Ketone Twins: Rachelle and the Day

By Emily Barratt

Lutalo, Nate and a blind Pluto were battling my grandfather, who held the Ketone Blade in his hands. My grandfather used me to open a Door to the Underworld. But Lutalo stopped him and destroyed the Ketone Blade with a sword that was given to me by one of the original Nine Ketone, the Six-tailed wolf, Rachel Fern, my great-great grandmother. After my grandfather died, Lutalo used himself to draw the circle needed to close the Door. I told him the Door would close instantly before he could get through again. He understood that, but went through anyway. It shattered my heart to see it disappear.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Partridge Publishing Singapore
• Release date: Oct 24, 2012
• ISBN: 9781466930674

Book preview

© Copyright 2012 Emily Barratt.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the written prior permission of the author.

ISBN: 978-1-4669-3065-0 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4669-3066-7 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4669-3067-4 (e)

Trafford rev. 09/27/2012

TFSG-logo_BWFC.psd www.traffordpublishing.com.sg

Singapore

toll-free: 800 101 2656 (Singapore)

Fax: [phone] (Singapore)

Contents

Prologue   The Underworld

Part One

Rachelle and the Day

-1-   Master Cleaners

-2-   Seeing Things

-3-   The Dinner Party

-4-   Shuttle Bus Trip

-5-   First Day

-6-   Surprise Birthday Present

-7-   The Secret about Daisy

-8-   Investigating

-9-   Happy Birthday!

Part Two

Royce and the Night

-10-   The Truth

-11-   Life in the Underworld

-12-   Too Many Orders

-13-   Nightmare

-14-   Opinions Are Everything

-15-   Sail to Dawn

-16-   Confrontation

-17-   The Song of the Siren

-18-   The Last Ketona

-19-   Reunion

-20-   Internal Battles

Part Three

Yami and the Eternal Darkness

-21-   A Handy Prophecy

-22-   The High Council

Dungeon

-23-   Light and Darkness

-24-   Bringing Sanity Back

Epilogue   Promises

Spawn

Yami’s Past

Prologue   The Second World

-1-   Events

-2-   The Vows of Forever

-3-   The Choice

-4-   Twelfth Birthday

-5-   Eavesdropping

-6-   Reassigned

PROLOGUE

The Underworld

The king of the underworld sat upon his throne, his deep purple eyes gazing down at the spectral ball of mist and fire. His black nails stroked his chin softly, sighing with annoyance.

‘I do not think this is what I wanted to see, demon.’

‘Forgive me, Master. What do you wish to see?’

‘The woman who holds my children in her belly. Show me her.’ He waved his hand, and the picture began to change. A woman lying on a bed and crying appeared. Her belly was swollen, a sure sign of the babies stirring inside of her. He smiled, for the first time in years, knowing what was growing inside of that woman. ‘I don’t think I’ve felt this for years…’

‘Do you want to see their future?’

‘No. Let them choose their paths…’ he whispered and stood up. ‘Watch them grow, but never let them see you. Now go.’

‘Yes, Master…’ The mist and fire shifted into a small human boy. ‘Will this be sufficient?’

He chuckled humourlessly. ‘May I suggest sticking to your mist form? Blend with the shadows. You won’t be suspected that way. Now go!’

The mist slithered away like a snake, leaving the man sitting upon his throne. ‘Useless,’ he muttered and stood up. His fire-tipped tail laced along the glossy floor.

The woman he had chosen to bear his children was a poor woman, with an old man to support her; the old man was an old friend. How much, he thought quietly, have they changed after all these years? While I have aged only ten years, they have aged by so much more. Sixty long years ago, we did many things together. And now, this has happened. I wonder how Cynthia is…

He felt his lips turn upwards. No. I wouldn’t even bother thinking about someone who probably thinks me dead by now… No, immortal, I will never see her again. I should know that by now.

The king of the underworld stood up and walked to the balcony overlooking the underworld. ‘Fifteen more years… that’s all I need, fifteen more years.’

‘Master?’

‘What is it now, Darren?’

The spirit of the old man winced at the anger of his voice. ‘I bring news. The woman has gone into labour. Your children will be born very soon.’

‘Good,’ he muttered. He had never liked Darren’s spirit. Even if it had been sixty years since he was defeated, he still hated him. But hate seemed to be everywhere in the underworld…

‘It’s a boy. What do you want to name him?’

‘R-Royce,’ the woman gasped. The squealing baby was held by the lady as she carried it to the circle just inside of the shrine. The old man sighed.

