"Be quick! Let's run before anyone catches us!"
A child held a few loaves of bread in his hand, looking at one of his friends, who was busy stuffing meat into his torn-up jacket. Just then—the shopkeeper noticed them.
"Hey! Get over here you little shits!"
The children immediately ran, both of their little legs carrying them as fast as possible through the snow-covered brick streets filled with horse carts and people, and quickly—they lost the pursuing shopkeeper.
"Phew... I told you, be quick."
The boy ran a hand through his dirty and greasy brown locks—they were both likely twins from what it seemed, only that one of them had brown eyes instead of golden.
"I know, brother.. But thankfully we can eat for now, I'll portion it out."
The one with brown eyes slung an arm around his brother's shoulder, a tired smile on his face.
"Don't worry, as long as we both have each other, we aren't gonna starve no matter what."
The golden-eyed child let out a shy giggle, walking with his brother. Despite both of them being barefoot on the cold, snowy brick road, they still pushed through, walking into an alley.
The alley was empty yet clean and sanitary—unlike the ones you would find before in New York, the original Kark.
No rats, no piles of trash, but. Homelessness and starving children? They unfortunately remained.
"So, let's just eat enough to regain energy, then we can both sleep the rest of the day away. I managed to nab a blanket from the trash and cleaned it in the river."
The brown eyed brother looked around before pulling out a simple blanket.
It was a deep red and seemed to be made of mismatched fabric, and seemed to be handmade, but it was better than nothing after all.
Both of their eyes gleamed innocently. Poor kids were kept away from such simple things, yet they were still happier than others who had much more.
They both giggled and laughed as they huddled in a corner, putting the blanket over themselves as they ate the bread in the darkness. Blissfully unaware of the outside.
"Oi assholes. You stole the bread, right?"
Both of them froze underneath the blanket that had been taken off, and they were now in front of none other than a Julius. Just in toddler form.
He had longer hair, it was a deep shade of orange, and he was still a bit chubby. Yet, he was still a little taller than the children.
"Umm.. Who are you?"
The golden-eyed one asked in a rather uncomfortable and shy voice—but the other kid? He launched forward with wild kicks and punches, knocking Julius down onto the ground.
'Fucking brat! I'm not a fighter, but I still know how to kick ass!'
Julius put his hands up, managing to block a few of the rather strong punches from the kid who had straddled him, but Julius wanted them both in this exact position.
He wrapped his legs around the kid's waist and squeezed as tightly as he possibly could.
'Alright then, I learnt this stupid thing from watching a street fight, let's see if this works!'
He squeezed so tightly his face started turning red, but the boy in between his legs was unaffected—hell, he started punching even harder, and now Julius had a bloody nose.
"ALRIGHT ALRIGHT STOP! LET ME TALK!"
The boy's breathing was ragged, but he stopped, just for a moment to catch his breath.
'W-What do you want.."
Julius slowly got up, clutching at his nose but he didn't reply, instead he sucker punched the boy in the face—who was far too gassed out to dodge.
"Well, I was originally here to find some guys for renovating the church—but. Since you guys wanna be idiots! I'll be beating your guys' ass now-"
Julius let out a shriek as he barely dodged a small intense burst of light that broke through a wall.
And who launched it? None other than the golden-eyed boy, who was scared but more than ready to defend his brother.
"G-Go away! I have a Sigil!"
The alley fell into silence—Julius was staring at them both with wide, excited eyes that showed he was plotting something rather devious.
"A Sigil, huh? Alrighty then, I'll back up, but—if you guys run out of food or anything, you'll starve, ya know? Winter is coming, and you guys won't survive."
This hit a nerve with the brown-eyed twin; he knew very well that shops usually close down completely in the winter. And if he doesn't find a good source of food, both he and his brother would die.
"How can you help then? You're just an orphan like us. Just leave us be. I'm not going to some stupid church, that stupid Eve goddess? If she's so benevolent—why'd she leave my brother and me stranded?"
Julius shrugged; he wasn't going to get emotional over this. He had seen much worse, experienced much worse himself.
'I was never this whiny while I was suffering. But, I guess they're just kids.'
But he couldn't help but know that the kid was right. Eve didn't exist. It was just Compound EVE being worshipped for the aimless hope that a fake deity provided.
"Okay? So? You gonna vent like a bitch or gonna follow me? I won't promise"
He put both of his hands forward—the twins stared at them silently. But the one with the Sigil took the opportunity. Stepping beside Julius.
"Jonah.. Um, let's trust him for now. He's right, I mean we have nothing to lose anyway."
His twin—now Jonah, looked at Julius one last time, but strangely. He didn't see a kid, just for a split second, a whole grown man was standing in his place, black hair and eyes, pale skin, and a dirty lab coat.
But as soon as Jonah blinked, it was back to the toddler who stood perfectly still with a blank stare in his eyes.
"Jonah, huh? I'm Johan. But I prefer to go by Julius."
Julius hated that name with a burning passion—no matter what happened, Johan was nothing more than a nickname. Not his real name, which would forever remain Julius.
"Alright then, Johan, my brother, and I will trust you for now. But you have to promise us that you won't make us slaves."
Julius smirked—just a bit though, he seriously wanted to laugh that even children knew about slaves and the dangers that the world knew. He was proud.
"Fine, but introduce your brother first. He's a pretty boy after all."
"What does me being pretty have to do with anything in this scenario, weirdo?"
The golden-eyed child was fuming—even then, he looked like an angel indeed.
"He's Lukas. We're both twins, but right now, only he has the sigil awakened. Mine is a bit.. Slow."
Jonah seemed to shift just a little at the last part, taking a breath too deep for it to be normal. And Julius noticed this immediately—but he didn't want to spoil their 'partnership' for now, they both seemed useful.
"Then we're good, huh? Let's leave for the church, there I'll give you guys clothes and stuff when we get there."
Jonah and Lukas gave each other a small look before they silently started walking behind Julius, who was casually walking towards the unmanned city gates.
"You know that monsters lurk 'round here.. Right?"
Jonah's eyes flickered around. He didn't know why. But he felt like something was watching them all but Julius, was surprisingly calm and even a bit amused.
"Exactly, we need to awaken your Sigil, right? What better way to awaken it than a real fight?"
Just then, from the corner of Lukas' eyes, a flicker of glowing green light appeared before disappearing just when the trio turned around to face it.
"Um.. Julius right? Its prime time for Blighthoppers.. They're-"
Almost as if on cue, something rose out of the snow a few feet away from them.
"OH HELL NO! I'M OUTTA HERE, JONAH LETS GO!"
Lukas was rightfully terrified—since a giant, glowing grasshopper with two green humanoid hands on its back and thick, almost wasp-like black mandibles had just SMILED at them.
Julius grabbed both of their shoulders, grinning from ear to ear before pushing them forward—the Blighthopper instantly jumping towards them, making a large squeaking sound.
"Damn it.."
Jonah's eyes flickered red—his hand getting covered in red flames as he punched the insect monster in the face, sending it flying backwards, mandible broken.
"You're.. Cunning, Julius. Fine, we both have sigils."
Julius tilted his head—did he just talk like an adult? Oh well. It was a bit warranted, but, Julius needed to use his sigil more too.
"I know. Now step aside unless you want to get cut."
Before Jonah or Lukas could move—Julius rushed forward, holding a stick which he used to slice into the head off the Blighthopper, cutting it open ruthlessly, yellowish blood falling onto the snow. Dying it.
"Since I now know your guys' sigil. I'll tell you mine, anything I touch becomes as sharp as a sword. I just awakened it yesterday. So we're all prodigies huh?"