November 21, 1996, 10:00 pm
Zodiac Family Private Forest, Malison
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▫️Luke:

The gun goes off and Seven disappears. I catch my brother, Mike, just as he collapses to the forest floor. This was a bad idea, meeting those idiots out in the woods for a duel. Who am I kidding, I am idiot to think my plan could work. I should of known that wall would never hold. Now that it has fallen, crap is hitting the fan and going everywhere.

I lower Mike to the ground and hold him as his leg bleeds out small streams of blood, at least the bullet didn't hit anything important.

"I did everything exactly right," Mike breathes, his voice cracking. I cradle his head full of blond hair in my lap, my hands wiping away his tears.

"You did... but I wasn't expecting Seven to have the guts to shoot." I don't feel tears anywhere in my body. I feel no sadness because I know my brother would live. I just need to stop the blood flow. I try not to think of the plan I told him earlier before we came out here, because I need to focus and find something to stop Mike's pain.

"Before we even turned, I had my gun aiming at his side," Mike cries. "Just like you told me, Luke, so I didn't kill our brother."

"Mike, please just keep staying alive for me. Keep talking. I need to run to the car..." My voice is still with no signs of panic within each word I speak. I am a surgeon, I am used to these type of things. He reaches out for my hand and holds it. I try to comfort him in his time of weakness. I know it was my imagination, but I think I can feel his hands getting colder as each second passes. I can not leave him here alone. Which means I can not go get my phone to call someone.

My brother is not going to die... a bullet wound to the leg is not lethal and would take hours for him to bleed out. He is more likely to die later of an infection from the dust of nature than anything else if the wound doesn't get cleaned. I'm just glad Seven didn't shoot him in the head or the chest because that would be lethal. Still, I need to get him out of the woods, the pain of a gunshot must be horrific.

The woods are dark and empty in the dead of night. Crickets chirp and sing their songs, and a wolf howls in the distance, with his family responding back, looking for him... caring about if he is sick or hurt or alone. This is something my family never did. We all proudly hated each other. Which is fine by me, because in the end there will only be one wolf out on top. I am that wolf. I am arrogant. I am prideful. I am a jerk. Yet, none of that matters as long as I get what I want.

"I did not kill our little brother," Mike breaths out into the cold air. His breath makes a cloud as it escapes his lips and travels into the darkness.

"I know you didn't, and I'm proud of you." I squeeze his hands. "Just save your strength, stay awake, please Mike. You know just as well as I do that you are more likely to die if you fall asleep. Can I leave you alone to go to the car to get my phone so I can call someone?" I know I can be honest with my brother. I hate having to lie to patients and tell them they are alright if I know they will die.

I close my own green eyes, concentrating my mind on getting him to the hospital. I can't teleport, but I can turn back time; that's my main powers. But turning back time to reset what happened is risky, I could create a time loop, or worst... I could change fate. This was too risky. Not to mention every time I try to turn back time for more than a few minutes, I pass out. I am stuck..... my best friend and brother is in great pain and I couldn't do anything.

"I didn't shoot him," Mike tells me again. "Just like I promised." I can tell he is trying to focus on staying awake, like I commanded him to do. His body is probably trying to pass out from the shock of the bullet.

I feel so useless. Years of medical school are inside my head, I am the best surgeon in the universe... and I am helpless against a bullet wound. Ugh! Where were my medical kits when I needed them...

"I know, focus on me, help me Mike, can you give yourself enough strength to teleport us back home?" I ask. His teleportation power is our only option now. At home, I knew Dustan, Larkin and my other siblings will all be watching TV at this hour. They could help me help him. "But please don't pass out. Use a tiny bit of your strength to teleport both of us home... I can take care of you once we are near a medical kit," I told my brother.

Mike concentrates, envisioning the living room of our mansion. At this hour the whole family except the four of us who fought in this duel will be there. I feel Mike give some of his power to me, so I can make the journey with him. He is my big brother, my only friend in this family. I feel myself move with him as he quickly transported us to the middle of the room. The air was warmer. He did it. He teleported both of us back home.

It was just as I remember it: pizza boxes on the coffee table, the big gray couch that could fit about twelve, the white walls covered with picture frames, and the giant flat-screen TV.

"Mike! Luke!" Aspen shouts, dropping her bowl of popcorn on the ground and running over to us as soon as we appear. I watch the popcorn scatter across the carpet like cockroaches fleeing from light. Her curly black hair falls into her face as she kneels next to me, her locks picking up her red lipstick from her thin lips. "Luke, what happened where have you been?"

