As if encouraged by the man's will to survive, a very painful memory, the day he was accused of teaching people to write, starts to play out in his mind. The light was very bright that day and he'd been on his way to report to his superior, Lazarus, when two creatures with deep pitted black orbs came up behind him. He turned to see what was the problem when one of them shoved him to the ground. He stayed down as a sinking feeling started to build in the pit of his stomach. Something wasn't right here.
A few moments passed and by now several of the occupants in the slums had gathered. They'd never witnessed a high ranking supplier forced to kneel in the gravel. Nobody said a word until his own superior appeared followed by a petite dark cloaked creature with glowing ember eyes.
The kneeling man, Caspian, keeps is head down as far as possible to shield his crimson eyes from the harsh light. He has a growing suspicion for what's to come but refuses to voice anything. A small, strangled cry catches his attention and he looks up locking eyes with his six year old daughter; they have the same disease of crimson eyes, white hair, and a see through complexation. He gives his daughter what he hopes is a reassuring smile as his superior stops in front of him. The blood in his veins runs cold when the cloaked creature with ember eyes forces his head up to look at her, "Senior Supplier, Caspian Lynn, you are accused of the following criminal activity, educational teaching to write. Judging from your history to scrape by in following the rules provided you will never see the light again."
He had never done such a thing in his life but that didn't matter, the decision was already made. All energy and will power was knocked out of him at her words. He couldn't believe what he was hearing and he didn't understand either, he didn't even know how to write, none of them did. As the two creatures forced him to his feet, he locked eyes with his superior, in hopes that the truth would be revealed but nothing happened. Lowering his head as to not look at anyone he succumbed to being shoved and pushed toward where all criminals were kept. It was a small, cold, and damp concrete room that couldn't hold near as many people as it currently had.
When Caspian reached the small place he was forced to watch as two people where pulled out and shoved in front of the ember eyed woman. She made each of them look up at her and after a few seconds a blood curdling scream escaped both their lips. He stared in horror as two new black eyed creatures appeared to come up out of the prisoners and split their bodies in half. Is this how all of them came to be?
Reality strikes like a feeding ember eyed creature as he comes to realize he's not going to back. They brought him to his daughter who is in the most dangerous professions for humans, enforcer. He chokes back a quiet sob as he no longer worries for his safety but for hers. Then he hears the sharp quick steps of his former superior approaching and holds his breath when the door to the wretched home is pushed open.
The moment, Lazarus, sees the battered man laying helpless on the floor he panics. He goes into silent hysteria and quickly backs out of the room. As he shuts the door another creature with the same black eyes as his steps closer. For a few seconds there is a tensely gut retching feeling that washings over him . He hasn't been able to feel anything in a very long time so the wave of sudden emotion takes him back. A long time ago he was human although it was much different than the way life is now. Back then they had no idea the creatures existed and when they finally got told, humans made a decision that cost them greatly.
Lazarus and the creature beside him turn and begin to make it back where they'd come. As they walked a buried memory starts to play out in his mind. Something that his maker, Celest, thought she'd been able to get rid of. As he continued walking it seemed to, Lazarus, that his memory was becoming a little to real; the smell of fresh rain, waves up at a young man, walking back to his apartment in the city. It's the middle of the night, but that didn't mean much, as a majority of people tended to come out when the dry, summer heat, had cooled down. Everyone he'd met was talking about the increasing number of attacks made by those dangerous ember eyed monsters. Half of the people in his building were terrified to get out of their homes while the other half wanted to go after the monsters. He just wanted to stay out of it.
He was nearing his building when an overwhelming sense of fear swept over him and like a fool he looked back. Standing eye to eye with him was a equally beautiful and terrifying ember eyed woman. She stalked toward him like a lion hunting prey; her slender fingers the only other thing visible beneath her dark cloak. It didn't take long for the small gap between them to close, and when it did he noticed, two pair of gleaming, porcelain, pointed teeth, barely hidden in her twisted smile. She said something in a language he couldn't understand before pain shut through his entire body like a white hot branding iron.
This was a night he would never forget, and even though in that moment, he'd wished for death, he would soon wake up with a fate much worse. His once crystal blue eyes would become pitch black orbs, and all his memories would be wiped clean. At least that's what it seemed. Except that memory hadn't disappeared, it had only been buried, for almost twenty nine thousand moons it had been hidden.