Born from the Ashes of Childhood

In the sealed forest, at the exact center of the roaring vortex of fire, reality itself began to burn within the flames.(¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡KABOOOOOOOM-BOOOOOOM-SHHHHWWWWWRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

There were no longer any tactics, no room for defense, nor any thoughts of survival.

"GGGGGRRRRRAAAAAAAGGGGHHH!!!!"

On one side, the Great Spirit of Fire, Keahi, shrouded in a blue flare of stellar intensity, turned into an incandescent mass seeking to consume every last atom of the abomination that had assumed the form of a girl before him.

"KYYYYAAAAHAHAHAHAHA... KHAA!"

Meanwhile, on the other side, the hybrid born as a curse that reached divinity, named Goldie, propelled by her wings of cursed cloth and miasma claws, hurled herself headlong into the collision, causing the impact of their bodies to pulverize the charred earth for hundreds of meters around.

(¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡ZWWWWUUUUSH-FROOOOOSHHH-CRACK-KRRR~~~!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

However, as the extreme heat penetrated the flesh and blood of her being, the physical pain ceased to resonate within the little girl's mind.

"HAHA... GHYAAAAAAHAHAHA!!!"

In its place, the violence of the fire acted like a key turning a rusted lock, unearthing memories buried in the abyss of a span of time that should have never existed.

(¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡SFFFFF-ZUT-ZUT-SRAAAK-KRRRR-VREEE...!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

There was a time... an interval of dark, forgotten years between Mireya's second and fourth year of life, where the world was nothing but pain and gloom.

(¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡THUMP-THUMP-THUMP-GHOOOOOOOOOOOOO...!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

Back then, the childhood of that small reincarnated being knew no peace.

"AAAAAARRRRGGGGHHH... GHOOOH!!"

They were endless nights plagued by continuous nightmares—aberrant visions that distorted his fragile, childlike mind and drove him to the brink of madness.

"GGGGRAAAA... HE... HE... HAHAHAHA~!!"

There was no comfort in rest; only a psychological torment so ravenous that the young Mireya began to self-harm out of desperation, taking medication at an absurdly early age in a futile attempt to extinguish the mental hell, and developing erratic, incomprehensible, and increasingly self-destructive behaviors...

"THIS IS THE ROAR OF MY LIFE!!"

Back then, he destroyed every mirror that reflected his image.

(¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡CRACK-KRAAAAK-GLASS-SHREED...!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

Every reflection was a threat, a window into the horror stalking him, driving the child to shatter them with his bare fists for no apparent reason, cutting his small hands in the process as tears and blood mixed on the floor.

"AJAJAJAJAJAJA!"

And in the middle of that blue vortex where Keahi tried to incinerate her, Goldie's laughter echoed, heavy with the resonance of that ancient suffering.

"MORE! GIVE ME MORE OF THAT HEAT~!"

But, in the middle of the firestorm...

(¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡KLA-SHWW-¡KHRA-ZTT!-BRRRR-KABOOOOMMM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

As Keahi's fists and Goldie's miasma claws continued colliding at a dizzying speed...

(¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡DUSH-DUSH-DUSH-¡KRRR-CHAAK!-PLASMMM...!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

Even as every blow from the Great Spirit melted the girl's skin and cloth, only for the damage to instantly reflect onto his basalt armor, cracking and burning it with the exact same fury...

"HAHA... GHYAAAAAAHAHAHA~!!!"

At that moment, Goldie's thoughts were...

(¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡ZWUUUUUUUU-GHOOOOO-FSSSHHHHHHHHH~!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

... Of a sick, twisted bliss.

"Burn... burn... BURN MORE! Hahaha! The color... the color of your soul is so bright... GIVE IT TO ME!"

While her flesh scorched and reconstructed itself amid divine sparks and cursed shadows, the vision of the past continued to unfold in her mind.

(¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡CRACK-GLASS-SFFFFF-THUMP...!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

In the past, the young Mireya's condition deteriorated, leaving his desperate "mother," Lilith, to try everything in her power to halt the advance of that invisible madness.