Aspen is my girlfriend. My parents had all sons, seven sons. We all were very popular with the ladies, and there was quite a few ladies on Malison. But, most beautiful of them all was Aspen, and she was all mine.

"I did everything Luke told me to do and I got shot," Mike mumbles again.

"Dustan." Larkin, Ames's girlfriend, confronts my brother. Her black hair is straight and stayed out of her eyes. "Did you have something to do with this?! You have been very quiet lately! Don't try lying because I read the messages you sent Ames." 

"Yes, a tiny bit," Dustan admits. His black hair is tied up into a low tail. "But to my defense-"

"That does not matter!" Larkin grabs a towel, tying the wound on Mike's leg to stop the bleeding a bit. Unlike me, she did not keep her cool. "Mike, please hold on we can help you! Don't die!"

I glare at Dustan softly. His eyes catches mine and he turns his gaze quickly away from me. He knows I know what he did all those years ago. He doesn't know I read his diary because I never trusted him. 

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A few years ago...

▫️Dustan

"Admit it." Ames laughs. "You both just don't want to fight me because I AM BETTER THAN YOU WILL EVER BE." Ames is holding a dueling gun, just flaunting it around without a care in the world as to what happens with it. He is too immature to know the power of it.

"I say you just show them a lesson now baby." Larkin says as she skips over to his side. She giggles as he hold the gun up in our direction. Azun is by my side, he gasps lightly when the gun is aimed at him.

"Oh this old thing?" Ames laughs. "What you afraid of it Azun? Just like you were afraid to challenge me for your job? I literally just stole it out from under you. But its not like you were doing a good job anyways."

Azun was about to say something, but I interrupted. "Ames come on. Dueling? Seriously? Are you like twelve or something? This is all just immature and stupid. Come on Azun we don't have to take this."

"Ames. You didn't even want to be a lawyer in the first place!" Azun yells at him. 

"Azun! Will you be quiet. Someone could hear us." I snap at him. 

"Nobody can hear us. We are in the middle of the woods." Ames rolls his eyes. I look over at him to see he is playing with his girlfriend's hair. "But you can quit if you are too chicken..."

"Ames I was trying to get money so I could buy back our little brother from Earth! I needed only a bit more to buy a ship to get our little brother back. But of course you had to be selfish and get me fired!" Azun yelled, drawing his own gun. 

"Then I guess winner gets the job." Ames laughs and walks his girlfriend to the side. "Dustan count us off!"

"I am not going to be a part of this! This is stupid! You are both going to get hurt." I try to talk reason to the two hotheads of the family, but fail.

"DO IT!" Azun yelled. 

"One, two, three..." I watch them go back to back then take a step away from each other for each count I say. "Four, five, six..."

"Chicken..." Ames whispers under his breath. 

"Seven, eight, nine..." I state, then finally. "Ten!" I hear the gunshot go off and I snap my eyes shut, not wanting to see the outcome of this. 

"Well... does he surrender?" Larkin asks. I open my eyes to see Azun is on the ground, Ames had shot him in the torso. 

"You shot him!!" I yell at Ames then rush to my brothers side. "You are such an idiot Ames!" I quickly put my fingers to my brothers neck, feeling for something... anything, please just a small feeling of life. I find nothing. Frantic, I check his breathing... nothing. I don't even think, I start compressions and rescue breathing. 

Ames and Larkin and quiet as they watch me. I am panting out of fear as silent tears fall down my face. Ames drops the gun and I hear the sound of metal against stone. "Is..." Ames stutters. "Is he?"

"Dad is going to be so pissed." I state to Ames. 

"No! No no no..." Ames rushes to my side. "H-He can't be dead. He must be playing a prank or something."

"Ames..."

"Good one Azun. Please get up now." Ames says, his voice shaking as he slowly processes what his 16 year old body just did. "Wake up!"

I turn Azun over to see the bullet had not gone through him. I don't think before I stick my fingers into the wound of my dead brother and pull out the silver bullet, my hand stained scarlet as I stare at eh tiny piece of metal that killed my brother. 

"Dustan... What are you doing?" Ames asks. 

I chuck the bullet off into the woods. Nobody will ever find it now. It's lost in the deep dark woods where all the trees all look exactly the same. "Come on Ames. Help me." I grab one of Azun's arms and lift it over my shoulder. Ames quickly goes to the other side and helps lift the body. 

"Wait! Shouldn't we like call someone?" Larkin asks as she follows us. 

"If anyone finds out about this Ames will be sent to prison for the rest of his life, or maybe even killed!" I snap as I start to walk off into the woods with Ames, Azun is light as we carry him. 

