Chapter Text
Chapter 1 -
Finn was waiting nervously by the produce stand for his brother to arrive. They were going shopping for supplies for Finn’s first year at Easton Magic Academy. Rayne and Finn had discussed many options for Finn after he finished at Easton Magic Academy Middle Term. Up to that point, both brothers lived in a small apartment in the market town connected to the Academy. With Rayne Ames becoming the youngest Divine Visionary as a second year student, both of the Ames brothers had discussed options for Finn’s safety and Rayne’s peace of mind. They also spoke to Headmaster Whalberg, who had taken a liking to Rayne during his first year at Easton Magic Academy High Term. he tried his best to give the older of the two boys a male role model so he could pass those morals on to the younger brother.
Rayne had been finishing paperwork for the upcoming term, and appeared next to Finn in a flash of green swirling flames. The immediate presence caused Finn to jump until he saw it was his older brother, and smiled. Both were dressed in casual shirts with slacks. Rayne had a dark blue hooded cloak with his new Sword Cane logo on the back. Finn was wearing a vest with a side bag, which he gripped the strap tightly.
“Hey, big brother. How was it?”
Rayne glanced around before resting a hand on Finn’s head with a smile, the younger leaning into the physical affection as normal.
“You’re all signed up. You’ll be staying in the dorms this year, same as me, and we’ll keep the apartment for weekends and holidays. Unfortunately, the Headmaster can’t put us together because we are in different years, so you’ll end up with a roommate. But he assured me he would find a good match for you. So all we need now are your supplies.”
Finn nodded as he looked up as his older brother. Rayne had been a Divine Visionary for a few months now. The amount of money he earned just from winning the title was significant. As two orphans with little to no means to take care of themselves, Rayne quickly got them both a financial advisor. It was suggested to put a majority in savings. A portion aside to cover living and school expenses for both boys until Finn graduated. By then, Rayne would be working for the Bureau of Magic, and would have his own income. So the idea of having new supplies and non hand me down clothes from Rayne was exciting to Finn. The fact that Rayne was going to go shopping with him excited Finn even more,
As Rayne watched Finn start bouncing in excitement, he had to contain a small smile at how much his little brother was acting like a rabbit. Pulling a parchment from his pocket, he handed the shopping list over to Finn.
“Here. The list of all of your school supplies. Let’s start with uniforms and robes.”
The two brothers started their day of shopping, Finn taking the advice from Rayne who knew what to expect the first year at Easton Magic Academy High. They picked up uniforms, casual clothes, books, a satchel bag, potions supplies, runes and divination and even a broom maintenance kit for the broom Finn already had. The last place they were headed was to a wand shop. Finn needed to get a new one due to how much his magic had increased and changed. The same one from Middle School wouldn’t work now, and Finn could barely get his personal magic to flow through it. As they walked towards the shop, a loud drunken voice was hollering at someone about the magic police. Rayne positioned himself next to Finn to block him from the scene, but Finn could hear a ripping noise like fabric and even more yelling.
He stopped walking and took a glance back just in time to see an old man scoop up someone in a hooded cloak and speed off yelling behind them.
“Please excuse my son, officer!”
Finn’s eyes widened as he realized the man was running towards them, faster than Finn could react, but his brother grabbed his arm and pulled him back into his chest with one arm around his middle and the other holding his wand at the ready in front of Finn protectively. The chief of the Magic Police for this district started laughing. He pointed his wand up, summoning a spy bird. “I didn’t need the hassle, but maybe this will lead to that promotion I been looking for. Track him down!”
Rayne narrowed his eyes as he watched and waited for the magic police to leave before loosening his grip on his younger brother. They took a moment before Finn looked to Rayne.
“I wonder what that was about?”
With a shrug, the Divine Visionary started towards the wand shop, holding the door for Finn.
Pescunor’s Wands was a warm looking place. It had red carpet flooring with wood panel walls and various candle holders, chandeliers and other candelabras all over the room. Along the walls, on the ceiling, the shelves. Everything that could hold a wand instead of a candle, was holding a wand. Soft light from the glass dome above the middle was letting in light while the center underneath had a brass circle inlaid into the floor. A tall man with a zigzag line along his face from ear to ear smiled at the two brothers.
“My, my, Master Rayne. I wasn’t expecting to see you back so soon. Don’t tell me you’re having trouble with your newly acquired God’s Wand?”
Rayne let out a sigh and shook his head as he gently pushed Finn forward.
“I brought my brother to find a new wand. He’s had the same throughout Middle School and he’s about to enter Easton Magic Academy.”
The salesman grinned in delight and rubbed his hands together. A recommendation from a Divine Visionary would increase his business even more than the fact he was chosen to give Rayne Ames his new wand. He peered at the nervous young man and could see the family resemblance between the two. Curious, the shop owner motioned for Finn to stand on the inlaid circle.
“Please, go right ahead and let your magic reach out. I see you have a single line of magic, but do you have personal magic? Or just the elementary magic that comes with being a single liner?”
Finn looked to Rayne, who nodded and moved to find a seat and watch. Finn looked to the salesman and gulped before stepping onto the brass circle and holding a shaking hand out. “I have personal magic, but it’s not very versatile. It only does one thi-”
A wand shot from the ceiling down to Finn’s hand and slipped snuggly into his palm. Without realizing it, he gripped the wand and looked down before he could finish what he was about to say. The wand was not fancy looking. A dark wooden handle, with only a slightly lighter stem. A single tiny butterfly was inlaid into the bottom. As Finn looked it over, he found himself staring at every little grain and notch from the craftsmanship.It felt warm, and comfortable. Reminded Finn of being curled up next to his brother while they both watched stars out the window of their tiny apartment. He was so lost in his memory and the admiration of the wand, he completely missed the salesman’s pitch about the wand and its qualities.
Rayne listened to the salesman, noticing that Finn was still resonating magical power as he held the wand carefully. His aura was now a bright green in color, and it had little flickers around the edge like butterfly wings flickering. The salesman hinted that there might be a more suitable wand for the brother of a Divine Visionary. This wand was simple maple wood and mahogany with no runes or inlay of any metals. Yet, Rayne tilted his head as Finn looked at the salesman.
“I’ll take it. It’s perfect. I’ve never felt so in tune with a wand before!”
A small smile crept onto Rayne’s face as he held up a few gold coins to pay the wand salesman, and made sure to also grad a sheath for Finn to hide it in his sleeve, not just the inside of his robes.
“As he said, we’ll take this one. Thank you.”
The two brothers walked out of the shop, Finn seeming unable to let go of his new wand as he kept looking at it. They were quiet as they headed back to the small apartment closest to the school so Finn could get his supplies put away and packed before dinner.,
Tomorrow he would be at Easton Magical Academy, and as long as he was with his brother, he felt like he could do anything. He was ready for this. Ready to learn and become someone who his brother could rely on when he needed him.
Tomorrow was going to mark the start of everything new.
* * * * * * * *
Adler dorm. He had gotten sorted into the same dorm as Ryne, which he knew would happen based on what Rayne had told him. But man, some of the students this year were just plain weird. One guy made the sorting unicorn ramble about cream puffs. Another student almost blew it up! Not only that, but their basic introduction to magic was a fiasco where a newer transfer student seemed to have trouble following the most basic of spells like unlocking a lock or moving things a few inches. The teacher went off on him, and his weirdness only got worse when he started making comments about how God was dead. Every year had the weirdo, and Finn could only hope he got a normal, quiet sort of room mate for his dorm room.
“Room 302, 302. I really hope I don’t get the class weirdo this year. Oh, here we go. Why is the door gone?:
Finn felt a pat on the shoulder as he startled and spun around. It was the class weirdo!
“Hey there, sorry about the door.”
Finn starred as Mash moved to put the door back on, speaking softly so they could get to know each other in their dorm room.
All Finn could think was thank goddess his brother was going to be here too. He was going to have a lot to say once they had their agreed weekly meet up.
Chapter 2: Chapter 2
Summary:
Episode 3, Cavill is taking advantage of Mash, and Finn. How will Rayne react to what Cavill does?
Notes:
We are moving on to the third episode with Cavill and how Finn and Mash became closer friends, not just roommates. Also, how Rayne handles his younger brother being hurt by another student. This story is supposed to have a lot of Hurt/Comfort, brotherly bonding and small moments of fluff between the two.
There is some Dark Rayne at the end, so If you don't want to see that, skip the warning tabbed section at the end. I know I'm a fan of it though.
Chapter Text
Rayne was finishing the last details of his report when a soft knock on the door alerted him to the time. Glancing at the clock, he stood and gently moved past the multiple little rabbits hopping around his room and opened the door. The Ames brothers had agreed that once a week, they would meet up for dinner and to catch up. That doesn’t mean they can’t also see each other as needed, but a weekly dinner made sure that if either of them got busy, they would still get together. They also had the weekends where they could go back to the small apartment and spend time together. A lot of that was going to be Rayne working and Finn practicing his lessons. Tonight, Rayne had managed to snag a large pizza for them both, and Finn grinned when he smelled the food and saw the bunnies scurrying towards him when the door was opened.
“Wow, they got settled quickly didn’t they?”
Rayne nodded as he shut the door and watched Finn kneel to pet and greet the seven smaller rabbits that all came over to look for treats. Once the little furry critters were placated, the two brothers sat at the table next to the window and started serving out dinner.
“Where’s your roommate at, Rayne?” Finn asked with a brief glance around before starting to enjoy the extra cheese pizza.
“Max took the evening off to go to town. He’ll be back later after we’re done. How are the dorms treating you?” Rayne sat back to enjoy his own pizza as a rabbit jumped into his lap, drawing his hand to pet it between the ears.
“Oh! I have a surprisingly normal roommate. I thought he was a weirdo, but he’s just really into working out and his muscles. He even named them. How weird is that? Otherwise he’s pretty polite. I loaned him my broom for flying lessons today. He was incredible on the field. Set a record and everything. Cavill seemed interested in him, but I don’t know if Mash actually went to meet with him at the field or not like he asked.”
That got Rayne’s attention, causing him to look up at Finn.
“Loyd Cavill is here this year?”
“Yeah. He's in a lot of my classes too.”
Both brothers were quiet as they ate and thought about different things with this new information. Rayne was thinking of taking a stroll by the broom field to make sure there wasn’t anything malicious going on. Finn was thinking about his conversation with Cavill earlier in the week.
“Hey, Rayne? Cavill's father, does he work where you work?” Finn looked up to see Rayne’s gaze was looking out the window at the darkening sky.
It took a moment for Rayne to look over at Finn and their eyes locked for a moment. Rayne was looking for the true intention behind the question. He noticed how Finn's shoulders were up towards his ears and the younger brother was fiddling with his unfinished pizza.
“Finn. No matter what he threatens, he can't do anything. This isn't middle School, and I am not at risk of losing my job or title because of him. Okay?”
Finn looked down at his plate and nodded.
“Yeah. Thanks for that. He hasn't bothered me, I was just making sure.”
It took a moment before Rayne nodded his understanding. With that sort of a reaction, he was certain Cavill had said something to his brother, but he would leave it up to Finn to come to him with it.
The brothers finished their pizza and Finn volunteered to help with the rabbits
feeding and updating the spells on their cages. Rayne kept a special warding circle on the door to keep them from getting out, and the cages were self-cleaning, which made keeping seven little rabbits a true treat.
Before they parted ways, Rayne rested a hand on Finn's head and smiled a small smile.
“Let's go to the Arcanum Library this weekend. I want to introduce you to some people. Sounds good?”
Finn looked up at his older brother and smiled widely to the point of closing his eyes.
“Sounds great! I can't wait.”
While Finn's eyes were closed, Rayne made a small gesture with his free hand and a small white circle appeared where Rayne's hand had been resting on Finn's head, slowly fading away. The older brother felt a bit guilty putting a spell on his brother without their knowledge, but he didn’t want to risk something happening to him. With a quick hug goodnight, Finn left to head back to his dorm. Rayne sighed and pulled out a small compact mirror, muttering a word to activate it and watched through the mirror as Finn walked back to his room.
Despite Rayne's desire to protect his brother from harm, he is still a student here. This way he could react quickly if Finn got into serious trouble.
Unfortunately, it was only a few days before it would need to be used.
*****************
Rayne was in class copying notes from the board when he felt the hum of energy on the compact mirror in his pocket. Since he was a Divine Visionary, and might need to leave at a moment's notice, he was seated far to the left near the door for easy exit. Sliding the mirror from his pocket, he glanced into it and saw blood dripping onto the ground. His hands froze as he saw Finn being restrained by well known magical strings and his head slammed into the ground hard enough to cause his forehead to split open.
Rayne didn't recognize the hallway, so he couldn't just transport to that location. Closing his notebook, he gripped the mirror in one hand and slipped from the classroom with his wand out.
“Trace.”
A small glowing rabbit appeared and began racing down the hallway, leading Rayne to where he needed to go. His blood was boiling at the thought someone was hurting his brother. The little rabbit darted quickly around turns and Rayne suddenly found himself in a hallway where his brother was leaning on a tall boy with a bowl style haircut. A quick look showed the Vice Principal buried up to his nose in the hallway stone. Two boys were trying to help up an unconscious Cavill from the ground.
The small rabbit disappeared and both Finn and Mash looked up to see Rayne standing in the hallway with his wand at the ready and a murderous look on his face.
“Big Brother…I can explain.” Finn gasped out as Mash looked between the two. Putting his wand away, Rayne moved forward to help give Finn someone else to lean on, a hand gently gripped the younger's chin and he appraised the damage to his face.
“Cavill?” Rayne only spoke the one word, but it made the two boys trying to help unbury the Vice Principal and carry Cavill drop him and scoot backwards as they panicked hearing the angry tone from a Divine Visionary.
An attendee for the HeadMaster walked up behind them all before Finn could say anything else and bowed slightly.
“The headmaster would like to speak with you Mr. Burndead. We will clean up this mess.” Finn tried to stammer an explanation to both the attendee and Rayne to prevent Mash from getting into trouble, but Rayne already had an arm around his brother's waist to help guide him back towards the dorms.
“Don't keep Headmaster Whalberg waiting. I will take care of Finn.”
Mash watched as if to make sure Rayne wasn't going to hurt his friend before speaking in a monotone voice.
“Okay.”
The attendee motioned for Mash to walk ahead of him as Rayne took Finn the other way. He listened as Finn tried to stammer through an explanation of what happened. He noticed his brother's eyes were drooping, and his words were coming out slurred as he leaned more on his big brother.
“Finn, don't close your eyes. You might have a concussion.” Rayne looked over to see Finn fluttering his eyes open with a sigh.
“Well yeah. He slammed my head in-into the ‘round three times be-before Maysh came.”
Rayne frowned more as he finally got them to Finn's dorm room, 302. He helped Finn sit down at the foot of his bed and made sure to gently rest both hands on either side of Finn's face, gently looking over the injuries again.
“Stop. Don't talk anymore and let me heal what I can.”
Finn glanced down and barely nodded as a warmth spread from Rayne's hands to the injured parts of his head. The hazy border Finn had been seeing cleared up, and it was suddenly much easier to focus. By the time Finn could blink and looked up at Rayne, his brother let go to look through a small first aid kit.
Healing another person with magic had limits. It depended on how much power you had, because you were transferring some of it to the other person to heal their wounds. It also couldn't heal everything, so Rayne focused on the obvious concussion as his priority. A few bandages, while frustrating, would be better than weeks of his brother dealing with that.
“Why didn't you tell me Cavill was bothering you?” Rayne spoke slowly, restraining his anger at what happened while he wiped at the open wound on Finn's forehead with an antiseptic wipe.
“I-I didn't want to bother you. I thought I could manage it since it was just one thing here and there. But he asked me to do more and more things to Mash, and Mash was treating me like such a good friend and I-”
Rayne pulled his younger brother into a gentle hug, silencing the rushed explanation. Silence turned to sniffles and then to a broken sob.
“I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. I know I'm pathetic and weak. I couldn't even say no to him.”
Rayne rubbed small circles into his brother's back as the younger one clung to his older brother and sobbed. He was getting tears, blood and snot on his older brother's robes, but he didn't care. So emotionally overwhelmed from what just happened. He cried until his sobs turned into hiccups, and his tears stopped on their own. Once the brunt of his breakdown was over, Rayne let go of the hug to finish gently treating his head wound. He wiped the younger's face clean before wrapping a long strip that he had enchanted around his head to help heal the injury to Finn's forehead.
