ear pressed against the outside of the bedroom door. The entire Aphelion family held their breath, ready to welcome the most important person into the world: the heir of their bloodline.
Feray had carried for nine months, uncomfortable. Labored for ten hours in pain, pushing. But it was all worth it for the moment they welcomed a healthy baby girl into the world. Cronos held the new babe in both arms. Her name was Jupiter. He, his mother, and wife carefully selected it from astral names of old. It was lucky. It was prosperous. Perfect for the next generation of the Bloodline of Cosmic Order.
But Feray continued to bleed. In just minutes, she screamed and bared down once more. Daphnis burst into the room. Between his mother, his heir, and his wife’s anguish, Cronos stood in shock as they welcomed a second healthy baby girl into the world. Mercury.
The possibility of twins had not crossed anyone’s minds in the Aphelion family because frankly, Aphelions were only-children. Since their ancestor Cosmo harnessed the power of Cosmic Order more than ten generations ago, no one had sired more than a single child. No one dared risk diluting the bloodline. The Aphelion family waited with baited breath to see if this second child would cleave the magic in two.
Jupiter’s eyes opened, and a proud smile crept across Cronos’ face. In her blue eyes, starlit silver spiraled inward toward her pupils, just like his. The epitome of Cosmic Order. But in Mercury’s eyes, the flecks of silver bore no shape. Just as he thought. This one was not a carrier. Only one child could carry on the soul of their bloodline. She was simply an empty copy.
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As the twins grew, Cronos attempted to show Jupiter order, the principles of the soul she possessed, and how to sense it within herself. Jupiter’s magical power held promise. With time, he thought, she’d refine it and become a rightful wielder of their family’s great power. Mercury, while naturally orderly, was naturally incredibly needy. And unremarkable.
“Let Feray take care of the other one,” Daphnis had instructed. “You show Jupiter the wonders of our bloodline.”
Cronos spent his time exclusively with Jupiter. The twins cried when separated, but traveling to the ends of the Reian Empire usually soothed Jupiter’s tears. The first many years of training Cronos let Jupiter freely explore her powers, he encouraged it. And with their noble standing, Jupiter saw the world she was promised, while Mercury found her own within the books her mother let her read. Eventually, she could perform small feats of magic, but Cronos did not care. It wasn’t the same innate power he had inside him.
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Daphnis had grown very old. Where they once could hire the nation’s finest healers, the Reian Empire’s list of unacceptable species had expanded. Aasimars were no longer human-enough. And no healer would dare take the job. Cronos planned to move the five of them to their summer home on the outskirts of the Empire, where his mother could spend her final days peacefully. But the night before the Aphelion family’s departure, the Aasimar raids had begun.
As the family home went up in flames, Daphnis stood against the guards alone. She urged Cronos to take Jupiter and run, so their power could live on. She feared the end of the Bloodline of Cosmic Order more than death itself. Cronos grabbed Jupiter and a trunk full of jewels and escaped. It was when Jupiter cried for her sister, for her mother, that Cronos turned back to face the burning house. And the two girls he’d chosen to leave behind.
Moments later, in a haze of silvery mist, Feray and Mercury appeared, soot-covered. Bloodied. Shocked. They’d conjured a form of magic to save themselves, Cronos realized. He noted the trunk Mercury had managed to grab, one she’d filled with books and clothes. He’d wished she’d grabbed the trunk full of money instead.
Nobody spoke as the family of four slipped into the night.
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The Empire began to enforce a policy that any human caught hiding an Aasimar would be put to death for treason. So the Aphelion family slowly journeyed to the edges of the Reian Empire. They slept in abandoned towns, hiding in the terrifying forests, and traveled only by night. Many times they’d avoid towns all together, taking a treacherous route to their summer home. Noble families should not live this way.
For months, Cronos grew bitter at what they’d lost. At the lack of structure Jupiter needed to hone her innate power. At Feray’s coldness since the burning house. At Mercury’s insistence on helping. Her incessant need to stay by her sister. When the family reached their summer home on the outskirts, it had been burned down. No corner of the Empire would be safe anymore.
One night, as they stayed in an inn just outside of Reia’s influence, the twins shared a bed, his wife in another, while Cronos planned their next move. But in the night, more raiders came.
Feray cracked the door open, only revealing her human face. She used her charm, suggested the guards check down the hall for people hiding. Behind her, trunks were packed. The twins were roused. Cronos readied them all to escape when the door to their room came crashing down. Fire blazed, missiles flew, screaming broke out. But when a Reian guard grabbed Feray by her hair, a knife to her neck, Cronos ordered the girls out the window. Before he could strike the guards, Feray spoke.
“Don’t split them up again.”
And then they slit her throat.
Jupiter’s anguish fueled her. She blasted holes through raiders; she let them feel her world-shattering rage. The three of them carved their way through the people who stole Feray from them. They didn’t leave the town until every Reian had been turned to human paste. Despite Mercury fighting through her tears, her heart cleaved in two, Cronos still found her unremarkable.
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The family made it to the Atria, where Cronos’ used his still-considerable wealth to secure them housing. He enrolled Jupiter and Mercury at Cessa Academy of Arcane Arts & Science. He could tell it bothered Jupiter, to not bask in their wealth and power. One day, he promised her, she’d be legendary, and the cosmos would know her name.
Years went by, and Jupiter’s performance in Cessa Academy began to cause concern. She coasted on natural talent, but her discipline? Non-existent. She spent money carelessly, she skipped classes. She was caught tampering with a cursed blade that had been forged by a dark entity; she may have even made a pact with it. This broke the rules of magical conduct at Cessa, and now, Jupiter was on the brink of expulsion.
Cronos could not bear the embarrassment to his bloodline. So when the administration demanded a group of students help recover a large debt, he knew what Jupiter must do. She protested, said it was beneath them to stoop as low as mercenary work. But she needed structure. She needed discipline. And he failed to give it to her. Mercury would be sent along too, to ensure Jupiter completes her mission and reclaims her rightful spot at the Cessa Academy. And to keep the twins together, as Feray wished.
With 200 gold and academy-provided explorers packs, Jupiter and Mercury were set to begin their next adventure in the morning. And Cronos would wait in Atria for his prodigal daughter to return.
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