A white-haired male with blue eyes walked down the hallway, heading towards what seemed to be an archery club. When he walked into the club there were a few people in there who waved and greeted him politely. 

“Hey Brandon, Ritchie is still at the range if you want to get him.” One of the girls said. Brandon sighed and asked, “Is he overworking himself for the semifinals?” The girl looked guilty but replied, “Sorry, we can’t stop him forcibly and you were in your own club. We did get Mario to spot him though.”

Brandon shook his head and grabbed his twin’s backpack with ease. “Thank you for calling Mario to spot him, someone is better than no one,” Brandon said as he waved goodbye, heading to the range. He soundlessly walked into the range as an arrow flew into the target’s bullseye, the arrow being shot by a focused Ritchie.

Mario was sitting by the door, watching Ritchie with a close eye. As Ritchie readied himself to shoot another arrow, Brandon put his hand wordlessly on Mario’s shoulder, so as not to disturb the focused blunette. Mario jumped slightly but held back a yelp so as to not mess Ritchie up.

Mario gave Brandon a ‘are you kidding me’ look, Brandon responding with a shrug. Mario sighed and showed Brandon a ¼ empty water bottle. Brandon pouted at the quarter empty bottle as Ritchie took the shot, getting another bullseye. 

“I think that was a good shot, but it could be better. What do you think Mario?” Ritchie asks as he wipes the sweat from his forehead. Brandon walked up behind Ritchie and wrapped his arms around his waist, pulling Ritchie against his chest. 

“I think that was a perfect shot. Do you know what could be better though? The amount of water you’ve drunk all practice because a fourth of the whole bottle isn’t very healthy. Especially since you’ve been at this for about an hour and a half.” Brandon said as he rested his chin on Ritchie’s head.

Ritchie squeaked and stuttered out “A-Ah Brother! I didn’t t-think you’d c-come to get me!” Mario snickered and said, “Doesn’t he usually pick you up on Fridays after his own club. He usually is the one who watches you during practice too.” Ritchie pouted and replied with a “Shut up Mario!” Both Brandon and Mario chuckled, “Come on brother, go pack up your bow and I’ll put the arrows back.”

Ritchie pouted but complied, Brandon going to the target to get the arrows. “I’m going to head out now, Tapio probably managed to escape my apartment by now. The curious little thing really likes to socialize with the tenants.” Mario said as he grabbed his backpack.

“Tell Tapio I said hi then,” Brandon said as he waved goodbye. Ritchie walked in a minute later with his own backpack, “I’m ready Brother!” Brandon smiled and took his brother’s hand and they began to make their way home.

They had just made their way out of the school when Ritchie asked, “I kinda want to go see if Gramps is at the library today. Want to go see?” “Hmmm, why not,” Brandon said as they made the turn, heading to the public library.

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They quickly made it to the library and went to the fairy tale and fable section. Like usual, the old man Johnathan was there like always, reading yet another Grimm’s fairy tale. “Hi, Gramps! Whatcha reading this time?” Ritchie greeted with a smile. “Ah, Ritchie and Brandon! Welcome back to the land of fantasy! I’m currently reading Grimm’s version of Rapunzel. So what brings you to my land of tales?”

Ritchie and Brandon plopped down on the bean bags near Johnathan’s white with gold trims armchair. “We wanted to see if you read any new stories,” Brandon answered as Ritchie nodded. “Hmm, not anything recent that I think you’ll like. But I do have some interesting ‘tea’ that I can spill! That's the lingo you kids use nowadays right, spilling the tea!” Johnathan said with a smile.

Brandon and Ritchie looked at each other, mentally agreeing not to comment on the slang. “What kind of… tea do you have to spill?” Ritchie asked, curious as to what Johnathan knew. “Well, I’ve heard that there is this new app called Spirit. I hear it’s up for beta testing and that other kids downloaded it too! And since it sounded so mysterious, I decided to download it myself. There is even a friend and alliance feature! You should totally get the app! It should show up in your recommended games!”

The twins had two different reactions, Ritchie was very interested while Brandon looked skeptical. “Is it like a war game?” Ritchie asked, an excited gleam in his eyes. “Hmmm, in a way I guess it is like a war!” Johnathan answered.

