“That kid's been causing problems again?”

“Well, he doesn’t speak so it isn’t strange that the other kids pick on him.”

“They think he’s cursed.”

“The way his parents died, I would think the same.”

The gossiping of older women filled up the orphanage. For the women who served as caretakers, it was one of their favorite past times. They sat around and spoke ill of the children they found bothersome.

“Excuse me.” The voice of an old man interrupted their activities.

“Ah, yes.” One woman hurriedly walked over, but her steps lost their enthusiasm when she saw that the old man was dressed in a black cloak. While it was somewhat rare, there were those who “adopted” children from orphanages before selling them as slaves to whoever paid the most. She looked closer to see a wrinkled face old man hidden under the cloak.

“I’m looking for someone.” The old man noticed the woman’s hesitation but paid it no mind.

“This is an orphanage, but, Sir...If you’re–”

“My nephew.” The old man interrupted harshly. “His parents died recently and I just received the notice.” He pulled documents from under his cloak as he finished speaking and then placed a few hundred Gre.

“Keep the change.” He added.

The woman looked embarrassed, she was just about to warn him about attempting to adopt children for illegal purposes.

“Just a moment.” The woman grabbed the Gre and the paperwork before bowing slightly and leaving to find the child.

The gossiping women witnessed the scene and were all silent. While it was a bit awkward for them, the old man didn’t seem to care at all. A little while later the woman returned with a thin child who had dark circles around his eyes.

When the child arrived in front of him, the man spoke. “Have you been eating, boy?”

“We feed all of the children three times–” Before the woman could finish, the Old man glared at her.

“Where’d you get those bruises?” The old man grabbed the silent boy and pulled his collar, revealing large red marks.

“Sir...The kids here tend to play a lot so it’s not strange for someone to get injured a little.”

“Is that so? He barely talks but you expect me to believe he plays with other children here. From what I can see none of you have been taking care of him at all...You’ll come to regret that.” The old man said aggressively before he pulled the boy along and left without giving the lady a chance to explain.

At his threatening words, the woman felt an odd chill.

“Just ignore him, a hateful old man like that is bound to die soon.” A caretaker said as she snorted.

“Yeah…” The woman answered absentmindedly. She couldn’t quite shake the unnerving feeling the man gave off when he threatened her.

Outside the orphanage. The old man and the boy walked side by side in complete silence.

“My name is Oren. Your father was my younger brother, he probably never mentioned me.” The old man said.

The boy remained silent and carried a vacant look as he followed the Oren.

“I have a question, boy. Do you want to get revenge on those people back there? It's only natural after all they did to you, right?” Oren inquired.

The boy looked at Oren for the first time with a questioning gaze.

“I can help you,” Oren said with a chuckle.

“Ryan.” The boy said. “My name is Ryan.”

“I know what your name is, Ryan. I haven’t said it because it won’t be your name for long.” Oren said.

“What do you mean?” Ryan asked.

Oren just smiled in response.

Weeks after the Uncle and Nephew left, the orphanage burned down in a fire, leaving no survivors. Not too long after that, there were repeated incidents of murder and arson, rumors spread that it was linked to a cult who called themselves “The Emissaries Of Death.”

…

Harper stood in the dimly lit cathedral and looked at those who were already bodies that were already mutilated when she arrived. There were also some undead that her Phantom made short work of. She looked around and didn’t see or sense any signs of Sin but just before she activated her spectral vision, she heard the sound of footsteps and looked in a certain direction.

A plain looking kid dressed in a black cloak carried a scythe made from bone with him as he emerged from the cellar.

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“You’ve been really annoying, you know?” Sin said as he reached the top of the stairs, he shut and locked the cellar behind him, as to not disturb his uncle.

“Fuck you.” Harper cursed as she put her hand on her metal baton. Most of the people she killed often cursed at her, so she thought she would try it out.

“You should join us. Whatever you're doing this for, we can give you way more.” Sin offered as his scythe rattled.

“All of you guys suck at fighting and your name is pretty dumb too, so why would I join you?” Harper teased.

“I don’t know why I even tried to convince you, you’re just a kid.” Sin shook his head.

“You are too!” Harper shouted.

Although the two looked as if they were having a back and forth, they were really waiting for an opening. Harper could instinctively sense that Sin wasn’t the same as the others she killed, and Sin knew there was something more to Harper seeing as she killed a large number of his people.

Sin’s eyes slightly widened as he looked at the corpses near Harper’s feet.

“You know what?” Sin asked with a confident grin.

“...What?” Harper tethered the dagger and chain to the end of her baton as she felt something was off.

“You’re not as smart as I thought.” Sin said before he snapped his fingers.

Harper didn’t have time to react properly as the corpses near her burst and shot out bone shards at a high velocity. A mist of blood filled the room and it was hard to know what state she was in. Instead of waiting, Sin extended his scythe swung it in wide sweeping motions, attempting to cover every possible angle. He then retracted his scythe and noticed something was at the end of it. At a closer glance, it was a tattered black cloak that was completely drenched in blood, it obviously was the same one Harper was wearing before the corpses exploded.

