ETHAN

For the family.

For my family.

For you.

Only you.

He had to get it done. Today, for Father expected nothing less than perfection and efficiency. Quick and clean, Ethanius, his voice rumbled. Get his dues and come back with what I want. Information proved a subtle killer for those unaware of the loaded blaster pointing in their direction. He adjusted his jacket and fixed the collar before leaving his room to go pick up Jesti.

He faltered outside Keren's, who sprawled across his bed and slept.

'Why do you hate me? Why are you doing this to me?'

All so you don't make the same choices.

He slipped past the door and brushed his palm against the small control panel and stood there when the morning light shone through Keren's closed shutters. Heavy on the ground, Ethan sat on the end of his bed and stirred the taste of an empty black hole. All to protect a single star. He set his palms flat against Keren's abandoned blankets. His little brother's soft breathing pushed him to accept the path, to never hear the silence he imagined. He reached forward to pick up one of the scout ships he built with Keren. So long ago in his mind.

Nine, Keren was nine, and he was thirteen.

He tugged at his sleeve and begged him to help him.

Ethan put it back and flattened his legs out and shuffled with his pockets, finding the infopod before slouching into his shoulders. "I hope you... will never understand why I had to do this," he mumbled to air, or her spirit. "I can't promise anything to you, not anymore." It lodged into his chest and struck through his ribs. "Just don't ever change too much." He leaned forward and pressed his fingers into his brow to dig into the ravines before lifting himself off the bed.

His fingers tangled around the hem of the blanket and he tugged it with him, holding it out until it unraveled on its own fluffy fabric. He swung it around his arms to fold it, but stopped at the slightest of silence. He turned, but Keren remained unchanged.

You don't need to worry yourself over me.

Ethan released the twisted pressure from his lungs to come closer to Keren's side. Even if you resent me... I will pay that price for you to never understand why. He unfurled the blanket over Keren, who gave no reaction to his one action to prove what no one else believed. He tucked his hands in his pockets once more to prevent himself from reaching too far, but he found himself stuck in place. Cheeks sucked in, he knelt closer to prod Keren's spine. "Keren."

Keren shoved his face deeper into the pillow.

"Keren."

"What?" he asked through the pillow.

Ethan smiled at the late comeback, but it died on his throat. "I have to go out. I'll be back to take you to school for the rest of the day, but I might be a little late picking you up."

"I can just walk to school and then walk home..."

"I don't want you doing that by yourself right now," Ethan said and patted his shoulder. "I won't be too long. You can time me if you want." Keren peered up at him when he poked the side of his head. "Just get some sleep," he said to cover buried words of love never given. "Try not to cause too much trouble..." He sighed when Keren pulled himself from his pillow to latch onto his shoulders, hugging him tight. "Sellzora."

"Don't leave me like this, Kellzoro," he begged.

What I wouldn't give... but that is the point. Ethan slid Keren off and stepped out of his reach. "I'll be right back," he repeated. "Time me." On the edge of the threshold, Keren stared at him with wide, unblinking eyes.

... to turn my back on you... and you pushed me. I will never understand.

Knives dug into his heart and burned it asunder.

Ethan turned his back on Keren and left his room.

Let's get to work.

'I want no harm done to Mr. Goan, nor the goods damaged beyond repair.'

Beyond repair, he said, so he's expecting a little bit of a problem and some... strong arming. Interesting. Ethan readied his set of prismkeys when he closed the front door to the house behind him. One check through the immediate street of their community for anything out of place and too close, he swiped his key through the handle before slipping inside his car to pick up Jesti. I'll get this done, get the report and dues back to Father, drop Keren off at school, come back for the next part — the delicate task, he called it. He trusts me. Mirrors broke with his heart when he checked the front mirror, and Mothers' eyes drove into his own.

He rolled his neck with a shuddering sigh, then pulled out of the driveway to head for the barrier gate.

Jesti's house rested between their gated community and North Park, on a tract of small, cookie cutter houses. He pushed against the curb, where a barrier fluttered to protect any civilians from the cruelty of vehicular speed. He sent a quick message to Jesti before resting his forearms against the wheel, his Cobra purring into stasis to conserve its energy source. Efficient. Quick. Jesti lagged in a response, but he resisted the urge to slam the palm into the wheel to sound the blaring roar of a horn. Left alone with the mirror, he rested his chin on his arms and refused to acknowledge it, her.

I expect better.

On the discolored front porch, he examined Jesti when he rushed down the steps. He followed the trail, as Jesti rounded the front of the car to open the other side. "I'm sorry," he said and the door slid closed. "I just had to get a couple things."

