The dank room was awfully quiet because although the various beaten slaves were in tremendous pain and wanted to cry their hearts out, every time they looked at the mangled body across the room they would feel a bit better about themselves.

Simon looked miserable as he watched drips of blood splatter the rusty metal floor of Jonas’ cage. It had been a few hours since Jonas had been brought back half-dead, and the rat-faced man knew that if his new friend was going to survive, his body made of Sin needed to start repairing itself but truthfully he had never seen a person recover from such a beating, and he wasn’t even sure if it was possible.

It seemed that some of the smaller wounds had already begun to repair themselves, but the hole in Jonas’ skull seemed to be just as disgusting and gaping as it had been when he had first arrived.

“Come on, Jonas,” he would whisper occasionally as if he could convince the boy to awaken from his coma, “Don’t forget about your brother, he needs you.”

Jonas was unaware of anything that was happening to him for he was lost in a dream that he could only describe as abnormally strange because it felt like he existed in an alternate reality.

He was standing in a room filled with infinite darkness, yet he could still see himself because a dim crimson star was shining light around him, illuminating his nearest surroundings. Jonas looked down and he noticed that he was standing barefoot in a bloody sea, and he realized that the scene seemed familiar.

“Where am I?” he spoke aloud, and yet his voice did not echo. He took a few steps, heard the sound of splashing blood, and realized that he wasn’t dreaming, at least this wasn’t like any dream he had before. No matter what direction he walked in he found that there was no end nor goal in sight. Part of him felt like he had been walking in the room of blood for all of eternity, but part of him also knew that he had only been there for just a short time.

For a moment, Jonas felt fear. He took a steadying breath and stared up at the crimson star and found that it relaxed him. This room, the bloody sea, and the crimson star were not here to hurt him, he could feel it in his heart.

Sometimes, when he strained his ears in the darkness he would hear a whisper, and although it was slightly creepy he couldn’t help but feel that the worst part was not the voice, but the feeling like someone was watching him. Rather depressed at his situation, Jonas began to question what was happening to himself, until he abruptly recalled being mercilessly beaten by Garth. Jonas bit his lip in frustration as he slowly realized that he had died once more. His heart began to hurt as felt the severity of his situation, he was going to lose all his memories and his sense of self. He was going to forget about his brother, he would never see Drake ever again.

Tears began to build up within the corner of his eyes, and they rolled down his cheek and dripped off his chin and into the sea of blood beneath him. A small whimper of sadness was released from his mouth, and Jonas hit his knees as blood splashed all around, “Drake…” he cried, “I’m so, so, sorry. I fucked up big time. You have a stupid little brother, a stupid useless, good-for-nothing younger brother,” and as he spoke more tears continued to pour and he cried harder than he had in over a decade.

Jonas knew it was over. It was his fault for being so stupid. He wasn’t meant for Hell, he wasn’t strong enough, he wasn’t like Drake. He was narcissistic, egotistical, and quite frankly, had a huge death wish. His brother was calm, stoic, and brave. Drake never let his emotions get the better of himself, and he almost always had a solution to any problem.

Jonas knew that he had relied too much on his big brother, he had been too privileged to know what it was like to be truly responsible for himself, he never had to because Drake had always taken responsibility for him. Jonas wiped the tears from his eyes and he smeared his face in blood as he did so. The blood was so warm and relaxing, that Jonas couldn’t help but lay on his back and float within it. He stared up into the dark sky, and let his eyes roam towards the dimly twinkling crimson star.

He wanted another chance at life, to go back and to make things right with his brother, but he didn’t see how. The crimson star twinkled, and Jonas winked back at it. Then it twinkled once more, and he realized that the star seemed to be growing brighter by the second, it was probably twice as bright as when he had first found himself in the room of blood.

As time passed the star continued to grow brighter, and Jonas realized that it wasn’t just getting brighter, the star was getting closer to him. It was so close that he could start to make out a shape, and it wasn’t a star, but the shape of a crimson cross. He stretched his hand upward and he caught the cross in his hand.

However, as soon as he opened his hand he realized that the cross had vanished and instead a faint red glow began to radiate from the back of his hand, ‘That’s a Sin Scar!’ and as his eyes trailed over his left hand, he was extremely shocked to see that it too had a faint cross-shaped symbol. Although he had died, Jonas had successfully unlocked his Cardinal Sin. It was Pride. Jonas was a Crusader.

