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Chapter 2

Darkness. It was all Hinata saw around him. It enveloped him. Consumed him. Whispered to him.

Voices. There were voices in the darkness. They whispered, and talked. They spoke in many different languages. They spoke of things he didn't understand. They spoke of him. Silence.

The voices were gone, disappeared. Hinata relaxed a little before a large voice came out of no where, directed at him. "Hinata." said the voice. "Come to me Hinata. Embrace the darkness within you. Let me teach you Hinata. Accept your destiny. Come to me, and let me mold you into what you were meant to be. Join me, and help me conquer this pitiful world as you were meant to."

Darkness. Hinata woke to darkness. The moon had set in the west, and the only reason he was sure he was awake was the weight of his beloved sister on his chest. He hugged her tightly and kissed her head, trying not to wake her. It was only a dream, he thought. Only a dream. He thought this as he fell back asleep, comforted by the presence of the one he loved.

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An hour later Hinata and Tsukiko woke at the same time, each registering the other was awake by their breathing. Having been trained by their parents since they were old enough to walk, it took them all of two seconds to realize why they had woke up. Someone was in the room with them, and it was neither their parents nor their sisters. Tsukiko tapped her brothers side three times with the hand that faced the wall. He quickly tensed and relaxed his leg muscles in response. They had devised this signal to make sure they were aware something was wrong. They both reached between the wall and the mattress, grabbing the weapons they had hidden there.

"Put those away. They wouldn't do you much good against me anyway, and you know it." The voice was familiar. It had been part of their lives since they had been born.

Hinata and Tsukiko opened their eyes and looked at the newcomer. It was an old silvering grey wolf Lupan who always had a depressed look in his eye, and a melancholy slouch in his posture. "Grandpa Know." They said at the same time, and instantly tried to cover up better with the blanket in a futile attempt at hiding the fact of their mating from the only person who had not voiced an opinion.

He sighed and closed his eyes holding up a paw towards them. "Relax, I always knew you were mates, you should have known that. In fact, it was one of the few things I was able to discern about the future. I knew you would be together before you did. I never told anyone though, because it wasn't my place." He shook his head trying to clear it. "But that's not why I'm here."

He walked closer to the bed the siblings now shared. He knelt down and looked at his grandson. "Hinata, you had a dream last night."

Hinata blinked wondering what his grandfather was getting at, of course the older Lupan knew he had a dream last night. He should have been able to recite it word for word to Hinata, that was what being the Knowledge meant. "Yeah... What about it? You would know about better than I would."

The ancient wolf let his head hang. "Actually, the problem is that I don't know anything about it. My gift couldn't penetrate the dream like it could your others, and by the way you have quite the imagination. You should share it with your sister some time, she'd enjoy it. But you don't want to hear that from me." He looked up at Hinata again. "Son, I need you to tell me what you saw, what you heard."

Hinata looked confused but answered anyway. "It was nothing. I was in complete darkness surrounded by voices, and then they stopped. Then the other voice spoke. It said 'Come to me Hinata. Embrace the darkness within you. Let me teach you Hinata. Accept your destiny. Come to me, and let me mold you into what you were meant to be. Join me, and help me conquer this pitiful world as you were meant to.' and then I woke up. And I fell back asleep almost immediately thanks to a certain presence." He hugged Tsukiko and she smiled at him.

She pinched his side. "Later, love." She said playfully.

Their grandfather wasn't amused. "Damn it. I was afraid of this. Children, you know your heritage. You know that your father killed the demon Orgnul more than twenty-five years ago. What none of us knew was that when you kill a demon of his power in this world, they just remanifest years later in their home world. Demons are made up of the very essence of their worlds, and therefore cannot be killed in ours. Even lesser demons will remanifest though it can sometimes take centuries. Unfortunately my vision is very limited in the other worlds, mostly centered around the various portals from here to them. I only know two things, the first is that Orgnul lives again, though he doesn't have the power he once did." He closed his eyes. "And the second is that he is right." He said sadly.

