Chapter 127: My Little Brother

Theo

Theo stood just outside Vance’s room.

The door was left open a tiny crack, and through that narrow gap, Theo could see straight inside. He watched as Vance sat on the edge of the mattress, his head buried against Travis’s shoulder, his entire body shaking as he sobbed quietly into the dark.

Theo stared, his jaw clenching as he stood frozen in the hallway. I can’t do anything, he thought, his chest tight with a heavy, suffocating weight. There is literally nothing I can do.

The words echoed in his mind again and again, mocking him. He squeezed his hands into hard fists until his knuckles turned white. He wished more than anything that Malric was here. Why couldn’t Malric be awake to handle it? Malric always knew what to say when his brothers fell apart. He knew how to pull them back together.

Theo didn’t. He had zero idea how to handle any of this.

Feeling completely useless, Theo shoved both hands deep into his trouser pockets, turned on his heel, and walked away. He left the dorm entirely, needing to get out before the walls closed in on him. Ever since they returned from the funeral, the air in the building had felt poisonous. And there was still no sign of when, or if, Malric was ever going to wake up.

He found himself wandering through the academy’s stone gardens under the cold moonlight, feeling completely lost. His mind drifted, his feet moving on autopilot until he stopped in front of the glass doors of the campus greenhouse where he could see the shadow of a figure moving inside.

He didn’t need to be a genius to know who was inside.

Theo let out a sigh, looking back toward the dark paths. Part of him wanted to turn around and walk right back to his room. Let him be, he thought. But the protective instinct inside him refused to let him walk away. He would never be the pillar of the family like Malric, but he wasn’t going to let his remaining brothers drown alone, either.

He pushed the heavy glass door open and stepped inside. The greenhouse was dark, illuminated only by the pale moonlight filtering through the glass panels above.

"Keali," Theo spoke into the quiet room. "Why are you here?"

Keali was kneeling on the floor beside a long wooden planter when he slowly looked up from the soil, his milky, unseeing eyes fixing in Theo’s general direction. "Why are you here?"

Theo frowned, crossing his arms over his chest. "That’s not fair. I asked you first."

"I’m planting," Keali answered flatly, turning back to the dirt. "As you can see."

Theo walked closer, stopping a few feet from the planter. "Let me guess... you were trying to get high, and you ran out of your moon dust."

Keali let out a tiny, breathless huff. "You know me well."

Theo looked down at his brother, the sharp edge in his voice softening slightly. "Keali... why weren’t you at the funeral?"

"Oh," Keali murmured, digging his fingers into the damp soil. "There was a funeral? I didn’t know."

"Stop playing around," Theo said, his brow furrowing. "I know you knew about the funeral. Why didn’t you come?"

Keali paused, his hands staying buried in the dirt. "Because my presence would not be wanted. It would only make everyone uncomfortable."

"By ’everyone’ you mean Mother," Theo corrected quietly.

Keali offered a faint, bitter smile. "Bingo. I figured she’s already going through a lot. She shouldn’t have to look at my face."

Theo stared at him for a moment, then slowly lowered himself to the ground, sitting cross-legged in the dirt right beside Keali. He watched as his brother carefully placed a small, dark seed into the hole he had dug.

"You know, whatever Mother says or does..." Keali muttered, breaking the silence, "...you really shouldn’t let it get to you, Keali. Mother hates everyone. She doesn’t hate you specifically."

Keali looked away, resting his elbows on his knees. "That is true."

They sat together in silence as Keali continued burying seeds one by one.

Unlike the suffocating stillness back at the dorm, the quiet inside the greenhouse felt different. It was peaceful, the most genuine peace Theo had felt since the tournament that completely ruined their lives. The quiet was comforting. Sitting side by side in the dirt, it felt infinitely better simply because they were together.

Suddenly, Keali stopped moving.

He plunged his hands deep into the soil, closing his eyes. "Rish." He mumbled and right before Theo’s eyes, the freshly buried seeds began to sprout. Green stems burst through the dark dirt, unfurling leaves and growing at an impossible speed, blossoming into full, mature plants that should have taken months to cultivate.

Theo stared at the blooming leaves in shock, his jaw dropping slightly. "Keali... how long have you been able to do this?"

"Since forever," Keali replied casually, pulling his hands out of the dirt.

Theo blinked, processing the scene. "Makes sense how you never run out of moon dust," he realized out loud. "You plant it yourself. I honestly thought you had a dealer on campus."

"Of course not," Keali said, wiping his dirt-stained palms on his pants. "I would never spend my money on something I can do myself."

"You have a magical affinity," Theo murmured, staring at the thick green stalks. "How is this even possible?"

Keali shrugged, his expression unreadable. "I don’t know."

He reached out and plucked a thick, dark green leaf straight off the plant. Before he could shove it into his mouth, Theo reached over and gently caught his wrist.

"Why do you even do this, Keali?" Theo asked softly, his voice heavy with concern. "Why do you like getting high so much? I know... I know part of the reason is because of that girl from back then, but it’s been years."

Keali stayed still for a long second, staring blankly ahead. He let out a long, shuddering sigh.

"It drowns out her screams," Keali whispered, his voice cracking slightly. "It drowns out the voices I hear... and it stops my dreams. My mind is no different from hell, Theo. I cannot live with it."

Without another word, Keali pulled his hand free and shoved the leaf into his mouth, chewing slowly.

Theo looked at his younger brother, his chest aching with a deep, hopeless sadness. He didn’t lecture him. He just let out a long, quiet breath and let his arm drop.

Keali leaned sideways, resting his heavy head directly onto Theo’s shoulder. He closed his eyes, chewing on the bitter leaf.

"You know..." Keali murmured, his voice muffled against Theo’s jacket, "...even though everything is dark right now, I feel as though everything will be okay. We will all survive this somehow."

Theo looked down at Keali’s messy hair, swallowing the lump in his throat. He reached up, placing a hand on the back of his brother’s head.

"I hope so," Theo whispered into the quiet greenhouse. "I really hope you’re right, little brother."