126 BC
Aerithika paced, running her hands through her long hair, growling. “This is entirely your fault,” she hissed.
An almost invisible shimmer surrounded her form, and in her place stood a man who could be her twin, “I don’t see how I’m the one to blame, Aerithika. It is not my fault that he left us.”
Another shimmer, “Of course it is, you fool. You had to make your presence known, and now we have to move again. That and the fact that I was shot fifteen times, those arrows hurt.”
“How was I to know that he would have such a problem with our true being? He seemed like the enlightened sort,” the male said briskly.
“Rith, I hate you sometimes. You have done this to me over a dozen times now. Ever since…” Aerithika trailed off, memories of sweet William flitting through her mind. The pain of his loss was almost too much to bear, even after sixty years.
“And I’m just supposed to sit back and watch as you live our life? You barely let me out as it is, so I have to force the matter. We are the same person, in case you’ve forgotten.”
Unbeknownst to the arguing pair, a red eyed figure was watching them from the shadows. Shaking his head the figure teleported to the one being he believed could settle the situation.
---
Demetri raised one ebony eyebrow as his son, Inar, approached him. The last time the man had seen Inar had been almost a decade prior when the boy had assisted in his twin sister Aerithika’s rehabilitation. “What brings you here, Inar?” Demetri asked the younger demon.
“Aerithika,” he responded, the one word response summing up his visit.
“Has something happened to her? Has she returned to her dark days?” Demetri asked concern noticeable in his voice.
Inar growled low in his throat; of course his father would be concerned for his precious Aerithika, the child he deemed worthy to train, whilst Inar was sent to live with their older demented brother, Nick. Aerithika had always been father’s favorite, save their psychotic older sister, Demetra.
Demetri growled at his son, fangs flashing in the pale light. How dare the boy take that attitude with him? He reached out one clawed hand and swatted Inar upside the head. “Tell me why you are here, boy,” he hissed in annoyance.
“Father, have you ever noticed that Aerithika is a bit… wrong?” he said slowly, backing out of Demetri’s reach, rubbing the back of his skull.
“Wrong how, Inar? And word your theory carefully,” the elder demon said between clenched teeth.
Inar sighed, and paced a bit, unintentionally mirroring Aerithika’s earlier movements. Raking a hand though his hair he began, “She talks to herself. She always has, and not normal talking to herself. She’ll argue with Rith like he’s another person, they will go back and forth, one out and then the other. She’s done this as far back as I can recall. Sometimes I will be talking to her and he will come out, and it seems as though he has no idea what we were discussing. “
“Their personalities are so different as well, it’s disturbing. I have never had that happen with myself, nor has any other Khanarin I know, Father. And the only thing I can think of that is different about the two of us is you, Father. You trained her; you made her what she is. You have to have seen this happen before; she travelled with you for over fifty years.”
Demetri glared at his son, how dare that ungrateful whelp insinuate that he had something to do with Aerithika’s personality quirk. But was it something as simple as that, or was there something truly broken in the girl. She had always been… off, somehow. “I’ll look into it, Inar. But dare insinuate that this is my doing again and you’ll be healing for a month.”
---
Demetri tracked his daughter down, watching as she argued with herself. He had never really paid the quirk much mind, as she was Khanarin like her mother, and Demetri himself was Narin. But if what Inar said was accurate, there was something terribly wrong with her. Demetri thought back on the years he had spent with Distanova, his children’s mother, after her turning. In all those year she had never displayed that particular personality facet. Her male self was like her in every way, down to preference in attire. But Aerithika and Rith had always seemed like two different beings, at times Demetri had felt like he was raising twins, and not a single child.
He watched for over an hour as the argument progressed from simple verbal sparring to a somewhat physical confrontation, both halves of his child injuring themselves in a vain attempt to subdue the other. Finally he had had enough, and stormed over to his offspring grabbing the now female form by the arms, snarling in her face, “You will stop this now, child. Inar was right; there is something wrong with you.”
Aerithika swallowed hard, having not been on the receiving end of her father’s ire in a very long time; that had been reserved for Demetra and Nick as of late. She bowed her head in respect to her father. “I’m sorry,” she whispered in apology, trembling a bit at the anger radiating off the almost thousand year old demon.
Demetri grabbed her chin, forcing her to look into his crimson eyes; she felt as if he could see into her very being with his piercing gaze. She tried not to tremble in fear as he studied her, but found herself losing the battle. After what seemed like an eternity, understanding dawned in Demetri’s eyes, and he shook his head, releasing the bruising grip he had been holding. Brushing back the hair off his daughters face, her pulled her into a short embrace, then quickly released her, nodding to himself. In a tone that stated she was to obey him he announced, “You will stay here, Aerithika. I’ll be back soon to fix you.”
Aerithika nodded, watching as he teleported away, staying exactly where he had told her to. After what seemed like hours, Demetri returned, a cloaked figure behind him. Aerithika swallowed hard as the figure started chanting in a language she had never heard before, and then began screaming as she felt herself being torn asunder.
When she awoke, it was night, and by the appearance of the moon it was a few days later. She felt empty, alone, scared. The voice that had always been with her was gone, her other half had been ripped from her. She curled up into herself sobbing at the loss.
From a few feet away she heard a soft moan, and she looked over to see a face she had only seen in her mind before, Rith. He looked back at her, his crimson locks framing his pale shocked face. “But, but, you shouldn’t be here,” she sobbed, staring at the man.
“Oh, he should, Daughter-dear,” Demetri said from his seat a few feet away, where he had been watching over the two. “He was always supposed to be here, Aerithika. Something went wrong when you were born. The two of you were sharing a body. I still have no clue what caused that to happen, but he was always supposed to have been a different being.”
Rith swallowed hard, staring at his father. He began growling, and flung himself at Demetri growling, “And you didn’t separate us sooner why old man? You thought it was funny, didn’t you. All the times we were fighting for control of the same body, all these years, you left us together when it was driving us mad.”
Demetri flung his son off of him, hissing, “I didn’t know you imbecile, no one did. Do you think I would have put Aerithika through that, put you through that had I known? Don’t blame me for what I had no control over. It happened, and now it has been fixed.” Demetri shook his head, stalking away, “Whatever problems the two of you have, fix them, before I have to fix the problem for you. And you both know what I am capable of.”
57 AD
Aerithika knew someone was in her home the minute she neared the door. Summoning her resolve, she opened the door, ready to deal with whoever was intruding on her sanctuary. Her claws and fangs were extended as she crept silently inside, senses attuned to any danger that might be lurking within. Her claws retracted, and a smile covered her face when she saw who the interloper was. It was Rith, her Rith, her other half whom she had not seen in over a century. The man was asleep on her bed, looking so innocent, when that was the farthest thing from what he was. She sat down on the bedding, and reached out to gently wake him.
Rith smiled when he saw her, he had missed her dearly. But they both had decided to go their separate ways all those years ago, to have their own lives. As right as that had been then, now he needed her, needed his other self, his pureness, the light to his dark.
Both knew that things weren’t going to be fixed overnight, but only time would tell what fate had in store for them
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