A humid breeze blew through the rubble of the third district. It carried the water from the Tigracy River as it flew past the destroyed buildings and homes of the people. The wind snaked through Priestella's intersecting alleyways, peeling away the illusion of morality and gnawing at the chains of the hungry.
Each day passing was a strike at that mask, threatening to shatter it completely. People more used to such situations—those with less hope than others—had already abandoned their chains, pouncing on others.
They weren't wrong to do so. If it was only a matter of time before everyone else would tear each other apart, what was wrong with getting ahead of the competition? By doing so, they would thrive above the others, increasing their chance at life.
Was that wrong? Shouldn't everyone have a chance to live?
The wind's whispers invaded the minds of hungry Priestellans, trying to peel their masks off. There were those who caved in instantly and those who stood strong. But, in the end, they would all fall the whispers of Priestella's currents.
The wind continued, ringing the people's minds like an annoying doorbell being pushed constantly.
The wind carried its whispers further, weaving between the broken streets, until it found a mean-eyed boy.
Natsuki Subaru wiped the sweat from his brow, gripping a jagged chunk of debris. Hefting it over his shoulder, he tossed it onto a growing pile. One more rock down, thousands more to go.
He muttered to himself, "Seriously, what's the point in doing this?"
It's been four days since his name had been eaten. Three nights the moon rose above Subaru. Two of those nights he had passed out, unconscious; the first due to the Cult, the second because of a Knight.
Subaru's dark baggy eyes looked down at the pile in front of him. Less than yesterday, he sluggishly thought to himself.
Gilli's punishment was underwhelming, to say the least.
It consisted of just cleaning the battlefield by slinging rocks, glass, and any other type of debris to-and-fro, accumulating it into a random pile. Apparently, earth mages would come and use that debris to reconstruct the third district with more ease.
The punishment wasn't even punishing, just slightly tedious.
It wasn't like they were forcing Subaru to do anything with whips or beatings either. He could have easily just sat down all day and rested—in fact, some were doing just that.
Although it was long, lasting from sunrise to sundown—each second wasn't grueling as he could always take breaks.
Furthermore, they never supervised him, allowing Subaru to go wherever he pleased in a small radius. And this wasn't a privilege specifically for Subaru but applied to every inmate in the group.
It was strange. Like they didn't even care about them at all.
Subaru turned around from the pile, continuing his work.
If he wanted to get out, he would need to be good. Although vague, this meant one thing for Subaru: He needed to produce results while being watched by the supervisor.
Subaru glanced to his right.
A young man with dark red hair and hazel eyes stood firm. His hazel eyes flicked lazily over the inmates, half-lidded with disinterest. If not for the armor, he could have passed for just another man basking in the sun.
Is he even paying attention? Subaru thought as he furrowed his brows.
The supervisor, Knight Maier, paid no care to the boy or his antics. He was a brick wall; completely unresponsive as he blocked Subaru's path to freedom. It didn't even feel like he was aware of Gilli's compromise with the boy.
Subaru sighed as he glanced to his left, ignoring the pent-up frustration in his gut.
A dark alleyway, stuck between two destroyed buildings. It ran deep, almost reaching the North-Western walls of Watergate City. A long line of rubble filled the alley, filtering the ground as it continued stretching upwards the convex foundations of Priestella.
Another tired sigh escaped his lips as he thought of the work he had to do. He was tired. Too tired. This wouldn't be a problem considering his underwhelming punishment, but it wasn't that.
The problem was at night—his empty bed, like something was missing.
He had an extremely difficult time sleeping alone. Being with Beatrice was something he always took for granted. Squishing her cute body against his own would always soothe him and had been his ritual for over a year. It was like she was a natural cleanse for the curses haunting him.
However, now?
With no Beatrice, those curses roamed free, ripping and tearing at Subaru throughout the night. They feasted on his flesh, eating him from the inside as he trembled in place, alone. The only company he could get was the moonlight coming from the grate above him, like it was taunting him, proud of its stolen light.
Now, under the Sun, Subaru felt its pressure weighing on him, every step dragging him closer to the ground. The hands of gravity tried pulling him down with each step as his mind fizzed in fatigue.
No… I need to… be good.
Subaru stared at the rising alley in front of him.
He mindlessly counted what he saw as his baggy eyes drifted upward the alley. Rocks, glass, broken pavement, a group of people chasing a kid.
Wait, huh?
