Tristan Heart

DIAGRAM. A world as unforgiving as the beauty of its name. A world that stretched its hands out to the forgotten but just as easily cut its link with them.

SNAP!

A young boy looked at the slumped figure of his father as he was forcefully carried away. The chaotic situation caused him to be unable to process much more than the figure of his falling father.

He didn't know why but the word 'SNAP' perfectly described his state of mind. He lost it.

He thought it strange. The value of life. It seemed so unsurmountable in one and so pointless in another.

Was this all his father amounted to?

His eyes dulled. His tears dried up. He couldn't help but let out a chuckle. It truly was amusing.

A small chuckle turned into incoherent laughter, causing the woman carrying him to send a glance of pity.

His glowing Heart stopped! His world... His Diagram... It was no longer.

...

In the Grand City of Opal and Blue, in a rather conspicuous corner, a young man had somehow found himself before a dark oak office door.

You would think the house of such an important individual wasn't so easy to break into. Then again it wasn't like he was trying to break in.

This was the Croft Establishment and they were an organization of merchants. Getting in wasn't all that hard.

He simply had to show something of value.

His previous location Crystal Utopia was truly unforgiving. He missed this 'City of Opal and Blue.' And lucky for him? He had finally made it home.

Opening the door he was about to walk in when he was shoved to the side by another young man rushing out. 

They exchanged glances but the young man ignored him and continued on his way.

'Asshole.' Tristan cursed under his breath.

There was no point in blowing such a small matter out of proportion, it's not like his face was seen, so he walked in ignoring the man from earlier, as he closed the door.

Of course, though he didn't hold a grudge the man better pray they never met again. His hands were always itching for blood. 

'They slipping out of control again.' He rubbed his gloves. It was never a good thing when they showed themselves.

"You are?" As the young man adjusted his eyes to the lighting in the room he saw a seemingly youthful lady seated in the simple office.

Behind her stood a young woman of similar elegance to herself.

She seemed to be having some sort of afternoon tea on one of the couches in the office while glancing through some papers that Tristan assumed were pointless ramblings of those beneath her.

'She seems to be doing well. Do people like her, forget to age or something?' He couldn't help but let out a bitter smile. She looked just as beautiful as that time.

He then remembered himself, recalling her question, unfortunately though, he wasn't very intent on answering.

He instead continued to look around curiously. The young lady behind her was prone to move but she was stopped by her madam who seemed to have caught interest in his antics. 

Seeing that he wasn't intent on answering she went back to looking through her papers. Since he came here he definitely had something to say. He would speak eventually. 

As for the disrespect? Does a cat worry about what a mouse chooses to do?

The young woman by her side watching like a hawk waiting for him to make the slightest margin of error.

But since the Madam didn't say anything she didn't do anything either.

The 'Madam' as the young woman called her seemed to prefer simplicity over extravagance.

It showed in the fact that that very word summarized the entire office.

The office wasn't too large but neither was it too small.

Looking at the individual objects in the room, from the complex machinery and weird objects to the valuable-looking crystals placed on some of the shelves and showcases, one might start to wonder how they arrived at such a conclusion.

"Good taste," Tristan spoke absentmindedly, the atmosphere and mood the room created resonated with his taste.

Hearing his words, she nodded her head. A normal person wouldn't understand the serenity in her craft.

He sat down on the couch opposite the Madam but didn't take off his mask.

The Madam was known as Lilia De Croft. Taking his sign of sitting as him finally ready to answer, she looked up from her papers, placing the cup of chai on the table.

"I am somewhat of an acquaintance. Does the name Heart ring a bell?" Tristan grinned, locking eyes with her as her expression turned ugly.

On the other hand, Lilia felt like she had only just noticed him for the first time. But she didn't act rashly. 

If he was with those people, then they simply wouldn't enter without countermeasures.

Ruth, her attendant, noticed this and didn't take much of a liking to such actions, but once again seeing the Madam's hesitation, she said nothing.

To be honest she was still a bit skeptical since the boy didn't seem much older than 18 years of age. 

But what caused her to be wary was that, despite what seemed to be his age, he already had an air of maturity about him. His eyes held a weight most veterans didn't even have.

Tristan was a dark-skinned young man. His dark locks of hair make his African heritage shine through. 

He had a rather angular face which was completed with soft but huge yellowish golden eyes that seemed unnatural and unfocused.

He didn't seem to have the ability to discern between objects and people. Despite their vibrant colors, his gaze seemed dull.

By this point, Lilia was already trembling. She knew those eyes. But was it him?

Olivia, Lilia's attendant who stood off to the side was already frowning. 'Why is she reacting so fiercely? Is it not simply a boy?'

He had large ears that almost seemed Elven but fell short. Hanging from his left ear were skull earrings.

His locks of hair which were kept short, were packed towards the right.

They seemed to look like dreads at one angle, but at the same time seemed to flow like water from another, forming a beautiful contrast with his smooth chocolate skin.

"What's your name kid?" Snapping out of it, Lilia asked with a glint in her eyes, finally bringing herself under control. 

"Aunty, why are you so cold?" Tristan feigned hurt, as he wiped away non-existent tears.

Not that his acting was very convincing with half his face covered.

He didn't know why but teasing this woman like this always amused him. Well, she could only blame herself for not remembering him.

