"THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!"

Zenon stared at the cold body lying in front of him, unable to take his eyes away. The red liquid slowly made its way between his toes, sending chills all over his body as cold sweat ran down his forehead.

His heartbeats started increasing, and a slow but steady sting struck Zenon with each beat. His breathing felt irregular... raspy.

"IF- IF ONLY YOU-!"

Her long black hair covered her open eyes and mouth, blood oozing from the latter. Her fingers occasionally twitched, making the little boy's eyes widen as he repeatedly muttered,

"Mom?"

She had a deep cut on her throat and her body was stabbed… multiple times. Zenon lost count after thirteen.

"IF ONLY YOU WERE BORN NORMAL! IF ONLY YOU WERE BORN LIKE EVERYBODY FUCKING ELSE, HE WOULDN'T BE SEARCHING US!"

The boy kneeled, ignoring the man in front of him carrying that knife. He shook her mom's body, tears running down his cheeks as he tried waking her up.

At some point, the heavy breathing ceased and instead turned into gags. Zenon looked up. His eyes widened as he saw the same man stab the knife into his throat.

Tears began flowing, his fingers started trembling, he felt like puking…

"Dad?"

His dad took the knife out while cutting his throat clean, sending droplets of blood all over the little kid's face. He looked at Zenon for the last time and said, "If only… nor… mal..."

Losing balance, Zenon could only watch how the man slowly fell right on top of h-

—

"Agh!"

Zenon gasped for air, trying to get rid of the fear and guilt assaulting his entire being.

His back and hair were drenched in sweat, and his fingers trembled uncontrollably. Slowly, the sun started rising over his broken window, splashing that sweet sunlight all over his face.

'Fucking hell...'

Subconsciously closing his eyes, Zenon left his bed and walked towards the bathroom.

His body was still trembling but falling asleep after that nightmare was nearly impossible. Also, his bed was drenched in sweat and Zenon wasn't willing to put his ass back there.

Cleaning his eyes, Zenon looked at himself in the mirror and chuckled as he always did. His black hair was extremely dirty and greasy but still held itself just fine.

He had a purple bruise on his cheek, probably from that fight three days ago. Zenon left the bathroom and took his digital clock.

[December 31, 2475]

"Guess I'm turning eighteen today… never thought I'd die on my birthday."

Some people would feel distressed, or even panic when they hear the date of their death. So many things would be left undone. You'll never travel to the island you always wanted to, you'll never become as popular as you ever desired…

Zenon however, couldn't feel anything but a strange sensation of relief and sadness. Sure, dying at such a young age was something he never desired. But, was living the way he did any different from being dead?

Waking up, cleaning his face, eating almost nothing, bearing with all the daily insults from being a Carrier, going to a school that gave zero shits about him, trying to survive, going back to his apartment, and rinse and repeat.

Over and over again, for the last ten years since his parents died. Well, die isn't the right word here. His mother got murdered by his own dad who then took his life in front of him.

That's the definition of a fucked up life.

"Well, if I'm going away today… I'll go away with style."

Zenon got a sealed metallic box from under the bed. He opened it every month to make sure its contents didn't disappear out of the blue but nothing else, it remained hidden and locked for at least ten years.

Inputting the usual seven-code password, the box opened, revealing a black hoodie with droplets of blood and green military-like trousers. Getting them out, Zenon spent no time putting both of them on.

He looked at himself in the mirror for a while and said, "I couldn't give you two a proper burial, so I think this is my way to die alongside you. Sorry for all the trouble."

His dad's hoodie and his mother's trousers. The last thing he salvaged before those Enlighteneds took him away from that damned house.

*Knock, knock!*

Looking at the door, Zenon took a deep breath and walked towards it.

He stopped right in front of the door - to stare at it for a second - not even bothering to look at what was outside of his door. He grasped the handle, turned it, and opened the door entirely.

There, two men in black suits with demon masks - covered in flames - remained still, both of their hands in front of them in a professional stance. Zenon chuckled and said,

"Damn… two Fire Keepers? I didn't know I was that popular. Does Fire send his regards with some sweets or something?"

