Okay, so now for some Disclaimers. I don't owe anybody in here besiedes my OC. All the
characters organizations and main plot belong to their respective owners.
--
„Two eyes – two curses"
Prequel chapter.
There I was. Going to my work post at the London Steelworks. I got up early, cleaned up my face and eye. I covered the right one with an eye-path, like I always did. Then I started to clean all of the metal plates on my arms. As much as I hated the body parts that I was born with, I couldn't afford them to look bad or let them be in a bad condition. All's all, I have to care for them, because I work with them for my family.
I clothed myself with my work uniform and headed into the main room, to eat the breakfast. It was scrambled eggs with some bacon. You realize it! A bacon in the times, that London was lacking it! We were so proud of buying it from that butcher that lived in the opposite of our flat. My mother did the best scrambled eggs in the world.
Father joined us later. He was also dressed up in his work-suit, although he had other insignia's on it, cause he worked in another place, but still steelworks.
- How's the daily fee's at your's work, son? I heard that you had some cuts.
He asked me curiously.
- No, father, we didn't suffer from that. It's just that we don't have the qualities for the new machinery, so they're firing some of the older employees. I'm safe though, they know I'm good with the machines.
"They think that, because I have those metal arms. God, how I hate those arms!"
I thinked to myself and then stood up and kissed my parents on their hands. I bowed to the portrait of mom's beloved tsar, Nikolai Romanov and head out for the work.
At the work the people were strangely quiet. Then, one of my colleagues walked towards me and said quietly:
- There's a freaky guy wearing plate armor waiting for you, Simon. He says it's urgent business and it's well paid, but he's so freaky I wouldn't trust him.
He warned me. I decided to talk with the unfamiliar stranger. After all, I also was some kind of freak around here, with my metal arms.
The man was sitting in the corridor leading to the main hall of the steelworks. His black uniform with golden buttons and ornaments alongside with crests was looking really great, but the metal armor on his shoulders, head and legs looked grotesque-ish. But he matched the surroundings of the steelworks' factory.
He looked at me and he stood up. He was tremendously taller than me and much more massive.
- So you're the guy with metal arms that I've heard so much about? Is your reputation worth your arms?
- Excuse me, what do you mean?
I wasn't sure enough.
- Are your hands that powerful, that they never get tired of work, as the director said about you? He really praised you, you know?
The people around us were watching at me with evil in their eyes. They were jealous about things that I didn't even desired. This Full Metal guy was really creepy and bad mannered.
- Sir, are you trying to insult me?
- Insult you? Nah…I want to piss you off, just for making you show me your strength.
- Please stand aside. I don't want to hurt you and I'm late for my change.
- Don't wanna hurt me? What's that? You little crybaby!
- Please, stand aside.
Then, the metal man grabbed my shoulder with one of his arms and threw me back. I landed on the ground and then I saw, that he's trying to pull a lever punch at me from above. I stopped his arms with mine and we were in this position for quite the time, testing who'll last longer. The people around us started to scream our names and such, but they called the guy the "freak".
Suddenly he kind off… Smiled? He retreated form the arm lock and waited for me to stand.
- I talked with your manager, he'll get you off for today's work and will pay you anyways. Come with me, we have to talk.
The metal man spoke and not letting me even say "what the Fuck?" pulled me aside.
- My name is Sokaro Winters. I came from the organization called The Black Order…
He said when we sat in a restaurant. I never went to a restaurant like this and my clothes weren't appropriate for this place, but the waiter didn't have the courage to talk with the Iron Man.
- What's that organization for?
- We hunt deamons, the so called Akuma…
I almost loughed at him.
- You know, maybe I'm from the Orthodox Church, but I don't belive in such stupid superstions…
- QUIET!
He interrupted me and the whole restaurant went after his order.
- Listen, peepsqueek. I didn't want to do this, but it's my orders. I need to find the Innocence Bearers and bring them to the Order.
- Why should I go with a creep like you!?
- You have the choice, you can remain in your current work. But our ranks offer you better prices and we could get care of your family, so they wouldn't have to work so hard like now. We have the sources. Besides, we need help fighting the Akuma. They're just mindless killing machines.
- Wha… Really? I can get so much money for that?!
I was shocked. Never anyone offered something like that to me.
- Yeah, really. You just need to sign the pledge with the Black Order and you'll get it. You could have the luxuries like today, everyday. And not to mention your mom and dad.
- Wait a minute. Everything has it's price, right?
