"Listen to me, my beautiful daughter... Staying here will do nothing but scar you... And I don't want to see you suffer!"
"B-But father, I wanna be with you! I can deal with the pain, I swear!" the girl said, trying to assure her father, worried that she will be forced to leave him.
Her father shook his head and gently took her hand in his. "No... You must go. I have already gotten your destiny for you... It will allow you to get out of here!"
The girl shook her head. "Father, I love it here in the Crimson Forest! It's fine!"
Our heroine and her father live in the Crimson Forest, where humans are born with a type of blood that keeps them imprisoned in the forest. In order to get out of the forest, these humans are given a Destiny. The Destiny leads them out of the forest and into the world, freeing them from their chains to the forest.
It isn't a pretty place, not architecturally speaking of course, humans there often suffer a thing called the "Greatest Pleasure", which is actually the greatest punishment or pain. The higher-ups gather up healthy children and adults and abuse them to their liking. Sometimes the children and adults can't make it back to their families.
It's a dreadful place to live...
"Stop saying you love it here! Your mother wouldn't want you to say that! No... You must get out of here! Understand? If you love me, your father... You must leave me!" he exclaimed.
The girls eyes welled with tears. "But what about you father?"
"I'll be fine... GO!" her father said in a rush. He handed her a feather and kissed her on the forehead. "Now go! Hurry to the gate!"
"..." she clutched the feather and then ran out the door.
Her father smiled as he watched her go. "She's going to leave this place. This dreadful home, my daughter is going to survive!"
Suddenly, there was a heavy pounding on the door and many footsteps on the ground, surrounding the house.
"OPEN THE DOOR! WE KNOW YOU'RE HIDING IN THERE!" a voice shouted. "OPEN UP!"
"..." father was silent.
Then, the door slammed onto the ground and many men stormed into the room. Guns locked into place with the sound of a metal click, someone wearing a dark green metal suit walked into the room. "Good evening you old fool. Where's your daughter? I don't like waiting so I decided to be blunt~"
Her father was silent.
"You won't talk?" the man asked, his face dark.
"You will NEVER get her!"
The man smirked, turned around, and walked out the door. "We'll see about that..."
The father smiled as tears ran down his face. "I love you... Yuzuru..."
Gunshots then ran throughout the dark night, the moon colored red with blood.
° Chapter 0 Midpoint °
The girl clutched the feather in her hand hard and ran with all the strength her legs could carry her. She could see the gate up ahead, the gate that lead out into the world. The feather in her hand was glowing with a red light over and over as she got closer. She was breathing hard as she felt tears run down her eyes and her heart pounding hard.
Finally, she reached the gate. She panted for breath and tried to take in as much of oxygen as she could. Her raven-black hair was all over the place, her light brown, almost gray, eyes filled with the gates light. She slowly lifted her hand to touch the gate and the feather shimmered like gold as she touched it, the gate which was large and colored gold and had no support on either side, as if it was floating. Her hand was on the surface... Normally, when people tried to open the gate, their hand would go through... But with a Destiny in her hand... The gate materialized.
Before leaving, her father made sure she changed her clothes and made her look as tidy and as normal as possible. A black cape covered her white-sleeved shirt and her blue skirt. Around her neck was a necklace her mother had given her when she was little. A silver feather lay on the chain of the necklace and a crimson gem on the side of the feather.
"I'm... Going to leave this place... I'm going to be able to leave!" she exclaimed anxiously. "But... Father..."
"Your father is dead~" a voice said from behind her. "He was killed by my men~"
Her eyes widened as she heard it, she turned around and found the General behind her. He couldn't have been more than twenty years of age. "Y-You killed him?" she asked as her voice trembled. "He's d-dead?"
"That's right~ Why don't you go to him, Yuzuru? Go pay your respects, after all, his last words were 'I love you, Yuzuru'. He's your dead father~ Don't you think you should bury him?" the man asked, his voice filled with fake sympathy.
"Akira... You've changed... I thought we were fri-"
"It's changed Yuzuru. Our relationship changed. I have to follow my orders. You know that~" Akira said, his golden eyes shimmering in the darkness. "If you didn't run away, maybe I wouldn't have had to kill your only family left."
Yuzuru shook her head, tears running down her cheeks. "Look at what you've become! You've become exactly like the people who took your family away!"
Akira face darkened and changed to anger. "I'M NOTHING LIKE THEM! AND DON'T EVEN MENTION THEM AGAIN!" he took out a dagger and threw it at her.
She shook her head, sobbed as she raised her hand and a red seal appeared in front of her, redirecting the dagger as it hit the barrier. "I'm sorry... I couldn't help you. I couldn't stop you from becoming what you are now!"
"SHUT UP!" he screamed, covering his ears with his hands, his eyes closed.
Yuzuru rubbed her eyes and turned back around, pushing the gate open. She needed to get out, the other soldiers would arrive soon. She took one step and hear a gun lock into place.
"Move one more step and I'll shoot you." Akira said coldly as he aimed for her heart.
She turned her head look at him, tears running down her cheeks, a sad smile on her face as she faced her head to him. Yuzuru shook her head. "No, Akira... You won't be able to shoot me... I know you. I know you won't be able to shoot me..."
Akira's eyes widened as he heard her words. His hand trembled as he watched her take a breath and walk through the gate. He couldn't shoot, his finger was frozen on the trigger.
When she finally disappeared, the gate closed slowly with a metal thud. It became nothing but air once more. Akira dropped the gun to the ground and clenched his hand into a fist. "YUZURU!"
° In the City °
The city was bright and filled many people. It was night time and the stars were shining.
"Ngh~ I can't eat another bite! How about you, Azusa-Kun~" Kou asked, arms behind his head.
Azusa shook his head. "It... Wasn't spicy... Enough..."
"That's exactly like you, Azusa..." Ruki said.
"Hmph, eating out is fine and all... But why did THEY have to come with us?!" Yuma exclaimed, pointing his thumb at the Sakamakis.
Ayato crossed his arms. "What? Are we not welcome?"
"Ehhh~ How stubborn of you, Yuma~" Laito added.
"What a pain..." Shu commented.
Suddenly, Kou and Azusa stopped walking.
"Eh? Ne... Azusa-Kun... Do you see that girl too?" Kou asked, rubbing his eyes.
Azusa nodded. "... I see it..."
Lying on the ground was Yuzuru, unconscious. The feather gone.
Kou knelt down next to her and shook her shoulder. "Ne~ Waaaake up! Can you hear me?! Waaaaake upp!"
Yuzuru's hand twitched. "... Fa...th...er..." Tears ran down her eyes and nothing else came out.
"She's out cold, we'll have to take her home..." Ruki muttered.
"Huh?! Who says you can take her home?!" Ayato complained.
Ruki scoffed and Yuma looked at Ayato disgusted. "Shut up! If you take her, you'll all do something weird to her!"
Laito smiled mischievously. "We will~ I don't think so..."
"Teddy wants to play with her..." Kanato muttered. "Maybe she can be my new doll..."
Yuma shoved his hands into his pockets. "You see?!"
Azusa shook his head. "... We'll take... The girl..."
"Tch." Ayato looked the other way.
"Good, if she came I wouldn't be able to stand it!" Subaru commented.
Kou lifted her up in his arms. "Then let's go~" he started walking and his brothers started to follow. "Ne~ Ruki... This may sound weird... But... I get a nostalgic feeling from this girl~"
The other brothers were silent, because they could do nothing but agree with Kou.
To be continued