Once upon a time, the word 'Heartless' was used to describe a cruel person. There was no other meaning to know.
They would, soon enough.
There was no warning, no prophecy foretold or vision granted to prepare them. No one saw the shadows taking shape and rising up within the dark. Or perhaps they did and simply dismissed it as a tired mind.
Then the screams began.
The town stirred in their beds as they heard the screams of their neighbors. Some immediately went outside to check the commotion, only to be jumped upon by various shadows that clawed at their chest. Others checked their children, hoping that by remaining inside they'd be ignored by the chaos outside. In one such home, a boy jolted awake at the shouting.
"Mother?" He called out, instinctively grabbing the stuffed toy bird beside him. "What's going on?" He slunk off his bed, pattering into the hallway with his companion.
The woman in question came barreling toward him, despite her curly sandy hair swaying around her face, two curved horns stretched out from above her ears. A woman who usually smiled so easily at him instead glared harshly– as if he were to say he skipped his lessons again.
"You must hurry," She stressed, leaning close as she grabbed his shoulders, "You need to go to the forest. Go above the town and do not look back. You do not look back and you must fly as fast you can."
The words caused the boy's orange wings to flap slightly in sudden nerves.
"But its dark out!" He protested, the sudden assignment stressing him more than of his questions.
"Justin!" His mother snapped, the boy flinching underneath her hands, "You need to fly there, honey. You have to." She stressed, red eyes staying locked onto pink. When he nodded, she let out a shaky breath of relief and placed a kiss to his forehead. "We're going to the back of the house, alright?" She rose to her full height, pulling him along with her.
"Is Father going to carry you with us? Can't I wait so we can fly together?" His eyes burned with tears, feeling smaller than he was as he tried to understand.
She shook her head, "We'll follow you,"
"But-"
The harsh shattering of glass caused him to look away from his mother to the adjacent window. It looked as if ink was spilled in from the crash, only for it to jitter and rise with large yellow eyes that bore into him.
A powerful burst of heat erupted beside him as his mother sent flames toward the creatures.
Justin took a step back away from the scene, frozen at the sight as the creatures hissed and rose once again. He felt his teeth, longer than they should be, nails sharper than usual biting into his palms.
"Go!" He heard his mother yell as she stepped over broken glass, the flames rising around her and licking up the walls of his home.
He hesitated, hoping she'd come back. But she doesn't and some of the creatures reached through the fire for him.
He lurched away, racing on foot for the door. He could fly once he was outside. He just needed to get outside.
The house burned and something sickly cold grabbed at his legs, snatching onto him as he stumbled. The gooey shadows further seized him as he fell, persistent despite his attempts to claw away on the floor.
"Mother! Father!" He shouted, wide pink eyes searching aimlessly around him before being covered completely.
The first thing he heard was the murmur of voices. A smooth undertone of music. The brunet boy groaned as his eyes cracked open. His blurred vision is greeted with close hues of red and brown. Blinking, he pushed himself up to stare at the bricked ground in confusion. Why wasn't he in a bed? He remembered he went to bed…
He jolted at the realization, remembering the shadows that chased him and the fire that didn't stop them. He glanced about quickly, realizing he was lying in the middle of a courtyard. He frowned at the other occupants, seeing that no one batted an eye to the teen on the ground.
Two large lamp posts were ahead of him, with another boy who looked about his age paced between them. Only the occasional mutter of "She will be fine" was all that Justin could hear from his current distance. Out of habit, he checked behind himself, only to be distracted by a set of ridiculously large wooden doors. The added sight of a dirty green lump on the ground caused him to pause.
Brown eyebrows furrowed as he thoughtlessly crawled forward to pull the object towards him, "Vrtra?" He asked quietly, afraid someone would hear as he observed the soft bundle. Turning it over with care revealed his suspicions to be true. His once bright-colored crocheted stuffed toy chocobo was now duller with several tears and a hole scattered about. Frayed threads stuck out as the buttoned eye struggled to stay attached to its body. Despite it's hazardous appearance, relief filled the boy and he quickly held it tight to his chest. "At least you're here."
Warmth filled his face when he realized he was still plunked on the ground… hugging a toy no less. Strangers or not, he didn't want people to laugh at him for loving such an old toy despite being 15. He stood, frowning down at himself as he noticed dark splotches and scratches on tawny legs. His sleep clothes were slightly torn with noticeable dark smudges on what should've been a light blue.