Subaru eyes widened as he saw an ashen-haired child running down the alley towards Subaru. The boy held a carafe of water—one big enough to last a person a full day—and a loaf of bread. Behind the kid, three grown men were desperately chasing, they're eyes laser-focused on their target.
It only took a second.
The hands pulling him down—gone. His heart slammed into his ribs, a frantic, wild rhythm. No thoughts. Just motion. Run. Move.
Whip—! His hand closed on empty air. Shit. Shit, shit, shit.
His palms sweated as his anxiousness grew.
The child, still distant, suddenly tripped. The carafe smashed into the ground in front of the boy, cushioning his fall with wet glass shards. It pierced his skin, riddling the boy's front with small bloody pricks. The bread was still on the water.
In an instant, Subaru made a mad dash toward the boy as he saw the adults looking down at the small child. One of the men slowly reached in the direction of the small boy.
"Stop!" Subaru shouted, trying to catch their attention. It was a cry of masked authority like he was trying to pretend to be someone he was not. Underneath that mask, Subaru was desperate.
Come on! Look at me, bastards!
One man glanced at Subaru, while the other two ignored him. Of the two was the man reaching for the child. The kid bled, his body twitching atop the bed of broken glass. His blood mixed with the pool of drinking water around him, leaking down the sloping alley.
"What are you doing?! Stop—" In an instant, the hand reached its target, baffling Subaru.
The man held the wet loaf of bread, looking at it with enough concentration to sear a hole through it. The other two also snapped their attention to the questionable prize.
Just as Subaru approached the boy, the ashen-haired child stood up slowly from the shards. His hands and knees were pressed into the bed below him, pressing further into his flesh as he put his body weight on them.
"Hey, are you alright?!" Subaru finally arrived in front of the prostrating boy. His head was lowered to the ground as small drips of blood seeped through the shards lodged in his flesh. His muscles shivered from the pain. He was quiet.
Just as Subaru was going to reach for the boy, the child was pulled upwards above Subaru by one of the men.
Snapping his head up, Subaru shouted, "What's your problem?!—" His furrowed brows quickly softened as he widened his eyes in shock at the raised boy.
His eight-year-old torso was lodged with little red glass shards. Blood flowed down to his feet, forming little blood droplets as they were pulled by gravity. His eyes were blurry and unfocused as if his head was trying to recover from a concussion. Each breath of his was short and difficult like he had trouble gathering air into his lungs.
The only silver lining was that the lodged shards stopped him from bleeding profusely.
Subaru clenched his hands in frustration as he stared at the men in front of him. Within the narrow alley, both parties were separated by a zone of broken, red-tinted glass.
The man holding the bread had short black hair, his build slightly large. His rough stubble that spread across his lower face reminded Subaru of a street gangster.
"Ignore him and continue," the gangster ordered coldly to the man holding the ashen-haired child. The man nodded as he took a deep breath of preparation, ready to do something he didn't particularly like.
The gangster's gaze then shifted to the third man, "Watch the merchant, just push him into the glass if he tries to cross over."
"Got it," the third man huffed, walking over in front of Subaru.
Subaru looked down at his naked feet and then to the red glass surrounded by bloody water in front.
Light slapping noises made Subaru snap his head up.
"Hey~ wake up~," one of the men lightly tapped at the kid's cheeks, trying to prompt him to recover from his dazed state.
"Mghm…" A low muffled grunt was the only response.
Subaru's breath was ragged. Three against one. No weapons. No shoes. The only thing separating them was the bloodied mess of glass.
Think, think, think!
The child barely reacted to the slaps on his face with slight grunts like his body was trying to kickstart him awake but failed. The crouching man next to the kid didn't seem to be particularly bothered, continuing to lightly tap his cheeks.
"Come on~" The man's voice was almost playful, but there was nothing friendly about the way his fingers pressed into the child's skin.
Subaru's jaw clenched. He had to do something.
Subaru tore his gaze away from the kid and towards the tall man in front of him.
He looked down at Subaru with sunken eyes. His two pupils were filled with dark resolve, one that was crafted by the despair around him. It threatened to infect Subaru's mind as he felt himself sucked into a never-ending void.
Subaru's stomach twisted. He felt himself sinking—like the abyss behind those dead eyes was reaching for him, dragging him down, whispering, "You understand, don't you? This is how it goes."
No. Screw that.
Subaru wouldn't let whatever was going on come to pass. He would save that kid.
But how?
In front of him were sharp pieces of glass threatening to pierce his bare feet. Furthermore, the man in front of him blocked him in the alley. If Subaru tried to dash forward, he would get pinned down onto the shards below him.
