“Coyote! Wake up you little shit!”

The yell of an old woman startles a young boy awake. Being startled awake Coyote is caught off guard and jumps up, causing his wooden seat to fall backwards. With a loud crash the boy named Coyote lands flat on his back, a large bruise begins to form from the fall on his small back. The embarrassing fall out of his seat incurs more wrath from the strict woman currently teaching him.

"Now look what you have done! You're bound to be hurt now and Leader will kill me if I hurt his 'precious little boy'. Now get up before I add to the bruise on your back!"

The small boy who looks about 5 years old scrambles to his feet and holds his tears back form the pain on his backside. Occasional sniffling comes from the boy who is trying to hold back his cries as the old woman picks up his ragged shirt and notices that a bruise is actually forming. She sighs and shakes her old, wrinkly head.

"This is no good, you're too fragile and frail that something like that really did hurt you. I guess this is enough teaching for today. Go back to your room!"

Without even waiting a second for the woman to repeat herself, the boy hurriedly leaves the room and runs back to his mother's room. The boy's long jet black hair covers his eyes as he runs down the halls, yet he still manages to not bump into anything. His pale skin reflects brightly as he passes each window that lets the sun shine through. Though weaker and more frail than kids his age, Coyote is pretty quick and it isn't longer until he makes it home.

Bursting into the door, Coyote is greeted with the gentle scent of his home. A small room within the giant castle is what Coyote calls home, coming equipped with a kitchen, bedroom, and even their own personal bathroom. Even though it is one of the more luxurious rooms within the castle, the room is pretty small. Since it is small, Coyote noticed his mother the second he barges in, and she is initially caught off guard by the door which was thrown open.

Noticing her son however, Maria smiles as she realizes she is not in danger. With a voice that is like a soft coo, Maria talks to her little son.

"What are you doing home so early? Did Miss Watson send you home early?"

Coyote nods his head up and down quickly and sniffles once again. Maria cocks her head to the side when hearing that her son is holding back from crying.

"Did you get hurt my child?"

Coyote once again nods his head up and down quickly and then proceeds to lift his shirt, showing his mother the injury on his back. Coyote has hardly ever spoken a word in his life so his mother is used to simply asking questions and receiving a non verbal response.

"Oh, my poor baby come here."

Heading his mother's words, Coyote puts down his shirt and runs into his mothers embrace. As he reaches his mother's embrace, Coyote in ensnared in the smell and warmth that his mother exudes. The smell calms his down and the warmth causes the stinging pain of his bruise to go away.

After a while of hugging, Maria can hear the sound of the stew boiling over and figures she needs to stir tonight's dinner some more. However, when she goes to get up, Coyote refuses to let go. Sighing at the adorableness and clingyness of her child, Maria picks up Coyote with one arm and holds him close to her.

"Do you want to help me cook a little?"

Coyote once again as usual quickly nods his head up and down. Maria carries Coyote over to the cooking pot that is getting ready to bubble over and removes the lid. She then grabs a long wooden spoon and starts to stir the pot. Coyote watches in amazement as the raging bubbles start to calm down and dissipate. Maria chuckles at how simple it is to entertain her child and continues stirring the pot.

After stirring for a while, she walks over and grabs some simple spices and seasonings. She hands Coyote a handful of seasoning and tells him to drop it into the bowl. Coyote is shy and refuses to do so at first. With a little convincing from his mother, Coyote manages to force himself to put some seasoning into the stew. As young Coyote smiles from his 'brave' achievement, a rhythmic knock coming from the door echoes throughout the room.

Maria quickly turns her head around and sees a hooded figure knocking on the open door of the room. Maria starts to sweat a little and chokes a little when she tries to speak.

"W-W-What... Are you doing here so early? It is only Wednesday? And my son is with me no less-."

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"Quiet woman, Leader wishes to speak to you."

Maria's eyes dart around while she thinks of a reason in which she would be called to see the Leader, but she has no choice but to do so. Coyote looks at his mom with wide eyes, wondering what is going in but she plays the poor boy ne heed.

"Al-Alright. Coyote stay here and stir the stew while I am gone okay?"

Coyote nods as Maria sets him down on the ground, handing him the long wooden spoon. Maria then hurriedly goes to the open door to leave with the hooded figure. She takes one look back at Coyote before closing the door and leaving. Her eyes scream that they are pleading for help but what is Coyote to do? He is but a small 5 year old child.