He outstretched his wings to further his inspection. They felt fine thus far, and he sensed nothing while unfolding but his father stressed to always be sure. He frowned at the dark crust along on and reached to rub a hand along it. Dried blood, but not his. He shuddered but was relieved to see no tears. Sighing with relief, his wings returned to their lax state and he gazed back at the courtyard.
Despite the seemingly peaceful courtyard… he didn't recognize it. Not a thing. He rubbed the back of his neck, eyes scooping over the area once more. Several large bright signs were scattered along some of the buildings, easily identifying which store was what. But none of the stores at home had such light shining through them. The closest was an Item Shop to the left of a large set of stairs, with an Accessory Shop resting directly above. If he walked around, maybe he would remember where he was. Someone could at least tell him where he was, he reasoned. He eyed the other boy who continued to pace and decided to break left to the item shop for answers.
The soft music he had been hearing when he first woke up became clearer as Justin approached a cafe he had previously missed. An open dining area was built inwards just ahead of the shop. Each of the empty tables held an unrelenting lit candle in the center of mismatched tablecloths. Justin's eyes focused on the source of the music, two men who seemed to not notice his entrance or simply didn't care. Either way, they gave no attention to him as they continued about their playing. The older of the two was standing behind a younger man as he played a large golden instrument. The younger sat on a wooden bench and played the piano with a small smile.
Justin shuffled his feet, he didn't want to interrupt their performance but… His gaze swept back to the pacing boy in the middle of the courtyard, he didn't really have much options right now. He stepped towards the pair, stopping several feet away just in case.
"Uh," He coughed, "Excuse me?" He asked, shifting his weight from one foot to the other.
"You lost your home too, huh?" The blond at the piano inquired, barely glancing at Justin. His partner, an older man barely gray, continued to play regardless.
"What? No! Well, I don't think so at least." Justin admitted, rubbing his neck again in worry. He couldn't see the pianist's face in a frontal view, but he could see the dark lines underneath his eyes.
"You must've or you wouldn't be here." The older boy shrugged, continuing to play on the piano.
"But-" Justin started and stopped, noticing the pair didn't seem interested in continuing the conversation. "Whatever." He huffed, turning away as his ears burned with embarrassment. Deciding to skip the Item store, he climbed the stairs, looking between the now-two pathways. He felt tears prick his eyes again as the blood in his ears began to muffle the background music as he tried to figure out where he was.
"Mother?" He shouted, walking towards the left. "Father?" He stopped seeing the dead-end alley. He sniffled, rubbing at his face harshly in frustration.
"Hey!" A voice barked from behind him, causing the brunet to turn. "You okay, kid?" He asked, in a gruff but not unkind voice.
A different blond man than before stood beside the accessory shop, his arms crossed over his clean white T-shirt. A small girl with short black hair peeked around the man's baggy blue pants at Justin.
Justin shook his head staring at the pair, his wings pressed tightly against himself. He hiccupped, as his body began to shake. He was tired. And confused. He just wanted his parents.
The man stepped closer towards him, "You're lost too." He stated, placing his hands on his hips as he saw Justin nod in agreement. "C'mon, kid. Let's get you cleaned up," He offered, holding out a hand. "The name's Cid."
Justin sniffled again and went past his hand to hug the man around his waist, burying his face into the man's chest. "I want my mother!" He cried, shaking with relief that an adult was helping him.
Cid and the girl's eyes both widened, both from Justin's actions and from noticing the pair of wings poking from his back. Cid patted the kid on his head, unsure if he'd hurt the wings if he patted him on the back or not. "I know you," His head shook sadly, "I know, kid." Gently pushing the kid away from him by his shoulders, Cid grinned down at him. "Hey, how about some food? How does that sound?" He asked.
Justin nodded, still sniffling but feeling better in the presence of an actual adult. His parents would be disappointed in him for trusting strangers so easily. But other parents were okay, right?
He glanced at the girl, her wide violet eyes and black hair a stark contrast of the man's bright blonde hair and blue eyes. They seemed nice, and they were helping him.
"Alright then, let's go." The man said, adjusting the toothpick in his mouth as he gestured for the kids to follow him. The girl bounced alongside him easily.
Justin shuffled to follow, but he must've been too slow for the girl as she came back and grabbed one of his hands in her smaller ones. She grinned at him, showing a big gap in the front of her smile as she pulled him along closer to Cid. The trio passed the accessory shop in favor of another pair of wooden doors, oblivious to the star going out above them in the night sky.