Somewhere in the world...
In the particular street...
A muffled sound echoed in the dark alley.
In the far and inconspicuous corner of that dark alley, behind the cover of nasty curtains...
Three men were passionately beating down a small figure.
"Ghh..." the figure let out a pained sound, but the men didn't care as looks of frenzy was on their faces.
"Fucking mutt!" one of the men furiously said as he swung his leg right into the abdomen of the child and launched him into the wall.
"Heh" another man snorted as he caught the child as an open-hand slap landed right onto the ear of the miserable kid.
A painful ringing sound echoed in the kid's ears as he felt dizzy.
The third man also didn't leave himself out of the fun as he smacked the child's hands with his bulky hands.
The child let out yet another groan as the skin on his hands sizzled with burning red color, faint traces of blood leaked from the damaged area as the red tint slowly turned bluish.
Nevertheless, the kid didn't care as he madly dived towards the half-eaten piece of bread that was smacked out of his hands.
"Hah, you wish!" the bulky man snickered as his leg stomped onto the dirty piece of bread.
The muscular leg landed onto the bread...
Stomping a little hand alongside it...
"Ahh!" the kid screamed in pain as he felt his fingers break.
"Pfft-, hahaha" the other men couldn't help but laugh out loud at the hilarity of the situation.
Despite all the dire circumstances, the kid didn't give up as he tried to wiggle his mangled fingers under the heavy foot of the bulky man to reach the piece of bread that had already been half-turned into mush.
Seeing this, the laughter of the men bolstered in volume as one of them even slapped his thigh while holding his stomach.
"What a persistent brat" the bulky man commented as he lifted his foot and revealed the nasty mess beneath his feet.
The kid's eyes lit up as he pushed his mangled hand towards the crushed bread.
Yet, he failed to notice the devious smile that appeared on the bulky men's face as he raised the same dirty foot and stomped at the head of the little boy.
The boy's face became imprinted on the muddy ground as the pressure threatened to fracture his skull.
"Ey, Juo! Let's get going, we already wasted quite a lot of time on this brat" one of the men called out with a bored expression.
The bulky man called Juo raised his head as he still had that viscous smile on his face.
"Okay" he said smilingly as he increased the power behind the stomp as the kid's skull was seconds away from a fracture.
But the man didn't go too far since they wanted to have 'fun' with the kid later on.
He lifted his foot as he and the other men walked out of the dark alley as they disappeared from the battered kid's view.
The kid could barely keep his eyes open as his mind was about to fade out.
Yet, before he could pass out, he extended his broken hand over the dirty mush as he scooped the stomped bread alongside mud that came with it. But he didn't care as he neared it to his mouth while his broken hand trembled wildly.
Unfortunately, the lights went out right when he was about to take a bite as he nose dived into the ground once again.
-----
Several hours later...
"Ugh..." a groan resounded amidst the darkness as clarity slowly returned to the boy's mind.
The boy slowly opened his eyes as light gradually peered into his dark colored irises.
But a sight that he didn't expect unfolded in his view.
He lay atop a comfortable bed as white bandages covered his bruised fingers. Sun shone as enchanting view of towering buildings could be seen through the windows
"Wha-" he tried to utter words but a light cough followed after, making it rather a difficult task.
"You are awake" a female voice resounded from his side as a figure slowly approached his bed.
He turned his head around as a shattering pain assaulted his entirety.
"Don't move!" the woman said as she now stood beside the bed.
"Whe-" the boy tried to inquire about his location but a finger shushed his lips.
"Don't speak!" the woman gently reminded to him as she removed her finger from his cracked lips.
The boy was little unwilling but he decided to not speak anymore since he suddenly appeared in an unfamiliar place.
"That's better" the woman said with a smile.
"My name is Cassia and you are currently under the care of Church of Light" the woman stated.
The look of understanding appeared on the boy's face. The Church of Light was said to follow and uphold the principles of the God of Light.
The Church is even said to have existed for so long to the point of forgetting their god's true name.
"We understand that to this point you have lives a very harsh life. But fret not as we are willing to accept you into the church as long as you swear to follow our god" Cassia offered the little boy a way out of his grim existence.
The boy became hesitant, he understood that this might be the only chance for him to save himself from the cruelty of the streets.
Silence reigned over the room for a while until the boy's eyes lit up with determination.
"If it means I survive...I accept!"