On a bright sunny day, seven-year-old Astolfo was facing a dilemma he had never experienced before. He took deep breaths and recalled everything that had transpired. Today, after watching her for many days, Astolfo’s mother finally let him make tea by himself. For as long as he could remember, he wanted to make some tea and sit outside the house. It was just a high-intensity childish urge that he wanted to see through.

But, he had encountered a wall.

He was sure of it. Each time she explained the steps, his mother always told him to add a bit of sugar. Just how much was ‘a bit’?

Astolfo carefully observed the spoonful of sugar in his hands. Too much? Too little? He just couldn’t figure it out! He had to decide before the tea started burning. In the end, he decided to reduce the amount of sugar.

“Astolfo~!” Someone crashed into his back. Astolfo’s hand slipped and all the sugar fell inside.

“Ah…” Astolfo blankly gasped. The first tea he ever made was ruined. He turned to face the perpetrator of this blasphemous incident. Cherry red hair and gleaming brown eyes. The criminal was his kin, his older brother.

“Luka Kirsche…!”

“Uhh…” Luka’s eyes wavered in front of his brother’s glare. “I’m... sorry?”

**

The enormous twin orbs of fire dyed the sky with a soft tint of blue. Waves of clouds splattered underneath as they raced from one end of the world to another. Birds of all sizes ceaselessly followed the clouds in search of a home.

The same wind that pushed the clouds rippled through the mountains of Frucht. The grass and leaves danced in response to the vivifying summer breeze. Astolfo and Luka felt their hair fluttering about in the wind as they looked down on the rest of the alpine town. They were a bit away from the Kirsche’s house, atop one of the dunes with a cup of tea in each of their hands.

“Astolfo,” Luka called out. He took another small sip of the tea before turning to face his brother.

“Yes.”

“This tea…” Luka faced the tea again and closed his eyes. “It’s salty.”

“Damn it! I know!” Astolfo said before sighing in defeat. He grumbled inaudibly and frowned. “You know what? This is all your fault.”

“Mine! How so?”

“You pushed me, and all the salt went in.”

“Why did you have salt in the first place!”

The two argued over who was the one to blame until they ran out of breath. Right as they readied themselves for round two, a young girl entered their sights. Her long and dark red hair spread around her as she hopped up the tiny hill. With a bag-like sack in one hand, she waved to the two of them.

“Ah! Sister’s here.” Astolfo said.

“Astolfo!” The girl shouted and hugged Astolfo. “Did you miss me?”

“Tsk. You were only gone for four hours. Give the kid a break.” Luka said.

The girl pulled Astolfo tighter as she coldly smiled at Luka. “Luka… What are you doing here? What about the school, huh?”

Luka audibly gulped and turned his eyes away. “Um… I skipped.”

She let Astolfo go and walked over to her brother. Despite being the oldest by only a year, she saw it as her responsibility to set the two on the right path whenever they acted out. She never had to do it with her youngest brother, though.

“St-stop! Astolfo isn’t going to school either, right? Don’t hit me!”

“Don’t you understand?” She curled up her fist. “Astolfo is weak! He can’t go to school.”

The girl’s hand swung down and hit Luka’s crown. Luka grabbed his head with teary eyes. “Why do you have to hit me so hard! Charlotte bad!”

Charlotte harrumphed and sat next to Astolfo. Her eyes fell on the teacup next to her brother and a smile spread over her face. She was excited to taste the tea that her dear youngest brother had made by himself and swooped the cup up. Astolfo waved his hands around to stop her but she ignored him. Charlotte brought the cup to her lips and gulped a mouthful down.

One second. Her cheeks swole up.

Then, her eyes teared up. She wanted to spit it out but didn’t want to hurt Astolfo!

At last, she reached her limit and spewed all the tea out. Luka burst into a fit of laughter as he grabbed his stomach while pointing at her. Even Astolfo couldn’t help but laugh at her.

“Hnng! It was salty!”

“Hahaha! Astolfo even tried to stop you! Hahaaah!”

“Huhu. Wipe your face.”

“Hm?”

“Wipe your face, you spilled it all over your mouth.”

Charlotte sighed at her youngest brother’s usual antics. She pulled out a handkerchief from her pocket and wiped the tea off. Before she finished, Luka abruptly stood up and pointed at the sky.

“Whoa! Is that a Wyvern?” Following his line of sight, the other two laid their eyes on a humongous grey monster. As if it was riding a current of water, the creature sped between the two suns in a glorious flight. Its thick legs and wide wings were visible even from such a large distance. The kids could only imagine how large this creature was.

“A-a Wyvern?” Charlotte said. She shook her head and continued. “If that was Wyvern, this place would have been destroyed and swarming with knights of the empire!!”

“Yeah? Then what do you think it is.” Luka was convinced it was a Wyvern. He thought it’ll be cooler that way.

“What… I don’t know. But it can’t be a Wyvern!”

