The snow fell from the sky for the first time in 25 years in the city of Bastille, and the Bell Harbour, which usually had hundreds if not thousands of ships on it, was eerily empty.
When the dogs that barked in the middle of the night were silent, and the people in the slums had forced themselves to sleep to cope with the cold, hoping that they would wake up the next morning.
There was still an hour in dawn, and the darkness embraced everything in its hold. And in that darkness, a pitiful little girl in ragged clothes, tried to crawl away from the men in black, sniffing terrifiedly.
She did not even try to snatch back the last piece of her mother from the man, who had pulled off the black crystal from her neck.
Even if she could not hear the insults that the men in black were throwing at her, she could still sense the disaster that was about to befall her.
She may be naive, but she had grown up in a place that was full of darkness, and when two men stepped forward after untying their laces on the waist, she knew that she was about to be defiled by these Assassins who were after her brother.
They would resort to anything if it meant completing their misison, and for a Traitor, there was only the harshest of the punishment in their Code.
Ryouta had betrayed them to protect her innocence, and now they would deprive her of it, just to rub it in the wounds of her brother when he comes here.
If she could form words, she would have taken her brother's name one last time, but she did not even know how her brother's name sounded.
She just closed her eyes, wishing that when she opens them, everything will be fine. And warm tears poured out of her closed eyes, despite all her efforts to not let them out.
Time passed, and the little girl finally felt that there was something wrong. The pain and humiliation she was destined for never came. She waited and waited, but she felt nothing but the cold and the touch of snow. And when she finally braved herself and opened her eyes to see what was happening, her frail heart skipped several beats as she watched a girl in black clothes cutting through the Assasins with finesse and precision.
There was also an old man, who was monstrously fast, and every time his fist landed on an Assassin, the latter did not get up again.
It was still dark, and she could not see properly what exactly was happening, but she could sense it that everything was going to be fine.
However, her heart nearly stopped when she saw a man on black throw a Kunai at her, intending to bury it in her head. But then something unexpected happened, and she saw a hand catch the Kunai.
She turned to left and she the old man leaning by her side, but before she could blink, he was off again, now killing the enemies with the very Kunai that was thrown at her.
He ruthlessly pierced their throats and the back of their necks with the Kuina, killing them all in a single blow.
The fighting eventually ended, with the Old man in suit coming out unharmed, and the girl in the black outfit suffering some cuts, but seemingly fine.
She tensed up when the old man looked in her direction, but then she saw him nod to her before turning to speak to his watch.
A couple of minutes later, two men came rushing at the site, and the girl apprehensively looked at them.
One of them seemed a little dissatisfied as he looked at the dead bodies, but the other ignored the Old Man and the dead bodies, walking straight up to the girl before checking up on her injuries.
The little girl may not have seen the world, but she was certain that no one could be more handsome than this boy. Even if it was dark, his beauty could still be discerned, and she was only more sure of herself when he lit up a small flashlight to get a better look at the girl's wounds.
Keith knew that the little girl was watching him with interest, but he was only focused on checking up on Yingying, and thankfully, all she suffered were flesh wounds and there was no poison in her system.
"I do not expect you to get hurt the next time." He admonished her, and saw a genuine smile appear on her face.
"I will try, Master." She lightly said, and then hurriedly lowered her head to hide her burning cheeks from his eyes.
"Yeah.." Keith chuckled to himself and then stood up to scan his surroundings.
And something caught his attention.
It was a black crystal in the hand of one of the Assassins, and a piece of information appeared in his mind.
It was stated in the book that after the death of his little sister, he had buried her along with the necklace of their mother because he did not have the heart to keep it on him.
Keith slowly walked up to the body and crouched down, reaching for the necklace, but then he felt a chill up his spine when he felt the body of the Assassin move.
"Master!"
Yingying cried out, and Caesar was already rushing to him, there was no way he could make it in time.
Blood leaked out and Keith hissed in pain. He did not know how he managed it, but he caught the kunai with his left hand before it pierced his heart.
He raised his hand and stopped Caesar, who was about to send the Assassin in the arms of death, and coldly looked at the body that was weakly coughing up blood.
"Blood begets Blood." He lightly smiled before he pried the kunai out of the Assasin's hand and slowly buried in his neck, looking him right in the eyes, watching them dim as the life slipped out of him.
Caesar frowned when he saw Keith take life of a man in such a manner. It did not look like an act of someone who was killing for the the first time. Keith did it with such coldness that even most killers did not possess.
"Young Master..."
"I am fine, Uncle." He said and frowned when he sensed that he was poisoned.
He quickly utilized his Aura to contain it in his hand, not letting it travel upwards on his heart, but it was going to be really troublesome to treat it later.
He threw the Kunai away and picked up the crystal from the Assassins hand, and now that he thought about it, what kind of a professional Assassin would hold a crystal in his and as he fought?
Keith shook his head, and sighed as he looked at the Crystal that nearly got him killed.
He walked up to the little girl who was apprehensively looking at him, and slowly knelt down in front of her.
<Are you okay?> He used the sign language that he had been taught years ago, and amusedly smile when he saw the girl's eyes widen in surprise.
And then when she nodded, he presented her the crystal, but to his surprise, he little girl shook her head.
<You don't want it?>
She shook her head again and then pointed at his hand.
<Thank you for saving me!> She answered and then bowed her head to all four of them.
Keith tried to offer her the crystal one more time, but the little girl simply shook her head. Refusing to take it.
<Is it not yours?> He confusedly asked.
<It was mine but now it is yours.> She meekly answered him, forming the signs with her hands.
<Okay, Thank You!> He sighed and said to her before taking a good look at her features.
If Keith had to be honest, the girl in front of him, who was only 14 years old, was the most adorable girl he had ever seen in his life.
She oozed such innocence and cuteness that could melt anyone's heart, and she looked just like a doll, urging people to hold her in their arms protectively.
If he did not know better, he would have thought that she was a Heroine too because of possessing such a high charm, but he knew very well that it was not the case.
This adorable little girl was meant to be defiled and killed tonight, and he had changed her fate.
Keith subconsciously looked at his left hand that was still bleeding a little, and the burning feeling made him frown.
He opened his palm in front of him and then used his other hand to carefully trace the cut, bringing his Medicinal skills to use to stop the bleeding, and it worked, except for an accident.
The crystal that he held in his right hand, at some point, came in contact with his blood and started shining right before his eyes.
He heard the little girl gasp in surprise at what was happening, and Keith himself was confused until the crystal seemed to shatter and then the strange black light entered his body.
His heart nearly stopped when he saw a band-like ring appear on the ring finger of his right hand with strange Runes that eventually settled down.
He could now feel it running through his blood, the hidden power of darkness, and when wisps of darkness started oozing out of the cut on his left palm, devouring the poison, he just stared dumbly at it.
"God Stone..." He murmured to himself when the darkness finally receded inside of his blood.
Now, Keith rarely cursed, but he felt like he wanted to curse at someone and demand what was happening.
Wasn't he supposed to be a Villain? How in the hell did he encounter something that only a Protagonist would face?
The more he thought about it, the more apprehensive he became. Somehow, Keith became certain that this event had set him up to become the final boss of some story...
And now he did not know if he wanted to curse Fate or himself for trying to change the future...
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