Chapter 2

Rated G for everyone

Arashi had lost his childhood that dreadful day, when he killed his mother; only his grandfather had prevented him growing completely cold and numb to the world. Frequent bursts of grief and anger resulted in sporadic weather patterns in the area, anywhere from small tornados, to weeklong rainstorms. Slowly, as he began to recover and get a sense of his newfound abilities, he began to study the books his mother had left behind. As he gradually grew more powerful, and more stable, the weather in the area balanced out. Yhaki lived with him for a while, training him in swordsmanship however he eventually left, once Arashi had turned 15 and it was clear that the young mage was getting on with life.

The fact that he was a Weather Mage was an attraction for people to come live in the village, of which he had taken over protection of when his parents had died. As a Weather Mage he could control if it rained or not, making it a perfect place to grow plentiful crops. This attracted many people and he was soon presiding over a bustling trade center for all towns in the region, with its own market, tradesmen center, and even a small boardinghouse of sorts. Because of the location beside Demon World, Demons of all sorts often passed through, but the human’s didn’t fear them. Arashi protected the village as well as his parents had.

For 785 years he did this alone. Then one day, when he left his tower to get some food from the market, he met her.

“I know you’re Arashi, and a powerful mage, but watch where you’re going!” she snapped. Her blue eyes sparked angrily, and she whirled around and walked away.

She must’ve been new to the village, as he didn’t recognize her, although he rarely left his tower except for expeditions such as this.

She was the first one who had had the nerve to speak to him with such gall. Her spirit alone attracted him to her from the start. He smiled a gentle smile, and excused himself. “I beg your pardon. Here, let me help you.” He bent to pick up her packages she had dropped. Her fire seemed to fade quickly, and by the time the packages had been picked up her angry face had faded into an easy smile. The two had continued their shopping, but together.

Mating had occurred within six months.

The occasion was cause for giant celebration. The human girl, whose name was Isabella, was a blushing bride, and he had never stopped smiling. Their mating night was something of magic, and not merely because he was a mage. Their bodies had come together, parted, and come together, fitting as though each was made for the other.

Their life together was perfect, Arashi’s calmness the counterpart of Isabella’s fire. They had fights, yes, but only ever minor squabbles, and even then they usually made up within 10 minutes of fighting. Then, about 10 months into the mating, Arashi sensed his mate one morning while holding her and his jaw dropped in shock. She was pregnant with his son.

The nine months went by in a flash. Arashi had brought his own cradle out of storage, ready for the birth. They bounced names back and forth until Isabella asked him to remind her what his father had been named. He had told her his story within the first few months of their courtship and had cried when he had.

“His name was Yuaki.”

“Then that’s what we will name our son.”

And that settled it.

And when Yuaki was born, Arashi felt as though his life, which had fallen apart when his parents had died, was finally completely back to normal. The infant was born with light brown hair streaked with red and a pale complexion. His eyes were the most unusual. Similar in shape to his mother’s, he had heterochromia - two different colored eyes. His left was similar to that of his mother, a blue iris, while his right was a dark color, similar to a stone - similar to his father’s. The baby was a perfect blend of the two of them.

And although the baby showed no powers whatsoever, he didn’t care. He, once again, had a family.

He would live with the blood of his mother on his hands for the rest of his life, but the life he had made with Isabella and his son, Yuaki helped negate that pain. He loved them with all his heart, and if he had it his way, he would live with them in his tower for the rest of his life.

He left the field, in which he was relaxing, and headed back to his family.

He knew something was wrong the second he stepped through the door. Isabella would never be to far away, waiting for him to come home.She would give him a hug and a kiss and tell him that dinner was nearly ready, with Yuaki at her hip. A servant would take his cloak and he would sit down and eat with his family.

The tower was silent as a grave. He sent out his mage powers, creeping from one room to the next, searching for life. He found none. Only traces of another mage’s power. The power signature was slightly familiar but in his panic to find his family, he didn’t have the time to stop and search through his memory for which mage would’ve left that power signature.

He raced up the stairs of the tower and burst into the rooms that his mate and son lived in, and recoiled from the sight. The front room was splashed with blood. A trail lead away, to the next room, and Arashi followed it, sick to his stomach about what he’d find.

Isabella lay on the floor, her eyes wide open and staring. Her body had been torn open to a degree that the only part of her that wasn’t bloody was her face. Her death had clearly been long and painful. Arashi crashed to his knees and drew her close, sobbing. But there was no time to linger here…where was Yuaki?