‘Is she sure she wants this for her children?’

‘Wait, wait!’ the woman’s frantic voice called. ‘There’s a second child!’

‘Twins?’ the old man was astonished. ‘Twins then. Don’t stand there gawping at the baby. Put her in the circle.’

The woman quickly placed the baby girl inside of the circle, and the man spread his hands out. The two children wailed, their little hands reaching up as if to try and grab the invisible person standing above them. The old man cleared his mind and began to chant:

‘Feel the power now bubbling,

Let it help us who are now struggling.

Let the anger rush through,

Feel it go to,

Inside of your heart,

To tear you apart…

Feel the power now bubbling,

Let it help us who are now struggling.

Let your tails now grow,

Let it be so,

You are to be feared,

And not shed a tear…’

There was a flash of black light, and the symbols drawn on the ground forming the circle rose from the ground and implanted themselves into the babies’ stomachs and chests. The symbols disappeared, sinking into their skin. The boy’s midnight black tail shrank and burst apart while the girl’s tail burst into white ash. They stopped crying quite suddenly and opened their big eyes.

The old man smiled and sighed, relief flooding through him. He felt drained and exhausted, but his job wasn’t finished yet. He picked up both babies and walked into the room where the mother was resting, staring at the ceiling.

‘Is everything all right?’ the old man asked, and the babies let out little squeals, catching sight of their mother. ‘Have you named the girl yet?’

‘Rachelle,’ the woman breathed, holding her children and sobbing quietly. ‘How long will the ritual last?’

‘Sixteen years. Be prepared for it, all right?’

‘I can’t let them get their filthy hands on my babies. Do you understand me?’

The old man sighed. It was just a matter of time… time and patience.

PART ONE

Rachelle and the Day

-1-

Master Cleaners

Rachelle hadn’t meant to skip class, but her brother had dragged her butt everywhere that day, and now, they were both paying for it. Why does he always do it? Why does Royce always ruin my good mood?

‘This is your fault, you know,’ Rachelle muttered.

‘Not entirely,’ he snapped back. ‘And come on, it was worth it. Sneaking into Old Man Nate’s house to egg it was totally worth it, don’t you think?’ Royce chuckled cheekily, his dimples shining like diamonds. ‘He wasn’t even there.’

Royce and Rachelle had been raised without their father. In fact, neither of them knew what he was even like, let alone if he was alive. But they knew Royce resembled him much more than what Rachelle did. They were twins, but they were kind of like night and day: Royce meant night, and Rachelle meant day. His eyes were magnifying dark blue and so was his hair. Only it had black streaks through it. Rachelle had much lighter hair, a pale blonde, and her eyes were bright blue.

Rachelle tried to do her best in school, and she did whenever she had breakfast in the morning. Royce was much lazier than Rachelle, often sleeping until midday and skipping school. Eh, but boys were like that though; they liked to sleep, eat, check out girls, and eat some more.

‘Royce, Old Man Nate will eat our heads with lectures on being better kids. He’s the village head, and he’s close with our mother.’ Rachelle’s good mood was totally crushed. ‘And I’m trying to snatch that scholarship, you know.’

Royce’s head turned to face Rachelle. ‘Are you serious? That means you’ll be heading off to the Centre, and I’ll be left suffering with Old Man Nate’s lecturing.’

‘That’s your fault for egging his house.’

‘It is not.’

‘Is too.’

‘Is not!’ Royce yelled. ‘Remember, you followed me.’

‘No, you dragged me there,’ Rachelle snapped back and crossed her arms. ‘I was supposed to be studying that whole time, Royce. I’ve been trying to get that scholarship for ages. You know that very well.’

Royce sighed. ‘I know. We have to grow up at some point.’

The class door opened, and the two stood up, surprised. They still had an hour of detention. But it wasn’t their teacher coming. It was Old Man Nate. ‘Now’—he said—‘what do I lecture you about now?’

Rachelle and Royce gulped. Old Man Nate knew about the egging. They were dead, as in, dead meat on a skewer ready to feed to the dogs. They both looked at each other and chuckled nervously. Old Man Nate grabbed the collars of their shirts and dragged them out of the classroom.

Even if he was village head, he still hated treating kids unfairly. But they didn’t really get a say in the matter when he had a hold of their collars and were being dragged down the street to their small house next to an egged one.

Royce chuckled, but Old Man Nate shoved him into their front door, where their mother, Daisy, was sitting at the dinner table, arms crossed over her chest. ‘Kids, what have I told you about Nathan?’

