Ashton Flare

I scrunch my nose up in disgust as I notice the steel double bed that is supposedly ours at a corner of a room already filled with women, men and children alike at their own beds. Two rusted boxes replace our closets at the side out the bed. It looks plain, simple, and most of all, stolen.

I recognize it from the Kerthia Prison, the trip father made us take to make us see how powerful we were. I shake my head shying away from the memory as I notice a monitor showing pictures of last nights attack. A pale man with a black suit and a grim look stares right at the camera saying long words I'm too tired to make sense of.

Yet my annoying twin nudges me to look at the screen. I don't know if it is the lights that hide his shocked expression or if I just failed to notice it. The words he says and the pictures make no sense. I feel as if the air is knocked out of me and my flames are snatched away.

"With the death of the King and Queen, the Flare heirs are to take the throne. We are trying to get more information-" he continues but his voice is drowned out by the clapping and hoots of appreciation by the wanderers in the room.

Arieon tugs me away from the screen towards our bed while I try to remember my lessons and hold back my tears. One glance at Arieon shows he is trying to do the same. In just about a few seconds we can control ourselves enough to put up a smile. Arieon is better at this, he even claps with them, with those monsters that helped kill my father and mother.

~~♡~~

"Let's go eat, Ash." Arieon's voice echos through the now empty room. My feet feel frozen and my mind numb. I couldn't get up from the metal bed if I wanted to. Something like this is what I have been training for since I was two years old.

"We need to pretend to be happy if we want to survive." he whispers as if the smallest words could break me. I turn away to wipe away my tears before they fall. I know he is right but it doesn't make him less annoying.

I take a deep breath to steady myself before taking my twins hand in mine. A familiar gesture and yet, I feel distant. We were just pawns in a game that father needed to pass on the family name to, but memories of moments of happiness threaten to rush out leaving me broken.

I quietly lead us to towards the seemingly endless corridors to connecting to a huge room with long tables and longer benches. There are two weird round buns contain long green leaves, a brown squishy thing and some red circles in our trays for food. Needless to say, my appetite is already dead.

"I can't make out if your saving that burger for later or if you hate it." a girl with blonde hair a blue jacket chuckles and says nudging me.

"People eat that thing?" I ask without an ounce of control over my mouth. She blinks at me with surprise before pasting on a smile as if I'm joking.

"She just means eating that is a disgrace to it, you have to savor it." Arieon cuts in with his own I'm-so-handsome-and-awesome smile. "I'm Arieon and the grumpy one is Ashton, my twin."

"Leona." she replies with a wide grinn. I'm taller than her but she looks about the same age as us. "Glad our plan worked though huh? We took down two of the invincible Flares in one night." That wound feels too deep and early to joke about but I play along shooting her a smile.

"We are new here." Arieon shrugs, "We don't even know who we are standing for." Manipulation has never been his weak point, and now he would maybe get the answers we are searching for.

Leona's grinn only grows wider as she speaks "Well then, have you ever heard of The Lone Shadow?"