- Hmm… You're smarter than I thought. There are two conditions for you to join. First: you must cut all of your connections with your family. Second: you must be bapthized in the Roman Catholic ways…
I thought a bit about it. It was against all that I've been learned by my mother. The perspective of great food and things were great but I didn't want to change my beliefs and to severe the contact with my parents.
- If your order wants me that bad, they could make an exception, right?
- No. No exceptions. And besides, the order doesn't need someone as puny as you. We're just after the strange little things that are on your back and in your right eye. Especially about that last one.
- How did you knew about that eye?
- My intel is really good. The order wants your eye badly. Especially for it's unique ability.
- The abiloity I can't even control!
- Shut the hell up, you're scaring the guests!
He stood up and I became quiet as he ordered. Then he looked at me with madness in his eyes.
- Do you accept the offer on our terms?
- No.
I said quietly. Then he grabbed my shoulders and threw me out the window. The shattered glass cut my chest and shoulders, making me squirm a bit. I looked back into the restaurant. My right eye covered by an eye path hurt, like it was stabbed with the glass shrapnel.
The waiter went close to the armored man from the Black Order and the armored one said:
- I'll pay for the damages.
But there was something strange about this waiter. And soon he like threw away his skin and inflated itself to a great balloon covered with cannons and with one white mask. Then he shot the man with some kind of a strange, violet bullet…
My head hurt me much, when I looked up the hole in the restaurant's window. The waiter stood in front of the armored man.
- I'll pay fo…
- LOOK OUT!
I screamed to him. Then he looked at the waiter and then he just said quietly:
- Innocence, Invoke…
His shoulder pads with spikes came to his hands and formed a circle. The waiter threw away his disquise and then he was cut by the man's newly created weapon. The people in the restaurant screamed terrified and ran out of the restaurant. The armored man jumped outside the window and helped me stay up.
- That was an Akuma. Now you know, why we have to fight them.
- No way! – I screamed – Leave me alone you freak! I don't want to have anything to do with this kind of things! Leave me alone!
I ran to my home then. He was laughing. Laughing like a mad man when I ran away from him.
Two weeks have passed. I've seen that weird guy in London a few times, but as long as he did not spoke to me, I was fine.
One day, I was heading home after work, when I had a terrible headache in the area of my right eye. The innocence must have invoked by itself again. I saw the most terrible things. My parents being slaughtered by those monsters I saw then. I never told my parents about that encounter so they didn't knew it, but the premonition I had was realistic so much it hurt me. I dashed towards home with fear giving me wings. I think I was looking really freaky that time. A middle-height hairy guy dashing thru the streets of London with two metal arms and an eye path.
When I got to my flat I opened the front door. My father and Mother were sitting in front of me on their rocking chairs.
- Mother! Father! I'm glad you're sa…
Then a big bulb with guns went out form behind the chairs and beemed quietly.
- …fe…
I heard a loud boom and I lost my consciousness for a short while. When I woke up, I was lying on the street. The wall of our block of flats was blasted on the first level height and my parents were lying on me. They were dried to the bone, covered in black stars. They dissolved on my eyes leaving nothing less than a bunch of ash. I felt really bad, not only for the loss of
my parents, but on behalf that I was hit by one of those shots. I thought I would die then. And then, Sokaro showed up.
He was standing there, with his armor shining in the bright of dusking sun. His two blades made of his armor were sticking out of his wrists and he looked like a hero to me.
- If you only joined us, they wouldn't come after you here, you worthless idiot! That's the price you had to pay for your idiocy!
He pointed his finger towards the ashes of my parents. I cried out loud then. Really loud. Then I saw that the monster that killed my parents wasn't the only one. He had about eleven buddies that now were floating towards my savior.
- Stupid Level-Ones. I dhouldn't even get bothered by them.
He said almost with a laugh in his voice. Then he joined the two blades and formed a buzzsaw like circle out of them.
- Madness, Cremation Dance!
He yelled loud and the circle was spinning really fast now, like a real buzzsaw. Then he threw it at the balloon monsters.
They were exterminated in the blink of an eye, exploding simultaneously. He then catched his weapon and reattached it's parts to his shoulder pads. Then he walked towards me.
- What do you have to loose now? Huh? Want to be an Exorcist like me, and take revenge on those bastards?
His hand leaned towards me.
- Do an Exorcist out of me. No matter the cost. I accept the offer on the Order's terms.
That's how I became a dog of the Vatican, an Exorcist from the Black Order's European branch. I lost everything that I ever loved and anything I could do, was to fight back those dreaded Akumas. And I wanted to take out as many of them as I can before my death.
To Be Continued…
