The Night Where It All Began.

The moonlight was shining upon the forest, the nocturnal creatures were already on the hunt and the rest were asleep. In the area there was only one house on two floors, made completely out of wood, with a welcoming light coming out from the windows. A boy laid on top of the old, crumbling rooftop, the Boy was no older than eight, taller than usual, with short dark blond hair, lifted and shaped like a messy quiff. His green eyes were narrow, almost aggressive, but yet they looked at the stars with such childish curiosity. 

His hands and teeth began to shiver from the cold, the Boy slided down the rooftop and fell on his feet without a scratch, he opened the door and witnessed a very sad view. His father had fallen asleep on the floor, saliva dripping down from his mouth, definitely drunk. 

The father's name was Kenji, a very tall and heavily structured man, with black hair and ugly face. Kenji was a drunk and a drug addict, he used to struggle a lot financially because he didn't have a stable source of income and barely left the house, not to mention the way he used to abuse his children. 

The Boy scratched the back of his head and thought to himself: "Ahh not again! What am I supposed to do now? Maybe I can ask Alissa if she is not already asleep…". He went upstairs, opened the door to the bedroom and unfortunately Alissia was already asleep with a book in her hand. 

Alissa was his twin sister, they barely had any differences, she was only slightly shorter and with longer hair reaching her waist. 

The Boy didn't want to bother his sister, so he had to find another way to wake up his father up, he tried to push him, but he was too heavy, he slapped him a couple of times in the face, but he was still asleep, nothing he tried worked so he just left him sleep on the floor. 

Boy: "The floor seems very cold tonight, but I can't wake him up, so I'm just hoping he doesn't catch a cold." 

The Boy decided to go to sleep as well, he grabbed his lion plushie, closed his eyes and woke up the next morning. Alissia was already making breakfast when Kenji awoke. Then he lit up a cigarette. 

Kenji: "Sleep well?" 

Alissia: "Yes, father." 

Kenji got closer to Alissa and stood right above her head, his menacing figure casted shadow upon her. She didn't dare to look him in the eyes. 

Kenji: "Well I slept like shit, while you were sleeping peacefully in your bed…" 

Alissa: "..." 

Kenji: "Little brat, at least look me in the eyes when I talk!" 

Kenji grabbed her by the neck and pinned her against the wall. She tried to fight back but she didn't stand a chance against the giant. 

Kenji: "Now what do we say when we make a mistake?!" 

Alissia: "I-I'm sorry, papa!" 

Kenji: "Tch for the next week you and your brother will sleep on the floor, try not to catch a cold because I'm not going to take care of you!" 

He released her from his grip, she fell down on the floor gasping for air as she held her throat. 

The breakfast was quiet, since Kenji wasn't in the mood for talking. Soon they finished eating and went on with their chores for the day. Alissia washed Kenji's clothes and Scorch had to clean up the toilet. In the afternoon they received a new order from their father. 

Kenji: "Listen carefully! We are running short on food supplies, I need you to head to town to buy bread, chicken meat and rice, I'm giving you twenty Rios, do not waste them!" 

They nodded, took their bags and began making their way to the town. 

Their house was in the middle of a pine forest, thirty minutes away from the town of Hillville, mostly known for its location, situated in a beautiful mountain range, it was a common destination among tourists. 

As they were walking on the dirty forest path towards the town, Alissia noticed that something was bothering her brother.

Alissia: "What's up?" 

Boy: "Huh?" 

Alissia: "Oh c'mon as if I can't tell when someone is troubling you!" 

Boy: "Haha I guess you truly know me better than anybody else. I was just thinking about our future, like what will happen to us, are we going to stay with papa until he dies or we will be separated?" 

Alissia: "I guess you make a good point. Don't you have a dream?" 

Boy: "A dream?" 

Alissia: "It's like when you have a certain goal in mind, something you want to accomplish, that sorta thing." 

Boy: "I never really thought about it… d-do you have a dream?" 

Alissia placed her hands on the back of her head as she was walking down the road. 

Alissia: "I'm not very picky, all I want is a nice house, have my own library, good food on the table and if possible a butler." 

Boy: "Honestly I just wish I could make a change in this world, something that will be remembered forever. Can you imagine? People calling me "A Hero of Justice"?!" 

Alissia laughed amusingly and held her stomach. 

Alissia: "Hahahahaha I'm sure you just want to be a hero to impress girls!" 

The Boy's cheeks turned red, he turned his head the other way so she couldn't see his blush. 

Boy: "That's not true!" 

Alissia: "I can see your blushing hehe." 

Boy: "Just… shut up!" 

At last they made it to town, like most of the days the town was full with tourists, people wanting to experience the wonderful nature around the town. 

The twins decided to split, the Boy had to go get bread and chicken meat so he headed towards the bakery, then he noticed that there's a new lady working there. As he entered the store the lady smiled and asked politely.

Lady: "Who is that handsome young man?" 

Boy: "Hi, can I get a white bread?" 

Lady: "Not until you tell me your name…" - the lady said humorously. 

Boy: "My name is… Scorch." 

Lady: "That's a very unique name…" 

Boy: "My father says, one day it will strike fear in the hearts of my enemies." 

The lady raised an eyebrow and decided to stay silent until the boy left with the bread. 

"What kind of father talks like that to his son?!"

