Chapter 1: Lonely Silhouette

In the Capital of Ever Kingdom. The stores, the houses, the streets were all dressed in shades of red. Early fireworks were set off into the darkening sky creating a festive mood—the time was only 6pm in the evening.

Loud noises and clamoring of voices sounded high into the sky and all around the Capital with festivity, mixing with the sounds of daily routine activities.

In stores and shops, some clocked out for the night, going home to spend the rest of the day with their families. While others groaned about having to stay working overnight, glaring at the leaving people in envy, but their co-workers just laughed at their childish act.

Outside in the streets.

"Hahaha, catch me if you can!"

"Look look! Look at my clothes! It's so pretty~ My mother sewed it herself!"

"Phew! I'm glad I bought all the presents in time."

The joyful laughter bubbling out of children's throats were filling every corner of the streets, bringing bright smiles to the faces of their parents. And the parents, just as their children were enjoying themselves, were laughing and chatting with their friends as well.

Similarly, all over the Capital were heart-warming scenes. Parents buying their kids gifts. Kids giving presents to their mother, father, and grandparents. Kids chasing after one another with squeals of excitement. Friends clinking their wine glasses together in merriment. Even those who usually have a grumpy air about them had their prickly attitudes lightened. Some of whom even had a faint smile on their faces seeing their long-time-away-from-home children coming home to accompany them.

"Look here! Look here! All freshly out of the oven!" A voice called out loudly, trying to attract people's attention to their goods.

Among the mass of people, delicious aromas of freshly cooked food and snacks drifted through the air and into the noses of the passersby, catching their attention.

Swallowing their saliva, they all gravitated towards the different fragrance sources that entranced them.

"Welcome! Welcome!"

Store vendors' stalls were spread all over the lanes of streets, greeting many early customers who had come out to enjoy their evening and play. They were in luck today, earning tons of revenue, for this was the liveliest time of the year. It was a day that every citizen took note of, whether they celebrate it or not. For the past has faded to dust and the future is bright ahead. For it was the end of a long year, and, the beginning of a new chance for those who failed miserably in the last.

It was the New Years.

Truly a day to be celebrated and welcomed. No woes or disheartened feelings will be shared on this day as it is the time to welcome a new start for those who had a bad year.

But there was only one place devoid of any liveliness and laughter, and was instead about to be clothed in confusion and disarray from its original bleak state.

Amidst the crowds of joyous people, there alone, at the center of the plaza in the Capital, was an outlier. A figure stood out, standing there blankly amongst the glowing faces of the crowd.

The figure was a young man in his 20's, his clothes were not festive, his long hair was messy and wind-blown, and his expression was definitely not one of joy or happiness. It can be said that his face was, in actuality, blank. Completely blank with no emotions on it. However, no one noticed this young man's abnormal state that was almost like an empty shell. It was as if his soul had flown away, carried into nothingness by the red wind.

There was a sudden jolt. The young man's body had somewhat shook, trembling from head to toe like he had a sudden convulsion, yet his blank looks and empty eyes were still soulless and… lifeless.

Although the young man had stood there for a long time, none of the passersby around him had really paid any attention to his presence, acting almost as if he didn't exist. Even as he stood there for hours upon hours until the clock struck 10. With only two more hours until midnight; until it was time to welcome the New Year.

His appearance, although unkempt and not suitable for celebrating the new years, if observed closely, can still see a handsome face that still had a bit of immaturity left that has yet to leave. His body was thin and lacked sufficient muscles, making him look like an easy to bully target. His eyes, although soulless and empty, were a dark brown almost black, looking similar to a never-ending abyss with the deep feelings it gave off. Overall, his appearance would make one think he came from a noble family, especially with how soft and smooth the palm of his hands were.

With time ticking by, fast or slow, soon the atmosphere around the entire Capital started peaking. The original buzz has turned louder and louder like someone actively turning the volume knob, and the heat has gotten hotter and hotter.

"Mommy!! Is it midnight yet?" A little girl asked, tugging on her mother's dress. An annoyed and impatient expression surfaced onto her cute scrunched up face just thinking about how much longer she would have to wait. She really wants to say "Happy New Years!" to everyone already! In a mature act, the little girl folded her arms across her chest and tapped her feet impatiently against the stone ground to make her point.

Her mother watching her actions had a smile tugging on her lips which she forcefully pulled down to say in a stern manner towards her silly daughter, "Enna, you are a good girl, right?"

Hearing her mother ask her this instead of an answer to her question, the girl was startled and hurriedly shook her head up and down frantically, as if afraid her mother would think her to be a bad girl and not give her any New Years presents.

Looking at her daughter's teary eyes that seems to say she has been wronged, the mother continued with her stern act, "Then why are you so impatient?"