Lilia didn't pay any attention to this, rather shaken by his words, but she still seemed hesitant.

She knew that there weren't many people in this world qualified to call her that. If at all any are left alive.

"You will not make my madam repeat herself!" Ruth unable to hold her frustration any longer finally made her move drawing out a blade with mysterious purple runes.

"Stay back ma'am. This man is troublesome." Ruth watched on cautiously ensuring the sword was still pressed firmly against his neck.

"What a unique Devil's Concept!" Tristan sat calmly. His unfocused eyes finally brightened at the sight of the runic sword, but this just made Olivia pale.

The more she thought about it, the more she realized she made the right move.

This man was dangerous!

"I wonder, what's under that mask?" She wasn't particularly curious but since she was in a situation where she could, why not?

As she slowly lifted the blade, towards the mask, she suddenly found the world spinning around her.

Before she could barely regain cognition she saw a knife placed around her neck.

She had no fear of weapons, what was scary was the fact she didn't realize how it had happened!

'That's... impossible.''

But before she could continue this line of thought she realized she had somehow ended up with her head resting on his lap, causing her to blush.

Of course, the knife was still pressed against her neck, but she didn't seem to notice.

Just as she was about to shout in retaliation she felt his gaze, as she was plunged into the abyss that was his eyes. She felt a certain cold wash over her and felt her skin crawl.

With a practiced gesture, a gesture that had imprinted fear on those who knew, he slowly took off the mask.

At that point, she felt her body lose control, her heart beating to his rhythm.

But the feeling disappeared almost as quickly as it appeared, his smile coming back in full swing, making her doubt if she saw correctly.

But, by then she was already drenched in enough sweat to know it did.

Lilia who saw everything narrowed her eyes. This boy…

The tension in the room simply seized. Tristan even let go of the girl.

Ruth slowly got up, brushing her outfit before going back to standing beside Lilia, lest she make an embarrassment of herself again.

The fact he didn't attempt to kill her already proved that he never took her seriously.

"Tristan Heart, at your service." Tristan suddenly said, letting out a sigh of disappointment.

What use was an auntie that didn't even remember you?

But Lilia had already stopped listening by the time she heard the name.

Her eyes boiled, as she ran with excitement. Picking up Tristan, before body-slamming him into the ground. Her tears, no longer able to hold themselves back.

"Aunty I think you broke a few bones," Tristan said with a slight blush of embarrassment on his face.

But when he saw the tears he was stunned, before he broke out into a small smile, letting her cry her heart out.

It really had been too long.

…

"What did she say?" Hiding within an alleyway a hand grabbed the hair of a nerdy-looking man passing by, before tossing him directly onto the interlocked brick floor.

Any other person if treated as such would either flare in anger or show immense fear towards the situation, but the unassuming young man simply stood up dusting his clothes as if he hadn't noticed.

'Sigh, why do nobodies always get high out of doing this?' The young man shook his head.

If Lilia was present she might recognize him as that unassuming man who came to her to threaten her on behalf of those people. Not that she ever took them seriously.

To be fair he looked rather uninteresting. Seemingly no different from your basic sleepless and overworked researcher.

His dark sunken eyelids showed his lack of sleep, barely covering his green eyes which were about the only thing on him that looked interesting.

His scattered hair showed his unpraiseworthy life.

However, the aura he was emitting was now far more dangerous than he had initially let on. His unfocused sunken eyes slowly gained a bright hue as he stared coldly at the man in front of him.

He of course knew that this man was his supposed 'superior', but he couldn't be bothered with courtesy any longer, he was tired. It was time he stopped the act, his bed had missed him for too long.

"I am tired." His face seemed to gain wriggling worms, as it deformed and formed in some places.

His hair gained a touch of white from their ends, as the change inched towards the roots.

"Game? What are y --" Before his 'superior' could understand how his subordinate had suddenly turned to his General, he found his head rolling to the side.

His last sight before his consciousness faded, was the young man putting a dagger away in some spatial device.

"I'm so so sorry Commander Onichan!!" Game said, holding his cheeks as he put on the cutest face he could think of.

Then again considering the strange deformation his face was currently going through it was anything but. Not to mention the commander's blood sprayed all over his face and clothes.

Game was still in the course of acting before his expression changed, seemingly having lost interest when the body hit the ground.

"Well, I've had enough of this archetype." As he said this, Game stretched a bit before ripping away at his face, but the expected gory scene never came.

It was instead replaced by the bored expression of a primed young man at the peak of his youth, his dark brown hair having been replaced with white.

Of course, the shiny emerald eyes did nothing to shed the eyebags as it was met with a yawn. 

It was a little hard to appreciate one's looks while covered in blood. Well, that being said, at least it was no longer on his face. Sorta.

"Ugh, to think they made me waste two years on such a pointless pursuit. I have a feeling they did this one on purpose. Oh well, no point complaining about it now."

Scratching his head, Game stepped on the head of the Commander directly crushing it with his weight. It didn't seem like he noticed though, simply walking out of the alleyway.

Then he recalled seeing a man entering that lady's office after he left. "Interesting."

He let out a devilish grin, but it disappeared as quickly as it came. Whistling he blended into the crowd, well as much as someone with blood all over them could.