"Like...?" Ethan hesitated when Jesti tugged out two starpops. Plum flavoured, from the purple wrap swirled with a grey tinge. "Candy?"

"Yep." Jesti pushed the extra one into his hands. "I read over the infopod, by the way."

"Mm." Ethan put the starpop in a small holder near his leg. "Let's just get this done. We're not to harm Guon or do irreversible damage to his goods. Father wants information and the money he owes. We're going to get it." He slid his palm up the activator, and the purr of the engine vibrated his soul as he drove away from the curb and down the street to follow the marker on his GPS.

Jesti studied him. "Are you alright?"

"Why do you ask?" Ethan turned the corner.

"You were a mess last night," Jesti's tone came out accusatory, and Ethan dug his fingers into the wheel.

"I'm fine." Ethan eyed Jesti, someone he knew from his faded childhood. "You should be more concerned about yourself. We have a job to do." He tapped his fingers on the wheel when the red beams forced him to come to a slowed stop.

"I just worry about you."

'You deserved more than what I gave you.'

Ethan scratched the leather surface. "You shouldn't."

Free from the bonds of traffic, he curled against his chest when Jesti said, "We should talk."

He doesn't give up. He doesn't take no for an answer, does he? "It's some time before we reach Guon's edevium shop. What do you want to discuss?" He picked up the starpop, but kept his attention on the road as he unfurled it to slip it over his mouth and chew on innocence.

"I know things have been hard," Jesti said as he leaned against the chair. "For you and for Keren; but you in particular—" He poked the air between them several times. "I grew up with you, Ethanius."

"And that makes you think you know me?" Ethan sucked on the starpop.

"We're friends?"

Friends.

Trust. Father drove the fickle nature of trust within their life — friends into enemies. One to hold a knife up to your back or a blaster to your brow. Ethan rubbed the wheel, then bit down on his grin. "Friends, huh?" He approached their destination. A layer of broken trust shone in her reflection. "If you want to call it that, but I'd be careful." He cracked the starpop in half, and the stars littered the black hole. "I could just as easily use that to hurt you."

"You haven't, though."

Ethan raised an eyebrow and tasted bittersweet victory — but it lacked the sprinkled taste of pride. "You remember quadrums ago when you lost your toy in the pond by the school?" He tested Jesti's loyal conviction to the words of an enemy, stopping in the alley beside Guon's shop. "I remember you cried about losing it for days afterwards when you couldn't find it."

Jesti tilted his head, then squinted. "Is that the slingshot toy Urto and I fought over and he knocked it out of my hands? That toy?" Ethan nodded and studied Jesti's body language, the way he shifted in memories. Jesti frowned, then shrugged. "Yeah, what about it?"

"I found it."

"You did? When?"

"Same day you lost it," Ethan tasted the words on his tongue, and fought a smile of tested fury. "It was right at the edge and you all completely missed it." His lungs trembled with a chuckle, but its escape through his nose came out a strangled scoff. "I took it. I stole it from you." He shrugged. "Friends, right?"

It went silent in the car and left only the soft stringing hum from the radio.

Jesti folded his arms. "Really?"

"Yeah."

"What'd you do with it?"

Ethan frowned at the question. He searched for Father's annoyance and Mother's rage, but Jesti met him on equal ground with another slight tip of his head. He withdrew from the wheel and his shoulders sagged at the trickery. "I gave it to Keren."

Jesti opened the door and pursed his lips. "It was just a toy," he said and stepped out of the car. "And it was a long time ago, Ethan. I barely remember that thing."

"What about that one kid I started a fight with? The one you pulled me off of?"

A scoff left Jesti's lips and he shook his head. "You remember stealing my toy but don't remember the context around that?" he asked with a short, but soft laugh. "I mean, sure, you go from zero to one hundred fast, but you spotted him tugging a cat's tail and you booked it for him, then claimed you don't know why you did that but he deserved it when the teacher came to grill both of you." Jesti shrugged his shoulders. "I pulled you off him because I didn't want you to get into trouble."

Ethan buried his nose into his sleeve and stared out the window. "Did the cat get away?"

I would've looked away.

"It bolted."

Ethan left the car to rejoin Jesti. "The cat did nothing wrong."

"You're the one that says kids are assholes," Jesti said and fixed his jacket. "Let's get this over with."

Inside the shop, the customer bell rang with the slide of the entrance. Edevium gadgets lined the walls, but behind a massive barrier past the long counter, regular grade weapons sat on racks, most of them edevic elementium blades. Jesti loitered in his shadow as Ethan approached the front when a deep voice called from the back, "I'll be right with you!"

