Timeless Hero Without a Goal

74th Tick: Gemini 5

The demon, newly named Gira, was smart, but not the best in the way of the blade. He was clumsy and often time would overthink situations and mess up. He had sparred with his adoptive father many times, but had showed no signs of improvement. He continued struggling, trying to attain a level above and beyond his adoptive father. He studied the art of war, martial arts, the theory for situational combat scenarios. No matter how hard he tried, his physical abilities were limited.

At twelve, he was stronger than most his age, though slightly. But he was aiming further, higher, more ambitious. He had continued learning until one day, he met her. A demon, just like him. He had short white hair and she had long white hair. Their height and body size at that age was similar, their eyes had the exact same shade of red. They looked each other in the eyes, seeing themselves in the other. Before they could speak, their adoptive parents dragged them away.

That was when, after looking at her and how similar she was to him, he realised his ability. A mirror. He could do many things with it, reflect light, reflect emotions, reflect damage down to him or something else. He played around with that power, wondering just how fun it would be if he could master it fully. His adoptive father paid him no mind, glad that he was able to find a pastime.

At the early age of thirteen, on his birthday, the Church burnt to the ground, and there were only two survivors. The reason was simple. They found out.

After the sister was taken in by the man’s friend, the demon child was renamed Mini. The person who adopted her was a rich single lady without children. She treated Mini nicely at first, but things changed after she got engaged and bore a child of her own when Mini was five years old. Ever since then, Mini was treated like a nuisance to her. The lady would constantly chase her out so that she could take care of her own child. Mini received poor education and had a poor memory too. She was beaten for trying to touch her newborn ‘brother’. She was treated as if she was a dirty being picked up from the trash.

Nowhere to run, she could only endure it. Treated like an animal, she constantly starved and injured. Once, when she was nine, after she had tried to carry her younger brother, the lady had panicked and thrown a vase at Mini. The case shattered against her head, making her pass out on the ground. Her injuries would heal, and for the longest time, she thought that was her ability.

Her adoptive mother could care less, the lady’s husband was like his wife, and their child grew up treating her like trash. She did not mind, as long as she had a place to sleep and a place to call home. When she was twelve, the family received an invitation to attend a ceremony at the Church. Mini was forced to follow along due to her technically being part of the family, but she seemed more like a slave. There, she met someone that looked like her, she seemed to recognise him, but could not quite place her finger on why. They made eye contact before she was pulled away aggressively. “Don’t drag us down.” Her adoptive mother had said.

She was not too miserable, she didn’t know anything worse. She only wondered where her real mother was and how she got lost to begin with. After asking the lady, she had told Mini that she had been abandoned by her actual parents. She took it at face value, believing her.

The two children had faced discrimination by humans growing up. Sometimes they would throw rocks, insult them to their faces. They could understand what they were saying, but could not understand their intent. They had done nothing wrong towards those people, the reason why they had decided to bully them was unknown to the demons. And at thirteen, Gira was reading a book late into the night. His oil lamp had just gone off and he needed to find a new one.

He walked in the estate, pure darkness around him. He was trying to look for the storage room, but unknown to him, he had gone the wrong direction. He realised it after making a few turns, and at that point, he was lost. He continued walking, and eventually, he heard a familiar voice. It was his adoptive father, discussing about something. He approached the door, wanting to ask for help with getting back to his room.

His hand was an inch away from the doorknob when he paused. He heard someone say, “We need to kill them!”

“I refuse!” His adoptive father replied.

“Have you seen the freak you’re taking care of? His power will one day cause mayhem amongst the humans!”

“They have yet to commit a crime, they do not deserve to die.”

Gira took a step back. Were they talking about him? He had never heard such a discussion even once in his life.

“We can charge them for something, anything! We just need to get them out! There is no point keeping two filths among us. They will not only ruin our reputation as the biggest church, but as loyal members of the human race!”

“What I said stands!” His adoptive father said firmly. “These children are still children, there is no need to kill them!”

“We killed their mother!” The other person shouted. “We have no say with those matters! Please, think about all those things! Regardless whether they’re demons or not, the moment they find out, we’re all dead!”

Gira stepped back and ran into the darkness, his mind in a mess. He had not intended to eavesdrop on their conversation, but some odd fate had led him there. That night, he found out about his past, their past.