“That sounds… very interesting. Thank you for the information, Johnathan. But now I think its time to head home, it’s getting late.” Brandon said as he grabbed his backpack and stood up. “Come on Ritchie, I’m sure Tempest, Aura, and Diablo are waiting for us.” Ritchie pouted but grabbed his own backpack and said, “Fineeeee, hope you read some awesome stories, Gramps!”

Johnathan smiled and replied, “Thank you, Ritchie, give your cats lots of love for me! And before you go, hows your dad doing? Is he out for another business trip or is he home?” Ritchie smiled and said, “He is still out, but he should be back soon!” Brandon chuckled and said, “And we’ll make sure to give the cats some extra pats for you. Bye Johnathan.”

Johnathan waved goodbye as Brandon took Ritchie’s hand again and began to walk out. “Make sure to check out the app!” Johnathan says before they exit the library. “I’m definitely getting the app! Let’s do this Brandon.” Ritchie says with excitement, giving his brother puppy dog eyes.

Brandon rolled his eyes and said, “Maybe later, first we should finish our homework. So no one needs to copy the answers in the first few minutes of class.” Ritchie whined and said, “Homework is stupid!” Brandon chuckled and replied, “I know it’s stupid but it still has to be done.” Ritchie pouted, holding hid brother’s hand a little bit tighter as they neared their house.

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When they finally unlocked the door, a white cat jumped onto Ritchie’s shoulder and rubbed against his cheek. Both brothers chuckled as Brandon pet the cat’s head while Ritchie said, “Hi Tempest, did you miss us?” The cat purred in response, curling around Ritchie’s neck.

Another cat, gray and white fur, calmly walked up to Brandon and meowed. “Hey Aura, has Tempest been good?” Brandon asked as he let Ritchie take their bags upstairs to their rooms. Aura just meowed, rubbing herself against Brandon’s leg.

Brandon snorted and said, “Not saying aye? Good girl, looking out for your sister.” Aura purred as Brandon picked her up, heading to his own room and laying Aura on his bed. Brandon then sat at his desk and began to finish up the last of his homework.

<<><><><<><>><>><

Brandon fell back on his bed, finally finished with the homework, his phone laying next to his head. Brandon sighed as he pet Aura, Aura purring at the touches. He picked up his phone and decided to satisfy his curiosity. He went onto the app store and found the strange app called Spirit.

He decided to download the app as he knew his brother would make him download the app anyway. Once it was fully downloaded he opened the app and was surprised to see that he needed to take a quiz before he could play.

He began to take it when Ritchie burst into his room, his own phone in hand. “I had a feeling you were going to try it out too! Let’s take the quiz together brother!” Ritchie said with a playful smirk. Aura seemed to snicker at Brandon in that cat way and strutted out of the room, probably to hang out with her sister.

Brandon sat against the bed’s headboard as Ritchie jumped onto the bed and sat between Brandon’s leg, laying against his chest. They began to take the small quiz, answering the weird questions. They made it to the last question and both had the same exact question. The question read “Do you wish to share your resources with your twin brother?” The twins didn’t even have to look at each other to know what the other’s answer was, both clicking yes. 

Once the question was answered, a strange symbol bathed in bright light came out of both their phones, the symbols being different for both brothers. He covered his eyes as the bright light blinded him, the strange symbol disappearing when he opened his eyes once more. He was just so confused as to what was happening, flinching when his phone dinged with a notification. He hugged his brother closer to him as he looked at the notification.

It was a message from a person called Grandmaster, the message in a group chat with both him and his brother in it. The message read, “Welcome to your destiny, Ritchie and Brandon. Here is a gift from me to help you complete said destiny.”

Brandon looked at his brother and asked, “Should… should we click on the gift icon?” Ritchie though for a moment and said, “I kinda want to, I’m curious to see what this gift is that can help us with our ‘fate’. I want to know what our fate is too so… wanna click it at the same time?”

Brandon nodded and they both clicked the icon, another bright light filling their vision but it was a bloody red instead of a pure white. When the light dissipated a red, dimly glowing symbol was left in the middle of the room. 

On top of the symbol, a small male with light purple hair and a large fringe over his right eye was kneeling before them, but not by his own freedom. Chains were binding his body to the symbol, only giving him the ability to look at them in fear.