The twins couldn't believe what they were hearing. "What are you talking about Grandpa?" Asked Tsukiko worriedly.

He opened his eyes and stared at his granddaughter. "There is indeed a darkness inside your brother. It hides underneath the surface, but it is there." He held up his paw when he saw her about to protest. "I know, he's the most wonderful, loving, kind, romantic, and compassionate person you know. But what Orgnul wouldn't want you to know is that darkness doesn't mean evil. In this case it only means that you have a destructive power residing within you. This does not mean you are evil." He paused to make sure that what he was saying wasn't falling on deaf ears. "In fact you could learn to control and hone these abilities to help people. Do you understand what I'm saying Hinata?"

Hinata thought about it for a few minutes. "I think I do Grandpa. You're saying that not only am I not evil, but I could use these powers, when they emerge, to do good. I could use them against the demon that would use them for himself. I could use them to ensure the safety of the world instead of enslaving it."

Their grandfather nodded. "Exactly my son. If the demon tries to take over this world again, your mother and father won't be able to fight like they were the first time. The blood of the hero flows through your veins. The very things that made him able to be the greatest hero since the various other races went into hiding are also within each of you."

Tsukiko asked him, "How did my brother gain this latent power?"

The old male considered it for a moment before answering. "I suspect that it has to do with the power your father obtained during his own journey. When my son gained the 'States of Purity' he became a weapon of the gods, and they bestowed much power upon him. When the gods touch something, they always leave their mark. Even when your father lost his own power, he had been marked for life, but not just by his wings. I imagine that your power descends from that mark." He turned to Tsukiko. "You must take care of your brother Tsuki. When he manifests his powers it's going to mess with his head a bit. He won't be able to control it at first, and people are going to wonder. You'll have to be able to take care of him in every way." He smiled. "But of course, you signed on to do that just as he did when you decided to be mates."

The twins smiled at one another. The Knowledge drew them into a hug. "I love you both, my beautiful grandchildren, but I cannot stay. I must return to my forest for a while, but I will be back when your powers surface to help how I can." He stood up and looked down at them. "I'll leave the decision whether or not to tell your parents and sisters up to you. Goodnight my children, sleep well. I'm sorry you didn't get much sleep tonight." He walked to the door and walked out, he nearly closed the door when he followed a whim and turned around. "Hinata, don't forget what I said about your imagination. Your sister has her own and she'll enjoy them being used. If you go into the safe where your parents keep the items they used in their adventure and open the third drawer in the middle, you'll find a surprise you might enjoy using. Just don't tell them I told you where it was if they find you using it." He said with a chuckle. He closed the door and was gone.

Hinata looked down at his mate. "Will you still stick with me even through this?"

Tsukiko looked up at him seeming just a little hurt. "Of course I will. I love you brother. I can't believe you'd think I would abandon you for something like this."

Hinata smiled and hugged her. "I didn't. I just wanted to make sure it was your choice and you didn't feel forced into it. I love you too sis. And I always will." He kissed her lips gently. "Now what do you say we try to catch what little sleep we can while we can?"

Tsukiko yawned saying, "I think thats a great idea." She nuzzled into his chest again, getting comfortable. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight mo chroí." He closed his eyes and quickly fell asleep, listening to his love's gentle breathing.

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Light. All Tsukiko could see was light. All around her, searing, comforting, blinding light.

She knew she was having a dream similar to her brother's but she didn't hear the voices.

She looked around, listening, watching for what would happen next.

A melodic voice rang out in the silence. "Tsukiko."