“It’s not a Wyvern,” Astolfo interjected. He smiled and flicked his hair. Being the youngest, he already knew less than them and he couldn’t even go to the school in Frucht because of his health. So he made the best of whatever chance he got to show off.

“That thing…!” Charlotte and Luka turned to him in excitement. “It’s a bug!”

“Uh…”

“Bug…”

“Yes! Bug! Mom told me when we saw one earlier.”

‘There’s no bug like that!’ The two thought at the same time. For whatever reason, their mother had lied to the kid, and they weren’t brave enough to correct her. With a sigh, the two sat back on the grass. They were not going to talk about Wyverns or bugs, not anymore.

“Oh well, where is dad?” Charlotte said.

**

Beyond the multifarious ranges of Frucht reigned a wide forest. The expanse of trees was enormous to the point that the empire had to regularly keep an eye on it in fear of threats. Even the people of Frucht had only seen its outskirts.

Right in the center of this forest was a clearing devoid of any rocks and grass. Anyone could tell it was not a place created by mother nature, luckily, no one was around to see it. No one, except the creator of the place.

A tall man yawned at the center of the clearing. His hands stretched over his head held a thin wooden stick shaped like a sword.

“GYAAH!” A feral roar resounded in the air. The man looked up at a dark scaly monster. Its ferocious face and enormous body made it an object that would strike fear in all those who lay their eyes on it, but the man with cherry red hair whistled playfully at its sight.

“Whoa! Is that a Wyvern?” He said before smiling wide. “I really wanna eat some Wyvern!”

The man stretched back. He pulled the stick behind him and pointed it at the Wyvern overhead. Having locked in on one spot, his eyes and hands moved in perfect sync with the Wyvern’s movements.

As he followed the Wyvern, a blue glow swallowed the sword-shaped stick. The glow grew denser each second until it drowned the brown stick. With a grunt, the man’s body twisted forward. From his legs to his torso, and finally, his arms shot ahead. The stick left the man’s hand!

With a force that seemed to be tearing the sky apart, the stick pierced through the Wyvern’s wings.

“GAWR!!”

A gaping hole was left on the monster’s body! The Wyvern lost its balance and tumbled down from the skies. In a fit of rage, it spread its breath of fire all over the clearing. Despite an ocean of flames dancing around him, the man only looked at the falling Wyvern.

The beast noticed its attacker and wildly swung its claw as it got closer to the ground. The cherry-haired man smirked and jumped high in the sky. His weapon must have already turned into dust, but that didn’t bother him. He flipped in the air and released the same blue glow as before. Except, it was incomparably denser and darker than before.

The glow of blue materialized in the air. Per his will, the glow gathered and tempered itself into a sharp and deadly blade. The man grabbed the blue blade and stretched it towards the Wyvern. He put the weight of his whole body behind the blade as fell right on the Wyvern’s neck.

“Hyah!” The man shouted! His blade pierced into the Wyvern’s scales.

“GRRAA” The Wyvern screamed in agony as the blade passed its scales and tore into its flesh.

The man’s sword escaped from the other end of the Wyvern’s neck. With no signs of clumsiness or shock, the man lightly landed on his feet and brandished his sword in the air. As if on cue, the Wyvern’s neck detached from its body and fell limp on the scorched ground.

The man whistled at the sight as his sword dissipated into the air. He walked up to the decapitated head and brought his palms together. “Thank you for coming all this way, Wyvern,” he said. “You came to such a distant place to sate the hunger of this Vincent and his family. I’ll make sure to only take the best parts!”

After paying his… respects, Vincent Kirsche stretched his arms and started dismantling the Wyvern’s body. It was important to keep his word.

**

The suns had started to set when Vincent returned to Frucht. He had stealthily entered his house and stored the Wyvern's meat away. The humongous monster only had a couple of bags worth of good parts, but the quality was sure to make up for the quantity.

After seeing that none of his children were at home, he went over to the dune-like hill that they frequently staked out on. As he reached the place, the sight of three children with cherry red hair giggling and talking under the crimson glow of the twin suns made him smile.

Vincent whistled loudly and waved at them.

“Oh! Dad!” Astolfo shot up when he saw his father and ran over to him.

“Dad, where were you?” Luka said as he too ran towards Vincent alongside his sister.

Vincent showed a wide smile to the kids. “I went Wyvern hunting.”

At his words, the three broke into a fit of giggles. “Hunting Wyverns?” Charlotte spoke up. “Haha, a Wyvern will tear you before you even notice it!” The other two seemed to agree with her as they nodded their heads.

“Well, forget that. What were you kids talking about?”

“Oh! Astolfo asked us a stupid question. He asked why are there two suns?”

Vincent looked at Astolfo. His smile disappeared under an expression of seriousness. “That’s because, Astolfo, your father made a huge ball of fire a long time back and threw it in the sky!”

Once again, the three kids started laughing.

“Haha, only mom can make you stop lying,” Luka said.

“Is that so?” Vincent smiled widely again. “Well, your mother will be here soon. Let’s go back home!”

The three cheered in agreement and followed their father back home.