Cintra, 16th of Suncrest, year 300 UC
It was the first blood moon in five decades. The red moon shone brightly as if it wanted to outshine the numerous stars in the night sky. The citizens of Cintra knew what this meant, heck, everyone on the continent knew what a blood moon signaled. It was a tale passed down from generation to generation. A tale that everyone believed.
A god has been slain.
Somewhere far out of reach from humanity's grasp, a god has been killed. Their blood soaked the moon crimson red for an entire night. That same night the world was silent.
Animals slept until it was over, sensing the changing tides. None wanted to disrespect the god that was slain in fear of angering the god's family, causing them to bring their divine wrath down on anyone who dared to make a peep.
On the continent of Milthur the Holy Empire, and the three kingdoms forbid their citizens from traveling during a blood moon. No one was to be outside. If word got out that someone went against the word of the numerous kings and the empress they would be executed, no questions asked. This was a divine law that no one could break.
That did not stop criminals from making deals in the dead of the night. A blood moon meant the streets would be clear, the guards would be holed up in their barracks, meaning it was prime time for business. They had to be careful, instead of taking any streets that would normally be bustling with people they stuck to the alleys. Some used the underground tunnels to travel the city. No matter what, they could not be seen. If they were and some brave citizen told the guards, an investigation would not even take place.
For any noble that ruled over the commoners, a blood moon brought about a lot of headaches. Neighbors told on one another, rivals accused one another of leaving, and petty disputes would be settled by whoever told the guards first. A god may have died, but many people did as well.
No one was safe.
Yet if you gazed out your window you'd find a figure clad in black. They were difficult to see as if they were trying to blend in with the darkness. However, that made no sense. If that were truly the case then they would not be walking out in the open, down the main street where everyone could spot them. They'd be sticking to the shadows if they were truly trying to stay hidden.
Cintra was known for a lot of things, and they had their fair share of mysterious figures popping up every so often. But none were so brazen to defy the law out in the open for everyone to see.
No one.
The figure was carrying something in their arms, cradling it like a newborn baby that had to be cared for with the gentlest touch. Slowly they made their way down the streets, passing corner after corner until they stopped in front of a building.
The building was wide with with a flight of stairs that led to a brown wooden door. Light could be seen shining inside from the multiple glass windows, and above the doorframe was a wooden eagle with its wings spread wide. The woodwork was incredible and finely detailed but the figure paid none of that any attention.
Kneeling they laid the black-wrapped item they were carrying on the front step. If you paid enough attention you'd notice the object move a little.
Getting up, the figure knocked on the door. Not gently either, the knocking sound was loud enough to wake anyone sleeping within the vicinity. Loud enough that the object on the ground began to move and make sounds. Not just any sound, but it was crying.
Turning the figure fled the scene as if they had just committed a crime. There was turning to look back, they simply vanished behind a corner.
A young woman in her early twenties opened the door slowly. The door creaked as it opened and the light from the inside showed off the features of her face. Blue eyes that seemed to glisten in the night with long brown hair that flowed gently down her back. She wore a white gown that reached her ankles, nothing to note of its design. It was as plain as could be, yet there was beauty in her looks.
Gazing left then right, she saw no one. The crying coming from below alerted her and she saw the pale face of a newborn. Deathly pale at that.
"My goodness! What in the... come here." She said as she picked up the baby. The baby was wrapped in a black cloth protecting it from the cold wind. She shushed the child calming them down as best she could and rocking them in a soothing motion.
"Who would leave you out here? Where did your parents go?" She asked but knew she'd receive no response. The baby couldn't have been more than a month or two old at most. The baby couldn't speak.
"Kelly, who's at the door?" A voice asked from inside.
Kelly, the woman who picked up the baby turned and headed back in. No use in staying out there trying to see something when there was clearly nothing to be seen. Someone dropped this baby off, and now they were nowhere to be seen.
"A baby, a newborn baby." Kelly replied as she closed the door behind her.
The baby after being rocked slowly stopped crying and closed their eyes. The eye color was a bit odd, being red instead of the normal brown, blue, or even green. The child did seem sickly from its skin, so maybe it had some sort of aliment that she didn't know about.
"A baby?" A woman appeared coming from around a corner. She was holding a candle in her hand and wore the same kind of gown as Kelly. Her hair was beginning to gray and she was a bit on the rounder side.
Kelly nodded her head as she lowered the baby's cloth from around their head. The two women gasped.
"What kind of sorcery is this?" The woman asked.
"I've never seen this before. White hair, is that even possible?" Kelly asked as she was just as confused.
The baby had snow-white hair, something that's never been seen before in either of their lives. Even old people had gray hair, but never white. Add in the baby's deathly pale skin and red eyes, the child must be sick.
Gazing out the window, the older larger woman shivered. The moon was red tonight, and now this. Thinking about it made the hairs on the back of her neck stand.
"Get rid of it! This child is cursed, cursed I tell you!"