The little girl chewed her small lips and pulled them down into a cute pout, and said in a whisper-like voice, "Because...Because I want to say 'Happy New Years' to you, daddy, grandma, and grandpa." And to show how sincere she was, she widened her big eyes and looked sincerely and unwaveringly at her mother.

Seemingly hit by an arrow, the little girl's mother's heart was struck and melted into a sweet puddle. Finally throwing away her stern expression and tone of voice, the mother smiled warmly and gently to her kind daughter, "My Enna is so sweet and considerate. Don't worry, it'll be the New Years soon." The mother turned her head to look at the moon that's floating in the night sky then turned back to face her daughter's questioning gaze, and added, "Look at the moon, it is already 11:45. Soon the new year will arrive."

Right as the mother said that, out of nowhere, a huge Boom! went off in the sky, causing the ground to tremble and the people to stumble feeling as if the sky was about to collapse. This caused great panic among the masses. As the night deepened, many people had converged toward the center of the town, crowded together, everyone shoved and bumped into everyone else causing mass chaos to erupt. The originally jolly mood was broken like the sudden burst of a sturdy dam.

The plaza at the center of the Capital quickly turned chaotic with the rushing of footsteps and the pushing of the crowd—trying to find their way to safety like headless chickens.

However, amongst the panic-stricken crowd, there was only one calm person. It was the same young man mentioned earlier. Even amongst the disorderly crowd shoving and trampling over one another to get away, he alone stood there quietly like a wallflower.

However, in the instant the explosion occurred, the previously still young man sharply raised his head, his previously blank dark-brown eyes turned violet-purple, and held an inconspicuous light within them that was not there before, staring right at the loud bang and the blinding light. No matter how irritated and teary his eyes became from staring into something that bright, he never once took his eyes off, as if there was something magnificent within that piercing light, that had caused hundreds of people to become wild, that only he could see.

He was mesmerized, caught in a trance he was unable to escape from

But he doesn't want to escape.

Instead, he was walking closer and closer to that bright light, yet never reaching. Suddenly, he stopped at the center of the plaza from where he was at the corner of the plaza previously. The reason was another explosion had gone off, seconds after the first.

However, this time, the explosion went off extremely close to the young man, almost as if it was intentionally aiming for him. The explosion went off and the light wrapped up the figure of the young man entirely, blocking him out of sight.

It should have killed the blank young man as the explosion's after-effects were quite powerful, causing slight cracks and fissures to erupt on the plaza floor. It should have torn and ripped him into pieces, with his blood dried and flesh burnt. But it didn't.

Despite how bright and hot it blazed, it did no harm to the young man in its embrace. And within its embrace, the young man was floating in the air, his long, black hair flowing slowly in the empty space, his feet above the ground, his eyes closed in what seemed like an eternal slumber. His expression was soft and his lips were curved up in a peaceful rest.

After what seemed like an eternity, which was actually just a few seconds, the young man suddenly opened up his eyes to reveal a deep pair of violet purple pupils.

The eyes of the young man that were dead for most of the night suddenly shined with the light of life. As if rejuvenated, his eyes twinkled like gems and his pupils burned hot like fire.

Found deep within his violet purple eyes were confusion and bewilderment. Slowly, the warm light that had wrapped itself around him receded into nothingness. The young man was placed gently onto the cracked stone ground.

In all that had happened, not even one person from the hundreds of masses noticed what had happened with this mysterious young man. All that they knew was that yet another explosion had come, which had triggered yet another round of scattering and running around like headless chickens.

In spite of this, after time had passed minute by minute, the crowd soon regained their composure and cautiously watched to see if another curveball would be thrown. Then seeing as how nothing happened even after waiting for so long, everyone collectively let out a sigh of relief, their hearts still pounding in their chests.

Shortly, all the people went back to how they were before the two-combo explosions happened. The atmosphere that was abruptly stirred and disrupted gradually turned lively and festive once again after a lackey of the higher-ups gave an explanation to the people explaining the explosions as a mishap resulting from the inappropriate amount of black powder inputted that made the fireworks go off strongly like an explosion from a mini bomb.

"What's...happened?" Over at the side, the young man who was formerly covered in the blinding light from the second explosion, yet was still in one piece, stood at the center of the plaza from where he had disappeared and had then landed on. From beginning to end, he had not moved an inch away from where he was, only looking at his hands and body in amazement and great confusion.

"I'm alive?" The young man who was dead for the whole night awakened in surprise and amazement which was followed closely by complexity. The once lifeless body had regained a soul, however, the soul wasn't the same one, the one that had been placed inside this young man's body was not the original soul. In truth, that soul had already disappeared never to be found again, leaving only the empty shell which the current soul is occupying.