“You're not pathetic or weak. Your friend obviously didn't think so to go as far as he did to protect you.”
Finn kept quiet, staring at the ground until Rayne finished and only looked up when Rayne rested both hands on his shoulders.
“Finn. You did good. Alright?”
The younger nodded soberly before speaking up.
“Thanks, big brother.”
Rayne nodded, a gentle squeeze on his shoulders before moving to stand up.
“Do you want me to stay for a while?” Finn shook his head no.
“I need to do some thinking, and I want to wait for Mash. If he gets expelled, he'll have to come back to get his things, and I want to thank him before he leaves.”
Rayne looked to the door and then back. He wanted to tell Finn that if Mash was getting expelled, Rayne would have been called to the Headmaster's office as the Addler Prefect to escort Mash to his dorm to collect his things. Since he hadn't been called yet, he doubted that Mash was getting expelled.
“I'll go and leave you to your thoughts. Don't forget, Saturday, the library visit.”
Finn nodded with a smile before Rayne headed out the door, closing it silently behind him.
Now that his brother was taken care of, he had a first year and a Vice Principal to speak with at length.
**********
((Warning: Rayne is going to be a bit dark. This takes place after Mash has returned to his dorm room and Cavill and the Vice Principal are recovering in the spare classroom from the end))
Rayne walked with a steady pace to the hallway where Finn had been attacked. True to their word, the hallway was cleaned up to the point you wouldn't know anything had happened. Peering around, he heard yelling, and realized the two students who had been helping before had dragged Cavill and the Vice Principal to a spare classroom. The door opened and the Vice Principal stormed out towards the Headmaster’s office. It was reasonable to assume He had been summoned, so Rayne slipped into the room after he left, and closed the door hard to announce his arrival.
Cavill and the other two first year students all jumped at the sound and turned to see Rayne standing at the door with his gold eyes boring into all three of them, his hand sliding smoothly to the lock, which clicked into place.
“Evening. I’m here to have a little chat with you all.” Rayne kept his tone even, but the anger from his aura and magic was stifling in the room. Cavill managed to stand, a hand on the side of his head despite the cut and bruise on his own forehead from when it was slammed into the ground as he held himself straight.
“What chat? Do you know who I am? Who am I good friends with? I could have the Vice Principal expel you if I wanted.”
The two students seemed to step back and one of them tried to put a hand on Cavill’s arm.
“Dude, that’s Rayne Ames. He’s last year’s Divine Visionary.”
Rayne took two steps forward, not even bringing his wand out as he spoke.
“I'm also Finn's older brother. The same Finn you decided to try and force an apology from earlier this evening.”
Cavill blinked before trying to move a hand to use his personal magic. Rayne was faster, a number of Partisan blades appeared, swiping the glowing strings apart and pinning all three boys by their robes. Rayne stepped forward as all three began to pull against the blades and apologize.
“Let me see if I remember how many times you forced him to the ground? Was it three or four?”
Three large swords appeared overtop of each student, slowly lowering to skewer them, but stopping just half an inch from touching them.
“I'm sure I don't need to spell it out for you. I'm very disappointed in how my brother was treated, and I believe in teaching lessons through pain. But don't worry, I am a decent healer. There won't be any scars when I'm done with you three.”
The night was a long one. Needless to say, Cavill and his cronies never bothered Finn or Mash again.
Chapter 3: Chapter 3
Summary:
Some filler between some of the episodes. Some brotherly bonding time and a bit of background into them both.
Notes:
Author'a note: I’ve decided I’m not going to rewrite the episodes as that can get difficult and tedious. I’ll leave them as is and do behind the scenes with Rayne and Finn. Despite the issues in the Manga between them, I can see where there would be options in the anime for such AU’s. Not to mention you’ve already seen how dark and protective Rayne can get when it comes to his younger brother. Explains some of his Anime reactions.
Chapter Text
Rayne was waiting in the main foyer of the school for Finn to finish a homework assignment in the Adler Dorm kitchens. When he found out Finn hadn’t finished his homework, he tried not to laugh when the younger freaked out and ran off to his dorm to get his room mate, and then to the kitchens with the top transfer student, Lance Crown, to get it done. Since it was going to delay their trip out to dinner, Rayne decided to speak with the Headmaster before waiting in the lobby. The conversation rang through his mind in pieces.
“Rayne, as you are the Prefect for Adler dorm, there are some things I wish to make you aware of. Firstly, there are some students being more competitive this year than last year in regards to collecting coins. I understand it’s part of the challenge for Divine Visionary, but I would like you to keep an eye on it.”
Rayne nodded his agreement, choosing to keep his words to a minimum.
“Also, we have a new student this year. His situation is rather unique. His circumstances are different from the average person but he has a heart that is strong and true. I would appreciate it if you could look after him. Now this boy’s name is Mash Burndead. You’ll find Mash to be a rather curious young man who puts the needs of his friends ahead of his own. That said it is possible he is naive and doesn’t know better. He saved your younger brother and that speaks volumes about the quality of his character.”
The sound of running footsteps caused him to shake out of his memory and look over to see Finn running up to him out of breath. He was in his school uniform still, robes and all, and still had a cooking bandana on his head as he panted for breath.
“I’m done! I finished!”
Rayne smirked as he stepped forward to gently pull the bandana off of Finn’s head.
“You know we can wait a few moments for you to make sure you’re ready to go.”
Finn shook his head, a determined look on his face as he took a deep breath to settle himself.
“Not a chance! I’ll take as much time as you can spare to go out.”
Rayne paused to process that before offering the bandana back to his brother.
“Well, if you’re ready to go, we can leave now.”
Finn smiled and stuffed the bandana into a pocket and grinned.
“Lead on!”
Rayne shook his head and the two walked out of the school towards the market town nearby. The town was full of restaurants, shops, game stands and more. Almost every student from Easton Magic Academy came here since it was so close. Because this was their weekly get together, Rayne had opted for a sit down place to eat instead of ordering Pizza, despite their mutual love for a large extra cheese. The place picked today was a Ramen Restaurant, and the smell of broths and cooked meats filled their senses as Rayne held the door for his younger brother. Looking around with a gasp, Finn’s eyes were taking in everything, needing Rayne to tug him gently towards a table so they could sit and get their order taken.
“This is amazing! I’ve never been to this place before, is it new?” Finn peered at the menu as Rayne sat back to let the waiter fill their glasses with water and take their drink orders. He gave them time to decide on their menu selection and then left the two to chat while their food was cooking.
“Hey Rayne? Can I ask you a question about a joint training class coming up?” Finn nervously twisted his straw in the glass as his older brother watched him, face neutral but giving his undivided attention to the younger. Taking this as permission to continue speaking, Finn continued, eyes on his glass of water.
“We were told we would be split into two groups, and each group would be paired with another dorm, but they didn’t say what the training would be. You wouldn’t happen to have any hints, would you?”
Rayne shook his head before sipping his drink and spoke up.
“Are you nervous for some reason?”
Finn looked down.
“A little, yeah. There’s been so much weird stuff going on lately between what happened with Cavill and then getting stuck in a bottle. I didn’t think Easton would be so stressful.”
When Finn looked up, his eyes widened at the deep frown on his brother’s face,
“Stuck in a bottle? Did someone use a Capture Glass on you?” Rayne kept his tone even, but he didn’t look happy about it. Finn quickly backpedaled to try and placate his brother’s anger.
“No, no. It was a feint. Lance was just trying to goad Mash into giving up a silver coin. We weren’t in danger or anything. Besides, Lance is a friend now. He helped me and Mash with our homework and helped me learn a new spell that will come in handy!” Rayne narrowed his eyes before looking away for a moment. When he looked back at Finn, he looked resigned, maybe even a bit tired.
“Truthfully, I was worried about this sort of thing when you said you wanted to sign up for Easton. It’s dangerous being in such a prestigious magic school, nevermind one that is part of the selection for Divine Visionaries. And being related to me puts a target on your back that I was afraid was going to be too much. I actually thought about distancing myself from you to keep our connection a secret so you wouldn’t have to be subject to so many issues.”
Finn stared at his brother, realizing how much he didn’t know about the decisions Rayne made. Thinking about it, he knew they only had each other in this world. Their parents had died when they were both really young, and any relatives, even distant ones, treated them both like problems. There were times they barely had food, clothes or a place to sleep out of the rain. Finn could remember going to bed with pains in his stomach because he couldn’t remember the last time he ate. He could remember the cold nights curled up against his brother, who gave him the larger part of the blanket to keep him warm. If Rayne were to suddenly distance himself, even for Finn’s own safety.
It would hurt.
It would hurt worse than any injury Finn could think of.
“But you know, in order to keep you safe, I would rather be close by and handle a million little issues than risk losing you and not being there for you.”
Finn stared at the admission from his older brother. Blinking quickly, he waited as the waiter arrived with their bowls of food and looked at the steaming broth in both bowls before Rayne continued.
“How do you feel about training your magic up a bit? When we get together weekly for our meals and catch up, I can show you some techniques to help defend yourself. Especially given your personal magic.”
Rayne watched his younger brother go from morose to smiling brightly, and was glad he decided to open up about his concerns. If he could, he would ensure Finn always had that smile on his face, no matter what the other Divine Visionaries said about emotional weakness.
“I’d love to. I’ll learn anything you want to teach me, and I’ll do my best to make you proud, Rayne.”
The older of the two smirked and snapped apart his chopsticks to begin enjoying his meal.
“You already make me proud. Don’t ever forget that.”
Finn blushed hard as his face went red in embarrassment and he dug into his meal as well. He was so grateful his brother was in his life. He would repay him someday. He just had to figure out how.
**************
Finn and Rayne had spent the rest of the evening practicing with Finn’s Personal magic.
Elementary magic is magic that anyone with even a single line can learn. It involves memorizing spells, gestures, languages and more. It was channeling your magic through your wand to perform specific things with the basics of semantics and gestures.
Personal magic, like Rayne’s Partisan, doesn’t require a wand to cast it. A wand can be used to channel more control of it, but since Personal magic is something innate to the caster, it wasn’t necessary. Personal magic grows stronger depending on how often you use it. It can also be tied to emotions, sometimes going beyond what the caster wants it to do like when Rayne gets angry and his Partisan’s multiply into more blades than he wants it to.
Personal magic can also develop into Secondth magic spells. Usually when someone’s power develops into a second line, or if they are born with two lines and personal magic, they can progress their own into Secondth naturally.
Finn was struggling with his own self esteem and trying to make his personal magic work. Both boys were in an empty classroom, using the space to test the limits of Finn’s Changeas. With this, he could swap two things from one place to the other. Distance seemed to be limited to line of sight, making it easy for him to swap himself or something he can see, with something else he can see. They were also experimenting with items of different sizes and weights. Finn frowned as he looked at the different items on the desks in the classroom and took a few breaths. Rayne was leaning on the wall near the door to help with pointers as Finn looked intently at one of the books on a desk in front of him.
“Changeas!”
The book swapped places with a glass of water, but he had been aiming to change the place of three things, not two. The third item, a practice wand, lay on a desk unmoving.
“This is so frustrating! Shouldn’t I be able to do more than swap two things? I mean what’s the point of that sort of magic!”
Rayne pushed off the wall and walked over to pick up the glass of water, shaking it to move the water a bit.
“Have you tried changing yourself from one place to another?”
The younger brother stared at his older brother before throwing his hands up.
“I can’t even move more than two things, how could I move an entire person?”
Rayne set the glass down and seemed to think before motioning between them both.
“I think some of this is a mental block. You’ve spent so much time thinking your personal magic isn’t useful, but I think you can do so much with it. Being able to switch items, like a wizard’s wand, or a dangerous item from someone is a huge benefit. Maybe even scouting a location and then switching yourself with an item you left at a safe spot. Swapping someone from a dangerous situation or who is injured to medical attention. If we’re talking about really fantastic ideas, swapping injuries from one person to another.”
Finn frowned in thought and looked at the glass Rayne had just set down before dropping his head to look down.
“I think I would need to practice a lot and work myself up to that. You make it sound so awesome, but compared to Lance’s gravity, Mash’s strength, even your swords seem more useful. I’m sorry. I’m not able to do all that like I probably should.”
Rayne stepped forward and tilted Finn’s chin up to look him in the eyes. Gold dusted eyes looked at similar gold dusted eyes with a soft smile.
“You’ll get there. It just takes practice, and I’ll be right here with you as much as you need me to be. We’ll take it little by little and try different things. Okay?”
Finn nodded, brushing the incoming tears away from his eyes as he took a deep breath and looked at the objects on the desk.
“Let’s try a few more times before we call it quits. I want to at least get more than one item to change before we’re done.”
With new determination, Rayne reset the book, glass and practice wand on the desks and stood back to let Finn try again. There was so much versatility in Finn’s personal magic. The other Divine Visionaries had mentioned a number of uses, but Rayne was trying to keep his brother from just being a tool for the others. If he could help Finn develop the skill, it would go better for Finn moving forward. He needed more self confidence, more time to work on it. Maybe even a boost of magical energy if Rayne could find a way to do it. He watched as Finn pulled his wand out after a few changes of the items, ready to try to shift all three of the items, a resolute and determined look on his face.
“Changeas!”
Rayne watched as the book switched places with the wand, the glass of water switched places with a nearby plant on the windowsill, and Finn grunted in pain before his knees buckled underneath him.
“Finn!” Rayne leapt forward to catch his brother before his head could hit the ground and saw that Finn was unconscious, blood trickling from his nose. He tried not to panic, easing his brother down to lay on the floor and using the bottom of his robes to clean the blood off his nose.
“Finn? Answer me? Finn!” The younger groaned and blinked his eyes open, Rayne taking another swipe under his nose to clear the blood away as his gaze darted all over to check for other injuries.
“Sorry big brother. I th-think I messed u-up.” Rayne shook his head and helped ease him up to a sitting position. It took a few moments for the disorientation to clear and Finn looked to see how he did, eyes widening.
“Oh wow, I did it! I moved four things!” He went to look at his older brother and dropped his smile when he saw the worried look on Rayne’s face.
“You passed out from mana exhaustion, and your nose is still bleeding from your body collapsing. I want to say good job on doing it, but I’m worried if this is going to happen when you overwork yourself.” The Divine Visionary wiped at his brother’s nose again to punctuate his statement as Finn reached up to feel.
“I’m sorry. I was so focused and trying so hard to make it work, I should have been more careful. I promise I’ll do better next time. I’ll save the really difficult practice for when you’re around. Keep the simple practice to myself.” With a nod of agreement, Rayne stood, offering a hand to help Finn up and gave him time to collect himself as he put away the items they were practicing with.
“What are you doin? Aren’t we doing any more practice?” Finn looked confused, wanting to do more now that he knew he could.
“No. We’re going back to my room where you’re going to cuddle with the rabbits for a while and relax. No more practice after that.”
Finn smiled softly at his brother's concerned nature and nodded. He could use a break before the joint class training the following day.
Chapter 4: Chapter 4
Summary:
Why was Rayne in the basement of the school? No shocker why he got so violent with Milo Genius, right? This will be a long one.
Notes:
Author's Note: Spoilers for the Manga and Anime of Season 1, episode 10. I am starting it from Rayne's point of view, and then his (one sided) beat down of Milo.
Chapter Text
Rayne sat in the library at a table, finishing his draft for a Magical Creatures Essay. This week has been insane around the school. The Bureau had called the Headmaster away, and Rayne was asked to stay behind to make sure nothing happened while Headmaster Whalberg was not around. So he focused on his classes, kept an eye on some students that had been falling ill, and made sure to review the report about the forest scorpion hunt which had included injuries for a number of students in both Adler and Lang dorm.
Once the injuries had been wrapped up, the school released its yearly robes, each designed by a committee of students for all three dorms. Rayne had already grabbed his own emblemed robe and was considering checking on Finn to see if he had his yet or not. He saved the spot on his book and tucked the essay paper inside before gathering up the books, papers, quills and pens and stuffed it all in his bag. A quick stop to his room to drop these off and he'll head to the first year dorm to check on Finn. If he hadn't gotten his robe already, Rayne could escort him to the Commissary to get it.
The School Commissary was where students could get supplies and school materials cheaper than if they went into town. With dorm life, a lot of students just charged their supplies to the Commissary. Thanks to Rayne's earnings as a Divine Visionary, neither he nor Finn needed to set up a credit account with the school, but things like school robes were picked up there. It was a good thing the Commissary was open all night for students cramming for tests.
