Alex's POV:
My name is Alex Manus, though for a while, I had another name. They used to call me the spawn of evil in the village I was born in. Black hair color is extremely rare amongst elves specifically, as such, there are a lot of superstitions surround it all over the world. In my village, it was believed that those who were born with black hair were the children of the devil. You'd think they'd just kill me and be done with it, but no, they had a custom for how to handle these cursed children. They would use them as the villages punching bag, until finally, their supposed god asked them to offer us up as a sacrifice.
My entire life I had been treated as less than human. I would be beaten senseless for just being alive, I would be force-fed left over pigfeed, my bruises would be left to fester. My injuries were sometimes treated if it was serious, not because anyone cared, but because if I died from an infection someone else would have to take my place as a sacrifice when the time came. Then when I turned 12, it happened. A voice came from the forest and I was dragged to the alter where I was left for dead. I still recall the look of indifference in my birthmother's eyes as she and the other villagers left me there. Her last words to me before leaving being:
"I can finally be rid of you!"
I don't know how long I was there on that alter. It could have been minutes, or it could have been hours, but as I heard the monster they called god approaching, I felt my heart beating out of my chest. Never in my life had I ever received any warmth, or love, but there was also a lack of fear. No matter how much they beat me, they knew not to take it too far, no matter how gross it tasted, I was never starved. My life had been so empty, and worthless, so what does it matter if I died. That was what I thought over and over again up until that point, when for the first time, I truly felt what it was like to be afraid. It's strange, I spent all my life up until that point thinking my life didn't matter, and yet when I was about to die, I suddenly had this unbelievably strong urge to protect that meaningless existence.
I thrashed, and struggled, for who know how long as the sounds of howling and falling trees echoed in the background. Eventually I managed to break out of the worn rope they had tied me up with. When I turned around to look at the face of god, what I saw was a giant gray wolf, its fur stained in blood as it approached me. I tried to run, but now that I was looking at it, I was too scared to move a muscle. I tried to scream, but I couldn't muster the energy to use my voice as the only thing that would come out was my heavy breaths. I had been paralyzed with fear, as I felt the bloodlust of that creature slowly waltzing towards me. It was only when it came close enough to actually try and take a bite out of me, that I managed to summon some strength to move.
*Thud*
"uuaaAAAHAAAAAAAAAHHH!"
I fell backwards as the wolf snapped at the air where my head had been a moment earlier. The moment my butt hit the ground, it was like I was jolted awake, as I regained mobility in my entire body along with my voice. I screamed as I cried, crawling away on all fours because every time I tried to get up, I would end up slipping or stumble over my own feet and fall back down. I could hear the wolf walking after me. I wasn't moving all that fast, so of course, it wasn't much of a chase. I ended up exhausted and slumped up against a tree as I watched the bloody wolf open its bloodstained mouth to eat me whole.
At that moment I thought for sure I was going to die, falling into that dark abyss inside the mouth of that false god, but then all of a sudden.
*SQUELCH*
*BANG*
*THUD*
*CRACKLE*
Dropping down from the tree I had leaned against came a small figure in a ragged cloak and bandages, landing directly on the wolfs snout, stabbing a blade into it, as the momentum it carried with it, pinned the monster's head to the ground, snapping it's mouth shut in the process. Then before it had time to react, I saw blue lightning crackling across its body, causing the wolf to twitch all over as its fur caught fire.
"Tsk! So annoying! The fur is ruined!" Said the little masked child who just saved my life, apparently more upset at the drop in value of her prays carcass than the missing chunk in her leg.
This was my master, Nox Manus, at the age of 9. As for the god she had just slain, I didn't know it at the time, but it was apparently a species of Legendary Beasts known as a Fenrir, that was attempting to make the jump to become a Divine beast, or a god, through these rituals. Apparently, rituals like these if done correctly, can grant large amounts of divine energy, making it the go to method for many would-be-gods wanting to ascend to the divine realm. According to master, this Fenrir was actually pretty close to transforming into a Divine beast, making it more like a demigod than a magical beast.
Once she finished putting out the fires of the dead Fenrir and salvaging what she could, she turned to me, and as the recounting of that moment in her scrapbook can attest, I had apparently pissed myself while crying profusely.
"Hey, kid! Why are you cryin?" Those were her first words to me.
If I recall right, I said something like, I just want to go home.
"Okay! Then let's go home!" She said as she reached out her small, bloodstained hand.
That was the first time anyone had ever offered me a helping hand. She led me through the forest without a word until we reached my village, but when we got there.
"NO! WHY ARE YOU HEAR?!"
"YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO BE SACRIFICED TO THE GOD OF THE WOODS!!!"
"HAVE YOU ANY IDEA WHAT YOU'VE DONE?! WHAT IF GOD THINKS WE DIDN'T OFFER A SACRIFICE AND PUNISH US FOR YOUR MISTAKE?!"
