In a green field, a mansion sat on a hill. The mansion was huge, it was beautiful.
Running through the grass beside such a large structure, a young child with black hair and emerald eyes played under the watchful eyes of maids and servants.
"Young master! Don't go too far out! The master and mistress forbade it!"
The child ignored the servants' pleas; he headed further and further. He soon neared the edge of the field. Before the brave child was a dark and eerie forest.
"I'm a knight! I'm not scared of some forest! Onward!"
The child gave a battle cry and ran inside the lush foliage. His figure vanishing in the underbrush.
Inside the forest, sounds came from all directions. It disoriented the young lord. Crickets came from his right, rustling from his left.
As he walked, the child's courage became ever more distant. He began to shiver; he began to feel afraid.
"Katrina! Rosalind! Varick! I want to go back to the mansion! ...Guys?"
The child spun around looking for his servants, but doing so made him even more lost. It didn't take long for the child to scrunch up; he held his knees to his chest while silently whimpering.
'Dad...mom.....is anyone here? I want to go home...'
Time went by, the child soon heard rustling next to him. His heart stopped, and fear reached its peak.
Through the bushes, a bear came out. It locked onto the child, licking its lips.
"D-Don't come any closer! I warn you!"
The boy's words seemed filled with heroism, but he covered his face and backed away while doing so. The child found his back against a tree with a hungry beast in front of him.
"No, stop! I give up! Don't eat me! I just want to go home!"
The beast opened its jaws, saliva dripping from its mouth. Opening wider and wider, the beast was mere moments away from crushing the child's skull.
Suddenly, the forest became engulfed in flames; they seemed alive, converging on the grizzly mammal like whips and turning the beast to ashes.
As fast as it appeared, the fire receded and extinguished, leaving the greenery untouched.
"Father!"
Appearing before the child, a man with short black and sparkling green eyes came to the rescue. It was the boy's father.
"Kain! What are you doing out here? Your mother and I were worried to death!"
Kain's eyes became watery, his father's anger frightening him, "I-I...."
"Ah, it doesn't matter, as long as you're safe. That's all that matters. Don't get upset; you're not in trouble."
His father crouched and hugged his son; they were soon fused with flames and once again were at the mansion.
"Young master! Are you okay!" The servants huddled around Kain.
His father spoke for him, "He is; I will be taking him inside. Return to your duties and I thank you for informing me."
"Of course my Lord, we would've gone after him ourselves if you hadn't forbidden going into the forest!" They heaved sighs of relief.
Kain was taken by his father and entered the mansion. Instead of going to meet his mother, his father took him far below the earth.
"Father, where are we going?" Kain's voice held a hint of fear.
"Don't worry; I am going to show you something, something that will fill you with courage."
Entering an underground place, Kain saw many different rooms, many of which were blocked by locked doors. Eventually, he was in a circular room with portraits of different people; they all had black hair and green eyes.
His father spoke, "Kain, my son. This is the hall of family heads. In this place, the portraits of our most decorated leaders are left to be eternally remembered. I will soon have my portrait up here, and one day, so will you.
"I have not brought you here for no reason. I have done so to give you an invaluable lesson and a blessing. As I've told you once before, our family are rulers of fire.
"Fire is alive, and in the hands of humans, it is used unnaturally, but we have far surpassed that. Ever since Manus created us Humans, our family was blessed with control over the flame. We are the monarchs of the ancient ways, the last practitioners of Manus's teachings."
Kain stared at the portraits; he felt like they were alive, that they were staring at him with warm smiles.
"One day I will teach you how to control fire, but before that, you must learn our family's most ancient rule."
His father's eyes became cold, yet within that chilling coldness was a bright flame that sparked something inside Cain's heart.
"You must never succumb; you must never give up under any circumstance. This rule has helped us survive and thrive. It is a law that we as firekeepers must follow. Giving up is a weakness, one that fire will never allow. The kindling of flames resides in our hearts and our hearts hold our courage and will.