Rayne shouldered his bag and headed out of the library, noting the late hour. Was Finn even still awake? It would be a waste of a trip to go back to his room, then to Finn's dorm and back if he was already asleep. A nod to the very few third years in the halls and the older brother decided to check on his little brother first. As soon as he entered the Adler Dorm hallways, his own roommate, Max Land waved him down with a small envelope.
“Hey! Rayne! Lucky I found you so quickly. A letter arrived for you from the Headmaster. It looks important.” He handed the small letter to Rayne and offered to take Rayne's bag.
“I was headed to our room, so I can take your bag if you want.”
Rayne opened the letter and began reading as he absent mindedly handed his bag over to his room mate.
Go to the basement. Innocent Zero's henchmen have infiltrated the Academy. Take the field hallway past the storage lockers.
Rayne frowned and nodded his thanks to Max before checking for his wand and moving towards the first year dorms. He'll check on Finn before doing what the headmaster has requested. He didn't have time to change into his Divine Visionary robes, but Rayne did see the lights on under the door to 302. He knocked softly, just in case one of the occupants was asleep.
No answer.
Rayne blinked at the door and knocked again. Still no answer.
“Finn?” He tried the handle and found the door unlocked. Opening it, he announced his presence as he peered around the room. Both beds were empty and made, so no one had slept in them yet. A parchment on the table caught Rayne's attention and he stepped forward letting his curiosity get the better of him. It was almost midnight, and the first years should have been in their dorms by now. Where would they have both gone?
Rayne saw the parchment was a map of the school with red pencil lines to show different routes…..
To Lang dorm.
Frowning, he grabbed the compact mirror from his pocket and snapped it open to see nothing projecting. Maybe Finn and Mash Had run off to the kitchens. Finn told him how his friend Mash would get a craving for cream puffs at any time of night. Unfortunately, the letter from the Headmaster was burning in his pocket. He needed to check into the basement and see if there were people in the school that shouldn't be there. He'd have to hope his Younger brother wasn't doing anything dangerous and check in when he was done.
Shutting the door behind him, Rayne headed for the Duello Field exit. There were changing rooms and storage closets down a variety of hallways. The one noted by the Headmaster's letter led to a dead end. Students often used it to sneak some alone time with girlfriends or boyfriends or to do things they shouldn't. So it was a bit surprising to see nobody using the secluded spot. It was deserted, as it normally was.
“Disclose.”
A light shone on the floor and a door in the floor appeared with runes. A small flick of his wand and the unlock spell hit the ground, sliding the doors open to reveal a set of stairs. Rayne sighed at how much the Headmaster seemed to know about what was going on in his school.
“He loves to boss people around.”
Tucking the note and wand into his robes, he started down the steps into the basement of the Academy.
********
The area shook so hard it caused Rayne to grab the side of the hallway in surprise. He could feel the immense rise in magical power ahead of him, but the magic style was unfamiliar. Someone was fighting, and it felt like double liners. He had felt something like that from another direction, which made him wonder if the members of Lang Dorm were fighting off intruders. So many hallways and empty arenas made Rayne curious about why the school stopped using these practice areas. Given the pieces of stone crumbling from the hallway, the structure might not be solid enough, and that could explain why dueling had been forbidden.
He saw a light up ahead and realized that was where the magical energy was from. Another violent shake from what he could now hear was explosions, and he picked up his pace to get there. He could hear some voices ahead and his heart suddenly stopped in a panic. He would know his brother's voice anywhere, and he seemed to be calling out to someone named Dot, asking if they were ok.
He ran for the entranceway in time to see a red headed first year defensively in front of his younger brother as a number of stone hands were looming towards them both, intent on crushing them both. His vision narrowed onto the green haired boy with a white mage's hat who was the summoner and Rayne saw red. A large sword manifested before he could think and he sent it flying towards the mage.
The young mage took the impact, although it was blunted by the stone hands he managed to move in the way as Rayne stalked slowly towards his target. He passed Finn and the redhead, but didn't even spare a glance to his Younger brother. His anger was boiling over at the attempt on his brother’s life. That spell. That spell was lethal And intended to kill both the Adler First years. His hands were in fists as the young student, now identified as Milo, began justifying his actions.
“Take it easy Rayne. We were just messing around is all.”
Rayne didn't reply, his eyes boring into the young mage on the ground as if waiting to see what he would say. He could feel his younger brother's eyes burning into his back from behind him, but the older brother knew now that he was here, nothing was going to get past him now.
“Come on naw, you know the deal. If you don't duel, you don't get any coins. Right?!”
Milo tried to use his magic to attack Rayne from behind with his large stone head as a surprise, thinking he could go for Rayne's blind spot. Finn stared at his brother, noting the silence, the cold fury radiating off of him and was stunned into silence. Before the spell could even get close to Rayne, another sword shot upwards cutting it in half and dispelling the attempt. Rayne's disdain now showed on his face as he reached for his wand.
“Don't waste my time you piece of trash. You're mine now.”
Finn could only stare as dozens of Partisan blades appeared all around the room, aimed at Milo. At any point, they could attack Milo's magic or his physical body. As angry as Rayne looked, Finn wasn't sure which he would do and that worried him. He'd never seen Rayne so angry before. Well, he had. Once before.
It was Finn's fault. He was just so hungry, and their caretakers hadn’t fed them in days. Rayne had brought him small sandwiches, fruits and nuts when he got back from working, but Finn refused to eat until they had been split evenly. Rayne had gone on a field trip and was gone for three days. During that entire time, Finn had been locked in the hallway closet and hadn't eaten anything. This Was such a hellish house. As orphans, no one in their extended family wanted them. They were a financial burden according to the adults.
Rayne, in a fit of rage, said he would work after school and take care of them himself, and that worked for a while. But three days gone meant no small meals. Finn's stomach had been hurting from the lack of food, and he knew he was smaller than other kids his age. He didn't take much. He took a handful of raspberries from the overflowing bush in the garden. He hadn't had them in his mouth long enough to chew when the lady of the house caught him and slapped him so hard they tumbled out. He couldn't tell what was blood and what was the raspberries as she grabbed him roughly by the arm and dragged him into the house. She threw him into the closet so hard he banged his knees on the floor and then slammed the door shut. It had been locked since.
Finn curled up crying and waiting for Rayne to come home. He wanted his brother. His mouth hurt. His knees hurt. His arm hurt. His stomach hurt. He was just so hungry and scared now.
Time was lost in the closet. But Finn remembered hearing his brother's stone cold voice and when the closet door opened, Rayne looked livid. He had a wand in his hand. His older brother never used magic in the house. Seeing the condition Finn was in made Rayne's aura explode with magical energy as he turned and unleashed hundreds of swords on the house. They punched through the walls, the floors, the furniture. They Wrecked the house coming closer and closer to the couple who had taken them in until Finn managed to stumble out and hug his brother from behind. If Rayne hurt the adults, they would separate them. Take them away from each other.
That night the two boys left and began to live on their own on the streets. Rayne never spoke of what happened before he got Finn out of the closet. Finn had never seen his brother so angry as he was then.
Until now.
The swords in the air seemed to loom threateningly before dropping in a rush onto the poor first year from Lang. Finn could only stare at his brother's back, noting the tight grip on his wand and noted how Dot was also stunned at the power Rayne wielded against another student.
The impact was so rough that it caused smoke to fill the room. Once it cleared. It showed Milo had been pinned to the ground, his magic assaulted until there was nothing left. Love turned quickly, tossing off her Lang robes.
“I guess I'm defecting now! Go Adler!”
Rayne ignored Love as he took steady steps up to where Milo was pinned down. The younger Lang student looked like he was in a panic as Love moved to hide behind Dot and Finn tried to take a step closer to his brother. He was prepared to stop him if he went too far, but he was nervous because of how quiet and angry Rayne was.
“No wait! I-I was just following orders! I-I’m s-sorry! I swear! Th-they forced me to do this!”
Rayne kept his face forward but his eyes downcast on Milo with a cold neutral look on his face.
“Did they…”
He moved faster than the others could see to kick Milo in the stomach so hard, he came up off The ground and landed in a different direction. Once Milo landed, Rayne stomped his foot onto Milo's back, his eyes intently glaring into the student that tried to kill his younger brother as he spoke between stomps and kicks, not even using his magic.
“You don't sound sorry to me. In this world the only thing that counts are your actions. Talk all you want, it's just words, and I especially don't trust anything scum like you say.”
He put his foot under Milo and flipped him over onto his back, seeing that the kid still had magic protecting him, so he kept pounding on the first year aggressively.
“In my experience, I find it more effective to teach your kind with pain. And after I get done teaching you, I promise you won’t make the same mistakes again.” The last part was almost ground out through his teeth as the Divine Visionary tried To restrain himself from doing more lethal injuries than kicks, eyes staring in anger.
As if remembering there were others around, he spoke more calmly to the others behind him.
“You guys gonna stand there all day or what?” He turned to face them both. “Hurry up. Get out of here. The shrimp and I are gonna have ourselves a Q&A session.”
Dot didn't move, simply replying. “Kay. Have fun.”
Love scurried off quickly to another exit to get away as fast as she could.
Finn simply stared, a worried look on his face as he spoke softly. “Big brother…”
Dot looked surprised, making a sound of confusion at Finn.
The two brothers locked eyes for a moment, speaking without words, and Rayne finally let his face soften a bit with a nod to Finn to leave. Finn nodded back and turned walking back with Dot who looked between the two before they disappeared down the hallway.
“Did you seriously call him big brother? Rayne Ames is your big brother? The top student in Adler and Divine Visionary?” Dot was trying to make sense of what he just heard. Finn was nothing like that guy. Rayne Ames seemed hardcore, brutal and uncaring. None of the traits Dot had come to associate with Finn Ames.
“Yeah.” Finn answered, keeping quiet. He was less worried about his Brother, and more worried for Milo. Rayne had a dark side when angered, just like a blade has a sharp and flat side. Dot shook his head as they walked back down the hallway.
***************
“I wonder what he was doing down here. Maybe we should go find Mash and pretty boy before leaving. Let them know a Divine Visionary is running around down here.” Dot seemed to be speaking to keep away the silence as Finn glanced back. The doorway was already a good distance away and they needed to find a way up and out. If Rayne was saying to leave, he didn't want to make him worried by sticking around.
They came to a fork in the halls, and both boys seemed to debate which way they should go. They couldn't hear anything down any of them, so after a quick eenie meenie minie mo, they turned right, noting the angle was upwards. This hallway was darker than normal, but going upwards gave them the idea it was the right direction.
Before they could get more than 20 feet down the hallway, two wooden puppets in Academy clothes jumped out at them and grabbed both boys. Finn barely got a yelp out before everything went black.
The next time he would wake up, he would be in the main room of the Magia Lupus. And Mash would have just finished defeating Able from Lang, rescuing Lemon. Finn's first thought when he woke up…
“Where's Rayne? Where am I?”
Chapter 5: Chapter 5
Summary:
This will be the remainder of the Magia Lupus arc. From Rayne's point of view for the first part, and then a mix of them both. Fluff and brotherly love in this chapter too, along with a conversation about Finn's mental state and Rayne's protectiveness.
Notes:
Author's note - As a reminder, I am not rewriting the episodes, I am doing things in between or behind the scenes. Last we left off, Finn had woken up and we will pick it up after Rayne has tested Mash and given him the handkerchief.
Chapter Text
Rayne's point of view -
That member of Innocent Zero's crew moved so fast and was as strong as a Divine Visionary. Rayne was concerned because they had gone the same direction as Mash to confront Abel. Not only did he need to catch up to protect the other students, he was hopeful that Finn got out of the basement with that red haired kid. He didn't need that distraction right now as he dodged a large blade from the serial killer. From what he knew, this guy should have been locked up. Finding him here in the basement was a huge problem.
“You seem skilled in parring my knives, and I give you credit for your reflexive skills, but I will be the one to win this fight!” The serial killer managed to grab one of the large blades and use it like a sword to swing at Rayne. The third year student dodged, summoning a series of Partisan's to try and combat the criminal and not get pinned to the wall. He noted that the criminal's teeth were filed to points that were not noticeable from before.
Jean Pierre licked his lips and brought a blade up to make a show of licking the blood off. In surprise, Rayne glanced at his arm and saw he had been nicked.
“Incredible. Your blood tastes delicious. Nothing like any double liner I have feasted on before. I have never tasted a Divine Visionary's blood before, but it tastes like it says. Divine. I want more!” He charged at Rayne and he moved to the side to get away while thinking of a plan.
A flurry of blades seemed to drop from the ceiling towards the Sword Cane, and his wand was waved to make sure more Partisan's were summoned to block again. As the criminal closed distance, there was a brief moment of panic before Rayne moved his wand hand out as a distraction, and then put his fist right into the cannibal's gut. Taking the moment of success, he brought an elbow down into the collar bone of the criminal and noticed the blades were disappearing. Before the criminal could collect himself, Rayne kicked upwards with his foot and struck the criminal in the chin, knocking him out cold.
He took in a deep breath before letting it out slowly. He summoned handcuffs and snapped them onto Jean Pierre, the serial killer and cannibal now detained, before sending a message to the Faculty room to get someone to come get this guy. He couldn't hear fighting, but that didn't mean it wasn't happening. Rayne Ames didn't wait before hurrying down the corridor to find out where the blonde infiltrator went.
After some searching, he managed to hear students yelling. More like a student yelling about a student without magic, and a series of others yelling back. “He can use magic! He can use magic!” Peering into the door, he was surprised to see Finn and the redhead from before still down in the basement. The student they had been yelling down stopped trying to argue and it seemed other students were waking up from their transformation. Walking up to the Mash and the rest, Finn blinked at his brother and bit his lip looking down.
Finn had tried to leave. It wasn't his fault he got grabbed by a puppet. He was about to turn and apologize for getting caught when his brother rested a hand on his head.
“Are you alright, Finn?” Rayne spoke quietly to not bring attention their way as students began leaving, whispering and mumbling to themselves.
“Yeah. We tried to leave, honest. I got grabbed by a puppet and didn't remember anything until I woke up with Mash and Lemon.” Rayne nodded as he motioned towards the doorway. It was time for everyone to leave this area, and as a Prefect, most of the Adler students who hadn't left on their own, were waiting for him to tell them where to go.
“If you were turned into a puppet, or affected by magic that drained you, please go to the infirmary. Follow the hallway straight to the steps. That should take you to the Duello Field access hallway.” As the students began to leave, and Mash and his friends were headed back towards their dorms, Rayne kept a hand on Finn's head, not letting him out of his sight.
“I want you to go to the infirmary and get checked. I'll be along to see you once things here are cleaned up.” There was a no arguing tone from Rayne, and Finn nodded his agreement as he followed the other students out. Rayne glanced around at the rubble, broken dolls, strings and extra pieces of carbon from Innocent Zero's henchman.
This was going to take a while to clean up.
****************
It was almost the next afternoon when Rayne managed to get all the reports done, the clean up, meeting with the headmaster who had come back to the Academy and finally was able to get to the infirmary to check on Finn. The nurse said Finn checked out fine and went back to his dorm almost right away. With a frown, Rayne thanked her for her time and headed back to the Adler dorms. It was a good thing that his younger brother wasn't physically or magically hurt, but he was worried about Finn's mental state.
As he walked up to dorm room 302, he noted there was no sound coming from the door, but he still wanted to check. A soft rap of knuckles on the door caused motion inside. When Finn opened the door, he seemed surprised to see his older brother.
“Rayne! What are you doing here?” Finn looked genuinely surprised his brother had come to check up on him.
“I wanted to check on you. The nurse said you left the infirmary with no injuries. Can we talk?” Rayne nodded towards the inside and Finn held the door open for him. Stepping inside, the place was cleaned up. The parchment from the night before was gone as Rayne noticed Mash wasn't there.
“Where's your roommate?” The older brother asked as Finn looked down.
“He-he's with Lance. They're working on registering their coins from beating Abel.”
There was a pause in speech before Finn kept speaking, his gaze down.
“I’m fine though. You don't need to worry or check up on me.” Rayne stepped forward to stand in front of his brother and spoke softly. His tone was gentle, like when he spoke to his rabbits, or tried to communicate with the first years he was unfamiliar with.
“Finn, what's wrong?” Finn shook his head quickly and raised his hands as if to placate any thought that something was wrong.
“N-nothing! Everything is fine!” Rayne reached out before Finn could stop him and gently grabbed his hands. They felt cold, and upon closer inspection, Rayne could see dark circles under Finn's eyes.
