SYSTEM ASCENSION

As soon as dawn broke, the little alarm chimed on the drawer. A hand shifted immediately and turned it off.

Tangled among the sheets of a single bed were two little boys with matching necklaces. One said Rowen and one said Zeal.

Rowen who had just turned off the alarm sat up, shoving his brother’s leg off him. Zeal tumbled over and landed on the ground, but he continued to sleep.

Rowen quickly jumped off the bed and ran into the washroom. He returned thirty minutes later all bathed and refreshed. Then he went over to his sleeping brother and grabbed his leg pulling him to the washroom.

"Seriously, I don’t know who bred you."

"Hmmm..." The latter groaned, while drooling on the carpet.

Rowen dumped him into the tub, and despite being only a few hours older, he fulfilled his recent everyday job of bathing his lazy brother.

Thirty minutes later, he was done dressing for the brother who had somehow slept through the entire bath.

"Wake up. Mom’s done cooking!"

Zeal’s eye snapped open and before he could blinked, Zeal was gone, leaving the door swinging.

Rowen huffed and followed behind.

"I can teleport but I still don’t understand his speed."

An hour later, the twins were ready for the trip. Matching clothes and matching looks, they stepped out like a puzzle only a keen eye can differentiate.

"My darlings!"

They both turned their poker gaze to the woman they see everyday, but somehow still greet them like they are meeting for the first time. Their mother who they took after looks.

She pulled them into her arms. "Rowen, Zeal, what do you think about this trip we’re going on?"

Before the kids could reply, a voice cut in. "They love it. Who doesn’t love spending time with their father?!"

The children ignored him.

The young man stepped forward, patting the kids head. "Who misses me?"

*Ignored*

"This is not fair."

He pulled out a wristwatch. "This is a new artifact that sets up a barrier." He grabbed the hand of one of the twins and slapped it on his wrist. "I got it to protect the only unawakened genius among us!"

The mother frowned. "Luke. That’s Rowen."

Luke flinched and took it off, slapping it on Zeal’s wrist. "Let’s go!"

They got into a car that took them to the place the children had always wanted to visit.

"Welcome to the tourist centre!"

"Wow!"

They exited the car, already running towards the building.

"They sure seem excited." Their mother, Loiia, huffed. "But doesn’t it affect your schedule?"

"Making time for my kids is not a problem." Luke replied.

As they began to proceed in, another familiar voice cut in.

"Fancy seeing you here, president."

He turned back.

"Owen!"

Mr Owen scoffed. "I didn’t know the league master is into childish stuff."

Luke’s face flushed. "I have kids Yunno! Kids!"

Owen approached the two boys with curiosity.

"Now which one of you is Rowen?"

They both pointed to each other.

"...okay. Which one is Zeal?"

They pointed to themselves.

This was hopeless. Owen glanced at their father.

"Easy! Rowen is the one without an artifac..."

Both children’s hands were empty.

He choked on his own words and the people stared. He couldn’t even tell his children apart.

"Let’s do it like this," he picked up a stone. "If I throw this stone to them, the one who’d duck is Zeal. He has too much energy to spare. The one who’d get pissed is Rowen. He’s always angry."

Loiia scoffed. "there is no way that will wor—"

"Duck!"

He threw the stone at them. As soon as the twin turned around and saw the stone coming, Zeal immediately went down, doing a perfect split, while Rowen just stood till the stone hit him in the face.

"..."

"It...worked?" She raised a brow.

In a blink, Rowen had gotten to his father’s place, and he stomped on the man’s toe.

"Aah!"

"Stupid father!"

Owen chuckled nervously. "I’d rather not differentiate them."

They proceeded inside alongside every other family that had visited today, and almost immediately, the children split up from their parents. The corridor leading to the exhibits echoed with the excited chatter of tourists, as they disappeared behind the arts.

"They’re going to get lost," Loiia sighed.

Luke waved a dismissive hand. "They know not to leave the building."

The boys wandered through the gallery, stopping in front of enormous paintings that stretched from floor to ceiling. One depicted an ancient crawler soaring through a crimson sky. Another showed a lone knight standing before an endless army.

Zeal tilted his head.

"They’re too still."

Rowen glanced at him.

"...They’re paintings."

"I know." Zeal poked the frame. "But they should move."

"They’re paintings. Paintings are always still."

"I know."

Rowen turned around.

"I’m going to pretend you make sense."

The next hall displayed preserved relics from centuries ago. Rusted swords, broken crowns, cracked masks, and strange crystals sealed behind glass.

Zeal pressed his face against one of the cases.

"Do you think these are cursed?"

"No."

"What if they explode?"

"They won’t."

"What if—"

"Shut up."

A few minutes later, both boys came to a halt outside a restroom.

"I need to pee," Zeal announced.

"I figured."

Without another word, they stepped inside.

The restroom was unusually quiet, and every stall stood empty. The lights hummed softly as Rowen disappeared into one cubicle while Zeal wandered toward another.

"...Hm?"

At the very end of the restroom, beneath a flickering light, one of the unused stalls stood slightly ajar.

Something like a thin crack of blue light shimmered inside, just beneath the door.

Zeal frowned.

"...What’s that?"

Curiosity got the better of him, and he pushed the stall door open. He didn’t see anything except an old unused toilet.

"...Weird." Zeal scratched his head. "Thought I saw someth—"

A deafening crack split the wall of the room.

He flinched and when still, eyes slowly returned to the crack getting larger.

He staggered back.

"Uhhh... Rowen?"

The toilet exploded into fragments. The tiled wall behind it shattered as the portal surfaced. Space twisted like water before ripping open into a swirling black vortex lined with violet lightning. An icy wind burst from within.

The entire restroom trembled.

"What was—" Rowen stepped out of his stall just as Zeal’s eyes widened.

"ROWEN!"

The portal violently expanded, and a long, skeletal arm burst through first. More followed immediately.

Their joints bent in impossible directions, ending in fingers like polished blades. The same thing he had passed by in the art room. Crawlers.

The creatures crawled from the tear of the portal upside down across the ceiling,

Zeal didn’t think before he moved. Before Rowen could even turn toward the portal, Zeal slammed both hands into his brother’s chest.

"Go!"

Rowen was hurled backward, skidding across the tiles.

"What are you—"

The first creature lunged.

Its claws sliced through the air where Rowen had been standing earlier.

Zeal shoved him again and the force of Zeal’s shove sent Rowen tumbling out through the restroom doorway and into the corridor and crashing onto the polished floor.

"Zeal!"

When he turned, his eyes only caught his brother caught in the rib, hurled backwards and the shockwave slammed the door shut.

Panic flooded his nervous system.

"Ze...al?"

Only the screeches answered him. He shuddered.

"Zeal?! Zeal!"

"..."

"ZEAL!"

Rowen’s eyes snapped open mid scream, hand reaching up. Sweat covered his face and the bed. Light was streaming in through the window and he took him a while before he could collect himself.

It wasn’t a dream. He remembered now. The incident that separated them.

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