IMPORTANT NOTICE::: In this chapter, you'll read that Blank's eyes are visible. This is because I also has a plan to tell my opinion of how Blank could've POSSIBLY ended up with all them there stitches and stuff ;3

Chapter 1
Family

She cried. Cried for the loss of a friend who had found her and been there for her after her parents had been murdered. Cried for the boy who, at only the age of twelve, seemed to know so much about life and had all of the answers to her ten-year-old questions. Cried for the boy who had healed her wounds and aided her in her times of sickness, who cared for her and taught her how to survive, who hid her away from the guards so that she wouldn't have to go to an orphanage. But most of all, she cried for the impostor that had plagued her life for the past six years...cried for the man she THOUGHT he was. It wasn't fair. How could she have not seen him for what he truly was? A monster. A manipulator. Someone who had wanted nothing more than complete control over her life...and what a life wasted. Ruby balled her fist and punched the wall her new bed was against. A life wasted on nothing more than empty promises and lies. He never wanted her to become anything...he just wanted her to be reliant on him...he just wanted the feeling that came with being in an authoritative position...to be able to tell her what to do and what to wear and what to say. She had been his puppet...and she had fed into it the whole time. She lost it. Ruby threw punch after punch, tears streaming anew with each contact her fists made with the wall.

"That's enough."
She hadn't heard her bedroom door open. Didn't hear the voice, or the footsteps that were now progressing toward her until she felt hands wrap around both her arms, which automatically sent her into a panic. Out of defense, and because her mind was currently stuck on the monster named Zeake, she screamed and tried to push away from the person. "Ruby. That's ENOUGH." It was a man's voice. A familiar voice. It wasn't Zeake...It wasn't Zeake...It was calm...It wasn't Zeake...Familiar...Comforting yet firm.

"Blank?" Ruby whispered, shivering from the instant alleviation of anger. She calmed down enough to turn herself around so that she sat facing him, her eyes red-rimmed from her fit. "Blank I..." She shook her head, lost for words. In an instant, Blank had his arms around her so that her head was forced to lay against his chest. It was comforting, something unfamiliar to Ruby in the six years she had spent getting used to Zeake's harsher, more firm grip.

"He can't get you here. Boss won't let him anywhere near this place and, with Cinna as a guard-dog, I'm sure nothing would want to come to the Tantalus hideout knowing that they'd have to confront THAT ugly face beforehand." Ruby couldn't help but laugh at this, which made Blank smile to himself before placing both hands on her shoulders and gently pushing her back into a sitting position. "Relax. The last thing you need to be thinking about is a jerk that doesn't deserve anymore of your time. He had six years of your life...Don't give him anymore." He paused, allowing her a few moments to savor this information. "Boss wants us all downstairs. With it being your first night here he wants to do introductions and rules and shit. Thankfully you decided to join us at dinnertime, which means you'll get to try our guard-dog's cooking." Another smile on her face, which meant another on his. It was a good feeling...being able to smile. Blank hardly ever showed any signs of happiness, much less contentedness.

"I'll be down in a minute." Ruby said, shyness suddenly overcoming her as she realized that she didn't even really know the 17-year-old boy that sat before her, and yet she was allowing him to hold her in ways that she never let Zeake hold her, even after she had came far enough along into puberty to understand the difference between friendship and something more. There was just something about him...something that made her think of him as her's. But she was always cautious. Always weary. Especially now. She would not let another man come into her life and control her.

"Take your time." Blank thought about this, scratched his head in thought, then revised. "Just don't take too long. Even though you're a girl, you'll still receive Boss's temper if you do anything that he wouldn't approve of...Including being late."

