Sora picked up his sister and brought her into their hut. He had no idea how he was going to deal with this situation. He wanted revenge and wanted to kill those bastards that killed his sister, but he was unable to… He was too weak, and on top of that, he had no idea where those two bastards would be at this time. Since he did not know them personally, he did not know where they would run to.

He gently placed his sister down onto the cardboard boxes and knelt down next to her. Tears still streamed from his eyes as he looked at his sister, who seemed to be peacefully sleeping. “Ai… Your brother failed you… I was unable to protect you until the day you grew up and was married off. But don’t worry. Since my reason to live is gone. Your brother will atone for his sins by joining you in death.” 

Sora pulled out a flint and a piece of metal. He took a deep breath before striking the flint near the cardboard. Once it flamed up, he laid down next to his sister and held her hand. “Soon, your brother will see you in heaven.”

Flames surrounded Sora as his clothes caught on fire. But he seemed to be numb to the pain as he did not scream or show any kind of pain on his face. He had a warm, gentle smile on his lips as she gently stroked his sister’s face.

 It was on this day that a raging fire spread throughout the slums. It spread so quickly that no one could stop it. Those who were lucky escaped, and those who were not died along with Sora and Ai. But out of all of this, a strange thing seemed to have happened. The ones who died were all those who watched from the side as Ai was attacked by human traffickers. Not a single one of them was let off, even the two men who were the cause of it all. They each died in the fiery flames burned into damnation.

It seemed the gods had been watching that day. They allowed Sora his revenge as he joined his sister in death. But in truth, death was only the beginning for Sora. 

---

A gentle breeze blew across the land. In a tiny village on the outskirts of Hollows Forest, a young girl with a cloth in her hand walked over to the straw bed that was on the dirt floor and patted the sweat off the young man’s face. “Brother, why did you have to fight them… Frederick is already in the magicule sensing realm. With the two of us just being mortals, there is nothing we can do…”

The little girl’s eyes were moist with tears as she dabbed the sweat from her brother’s forehead.  Frederick Dunham was the village leader’s son and the only one in the village to actually become a magas. Because of that, he was worshiped and feared by everyone in the village. But her brother, all because of the words that Fredrick said, he got into a fight and was badly beaten. Because she did not have anything to properly treat his wounds with, her brother got a fever and was now suffering from both his injuries and his fever. “Brother… Don’t leave Leena…? Without you, Leena will be all alone and would probably soon follow after you.”

Currently, Sora was very confused. He could have sworn he had burned to death in the fire he had set himself. He did not understand why he was hearing an unfamiliar voice. He also did not understand why his head felt so heavy. Using all the strength he could muster, he cracked open one of his eyelids to see a young girl who was no older than his sister Ai, busying herself as she took care of him. He was only able to watch for a few seconds before all the strength in his body left, and he fell into a deep sleep.

When he woke next, he felt much better. The heavy feeling was now gone, and he could finally open his eyes. But the ceiling and the surroundings were anything but familiar to him. There was nothing in the room he was in. The walls were made of stone and mud, and the roof seemed to have a few holes in it. There was a small fire, with an old pot sitting on top of it not too far from him, keeping his body warm. Sitting in front of this fire was the same little girl he had seen before he passed out. “Umm…” Sora was unsure of what to say. He was very confused as to what was going on.

But it seemed him speaking up, even if it was only a single word, caused the little girl who was stirring the clear water in the pot to beam with a smile and quickly get up before making her way over to Sora. “Brother! Thank the heavens! You woke up! Leena thought you would never wake again.”

Sora was even more confused now. Before, he had not heard her clearly. So he did hear her calling him brother before, but now that he had, he was even more confused. He felt bad for what he was about to say as it seemed the little girl was not lying by calling him brother, but he did not have a sister anymore and definitely did not have one that looked like this little girl. “Umm… Who are you? Why are you calling me brother?”

“Brother!? Do you not recognize Leena!?” The girl's eyes filled with tears as she began to panic. Her brother was her only family. She loved her brother dearly as he always gave her the best he could, so for him to ask who she was, was like someone stabbing her heart.

Seeing the girl's panicked expression caused Sora to feel guilty. “It’s…. I do not seem to remember anything… You are Leena? You're calling me brother, so I guess that makes you my sister?” 

He could only go this far. He did not wish to pretend he recognized the little girl, nor did he want to deny their relationship. From the way she was acting, it seemed she truly believed he was her brother. And since he was in an unfamiliar place with many things uncertain, he had to at least act the part for the time being. He still had many questions and many answers that he still needed to receive.