Mr. Guon.

Shoulder to shoulder with Jesti, he grinned when Mr. Guon, a stout man with a thick head of hair, left the back. He slammed to a stop when his gaze rested on the two. "Hello, Mr. Guon," Ethan said and plastered a smile on his face. "I hope you didn't forget about us."

"Who in the void are you?" Mr. Guon asked and crept to stand behind the counter. Ethan focused on the slow motions of lightning in his mind as he tucked his hand against his hip, finding the grip of the chain weapons Father had fashioned for him with his recruitment.

"Better question is why you've been slacking on your payments," Ethan pointed out as Jesti continued to shift in discomfort. "Oh, but maybe I should introduce myself." He closed in on the front counter, where Mr. Guon hid his hands. "Ethanius Malakai. I'm going to be the one collecting them now. Boss also wants to know the specific reason you've decided to jilt us a little bit. We're hurt, you know."

"Malakai." Mr. Guon gazed at him. "I told you people I want nothing to do with you anymore."

Jesti stilled and rested his hand on his belt, but Ethan stopped him with his free hand. "You don't get to decide that, Guon," Ethan whispered. "We gave you a place here. You're the one who took the chance. It's rude to not repay a debt after we so graciously handed you this shop in our sphere of protection. We just want what we're owed."

Test me.

His thumb found the hook of a chain, and Jesti headed for the door with a soft sigh of exasperation. Guon flinched when Jesti opened the control panel behind one of the barriers. Tint and shutters fell down the windows, and the shining open sign switched to a crimson fall of the curtains.

"We don't have to do this the hard way, Mr Guon," Ethan said, and curled the self-replicating chain around his hand. "Boss knows you have the money for him. Pay us, and we'll be on our merry way."

"Why should I pay you when your people have already failed that promise of protection?" Mr. Guon snapped, and Ethan noticed his untrained arms flex in readiness, but he kept himself relaxed, poised into a spring. Perfection. Nothing less. "Maybe your grip isn't as strong as it used to be, considering what happened at North Park."

Jesti hesitated in his peripheral.

"North Park was an anomaly," Ethan said. "But I see that's what's bothering you. I assure you, Mr. Guon, that we've had a change in the guard, but Boss can't promise that protection if you don't pay up."

A trickle of bloodthirsty malice.

It snapped.

He threw out the weighted end of his chain when Mr Guon tugged out a long knife from below the counter, cracking with energy. Barrier particles scattered when the magnetic end of his chain stuck to the weapon cabinet. Edevium knives clattered to the floor and sparked. In another moment, his weapon carriers purred into the momentum, and he vaulted over the counter to land on Mr Guon, who screeched.

His foot slammed into his spine, but he took care not to crush his skull. His weapon transformed from its blaster state to the curved blade as he knelt closer to Mr. Guon, and slid it into the floor beside his ear.

"That was rude," Ethan whispered.

Jesti rushed to the counter, and leaned over.

"I'm sorry!" he bleated in fear. "It's the Azaika's! They've been moving the market!" Ethan gripped the handle, and pressed his knee deeper into Mr. Guon's ribcage, and he squeaked like the toys Keren used to play with. "They threatened to bust up this shop if I continued paying you people. I already had them make a mess when they last visited."

"When was this?" Ethan needled.

"A day or so ago, I can even give you the SAI's footage of the guys who did it!" Another squeak left his lips. "I'll give you the payment."

"Now, was that so hard?" Ethan got off him, and the click of the curved blade shifted back into a blaster as he pointed it at Mr. Guon, who shambled to his feet and held onto the wall. Jesti rounded the counter to open the vault box underneath an inconspicuous tile. "Don't worry, Mr. Guon, things are going to change around here. We'll make sure those people won't be bothering you again." He waited until Jesti took out the metal container of exal chips. "Just remember me, okay?" Another smile, and he tasted blood. "We'll get our dues from North Park, I promise you. Don't forget your payments again." He kept the blaster in his hands. "Boss was forgiving this time around. He might not be the next."

Father never forgets.

"Get the exal to the car," Ethan instructed Jesti. "We're done here."

Mr Guon kept his hands raised, and stayed in his position against the wall when Ethan hooked the blaster in his weapon brace. He studied the damage, but he kicked a knife out of his way to join Jesti outside in the alley.

"I don't know why they argue every time," Jesti mumbled, a sense of creased despair on his brow when he put the container in the trunk.

"Because they think they don't have to suffer the consequences," Ethan said. "I'm going to drop you off at the casino then take my brother to school. I'll come back later."

Everyone will pay their dues.