A cool metal touch pressed against his throat, a sweat forming from his skin as a woman hugged him tightly from behind, threatening his life with a long silver blade.
City workers swiftly rushed past them, frantically on their way to work this busy morning, but none batted an eye. The young man had no value in society. He was just a homeless dweller who lived roaming the streets, pursuing the occupation of a 'Thief' to make ends meet. He was just a piece of trash, just like any other wrapper or piece of plastic on the ground. However, this wasn't the case for all.
For some, his fellow homeless dwellers, he was valuable just as every soul was. He brought a light, a certain hope that even shone in such dark times; nobody brought that to the homeless, nobody cared to do so…
But his value to them didn't matter when it came to the grand scheme of things. In the eyes of the public, thieves deserved to die. And, Altinae, he was just about to be executed in front of their very eyes, and by the same woman he'd stolen from.
Parting her soft lips slowly, the woman whispered gently into his ear with her soft voice, too gentle to harm.
"give it back before this neck of yours becomes separated from the rest of your body."
Altinae began to shake.
"P-please, don't kill me."
"I'll make that promise if you return what you stole."
He swallowed hard, then, slowly reached down into his loosely fitting pants, slipping out a small golden amulet with a mesmerizing black gem from his pocket, but never did he grasp it. Only gravity got its hands on it, and hearing the gem scrape against the sidewalk, his heart jumped, skipping a few beats.
"I said to give it back, not drop it, you dumb thief, so pick it up, and place it in my hand like I told you to do."
The woman held her right to his side, tucking it between his arm and his stomach, causing him to squirm at her sudden touch.
"Fetch it, dog."
She began beckoning with her fingers. And seeing them bend and straighten continuously, his eyes suddenly focused on the blade in front of him, he didn't dare move.
"P-Please, move your sword away from my neck. I can't if you don't."
Suddenly, he felt a warm breath against the back of his neck, then saw the blade inch away from his throat.
Slowly, he bent his knees, carrying his right hand to his side, snatched the amulet, then dropped it lightly in the woman's soft palm.
At the touch of the smooth amulet, she retrieved her hand and then thoroughly eyed the amulet.
But, after a second or two, she returned her blade to Altinae's neck, inching it closer, until a sliver of blood spilled onto the silver's stainlessness.
"You scratched the gem, so in return, I've given you a scratch. If this gem had been destroyed, you would have been too, and I wouldn't have hesitated to do so. This gem is too important, understand? More so than your life."
The blade, separated from his neck, and he sighed, relieved, taking a step forward to distance himself from her. But, instead of freedom, he got a steel foot kicked into his back, sending him to the pavement.
"Watch who you steal from next time, little thief. Maybe, you just might become famous in the middle of the night."
Scoffing, the woman began walking away. Altinae turned, a pain aching through his body, and watched mesmerized as her almond hair blew in the wind, as her shining figure coated in a light silver armor lost itself in the distance…
Such a beautiful cosplay, it felt so real, she played the knight so well… to be rich…
Suddenly, he slapped himself in the face, bringing his mind back from the woman's beautiful knight-like costume.
Though he had just lost his find, he had a smile on his pale face. An unusual look for him, he hadn't felt this happy for a long time, the last time being…
…
…
He couldn't remember the last time; no point in his life gave him this feeling ever since he became a dweller, but that didn't matter to him, as now, he had finally become free from his fiscal worries. After all, the amulet wasn't the only thing he managed to sneak from her; he also stole a diamond necklace, with giant diamonds mended inside, the purest of any kind. Surely they would fetch hundreds of thousands, if not, maybe millions! And they surely would sell, he knew they were real.
Boasting the win of a lifetime, he twirled his finger in the air, and following was the diamond necklace that glistened with the sun's brightness across his shining face.
He only thought good things; he thought about freeing himself from this shitty dweller life. He thought about buying a cool car, a fancy house, maybe even one with a pool, but he shook his head just thinking about how greedy he realized he was. He knew those weren't what he really wanted in his life.
Instead, he paid remembrance to his mother. He could finally pay off the hospital bills and the treatment… He could finally save her from her sickness...
I can finally talk to you again…
He shed a tear just thinking about it, he had always dreamed that one day he would be able to save his mother, she was the only one who had loved him, and the one he owed the most to, but she had succumbed to a sickness, the one that shocked the world decades ago, 'Feast,' and because of it, she had become bedridden, and hadn't woken since.
He just stared at the necklace, continuously smiling; he was too happy. He examined it all around, peering at the diamonds that would be his saving grace, but as he twisted it, his expression turned puzzled, noticing a black gem, the same one embedded in the amulet.
His eyes instantly lit up brighter. The woman had said the gem was very important, meaning it had to be insanely valuable. He knew for sure he could help his mom!