"I understand," Ruby said with a giggle. She was pretty sure Blank was only saying this because he himself was once late, which led to the boss being angry, and just the thought of someone like a man named Boss yelling at a cowering Blank amused her. Confused, Blank stared at her, two honey-colored eyes beneath furrowed eyebrows. She could've melted into his gaze and stayed staring at him for days...but she wouldn't allow herself that emotion. Wouldn't allow herself to become so vulnerable again. The smile faded and she turned her gaze to the direction of the window. Blank scooted off the bed and left her to her thoughts.

"Marcus, gimme that bowl of potatoes, will ya?" Zidane, the youngest and most energetic of the Tantalus gang, didn't even wait for a response before standing up and reaching clear across the table, and food, to grab the item of choice he was after. Instantly, his hand was smacked and his arm recoiled swiftly. "What the hell was that for?!" He cried indignantly, taking a none-too-gentle seat back into his chair.
"Fer bein' rude." Baku replied simply but gruffly. "We have a lady in the house and we have to wait for her to be seated before we even start thinkin' 'bout fillin' our plates. You're fifteen now, plenty old enough to know about manners."
"A lady?" Zidane became curious, especially since there was a lady in the house that he was not even aware of. "Is she cute?" He asked, scratching the back of his head nervously because he already knew the response.
"None yer business. She's off limits."
"Why?"
"Because she's my daughter now just as yer my son, an' no man is gonna mess with my daughter without proving to me that he's worthy first. THAT'S why."
Zidane put his chin between his hands, elbows on the table, pouting childishly.
"It is pretty exciting...having a female in the band. I wonder what she's like...is she nice? Is she a bitch? Is she crazy?" Marcus piped up from across Zidane.
"Can she cook? Will she clean?...How the hell is she gonna be able to put up with us guys?" Cinna asked from beside Zidane.
"Well," Baku said gruffly, "Only Blank knows. He found her."
All of the table, with the exception of Baku who was eyeing the staircase for the mystery girl, turned to look at Blank, who remained silent and staring at the empty chair next to him where Ruby would be sitting.

"I'm sorry if I'm late...I fell asleep." A soft voice and a heavy southern accent flowed from the top of the stairs. The table almost broke their necks turning their heads to see the new addition to their gang. Blank's breathing halted for the briefest moment as he took her in. She had dressed up for dinner, something that Tantalus didn't do but Ruby wasn't aware of, in a simple black dress, cut to the knee, soft to the touch and form fitting in all the right places. her hair was pulled into a low, side ponytail, showing off her brilliant violet eyes. A few lose strands framed the side of her face that the ponytail was opposite of, teasingly covering, then uncovering, her eye as she descended the stairs slowly, suddenly shy again. When she reached the table, Blank immediately reached over and pulled the chair next to him out for her. Ruby cleared her throat softly and sat down, staring at her empty plate, running her fingers nervously through the lose strands of hair.

"Ruby." Baku's voice made the other men jump. They had all been watching her so carefully that they had unknowingly fallen into a trance. Blank smiled to himself...'and she thought they wouldn't like her.' "My name is Baku. I'm yer boss from now on, therefore you'll call me just that." Even though Baku was trying to be firm and intimidating, Blank could see a softness in his eyes and a knowledge that told him his Boss knew everything about Ruby without even having to ask for background information. Boss was just smart...He was that way with everybody. He always just knew things. "This here is Zidane...The bandanna boy is Marcus...and the piggy looking thing is Cinna. And, of course, you know Blank." Ruby just nodded silently, her violet eyes glued to Baku in hopes that she could remember everything he was telling her so that she wouldn't screw anything up in the future. She could tell that he was no one to play with.

Throughout the rest of dinner, Tantalus had become adjusted to their new member almost instantly. Within minutes they were all telling jokes and funny stories and filling Ruby in on even the smallest details of their lives and roles in the theater troupe, and with each story that involved being on stage, Blank could see Ruby's eyes light up. She was beautiful...and easy to talk to, which was hard to come by with most females. Ruby was different, and each glance she made towards him gave him a hope that maybe he could find something more in her that he was never able to find in other girls. She was his...He could feel it.