Snowflakes were trickling down in the late afternoon. There was dust hanging in the air, so thick it would've been hard for anyone caught in it to even breathe. There were massive rocks and debris littered everywhere, and out in the distance a towering monster was wreaking havoc in a city. Not too far from there a boy was lying on the ground, seemingly unconscious.
He had sharp features and raven black hair, so dark it seemed to absorb the light coming from all the fires surrounding him. He lay in the broken remains of a building that had crumbled under the weight of the Titan causing mayhem in the city, just like so many others in the surrounding area.
But as a chunk of cement came falling to the ground the boy was pulled out from his consciousness, and his eyes flashed opened. His eyes were a mix of black and purple hues that glistened from the light shining on them. As the boys thoughts were getting pulled back to reality he muttered something:
"Wha- what happened…"
The young man seemed to remember what had caused the current state of his surroundings though, because before too long his eyes widened in horror. Kai remembered… He remembered everything. Today they were supposed to go to the amusement park and celebrate. In the same moment more of Kai's recollection was coming back to him.
'Celebrate. We were supposed to celebrate Sierens birthday. He would've been 23 today…'
With that thought Kai began sprinting throughout the rubble trying to find his friends… No, his family.
"KARMA! SIEREN!"
With frantic shouts Kai began searching. But in the moment Kai began to reminisce, not because he was happy or sad, but because he was angry and disappointed in himself. Karma and Sieren were the ones who took him in when his mom died. They fed him, gave him water, and even a place to stay.
Sieren was the eldest being 14, while Karma and Kai were both 5. Sure the two young boys helped around so things kept rolling, but it wasn't like it was easy for Sieren to take care of two adolescent boys. At first the family of 3 would have to steal just to make ends meet, but as the years went by and Kai and Karma grew up things became easier.
That was 9 years ago. And it was also the reason Kai couldn't let his brothers die. So he kept searching and searching. The smoke from the fires were beginning to make his eyes sting and the mental and physical fatigue was starting to catch up to him. He had been searching for over an hour, but he couldn't find anything.
Despair began to grip his heart
'No. I'm not giving up. Not like this!'
His thoughts were in shambles but he knew he couldn't just quit. And so he kept up his search. He moved heavy rocks covering his path and covered his mouth and nose with the inside of his elbow so he could breathe better. Just as he began to lose hope though, he saw something… a leg.
Kai sprinted towards the limb and just as he turned the corner to where the rest of the body should've been, he saw him, Sierens corpse. The left half of his body was crushed by a giant boulder. Kai tried to push the damn rock over but inevitably failed. He was overcomed by a storm of emotions, regret, sadness, guilt…
His thoughts were thrown into disarray, unable to accept what was happening.
"No… no this can't- WHY? WHY NOW, WHY TODAY?!"
It was then that the hurricane of emotions raging inside Kai triggered something. Something deep and illogical… something that defied everything.
'Huh'
Due to this feeling Kai was taken away from his grieving and forced to focus on the change happening inside of him. In that moment a spark ignited in Kai and a surge of energy exploded from within him and eventually seeping out from him.
'Is this? It's not possible for someone like me-"
But his thoughts were cut off, when a flash of blinding purple light was unleashed from inside him, destroying the boulder on top of Sieren and blowing away the debris around him. Kai blacked out again but soon regained consciousness moments later. He found himself laying face first sprawled out on the ground.
He was a little disoriented but soon gathered his bearings and took in his surroundings. A wide circle of debris, about 30 meters in diameter, was cleared around him. After taking in his surroundings he pushed himself off the ground and dusted off his face that was plastered with dirt from lying on the ground.
That's when he felt it. The strange, unfamiliar power inside him. Looking down at his hands Kai noticed arcs of dark purple lighting dancing around his finger tips. He looked at the phenomena in awe, until he noticed that there wasn't just lighting around his fingers, but instead there was the same violet lighting jumping all around his body.
"What in the dead Gods…"
Kai muttered to himself. Was this what they called Affinities? Was he Awakening? Kai didn't know a whole lot about Affinities but he did know the stories people told about them. They said Affinities are the reflection of one's soul, and can often be inherited from family members or ancestors.
Most people only develop one Affinity but there have been a few reports of people having multiple, but it's very very rare. He also heard that an Affinity can only awaken if one's soul source emerges.
'Then what's my soul source?'
Kai had seen people with Affinities, mostly civilians who chose not to use their power. People called them Mutated. But he had also seen the ones who challenge the titans, the Elitist, of the Stalker Association. He almost let himself get lost within this new fascinating power. But out of the corner of his eye he noticed Sieren, and his half crushed corpse.
All the feelings and emotions that were washed away by his Affinity awakening resurfaced, and the arcs of lighting swimming around him became erratic. Kai tried to compress them, hold them back, do something- anything, But he had zero control of his newfound power. The violet lighting started to become more aggressive almost like it had a mind of its own.
They lashed out with violent purpose, destroying rocks and debris from the building. Kai knew he had to stop it otherwise he could harm Sierens body, then there would be nothing left of him, but he couldn't. He couldn't do anything. That was until he felt a warm hand grasp his shoulder.
With hesitant movement, Kai rotated his head to see who it was, and there standing behind him with his sharp shark-like teeth, and black dreads with dark red tips, was Karma, bathed in a Crimson-Black flame.
Kai didn't immediately understand why Karma was burning in front of his eyes, but from the looks of it he wasn't in any pain. At first Karma had a look of concern on his face but in the next moment, he sighed, closed his eyes and gave Kai a wide smile and said in a soft clear voice.
"Let it out, bro."
Kai gave Karma a hesitant look, but before he could refute Karma spoke:
"It's cool, trust me. You wont hurt me I promise, but this is the only way we can settle down and get control over whatever is happening to us."
Thats when Kai realized what was happening. Karma must have Awakened his Affinity too somehow. But Kai didn't have any more time to think he was losing his grip, and so he did what Karma told him, and let go. At the same moment the Lighting began to grow even more frantic than before, but instead of causing more destruction it latched itself onto Karma's flames.
Almost like an embrace. Karma turned Kai so that he was facing him and gave him a hug, just as their two souls intertwined above them. Eventually they were both able to get their Affinities under control.
Their solace didn't last for long though. Through the snow, that Kai now knew was ash, a person stood atop a large piece of debris. They wore a white mask on the front of their face with a black line splitting it down the middle, and a black top hat that was embroidered with a flower-like pattern. Kai spotted them first.
"Huh? Hey over here! We need help! Our brother's body… He's dea-. Dead."
Silence hung in the air for a moment, then the person began walking over.
"You kids alright? I'm an Elitist. Are you hurt?"
Now that the mysterious man was closer Kai was able to get a better look at him. He was a tall, slender, but fit man. Kai was about to ask if he could get them help, but Karma began before him.
"Hi sir, that body over there is our brother…"
With clenched teeth he continued.
"He was crushed under a large rock. When my other brother and I found him we both awakened."
The man cut in.
"And I'm guessing this is the aftermath?" He chuckled and then continued: "Poor kids, My name is Pluto are your parents around?"
"No sir. We're orphans."
Pluto scanned the surroundings, then looked down at the two boys and let out a soft chuckle.
"Hm, It seems it wasn't a complete waste at least. You mentioned you just awakened right? Then I guess this is your lucky day! You two will be coming with me."
As those words left Pluto's mouth Kai and Karma lost sight of him, His whole being seemed to blip out of existence, and in the next moment everything went black.