"What? We can't, we have to take them in. It's our job." Kelly said fighting back against the woman's words. They were caretakers of the orphanage and it was their duty to accept any child seeking or needing shelter.
The older woman wasn't having any of it. She pointed at the window.
"Look outside, this is an omen. Why do you think they dropped the child here? Because they knew! They knew this... this thing would bring nothing but bad luck. Get rid of it before you damn us all!"
"Bertha! You can't be serious."
Bertha was, she was dead serious. She's heard too much, and seen too much to know otherwise. This baby was anything but a bundle of joy. Only misery would await those close to them. Even now, she was refusing to even consider the child as a baby, referring to them as it instead.
"Listen to me Kelly, if you don't get rid of that thing then you'll be cursed. Keep it if you want, but don't expect me or any of the others to look out for it. We'll keep our distance." Bertha said.
She did not wait for Kelly to respond, she said all she had to say and more. If Kelly still chose to keep the thing, then that was on her.
Kelly shook her head, she couldn't abandon a child that was already abandoned. That's not who she was, and the baby wasn't cursed. That was utter nonsense.
Eyeing the baby sleeping soundlessly Kelly smiled softly. They were so cute, she wished she could have one of her own. But she couldn't no matter how much she wanted to.
"Ahh, let's see if you're a boy or a girl." Kelly said excitedly as she began to check. Seconds later she looked at the baby and tilted her head slightly.
"Bryan. Your name will be Bryan."
Cintra, 1st of Suncrest, year 305 UC
He wanted to be just like everyone else, normal. Normal. That word seemed so distant to him, almost foreign. He knew deep down inside that he could never be like them, but that did not stop him from wanting to be accepted by them. Yet, acceptance came at a price. A painful one at that.
On the cold hard ground, he lay, with bruises all over his fragile body. From afar one might believe him to be dead by his deathly pale skin, but he was anything but. His body was still full of vigor, his pale skin was just something he was born with. It was also one of his curses, something that caused him to be shunned by his fellow peers.
“Yay!” Voices shouted from around the deathly pale-skinned young boy.
Those voices were all too familiar to him. Zeke, Millie, Brittney, John, and Dave. The five troublemakers who seemed to never stop having fun. They were normal children, all of whom were under the age of ten. Just like him. Except they were normal, unlike him.
There was that word again. Normal. He wondered what it felt to be… normal.
“We’ve finally slain the demon,” Zeke exclaimed with a grin on his face.
That smug look held a meaning behind it, just like the words he spoke. Demon. Something the deathly pale-skinned young boy was often called by them.
He dreaded it, but to be accepted by them he had to act like he enjoyed the name. After all, how else was one to make friends here in the orphanage?
On the ground, his ears twitched as he heard hurried footsteps.
“You five! What do you think you are doing?” The voice belonged to a woman, clearly older than all five children. From the tone in her voice, one could easily see how worried she was.
Pushing the children aside, she approached the deathly pale-skinned young boy who lay on the ground. Seeing his condition, her eyes watered.
“W-we were… we were just playing…” Brittney said nervously as she looked down towards the ground, while she nibbled on the tip of her thumb’s fingernail.
“Yeah! We were playing heroes and villains!” Zeke added, afraid the woman would harm them.
After checking over the deathly pale-skinned young boy on the ground, the woman stood up from her kneeling position. The glare of her blue eyes told the children that they were in for it.
“Playing? You think harming someone is a game? Look at what you’ve done! Look at him!” Rage filled her voice as she shouted louder than she usually would.
All five kids flinched as she raised her voice. Millie even took a step back, almost tripping over her long dirty white wool skirt.
Every one of them looked at the young boy on the ground. Because of his fragile body and pale skin, the harm they did to him was easy to spot.
“We’re sorry Ms. Kelly! Really, we are. It won’t happen again.” Dave was the oldest of the five so he took the lead and spoke for the group.
“You best believe it won’t happen again,” She snapped. ”If it does, all of you will be kicked out of the orphanage! Do you understand!?” Ms. Kelly was still furious at the children for their behavior. She has never come across anything like it in all ten years of her running this place. This truly was the first time she had witnessed bullying to this extent.
Bullying was not foreign to her, she knew it happened. She knew it was happening to the pale-skinned young boy on the ground and even talked to him about it. She tried, she really did. However, it seems that she needed to try harder.
Hearing those harsh words, the five children were frozen solid, just like a statue. Kicked out? If that happened they would have nowhere to go. The streets were dangerous. Thugs filled them at night time, and scavenging for food would be difficult. In their city, homeless people could be found all over, but no one cared anything about them.
Here though, at the orphanage things were different. They were given food, clothes, a roof over their head, and taught basic education. This was more than they could ever ask for, so why did they almost mess it up?
They all had the same thought appear in their head. Him. It was his fault things escalated to this point. He just had to be different, he just had to approach them. He just had to… he just had to exist!
“You five shall clean the halls, prepare the meals, and clean the dishes all by yourselves. This is strike two, and you don’t want to know what happens if you dare do something like this again.” Ms. Kelly told the children before she turned her back towards them.