“Finn. Please tell me what's wrong. You look worn out, for lack of a better description. You've had this shaken worn look since I saw you and that red haired kid in the basement. Tell me what it is.”
Finn looked down again, but didn't pull his hands from his brother's grasp.
“It's-it's I don't…I'm f-fine. Nothing is wrong.” Finn squeezed his eyes shut and suddenly made fists with his hands.
“I'm not….I'm ok.” Finn sounded like he was trying to convince himself before he was pulled into a full hug from his brother. He was shaking, his mind scrambling to focus on what was wrong. He felt weird, scattered, scared. He had no clue what was wrong with him, but as soon as Rayne had pulled him into a hug, he found he couldn't stop shaking. He squeezed his brother in return and closed his eyes taking a few deep breaths. It felt like just doing that much was too much but it also helped.
Rayne smelled like home, or what Finn always attributed to home. He smelled like steel, pine and wood shavings and just a unique blend that was all Rayne. Before he realized it, he was being led to his bed, and Rayne moved to kick off his shoes as he backed up to climb onto the bed, sitting in the corner before pulling Finn back into a big hug. Curled up to hug his brother around his midsection, Finn let his legs sprawl out so he could use his brother like a huggable pillow as his shaking continued.
“What's happening to me?” Finn croaked out. Rayne frowned and brushed a hand through the younger's hair and kept a firm hand rubbing circles on his back.
“If I had to guess, your body is going into shock now that you've had time to process everything that happened. That shrimpy kid tried to kill you with a spell. Then you got captured and turned into a puppet with no control over your own actions. When you were freed from that spell, you witnessed a fight with one of Innocent Zero's goons which would put anyone into shock, nevermind the emotional and mental exhaustion of what you went through or the lack of sleep.” Finn was staring at his wall gripping Rayne's robes as he closed his eyes.
“Is it because I’m so weak?” Rayne shook his head.
“No. You aren't weak, Finn. It's a normal reaction to what you went through. Everyone will go through some form of shock over this, but each person handles it differently.” He paused. “Do you want to talk about it?” Rayne glanced down, brushing his brother's two tone bangs from his face. He could see Finn's eyes were closed, no tears were visible, and the shaking was slowing down to a mild tremble.
“Maybe. What do I even say?” Finn mumbled from his spot in his big brother's lap. Rayne could feel his brother relaxing under the hand on his back while his fingers played with the shock of blonde hair in Finn's bangs.
“Whatever you want to say that would help. I'm here, and I'll always be here. No matter what.” Rayne smiled gently as Finn hummed and was silent for a moment. With some thought, he finally started speaking. He talked about his concerns with Mash and the inability to use magic. He talked about his fears of the things Lance and Dot got into. He talked about his fear of being useless, worthless, unable to help his friends when they are always taking care of him. He expressed his fear when they discovered the arenas down in the basement, Love's attack on them. Watching Dot try to defend him, and then his own capture and nightmarish blank spot of being turned into a puppet.
As Finn spoke, he cried, and as he cried, he relaxed. It wasn't long before his speech turned into mumbles and then evened out breathing as Rayne continued to run circles onto his back and play with his hair. The older brother let out a deep sigh as he watched the younger curled up hugging his midsection and using the older brother as a pillow. Figuring he wasn't going anywhere for a while, Rayne rested his head back to think.
It was going to get out about Mash sooner or later. Rayne knew how happy his brother was to have such a friend, and it concerned the Divine Visionary to know that swaying the others wasn't going to be easy. He looked down at the sleeping first year and brushed some of the tear tracks, making his face twitch, but he remained asleep. Summoning a book from Finn's desk, Rayne opened a section and began to read, with no intention to move until his brother woke up.
And when Mash returned to the room, seeing both the Ames brothers asleep with their arms around each other, he simply moved the blankets to cover them up before heading out to get something to eat.
Chapter 6: Chapter 6
Summary:
Finn is preparing for the Divine Visionary Exam. Rayne is not happy Finn is participating, and they get into a really bad fight. How will that end?
Notes:
Author's note: Mash gave them all coins to participate with him before the trip home. So this fight takes place before they go to visit Mash's home and before the fight between Margaret and Rayne. I didn't feel the need to rehash that fight so this is before and after.
Chapter Text
Finn was staring at the pile of gold coins on the table. He never thought he would ever get a golf coin, let alone be given three to help participate in the exam. He didn't want to be a Divine Visionary. It wasn't something he felt he could do, let alone even pass the tests. If it weren't for Mash giving him the extra coins, Finn wouldn't be sitting at the table staring at them like his life was flashing before his eyes. He wanted to help Mash, and maybe being in the exam would let him help a little bit. They'd had a great day out in town over the weekend, which was only an option after the Divine Visionaries had summoned Mash to explain what happened and released him under careful watch of another Divine Visionary to help track and fight Innocent Zero. There seemed to be so much going on now It was getting nerve wracking.
A knock on the door snapped him out of his thoughts and he jumped up to answer the door.
“Big brother!” Finn blinked, surprised his brother was there. Rayne looked at Finn with a furrowed brow and then around behind the shorter young man.
“Did you forget we were going to go to lunch today?” The older one tried to smirk as the younger brother hurried back to the table to scoop up the three gold coins and put them away.
“No I didn't. Just let me put these away and grab my wand.” Rayne frowned seeing the coins and stepped into the room.
“You're planning to enter the Divine Visionary Candidacy Exam?” He sounded surprised and a bit uncertain about that choice. Finn never mentioned wanting to be a Divine Visionary. Rayne had done it because he wanted to change the system and how it treated orphans. He wanted to have a secure future so Finn could do whatever he wanted with his future. Why would Finn want to do it as well?
“Oh. No. I don't plan to pass at all. I just want to help Mash get through the exam. The more of us helping him, the better his results, right?” Finn turned to look at his brother as he tucked his wand into his sleeve, but the frown on Rayne's face gave Finn reason to pause.
“You're kidding, right? Finn, that exam is dangerous! Nevermind the tests they do to thin out the numbers, but there will be wizards intentionally trying to sabotage Mash on the field and in those tests. Then there are the duels where everyone will be trying to KILL each other. You could get seriously hurt, or even die. They make you swear oaths that they aren't responsible for permanent injuries or death, and there are multiple double liners and third years planning to participate this year! You're not doing this!” Finn was listening, his gaze dropped down as he listened nervously to what Rayne had been saying.
“But…Mash needs help!” Finn stood up to his brother and Rayne's frown got deeper.
“I don't care about Mash, I care about you. You could die in this test, Finn. You're not doing it.” The Divine Visionary spoke with an authority of finality, and part of Finn understood that his older brother was just trying to keep him safe. But Finn wanted to help Mash, the same way Mash had helped him so many times.
“Rayne, I respect you and appreciate your concern, but I have to try. I owe it to-”
“No. I won't allow it. You are not doing this exam.” Rayne interrupted Finn, his hands going into fists.
“What!? You can't force me not to go! I promised Mash I would help him, and even if I get eliminated right away, I want to be there for him!” Finn tried to reach out for Rayne's arm, to try and physically reassure his older brother that he would be ok, but Rayne moved his arm away angrily, glaring at his younger brother.
“I said…no. You aren't going to take the exam.” Rayne spoke slowly and precisely, but Finn was not in the mood for his protective brother's attitude.
“You can't stop me from entering. I already registered myself, and as long as I show up, it's a done deal!” Rayne threw his hands up trying to argue his point
“So you'll risk your life for Mash!? This isn't just a school exam where the nurse will heal you afterwards, Finn! You could die! As in dead! Gone forever! This is dangerous!”
The younger balled his own hands up into fists as he listened and suddenly yelled back.
“I don't care! I'm doing this and you can't stop me! In fact, just leave me alone, Rayne! Stop trying to protect me from everything!” Finn turned his back on his brother and folded his arms, slowly trying to count to ten. He was expecting more arguing. He was expecting Rayne to try and change his tone, maybe see it from his own side of things.
Finn was not expecting Rayne to make a frustrated yell and storm out of the dorm room, slamming the door on his way out.
The tension was suddenly gone and Finn let out a huge sigh he wasn't expecting. It was so quiet, and they were supposed to go to lunch. Yet again, Finn messed up, and now his brother was furious at him and his decisions. With a glance back at the door, he saw that Rayne really was gone. He didn't hear him outside the door, and he hadn't just slammed it shut and stayed. The more Finn thought about their argument, the more he felt alone. Was Rayne going to come back when he calmed down? Maybe Finn should wait for him.
Rayne never came back for lunch. He also didn't come back that evening for dinner or to talk. When Finn tried to send him a message through his communicator, it was rejected as if Rayne wasn't there. Sulking a bit, he sat on his bed until Mash came back with Lance and Dot. While sitting and chatting, they mentioned Mash's desire to go see his Pops before the exam.
Finn listened, his brain a bit addled as he agreed to go with Mash to visit his Pops, hoping by the time he came back, Rayne would be in a talking mood.
************
Rayne felt annoyed and angry. He was more annoyed than he has ever been before.
First, his little brother decides to enter one of the most dangerous exams ever to be held at Easton Magic Academy.
Then, Mash lies about not going to visit his family right before the exams, causing Rayne to have to follow, only finding out because Finn at least left a note for him he was going WITH Mash.
As if that wasn't annoying enough, Margaret Macaroon was paid by Orter Madl to go after Mash before the exam, and Rayne had needed to summon his third line and awaken his wand. Normally it wouldn't be a problem for a magical prodigy like Rayne Ames, however, he was off his game because of the fight he and Finn were having. The fight and follow up conversation was getting to him, wearing him down the last few days to the point that he wasn't sleeping well.
Now, Finn was ignoring all attempts to communicate. Notes left undelivered. The door is not answered when he knocks. Communicator calls ended or hung up as soon as he even called. Rayne was about to throw his own communicator out a window after his latest attempt when Max, his roommate, walked into their room.
“Whoa. You seem…tense Rayne.” Max spoke softly as golden eyes glared at him, and the Divine Visionary stormed out of the room. He was wearing his Adler robes, and his tie was loose, hair disheveled making him look ragged instead of his normal put together.
“Jeez. That guy needs to spend more time with his rabbits and less time doing what everyone else tells him to do.” Max commented as he noticed Rayne's communicator was on the table. Apparently the brothers still were not communicating with each other. With a sigh, the third year Adler student decided this called for friendly intervention. Friendly. Non familial. Intervention.
Max pulled out a piece of paper and wrote out a brief note for Finn, then folded it into a bird. A light tap on the tail with his want and it fluttered to life, flapping its way around the room and out the window. One of his favorite spells when passing notes was animating the note itself. He waited a bit before grabbing a book to read and headed out to meet up with Finn.
So long as he was willing to answer Max's invitation.
*************
Finn had been in his dorm studying when he received a flying letter shaped like a bird and it intrigued him. If it was from Rayne, he would just crumple and toss it. If it wasn't, he was very curious who would go to such lengths to send him that sort of note. Unfolding it, he noticed the writing was not his brother's, so he read quietly:
‘Finn,
I need to talk to you about your brother. Please meet me at the courtyard next to the Library's West entrance. It's really important.
Max’
Finn frowned. He knew Max was a nice guy. He always wanted to help, and that was where he and Finn were alike in many ways. If Max was reaching out, something must have gone really wrong. Sighing, it only took the first year a moment to decide he needed to accept what was going on and meet up with his brother's roommate.
“Mash, I'm heading out to the library. I'll be back later on.” Finn waved as Mash gave him a thumbs up, absorbed in his cream puffs.
Finn replayed the argument that had separated the two brothers for the last four days. As time went on, he was really missing spending time with his big brother. He wanted to go to lunch or dinner with Rayne. He wanted to visit his rabbits. He wanted to get actual help with his magic training. Yeah, they only had each other in this world, but Rayne acted like Finn was made of glass and couldn't do anything. Rayne wasn't even willing to work with Finn on the Divine Visionary Candidacy Exam. Not that Finn gave him the option either, they were both really angry. Finn had pretty much said for Rayne to leave him alone, and now That he was, Finn hated it.
Sighing, Finn turned the corner to the West entrance and stepped out to the courtyard where Max was sitting on a bench reading a book.
“Hey Max. What's going on?” Finn went right into the problem, hands in the sleeves of his robes nervously. Max smiled and offered A seat to his junior.
“Hey Finn! How are you holding up? I heard you were going to be trying out for the Divine Visionary Candidacy Exam. Me too, isn't that cool?” Finn smiled a little and nodded looking down, but took the offered seat.
“Yeah. It's different for sure.” Finn replied and set his hands in his lap. Max looked at him and sighed.
“You're both helpless. Seriously. What happened between you two? I don't mean to be nosy, but Rayne has been a mess these last four days. He isn't himself, grumbling and being out until late. He hasn't been eating either.” Finn winced and looked down at his own lap.
“We…got into an argument. He doesn't want me to take the exam, and tries to tell me I’M not allowed. Thinking about it, I could have discussed it better than yelling at him.” Finn glanced sideways at Max, who was intently watching Finn.
“You know, Rayne is a pretty quiet guy. I've been his roommate since middle school, and he always tries to do the right thing, especially where you are involved. When he took the test, he was the youngest person in history to pass and get that title. It weighs a lot on him. He also worries a lot over you. I hear more about you than his rabbits if I'm honest.” Max laughed and closed his book. Finn didn't know that about his brother. Glancing around the courtyard, he noticed there were no other people around. They were alone.
“I know. I love my brother, more than anything else in this world. I just wish he would trust me to try things, even if I know I will fail at them.” Max looked thoughtful before digging something out of his pocket.
“If he asks, you didn't get this from me. But I think it will help you understand why he's so worried. I know he comes off overbearing, but being a Divine Visionary is dangerous. He isn't from a prestigious family, no parents. Every little thing about him was picked apart before he won the title, and he actually gets these pretty frequently. I know he tears them up or burns them.” Max pulled a note from his pocket and offered it to Finn.
The younger brother slowly took the note and his eyes widened as soon as he started reading. It was a horrible threat. Whoever wrote it, knew more about their family then they should. They threatened to dig up their parents and display their bodies on the school gates. To grab Finn from his Brooms and Care class, which Finn knew was the last class of the day for him, and send Rayne the body parts one piece at a time. whoever wrote this, hated the fact that Rayne had won the title months ago. Finn didn't know there were so many people who were this mad at his brother.
“He-he gets these all the time?” Finn looked at Max with his eyes wide. Max nodded and took the paper back, stuffing it in his pocket.
“Pretty regularly, yeah. I didn't show you, and I get he can be a bit much. I'm not excusing his behavior towards you on the exam. I just figured you should know a bit of why he is so intense about your safety.” Max smiled gently as Finn looked down at his shoes trying to think.
Max looked about to say something else when three older students, one with double lines above their eyes and two with single lines walked into the courtyard. They were wearing Lang uniforms, and looked down their noses at both Max and Finn.
“Wow. Two Adler students that seem to be lost. What are you two doing out here?” Max stood to put himself in front of Finn.
“Well hello! We were just getting ready to leave, right Finn?” Max looked back and Finn took the hint standing up quickly.
“Y-yeah. Sorry.” He bowed, Remembering his manners as Max tried to put an arm around Finn and herd him back towards the hallways. Finn didn't get two steps before he felt someone grab his arm and he was yanked away from Max. The older Adler had his wand out and was trying to recite an incantation when the double liner suddenly cast a spell on Max. The third Year screamed in pain and fell over, his body spasming as the two single liners grabbed Finn.
“Who said we wanted you to leave? You're friends with that lackmagic. That's as bad as being without magic you know.” The double liner grinned and pointed his wand at Finn. The only way Finn could explain the pain was as if every joint in his body was suddenly on fire. Max grabbed the leg of one of the kids holding Finn and tried to pull away from them, grunting through the pain. Finn grit his teeth until the double liner from Lang put the end of his wand against Finn's shoulder.
The pain magnified and Finn screamed in pain as the three Lang students laughed.
“You know the Bureau Kills lackmagics. Aiding or hiding them gets the same fate in some cases. You're no better than he is.” The double liner sneered and turned, kicking Max in the face. Max grunted and grabbed his bleeding nose as Finn tried to pull away from being held, struggling harder from the pain. Everything hurts! It hurt so badly! He managed to get one arm free and elbowed the single liner to his left in the face as he tried to go for his wand, but the double liner pointed his wand at him.