"It hurts... how clean... how fun! Strike, shatter, bleed! MORE BLOOD!"

In an attempt to help, she removed nearly every mirror from the home, one by one, trying to purge from his sight the reflections that so terrified the little boy.

"MY WILL SHALL BURN BRIGHTER THAN YOUR CURSES!!"

The male soul inhabiting "Lilith's" body, utilizing the connections and reach of his figure, obtained the most potent and pure medications in existence, attempting to soothe the pain of a mind that seemed to be shattering to pieces.

"... Miserable creature... GGGGRAAAAAUUUGGGHHH... AAAAAHHH!!"

She spoke to him, held him in her arms, and offered words of comfort through endless sleepless nights...

"KYYYYAAAAHAHAHAHAHA!!"

But it was all in vain.

(¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡SFFFFF-ZUT-ZUT-VUUUUUUUUUUUM...!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

No one could understand the true cause of that torment.

There was no diagnosis, nor any known illness for what was devouring the little boy from within.

"So weak... so fragile!... AHAHAHA!"

With every passing day, Mireya's body withered away more and more.

"Mom was suffering... but nothing worked! NOTHING NOTHING NOTHING! AHAHAHAHAHA~!"

The lack of sleep, the uninterrupted terror, and the constant episodes of self-harm consumed him to such an extent that he reached a state of extreme weakness, left bedridden, unable to even stand up from the bed or cross the doorway of his room to see the sunlight.

(¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡KLA-SHWW-¡KHRA-ZTT!-BRRRR-KABOOOOMMM...!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

At that point, he was merely a candle slowly fading away in the dark.

"SHUT UP! SILENCE, YOU CURSED ABOMINATION!!!"

Cutting through her words, driven to desperation by the girl's deranged and incomprehensible chatter, the Great Fire Spirit exploded.

(¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡THUMMM-THUMMM-THUMMM-KABOOOOMMM...!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

Grinding his polished basalt armor to its absolute limit, he unleashed an avalanche of direct, brutal blows against Goldie's face and chest, seeking to crush the voice echoing in the middle of hell.

(¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡KRAAAK-DUSH-DUSH-DUSH-PLASMMM...!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

Yet, even as the fists of rock and fire pulverized her bones and tore her skin, Goldie never stopped laughing.

"AHAHAHAHA! Clean, cook, sew!... Do something!"

On her face, the tears welling up impetuously calcinated instantly before they could roll down her cheeks, turned into thin trails of steam by Keahi's scorching heat.

(¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡SFFFFF-ZUT-ZUT-SRAAAK-KRRRR...!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

In the midst of that extreme weakness keeping him imprisoned in his room, young Mireya had found a single, desperate refuge.

"DO SOMETHING OR IT WILL COME FOR YOU! AJAJAJAJAJA~!"

To keep from losing his mind, to block out the terror of the nightmares devouring his nights, the boy began obsessively throwing himself into any manual task within his reach.

"MOVE, DON'T STOP... MORE, MORE, AND SO MUCH MORE!!!"

He cooked with his small, trembling hands, tirelessly cleaned every corner of his room until his fingers bled, and learned to sew with a feverish precision unnatural for his age.

(¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡SHRRRR-FZZZZZ-GONNNG-SRAAASH...!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

He sewed and mended fabric endlessly, day and night, wielding needles and thread with the blind urgency of someone trying to build a shield against the abyss... as if he were desperately fleeing from something crawling in the gloom...

(¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡FSHHHHHHHH-VOID-SFFFFF...!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

Until, finally, that day came.

"AJAJAJA! It doesn't matter anymore! Just... DESTROY! DESTROY YOU!"

It was a quiet afternoon when Mireya found himself completely alone, locked away in the isolation of his room.

No one was watching him, there was no one to call for help, no mother to watch over his sleep... And it was precisely in that instant of absolute solitude... when everything began.

(¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡SHRRRR-FZZZZZ-GONNNG-MET-MET-MET...!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

In the middle of the scorching air, Goldie's structure began to warp erratically as the miasma and the fabric of her dress mutated once more, unfurling whips and claws of shadow that swept through the terrain with unbridled fury, striking against the Great Fire Spirit in a relentless assault.

(¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡ZWWWWUUUUSH-SWWWWWUUUUUUUUH-VRRRRRRR...!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

Yet, in response, Keahi, utilizing the agility of his compact form, ignited the flames of his thermal thrusters to zig-zag with millimetric precision through the shadow stakes, shifting and dodging by the narrowest of margins the slashes that pulverized the basalt behind him, counterattacking with brief sparks of plasma to halt the little girl's advance.

(¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡KABOOOOOOOM-SHHHHWWWWWRRRRRRRRR-CRASHHH...!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

Was it mere coincidence? Or perhaps fate...?

(¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡cric... cric... clac... sffff...!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

In that enclosed room, steeped in absolute silence, a small pile of straw had gathered.

"..."

With his mind on the brink of collapse and devoured by the terror of the visions, young Mireya desperately sought to cling to the only thing that offered him a glimmer of calm: sewing.

And with hands trembling from fever and fear, his tiny fingers gripped the needle with an almost obsessive force.

He bit his lip so hard that threads of fresh blood welled up and ran down his chin.

The needles pierced his fingertips time and time again, puncturing his skin until crimson droplets fell onto the tough fabric and strands of straw.

(¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡PLAS-PLAS-TZZZZZZZZ...!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

Yet, despite the continuous dripping of blood, he did not stop...

"Pricked... pricked... bled!... AJAJAJA!"

The more he pricked himself, the more his blood spilled onto the dry straw and thread, the more intense and blind his grip became.

Without even understanding it, he was channeling all his fear, his agony, and his instinct for survival into that small, misshapen figure beginning to take shape between his bloodstained hands.

(¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡KLA-SHWW-¡KHRA-ZTT!-BRRRR-KABOOOOMMM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

It was in that precise moment that it began to form.

"AJAJAJAJAJA~!"

Amid the mist of steam and miasma, Goldie let out a burst of laughter full of euphoria and pain, thrashing her shadow arms with an increasingly wild frenzy.

(¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡THUMMM-KABOOOOMMM-GHOOOOOOOOOOOOO~~!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

In that moment, in the gloom of that room, a tiny curse was born.

(¡¡¡SFFFFF-ZUT-ZUT-VUUUUUUUUUUUM!!!)

The straw soaked with his blood, his tears of pain, and the feverish energy he unconsciously imbued into it acted as a catalyst.

"AJAJAJAJAJAJAJA~!!!"

That was the first straw doll, who upon looking at the youth before her...

"<<... Ughhhhh... Aaaahh...>>"

Immediately recognized him as her mother.

"THIS ENDS NOW, ABOMINATION!!!"

The emotional weight poured into that crude figure was so immense, so agonizing, that a weak, rudimentary ego began to awaken inside her.

"<<... I'm sorry... Forgive me... It hurts...>>"

However, being a newborn existence, she lacked a clear purpose, malice, or direction.

"<>"

Because of that, the first thing that fragile ego saw, felt, and experienced upon opening her eyes to the world was not hatred... Instead, what she experienced was a warm embrace.

(¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡cric... cric... clac... sffff-PLASMMM...!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

And that single action was what defined them.

(¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡THUUUUUUM-CRASHHH-BOOOOOOM-SPLASH-KRRRR...!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

In the vortex of fire, Goldie's silhouette hung suspended for a moment frozen in time.

"... Damn it."

The straw dolls were a truly special curse...

"AJAJAJAJAJAJAJAJAJAJAJAJA~!"

For they had been born for the sake of someone else.

(¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡ZWUUUUUUUU-GHOOOOO-FSSSHHHHHHHHH-KRRRR...!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

However, as the scorching light of the blue plasma silhouetted her face from below, causing the gloom of her robe and the crimson of her distorted pupils to merge into a single, deranged shadow...

"Let's keep going~!!"

In the midst of that devouring fire, her mouth contorted into a psychopathic, colossal, and unhinged grin—wide and lined with bloodthirsty fangs, filled with the euphoria of pure destruction.

"Right~?"

... For she was still a curse.