Free The Phoinix: Age of Demigods by S. L. Mancuso Page B

to breathe. His breathing returned, shallow from
disbelief at who stood behind the door. He gently rubbed his chest
with the heel of his palm, feeling his heart shatter into thousands
of pieces.
    Remus tried to regain control over his
demeanor. He took a deep breath, calmed his erratic breathing, and
wiped the look of betrayal from his face.
    “How big a fool do you take me for,
Romulus?” Remus’ voice was stern, refusing to give Romulus
satisfaction in hearing his pain.
    “Do you truly want me to answer that,
Remmy?” Romulus chuckled.
    “You have attacked my house and
family. You do not expect me to open the door so we can talk, do
you?”
    “Remus, I am giving you the courtesy
of discussion because you are my twin. We loved each other once,”
Romulus said nostalgically.
    “You loved me once upon a time, but my
love for you is still here. Do not belittle my intelligence or my
memory of you. Do not forsake our brotherhood because we’ve been
separated for two hundred years. It was your choice not to make
things right between us. Romulus, I plead with you to forget the
hostility of our past so we do not vainly destroy a peaceful
era.”
    Remus placed his hand on the cool wood
that separated him from his twin. Unbeknownst to Remus, Romulus
made the same gesture. The wood between their hands began to
heat-up and an orange-red light spread through the door.
    “Romulus, don’t you see? The gods have
not given up on us. We still have the divine connection bestowed at
our birth. I feel your pain as you feel mine. We are forever
connected.” Remus’ voice cracked.
    “Do not mistake vengeance for pain,
Remus,” responded Romulus callously.
    “You cannot hide what is in your
heart, Brother, just as I cannot hide from you. If you follow
through with your plans the only emotions you will feel are
devastation and loss.” Remus sorrowfully bowed his head.
    Romulus shifted
uncomfortably. He hated that Remus knew him so well. They had been
talking less than a minute and Remus already pierced through his
anger. He remained defiantly silent. If
they kept talking like this, Remus would talk him down from his
attack.
    Remus sighed at his brother’s silence
and removed his hand. The orange light faded from the door. His
palm instantly felt cold from the loss of his brother’s connection.
“Your choices are destroying the world’s finest
fellowship.”
    Romulus removed his own hand from the
door. He felt his detestation from the last two hundred years start
to fade. Even after all the anger he held on to, he always missed
his brother: the soul mate that left him behind.
    Romulus spoke as sad memories flooded
his mind, “You are the one who destroyed us, Remmy. The moment you
decided to leave our home at Palatine Hill. You broke us. It was
too easy for you to leave me.”
    “Nothing was easy about leaving you.”
A lump formed in the back of Remus’ throat, causing him to stutter.
“I-I love you, Romulus. I am truly sorry for what happened. There
has not been a day where I did not think of you and our glorious
past. I regret how I left you, but I do not regret the life I have
here.”
    “Do not speak of regret!” Romulus’
anger surged to full strength. “Regret brings you back to your
beginning. If you regretted leaving then you would have found your
way back to me. You did not return to our home, but made your own
with a woman who was not of our society. Not only did you forsake
us, you abandoned the old ways.”
    “I have always kept the
traditions of our culture, but merely adapted to changes of the
world. Change is good, Romulus. We need to change with the world or
we will get lost in it. Have you learned nothing in our
nine-hundred years? You have lost your
way, Romulus. Let me bring you back…bring you back to me.” Remus’
heart raced. He could sense his brother’s anger lessen as he
spoke.
    Remus was eager to see his beloved
brother again. His heart pounded in his ears at the thought of it.
Without