Everything was dark.
In this prison home made for him, light was non-existent. The sound of water splashing and gurgling as he walked on this eternal darkness.
Its depth reached only his ankle, yet the cold reach of the liquid reached the very tips of his bones.
He heard the rattling of the rusted chains that bind his body in every step. Seeping more cold air, forcing his arms to stick to its sides as they tightly shackle him.
His body felt dreadfully tired. Like an old cotton doll. Smudged with years of dirt and full of holes where the yellowing cotton peeks out. A once well-loved doll, now thrown into the corner torn and befouled.
Time had no meaning in this abyss. An eternal place where the end is the beginning. This is his 'home'.
He felt something hit his feet when he walked. He stopped for only a second before stepping over it.
The sound of water dripping in small droplets found his ears. Like a faucet left slightly opened.
He turned to the sound.
It was said that when your sight is taken, your other senses become sharper in return.
But his skin only felt the cold and his ears heard the liquid that splashed on his movement. The smell of copper had long burned into his nose.
When he arrived at the location of the sound, he stopped on his track. He heard it louder this time.
Drip drop
Drip drop drip
Drip drop drip drop
He tried to make a sound yet his throat was far too parched and dry to even make a single whistle of a tune.
He just stood there, in front of the dribble of water dripping from above. But this place had no ceiling, no place to call its corners.
The small splashes made by the water continue to ring in this desolate place.
Then it stopped.
He raised his head, more like a reflex than an act of purpose.
Then the world exploded in light.
A cry of surprise left him as the light blinded him, and he collapsed into the shallow water. Knees buckling under his distress.
If the large chains didn't bind him then he would have placed his hand over his eyes to shield them.
For nearly like an eternity for him, he had existed in the dark. The sudden like made him feel like the liquid sun was dripping into his eye.
Then, after what felt like hours, his eyes finally adjusted. Then he laid his eyes on the abyss that was his prison and home.
The smell of copper that permeated into this cell came from the liquid that dipped his heels.
It was dyed red and thicker in viscosity than water. It was in such a dark shade of red that it nearly looked black. He had seen such liquid before, but he had forgotten what and where.
He lifted his sight more around him. Ah, the memories are returning to him now.
What littered his home was the bloated corpses of many many people. Their faces were unrecognizable as they looked like they had been dug out by blunt nails. Flesh gouged out in large patches. Skull peeking through the red mush.
Gender and ages vary, each dressed in different clothes. Yet all were dead the same.
They scattered the ground like leaves in the autumn season. Maple and birch leave falling in tints of yellow and orange.
Some leaves were formed into a pile. Stack on one another to make a small mountain.
Other leaves did not make it intact as they fell from the tree, their parts scattered around them, some missing large chunks.
He was getting nostalgic.
Memories poured over his head like aged wine from a bottle unto a chalice. Some spilled yet many stayed.
The anger, betrayal, and sadness dulled with years. Tasting like ash on his tongue.
Knives that stabbed his back felt like a dull ache that he would only find when he stretched. Well, he remembered giving those knives back.
A hundred fold enough to cover the putrid mush on the ground that was their body. Such a disgusting shade of ginger hair entwined with it
They pushed him to the brink of ruin.
They killed him.
He returned of course.
The devil never leaves a debt without repaying it.
What doesn't kill him doesn't make him stronger. It makes him a monster, so they better start running.
And run they did. But while he had always been better at hiding, he knew how to seek as well.
One by one, he finished them off.
Till
No
One
Was
Left
Then the heavens got mad. But why should it? They created him. They had to deal with him then. It was an equal exchange. Even if the earth was left as a desolate hell, why would he care?
He was then sent to this place. For all eternity it said.
Has it been an eternity yet? He didn't know.
Then he heard a soft whistle in his ear. A voice so soft yet so discordant whispered.
'Another chance', it said. 'Be the inverse. Be what you were not'
He was confused as to what it wanted. He was everything and nothing. He was the end.
'Not that'
They sounded very amused.
'Be the protector of the innocent. Be a guardian'
He had suppressed the urge to laugh hysterically. He was far from what they wanted him to be.
'No, you are not. You are a broken little monster. But you can be a good monster, one with a leash'
A growl left his lips, the ashes on his soul treated to burn again.
'Another chance. Take it. Help the innocent. Destroy Fate'
The last words caught his attention. Well, they were now talking in his language.
"Deal"
His voice did not sound human. Too rough and deep. Like a monster who woke up from a deep slumber.