Some time passed by, Scorch was waiting for his sister to arrive at the place they were supposed to meet each other, it was getting dark and she wasn't coming. He got worried so he searched for her around the town. The Boy found her in a tailor shop, he left his bag outside on a bench and got inside. 

Scorch: "Alissia we gotta go, the sun is setting!" 

Alissia: "Sorry, I was just looking around here." 

Scorch: "No worries, but we gotta hurry!" 

As they left the shop, without looking Scorch reached out his hand towards the bench to grab his bag, but it wasn't there. 

Scorch: "What?!" 

He looked around with fear in his eyes, to see if the bag just got moved away. 

Alissia: "Don't tell me you don't remember where you left your bag…" 

Scorch: "No, I remember that I left it right here on the bench… Someone stole it!" 

Alissia: "Why did you leave it outside, now because of you, father is going to punish us?!" 

Scorch: "Because of ME?! It was because of YOU I had to leave it outside! It doesn't matter now, what do you have in your bag?" 

Alissia: "Just a bunch of rice. What are we going to do? Father will kill us!" 

Scorch: "It doesn't matter now, if we don't hurry up the monsters in the forest will kill us!" 

They sprinted towards the house, Scorch was running a bit faster than Alissia, eventually she fell behind to catch a breath. 

Alissia: "Go ahead, I will catch up with you!" 

Scorch: "No, it's too dangerous! C'mon we have a bit more to go, I will run with you." 

They made it to the house. As they crossed the doorway they found Kenji lying on the dinner table with his head placed on his forearms, a bottle of whiskey next to him and some sort of red dust. 

Alissia: "Papa?" 

Kenji lifted his head very slowly, as he turned around to look at them a drop of black colored blood began dripping down from his forehead, the sclera of his left eye was also black, then he smiled and spoke in a calm, yet terrifying tone. 

Kenji: "It's good to see my children made it back home safely. Come give daddy a hug!" 

The black blood thickened and it spread all over his body, Alissia and Scorch took a step back as he got closer. The twins didn't understand it at the moment, but the reason for all of the blood was because Kenji made an attempt to kill himself. Everything was sign that Kenji was taking Crimson Shards. 

Crimson Shards is a special type of drug, it's mostly known for the appealing crimson red color it has and the way the light reflects from it. It has a number of side effects but the most common are: black sclera, or the white part of the eye, black blood, aggressive behavior, hallucinations and schizophrenia. Most people who take this drug usually commit suicide because of the deafening voices in their head.

Scorch took a very deep breath and said. 

Scorch: "Papa I have to tell you something…" 

Kenji: "Hm?" 

Scorch: "Someone stole my bag today at the market, I didn't know it would happen! I'm so sorry, please don't be mad at me!" 

Scorch then began to cry on his knees, Kenji took a step back and sat on the chair behind him with a shadow covering his eyes. 

Kenji: "I'm not mad because you wasted the money I gave you, or because you didn't buy the things I told you to. No, I'm angry because you are lying to me!" 

Scorch: "Papa, I'm not lying I swe-" 

Kenji: "DO NOT INTERRUPT ME! You are telling me that I raised a liar and a crybaby?! Perhaps I need to teach you a lesson…" 

With all of his force Kenji swung his fist and punched Scorch in the stomach with an uppercut, Scorch coughed a large amount of blood on the floor as he fell down and hugged his knees from the pain, the tears coming out from his eyes increased. 

Scorch: "Father, please stop, I'm begging you!" 

Kenji: "Is that all it takes to beat you?! You are pathetic!" 

Kenji raised his leg, aiming it directly to the back of Scorch's head. Alissia watched as her brother was about to be killed by her own father, she was too scared to even move. 

"What is happening? Why is this happening? My brother will be killed by my father, I have to do something! But WHAT can I do?!"

The distance between Kenji's foot and Scorch's head was getting closer and closer, in her eyes it felt like everything was moving in slow motion. And in that moment her body began moving on its own, as if something else was controlling her, she grabbed the bloodied knife from the table and stabbed Kenji in the knee. She grabbed Scorch by the hand and ran upstairs to hide in the bedroom. 

Kenji: "You little piece of shit! I WILL KILL BOTH OF YOU!" 

They locked the bedroom door and began planning their next move. 

Alissia: "What are we going to do now?!" 

All the room had was two empty beds, a window and two wooden chairs. Despite being terrified by the situation, Scorch quickly came up with a plan. He took off the leg of one of the chairs and used it to smash the window. Meanwhile Kenji was slowly coming up the stairs. 

Kenji: "WHERE ARE YOU?!"

Scorch: "Listen, we will have to jump off the window and run far away from here, he can't chase us with that stab wound!" 

Alissia: "I understand." 

Alissia jumped off the second floor and fell safely on her feet, but as Scorch was about to the same he was grabbed by the throat and lifted up. Kenji pinned him to the wall and tried to suffocate him. 

Kenji: "Time for you to go to bed!" 

Scorch realized he was still holding the leg of the chair he used to break the window. 

Scorch: "...Not yet!" 

Scorch struck Kenji in the head with force so powerful as to break the leg of the chair in his head. Kenji fell on the ground unconscious, Scorch quickly grabbed his lion plushie, Alissia's book, some food and joined her outside.

Alissia: "What are we going to do now, brother?" 

Scorch: "We have to move far away from here, somewhere our father can't find us." 

Alissia: "Where could that be?" 

Scorch: "In the Royal Capital…"