“Break!” Finn heard the snap of bones breaking and screamed in pain as it burned up his left arm to his shoulder. He felt dizzy because the pain in his joints hadn't stopped and now his left arm was broken, but Max was trying to get up and to his wand. The three Lang students were laughing when someone grabbed the double liner from Lang by his shoulder to spin him around and punched him hard across the face. The Lang student fell backwards, and blinked in surprise as the two single liners panicked seeing Rayne without his robes or wand.
He had his tie loosened and his shirt sleeves rolled up. His shirt untucked from his pants and Rayne looked pissed. His eyes practically glowed as he stared at the three students. The double liner scooted back as Rayne swiftly kicked him in the face, turning to grab the single liners by the scruff of their shirts, yanking them back roughly to almost choke them.
“Take your friend and leave. Now!” His words didn't leave room for arguments as Max managed to stand, wand in hand finally. Finn had dropped to his knees cradling his broken arm in pain trying to hold his breath to not cry as he gasped through the pain.
“Finn? I need you to breathe.” Rayne's voice was suddenly soft, one hand on his brother's right shoulder and the other hovering over the broken arm. Looking up into his older brother's eyes, all Finn saw was worry as Rayne and Max both held their wands to Finn's arm in an attempt to try and fix the damage. The bone shifted and Finn squeezed his eyes shut making a pained whimper until the pain dulled into a throb. Rayne never took his hand off Finn's shoulder, squeezing it encouragingly while trying to lift his chin to see his face.
“Finn, you're going into shock. I need you to breathe. Breath with me, in and out.” Rayne grabbed Finn's free hand and held it to his own chest taking deep breaths in and out to try and encourage Finn to breathe. Finn choked and gasped before wailing and tackling Rayne in a tight hug, ignoring all the pain.
“I'm sorry! I'm-m so-sorry! I didn't m-mean to be so angry at y-you. I-I’M sor-ry.” Finn struggled to get out an apology while still trying to get in the air to breathe. Rayne looked at Max who shook his head and gave them both a nod as the two roommates communicated to each other. Rayne gently put his arms around Finn holding him close.
“Shh shh shh. We can deal with that later. Just breathe for me. Please Finn. Follow my breathing.” Finn nodded, burying his forehead into Rayne's shoulder as he struggled to take a breath in. It took a few tries, but eventually the younger was able to draw in a shaky breath, letting it out before drawing in another one.
As he breathed, he noticed Rayne was looking him over, reverently touching his arm that had been broken as if to make sure it was properly healed. He kept an arm around Finn, but was making sure whatever pains his little brother had experienced had been healed or had stopped. Max came back, Finn didn't even realize he had left, and handed Rayne a bottle of water, which he immediately gave to Finn.
Finn sipped the water and looked at Rayne, noticing eyes were on him still, and looked down speaking softly. “I'm sorry for yelling at you. I should Have considered your feelings more about the exam.”
Rayne was quiet, watching his brother before he let out a sigh.
“No, I should be apologizing to you. I know how important Mash is to you as a friend. I've spent so much time taking care of you and being worried for you that it's hard for me to accept that you can do things on your own.” Finn blinked at Rayne in surprise. Rayne almost never admitted he was wrong. Max also blinked before throwing his hands behind his head.
“Would you look at the time? I have to go report those Lang students for fighting in the school. You two take care and leave it to me!” With that, the third year from Adler took off to find a teacher and report the incident while giving the brothers some privacy. It took a moment or two before Rayne moved to stand up and offered Finn a hand.
“Have you eaten yet?” Finn asked as he noticed his brother looked wrecked as far as exhaustion and weariness. When Rayne looked away, Finn could only roll his eyes before grabbing his big brother's hand and started dragging him towards the dorm kitchens.
“Come on. I'll make us some dinner. I'm starving and you need a good meal too.” Rayne smirked a little as he let himself be dragged by his younger brother. Happy they were even talking now.
“Hey Finn. After dinner, I want to show you something that should help you during the exam. It's a spell that can be used offensively without seriously hurting your target.” Finn paused and looked back at Rayne.
“What?” Rayne stopped walking and tilted his own head. “If you're going to do the Divine Visionary Candidacy Exam, the least I can do is show you a few spells to help you through it.”
Finn blinked in stunned silence before tackling his older brother in a hug. It was unexpected, but like always, Rayne caught his brother and wrapped his arms around him in return. “Just promise me you'll be careful. Please?”
“I will! I promise!” Finn agreed as he looked up to his brother with a wide smile. “I'll be super careful and I'll learn anything you want me to for it. Thank you!”
Rayne nodded as he rested a hand on Finn’s head and messed up his hair. The younger tried to clean up his hair as they both started walking towards the kitchen again, happy to be communicating and back on the same page.
Chapter 7: Chapter 7
Summary:
The Ames brothers going over some training before the Divine Visionary Candidacy Exam. And some brotherly bonding since they aren't arguing anymore.
Notes:
Author's note - Next chapter will be a lot of behind the scenes from Rayne's point of view since the exam does a lot from Finn's point of view. So I am gonna try to do this one from Finn's perspective.
Chapter Text
Finn was so tired. After the two brothers had made up and had dinner, they discussed training ideas for the exam. Which led to Finn staying up late worrying about what types of magic and spells his brother would try to teach him. He knew Rayne was a master at magic, a prodigy, and a Divine Visionary as a second year student. Finn, however, was none of these things. Whatever Rayne was planning to teach him, Finn worried he wouldn't be able to accomplish it.
It was early morning when he finally gave up on solid sleep and headed to the bathrooms for a shower. Once done, he went down to the Academy Cafeteria to grab some breakfast until Rayne came to get him. The exam was in a week, and while the entire crew of friends that revolved around Mash were planning to go out for a day of hanging out, that was supposed to be over the weekend. This being a Wednesday, Finn had no classes today, so Rayne had booked a classroom for them to have private lessons.
Finn was eating his breakfast while listening to the gossip of other students. There were a lot of conversations about Mash and his lack of magic. There were also comments about other students that were planning to participate, from Margaret Macaron to Max Lands. Names Finn knew in passing or from his own dorm. He was staring at his half finished plate of food when a hand rested on his shoulder, making him jump. Rayne raised an eyebrow at his younger brother's jumpiness while sitting down next to him with a plate of breakfast.
“You seem tense this morning. Everything ok?” Rayne spoke in that neutral tone that made it hard to tell if he had any emotions. Finn nodded and quickly began eating again, speaking between mouthfuls.
“Yeah! Everything is fine. I'm just excited for what we're going to be studying today.” Finn grinned and focused on his plate while Rayne ate quietly. The two seemed to relax in each other's company, helping Finn calm down from his earlier nervousness. Once they were both done eating, Rayne grabbed both of their plates and took them up to the bin to turn in. When he came back, he didn't need to speak for Finn to get up and follow him.
Both boys left the Cafeteria, and that caused more gossip as the other students watched the Ames brothers leave together. There were still rumors going around about the two fighting, and how Finn was barely scraping by on his grades, while Rayne was the top of their Dorm and already had his future paved for him. As the brothers disappeared out the doors towards the East Campus where the classrooms were, a set of eyes watched them intently, hyper focused on the older one who spared the individual no attention.
*********************
Rayne unlocked a practical classroom where students were taught elementary magic and how to enhance their personal magic. Finn closed the door behind him as his older brother opened the blinds and moved a few seats and desks in preparation.
“Your personal magic works best as a surprise. Not many can change locations of two objects, let alone three or more. You don't want to put yourself in a vulnerable spot by over exerting yourself. So we're going to start with some simple exercises to start increasing your magical output.”
Finn blinked, this being the first time he had heard anything about magical output. Rayne continued as he grabbed a piece of chalk and started drawing a circle.
“When you gather your power to cast a spell, it's usually focused through a wand to give you precision with your magic. The amount of energy used is comparable to your output. Double and triple liners have a larger output, that's why elementary spells and personal magic is so much more powerful from them. You can increase your output, even manifesting an additional line if you can gather enough energy.”
Rayne turned to Finn and suddenly gathered magic around him, summoning his third line next to the line on his left. Finn's eyes widened as he saw the third line manifest, jaw dropping.
“How did you? What in the- you never had before-wh-what in the world!?” Finn was freaking out. He knew his brother was powerful, but a triple liner? How did that happen!?
Rayne motioned for Finn to step into the circle.
“We're going to start with trying to center your magic within this circle. Try to bring it to the surface, and don't let it leave the circle.” Finn frowned and dropped his head. He felt like he was going to screw this up, So he trudged into the circle. Standing there, with his brother watching him, Finn took a deep breath and let it out, looking straight ahead with determination.
“Ok. I'm ready!” Rayne nodded and began talking him through a breathing routine and hand motions for gathering and building up magic. As Finn followed along, he could feel a static build up of power around him, which had never happened before. It was odd, and he found himself faltering with his breathing.
“Focus, Finn. Use your wand if you need to. You're building up a steady source of magic, but it's slipping out of the circle, keeping you from maximizing the output. Try to direct it inwards.” Rayne spoke gently, watching his brother and the magical aura around him. Finn nodded and closed his eyes, wand in his right hand as he took a deep breath.
The magic around Finn flickered, and Rayne's eyes widened at seeing the same flickers and fluttering like wings on the edges of Finn's magic. The small butterfly on the end of his wand was glowing as he kept moving his hand to roll the magic back to him, eyes not opening. Rayne was honestly impressed. Finn was following the directions exactly right, and was building up more and more magic in the circle with himself.
This method had been taught to Rayne by the Headmaster himself. It wouldn't change a single liner to a double liner. Rayne was only able to manifest a third line after he became a Divine Visionary, and his own power was increased by his wand. If Finn kept gathering energy like this, he might be able to perform conditional magic, and that was what Rayne was hoping for.
“Finn. Stop gathering energy and try to open your eyes to see how much power you have so far.” Rayne stayed outside the circle so as not to interrupt all the work and energy Finn had just done. The younger brother slowly opened his eyes and immediately widened them when he felt and saw all the energy built up.
“Whoa. I-I did it!” Finn grinned trying not to jump for joy as Rayne smiled proudly.
“You did. This method takes time to build up power for more powerful spells. It's also tied to your emotions, so if they raise or get riled up, the power will increase significantly. I want you to Try a few spells now that you have a surplus of power.” Rayne pulled his own wand and moved some chairs over, transfiguring them to targets.
“Don't leave the circle, because all that power will disappear. Try to hit these targets with this spell. Malcos. Envision a magical bullet flying at your target when you say it. It won't kill your target, but it will stun them.” Finn nodded and gave the targets a serious look.
“Malcos!” When his wand was pointed at a target, he clipped it, causing the target to fall over partially cracked. Finn felt like his heart was going to beat out of his chest. He felt strong, invincible, powerful. Turning to another target, he aimed again. “Malcos!”
The next target shattered from the impact, causing Finn to grin as he looked to Rayne to see if his brother had been watching. Rayne had his own wand out, and was slightly smiling at Finn's success.
“Great job. Try this one. Elope. Say it while envisioning ropes grappling a target.” Rayne waved his wand at the targets which righted themselves. Finn nodded, his hand beginning to tremble from all the magic surrounding him. When Rayne saw the tremble, he held up a hand. “Stop.”
The younger brother looked at his older brother and frowned. He still felt powerful, and he wanted to use this power before he lost it. He felt confident, unscared, and for the first time in his life, like he could do anything without hesitation.
“Why? What's wrong Rayne?” Finn lowered his wand as Rayne kept a hand up to stop him from casting.
“Your body isn't used to having this much power. You need to get your body used to it, build up that energy before going nuts with spells. I know you just built it up. I want you to slowly breathe to release The magic built up, letting it out.” Finn frowned, but wanted to listen to his brother. He closed his eyes and took a few slow deep breaths. As he exhaled, he felt the magic built up around him starting to drain away like water in a tub drain. Without realizing it, Finn swayed and felt a hand on his shoulder to brace him so he didn't fall over from the sudden lightheadedness.
“Wh-why am I so tired all of a sudden?” Finn looked up at his brother, who was standing next to him with a hand resting securely on the younger's shoulder.
“It's because you aren't used to a buildup of power like that. Everyday, after class, you should come here or practice in your room. Practice gathering up magical energy, and dispersing it. This will help you during the exam. Plus those two spells should give you some of an edge over others if you can get them off.” Rayne looked down at Finn as the younger leaned forward to rest his forehead against Rayne's shoulder.
“Ok. I'm so tired now though. How long should I rest?” Rayne listened to the mumble and gently moved his other hand to run his long agile fingers through Finn's hair to help relax him. The younger tenses up for a moment, before relaxing again with a quiet hum of appreciation.
“Just rest until you feel like moving again. I'm not going anywhere.” Rayne spoke smoothly as Finn sighed in bliss feeling fingers run across his scalp and the hand rubbing his back. He felt like he was 5 years old and was reminded of the way Rayne used to comfort him through storms and bad weather. The silence grew as both boys kept their thoughts to themselves. Finn was so grateful to Rayne for his help. He had no idea one could focus and build up magical power. Plus that spell, Malcos, seemed perfect for the exam.
It took almost 15 minutes before Finn looked up at his brother, blinking slowly.
“I'm ready to try again.”
Rayne nodded and stood, offering a hand up.
“Let's continue.”
*****************
Rayne had just dropped Finn off at his dorm room to rest. They had trained and practiced all day, only breaking to grab food and let Finn rest. The younger's determination to succeed was impressive, but the Divine Visionary didn't want the first year to end up drained of all of his magic before classes the next day. They would meet up again in a few days to see how much Finn was able to retain their lessons.
As he walked into his own dorm room, he saw Max was out somewhere. With practiced hands, he unlatched the cage door of his rabbits and moved to sit on the floor while they hopped around curiously. A few hopped over to him, and Rayne gently petted their backs, relaxing with the soft fur and little eyes of the bunnies. With a glance around, he saw an envelope on his desk that wasn't there before. When he motioned with his wand, the envelope flew over to him, and he saw there was only his name on it.
The Adler Prefect only hesitated a moment before sliding a finger under the flap and opening the envelope. Inside was a letter and a picture. The picture made Rayne pause, his eyes widened and his heart seemed to pound in his ears as he stared at the picture. Someone had been watching him and Finn at breakfast. The picture was taken when they were leaving breakfast, and whoever took it, took it from a location the students sit. Looking at the note, Rayne frowned and tightened his grip on the picture. It spoiled a happy moment in Rayne's memory.
'Rayne,
Nice to know there is something you value more than yourself.
Better keep a close eye on him.
I am watching you
-T'
Rayne crumpled up the note and it combusted into flames along with the photo. The rabbits that were near him took off from the flames appearing. Rayne moved to stand up and walked over to a covered mirror on his side of the dorm room. Slowly pulling the sheet off the round wall mounted mirror, Rayne tapped the frame with a finger.
“Show me.”
The mirror seemed to move slowly and an image of Finn sitting at his desk doing homework was visible. Rayne wasn’t going to tell his brother about this. Whoever was sending threats was trying to Scare him through his brother. He would make sure nothing happened to Finn and would protect his brother with everything he has.
No one would hurt his brother without facing his own wrath. He hoped whoever was sending him threats knew better than to test the Sword Cane.
Rayne would not show mercy when it came to his younger brother.
Not to anyone.
Chapter 8: Chapter 8
Summary:
The Divine Visionary Candidacy Exam, from Rayne's point of view. Will have some injuries and close moments, but mostly showing what Rayne was up to during the Exam. Who is T?
Notes:
This ia going to speed through most of the episodes left because we are showing Rayne's side of it. It will cover the Exam arc of the Anime and i plan to add some drama between the end of the anime and chapters of the Manga. I will keep Rayne there supporting Finn, because the whole point of this story is if Rayne had supported Finn, how would things have worked out.
But I am going to use the next two chapters (9 & 10) for personal story before getting back to the Manga. So you've been warned.
Chapter Text
Chapter 8
As much as Rayne wanted to watch the Divine Visionary Candidacy Exam live at Easton, he was stuck at the Bureau, working with Sophia to catalog and file paperwork for Kaldo. Both Kaldo and Orter were sent to Easton to monitor the exam, so Rayne had requested a divining mirror so he could at least watch how his brother was doing. Because they were family, the Bureau easily accommodated this request for him, and he worked on signing off various forms while occasionally glancing at the mirror on the wall which was still showing the pre exam theatrics.
“Rayne, I’m sorry we couldn’t give you the time to go over and watch live. Kaldo was requested by Headmaster Whalberg, and Orter just went instead of letting a different one of us go.” Sophia tried to speak bluntly and without hidden purpose. As she spoke, Rayne looked up at her and then over to the mirror.