“So they’ve finally appeared,” a cold voice broke through the darkness, and it shocked Jonas out of his excitement. He jumped up and whirled around, and he felt the pounding of his heart, and the staggering of his breath as anxiety and dread crept across his body in the form of goosebumps.

“Who are you?” Jonas demanded, “Show yourself!”

“Terrified?” the voice chuckled, “It’s not me you should fear.”

“I can’t see you,” Jonas said, “So stop cowering in the shadows and show me your face,” and although he wasn’t sure his chiding would work, he was surprised when the voice agreed.

“Very well,” it said, “I’ve been waiting an awfully long time to speak to you. That seal is almost broken, just enough where I can finally communicate with you properly,” and from the corner of his eyes, Jonas watched as a shadowy figure stepped into his vision.

At first, the shadowy figure seemed to be formless, but as soon as Jonas’ eyes adjusted to the strange phenomenon, he realized that it was human in shape, and its outline looked vaguely familiar.

“Are you some kind of demon?” Jonas tried to make out facial features, but the dark shadow had none and looked more like a mannequin that had been entirely painted black.

“You don’t recognize me?” the voice seemed displeased, “And here I thought that maybe your memories had finally recovered. You know, all these beatings you keep taking have been doing wonders for the seal,” Jonas felt rather frustrated, and although he was still a bit terrified, it seemed like the talking shadow was dancing around his questions on purpose.

“Stop playing games with me,” Jonas was at the point where he would rather just not talk to the shadow at all, “Who are you, and why are you here?”

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“Call me Pride,” said Pride, “And I’m here now because I live here.”

“Pride?” Jonas asked in a whisper, “You mean the Sin?”

“Exactly what I mean,” Pride chuckled, “Your Sin Scars have finally revealed themselves, and I can finally speak to you. The seal is almost undone.”

“What seal are you going on about?”

“You had a seal placed inside your body, and it was designed to hide things,” Pride explained, “Ever since you got to Hell it has slowly started to unravel, and it seems that the last beating you took really helped break it down.”

“Who put it there, and what was it hiding?” Jonas asked, he felt rather skeptical.

“I can’t say who, because I don’t know myself,” Pride freely admitted, “But I do know that the seal was intended to hide memories, power, and me in particular.”

“Is that why I can’t see you properly?” Jonas asked, “Because this seal isn’t fully undone.”

“An astute observation,” Pride said, “It’s almost there though, I can feel it on the verge of breaking. Whoever created the seal never intended for it to last forever, and they probably wanted it to organically break down as you entered Hell and slowly became accustomed to the environment.”

“Is this normal then?” Jonas asked, “I mean, everything that’s happening right now, is this what normally happens when someone awakens their Sin Scars?”

“This isn’t normally how it goes,” Pride shook his head, “Most Sinners will be able to sense their Sin and perhaps understand its nature, but to enter a world filled with your power, and to speak to it so plainly, this is something that is reserved for extremely unique individuals.”

“Why can we talk then?” Jonas tried once more, “What are you exactly?” and Pride went silent for a moment as he considered his answer.

“I am the manifestation of your powers, a grotesque child born from great Sin that mingled with a piece of a fractured psyche. I am a Sin Shadow, a living reflection of you.”

“A reflection of me?” Looking closely, Jonas did find that the shape of Pride was very similar to his own, “What do you mean when you say a fractured psyche?”

“The constant manipulations of your memories, combined with the traumas you’ve experienced,” said Pride, “It was too much for a child to handle, and thus I was born from within the chaos,” and it was Jonas’ turn to become silent as he contemplated the strange being in front of him.

“Why me?” Jonas still couldn’t get to the crux of the problem. It didn’t make sense for someone as insignificant as himself to have manipulated memories, or a strange seal to contain powers he never knew he had.

“You’re special,” Pride chose his words carefully, “Perhaps even chosen. I have seen every single memory that you’ve ever made, and from them, I can tell that nothing about you is ordinary, at all.”

“It must be a mistake,” Jonas denied it at once, “I’m just some shitty orphan from Kansas, if you truly do have access to all my memories, you’ll be able to see that,” and although it hurt slightly to admit that about himself, Jonas knew that there was no point in getting his hopes up on the off chance he was someone special.

“Just an orphan from Kansas?” Pride chuckled, “Okay, Jonas, although the seal hasn’t finished breaking, I do have enough power in me to show you something rather interesting,” he added, “But only if you want to see it.”