He could feel the smile that it made.
Then he escaped his prison.
Everybody is gifted with a companion.
They all appear just before a child's fifth birthday and they all took the form of an animal. These creatures were called familiars
These creatures will always be by your side and will be your greatest friend. Guardian angels if you will.
Little Sawada Tsunayoshi is soon turning five yet his familiar still hasn't appeared.
It caused the small child great frustration and fear. He could only look with sadness and jealousy as the other children played with their familiars.
Because of his lack of a companion, he had been nearly isolated in school. Where everyone was talking and playing with their animal companions.
Most children would actually be grouped based on the type of familiar they had. Tsuna was the only child in the classroom to still not have an animal familiar with him.
It made the little child cry on some nights and ask his mother whether there was something wrong with him.
Why hasn't he still had his soul companion? Did they dislike him?
But his sweet mother would just crouch down and happily explain that his familiar is just shy and is trying to gather the courage to meet Tsuna. So to help his little friend find the courage, he must pray every night for kami's help to give courage to his companion.
Little Tsuna believed in this of course and prayed every night.
Tonight was another night that he prayed in the night sky for Kami's help. Yet as his birthday is arriving the next day, he couldn't help but sniffle and cry at the thought of not having his own familiar.
Tucked in his bed, large droplets of tears fell from his reddish cheeks. Soft sniffling cries came from a small mouth so they did their best to stifle their cries.
It was then that Tsuna heard the sounds of feathers on his window.
He eagerly sat up and looked towards where his window was oddly open. The child had remembered that okaa-san always locked it before she left his room.
There, perching on the window sill, was a small owlet. Fluffy tuft of feathers as dark as the night and helped them blend with the darkness outside.
But their eyes were what really caused Tsuna's eyes. They were so green. Not like the green of the forest or the grass he played on. They were an unusual kind of green, it felt like they were staring deeply into him.
If Tsuna were replaced by a magical right now, they would say that those eerie green eyes were just the shade of the killing curse. And those Avada Kedavra eyes were looking at their souls. Judging them. And if they failed?
But it seems that Tsuna passed since the owlet let out a soft hoot before fluttering towards him.
They landed in front of Tsuna and sweetly chirped before preening the young child's hair.
He giggled and placed a gentle hand on the soft tuft of feathers on the baby owl.
Tsuna is really happy to find his forever best friend. Now, maybe he wouldn't be so lonely.
He observed the dark feathers of his familiar and looked out of the open window. He looked at the pitch darkness of the starless night.
"Yoru", he mumbled while staring at his owl which he lifted with his hands to allow the dark night outside from the window to be its background. The feathers completely blended with the night.
"Yoru, that's your name", he brightly smiled at his familiar who hooted back in return.
Tsuna wanted to get out of bed and run to his mother to show Yoru to her. But it was already past his bedtime and he didn't want to disturb his mother so he stayed instead.
He cuddled with his fluffy familiar in bed and tucked both of them under the blanket. With a small smile on his face, little Tsuna fell asleep.
Unaware to the sleeping baby sky, the moment his eyes closed, the shadows came alive.
Wildly creeping and roaring. Like beasts that the underworld let loose. Tentacles and sharp claws, mouths agape with needle-like teeth. The shadows did a macabre waltz.
Then the owl hooted once.
And then everything was gone.
Tsuna was wrong, and so was everyone in the town of Namimori. Tonight wasn't a starless night.
It's just that it covered the whole sky of this town.
A swirling back mass of creatures crept out of the cracks from Tartarus. Keeping its eyes on the biggest monster of them all. A multitude of eyes of varying sizes bulges out of the flying black mass focused on the small house. Deep gauges upon its dirty flesh sprang yellowish sharp blocks it calls its teeth. It writh and sharp inhuman whines came from it.
The fluffy owlet snuggled in the child's arms opened its wide eyes, Avada kedavra glowing in the dark.
It gently pried itself from Tsuna's embrace and flew back to the window sill. It stared at the black mass eating away at the night sky.
It tilted its head and hooted. The back mass stopped on its tracks, not a sound left it.
It hooted again before tapping its claw on the wooden window sill.
The mass recoiled as if burned and it let out a painful screech before it was swallowed into a black hole. Its already grotesque features twisted like a wrung towel as it was forced into the abyss.
When the creature was gone, the stars lit up the night again.
The owlet let out a huff and flew back into the bed. It burrowed itself back into its owner's hands and closed its eyes as well. They still have a long day ahead of them.