“It’s ok. This way I won’t accidentally lose my cool if something happens to Finn. If I do have to leave for some reason, I’ll make sure to tell you.” He spoke with such authority that Sophia could only smile a little as the first part of the exam, Deaderman’s Hollow, was announced and shown to everyone. Despite his hope that Finn wouldn’t try to take the exam, he couldn’t hide the flinch when he heard Finn wailing about wanting to go home and wanting to quit.
“Maybe I should have prepared him for the tests better.” The older begrudgingly shook his head at the mirror and moved back to working on paperwork.
The announcer seemed to be doing a good job of keeping those listening updated. He glanced over when he saw his roommate, Max involved and helping Mash. A small smile on his face at his friend finally acting like a proper senior to their juniors. But as he watched, he saw the interaction with Carpaccio Lou Yang and frowned. The kid was a continuing student from middle school, same as Finn. He was chosen by a MasterCane, and didn't seem to care about anyone but himself.
Not wanting to spend any more effort on the kid, Rayne went back to his work, cataloging and filing information on Magical Artifacts. For now, he was still a student at Easton, and when he graduated in his 4th year, he would begin his job as the head of Magical Artifacts. Until then, he was working under Orter, the Desert Cane and Sophia the Knowledge Cane. It wasn't until he heard a familiar scream that his blood ran cold and he paused all movement.
Was that… it couldn't be.
Turning to look in the mirror, he saw Sophia was also staring in horror as Carpaccio and Finn faced off in the Life Crystal Team Challenge. He moved on autopilot standing up, eyes locked on the mirror as Carpaccio berated and talked down to Finn, trying to convince the other continuing student to give up that crystal. Normally, that would be the wisest course of action, but the announcer pointed out that it was the last crystal for the Hearts team. Meaning Finn was the only thing standing between Mash continuing on to the next round, and Mash being executed.
Sophia looked at Rayne with worry in her eyes as he stared at the mirror, eyes hard and hands becoming fists as he watched his brother suffer magical stabs one right after the other from the Orca First year. The more he witnessed, the more he wanted to transport to the arena, leap through the mirrors and run a sword through that first year’s head. His anger must have been projecting, because not only did Sophia try to put a comforting hand on his arm, she held up a form, which had a release on it for the Divine Visionary Candidacy Exam.
“Rayne, I know it’s rough, but all candidates signed a disclaimer that they agreed to potential injuries and harm. There are medical staff available. I’m sure Carpaccio will stop before it becomes lethal.” She tried to be reassuring, but the air suddenly became charged with static as the third line on Rayne’s face flickered and manifested like a split onto his face when the Master Cane user had a knife to his own throat.
“I’ll be right back.” He spoke simply, only looking away from the mirror as soon as Mash had appeared and drove Carpaccio’s head into the wall, saving Finn at the very last moment. The Knowledge Cane nodded and sighed, knowing that he would need to see his brother for reassurance before he would be able to focus on work again. Turning to watch the fight between a magicless individual, and a Savant chosen by a Master Cane, Sophia was curious how many more times Mash would do the impossible before the public would accept him.
Before everyone accepted him.
*****************
The round of Life Crystal finished, and everyone was transported back to the main arena. Finn was still clinging to Mash to stay standing, and the quiet first year kept an arm around his best friend to make sure he could get to help in time. While there had been celebrations at moving forward, Mash handed Finn off to one of the medics, who immediately helped Finn onto a stretcher and off to medical to be treated. Finn held an arm over his midsection where he had been stabbed at least four times. The small start of the cut on his neck was still trickling blood down his neck, and he was grateful when they put him on a cot and closed up the curtains, getting to work on healing his wounds.
The Medic was going over a list of his injuries, and marveled at how the wounds did damage at the time of transfer, but healed up internally to be surface wounds only as soon as Carpaccio’s Goddess Statue healed his wound. If they hadn’t, Finn Ames would have bled out from his injuries. This meant the timing on Carpaccio's damage transfer to healing factor was so fine. It exemplified the skill and talent of the chosen one.
The medic helped Finn get his uniform off and started wrapping his thigh in magical bandages. Once done, she helped him lift his arms and started wrapping his chest in magical bandages. These would slowly heal the wounds to not leave scars and relieve the pain. Before she could finish, the curtain slid open harshly and both occupants jumped to look and see a very looming Rayne Ames staring down at Finn and the number of cuts being wrapped.
“R-Rayne! What are you d-doing here!? I thought you couldn’t g-get away from work?” Finn stuttered in surprise, not expecting his older brother to come running. He knew Rayne wouldn’t take any injuries to him well, but he had a cold look on his face, peering down at Finn while the Medic continued her ministrations. Neither Ames said anything, the tension thick until the Medic finished clipping off the bandages and set a new uniform on the side table for him.
“Those bandages should heal your wounds completely in a few hours. Just be careful about further injuries or getting hurt on top of what you already have.” The Medic quickly bowed and gave her final report before scurrying past Rayne and closed the curtain, giving them privacy.
Finn stared at Rayne, gold eyes locked on gold eyes. Finn looked dejected, beat down and totally lost on what to say. He looked down at his cot, fingers fiddling with each other as he tried to think of what to say. Rayne was still quiet. Just standing there staring at Finn with an intense look in his eyes. A frown on his face and his hands in fists, Finn was prepared for the yelling and ‘I told you so.” to start coming.
Instead, he heard Rayne step forward and the Sword Cane, Divine Visionary, Rayne Ames hugged his younger brother gently, but as if he was the most precious thing in the world. Finn blinked in surprise and looked at Rayne, noticing his eyes were squeezed shut, much like how Finn’s got when he tried to prevent himself from cr-
Wet dripped onto his shoulder. Finn blinked and realized Rayne was crying. Thin trails of tears were dripping down his face and onto Finn’s shoulder as he was held by his older brother. Instead of words of discouragement or annoyance, Rayne whispered softly, afraid to be heard by anyone else.
“I’m so glad you’re alright, and I’m so proud of you. So so proud.” He kept his arms around Finn as the younger slowly reached up to hug his older brother and tried to blink back his own tears.
“Thank you Rayne. I’m ok. I’ll be ok.” Rayne nodded, taking that as his cue to lean back and moved to sit next to Finn on the cot. He pulled a handkerchief from his own pocket and began to gently use it on Finn’s face where he had a bruise. The tingling of healing magic made Finn bite his bottom lip as he noted the care and fragility that Rayne was treating him with.
“Rayne. I’m ok. He didn’t do lasting -”
“You could have died,” Rayne choked the words out, not wanting to acknowledge them. Looking down, he took Finn’s hand and held it tight in one of his own. “You could have died, and I wouldn’t have gotten there in time. I watched you get stabbed over and over and over again. You could have died Finn.” Rayne squeezed his eyes shut and tightened his hold on Finn’s hand. Finn could only stare as his strong, powerful older brother was crying and breaking down over how hurt Finn had gotten.
Finn always looked up to Rayne. He respected and loved his brother, always wishing to be as strong as the Divine Visionary. He thought nothing could shake his brother like this. Sure, Rayne got angry when Finn got hurt, and he had a habit of making anyone who hurt Finn pay for it, pay with equal amounts of pain and then some. Something Finn didn’t pity Carpaccio for if that was something his brother decides to do in the future. But he didn’t like seeing Rayne look so scared. That was the only way it could be described. He was scared that he had to watch Finn get hurt, get mutilated by Carpaccio, almost get killed by the Savant who couldn’t feel the pain he was dealing to others.
The younger reached a hand up to gently touch Rayne’s chin, squeezing his hand back as he smiled softly.
“But I didn’t. I’m ok Big Brother. I’m safe, and I’m done with my involvement in the exam.” Rayne looked Finn in the eyes, trying to compose himself. Finn smiled more, the vulnerable look on Rayne’s face was something Finn never saw before, but he gently rubbed away his older brother’s tears before pulling him into a hug.
“Thank you for coming to see me. I’ll be withdrawing now. I promise I’ll be more careful.” Finn smiled as Rayne gently hugged him back, as if afraid to hurt him with a tight hug. Then the Sword Cane stood grabbing Finn’s uniform.
“Let me help you get re dressed before you go back out there. I’ll need to head back to the Bureau once we’re done.” Rayne sounded upset by that, but he knew with Finn pulling out, he would be ok. He was just glad he didn’t lose his younger brother because of a test.
Once Rayne finished helping Finn get dressed, he adjusted the younger’s tie, messed up his hair with a head ruffle, and then slipped out to the rest of the medical tent to head back to work. As he was leaving, he noticed Carpaccio Luo Yang was laying on a bed asleep, a large thick bandage wrapped around his head from where he had been beaned in the head with an iron tennis racket. Peering around, Rayne saw no one around to stop him, and slipped into the Savant’s cot area, quickly shutting the curtains as a dark look passed over his face.
********************
The first fight was Mash versus Margaret. As much as Rayne wanted to watch it, he had to get back to the Bureau for work. His warning to the Savant was delivered, and Finn was proven ok by his own two eyes, so the Prefect teleported back to work, letting the rest of the exam go on. Rayne was walking back towards the shared office, barely moving when Nerey ran past in the hallway towards Ryoh Grant's office.
Once he got back to the office with Sophia, he nodded to her and sat down, picking back up where he left off. It wasn't long before he was so deeply entrenched in cataloging magical items, he almost didn't hear Renatus barge into the room.
“Come quick! There's a huge burst of Spacial magic in the sky near Easton!”
Sophia and Rayne locked eyes before they were also running after the Immortal Cane to the balcony to see what was going on.
Sure enough, high in the sky was a large pure white glow that was expanding further and further out. While the other Divine Visionaries muttered and theorized, Rayne could only stare in awe and concern. Headmaster Whalberg was the only magic user known to use Spacial magic. This particular spell was his Thirds. The magic would expand, further and further like a burning hope for all to see. Cutting out the threat via a magic that transcends normal barriers. As it flickered and got bigger, Sophia breathed a soft exclamation.
“Mr. Whalberg, what are you…”
The light began to shrink instead of expand like it should, and the balcony seemed to be silent as the gravity of the situation seemed to reflect on the faces of the Divine Visionaries. Rayne couldn't help but frown letting a worried look cross his face.
‘I have a bad feeling about this.’
The light disappeared completely, leaving the dark overcast clouds in the sky to swirl around where the high level Space magic had been swelling. As if being spurred to action, Rayne turned and walked back inside, heading for the office to close up his work. Today was not going to be a day of getting anything done. He needed to return to Easton. Now. Before things got bad.
Before something happened beyond their control.
****************
They watched as the lackmagic swung the multi headed monster around by the chain. It defied the laws of physics, but since everyone had been stuck in the colosseum until the barrier went down, all they could do was wait. At one point, they saw Finn Ames looking around at the students cheering on Mash Burndead. The younger brother of the Sword Cane had even yelled his own motivational cheer which seemed to be what the lackmagic was waiting for.
Eyes narrowed, they watched as Finn ran from his spot up in the stands, down to the doorway outside, slipping through everyone as soon as the barrier unblocked the doors. They peered down from the upper levels as Finn stopped short of his friend and spoke, too far away to be heard. Brown eyes narrowed as the younger Ames gave Burndead a cream puff, and seemed to be smiling at his friend's success.
Realizing there were Divine Visionaries around inside and out, they quickly zoomed in on Finn's face, taking a picture of the younger boy's smiling face. For as much as the Sword Cane acted aloof and unaffected by anything, they were positive the easiest way to get at the Adler Prefect was through his brother. They just needed to make sure they were careful and didn't break School rules. Slipping away, they moved to the exit to try and get back to their dorm with enough time to write a new note for Rayne Ames.
One he wouldn't be able to just ignore.
Chapter 9: Chapter 8
Summary:
With Innocent Zero withdrawn, and the exam proceeding on its own, Rayne and Finn move forward with their own plans. For Finn, it's refining his precision and practicing his magic. For Rayne, it’s trying to get to the bottom of his threatening letters.
Notes:
There is a chunk of time between Innocent Zero's attack at Easton, and the trimagicathalon Finals. It also means some time in the Manga without Finn or Rayne shown. So we're gonna fill a bit if it with adventures, brotherly bonding and some cool fun new stuff until we get back to the Manga timeline. Drama, deviation and lots of adventure abound as this is an AU.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Finn and Mash were in their dorm room, 302, waiting for Lance and Dot to meet up with them. Since the exam was put on hold after the attack by Innocent Zero, all the students were focusing on their exams and grades for the semester. Finn had been struggling to keep his grades up, and the others in their friend group offered to help with studying. Mash had actually suggested Finn talk to Rayne, but every time Finn tried to get in touch with his brother, Max would inform Finn that Rayne was either working or in a meeting. So they had actually missed their weekly dinner two nights ago, and the younger Ames tried his best not to be too bothered by it.
With Rayne busy, Finn moved to helping Mash and his grades. They even helped ensure Mash had enough of a passing grade to not be expelled. Because of the lack of communication with Rayne, Finn had been sticking with Mash. Max had come once for help with the rabbits, pointing out that Rayne was getting more overnight jobs. It made Finn happy to know he could help out his older brother.
Plus snuggling with multiple rabbits was really relaxing.
A knock on the dorm door was the only alert Finn and Mash received before Dot and Lance walked in, a white envelope in Dot's hand addressed to Finn, as the quartet greeted each other.
“Yo, Finn. You had a letter on your door. Might be from your brother.” Dot handed it over before flopping onto the small sofa on Mash’s side of the room.
Lance sat at the table observing Finn and Mash chewed on a cream puff as Finn saw the unfamiliar writing of his name on the letter. Opening it, he sat sideways in his desk chair and read the letter.
‘Finn,
You don't know me, but I know your brother. I know a way you can help him using your personal magic. Wouldn't it be a great surprise to be able to help your brother in a way he can't help himself?
Meet me out behind the owls rookery after classes around 4pm.
Bring your wand.
Signed,
An indebted friend’
The younger brother made sure his face didn't change as he thought about multiple things.
For starters, this letter wasn't from Rayne. They offered a way for him to help Rayne, but Finn was also aware that there was someone threatening Rayne with letters and pictures. Max had been very clear about it. This writing didn't match the writing Finn had seen in the notes. Maybe he could send a message to Rayne when he left to meet up with the mysterious person. Looking at the clock, Finn realized he would need to leave now to get there in time, so he pocketed the letter and his wand before heading for the door.
“Hey, I have to go. I'll be back a little later.” Finn smiled wide and his three friends assumed he was meeting up with Rayne. Finn slipped out of his room with everyone waving bye and started towards the side entrance towards the owl rookery. On the way, he paused to write a quick note on a torn off half of the unknown letter. Folding his note into a small crane, he tapped it with his wand and smiled watching the paper crane flap and fly back towards the Adler dorms.
Max was a real pal to teach him how to do that. Such a useful trick.
With his bases covered, Finn walked along the semi worn path towards the owl huts and kept his eyes out for anyone around. Behind the huts was the rookery, where the baby owls were raised and nursed. Behind the smaller rookery building, was an open clearing, parts still growing back or shifting back into place from when Lance and Mash had fought weeks ago. Finn made sure to open the door to the huts so anyone passing by would know someone was there. Moving around to the clearing, Finn looked around at his surroundings and he heard a twig break. The first year to spin around and come face to face with a young man.
He looked to be the same age as Finn's older brother, in Lang colored robes. He had two lines from the outer edges of both eyes in straight lines angled down to his chin making his face look like it had an upside down triangle on it. His hair was black, parted in the middle, and the student's eyes were a hard, cold brown. The way he stood, wand in hand ready to cast with his overall posture screamed trouble to Finn.
“You must be Finn Ames. You look more like your brother close up.”
The young man, now much easier to identify identified as a third year student, replied as he raised his wand to Finn. Finn blinked and raised his own wand in reflexive response to block, but the third year was faster and cast a wordless spell that knocked Finn's wand from his hand. There was no pain with being disarmed, but the cold grin that grew on the student's face when he realized Finn's wand was now nack behind him had Finn thinking he made a mistake.
“Who are you?” He asked quietly, taking a tiny step back towards his wand. The Lang student kept the cold grin on his face as he pointed up to Finn with his wand at head level.
“Stop moving towards your wand, come over here slowly with your hands in front of you. Slowly I said.”