Curious about the type of gem it was, he tapped the gem several times, listening to its satisfying glassy sound, his ears suddenly fluttering. The glass suddenly sounded like the rain falling from the clouds.
Feeling odd, he took his ear back, and his eyes widened.
What's this? Smoke?
He thought he was hallucinating, so he rubbed his eyes one by one, but opening them, it stayed.
From the gem, a black mist had appeared, oozing in all directions but maintaining a rectangular shape. And, on it were words in a white text glowing slightly, information of sorts.
He looked around, but people continuously passed by him, some even stepping over him. Nobody paid mind to him, even with this unnatural mist in front of him; he assumed it must not be visible to others.
So, reaching his free hand out, he tried touching the mist, but as he did, the hollow sounded again, and the mist shrank; however, a single word had shown itself in the center:
*Darkening*
Altinae tilted his head, very confused. It was like a computer screen just in this weird oozing mist, but he didn't know how one worked since he had never used one before. Curious, though, he tried touching the mist another time, and doing so, it stretched downward, and this time, along with words, a portrait showed up in the top left corner directly against the dark mist, and next to it was a name and lots of information.
What is all of this?
Taking a glance at the portrait, he blushed, looking at the woman's beautiful face. She had soft lips, beautiful brown eyes that matched her silky, long hair, and pale skin that looked smoother than anything in the world. A true beauty indeed.
Curious to know who this beautiful woman was, Altinae looked directly next to the portrait, where a name was shown in white.
*Melia Laven*
Soon, he realized that the image and the name both belonged to the woman he had stolen the necklace from. It was like a proof of ownership that she was the one who was the true owner of the necklace; she was the one to whom it belonged, not him.
Invading her privacy, Altinae read all of the information in the mist about her. He was able to catch onto normal things, such as her height and her weight, which to him seemed… abnormal, as well as things he had no idea about:
*
Given Name: Lost Dove
Fate Escalation: Pathing Human
Grade: 12683
Incision: Ice Queen
Waking:
Blessing:
Incision Version: Generational
Artistries: -Touch^
- Frost^
- Breaker^
- Summit^
- Coat^
- Chandelier^
Possibility: Shallow^
Shatter Condition: Heart's Loneliness^
*
Squinting in confusion, his eyes filled with skepticism, and he scratched the top of his head. He didn't know what any of it meant; it was all just a jumble.
But, this made him curious, so he began feeling all around the mist, and accidentally he touched where it said 'Shallow,' and the arrow next to it turned faded, and the mist stretched slightly downwards, forming a description that descended below the word.
*
Possibility: Shallow -
Description: Deplete the souls of your fallen foes.
*
Souls? Foes? What does this mean?
Curious, he clicked another word with an arrow next to it, and the mist stretched further, bringing another description with it.
*
Shatter Condition: Heart's Loneliness -
Description: You are restricted from falling in love.
*
Restricted from falling in love? Does that mean she can't fall in love?Poor woman…
It felt a little weird reading it all; he didn't know what to do with it. It was just useless information about a random woman whom he will never see again. But, he was still curious; he had never seen anything or heard of anything like this before. It felt fake, but he knew it was all real. He saw the mist, he felt it, plus the woman said it was important, so the mist had been why she said so…
Suddenly, a thought hit him, and he reached his hand to his throat where a paint of blood lathered itself on his fingers.
Wait… her sword was actually real, she wasn't cosplaying…
His eyes widened.
I almost just died… I was just going along with her to hide the fact that I had taken the necklace as well, but… wow…
Dazed, he looked down at his hand, clenched it tightly, then opened it again, staring for minutes.
But, suddenly, his hand raised, and approached right next to his right cheek, then…
*Slap!*
A redness of pain engulfed his pale face.
Stop, Altinae! That's the past now! We got stuff to do! Money to make! Someone to save!
Standing up, he then suddenly headed into a nearby alley and smashed the necklace against the wall furthest away from the sidewalk until the gem popped out. As it did, he tapped on it to see if it still functioned, then dropped it in his pocket, and went on his way, looking for a place where he could sell the rest of the necklace.
He knew he couldn't just sell it normally, though; it would be obvious that it was stolen if some dirty-looking man suddenly had an expensive diamond necklace, and a broken one at that, so he had to find somewhere down low, a black market.
Luckily, he knew of a man with the knowledge, a fellow homeless dweller who was known by the homeless as 'The Wizard,' because he had information about nearly everything, and to them he was magical, like some kind of Wizard.
Needed to know where someone was?
He knew.
Wanted the locations and times the best restaurants would throw out food?
He knew.
Wanted to sell something without being seen as suspicious?
Well, he knew that as well.
So, with this plan in mind, Altinae came back to the sidewalk, and instantly he turned to his left, glanced down the busy sidewalk, and began walking through the city…