Brother's War
by Ian S

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I awoke, sitting straight up in the bed. It had been an... interesting dream I had, something about a girl I knew and the backseat of my car, but that wasn’t what had woken me, something felt wrong. In the darkness of the room there was something that just didn’t feel right. I fumbled for the light on the nightstand, but neither of them were there; instead I found that I was on some sort of bedroll on the floor. “Where… where am I?” I asked myself in the darkness.

“You are home, my son,” came the reply from a corner of the room. That voice, where had I heard that voice?

“Who… who are you?” I asked keeping my voice steady as possible; this might be a test after all.

“Who I am is not important at the moment Shigeru.” The way she caressed my name with her voice sent involuntary shudders moving through me. "It is rather what I can give you, that you should wonder about my boy."

"And what is that?" I asked, feeling my interest peek.

"What you've always wanted," the darkness did nothing to hide the smile that was present in her voice. "What you were looking for when you joined that gang. What you were going to ask you brother for on his eighteenth birthday before he wished never to see you again. I can give you power." I couldn't stop the surprise from appearing on my face. The voice already smiling turned into a chuckle, "Ahh, yes. I know all about your family's secret. In fact I've always known about it."

"What do you want for me in exchange for this power?" I asked uneasily.

"There is no reason to fear me Shigeru. I am not your enemy, your brothers are. And I want your help in destroying them. You must understand that these wishes involve a cycle, a spiral if you will, running down through the ages. Your brother Basil is one destined to break this cycle, and I can not allow him to do that. He has already learned more about these wishes than any other wisher before him."

"So..." I paused not sure how to ask the question. "What do you need me for?"

The humor that had filled her voice up until then suddenly vanished. "Ordinarily, I wouldn't need anyone's help, and I still might not. Yet your brother is stubborn, he insists on bringing others into this, including his little girlfriend and your other brother. They really matter much except for helping him solve the mystery of the wishes. However he has enlisted the aid of his Kouken-nin as well as taking the cursed sword Akui for his own. All this requires that I take a second in order to ensure my victory. And so I chose you."

"But why me?"

"I chose you because of who you are and what you desire. I chose you because we are the same. I'll leave you to your rest." And with those words her presence in the room vanished. I tried to go back to sleep but couldn't, something she said was haunting me. Those words when she welcomed me here, "...my son."