Finn gulped as he started slowly walking towards the student. He kept his hands forward in a placating gesture until he was about four feet from the student. Whoever he was said a soft spoken word, which caused a rope to appear and tighten around Finn's wrists. Flinching, Finn almost took off in a panic, but the student raised his wand directly to his face keeping him there.
“I am Thomas Truvvet. You're going to start walking that way.” He motioned further away from the owl huts into the woods, and moved behind Finn to give the first year a non gentle shove into the woods. Finn glanced back towards the school, hoping his note got to his brother, because he was legitimately scared. The sharp poke with a wand got him moving out of the clearing and into the treeline. As they walked, the woods getting a bit darker and the school farther away, Thomas began to speak.
“I'm sorry you are caught up in this. You have only your brother to blame. He is the one I am really upset with.”
“Why are you upset with Rayne?” Finn spoke, not keeping his voice down and doing his best to try and go slowly, give someone time to see that the doors were open to the owl huts. That someone was around, maybe they'd even find his wand. Thomas started to reply when they heard footsteps running in their direction.
“Because I had an important goal, and your brother stole it from me. One Divine Visionary a year is what they select. I studied and worked and your brother just rolled in with no consideration for my hard work and took away my chance.”
Finn was about to reply when he heard Rayne's voice nearby, yelling as he was closing the distance.
“Finn! Where are you?!”
“Rayne!”
Finn tried to turn and managed to yell his older brother's name before Thomas grabbed the back of Finnn's head by the hair and pushed the tip of his wand under Finn’s chin enough to silence him. He swung them both around to face the trees right as Rayne broke through the treeline. The Divine Visionary had his hand outstretched with wand out, ready to cast. Seeing what was before him was enough to make Rayne pause, a glare on his face.
“Don't move Ames!” Thomas stayed behind Finn holding onto his hair and keeping the wand pressed hard into his chin where he held it. Rayne kept his wand pointed and took a deep breath.
“Let Finn go. Whatever your beef with me is, we can resolve it without my brother being involved.”
Finn bit his lower lip as he tried to raise his chin higher away from the wand. He heard the concern in Rayne's voice. Rayne looked angry, really angry, but Finn saw fear in the same golden eyes as his own. Thomas backed up, dragging Finn painfully back with him as Rayne also took a step forward.
“Let my brother go. I won't warn you again.” Rayne spoke firmly, seeing Finn flinch as Thomas let out a dark laugh.
“Wow. Rayne Ames is actually scared enough to threaten instead of taking action. Too scared that you won't be fast enough to stop me? Or are you scared your aim isn't that good?”
Finn made a pained noise as a trickle of blood started dribbling down his neck from where the wand was pressing into his chin. Seeing the blood, Rayne tightened the grip on his wand as he locked eyes with Finn. Thomas tightened his own grip on his wand pushing it further into Finn's chin to force his gaze up and away from Rayne's.
Thomas spoke, and it was as if he was reading Raynes mind.
“Drop your wand, Ames. That's the only thing you can do that won't risk harm to him.”
Rayne shook his head slightly, to clear it or deny it was uncertain.
“I want your word, you'll let him go if I do. Say it, as an oath.”
Finn was screaming in his head. Rayne should just drop a partisan on this guy! Never mind if it hits Finn, they can heal it later. It's not important. Finn wasn't going to let this guy hurt his brother, and that's what it felt like the third year would do if Rayne put his wand down. Finn tried to shake his own head while gritting through his teeth.
“Don't listen Rayne!”
Thomas narrowed his eyes from behind Finn and the hand that was holding him by the hair was twisted and pulled back harder causing Finn to cry out in pain.
“I said Drop. Your. Wand.”
Rayne kept his hard gaze on Thomas, but the damage was done. His hand trembled ever so slightly before he held up both hands, his wand raised upright before he let go of it and it dropped into the grass with a soft thump. As soon as the Divine Visionary's wand was in the grass, Thomas turned his own wand on Rayne and shot a purple stream of Nalcos energy at him. Finn, hearing the mutter of the spell, jerked to the right and threw off Thomas’ aim. He wanted to save his big brother. Finn wasn't going to let this guy hurt the only family he had left.
The spell went wide and missed hitting Rayne as it slammed into a tree nearby shattering the wood to splinters, but Thomas snarled as he turned and pointed the wand right at Finn’s face point blank.
“Nalcompass!”
“No!” Rayne yelled as Finn's eyes widened at the purple light that overtook his vision. Then everything went black for the single liner.
—----------------------------------------------------------
Earlier -
Rayne was in his room writing up a report from his most recent mission. He was tired, and irritated. The older brother missed dinner with his younger brother because he had to chase down another of the escaped criminals working for Innocent Zero. Headmaster Whalberg had had his magic drained from him, and was still recovering from his fight with Innocent Zero. This meant that the exam was on hold, and the Bureau was trying to get ahead of Innocent Zero before he caused more trouble.
Max was at Duello practice, so Rayne had planned to finish his report and then see if Finn wanted to get dinner in town. To make up for missing their weekly dinner earlier. The Adler Prefect had just put his report in the folder when a paper crane pushed under the door and flapped over to land on his desk. Curiously, Rayne picked it up and carefully unfolded it. He knew the trick from Max, but he also knew Max wouldn't send a note like that. They had magical communication devices they could use as upperclassmen.
He read the quick note and furrowed his eyebrows reading it again.
‘Why would Finn go meet someone for training behind the rookery?’
Turning the piece of paper over to get a better look at the other side, he saw familiar handwriting and grit his teeth. The same handwriting from the photo last week was staring at him while mentioning helping Finn help his older brother.
This was a trap.
Realizing what Finn's note to him said, he grabbed his wand and jumped up, running out of the room quickly. As soon as he was able, he transported himself close to the owl huts in a burst of green flames. The wards around the school prevented transporting on and off the property, and there were distance restrictions for transporting on campus for the safety of the students and owls.
Once out at the owl huts, he saw the doors open, which made sense because Finn must have opened them to let anyone passing by know someone was nearby. Rayne moved around the hut and saw the rookery a distanceaway, doors also open, and then walked behind that building to see a clearing that was more pronounced than he had ever seen before. There must have been a magic duel a while ago as the regrowth was not recent.
As he looked around, his shoe kicked something, and he looked down seeing a plain wand on the ground. More specifically, Finn's wand on the ground. Scooping it up, Rayne looked it over for damage or signs of why it was on the ground. Seeing nothing specific, he looked around again before putting the wand in his sleeve holster. Better to be prepared.
“Finn? Are you here?”
No reply made Rayne uncomfortable until he heard faint talking deeper into the woods. It didn't sound like Finn, and that was not reassuring at all. He started running after the voices, wand gripped tight as he tried to hone in on the conversation. He got so far into the woods that only the peaks of the school could be seen before he heard two voices and saw two people further ahead.
“Finn! Where are you?!”
“Rayne!”
That was Finn's voice, but that was all he heard before breaking through a tree line and pointed his want right at the two. Finn was standing rigid, hands bound in front of him with a Lang student behind him. The student seemed familiar, but Rayne wasn’t paying attention to the student. He was more concerned with the wand pointed under Finn's chin as the student spoke up.
“Don't move Ames!”
Even harmless spells were dangerous at close range like that. It was as bad as holding a knife or gun to Finn's chin.
“Let Finn go. Whatever your beef with me is, we can resolve it without my brother being involved.” Rayne kept his voice steady, wand at the ready and eyes narrowed as he tried to see even a tiny opening. Finn was biting his bottom lip looking at his big brother with an apology visible on his face. Rayne tried to give him a reassuring look as the student pushed the wand up, keeping Finn between them as the younger made a pained noise. Rayne tried to keep his anger in check.
“Let my brother go. I won't warn you again.” He made sure his tone was firm, trying to put as much authority as he could into it. He needed a moment, just one opening. Finn seemed to understand what Rayne was thinking as the student laughed darkly.
“Wow. Rayne Ames is actually scared enough to threaten instead of taking action. Too scared that you won't be fast enough to stop me? Or are you scared your aim isn't that good?” Finn Flinched in pain as blood trickled from his chin down his neck and the student pushed his wand harder causing Finn to look up instead of at his brother.
“Drop your wand, Ames. That's the only thing you can do that won't risk harm to him.”
Rayne could tell his hand was shaking. This was really bad. This was a nightmare that he couldn't seem to figure out. This guy could easily hurt Finn in the time it took Rayne just to drop his wand. Rayne shook his head no.
“I want your word, you'll let him go if I do. Say it, as an oath.”
“Don't listen Rayne!” Finn tried to be brave and encouraging as he yelled through gritted teeth, but Thomas twisted his grip on Finn's hair and kept the wand at his throat as Finn failed to keep a pained noise in.
“I said Drop. Your. Wand.”
Rayne glared as he tried to think of anything he could do to help Finn, but there were no options.
This is exactly what Rayne feared would happen with becoming a Divine Visionary. The student, still using Finn as a shield, was recognizable now. Rayne had beaten him last year during the Divine Visionary Candidacy Election Exam. Thomas was good, with fast reaction time and almost wordless spells. The older Ames had had to work hard to beat him last year, and that was without his brother being held as a shield.
Rayne finally lifted both hands and let his wand drop to the ground. As he feared, the wand pointed at Finn was now pointed directly at him and the Divine Visionary saw the purple glow from a spell. Finn must have heard which spell, because he shoved Thomas backwards right as Rayne tried to reach for Finn's wand to block. The spell went wide into a nearby tree causing the trunk to shatter and splinter, and Rayne turned to see Thomas pointing his wand point blank at Finn's face. The spell was clear and precise, making Rayne's blood run cold.
“Nalcompass!”
“No!” Rayne yelled before he realized he had said anything as he started towards them in a futile attempt to get in the way.
That spell could kill at close range. The last thing he saw before a bright white flash overtook the clearing, was Finn's eyes widening in fear as the spell flew from Thomas’ wand towards Finn. A flash of purple and then white took over the clearing as Rayne felt the wand in his sleeve he had been reaching for fly from his sleeve towards Finn.
The smell of ozone filled the area and everyone was blinded by the flash. When it cleared up, Finn had his shoulders hunched up to his ears, tied hands gripping his wand which was held up in a defensive block. He looked unharmed with the only sign of injury being the blood on his neck from his chin. Thomas blinked, realizing his spell had been canceled out somehow. Not only that, Finn now had his wand again.
“Changeas!” Finn yelled, reacting as quickly as he could to the moment of shock, seeming to swap Rayne and Thomas' locations. Rayne had reached down for his wand right as Finn used his personal magic, and was now next to Finn, both Ames brothers armed as Thomas blinked at the sudden switch.
“What the hell?? What did you do?! What was that!?”
Rayne gave him no time to cast another spell, stepping to the side to stand in front of Finn with one arm back to keep him close as he raised his wand with the other.
“10% Partisan!”
Swords manifested around Thomas, shooting quickly at the Lang student as Finn tried to pull his hands free of the rope around his wrists. Thomas lept backwards, his wand firing off what looked like an arcane style shield of blue light to block the swords. When the smoke cleared, Thomas had disappeared, and Finn was shaking as he gripped his wand waiting for what was going to happen next.
Rayne looked around realizing Thomas had gotten away and quickly turned to grab Finn's shoulders, the younger flinching at the sudden contact.
“Are you ok?! Finn! Did that spell hit you!? Let me see! Where are you hurt?”
Rayne's voice broke, letting his fear be heard as he tapped the ropes around his younger brother's wrists while looking for more injuries from the Nalcompass. The ropes dropped away to tbe ground and Finn was pulled into a tight hug from Rayne. The only visible signs of injury were the blood under his chin and some trickling from the left side of his nose.
“I’m ok. Big brother, I'm fine.” Finn felt his brother trembling as Rayne pulled back from the hug lifting Finn's chin to address the wound underneath.
“Your chin doesn't look too bad. How did you block that…he hit you point blank!”
Rayne was staring, not understanding what just happened. Finn scratched the back of his neck as he looked down, then realized his nose was bleeding and tried to fumble for part of his sleeve to stop the bleeding. His older brother already had a handkerchief ready and offered it to Finn, still keeping a slightly trembling hand on the you ger's arm as his adrenaline began to leave him.
“I, uh, I swapped both your locations because you mentioned that might be possible. I figured it was the don't plan. I don't know what happened with his last spell though, or how my wand got into my hand. I left it back at the rookery when he shot it out of my hand, although I was pleading for it just now in my head.” Rayne furrowed his brow realizing what Finn just said.
“You mean to tell me you swapped both our places, and you called to your wand and it just appeared? It acted on it's own?” Rayne starred as Finn nodded sheepishly.
“I'm sorry. I thought it would be the best plan, and I could only beg for my wand when it happened. At least I didn't pass out this time?”
Rayne looked around the small clearing trying to understand what had happened. Something like this was unusual, but then again, Finn had been practicing and studying more spells and magic theory lately.
“You. You scared the hell out of me.” Rayne's voice was still shaking as he grabbed Finn in a hug again.
Finn blinked and leaned into the hug. Now that he thought about it, he could have easily died from that spell. Nalcompass was a dangerous Spell. Security enforcement was taught that spell to destroy threats, and years ago there had been a report of an officer using it to run off a Dragon.
Worse, Finn felt bad for falling for such a trap and scaring his brother.
“I'm sorry Rayne. This is my fault. I should have che-”
Rayne leaned back and put a finger over Finn's lips.
“Don't apologize. You did nothing wrong. But we really need to talk about your safety. I need to come clean about some threats I have been getting and we need to figure out a way to keep you safe.”
Finn nodded as Rayne kept an arm over Finn's shoulders, helping to guide him back towards the owl huts. There was a first aid kit in the rookery, and they needed to shut the doors to the huts after all.
Notes:
There's just something about those owls!
Chapter 10: Chapter 10
Summary:
The after math of the fight and a small background on the brothers.
Notes:
Some angst, brotherly fluff and I hope to make you laugh.
Chapter Text
Synopsis - A flashback. Rayne comes clean about some things. Finn admits some issues of his own. The two make a plan to deal with Thomas.
Author's note - I kind of like writing the au with touches of episodes and manga. And yes, I am providing some spoilers. I think the next 2-3 chapters will be non manga scenes, home written background scenes and fluff stuff before we dip back in.
Chapter 10
*flashback*
A nine year old Finn trembled under the covers, which also had an eleven year old Rayne's school jacket on top to add extra warmth. Rayne himself was keeping a wand on the soup can, eyes on the door as if watching for someone. The two orphans were with "Auntie and Uncle”, some half sibling of a cousin on their father's sister in law's side. The two made it clear the two boys would share a small corner walk in closet as a bedroom. Rayne, with his two lines, was in school and expected to study.
Finn, with one line, was treated like didn’t belong. He was expected to do chores, more so than Rayne, even though his brother helped him. Finn was expected to handle laundry and cleaning up after dinner and manage the yard and take out the trash. A few times Rayne had had to let Fin in because their Auntie “accidentally” locked him out. Anything to do with Finn was a side thought, and Rayne tried to keep things as even as possible.
The contents of the can of soup were steaming, and Rayne smiled as he carefully got the lid off. His Younger brother had gotten sick from being out in the rain bringing in the laundry. The family told him to go to bed and that was the end of it. The following day, Finn was sweating with fever, shaking all over and his breathing sounded awful. Moving to put a warm hand on The sick boy's shoulder, Rayne helped Finn sit up and the younger skinny boy cradled the warm soup. Smiling as wide as he could, Finn's hoarse voice was soft.
“Thank you big brother.” Rayne scratched the back of his head and looked around for the spoon he had grabbed earlier.
“It's no big deal. I like practicing my magic, and that's probably better then whatever Uncle is making for dinner. I think I left the spoon in the kitchen. Be right back.” Rayne stood from where he had been kneeling, and slipped from the closet towards the bedroom door. He heard voices and paused as soon as he started to open the bedroom door.
The kitchen was at the end of the hall. The only bedroom on the other end. The kitchen opened into the front room and living room. Meaning anyone speaking in the kitchen could be heard everywhere. Currently, their Uncle was talking to their Aunt about the boys.
“All I'm saying is he's just a single liner. Give Rayne a year or two and he'll forget about him. A double liner is powerful and could lead to more money if he is educated and does well.”
Rayne stopped moving, listening with wide eyes. His Aunt's words sounded like she was repeating herself.
“And all I’m saying is it's easier to let the brat die from whatever sickness he has now or he'll eventually starve. I am saying to get what we want it's easier to just handle things ourselves and be the grieving family instead of the bad guys to split them up.”
