The sun began to dip below the horizon, casting a fiery glow across the shimmering waters surrounding the lush island of Laipawa. Argemmon stood at the edge of a cliff, the salty breeze tousling his dark mane, and his heart pounded in his chest. He gazed out at the expanse of his homeland, feeling a surge of emotions welling up inside him. There, on the watery horizon, lay the shadowy forms of the Archipelago: the other half of the island realm, and with it, the other half of his heart.

"Ibika," Argemmon whispered, almost as if he could summon her spirit from the depths of memory. The image of his pitch-black sister, wise during peacetimes and a bloody terror to behold in war, appeared in his mind.

“Don’t be stupid,” he replied, looking away from her. He hated when she teased him like this.

“It’s not stupid.” Her voice echoed in his thoughts. "Cerus was soft. You are strong.”

He snorted. “I was never meant to lead.”

Her laughter was sharp, cutting him to the quick. “You were never meant to live. Did I waste the milk?”

Argemmon closed his eyes, remembering the countless conversations they had shared over the years about the future of their island home, often finding themselves throwing hypotheticals around until late into the night. Ibika had always been his guiding light. She knew him better than anyone else.

She knew how to twist her words into his psyche like an assassin’s blade between the ribs.

She always found her mark. He’d spent the day spreading his scent across the Big Island, taking inventory of –

– of his island.

“If you are wrong, sister,” he murmured to the waves, “then we shall all suffer for it.”




Notes: Claiming Laipawa Island for Argemmon ♥