The door to a small closet appeared to have been forced open. Arashi carefully set down his mate’s body and walked cautiously towards the closet.

Inside the closet was his small boy. Yuaki’s body was as torn as his mothers. His face was filled with horror, causing Arashi to wonder if whoever had done this had made him watch his mother’s death. A scrap of parchment was clutched in his son’s hand and he gently pulled it loose.

"I did to you what I couldn’t do to your mother because of you. I took everything away from you. -Torohiro."

Pure, unrelenting fury filled every cell of Arashi’s body. This evil mage - the Weather Mage cursed that he was still alive - had once again taken everything Arashi held precious away from him.

Torohiro would pay with his life.

He went through the motions of a funeral with the rest of the town. His face appeared etched in stone for the entire thing. He had sobbed himself dry over their bloody bodies in private in his tower. The villagers watched with sympathetic eyes as he bid his family goodbye once again.

He couldn’t remain in the village any longer. Too many memories and an all consuming need to track down and kill Torohiro set his feet in motion. After explaining why to the village elders, he left.

It took him two years, but finally he learned that Torohiro kept his tower in the northern most part of the Eastern Lands. Two years of searching and questioning and seeking…and now a tall stone tower stood in front of him.

Eventually screams echoed across the flat plain. A portal opened up directly in front of him and Torohiro stepped out, facing Arashi with a sadistic grin, his face aglow in the flames. Before he could say anything, however, Arashi screamed in anger and threw up his hand, calling down thunder. Torohiro leapt out of the way as a fierce rain started; the thunder came even faster. The winds picked up speed, and Arashi drew his sword, and lunged forward. Lighting struck, and a sword struck where the lighting missed.

It took a couple tries but eventually the sword sliced directly through Torohiro’s torso. Arashi’s passion and fury hadn’t even given the opposing mage a chance to strike back. With a sword sticking out of his chest, the mage was all but defeated, rendered immobile by a paralyzing poison coated on the blade.

Arashi smiled with insane satisfaction. “Now I will make your death as painful as you made that of my father, my mate and my son,” he growled in a soft voice. He viciously tore the sword out and stabbed Torohiro again before the other mage had a chance to recover. Bloodlust overtook his desire to drag it out and within a few seconds the ground was stained with red. Stepping back, Arashi finally called on his mage power to finish Torohiro off. “This is for making me manifest and kill my mother…” he whispered, calling forth powerful winds…a tornado. Torohiro, however, was dead before the tornado struck and didn’t feel it as the winds ripped him apart.

His enemy - the murderer of his family - was dead. Instead of feeling any manner of relief, however, he only felt empty. He had nothing to return to-his family was dead. He had no interest in starting another one. He supposed he could offer himself as a mage to a minor ruler, but then realized if he offered himself as a mage to the minor warlords, he’d just get caught up in a war again. He needed to offer himself to a more powerful master, someone who was in complete control and had no need for further war. Someone who had somewhere he could just live in peace.

Finally his brain hit on the perfect solution. Mukuro. He was in the Eastern Lands was he not? He wouldn’t return his old village - too many memories. He could offer his services to Princess Aara of Otherworld, or any Princess for that matter but they’d probably just bind him and he didn’t want to be with another woman. Mukuro would be glad to have a mage again, and would hopefully give him anything he wanted.

“You’re offering my services to me? What do you want in exchange?”

Mukuro was naturally suspicious of the mage who would offer up their abilities without having to be persuaded. A tall blonde in beautiful silk robes stood behind her, also looking at him intently.

“Peace,” he said with no inflection in his voice. “My life has been filled with much bloodshed, and I’ve never wanted to live like that.”

“Then peace you shall have. Welcome Arashi, Weather Mage, into my services. My men will begin work on a tower at once.”

“Thank you.”

And with that Arashi became the Mage of the Eastern Keep. And his life became peaceful, until 3 years later when Ga-Wane began to pursue the Eastern Lands. He cursed the Moth, but used his powers for the first time in many years and defended his new home.

He was emotionless for the rest of his life, until the mage Bakura dispatched him, along with the Unicorns, and the Woman Mage.

When his soul passed from the Living World, the first thing he saw on the other side was his mother, father, mate and son. He smiled for the first time in years, and hugged them all, feeling pure peace at last.