Rayne felt his heart thumping in his ears as he stared at the bedroom door, slowly and quietly closing it. These people, who didn't deserve any family titles, were planning to kill Finn. To starve him, or let him die if his stuffed lungs became worse. First their parents die and now they want to take away his little brother? Finn was still young, and always tried to see the best in everything. He smiled even when he was crying. Finn was innocent and needed to have a better world to grow up in. Not this poisonous den of two faced-
A rattling cough snapped him back to the here and now, and Rayne moved back to the closet.
“Sorry Finn, Auntie and Uncle are having a private talk. Think you can sip from the can?” Rayne smiled and crouched down next to his little brother. Despite being pale and sweaty, Finn nodded with a weak smile.
“Of course! I won't spill any of it.”
Rayne felt a calming warmth envelope him, and settled to sit next to his brother. He put a comforting arm around Finn to help keep him warm as Finn blew gently on soup.
Rayne couldn’t let anyone hurt his little brother. He wouldn’t allow it. He refused to accept anything happening to Finn. No one was going to split them apart.
*end flashback*
Finn was looking up at the ceiling and hissed in pain when the school nurse tapped his chin wound with her wand. The tingling from healing always made him feel weird, and he had gotten his fair share of it today. Rayne had walked him to the Infirmary, reported what happened to the nurse, and then left to go speak with Headmaster Whalberg. With clear instructions for Finn to wait in the Infirmary for him. Since he was waiting, he had asked the nurse to tend his chin and the rough burn around his wrists from the rope.
While she was filing in her report, and waiting for Rayne to come back, Finn walked to the windows to peer out over the Duello field. He could see the owl huts barely visible, the pointed tops peaking over. Finn was curious what plans Thomas had had for him. Nothing good, he was certain about that, but his curiosity was getting the better of him.
Sitting in a chair, Finn borrowed a medical book on basic first aid and began to read while he waited. Less than an hour later, Rayne was back, looking for himself to see the healing done by the school nurse. Checking in on Finn's condition, Rayne spoke softly as he held out a cherry flavored gummy style lollipop he had been given by the headmaster.
“Feeling alright?”
Finn nodded and happily took the lollipop.
“All better. She even took care of my wrists!”
That got Rayne looking at his wrists and he frowned.
“How do you feel about dinner?”
The younger brother blinked at his older brother in confusion.
“I could eat. What's wrong?”
Rayne looked at Finn and restes a hand on his head, ruffling his hair.
“We'll talk about it during dinner. Let's go. I know a nice bar b que place, where they cook it all in front of you.”
Finn nodded while leaning into the hand on his head. He pocketed the lollipop and followed his brother out of the infirmary.
“Oh! I know it might be dangerous, but I wanted to check where that guy was taking me or what he had planned. Could we check before we head to dinner?” Finn tried to make his request sound casual, but the way Rayne's hands went to fists caused Finn to double guess himself.
“Unless you think it's a bad idea?” Finn watched as Rayne looked thoughtful, both brothers walking towards the entrance to the school.
“I already took a look after speaking to the Headmaster before coming back here. He had dug a grave with a box. It had seals to provide air for about 24 hours.” Rayne spoke quietly, obviously upset about the implications. Finn felt his blood freeze as he started thinking about if he hadn't been found before then. He was not a fan of tight spaces, and being buried alive would have caused him to panic and freak out.
He must have looked sick on his face, because Rayne dropped an arm over his shoulder.
“Finn. Don't think about it. Let's go get dinner and we can talk about some options. Okay?”
Finn nodded and leaned on Rayne as they walked from the Academy towards the small town next to the school. The younger was deep into thought and didn't even see where they ended up. He only knew they were at a restaurant because he could smell the different dishes being prepared. Looking around, he saw a number of magic users piling up ingredients onto their plates to have it cooked in front of them.
The two brothers got a booth, ordered drinks and quickly got their plates of food. Rayne watched as Finn's eyes lit up at the fancy motions of the chef. His wand was able to coordinate cooking multiple dishes that patrons were getting. They were so busy eating and enjoying their meal that Rayne didn't get into serious discussion until they had finished their second plates of food. While Finn finished off the shrimp on his plate, Rayne spoke up.
“I have been receiving threats about your safety. Horrible ones that upset even Headmaster Whalberg. I tried to manage it without alerting you, but this incident has shown me there is much more going on than someone just upset with me.” Rayne kept his voice down, eyes on Finn.
The younger seemed to think about the threatening letter Max Had shown him.
“Was this Thomas the same person threatening you?” He set his chopsticks down while waiting for a reply. Rayne shook his head with a frown and looked around the restaurant.
“I don't think so. There have been multiple threats since I became a Divine Visionary. The troubling part is Thomas Truvvet left Easton Magic Academy shortly after the Divine Visionary Candidacy Exam last year. He moved to a different region and is doing well. Well enough it was confirmed he was somewhere else when this happened.” Rayne watched as Finn rubbed his chin thinking.
“Someone who shouldn't have got onto Easton?”
Rayne blinked and nodded while glancing down at his plate.
“Yes. I had an idea, but I really don't like the thought of it…..” Finn spoke at the same time as Rayne, causing the older to pause mid sentence.
“We’ll have to find a way to focus our attention on finding the guy, and that would work best if we weren't always spending our time together.”
Both brothers blinked at each other before Rayne looked confused.
“Wait, you want to spend less time together?”
Finn blinked back before panicking.
“No! Well I think-we wouldn't be where we are if others didn't know about our close ties. We just are much less public. I could focus the time on my studies to better defend myself! And you could focus on finding who is responsible!” Finn tried to get all of his opinions and arguments out.
He didn't like the thought of really distancing himself from Rayne. They were close, but that is what put them in the situation they just had to deal with. They could still meet up now and then, go out. It made the most sense at this juncture.
“Finn I . . .” Rayne was stunned. His usually stoic and neutral face was genuinely surprised. “I was going to suggest something similar, but you came up with that after asking me only 2 questions about all of this?”
Finn looked away, turning slightly pink in the cheeks to show he was embarrassed.
“Well, I may have had a hint that something like this was going on and may have been thinking about it since before the Divine Visionary Exam.”
Rayne blinked.
Finn blinked looking away.
Rayne blinked.
Finn blinked…and a piece of bean sprout landed on his head.
“Huh?!” Finn reached up frantically and saw his brother had thrown food at him. Without a second thought, he grabbed a piece of shrimp and whipped it back as the Divine Visionary dodged to the right and flicked a snow pea at Finn. Rayne was trying his hardest not to smile as the younger Ames immediately screamed and grabbed a handful of rice from his plate.
Starting an epic food fight that got them both kicked out of the restaurant. The two brothers laughed too hard to care.
The restaurant food wasn't that good.
Chapter 11: Chapter 11
Summary:
Finn and Rayne have been distancing themselves for a week, and Finn doesn't like it. Not only that, others are starting to take advantage of Finn being alone, since everyone else is at the Trimagicathalon.
Notes:
Moving to follow the Manga a bit. There are spoilers, and some rough stuff going on between them. Hopefully it helps keep Rayne's stalker away from Finn.
Also, Carpaccio makes an appearance. Maybe there's more to him than everyone first thought?
Chapter Text
Chapter 11
Finn was sitting in the library staring at his study books and papers with a blank look. It had been a week since the incident at the owl huts, and the two Ames brothers Hadn't seen each other more than in passing. At first, Finn wasn't sure what to expect with distancing themselves from each other, but it didn't feel great. In fact, without his usual weekly dinner and frequent check-ins, Finn noticed some of his classmates were beginning to take advantage of the lack of the older Ames.
Mash, Lance and Dot were all preparing for the Trimagicathalon in a few days, so they weren't able to stay with Finn. Lemon was following Mash everywhere, and that left Finn on his own. The more time he spent alone, the more bad thoughts began to creep into his head. What if his brother decided he wanted to distance himself for real? Did he think Finn was a burden? Did Mash, Lance and Dot think that too? Was it even worth watching the tournament with everyone else in the school?
A heavy book was dropped onto the table in front of Finn, and it made him jump, snapping his focus back to the here and now.
“Huh? What? I'm sorry!”
Finn looked at whoever dropped their book and saw an Orca student with glasses that framed triangular eyes and thinning blonde hair. They were looking down their nose and over their lenses at him with a deep frown speaking in a rushed whisper while holding two more thick books.
“If you're going to sit there staring at the table, at least make room for others to sit will you?”
Finn blinked in surprise and looked at the rest of the table that was designed to seat six people. Everywhere else on the table was clear.
Accept his one spot.
With sinking shoulders, Finn realized quickly what was going on.
“Right, sorry about that. I'll clean up and move down for you.” The younger brother began to collect his papers and books, stuffing them into his bag one at a time. He reached for his pen and inkwell only to have the Orca student drop a second book with intent onto the table making a loud ‘BANG’ and the inkwell toppled over spilling ink all over the table, the remaining pages of Finn's study notes and the book the student had slammed down.
“Watch what you're doing you idiot! You can't even clean up your worthless notes without making a mess!” The student sneered as he raised his last book as if to hit Finn with it. Tensing and squeezing his eyes shut, Finn prepared for the impact of the heavy book, the humiliation of everyone in the library laughing at him when he left, the ruined notes he would need to try and decipher, but it never came. The silence and lack of movement caused him to open one eye and peek at a sight he really never expected to see.
Carpaccio Luo Yang had a firm grip on the forearm of the Orca Student. His emotionless red eyes were staring at the student, and it seemed the appearance of the Master Cane user was enough to terrify the other Orca student into stepping back, hugging his last book to his chest. Finn blinked as he noticed Carpaccio pick up the other two books, one in each hand and hold them out to the student, the weight not seeming to bother him at all.
“These are yours. Go find somewhere else to study. Leave Finn Ames alone, or else.”
The student nodded, grabbing the books and making a beeline out of the study area. Finn could only blink at Carpaccio when he turned to look down at the Adler student and gazed at the ruined notes.
“What were you studying just now?”
Finally being addressed snapped Finn out of his shock and he suddenly frantically started trying to salvage what he could of his page of notes.
“Oh no, these were my only notes from Charms and Incantations! Everyone else was busy and didn't make notes. Now I have to try and rewrite them from what's left. I'm going to screw this all up now!”
He began dabbing at the ink soaked paper with a corner of his robes to try and see the blurred and ruined writing underneath. He suddenly had the page snatched away from him, and Carpaccio held it up to the light squinting, ignoring the ink getting on his own hands and dripping onto his wrists.
“It's still legible when you hold it up to the light. Give me a paper and pen and I'll rewrite it for you.”
Finn blinked before having a freak out. Carpaccio wanted to correct his messed up notes? After helping to get rid of a bully, and not once has he said or done anything scary to Finn since he silently showed up.
“Finn.”
Carpaccio spoke softly, his tone neutral instead of questioning, but it seemed to move the younger Ames to grab a piece of paper and pen and offer it to Carpaccio. The Orca student sat down and began to rewrite the notes as Finn managed to clean up the spilt ink on the table. Nothing was said between them as Finn sat down and watched the fluid and speedy writing of the Master Cane user. Once the page was full of organized notes, with additional notes and marks that Finn hadn't had on there, the page was slid over with the pen resting on it. Blinking, Finn looked up at Carpaccio and finally spoke.
“Thank you? Um…why did you help me?”
Carpaccio tilted his head, face blank and eyes staring as he spoke.
“Because you needed help? Is there another reason?”
Finn shook his head before the other student stood.
“See you.”
Watching the maroon haired magician walk from the library, Finn looked down at the page and couldn't help but smile a bit at how helpful and unexpected the entire scenario had been. Looking around, Finn saw other students making an obvious show of diverting their attention from Carpaccio and Finn to their books. With a sigh, Finn picked up his books and notes, Tossed the spilt inkwell into the trash and headed back to his room. It might be lonely, but at least he wouldn't have anyone staring at him or starting trouble.
Returning to the Adler dorm, Finn stepped into room 302 and kicked a note that had been slid under his door. Crouching to pick it up, he dropped his books on his desk and unfolded the neatly scripted note:
Finn -
Let's watch the Trimagicathalon together. 11am at the Bureau.
Rayne
The image of a hand drawn bunny on the bottom corner made Finn smile a little, confirming his brother did send it. He folded up the letter and quickly darted back out with a jump in his step to see if he could catch his homeroom Teacher before she went home. He would need a pass tomorrow to go watch with his brother instead of in the auditorium with everyone else.
—-------
The next morning, Finn was in his school uniform and robes with a satchel over his shoulder. He had his pass to be outside the Academy during school hours. And had finished breakfast and the walk to the front gates of the Bureau by 10:40am. With a smile, he saw his brother leaning on the surrounding wall waiting. His half yellow, half black hair made him stand out. Raising a hand, Finn smiled and called out as soon as he knew he would be within speaking distance
“Rayne!”
The older brother looked over, face stoic as usual, but a small smile seemed to peek at the corner of his lips. When Finn was close enough, Rayne rested a hand on his younger brother's head to ruffle his hair.
“You made it. Good.”
Finn grinned and tackled his brother with a big hug, taking the older one by surprise. He was about to just quickly pat the younger one on the back and move on but he noticed the skinny, lithe form of his brother was trembling.
“Finn? Everything Ok?”
Finn shook his head quickly, eyes shut and arms tight around his brother
“This plan sucks. Can we go back to normal?”
It only took a moment of confusion before the Divine Visionary figured out what he was talking about.
“It's only been a week, Finn. I thought you liked this idea?”
Again, the younger shook his head.
“I was wrong. It's too lonely, and the vultures have started swooping in again. If Carpaccio hadn't helped I might be sporting a book title on my forehead.”
Rayne frowned and put both hands on Finn's shoulders, pushing him back a bit so he could crouch down and look over Finn's face.
“Tell me everything while we head into the viewing mirrors, don't try to hide anything.”
With an arm over Finn's shoulders, Rayne led him inside and down the hallway, nodding to officials and guards the entire trip to one of the viewing mirrors. And for the entire trip, Finn recounted his week, from being lonely to making class notes, to the library and Carpaccio's assistance. Rayne opened the door and closed it, letting Finn take in the elaborate decoration of the room. It was bright, well lit from a glass ceiling. Red and black curtains on the wall made the mirror on the wall seem much bigger and more visible. It was already on, showing the main entrance for the exam, with all three of the Adler first years, along with Margaret, Abel, Abyss. There was a table with chairs, the table full of fruit, snacks and a pitcher.
Finn finished recounting the week and his eyes widened at the fancy set up for them.
“Uh, Rayne? Who else is coming to watch with us?”
Rayne smirked and patted one of the chairs.
“No one. We have this all to ourselves. I figure it would make up for not having dinner this week. Is it really that rough on your own?”
Finn blinked at the thought his brother put into their time together and let a genuine smile encompass his face.
“I'll manage. Let's enjoy the show while we can. Are those cupcakes!?”
Unable to stop himself, Finn grabbed one of the cupcakes off the table and hopped into the chair to enjoy the treat, drawing a soft chuckle from the Divine Visionary. With a wave of his wand, the mirror sound came on and both Ames brothers sat to enjoy watching without anyone interrupting them.
—--------------
They had been following and watching the younger brother for almost a week. It appeared as if the older brother wasn't spending as much time with his brother as before. Were they both trying to pull one over on him?
With narrowed eyes, the young man witnessed the intervention of a Master Cane user in the library. It would have been super easy to get to Finn if that damned Luo Yang hadn't been there. They would have waited for Finn to scurry away from the bullying and…
“You're not a student. What are you doing here?”
The cold calculating voice of the Master Cane chosen magician right behind them made goosebumps appear all over their arms. They stepped away with a smile, hands out placatingly.
“I was just watching. I would have stepped in myself to help Finn If you hadn't.”
Carpaccio put a knuckle under his chin in thought before speaking again.
“That still doesn't explain why you are here at this academy if you aren't a student. Again, what are you doing here?”
Glancing down, they noticed a knife now in the Master Cane's free hand and realized their time was up. A brief glance over saw that Finn was gone, so they slid a wand from their sleeve and decided to teleport. As the green flames Encircled their form, Carpaccio stabbed his knife into his hip right in the joint of the socket. When the flames disappeared, the intruder was gone. The blood on the ground showed that Carpaccio hit his target.
Outside of the school building and near the owl huts, blood was gushing from a major stab wound on their hip. A hand clutching the wound to wait for it to stop as they gasped in pain leaning on the walls.
“Damn brat. Next time I'll be prepared for him. Master Cane or no, nothing is going to stop my revenge.”
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