"I understand," Rubeus said, his voice trembling with a blend of hope and ambition.
"I... I want to find my mother. It's true—I might not understand everything yet. But for her... for her, I would do anything."
After uttering those few words, a sweet and gentle smile spread across Violetta's face.
Without a single word, she faded away into nothingness, as if she had never been there at all.
Then, webs of deep purple began to weave themselves throughout the space—a space made of the very fabric of reality, existing outside of time and space. These were the weaves of fate, and though they seemed to appear now, it was as though they had always been there, just invisible to Rubeus until this moment.
However, the webs began to climb onto Rubeus, crawling under his skin. To his surprise, it didn't hurt. In fact, it felt refreshing—warm, even—like an embrace he hadn't known he needed.
After a while, the webs began to fade away—or so it seemed. No, they were still there, just no longer visible. They had hidden themselves within him, woven into the very core of his being.
He still didn't know who the woman was, beyond her name, or why she had done what she did. Yet one thing was clear—she was there to help him.
—-----
It was dark. The forest seemed to cradle the clouds, the moon casting its pale light upon the ground, as if waving to the earth, and the ground silently waving back to the sky. Everything felt eerily calm—no birds singing, no animals struggling to survive. It felt empty.
In the midst of it all, a tall boy lay sleeping. His short raven-black hair framed a face so perfectly sculpted, with sharp features—a defined nose and a mouth that seemed to hold secrets untold. Hidden beneath his closed eyelids were eyes like polished rubies, glimmering unseen.
He was crying. Yet, the tears streaming from his eyes were not ordinary—they shimmered with traces of purple, a strange blend of colors that seemed almost alive.
His blood, too, was different. As he bit his lip, the crimson droplets that emerged glistened with streaks of deep purple, as if something otherworldly coursed through his veins.
He was without clothes, his skin fully exposed to the elements. His towering frame stood easily above seven feet, his muscles perfectly sculpted and defined.
Though Rubeus was only seven years old, his body—strong, towering, and impossibly defined—gave the impression of someone much older, someone whose very existence defied the passage of time.
He still didn't know it, but he had become something else—someone called a contractor. A being who had made a pact with an otherworldly force, bound by an ancient and mysterious contract.
Then, a sound broke the stillness—footsteps approaching from somewhere around him. Instinctively, his body reacted, rising to its feet. But his mind… his mind was still reeling, struggling to process everything that had just happened.
He was still fast asleep, unaware of everything unfolding around him. Yet, it seemed his body didn't share that ignorance. It moved instinctively, as if trying to shield him from whatever danger might come his way.
His eyes still closed, he turned his head left and right, trying to see who or what was comming his way, then, he locked into a specific direction, and a couple second later, a women appeard from behind the three.
She was far shorter than him, but still towering at a solid six feet, her presence imposing despite the difference in height.
She had long, ruby-like hair that shimmered with an almost magical glow, framing a beautiful face. Her eyes, deep and black as night, seemed to hold mysteries untold.
Compared to the rest of the forest, she didn't feel empty—no, she was full of excitement, a wide grin spreading across her face.
She glanced at him, then spoke, her voice filled with an energy as wild as her laughter.
"Ahahah, well, what do we have here? It's rare to see anyone around here, especially since this is my territory. Speak if you want to live. What brings you to this place?"
The young boy, still with his eyes shut, shifted toward her, his body instinctively assuming a defensive stance—full of openings and mistakes. Even though he had gained power, without the knowledge of how to wield it, what could he possibly do?
Then, the woman spoke again, her tone dripping with confidence.
"I'm starting to like you. Already itching for a fight, huh? I'll give you what you're yearning for then." She had no intention of letting him go, the fight was what she craved, as though she hadn't indulged in one for years.
Before Rubeus could even react, the fight had already begun. In the blink of an eye, the woman lunged forward with astonishing speed. Her fist, imbued with raw power, collided with his face. The impact was brutal, sending Rubeus hurtling through the air, his body completely unprepared for the force.
His nose was now broken, the sharp pain shooting through his face like a lightning strike. Blood poured freely from the mangled mess of his nostrils, staining his lips and dripping down onto his chest. The force of her punch had shattered something deep within him. But as the woman expected, the blood wasn't only red—it had streaks of purple, mixing into the crimson, an unsettling blend that she hadn't noticed before.
Her excitement, her hunger for a fight, seemed to dull for a moment, her eyes narrowing as she caught sight of the strange blood. But before she could dwell on it, Rubeus's body twitched. His hand shot up to his face, feeling the broken nose, but his fingers faltered. There was fear in his expression, hesitation.
Something else awakened in him.
Pure fear and madness. He was still recovering from the chaos of everything that had happened to him—his mind a twisted labyrinth, half-formed, as if it were being rebuilt from the inside. The power that had surged within him before had only intensified, and now, something new, something darker, was crawling into his consciousness. It clawed at his thoughts, trying to claim him.
His breath quickened, his chest rising and falling erratically. A part of him recoiled, still reeling from the overwhelming sensations, the pain, the hunger for control. His body felt alien, his every movement unfamiliar, as if the very threads of his being were being rewoven by forces he couldn't comprehend.
The woman watched, intrigued, her grin now faded to something more dangerous, sensing the shift in him.
Rubeus's gaze wavered, his mind at war with itself. He felt as though he were being torn apart from the inside, the old and the new battling for dominance.
Before, when he was with Violetta in that strange, otherworldly space, she had been there for him. With a simple touch, she had soothed his pain, wrapped it in a veil of warmth, and sealed away the agony of his mother's death. The memory of that moment, of all that had happened, was locked deep within him—hidden, out of reach.
She had helped to appease his father too, sealing away the memories that could have tainted Rubeus's mind even further. His father, a man who had once been lost to madness, had left behind a legacy of pain and twisted memories. But Violetta had intervened, carefully locking those memories away so they couldn't affect Rubeus—not directly. She had made sure that the horrors of his father's actions, the darkness that lingered within that man, would never seep into Rubeus's heart.
But now that his mind was reconstructing, the newly placed seals had to be lifted to allow him to be born anew, free from the somber past that had unfolded around him.
And just as that moment of transformation was unfolding, someone interrupted, snapping the young man out of his awakening. Rubeus was exposed once again to the turmoil of his past, the weight of everything that had happened crashing down on him once more.
Rubeus let out a cry of madness and fear, his newfound maturity evident in his expression, a deeper understanding of everything reflected in his eyes. They were wide open, tears falling from them, mingling with the same deep purple as before, but this time, blood joined the mix, darkening the purple to an even deeper shade.
Then, a smile crept onto his face, a grin his mother had once taught him, but now twisted with madness. His teeth were stained with blood, the sight chilling for anyone who dared look at him.
"I'm sorry, mother... no, no, it's all my fault! I should've never let you go, I should've stopped him, stopped everything... all of it... but I didn't! I let it happen! I let him do it to you, and for what? For vengeance? For justice? Ha! What a joke!"
His laugh was broken, manic, as blood dripped down his face, his body trembling with a mix of sorrow and fury.
His expression remained unchanged as he gazed up at the sky, his face torn from the punch of the stranger, blood staining the ground beneath him.
In that moment, Rubeus had turned into a monster—his madness, his grief, and the twisted power within him distorting everything he once was.
The woman's expression shifted. The excitement in her eyes faded, replaced by a deep disturbance. She no longer seemed thrilled by the chaos unfolding before her.
"You're clearly a strange one," she said, her tone colder now. "You should seek help. But unfortunately, I can't let you go for now. I'm sorry for what's bound to happen."
Without a second's hesitation, she dashed toward him, her movements swift and determined.