‘He’s old?’ Royce offered but his head was slapped.

‘He’s been supporting the family since the day you were born.’ Rachelle snapped her head to Royce. ‘So we shouldn’t egg his house or pull other ridiculous pranks.’

‘And?’ Daisy stood up.

‘He’s the village head?’ offered Royce.

‘And?’

‘He’s a Ketone?’ Rachelle asked, growing desperate. What are we missing here? We’ve said basically everything we know about him! ‘The queen is one of his closest friends!? His best friend is a noble? What are we missing here?’

‘You’re missing this: both of my closest friends are arriving by carriage tonight,’ Old Man Nate growled. ‘So I want you to clean my living area, my room, and my kitchen until it shines like a diamond.’

‘Uh…’ Royce chuckled nervously. ‘Are you serious?’

‘I’m dead serious, Roy.’

‘I have to study!’ Rachelle pleaded.

‘You’ll have time to study tomorrow. It’s Saturday tomorrow,’ Daisy chuckled. ‘Go on. They arrive in two hours.’

‘Wait. If the queen and a noble are your closest friends, that means…’ Royce put his hand to his chin and snapped his head up. ‘The queen is coming here!?’

‘Exactly,’ Old Man Nate laughed. ‘Now step on it!’

Royce and Rachelle were gone. ‘I still say it’s your fault!’ Rachelle called as she sprinted ahead to grab the mob and broom. Royce rushed into the laundry and snatched the window cleaner and polish, scrub brush and another mop. ‘You get started on the kitchen, and I’ll get started on the dining room and living room.’

Rachelle zipped around, scrubbing every last bit of egg she could find off the couch and dining room. She scrubbed, she polished, she swept, and she mopped. ‘How many eggs did you throw, Royce?’

‘I think about seven carts.’

‘You’re made of insanity!’ Rachelle yelled and ran through the dining hall, mopping up all of the slimy, stinky, and smelly yolk from the ground. ‘We’re never gonna get this done, you know!’

‘Less talking,’ Old Man Nate called from the front porch. ‘And more cleaning!’

‘We… finally… made it,’ Royce huffed.

‘Yep… finally… after all that effort,’ puffed Rachelle. ‘Anything else?’

‘Yes,’ Old Man Nate mumbled. ‘You can clean up outside. You can take your time now. No need to rush anymore.’

‘Some start to the Summer,’ Royce grumbled and stood up. ‘I’ll handle the shed.’

‘So you can get some sleep time, moron!’ Rachel growled, slapping her twin’s head.

‘Stupid!’ Royce snapped. ‘And that hurt!’

‘Toad!’

‘Idiot!’

Rachelle grabbed a rake and began to sweep up fallen leaves. She whistled quietly when a carriage pulled up next to Old Man Nate’s house. Rachelle leaned on her rake and looked over the small fence. Two soldiers were posted next to the carriage as a young man stepped out, followed by an old blind man and the queen herself.

Damn it! ‘Royce, hurry it up. The queen’s here!’

‘Are you serious?’ Royce fell off the tree he was dozing on. ‘I was having a nice nap there!’

‘Hurry it up!’ Rachelle snapped and kicked his buttocks, making him land face down on the ground. ‘Go, go, go, go, go, go!’

Rachelle threw the rack on to the grass and walked calmly inside, followed by the stumbling Royce. She grabbed him by the collar and stood him up straight. ‘Try to look respectable, all right?’

‘I’ll try.’

‘Not good enough.’

‘Like you’re one to talk!’

‘Ah, Royce, Rachelle, come into the living room please,’ Old Man Nate’s voice echoed through the hall. ‘I’ve told you about Royce and Rachelle before? Spirited kids they are.’

Royce and Rachelle walked slowly into the living room which smelled like too much bleach had been spilled on to the floor. I’m going to kill Royce when we get home. Rachelle sat down on the sofa and wished she’d worn her skirt that day.

The queen chuckled. ‘Rachelle, correct?’

‘Yes,’ Rachelle said quickly. The queen smiled softly, her wrinkly face lighting up.

‘She looks like her mother,’ the queen said softly, smiling. ‘I wish my grandson would show some interest in the country. At least be polite, Seth.’

‘Hello,’ Prince Seth muttered, staring blindly out the window, but Rachelle’s mind was racing. Prince Seth… oh my god, it’s really the prince! ‘My name is Seth. You must be Rachelle, no?’

‘Uh… yes.’