When the door closes with a loud clunk, Coyote is left alone in the room with the long wooden spoon. Being the good natured child he is, he obeys Maria's last command before leaving and decides to stir the pot. First, he needed to find a way to stand above the stew, which he decided to use a chair to do so.

From the waist up, Coyote stands above the stew and slowly stirs it like his mother did before. It is a lot harder on him though and it doesn't take long before the kid's weak arms start to strain. Coyote decides after a few minutes of stirring that he will take a slight break. He goes to get off of the chair but ends up losing his balance.

A slight yelp leaves his mouth as he falls of the chair and straight towards the fire that burns below the giant cooking pot. Coyote's life flashes before his eyes as he sees the fire inching closer and closer. Luckily for him, something grabs Coyote before he manages to die by burning to death. Coyote can feel a strong hand supporting his chest and holding him above the flames.

Looking over his left shoulder, Coyote sees a strange being with a static face. On the left side of its face is sad smile and a dark eye, with a single tear stuck on its left cheek. The purple color of the left side of its face makes one feel sad when staring into it. On the right side of its face is a wide smile and a shinning eye. The white color of the right side of the face is eye catching, causing most people to look at it. A weird hat that sets of in three different directions with a bell at each end drops of its head. The being also has a long and lanky body that is nearly completely black.

You almost died there young one. Luckily no one is around so I managed to save you. You know what I have been telling you about being so unaware of your surroundings.

A raspy and sinister sounding whisper seeps into Coyote's mind as the weird being talks to him.

"I know Joker, but I was so tired from stirring the pot that I just lost my balance!" rebukes the 5 year old boy, making excuses about his mistake.

That's no excuse child. You are not ready to use your powers yet so you must not die yet no matter what. We both don't know what will happen.

"Fine... I'll try to be more careful next time."

After hearing this, Joker nods and gently sets the child down. Coyote looks over at the Joker, remembering what everyone has told him about it.

Apparently, Joker is Coyote's alternate self, a reflection of his soul. Everyone says he is supposed to first meet it when he turns 8 years old, but Joker has been around for as long as Coyote can remember, silently watching over him.

It started off as meeting Joker in dreams, and soon Joker was able to form himself into reality, but Joker is convinced that no one should be aware of him. This caused Coyote to not tell anyone about Joker's existence, even his mother.

Joker is always there in Coyote's dreams and even teaches Coyote anything Coyote wants during their meeting times. This causes Coyote to always be wanting to go to sleep and learn from his soul reflection. Usually Joker spends his time teaching the young boy how to use magic, but made Coyote once again promise to never show or tell anyone about this.

I wonder where your mother has gone... I feel bad for that woman as she has been put into a precarious situation because of us.

Coyote tilts his head to the side in confusion when hearing this. Joker has told him that no one here is to be trusted but his mother Maria, but Joker has never told him why. He also doesn't understand what precarious means. Joker sighs as he forgets that Coyote is a child sometimes due to Coyote's innate learning abilities. Everytime Joker teaches Coyote magic, the boy increases his skills by leaps and bounds.

Precarious means she is in constant danger. The Church folk do not seem to be very keen on the fact that she coddles you constantly.

Coyote becomes dejected when hearing that his mother is in danger because of him, but Joker ruffles the young boy's hair a little.

It's not your fault. You can only blame The Church for that one. Luckily for us, we have around 2 to 3 more years to find a way out. If not, I guess we will have to resort to your soul power. Wait, someone is coming. I must go for now, remember, trust no one.

Joker says his usual phrase to Coyote before vanishing into the boy's soul. Since Coyote is so young, Joker makes sure to remind Coyote to keep his guard up and to truly not trust anyone. At first, when Coyote was around the age of 3, he would yell and scream at Joker that he trusts his mother more than Joker, so Joker relented and made a special case for Maria.

Right when Joker disappears as if right on queue, a knock once again echoes throughout the room. This time however the door is closed. A powerful and loud voice comes through the door and Coyote realizes who it is.

"Coyote... Can I come in child?'

The one behind the voice is the right hand man of the Leader. His name is Charles and he is one of the people that Joker said to trust the least. Coyote doesn't move from his spot, hoping the man thinks Coyote is not home and leaves, but that isn't going to happen.

"I'll take your usual silence as a yes."

The door slowly creeps open and a thin face peeks its head through the door. The red eyes of Charles shoot all over the place until they land upon Coyote. A thin and creepy smile spreads across Charles's face when spotting Coyote.

"Since Miss Watson's lesson ended early today, how about you and I have a private lesson?"