"YOU MONSTER! THIS IS THE ONLY THING WE EVER ASKED OF YOU, AND THIS IS HOW YOU REPAY US!"
*bang*
A rock hit my head, and I felt a trickle of warm blood running down my face. Soon after more rocks came flying at me from the angry villagers, as they hurled stones and insults down on me. I remember looking at the woman who birthed me, as she shouted with bloodshot eyes. Not a sliver of remorse as she joined the crowd.
"YOU CURSED CHILD! CAN YOU DO NOTHING RIGHT!" She screamed right before throwing a rock that would have landed square on my face, but it didn't.
I saw a bloodied hand grab the rock out of the air before throwing it back in her face, so hard it shattered her nose. Then stepping in-between me and the pelting rocks was the tiny little girl. She would grab the rocks out of the air, either with her hands, or with the enchanted bandages swaying in the air and either ricochet them between the approaching stones midair, causing them to miss their mark, or throw them back at the villagers, sometimes even both. Eventually, the villagers realized they weren't going to win this throwing match and stopped, as they looked at Nox with a mix of fear and hate.
"COME ON! IS THAT ALL YOU GOT YOU COWARDS! EVEN THAT PUP YOU PRAYED TO, HAD MORE BITE THAN YOU!" She shouted as she threw a bundle of the Fenrir's fangs at the village chief.
"Th-this can't be!"
"D-DEMON! THIS IS A TRICK! THERE IS NO WAY YOU COULD HAVE-!"
"'You're god is dead! You have no excuse to act like this anymore! Now, pick up your shit and fight like a man, or run like the mass of rats you are!'" She said, her words echoing throughout the village.
She was the smallest person there, even smaller than me, but in that moment, as she glared down a whole mob of angry villagers, her back looked bigger than any mountain. It was the first time, someone had ever stood up for me, and it felt so comforting.
"Cryin again! You really are a crybaby you know that! Anyways, we're in the wrong place! This is obviously not your home!" She said as she gave one last glance at my unconscious birth mother on the ground.
"Let's go look for your home somewhere else! Kay Crybaby!" She said as she reached out her hand to me again.
That was the beginning of a journey I will never forget for as long as I live, and as painful as its ending was, I never once regretted taking my masters hand that day, because if I hadn't, I would have never known a real family, I would have never found my home, and I would have never known what a real mother was like.
*Bonk*
"AAAAAHH! WHAT THE HELL!!!"
Smacking me awake from the dream of times long past, was none other than my master and adoptive mother, Nox Manus, her brother without a name, sitting in the corner while stroking something incredibly dangerous with a crazed look in his eyes.
"HEY! HOW DID UNCLE-!"
*Bonk*
"AAAAHHH! HEY, WHY AM I THE ONE GETTING HIT?! I DIDN'T GIVE HIM THAT I SWEA-!"
*Bonk*
"AAAAAAAAHHHH!"
"Hm? Now that I think of it! The pain stick ain't the best tool for amnesia! Wait, hold on! Let me get my hacksaw!" She said, as she seemed to be trying to cause me brain damage for whatever reason.
"HEY! IF YOU'RE GOING TO CRACK OPEN MY SKULL THAN AT LEAST YOU CAN TELL ME WHY! BEDSIDE MANNER AND ALL THAT!"
"Hm? You already know why! You bribed your uncle, so you could get the secrets to the forbidden cookbook! NOW PREPARE FOR MEMORY LOSS, AND MAYBE SOME MOTOR SKILLS TOO!" She screamed as she pulled out a chainsaw and a hocky mask.
This was when I recalled how insane my master's parenting can be. I still recall how she slathered me in the food I liked, before she had me run a marathon with rabid tigers and wolves snapping at my heels, all just because I gained a little weight. I still have some of the scars on my body from that time, and now, just because I had bribed my uncle for some of those recipes, she deemed too unhealthy for consumption, she is planning to rewire my head to make me forget.
"COME ON! I ONLY EAT THEM WHEN I NEED TO UNWIND A BIT!"
"Oh My Fuck! IT IS WORSE THAN I THOUGHT! MY BABY BOY HAS DEVELOPED SOME SORT OF FOOD FETISH! HOW WILL I EVER SEE MY GRANDCHILDREN IF YOU SCARE AWAY MY DAUGHTER-IN-LAW WITH THESE PERVERSIONS!" She shouted as she swung down the chainsaw, fully intending to split my head open.
Fortunately, after the three years I spent living with her, my reflexes coupled with my skill set that I have developed over the years, has made it possible to avoid being killed by her crazed delusions as long as I put my everything into escaping.
*engine revving*
"HEY! GET BACK HERE! MOMMY NOX ONLY WANTS WHAT'S BEST FOR YOU AND YOUR HYPOTHETICAL CHILDREN!"
*Smash*
And so, the chaos continues.