She turned around and the light vanished. Instead she was now in the middle of a forest clearing, surrounded on all sides by giant trees of all kinds. Pines, Oaks, Sumacs, every tree she had ever seen was represented here. But what stood out in the clearing was not the environment, but the beautiful white wolfess walking toward her. She was dressed in a leather shirt and trousers. She carried a large longbow made out of flawless horn; how a horn so big was ever grown Tsukiko couldn't imagine. The wolfess was followed by animals of all kinds, wolves, tigers, squirrels, chipmunks, deer, even bears. Tsukiko had heard enough stories and seen enough "sacred art" to know who spoke to her.

"Lady Artemis." She quickly bowed to the ground, awed to actually be approached by the very goddess she worshiped.

"Tsukiko, you need not bow to me. Your blood carries my mark and thus marks you as one who was accepted as my equal when I blessed your father." She smiled and reached down, offering the young wolf her paw.

Tsukiko looked up at her patron goddess, and seeing the smile on her face accepted the offered paw. She figured she should make what use she could of the status she had just received.

"I know this is a dream, but isn't the entourage a little much?" She asked cheekily.

Artemis chuckled a little. "Perhaps. But I wanted to make sure you knew who I was and I didn't have to waste time trying to convince you. I could have summoned all this after I had first appeared, and you might never have believed me. First impressions make all the difference." She waved her hand and the animals along with her bow vanished. "Now Tsukiko, we must talk."

Tsukiko became skeptical. "About what?"

Artemis made to sit down and a large rock appeared beneath her. "I'll get straight to the point. Your brother has a darkness in him. You know this now, even if you're not sure what to make of it. Your grandfather is right on everything, which is why he has the gift he does. But he missed something. He missed the fact that you also bear the legacy of the mark, in the form of an inner light. Child you have the power to heal, grievous wounds beyond even the most powerful of priests on Condea. You have the power to help anyone and everyone you want. This sounds like a very holy ability, but just as your brothers inner darkness doesn't make him evil, neither does your inner light make you inherently good. That is still your choice as a free entity."

The goddess leaned forward towards Tsukiko. "But you must stay away from your brother. The more he uses his gift around you, the more it will warp your own until it becomes more inherently destructive and deadly than his own. When you try to heal you will instead injure, when you mean to help you will instead harm, when you intend to save you will instead destroy. You will become an unstoppable force, you will become warped yourself until you no longer know right from wrong, only what you want and what you think you see. You must leave your brother, or else everything you love will die."

Tsukiko stared at the wolfess mouth slightly agape. She shook her head violently. "No. I don't believe you. My brother would never harm me. Even unintentionally. He loves me." She grew angry, and clenched her fists. "And I love him. I don't know who you think you are, or who you think you're talking to, but I will never leave my brother. Never."

Artemis smiled and stood. "Good. You've passed my own little test. I had to make sure you would never leave him. He will need your help to get through what is ahead for him." She frowned and looked down. "Unfortunately, I wasn't lieing about what his abilities will do to yours. I wish I was. But, it will be very gradual. In fact you may not even notice the effect for years to come." She looked back up and straight into Tsukiko's eyes. "He does love you though. More than either of you could ever articulate. He loves you just as much as you love him. And I already know that he will never leave you either, no matter what. I made sure of that years ago when he first realized that you loved each other, and cemented the fact the night of the festival. You see, I was the one that made him love you so soon. If I had left you both to your own devices, neither of you would have realized it until your were ready to strike out on your own at twenty years of age. He used to make small prayers that if you loved him as much as he loved you, he would never break your heart. Now don't get me wrong, I didn't make you love him. I just made it happen sooner, since it was a foregone conclusion. You are soul mates Tsukiko. Mated before you even lived."

Artemis cocked her head as if listening to something. "And now I fear our time is up. Do not forget what I've said. And do not forget you have your own powers, you may need them to offset the early effects of your brother's." She turned back towards the woods, but looked over her shoulder. "And don't worry about your grandfather. He doesn't even have any idea this happened. He just thinks you're sleeping peacefully. It's better that way. And that is the difference between the power of the gods, and the power of demons." She walked away into the trees, and Tsukiko slipped into peaceful dreamless sleep.