There was only one thing Subaru could do. Something he wasn't particularly good at.
He swallowed as he squared his shoulders. He forced his gaze to stare into the man as he masked an imposing expression, hiding away his vulnerability. His voice came out steady, firmer than he expected.
"Move."
The word came out sharper than he intended to. He leaned into it.
"I may not look it, but I'm a knight." Subaru lifted his chin, praying they bought his confidence. "If you walk away now, I won't report you to the captain."
A beat of silence. Then—
The man swallowed. Afraid.
Subaru took the advantage, pushing his imaginary authority, "I've got my buddy down the alley behind me."
He attempted to lift his hand, aiming for a casual point over his shoulder—as if he wasn't barely holding it together. Unfortunately, his muscles were stiff, adrenaline coursing through them. It caused his arm to rise forcefully as his heart pounded loudly against his chest.
Bluffing was not something he excelled at.
"We can make a deal," his voice cracked under the pressure. His mind raced as he almost lost his composure.
Ignore it and keep going.
He continued as if nothing happened, "You leave the kid with me and I'll overlook this."
He pointed at the child.
His arm trembled in the air, a mirror to his mental state. His throat felt dry; each lie poured more ash down his throat. The desire to swallow the accumulated spit in his mouth itched at him.
He couldn't. Not yet.
Not until his bluff worked.
"You're a knight?" The gangster holding the bread spoke up. His attention shifted from the soggy bread to the self-proclaimed knight across the shards.
Please believe me. He reigned in his desperation, trying to keep up the mask of someone with complete control.
"That's right. Knight Natsuki Subaru," Subaru gave in to the temptation from his throat, finally swallowing his anxiousness. "Now scram and get out of here."
The gangster's brows lifted slightly. His breath hitched. His eyes darted between Subaru and the glass-covered alley.
He's buying it.
And then—the shift. His shoulders stiffened. His fingers dug into the loaf like he had just come to a realization.
"…Denis." The gangster's voice was quiet, measured. "Help the knight cross."
Subaru felt his heart leap. Wait seriously?! Let's go!
Relief flooded Subaru's chest, drowning out every alarm bell ringing in his head. Finally, something was going his way. He could reach the kid. He could fix this. And for now—that was all that mattered.
His entire body, tense for a fight, suddenly felt light.
They were letting him through. They actually fell for it.
Subaru ignored how the gangster's smile widened. He ignored how he put the bread down on the ground, freeing both his hands, and flexing his fingers.
He ignored everything, his relief blinding him from the alternative of the situation.
With the tall man's—Denis' help, Subaru crossed the glass without injuring himself. He ran to the kid, crouching down at him.
"Hey, hey, hey," Subaru said quietly like he was speaking to the small boy, attempting to get his attention.
The ashen-haired kid dragged his eyes to Subaru as his head lay limp. He was conscious.
A sigh of relief escaped his lips, "Can you see me?"
The boy nodded—slowly.
Thank god. Subaru's chest loosened, his heart finally slowing. The storm of panic that clouded his mind cleared just a little.
And then—a voice.
"Oh, he's finally awake."
A deep, gravelly voice rumbled behind Subaru, casual, almost amused.
The gangster.
He hovered over Subaru, looking down at him like a predator stalking his prey.
"I can't believe I found you Natsuki!" Subaru felt a small tug on his shirt as he heard his name.
"Woah—!" Subaru barely had time to gasp before he was yanked up and then—
SLAM!
Glass crunched beneath him, stabbing into his arms, his legs, his side. Shards tore into his skin, embedding themselves in his flesh. His thin garments did nothing to protect Subaru.
What the fuck?!
"Look kid, you can see your knight." The gangster spoke to the child behind him, a sadistic grin plastered on his face as he pinned Subaru down.
No matter how much force Subaru tried pushing on the ground, he couldn't get up. The gangster was too heavy.
His instincts screamed at him to run away. To get up. To turn around and fight.
A fist clenched his hair, wrenching his head up.
Subaru barely had time to process before—
SLAM!
His face smashed into the glass again.
A sharp sting—then a flash of blinding white.
The world tilted. His stomach lurched. Something was inside his eye.
Subaru's breath hitched, his body instinctively recoiling—but the pain dragged him back.
Something was lodged deep. He felt it. Inside. Pressing.
A scream clawed its way up his throat but barely made it out before—
A hand wrapped around his neck.
