Pisces' mind spoke once more as the image of his dead mother faded.
'My mother was gone. With her death, me and my sister finally felt something close to peace. The threat that controlled our every breath was gone. The morning after, we left the stables and left her body where it fell. We walked away without looking back. We expected someone to come looking for her. No one came.'
Pisces and Gemini walked through the dirt streets of Ruin City. Smoke drifted from nearby chimneys. People passed by, eyes sliding over the children without stopping. Vendors shouted about fresh bread and produce. No one offered them a glance.
'Ruin City always acted proud. Their voices strong, their morals loud. But when it came to us, we were invisible. They hated us. Not one person asked where she went. Not one person looked for her. No one spoke to us. They never had. They would rather pretend we were never born. Gemini held my hand so tightly back then. She had always believed that killing our mother would set us free. She thought life would finally become normal. But the world outside her reach was not gentle. It was just another place ready to spit on us. Freaks, monsters, unwanted and Starving.'
Pisces remembered walking past two women near the market, their voices were low but unfiltered in gossip.
"Poor Flower. She must've left the city. No one's seen her in months."
"Oh yes, poor Flower. But I would have left too if I had given birth to those creatures. I'm shocked she stayed that long. Six years? They must have driven her insane. Little devils."
Pisces remembers his brows furrowing and his teeth gritting.
'That is the first time...I had ever heard mother's real name. Flower. My angry hateful mother. Flower? What a joke. All those years and I never knew my own mother's name. She hadn't bothered even giving us names either. We were nameless children.'
Pisces mind flashes to him and Gemini curled around a fire in an empty alley way. They had old rags as blankets to warm their shivering, frail, starved bodies. She was fast asleep leaning on her brother for support. He held her as his eyes start to drift from the hunger.
BOOM!
An explosion rings outs in the distance.
'The sky lit up. Screams were everywhere. I saw people running, falling through the gap at the end of the narrow alley way. Shadows moved with guns and cloaks.'
A man from Ruin City stumbled into view, trying to flee. Before he reached the alley, a massive hand grabbed his ankle and dragged him back. A hulking figure in a black and gold cloak loomed over him. Bandages covered his body. Only one reddish brown eye showed between layers of cloth. Brother Aries. He lifted the man by the leg and slammed him on the street. The crack echoed. He stomped once on his head, ending the man instantly before moving on with a grunt. Another voice shouted somewhere nearby:
"The Cult?! The Cult is here!!!"
Pisces blinked, trying to stay awake as hunger pulled at him.
'I didn't know who they were. The Cult. But they killed the same people who let us starve. People who ignored our suffering. For the first time, I saw fear in the faces of the ones who looked at us with disgust. It felt right. My sister hadn't yet woken up during that chaos. She was too tired and starved to wake. Even my own eyes fluttered with tiredness.'
A boy soon ran into view, no older than thirteen. He wore a black cloak lined with gold. Short blonde hair, sharp eyes and bronze skin. He jumped on another man and punched him repeatedly with brass knuckles, smiling as blood splattered.
'It was about after Leo was done beating that mans skull that my sister woke. She tossed and turned before opening her eyes. She was on the verge of death from starvation.'
"Brother... what is happening?" She said weakly.
"I don't know... stay with me." Pisces said just as weakly.
"I can't... I can't stand up..."
She tried to push herself up but collapsed. Her bones were thin. Her skin pale and tight from hunger. Pisces tried to sit taller, but his body trembled too.
'Her little legs were too starved and weak to even stand up. The real monsters weren't us. That city was. They let us rot. I wanted to protect her but I couldn't feel my own legs. My vision dimmed. I thought we might die there.'
It was then that Pisces heard a metallic whirring sound echoing above. Pisces forced his head up. Mechanical tendrils crept along the brick walls, pulling an old cloaked man forward. His body was lifted by the metal limbs, each movement precise. Capricornus.
'Me and my little sister had held our breath to not alert the stranger.'
The man stopped and turned to his left and looked right at them. He squinted and slowly approached, his tendrils carrying him forward. Little Pisces looked to his sister. Her breathing was ragged and her eyes almost shut. She was so weak. The little boy got up slow and wobbly, using all his strength to do so. He was skin and bone. He stumbled in front of Gemini and put his arms protectively.
"Stay...away..."
Capircounus stood over them and looked down upon them. He smiled.
"Beautiful...You are both so beautiful. Rare specimens. Lord Mako would take a liking to you."
Pisces didn't lower his fists. His legs trembled harder.
"Oh child, I am not here to harm you," Capricornus continued. "I see pain. I feel hunger in you both. Such suffering for ones so young. Tell me your names."
Pisces stopped and lowered his hands slightly as he tumbled and fell next to his sister, his legs too weak to carry him any longer. The little boy looked up at the old man.
"We...have no names," he said weakly.
"That is alright. Names are not given by birth. They are earned. I can give you names that hold purpose. One's that reflect who you are, more important than any name you could ever have been given. You just need to take my hand."
Pisces hugged Gemini. Pulling her close. A metal palm reached toward Pisces' face. It hovered open, steady. Pisces looked at his sister. Her chest rose and fell unevenly. She needed help or she would die.
'I took his hand. For no one has ever shown us that much kindness.'
Pisces placed his small hand on the cold metal. Gemini's fingers weakly followed. Capricornus' tendrils wrapped around them gently, lifting them as if they weighed nothing. Their ragged clothes dangled. Gemini rested her head on Pisces' shoulder. Her breathing steadied slightly. The city around them burned and screamed. Zodiacs moved like shadows through the smoke. Pisces' eyes finally closed, his body surrendering.
As Capricornus carried them through the falling ash and ruined streets, the cries of Ruin City faded behind them. The firelight flickered on stone as they disappeared into the night. They slept in the arms of the man who had claimed them, leaving the world that had abandoned them.
'My sister had always a wanted a name. Gemini. What a beautiful name.'
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