Just as Sin was about to celebrate, Harper leaped out of the mist with a cold face and brandished her staff. Sin spun the scythe and blocked. Of course, Harper didn’t have ordinary strength so Sin was pushed back. Harper didn’t allow him to recover and immediately kicked him in the chest, knocking him backward. Sin landed on his back and was forced to roll to the side as a foot landed in his previous spot and cracked the floorboards. Sin hopped to his feet and created some distance as he evaluated Harper while taking deep breaths.

She wore a sleeveless leather vest as her only protection and ordinary black pants and boots. Fragments of bone were embedded in the vest and in her skin, but she had managed to escape the worst of it. Her pale blue eyes were now far colder than they were before and there was no trace of the easy-going little girl from just a few moments ago. Harper twisted her staff once before she dashed forward, leaving series of blue afterimages behind her. Sin didn’t stay idle and extended his scythe to meet her. Harper easily dodged it, but Sin didn’t seem to care as the scythe continued past her. At the exact moment, she was close enough to hit him, Sin recalled his scythe and it came flying towards Harper’s unguarded back. Harper heard the scythe coming back and conjured her phantom. Due to the quickness of her conjuration, only the Phantom only had two arms and was sticking halfway through the ground, but it served its purpose and blocked the scythe.

Harper smashed the staff on to Sin’s head, causing him to stumble and blood to run down his face.

“Damn it!” Sin looked at Harper hatefully before slamming his hand in a puddle of blood. Dozens of hands appeared where ever there was blood and all of them rushed toward Harper and restrained her.

Sin seemed to suffer some recoil from using his ability as he took deep breaths. Harper struggled to get out of the blood, but there was very little room for her to move at all. Sin grabbed his scythe and moved forward, but Harper stayed calm and pinched her fingers together and then flicked the air. Several spectral darts shot through the air and upon seeing them Sin dove away and covered his head, but after a few seconds, he realized they didn’t touch him. He looked up to see the darts piercing through the blood restraints, allowing Harper to break out. Once she was free of the restraints, she conjured a chain on the end of her staff and swung it toward Sin, who was a second too late and couldn’t do anything to stop the dagger and chain from cutting into him and restraining him. Harper quickly ran over and grabbed Sin’s arms.

“Get off of me!” Sin yelled as he struggled, but Harper ignored him and gripped his arm tighter.

“Aaaah!” Sin screamed as he felt an arm break. One didn’t appear to be enough for Harper as she broke the other one which elicited another high pitched cry from Sin.

Seeing that he was restrained, Harper finally took a breath.

“That was sneaky when you tried to blow me up,” Harper said as she kicked Sin in the face which caused him to groan. Harper took a few deep breaths and then disconnected the chain from her staff and tossed it over some scaffolding.

“What...are you doing?” Sin asked as he watched Harper pull the chain which caused him to be suspended in the air.

“Shut up.” Harper punched Sin in the face before conjuring a spectral hand to hold the chain for her. She then activated her Spectral Vision and surveyed the room, she immediately saw a bright blue flame downstairs.

“Who’s down there?” Harper said as she turned to Sin.

“You can’t stop it.” Sin answered with a pained laugh.

Harper punched him directly in the chest which caused him to whimper while coughing up blood.

“Tell whoever that is to come up here and save you,” Harper said as she raised her baton and struck Sin.

…

Oren finally completed the ritual and just as he was going to activate it, he heard an ear piercing scream from a familiar voice accompanied by the sound of something being hit with a blunt object.

“Uncle Oren!” Sin cried miserably from above the cellar. “Uncle Oren, please!”

Sin’s voice sounded constricted as if his face was swollen and it probably was as the intensity of the beating increased. Although Sin killed many people he was still a kid, and that being so, he wouldn't be strong under any form of torture.

“Useless, kid.” Oren shook his head regretfully. Although Sin did buy him some time he ultimately failed to dispatch the intruder which showed that he placed too much confidence in him.

"Uncle Oren!"

Oren ignored the pleas for help and began to activate the ritual to open a doorway between the living and the dead.

…

Harper lowered her bloody baton as she looked at Sin who was covered in purple and red bruises.

“Looks like your uncle doesn’t care,” Harper said while shrugging. 

“Uncle...Oren…” One of Sin’s eyes was swollen shut, but the other produced a few fresh tears as he realized his uncle wouldn’t help him. In truth, Sin didn't care about the cult at all. He only wanted to be useful to his Uncle so he did whatever he asked. The feelings of abandonment and loss resurfaced from when his parents died and left him in a stupor.

“If I go down there is there gonna be a trap?” Harper asked.

Sin replied with a vacant look as if he didn’t hear Harper at all.

Harper moved her face in front of his and slapped him a few times until she got his attention.

“Is there a trap?” Harper asked again.

“I...I don’t…” Sin stuttered in a confused voice.

“I’ll ask you–” A loud explosion interrupted Harper and caused the cathedral to collapse, engulfing Sin and Harper within it.

Dust and snow flew into the air and the wooden building crumpled.