The new soul that is currently residing in the young man's body is called Abner Aarush. He was about to become the new leader of the Underworld until his unfortunate death that he knows wasn't an accident happened. Just thinking about the person who had caused his death set ablaze a fire in his chest, the sensation transmitted into his arms sprinted into his hands that uncontrollably clenched into fists from the burning sensation. It almost made him forget how miraculous it was that he had somehow reincarnated.

He was so close. He was so close to bringing light into his home. To his people. He wanted them to change, to let those who chose not to join him out of hopelessness know that not all hope is gone. He wanted more for them, all of them…

He wished to rip that jerk into thousands of pieces and make sure he has no peaceful rest even in death!

Abner gritted his teeth and squeezed his eyes shut, the throbbing heartache tormenting his soul. Nevertheless, how can he torture and vow vengeance upon a person he had not seen?

Taking a step back, looking back at the him now, Abner was not sure of what to do. One fact of the matter is how weak his current body is, there were hardly any muscles and he looked like he was starved to be this thin.

"Bang! Crackle! Pop!"

Suddenly a loud sound next to him made Abner snap out of his deep thinking, hurriedly looking to his right, he saw children throwing firecrackers onto the ground wildly and enjoying the loud popping noises they created.

He was so immersed and muddle-headed after being so lucky to still be alive and the hatred toward his enemy that he subconsciously ignored everything around him. 

Fatal mistake!

Deciding to look for a quiet place to think, Abner tried to find an alleyway he could hide in—as was his habit.

Finding one that was not occupied, Abner sat down on the dirty ground covered in unknown disgusting substances. In spite of this, Abner seemed to not mind it at all. He did not feel repulsed like most people would when sitting on unknown substances that obviously were from nothing nice, he was used to things like this after all. In the end, he did grow up in the disgusting and vile Slums. Where even the streets are covered in filth, and people's clothes and shoes were always soaked in them.

Thinking back on the life he had led, Abner can't say he wasn't tired. After all, successfully uniting most of the Slums people and the Underworld's people and gathering the people who had similar goals and ideals to his was arduous. Yet he felt proud of his accomplishments, and even more so, he was glad. Glad that no matter how hard and dangerous things got, no matter how much the people of the true dark attempted to thwart his plans, he had never given up, he had always persisted stubbornly.

Then he died. Was it one of them? A trace of suspicion flashed past Abner's eyes.

But now...now that he's still alive...although the former "Abner Aarush" is dead...should he head back? Even if his body is different, he is still himself, his soul is still the same and he still has all his memories. Perhaps he can continue where he'd left off. His friends and subordinates must be missing him right now.

"I wonder if they'd held a funeral for me...haha, probably. Those guys always said they would die before I die, yet I...died before them. I wonder what they're thinking now..." Abner quietly mused to himself in a whisper. There was a pang of guilt that hit his heart, thinking about how hurt they must be, especially when Abner himself had promised not to die before them—though that was said as a joke back then, it was a promise nonetheless.

Relaxing his body, Abner leaned his back against the cold stone wall covered with patches of moss and looked intensely at the wall splashed by an unknown liquid and similarly covered in moss opposite him. The bright fire burning inside of him did not waver even in his new body, in his new life.

Honestly, Abner did not know what to do with his new life. He is still conflicted between going back or not going back to his people. After all, Abner Aarush was now dead to the people of the "kingdom" and the Slums as it was already the New Year's and he remembered that he had died about two weeks prior to the New Year's Day. Two weeks was a long time, the news should've been spread.

Suddenly, Abner snapped his head to the side. He heard a small noise deep within this alleyway he was in. Feeling suspicious, Abner went to check it out. This was a habit he had gained from growing up in the Slums, as well as dealing with the Underworld for so many years. He must have sharp intuition and quick reaction to make the right response at the best possible time.

Stealthily, Abner followed the voices to their source of origin. Coming to a corner, Abner didn't look around it, instead, he listened carefully to their conversation while holding his breath. From the way they talk and the fact that they were conversing in an alleymaze, Abner deduced that they must either be the Slums people or the "kingdom's" people, but Aber is leaning more towards them being the Underworld's citizens. If Abner continues to eavesdrop, he might find out information he desperately needs right now about the Underworld.

"The Underworld was such a mess for a period of time during the last two weeks—though it kind of still is in a mess right now. The news that Abner Aarush, our new leader, had died in an assassination is spreading widely among the 'kingdom's' people. So much so that even I have heard of it even though I'm placed here in the Ever Kingdom," one of the men gossiped, sharing the latest news he had caught from his friends.

The other man sighed and shook his head, "I heard of it too. They held a grand funeral never-before-seen for him, wish I could've attended it but it was too far. Such a pity that a good man like Abner was killed. Even if I am from the dark side doesn't mean I don't ever miss the light and want to see it."

