Dorian opened the front door. Smelled like food. Not bad actually. Shoes off, katana on the shelf.
"Yo." Marcus from the kitchen.
He was standing at the stove stirring a pot with one hand, the other hand scrolling through something on a small magic crystal display. Taller than Dorian, wider too. Short dark hair, same golden eyes as every Vale in the family. His pills were on the table. Bottle half empty.
"Where's mom?"
"At the neighbor's house. Said she'll be back later." Marcus tapped the crystal off and went back to stirring with both hands. "So how was the exam?"
"Pointless."
"Pointless." he repeated. "You been talking about this for months."
"And it was pointless."
"Did you fail?"
"No."
"So what's wrong then?"
"Everything was a waste of time. Kids who never touched a weapon swinging at each other. A written test I could do in my sleep. And a magic test where half the people couldn't even cast anything."
"At least you passed."
"Whatever."
Marcus put the spoon down. Turned around. Arms crossed. Looked him up and down real slow.
"You good?"
"Yeah."
"You look like shit."
Dorian looked down at himself. Sleeve ripped open from the fight, dust and dirt all over his clothes, dried sweat on his neck.
"There was a combat test." he said.
"And?"
"Won."
Marcus didn't move. "You won."
"Yeah."
"You. Won a fight. You."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Bro you never trained. Not once."
"So?"
"So how the hell did you win? Was the other kid missing an arm or something?"
"Nah." Dorian kicked his feet up on the chair next to him. Arms behind head. "Some noble kid. Full wyvern armor. Big fancy sword with runes on it. Whole package. Beat his ass."
Marcus opened his mouth. Closed it. Opened it again like he was loading a question but couldn't pick which one. "You beat a noble."
"Yep."
"First day."
"Yep."
"How."
"Talent."
"Talent." Marcus repeated, eyes narrow.
"Pure. Natural. Talent."
"You're such an asshole."
"Thanks."
Marcus just shook his head, grinning. Went back to the pot. "Mom's gonna flip."
"Don't tell her I was fighting."
"Too late. Telling her everything."
"Marcus."
"Everything."
Dorian sighed and leaned back.
It got quiet after that. Just the sound of the pot going. Dorian sat there watching his brother cook. Marcus was eighteen now. F rank adventurer. Making five coppers on a good day doing jobs nobody else wanted to do.
In Dorian's last life, Marcus died at that rank. Never moved up. Never got better. Dorian didn't do shit about it back then. Too busy feeling sorry for himself.
He remembered when Marcus died. What mission. Where. Just gotta show up this time.
"What about you?" Dorian asked after a while. "Work?"
"Moved some crates around a warehouse. Got five coppers for it."
"Five coppers." Dorian rubbed his face. Couldn't even buy a decent meal with that.
"Hey it's work."
"It's five coppers."
"You wanna come cook dinner instead? Go ahead." Marcus waved the spoon in his direction.
"Pass."
"Then don't talk about my five coppers."
"How's Lena?"
Marcus grinned right away. "Good. Real good actually. Got a date with her tonight."
"Tonight? It's past eight."
"Meeting at nine. That spot by the river."
"The cheap one?"
"Mind your business."
"Come on though. Tell me about her."
Marcus gave him a look. "You never asked about her before. Not even once."
"Asking now."
He stared at Dorian for a second. Shrugged.
"Selena's..." grinning before he even got through her name. "She's gorgeous man. Brown hair. Big brown eyes. Pretty face. And I don't mean that in a 'she's my girlfriend so I have to say it' way. She's actually beautiful."
"Mhm."
"And her smile. When she smiles at me I can't think straight. Like my head just goes empty."
He wasn't stirring anymore. Just holding the spoon, looking at nothing.
"She's strong too. C rank adventurer. That's legit. She could beat me up no problem."
"Probably?" Dorian said.
"Definitely." Marcus laughed. "And she's not afraid of shit. Last week some noble kid at the guild was running his mouth about how F rankers are useless. Selena walked right up to him and told him his rank came from his dad's wallet, not from anything he did."
Dorian snorted.
"RIGHT?!" Marcus was full on cheesing now. "And she does this dumb thing where she starts laughing at her joke before she even finishes telling it. Every single time. Can't control it."
"That sounds annoying."
"It's cute. Shut up."
He went quiet for a second. He stopped smiling.
"She makes me feel like I'm not..." went quiet. Shook his head. "Nah. Whatever."
"C rank dating an F rank." Dorian said.
"Thanks for that."
"Just saying."
"She told me rank doesn't mean anything if the person is worth it."
"...I like her."
Marcus just looked at him. "Okay seriously. Who are you."
"Cook."
Marcus laughed and went back to the stove. Dorian watched him from the table. Even facing the pot and thinking nobody was looking, he was still grinning.
In Dorian's last life, Selena was killed first. By nobles. Then Marcus went after them and got himself killed too.
Dorian's fingers pressed into the edge of the chair.
"She been taking missions?" he asked, keeping his voice even.
"Yeah. Brought me food today after one of hers." Marcus pointed at the table where a wrapped up meal was sitting. "Want some?"
"Nah. It's yours."
Marcus looked at the food and then back at Dorian.
"Seriously though. You're acting different today."
"Different how?"
"You're actually talking to me. Like having a conversation. You never do that."
True. Last life he didn't give Marcus the time of day.
"Dunno. Good mood I guess."
"You literally said the exam was pointless."
"..."
"..."
They both laughed at the same time.
For a minute it was just that. Normal. A kitchen. Two brothers giving each other a hard time over dinner.
Then Marcus went back to the pot and stopped. Just froze. Staring at the wall. His lips were moving but nothing was coming out. Went on for a few seconds before he blinked, grabbed the pill bottle and threw two in his mouth. No water.
Dorian watched. Kept his mouth shut.
Marcus heard voices since he was a kid. Doctors said it was in his head. Teachers wanted him pulled out of school. Even their mom thought he was sick for a while before she stopped asking about it. The pills kept the voices down most of the time but they never went away completely.
Nobody believed the voices were real. But Dorian knew better now.
They were demons. Actual demons from the other side, from that space between hell and the living world. Marcus could hear them because of something in his blood. Some old warlock gene that skipped everyone else in the family and ended up in him.
In Dorian's last life, he used that connection. Those same demons whispered to Marcus, and Marcus without understanding what he was passing along told Dorian everything he needed. Where to find the Eclipse Ark. How to bridge the gap between hell and earth. How to crack the gate wide open.
Every step of the apocalypse Dorian caused started with the voices inside his brother's head. And Marcus never had a clue.
He turned back to Dorian with a smile like nothing happened. "Food's done."
"Cool." Dorian said.
He looked at his brother. Eighteen years old. F rank. Demons talking in his head that nobody else could hear. Living off pills and five copper jobs. Dating a girl who thought he was worth more than all of that.
Last life, it ended bad for him.
'Not this time.'
Dorian knew exactly how to make sure of it.