"What are we doing then?" Ames asks, his voice trembling with fear of being executed for manslaughter. 

"Getting rid of the evidence." I look ahead, there is a iron bridge that suspends over a high cliff, there is water at the bottom in a fast moving river. I start to carry my brother over to that bridge. "As far as the world knows, Azun Watcher Zodiac committed suicide."

With that, we threw his body over the river. All the evidence was washed away. The world will never know.

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▫️Luke

Since that day, when I heard of my brother's suicide I always knew something was off. I made a plan with Mike, since he was the only one I trusted. I snooped around in diaries and net-pads, being in my siblings personal business trying to find as many secrets as I could about them so I could be prepared for the day my father dies, and I could take the throne from them all. When I read Dustan's things, I thought Nathaniel would be a vital piece in this game. I thought he would side with me and support me in my desire to rule, at least more than Ames. The one thing i never expected was my father to be assasinated in the middle of the night only days after Azun died. I knew I needed to act quickly, I needed Nathaniel on my side. Killing his friends just seemed to be the best way to get him to let go of Earth, he didn't have a reason to stay once all his friends were ashes. 

But things change... there were things Nathaniel didn't need to remember and there was things Nathaniel did not need to know. I threatened Ames that if he told Nathaniel Azun died, I would tell the world about his little dueling in the woods. But Nathaniel got to the press before I could, he had this stupid idea of electing a new king, to which everyone went crazy over this new thing. The only problem was Ames was much much more popular than I was, and Nathaniel was more willing to help Ames with his campaign than with mine. 

Every since Nathaniel arrived my plans have always failed, I even tampered with the votes and gave myself 500 extra and I still lost. I surely through that little brat had done something just to make me loose. So I confronted him, but Ames was there too. One argument turned into another. There was screaming and fighting, then a time and place was picked for out duel. I know Ames must of told him about Azun, he probably lied and told Nathaniel I killed Azun. I couldn't think of any other reason why Nathaniel could possibly be so against me. 

"Dustan," I state. "If you are smart, I would grab the next ship off of this planet. I wouldn't want to be here when the newspapers come out with specific details on a certain activity you were involved in."

Dustan looks at the four of us for a long time before quickly walking to the door. He opens it and quickly leaves without making a sound. 

"I didn't shoot him," Mike whispers. I quickly turn my attention back to my brother. Tears fall down his face and blood is soaking though the towel and onto the white carpet. "Luke told me not to kill him and I got shot!"

"Shoot who?" Aspen questions, her bright red lips parting as she looks to me, one eyebrow raised slightly in confusion.

"Seven," Mike states.

"Seven?" Larkin gives me a look as she turns on the light so we can see better.

The damage on his leg was worse than I thought. Larkin's green eyes dart between me and Mike in confusion. They didn't know... Nathaniel changed his name to Seven and rebelled against the Zodiac Family. A civil war was upon us now.

"None of that is important." I hold onto my brother's hand. "Mike is in pain and we need to help him, I will explain this story later."

"Seven," Mike whisperes. "Seven."

"Who is Seven?" Larkin asks.

"It's Nathaniel..." I huff at her. "His memories are back. He is no longer considered our brother, he and Ames are traitors."

"What happened?" Aspen asks me, touching my arm to support me as I tie Mike's leg above the wound to stop the flow of blood so I can stitch up the wound.

"Another duel," I whisper only to her. "Seven and Mike. This was between Ames and me over that stupid election that he somehow cheated on and I can't figure out how, but they fought on our behalf."

Larkin brings out a cloth to clean the blood off Mike's leg. She has on giant gloves because she has a falcon, it was trained to obey her. I still couldn't believe Ames got a girl like that.

"Why would you tell him not to shoot your brother, isn't that what you are supposed to do in a duel?" Aspen asks. She was so close to me and I just want to kiss the girl I had known since I was four... but could never bring myself to kiss her. She was too beautiful, way out of my league. I always feel like I will never be good enough for her. I am still surprised she agreed to be my girlfriend.

I pause and think about what she said.... I was such an idiot to think otherwise. Seven had been trained by both Mike and me, he knew all our moves, of course he would win this. "I wasn't exactly expecting Seven to have the guts to shoot," I spoke in a hush voice.

"Seven," Aspen repeats. "That's a good title. Shows that he is no longer the Nathaniel we know and no longer part of the Zodiac Family. He is nothing but a seventh son now."

"Just something I came up with on the spot earlier," I admit. "But he took it upon him and made it his title. Now, please help me save Mike."

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