The former man scoffed, "What nonsense are you talking about? Us hoodlums are bound to forever be trapped in the dark, the sun will never shine on us. As the saying goes, no matter how bright the sun shines, there will always be corners where it can't reach."

Abner lowered his head in thought. Although he can hear the common sense in what this man was saying realistically, he still firmly believes that light can be shined onto even the darkest of corners.

His companion nodded his head. Suddenly, his eyes lit up as he remembered something, "Oh! I just recalled. I also heard from a friend of mine down at the Slums when I went to visit him last week that Lyle Swift was appointed to replace Abner Aarush." He added as a second thought, "They say he's a decent guy as well."

Again, the first man scoffed, "Who says. Never even heard of him. Bet he's just lusting after power since his leader's dead."

Tuning out the rest of the two men's conversation, Abner had gotten what he wanted to know. Pondering on whether to kill these two men or not, Abner decided against it. His body was not in its best state and knows no martial art. Abner can bet that this body hardly exercised at all besides occasional walks. Besides, those two men had not sensed his presence here and did not seem to be from the pure dark side, so Abner decided to leave them be. So leaving the two chatting men behind, Abner went back to his place on the ground close to the mouth of the alley and sat down once again.

"So Lyle huh...," muttering something to himself and in a slight daze, the gears and cogs in his head were turning rapidly, showing how despite his death and rebirth into another person's body, Abner was still Abner with his quick-thinking and situational adaptability skills.

"I do want to go back to everyone...," Abner couldn't help himself and let out the words in his heart. Immediately he shook his head. He mustn't think this way. Since he's already dead, then let the dead remain the dead. He mustn't be selfish. His subordinates already accepted him as dead, he can't just suddenly show up and scare them. Besides, Aber can trust his subordinates to take his place and bring light and hope to those in the dark—their ideals since the day they had met and made their promise together. Especially when it's Lyle who will be replacing him. Abner trusts him, that guy's heart is just and in the right place, and he is one of his closest subordinates.

However, Abner will find out in the near future how far reality is from his expectations. Human nature changes, especially ones that were forced to be concealed in order to be hidden and will strike when the other's guard is down. How could Abner have known that the guy he trusts is actually a traitor? He can only know later.

"I know I shouldn't be so negative...but I admit I'll miss them. There's no way I won't. They are my best comrades and brothers, we've been through thick and thin together. Fought against so many sinister men and women from the pure dark side. Side by side, we advanced and retreated. I don't know where I would be now if it weren't for them," Abner reminisced his wonderful memories full of nostalgia with a sad sigh.

"I am already feeling such a sense of loss just thinking about it. Maybe I can go visit them from time to time. The Slums is my home as well so it's only right that I go visit there too."

"However, there is no way I am letting off the guy who schemed to kill me," Abner clenched his fists tightly in vexation and annoyance, he closed his eyes as if he couldn't bear to think about the results of their actions, "Even if I don't know what he looks like or who he is."

Slowly opening his eyes, a pair of deep violet purple pupils shone with a determined light, the very same light that had appeared when Abner first decided on his dream of bringing light to the Slums and the Underworld. The same light that expressed all that was in his heart—pure and hot.

Crack! Pop!

The sounds of a round of fireworks setting off as if to support Abner's resolve resounded loudly in the sky. The exuberant and excited cheers of the people exploded in waves as the New Year's countdown finally began. Everyone joined in on the final countdown 'til the first day of the new year.

"10!"

"9!"

"8!"

"7!"

"6!"

"5!"

"4!"

"3!"

"2!"

There was anticipation in the air as the atmosphere tensed for the final second.

"1!!"

"Happy New Year!!!"

A huge ignition of fireworks caused a large flower to bloom in the night sky, lighting up the night as brightly as the sun lights up the day. Following closely behind were countless smaller branches of flower blossoming in the sky. 

This ignition had the hearts of the crowds burning hot in passion and excitement, for the first day of the year had arrived. Everyone will be entering the new year with their family and friends, taking care of each other for another year just like all the previous years.

Abner unknowingly smiled at such a sight for it truly warmed his heart. He had hoped with all his heart and soul for the people of the Slums and the "kingdom" to experience events like this, where they all come together regardless of what audacity they had done in their lives. It mostly stemmed from the fact that he too lived like them and experienced some of the hardships they suffered, although he was not born in the Slums, he had grown up from an infant to an adult in that place. It could be called his hometown.

Suddenly, a firework flashed in the sky close to where Abner was, covering his body with its light, similar to how the second explosion had done, and obscured his figure from sight.

At that moment in time, Abner's silhouette looked warm and gentle, full of light to give, yet at the same time, a lonely air was felt hanging on him without Abner himself knowing.

So lonely.