Like I said, I had survived a harsh start in life and somehow, my baby self landed in an orphanage.
That was how I met Cassie since we came to practically grow up together.
Cassandra, like myself, was also abandoned without a family name. Thus, like every child in that orphanage we took the same family name.
We took the alleged family name of our Orphanage Matron—Enstar.
Cassandra Enstar and Luxane Enstar, we answered officially… not knowing any other name.
…Not even the ones we were given at birth, if we were even given any, that is.
Even with all the hate in my heart toward the world, Cassandra managed to bring some form of peace to me.
A little light in my dark world.
I never really got to figure it out. How she could smile at the world despite her suffering.
It never really made sense to me.
One might think that our lives got better because we had a roof over our heads at the orphanage.
Mayhaps, they might also think we had three square meals everyday or experienced something that would be similar to a normal childhood since we were at an orphanage.
Pfft! Jokes. Silly ones at that.
Sadly, that was very far from the truth.
The orphanage that I had grown up in was one where child labour abounded the day you turn seven or earlier if you showed an even greater potential like Jeremy.
We were subjected to intense labour and training to become Freelance Hunters who worked for the Enstar Family.
…We were like foot soldiers for the rich and influential under the name, Enstar.
Many of us died as children, adolescents and young adults. Yet, no one in the higher ranks of the Enstar Family batted an eyelid to it.
We were disposable.
Easy to replace in the blink of an eye if one did not prove their worth and show why the Enstar Family should consider them worth more.
…Our lives were as fleeting as it could get.
Today, you are alive and kicking.
…The next, you are dead and gone.
Any loss was replaced by another group of children, gotten from whatever slums they could kidnap them from.
A few of us survived through this hardship.
By the time I turned twelve, I was capable of handling my own in normal combat and could easily take down a normal adult man.
My fears were stripped from my bones and an unnatural confidence which someone at that age should not have was sewn into my heart, soul and mind..
'An orphanage? Pfft, don't make me laugh.'
That place was nothing but a front for a small and rising mercenary group called the Hornets or as they were commonly known to the world, the Children of Enstar.
Somehow, Cassie and I, along with some of the other children, managed to make it out alive.
After that, it was each one to his or her own fate.
But will the Hornets let us live so freely?
Definitely not. I personally don't think so.
Cassie stuck with me for whatever reason.
At the beginning stages, I tried everything to get rid of her but the more I tried, the tighter she stuck.
In the end, I gave up and learned how to live with her brattish behaviour.
…And of course, I will hate the world.
I have experienced nothing good from this world but pain, suffering and being forced to offer it an unmerited subservience like we were about to do in the Cube, all because we started to manifest our powers as anticipated at the age of eighteen.
Those with powers were simply called the Awakened because it was believed that they had awakened a new power or a form of strength to help fight the dangers of this world.
From what I know about the Cube from my memories, they specialised in gathering Awakened persons of any age, most especially the ones they believe possess great potential.
They study, track and follow up the prospective targets before recruiting them for their skills.
Simply put, the Cube was a foundation created to nurture the best eggs of the Awakened World and to prepare them for the supernatural plagues of our world while also attempting to turn normal eggs into golden ones.
At first, I thought it was a joke since I didn't consider myself a genius or anything of sorts.
My Awakening was going to naturally come in some days when I turned eighteen, I knew that and the officials of the Cube expected that too.
…After all, they had all of our records.
I had made the error, in my past life, of telling them what my true Skill was.
But I won't make that mistake again.
What is that they say again? Umm… once bitten twice shy, was it?
Mine was an ability that became sought after, powerful and considered to be a threat to both friends and foes.
Gathering all the facts that I had in my head, I now completely, and without a doubt, understood what had happened to me.
The blue-eyed Death God Assistant had sent me back to the past.
Those cards of hers were indeed real.
I had returned to my past, several years before I died—to my first day at the Cube.
Unknowingly, a sinister chuckle escaped my lips, causing even Cassandra to wonder if a few screws had gone loose in my head.
"Seriously, dude. You really must have hit your head."
Nothing Cassie was saying or whining about at this point mattered to me.
I have been given a second chance and I will not fail this time.
I will not!
There was no room for failure, not even in the slightest.
All the mistakes that had led to me losing everything I held dear in my past life had to be corrected in this life.
…And this was to be done by no other person but me.
A face and a name flashed through my mind: Terrence Kenton.
Terrence Kenton, the young prodigy of the Kenton Family who would be named as the Hero of the Awakened World of my generation when the time comes.
'You failed, Hero. I lived. I am alive and back, in flesh and blood. You just wait, Terrence. I will surely keep my promise to you. You will justifiably die by my hands.'
I swore again to myself, clenching my fists so tightly that my nails made impressions on my palm.