Inmates Ballad: Lies and tragedy.

I found out later that the cause of that tragedy was an aragami called Vajra. Proof of all the lions and tigers the aragami ate to evolve. Fun Fact: There are none left on record in current times.

They would become a regular threat to FENRIR establishments as the years went by.

The Gen-0 god-eaters were never going to be able to fight them. Their pistols were enough for small aragami like orgetrails, but up until that point, the biggest threat was an ogretail.

The God-Eater's; humanity's hope to reclaim a future. Were nothing more than bodies for the aragami to have to stall for time to advance better Oracle technology…

and even then...the casualties didn't drop that much.

My father always told me never to take from FENRIR, because the moment I did I'd be a God-Eater draftee. FENRIR would take me in the middle of the night the moment a god-arc was fit for me.

And don't forget, the draft age was 13 at minimum. They made it 13 when they saw how many children were a match for god-arcs versus adults.

Meanwhile, the adults who desperately wanted to fight couldn't use the tools and the god-arcs were passed on to child soldiers mocking them in the face. The dumb kids who wanted it didn't know how lucky they were.

Even before that god-eater told me to bail on saving my family, I had no interest in becoming a god-eater. I did lose respect for them though.

I couldn't stay in our home, even if it was a stray, aragami would come back eventually and I needed to find a safe place. I'd never see that house again.

I somehow made my way to what was left of India and Nepal. Right at the border, a town was salvaged to help people survive. I heard that India and Nepal were going to unite into one body upon the collapse of both countries. With FENRIR at the helm.

It couldn't compare to my home in Bangladesh, but I would find shelter and a place to stay. It had an emergency shelter and plenty of refugee camps.

I lived by trading. Before I left home I couldn't take much that I wasn't going to need on the trip itself.

I mostly made it thanks to all the plants and crops my dad worked to grow.

Rationing for clothes and a blanket would be difficult, all I had at the time was the leftover food I didn't eat.

I always remembered what my father taught me, 'DONT-TAKE-FROM-FENRIR', when uniforms came around I didn't give them the time of day.

While other kids gladly gave their DNA up for god-eater registration, I fell back on my dad's wisdom. It was a gritty compromise, but he along with half the others in town, opted to give the rights to their land to FENRIR to develop their branch in exchange for protection and even re-extension of the land rights if they vetted it as a FENRIR territory.

Ironically my dad's solution of NOT taking from FENRIR was to GIVE to FENRIR.

My dad enjoyed freedom, but like survival its value was inconsistent.

I wish I could've asked him what I could've done differently.

I had a good thing going for 2 years. When the FENRIR relief workers came, I never touched any of the supplies they brought. I only associated with the other kids and a few independents.

I never stole, I always traded. I didn't make trouble, even when fresh fruit was dangled in my face like a baited hook.

No matter what-

I NEVER took from FENRIR.

NEVER.

I was trading as usual and it was even peaceful. No aragami attacks in over a week. Some of the bolder refugees took the chance to scout and salvage outside the camp limits.

I debated whether or not to join in, but I was living as comfortably as an orphan could in a refugee camp.

I didn't need much and while I didn't rely on FENRIR, they were still the ones dealing with the Aragami. So it's not like they weren't involved in my success.

I decided to just wait and forage through the camp limits.

I should've gone with them.

It was the middle of the day, I heard talk about Bangladesh survivors. The fact that it came from FENRIR didn't matter to me.

I was always sure my family never survived that day.

There was nothing to suggest otherwise.

But the more I thought about it, the more couldn't help but hold out hope.

I tried to keep any thoughts about asking for more out of my head.

I tried so hard…

But all that made me do was think of my sister's doll…

The fact that while she and our parents were dying I was crying alone in my room.

I had no right to ignore this. That's what I told myself.

I finally talked to a god-eater.

The son of a bitch told me there were new refugees coming via a FENRIR convoy.

That was the first red flag.

The only convoys that came and go were supply transports, god-eater candidates, and deployed god-eaters.

I stupidly headed for the truck. There were kids older than me, lined up around the truck. With a few adults away from the truck with tears in their eyes.

That was the 2nd red flag.

When it was time for a god-eater candidate to get fitted for a god-arc the FENRIR badges would ask the parents to stay away from the truck so they wouldn't try anything desperate.

The other kids without parents submitted to become wards of FENRIR.

Those kids would be test subjects for god-arc tech until their coming of age. If the experiments didn't kill them first.

I just thought they were waiting to see who turned up like me.

I waited and waited.

Then I was the only kid left around.

Should I have been surprised that there was no sign of my family?

I didn't get to think about that before that god-eater told the other uniforms, I was the last one in.

Piece of sh$& pretended I was one of the candidate kids. When I refused to, the god-eaters crowded me. As soon as they got physical I bit and clawed at anyone who got too close.

I screamed bloody murder, I even had their blood on my jaw.

But I think you know how this went.

ClUNK!

Something cracked on the back of my head.

The next time I woke up, I found an armlet attached to my wrist.

I was a god-eater…

At 7 years old my childhood was dead and gone