The gangster's hand clamped around his neck, lifting him clean off the ground.
Subaru clawed at the fingers. No use. His vision darkened. His thoughts blurred.
Who… What?... What is…
And then—he was dropped.
His body hit the ground like a ragdoll. Gasping. Wheezing. His throat burned.
Air. Air!
He sucked in greedy, desperate gulps, each breath sending waves of dizziness through his brain.
Suddenly, a strong kick sent Subaru flying, breaking parts of his rib cage.
Please…
Subaru wanted to plead but had trouble speaking due to the blunt force damaging his vital organs.
He felt his broken bones piercing his lungs as blood slowly dripped into them, forcing him to cough red as he lay still on his back.
The child stared at him as he saw the gangster sit on Subaru's torso. His weight pushed down on Subaru's rib cage, pushing the broken bones further in. It was like an elephant's foot threatened to squish Subaru's torso into nothingness.
The gangster spoke up like he was teaching someone a lesson, "You see that, kid? This is what happens when you're selfish." He was calm, almost lecturing.
The gangster stared down at Subaru, tilting his head in mockery. "You did your best, huh?"
For one second, just one, Subaru thought maybe—
CRACK!
A punch to the side of his face killed that thought immediately.
The gangster licked his teeth as he flexed his fingers.
"It's about the community, you hear me?!" His voice sharpened, exploding out of nowhere. Although he looked at Subaru, he wasn't talking to him.
Blood splattered onto the ground, droplets landing in front of the trembling boy.
The gangster barely gave Subaru time to recover before another punch came.
"Don't be selfish—," his tone turned light, joking, until it instantly snapped back in fury, "Help each other, yeah?!"
And then another punch.
"ISN'T IT COMMON SENSE?! HUH?! HUH?!" His whole body shook with rage as he slammed his fists down again and again.
One punch cracked against his cheek, sending spikes of white through his skull.
A second rattled his teeth, and Subaru tasted iron.
A third—Wait, had it been three? Four?
His head lolled to the side. The world spun.
Stay awake, stay—
CRACK.
Did he just lose a tooth?
Another hit. The back of his head smacked against the ground. Dark spots swam in his vision.
No. No more. No more.
Please…
Another blow. His body flinched—but it wasn't his doing. His limbs barely responded anymore.
The gangster's voice blurred. The pain blurred. Everything blurred.
Just a few more, and he wouldn't have to feel it anymore. Wouldn't have to feel anything at all.
The gangster looked over at the ashen-haired boy.
"Next time, don't make me do this, okay, kid?" He chuckled as he continued the slow tough series of punches.
"Your selfishness led to this kid."
At some point, Subaru's face went numb.
"I don't like beating kids up, man. I really don't!" Breathing heavily, the gangster shook his hands.
At some point, Subaru's brain started rattling inside his skull.
"…But I will if they misbehave." He pointed at the small ashen-haired boy.
At some point, Subaru couldn't even feel his teeth anymore.
The ashen-haired boy looked at Subaru's face in terror as blood from his right eye trickled down his nose ridge, landing into his open left eye.
"Kid, what's your name?" The gangster spoke to the boy.
The child's small heart pounded against his weak chest as his blood rapidly coursed through his body. He tried his best to answer, still staring at the broken face next to him, "Ka…li…"
Each syllable was a pleading hope that he wouldn't end up like Subaru.
"Kali, huh." The gangster rolled his name over his tongue like fine wine.
"You wanna end up like him? Huh, Kali?" His gaze was locked on Kali as his grin widened.
Kali's small chest rose and fell rapidly. His mouth trembled. His wide eyes darted between Subaru's broken body and the blood on the ground.
"N-No…"
"Good boy." His smile was warm, approving—like he was speaking to his favorite pet.
The gangster flexed his fingers, looking down at Subaru's crumpled form.
"…Man, you're a tough little bastard." He exhaled, almost impressed.
Subaru's body refused to move. His arms felt heavy, his breath weak. He couldn't even lift his head anymore. The world was fading, slipping through his fingers like sand.
No. Not yet.
Not like this.
A slow breath rattled through his chest. He could barely hear it over the ringing in his ears.
He had to move. He had to—
His fingers twitched.
Move. Move, damn it.
He just needed one last push. One last—
CRACK.
His body went still.
Was it his ribs? His skull?
Or was it something deeper?
A thought flickered.
A face. Silver hair. Purple eyes.
…Emilia.
Darkness swallowed him whole.