Seeing this, the children just stayed there. Silent. Should they leave or should they stay?
Ms. Kelly answered this for them as she turned her head towards them. “Well, what are you waiting for? You know where the rags are!”
Without missing a beat, the five kids rushed off to the old wooden building.
Her slim hands reached down as she caressed the pale-skinned young boy’s white hair. It was soft to the touch and looked beautiful whenever she saw it. Now, it was covered in dirt and blood.
She could not believe this. What caused them to act this way?
“Let our sorrows be washed away.”
A light blue aura wrapped itself around her hand as she gently touched his wounds. While they would not close and heal themselves, he would at least be numb to the pain.
It was moments like these that she wished she were a better mage. Or at least knew higher-tier magic.
Still, it did the trick and the young boy slowly opened his eyes as his face relaxed. That’s when she saw them, his red eyes. His third curse, the second being his white hair.
Whilst she did not fear him, nor think badly of him, the same could not be said for the others. His looks alone caused them to be afraid. Why? Because he was abnormal. No one had white hair. No one had deathly pale skin. No one had red eyes. So why. Why was he born this way?
He was abnormal. Someone who would never be considered normal in the eyes of others. There was a word for people like him. An Outcast. Someone who is cast aside and rejected by their own kind. That was him, and all he would ever be.
Once. Twice. His eyes blinked as he gazed into Ms. Kelly's blue eyes.
"Why? Why did you make them leave?" Pain could be heard from his voice as he asked his question. One that caused Ms. Kelly's heart to tighten.
"Bryan," She spoke as she brushed his white hair back while examining his face. "What do you mean why? I am helping you, trying to save you from harm. Why did you want them to stay? They do not enjoy your company, you know this don't you?"
"B-but they are my friends… we were just playing a game," Bryan said as he cast his gaze towards the ground.
"They aren't your friends. Friends do not harm other friends, those five are using you for their own amusement Bryan. You should leave them be and make other friends." She told him as she raised his head so that she could speak directly to him while looking at his red eyes.
She meant what she said, and she wanted Bryan to understand that.
"But they are the only ones who’ll talk to me. Who want me…"
"That is not true…"
"But it is!" Bryan interrupted her with a shout. "Even my own parents abandoned me."
"We don't know that for sure. They could have had a reason, you never know." Ms. Kelly tried to sound optimistic about his situation, but she could not relate to him.
After all, Bryan has been here since he was a baby. He's never known his father nor mother, and due to his physical traits, he was always alone.
"Then why haven't they shown up huh? Why?" Bryan started to shed tears, not because of the physical pain but due to the emotional ones.
"It's okay Bryan. Everything will be okay. Things will get better, you just have to keep believing." Ms. Kelly told him as she held him in her arms.
He was nothing more than a young boy, only five years old. Yet he was lonely and without love.
She hated this. This helplessness she was feeling. Ms. Kelly could do nothing for him, and had to watch him suffer. Whenever she set up an appointment with prospective parents they dodged Bryan as if he were some kind of plague. No one wanted him because he was different.
The two sat there on the cold hard ground for ten minutes. It took that long for Bryan to finally settle down and get ready to head back inside the orphanage.
Before they went in, however, Ms. Kelly squatted down to Bryan's eye level, "Promise me, Bryan. Promise me that you'll never lower yourself to fit someone else's standards. You are better than that and if they can't accept you for who you are then they are not worth your time." Holding out her hand, Ms. Kelly raised her pinky.
Bryan did not fully comprehend what she was saying, after all, he was only five years old. Still, he nodded his head as he wrapped his pinky around hers.
Smiling, Ms. Kelly patted him on his head before they headed back inside.
The orphanage was old and needed to be fixed up, but they did not have the funds for that. They barely had the funds to feed all the children here. Times were hard and it seems like as more time went on, people began to care less and less about this place.
The wooden walls had holes in them, there was water leaking from the ceiling and a slightly cold draft of wind kept blowing in. The building was not small, but couldn't be considered large either. With ten bedrooms, two bathrooms, and a kitchen they made it work.
Ms. Kelly parted ways with Bryan as she still had some work to do. However, she made a mental note to check up on him once more before the day ended.
As she walked down the hall she entered her office, which used to be a bedroom but she transformed it into an office.
Inside sat a lady with long black hair, clear milky skin, and light blue eyes. Locking eyes with Ms. Kelly, she smiled, "How is he?"
Swiftly Ms. Kelly shut the door and sighed. "How is he? Is that really what you ask me as soon as I see you?" She wanted to wait for a reply, but from the look on her visitor’s face, she already knew the answer. "Damaged. Broken. What more do you want me to say? Things would be easier if you just met him yourself."
"You know I can't do that. Not yet…" The woman replied. "I'm still not ready… I just need a bit more time."
"You make more excuses than anyone I know. He's just like you, isn't that why you picked him? All you have to do is talk to him. Don't tell me you are afraid of a little boy?"
