He didn't know how far he had run. All around him, the bodies of guards lay strewn haphazardly across the hallway. Some had their limbs brutally severed while others were simply killed out of mercy. The once pristine hallway of the hotel had been reduced to nothing more than a killing field decorated and stained by the bodies of the slain.

He broke through the doorway with her in tow. His eyes widened when the lobby was devoid of life. The grizzly sight appeared to be everywhere. Bodies lay either mutilated or simply strewn across the lobby. There was a distinct lack of presence at the front desk, meaning either their pursuer had already murdered them or they were completely alone in this place.

Yet he had to keep going.

All he knew was that he needed to keep his promise to her. They were going to make it out of this together. But first, they needed to escape from her. Blood matted his black hair. His dark eyes scanned his surroundings as he tried to get a grip on the current situation. His eyes glowed blue.

"Tala, hang on."

The girl named Tala looked up at him with desperation in her yellow eyes. Her silver hair was dirtied with dust and grime. Her once neat shirt and skirt were torn in various places. Dust and blood intermixed, marring her features. The look of abject terror in her eyes was enough to make his heart clench.

He hastened his efforts, determined to get them both out of this situation. A situation neither of them asked for.

It was just a simple job. The first job he had taken by himself without his older sister hovering over his shoulder.

Protect and escort the target as they traveled to various destinations.

Tala was making an effort to go on trips for the benefit of her grandfather, whose political career required him and his family to regularly go on trips to appeal to their constituents. And Tala, being equally as brash as he was, decided to take a two month round trip appealing to those within other countries.

Unfortunately, that was where this all began.

However, somewhere along the way, he had broken one of the cardinal rules his sister had set forth for him when he first started taking jobs on his own.

Never get attached to your charge.

And he did just that.

He got attached. At first, it was merely two kids becoming friends. However, somewhere along the way, it all changed. Perhaps it was his hormones affecting his still-developing brain or Tala had somehow gotten to him. But all he knew was one thing, his feelings for her ran deep in the two months they were together.

He couldn't help how he felt. He was 12. Whether it was infatuation, he did not know. The concept of romance was a still developing concept within his head. Yet, he knew what he felt for her—infatuation or not—was genuine all the same.

A foolhardy decision to take off the training wheels that his older sister served as and go on a job himself. He held his hand out, causing blue, flickering particles of light to gather around his palm and condense into a pistol. He held it up, hiding behind a pile of rubble as he scanned for an all clear.

Not a single instance of their pursuer.

"Tala, it's all clear, we have to go. We have to-"

"I can't move…"

He looked behind him and noticed her legs were shaking. The girl struggled to stand. And frankly, if he hadn't known better, he would be a quivering wreck as well. He clenched his fist and picked her up and ran.

Get to the rendezvous point was now his top priority.

Find Ran.

Find a way to contact his sister.

He needed to get there. He just needed to-

An unseen concussive force slammed into him, throwing him into a pillar. He hit it with a thud and slid down. An explosion of colors and the dizzying sensation of vertigo all hit him at once. He looked up and saw her, slowly walking toward them.

Her blood red sword glinted in the light of the moon as she approached. Her mismatched eyes—one red and one blue—stared hauntingly at his own.

"No… master, you can't—!"

"She has to die." She spoke four words yet those four words were enough to elicit fear in his own.

"Why…!? She hasn't done anything! She's innocent!" he protested, standing up.

The woman looked at him impassively before turning to the girl.

The girl backpedaled, back pressed against a piece of rubble. Her mouth trembled as she tried to say something but was only able to offer whimpers of terror.

"You'll understand once you're older," the white-haired woman said as she raised her sword.

"Get away from her! I don't care if you're my Sponsor! I won't let you do anything to her!" he took off toward her. A blue glow surrounded him as he vanished in a blur.

He appeared above her, raising his hand into the air. The blue light coalesced and formed into a pitch-black and red sword. "Haaah—!" his eyes widened as an invisible wall slammed into him, sending him to the ground.

He dropped the sword, causing it to dispel into a shower of blue particulates. Weakly, the boy tried to stand. However, his efforts were dashed when an unbearable agony coursed through his body. He screamed in pain and looked up at his Sponsor, whose eyes lacked an iota of empathy.

A translucent shard that resembled glass was stabbed through his arm, nailing him painfully to the slab of concrete.

"I cannot allow you to get in the way. Even if you are my Contractor, I cannot allow you to interfere. That girl is a danger to everyone around her. She must be dealt with," she said.

"No… please!"

His eyes widened as she raised her sword. He watched her bring it down and listened to Tala's screams of terror. And in that instant when his Sponsor's sword made contact, the world was engulfed in an overwhelmingly bright red light.

This is the prologue chapter to the Azure Rewrite. Yes, I said I'd do a rewrite. Yes, this is using a big part of the original ideas I was gonna do for Azure mixed in with lore I came up with as I continued to write the story. No it's not called Azure anymore. I would refer to it as an Azure Redux nickname. I'm also gonna crosspost this to Ao3 if anyone is interested. I'll change a bunch and cut out some arcs from Azure. For everyone who is still reading Azure. Don't worry! I'll still update it until I catch up with what I have planned for the Romania Arc.

Finally, you don't need to read Azure for context for this story. Just treat this story as a standalone spiritual rewrite of the original. I doubt most of the plot points in Azure are gonna survive after I cut out a lot of the content. You don't even need to read Azure to understand the lore.