"Under no circumstances shall you give up this gift. To make sure that you do, our ancestors created a spell that protects you from this. Many mages and sorcerers use mental manipulation to destroy our hearts; such countermeasures are needed. Accept the gift and blessing; let yourself never falter, let your will remain unshakable!"
It was then the portraits seemed to come alive; their eyes turned scarlet as fire erupted from their surface and embers magically drifted towards Kain. As they touched his skin, Kain didn't feel anything; the embers then seeped into his skull and disappeared.
Everything went white once more.
...
"NO!!"
Cain was calling out to his other self. The white mist had converged, and the detonation couldn't be stopped.
Suddenly, from deep within their soul, a flame erupted!
Cain opened his eyes; he found his body engulfed in a raging inferno that extinguished the mist and concentrated the haywire energy. Pointing the energy below, the flames shot out, destroying the floor of the Palace!
Its speed transcended sense, and the flames of orange and white crashed against an invisible wall before breaking it like glass! Traveling a little more down before exploding into an array of fireworks of white, yellow, red, and orange!
'What.....just....how did it destroy the invisible barrier? That should be impossible! Why didn't the Dream Lord do anything!?'
Looking over, Cain realized his other self failed in his suicide and was unconscious, not dead. Cain slowed his pace to look at the gaping hole in the floor.
'Such power....it came from our soul? I'm so confused!'
Walking before his unconscious other half, Cain's eyes lingered before they became crazed.
"Hehehe...Hahaha! This is my chance! Don't worry my other self, you will no longer be tainted by terrible memories. For that matter, you won't have many memories left! Perhaps, I will become whole once more!"
Ever since the two became more independent, certain memories became under the ownership of one or the other. Cain with the red half, of course, encompassed all the "bad" memories, while his other self got all the "good" ones.
"Ownership" was nothing more than allowing the two to distinguish themselves, but it also allowed them to understand who they were and become from there. Without memories, there was no Cain, because Cain was made by his experiences and if they were taken, it would be just like when he first entered the Landfill.
What Cain was doing now was entering their memories and switching them. To be specific, the memories of his other self-killing people. But...he wouldn't be doing just that.
Touching his other self's green forehead, Cain semi-entered their subconscious.
'Damn, everything is scorched. Is it due to that fire? Idiot, of course, it is.' Even alone, Cain thought to himself, not caring to scold his stupidity.
It didn't take long for him to find the memories of the killings. He moved them over to his half of their shared soul.
While reaching the border, he saw a strange memory of a green field and a forest. It then transitioned into a basement.
'This.....this is our home? Father...'
Cain became silent; he was at a loss for a moment. But his work was done and he quickly exited their subconscious.
Now, Cain could say he had 80% of all memories of the real Cain, if he were to look at his other self's side, it would be barren of the lights that represent their life.
'Well, the bastard's right, by the time we ended up in Netherane, our family was already gone. Hah....what I just saw, the territory we're home to is by no means weak.....Fragment World of Manus....'
'Manus....'
Cain gained some important information, but he also gained more questions. But for now, they weren't needed; he finished his work. The other Cain would eventually wake up none the wiser, good as new.
Well...new would be a stretch. A better word would be...repurposed, a puppet? No, simply a seed that has yet to grow. But when the seed fully sprouted, that would be the day the two would become one again, it would be the day Cain would be waiting for the most.
'Unfortunately, even If I do this much I'll still have to do some manipulating. I'll have to subjugate him to go through the things I went through. Once he becomes similar to me, the fusion will commence!
Standing back up, he moved his other self to a corner.
'Now, time to fight the guy in charge...'
Cain wasn't in a good mood anymore, but he still knew what he had to do.
With bitterness, he opened the door to meet the Dream Lord.
Soon, the Dream would end.
Soon, this prison would have a new Gatherer.