“Show me,” Jonas agreed almost immediately, and although he didn’t trust the creature known as Pride, he couldn’t help but give in to the temptation of learning the secrets around his mysteriously manipulated memories.

“Very well,” said Pride, “Let me bring you to our very first memory, the earliest one that I can access with my power,” and then Pride slashed his hand across the darkness, and the infinite abyss and the bloody sea began to change their form.

Bright colors started to appear, and shapes were formed from the fabrics of shadow, and it wasn’t long before Jonas was blinking his eyes stupidly, trying to understand what he was witnessing.

He was standing on the sidewalk of a quiet street that was surrounded by brick buildings. The sky was blue, the clouds were white and fluffy, and the yellow sun in the sky told Jonas that he was no longer in Hell, but back on Earth.

He stretched out his hand and curled his fingers, and when he turned his head he noticed that the familiar shadowy figure of Pride was standing next to him.

“Where are we?” Jonas asked as he took in the scenery with bated breath.

“Kansas,” Pride mumbled, “Look at that building across the street,” and Jonas did as he was told. Directly across from them was a very large three-story building that seemed rather rundown and insignificant, but when Jonas read the old wooden sign that was plastered above the door, his body shook.

“Saint Michael’s Orphanage,” Jonas read quietly, “This was the first place me and Drake were sent to after our parents died.”

“It’s also where our very first memory begins,” Pride said while crossing his arms.

“How is that possible?” Jonas made a strange face, “I can remember things before this moment, I remember going to Sunday school, and laughing with my parents, and hell, I even recall some blurry memories from Kindergarten.”

“This,” said Pride rather forcefully, “This is where our very first real memory begins. Everything before this is fake, I’ve determined it myself.”

“Don’t bullshit me,” Jonas was feeling rather ill, “You can’t just implant an entire childhood of fake memories into someone.”

“Oh, and you would know that how?” Pride chided, “Trust me, Jonas, this is our very first memory, and it’s where our mystery begins,” he added, “Just watch for a moment,” Jonas wanted to protest but instead, he focused on the orphanage.

“What am I supposed to be looking for?” he asked.

“You’ll see,” said Pride, “Follow me,” Pride began to cross the street, and Jonas quickly followed after him. Arriving at the doorstep of the orphanage, Jonas began looking up and down the street, but he didn’t see anything that he would call significant.

“Here we go,” said Pride and he pointed to a spot on the front steps, just outside of the entrance door. Jonas was just about to voice his displeasure when suddenly something abnormal happened.

As if they had materialized out of thin air, two children stood exactly where Pride had just pointed. One of the children was much taller, and he had pale skin, black hair, and deep black eyes, and Jonas recognized him instantly.

“Drake!” he said rather loudly, but looking at the child next to Drake, Jonas was even more shocked to come face to face with a miniature version of himself. For a second the two children just stood dazedly outside of the orphanage doors, Jonas could have sworn that their eyes almost looked lifeless.

A moment passed and the two boys finally stirred from their stupor, and they immediately looked at each other with some confusion, and it was little Jonas who spoke first.

“Drakey, where’s mommy and daddy?” The miniature Drake blinked his dark eyes heavily as he tried to understand what was happening.

“They died and went to Heaven,” Drake said rather dully, “We’re going to live here now,” and then the older brother stretched out his hand and grasped the small tender hand of his little brother. The door of the orphanage was pulled open by young Drake, and then the door closed behind the two boys, removing them from sight.

“What…” Jonas was in disbelief, “What just happened?”

“I told you it was interesting,” Pride laughed, and then he clapped his hands and the buildings began to fall apart, the sky turned black, and the golden sun became a glowing red star in the distance. Jonas was back in that infinite darkness where he had started, and Pride was standing in front of him.

“I don’t understand what I just saw?” Jonas felt rather empty, “That entire memory didn’t make any sense.”

“Two boys materializing out of thin air?” Pride smirked, “That didn’t make any sense to you?”

“How did we get to the orphanage?” Jonas asked, “I always thought the police brought us there, and our ages,” he added, “Why are we so young in that memory, our parents died when I was eight, and yet in that memory, I couldn’t have been older than three.”

“I don’t know how we got to the orphanage,” Pride laughed, “However, I do know that no policemen dropped us off,” and he added, “I tried to tell you before, that our memories had been manipulated, do you believe me now?”