‘And this is your twin brother?’ Seth asked, pointing his head in Royce’s direction.

‘That’s me,’ Royce chuckled. The queen sighed with happiness.

‘Both strong and healthy. Seth, you should get along with them well. Pluto, what can you see?’

The noble man lifted his head and sighed. ‘Nothing.’

‘Oh… that’s too bad.’

‘Um… excuse my rudeness,’ Royce said quickly. ‘But he’s blind. He can’t see anything…’

‘You’re right about that, young man,’ the noble chuckled softly. ‘I went blind when I was fifteen. Ah… many years ago now, wasn’t it?’

‘Too long…’ Old Man Nate sighed and sat down on the couch, sighing. ‘Too long…’

‘Oh, great,’ Seth muttered. ‘I’m going outside now.’

‘Don’t go too far, Seth. Your mother wants you back alive, you know.’

‘Rachelle, Royce, go with him,’ Old Man Nate ordered. ‘Make sure he stays alive, all right?’

‘Yep, sure,’ Royce muttered and stood up, following Seth out. Rachelle quickly stood up and followed the two out. He doesn’t seem too happy, she thought, opening the door.

‘Every time they meet up in the Centre, they always go all sop-story on me.’

Rachelle sat down on the grass, and Royce climbed the tree. Seth was sitting on the bench, muttering to himself. ‘What do you mean they go all sop-story on you?’

‘He never told you, huh?’ Seth laughed humourlessly. ‘I know I’m a spoilt prince, but that doesn’t stop me.’

Seth’s curly brown hair fell over his pretty hazel eyes. ‘I’m a royal on my mother’s side. The queen, my grandmother, has three kids and my mother’s the oldest. Mother’s waiting until grandmother dies before she becomes queen, but that’ll be years. Grandmother’s a strong woman.’

‘You still haven’t told us why you literally bolted out here,’ Royce said, hanging upside down from the tree.

‘Oh, right.’ Seth smiled. ‘Grandmother used to tell us about her guardian warrior a lot to my cousins and myself. She said after her grandfather went mad, her guardian warrior killed him after he had used grandmother to open the door to the underworld. I’m guessing you didn’t notice she had a red and a blue eye. They’ve faded over the years.’

‘No, neither of us noticed.’

‘Oh, well, yeah, she has one red and one blue eye. Anyway, her guardian warrior went through the door so grandmother could close it. He’s been in there ever since.’

‘Does she talk about if he lived or not?’

‘Sometimes, when we begged.’ Seth chuckled. ‘She used to say a spirit came to them and told them he became the king of the underworld. I was eight then.’

‘King of the underworld, huh?’ Royce laughed. ‘Sounds like a really weird way to ditch the queen.’

‘She cried when she told my cousins and me.’

‘Really?’

‘My sister cried too,’ Seth muttered. ‘Grandmother used to tell us he was a Ketone too.’

‘Really? How many tails?’

‘He was the seven-tailed beast.’

‘The seven-tailed beast?’ Royce laughed harder. ‘Seriously? He only exists in legends! The only descendant of the original nine-tailed Ketone, you know.’

‘I read the books,’ Seth muttered. ‘He lived seventy-five years ago, you know.’

‘Kids, come back inside now! Dinner’s ready!’ Old Man Nate called. ‘Royce, Rachelle, you can both go home now. Your mother’s waiting.’

‘It was nice to meet you, Prince Seth,’ Rachelle said quickly. ‘Thank you for your… uh… time.’

‘The pleasure is all mine.’

Royce jumped down from the tree and made a finger wave, ‘See you.’ He grabbed Rachelle’s wrist and dragged her away. He charged through the door and held her shoulders and smiled dimples galore. ‘Rachelle likes the prince!’ he sang, laughing.

‘I do not!’ she snapped and slapped him. ‘Don’t make crazy ideas up!’

‘Rachelle, Royce, hurry up and get inside!’ Daisy called from their small house. ‘It’s almost sunset!’

Their mother always stressed out around sunset hours. She always said the demons would come out and take them away from her. Neither of them knew why, but it was beginning to creep them both out. Demons didn’t exist anymore. They’d all been sealed away in the underworld.

Rachelle and Royce walked into their cute little home and sat down at the table. ‘We managed to clean the entire house,’ Royce sighed. ‘And then, he made us clean the backyard. I hate that guy so stinking much.’

‘Language, Royce,’ Daisy called from the kitchen.

‘Stink is a bad word? I thought that sucked was.’

‘Damn is,’