The men remained silent, looking at the boy in front of them. After some seconds, one of them coughed and said with a stern tone,

"I believe you know what is happening today, so let's not bother ourselves with explanations. Zenon, carrier of the Void Element, come with us."

Zenon stood here, his hand still grasping the door's handle. He looked back and gave one last look at his apartment, the place where he resided for ten years, and just sighed.

Letting go, Zenon began walking, following both masked men.

These people right here, the Fire Keepers, are part of the strongest Faction in the entire world. The Fire Faction.

And since they are the strongest Faction, they had to take care of most problems and anomalies such as Zenon.

Climbing down the stairs, Zenon was surprised to see all the people gathered around a red, expensive car.

But they weren't looking at the car - something extremely expensive for the place it was parked in - but rather at the boy escorted by those Fire Keepers.

"Go away already Void Carrier!"

"Finally he is leaving…"

"Do you think he is getting burned or drowned, I'm going with the latter."

Zenon chuckled while hearing all the insults and death threats being sent to him. All of this was just because he was a mere Carrier and nothing else. Seems like belonging to an Element that doesn't have a Faction is pretty harsh.

The moment he reached the car most of the mumbling turned into shouting. He even had a rock thrown at his head.

Luckily, these past ten years were filled with gang fights that he sometimes won and sometimes didn't, so he just grabbed it mid-air and threw it back, hitting the woman right on the cheek.

Zenon quickly got inside the car in an attempt to avoid all the people ganging up around it. At some point, the Fire Keepers had to push a red button to heat the car body so that people won't touch it. They ignited the engine and started moving.

Zenon looked back and saw the crowd becoming smaller and smaller. He gave a last wave and got comfortable in between the seats. There was a thick glass with some holes separating the back of the car and the front, so it's not like Zenon could do anything in an attempt to escape.

"So, what now? Are you going to launch the car down a cliff? Perhaps a public execution? I still don't get what's the big deal of belonging to an inexistent Faction."

One of the Fire Keepers shifted a bit to look at him and said, "It's not about the Void Faction not existing, but rather the blood you are carrying."

Zenon raised both eyebrows as he rested his chin on a knee. Just before he was able to ask again, the Fire Keeper said, "You are dangerous, and Fire won't let a Void Carrier mess with his pla-"

The other Fire Keeper punched his companion on the shoulder, making him shut his mouth. Zenon laughed at this, not even attempting to hide it.

"Laugh all you want, we'd have killed you if scumbags like you weren't protected until you turned eighteen. Dammed arrogant."

Filled with humiliation, the other Fire Keeper pressed a green button in front of him, sealing the glass and letting a greenish gas fill Zenon's vision and nostrils.

His eyes felt heavy as his head slowly dropped. He slowly lost touch with the world around him.

"Oh… that's not… fair…"

—

'It… hurts?'

Zenon slowly opened his eyes. His body felt heavy, pained as if a million razors wrapped around his body and tighten over and over again. His chest in particular was burning like crazy.

After opening his eyes, he found the same car he was inside a few moments ago wrapped in lighting. It was so intense that his eyes almost burnt from the sparks appearing all around the bodywork.

Trying to get up, Zenon had to muffle a scream due to the sudden pain coming from his right thigh. He peeked at it and saw a piece of metal deep inside, with blood leaking out.

Not only that but his head was also being assaulted by a piercing pain. That's when he realized that part of his vision was tinted red as blood ran down his forehead and left eye.

Was he really going to die this way?

Suddenly, a white bird appeared in front of him. It was as small as a parrot yet the number of white feathers around his body was nothing usual.

Even his beak was white. Zenon looked in front of him, and a woman was seen running toward him.

Closing his left eye, Zenon noticed her unusual white and turquoise hair. She was wearing white metal armor and a white neck warmer that covered her mouth and nose, leaving her green eyes in the open.

The second, she kneeled beside him, she grasped the metal plate tightly and ripped it off clean.

"Ag-!"

The girl covered his mouth forcefully and said, "Don't scream. More people means more problems, Void Carrier."

The bird put both of his wings on top of the deep wound and white particles began dropping from his feathers, soothing the pain and making Zenon somewhat drowsy due to the sudden disappearance of the pain.

Before he could fall asleep, the girl said,

"I hope you live up to the expectations."