After leaving the abandoned hospital, Ezra ventured throughout Blackport Ridge alone and without a coin to his name.
Hunger, heat exhaustion, and dehydration whipped away at his already weak body—the cruel cycle of pain seemed never-ending for the child.
However, on one particularly hot day, a man approached him on the street, his silver hair tied back and his golden eyes shining from behind a pair of glasses.
"What's wrong with you? Can't decide which eye to color?"
Laughing at his own terrible joke, the noble-looking man crouched down beside the little boy who wore rugged clothes and treaded on the verge of starvation.
"Wanna come work for me, kid? I'm thinking of setting up a Casino down in the Sea of Dreams, and I need some trustworthy employees to look after the place. You in?"
As he chuckled once again, amused by the prospect of hiring an eight-year-old as a card dealer or even a security guard, a low whisper came from the boy's mouth.
"N-no… T-trust nobody…"
The golden-eyed man blinked, glancing over the boy with a perplexed look on his face.
Then, he laughed lightly, and his face lit up as if Ezra's reaction somehow made him happy.
"You're goddamn right, kid. Those dead parents of yours must've taught you well. Or did they kick you out? I'm just spitballing here, kid, so feel free to correct me."
Smiling, he patted Ezra's shoulder, but the pale boy jerked his arm to escape the man's grasp and glared at him warily, taking a step back.
"Eh? Did I hit a nerve? My bad, I guess…"
Raising his hands in an apologetic gesture, he heard another whisper.
"G-go away…"
The noble-looking man furrowed his brows again, but his confusion quickly turned into more laughter, his eyes glimmering, marked with a tinge of insanity.
"From us two, the first one to go will be you, I'm afraid. By my estimate, your luck is out! The cards of fate haven't been in your favor, and they won't be unless you do something to change it! So c'mon, kid, I can't just leave you out here to die. You've left an impression on me that I can't pass up! I'll even sweeten the deal by making you my assistant. What do you say?"
Waiting for the boy's response, he sat down on the sand road, garnering strange looks from the curious passersby.
As Ezra thought about the offer, his stomach grumbled loudly, drawing a chuckle from the man.
"I'll take that as a yes. Would I be correct, my friend?"
The word 'friend' echoed in Ezra's ears for a moment, the memory of Marco and the city of Blackport Ridge stuck on replay in his young mind.
Slowly, he stood up, his trembling legs barely supporting him as he reached out his hand to offer a handshake to the man in front of him.
His new employer shook it enthusiastically, almost toppling the boy over in the process.
"Pleasure doing business with you… Uh… What's your name again, kid? Or wait… Did you not tell me? So you are…?"
Trying to recall information he never received, he waited for the boy to finish the sentence for him.
Yet after nearly a minute of waiting, he got impatient and spoke up.
"C'mon, kid! I'm asking you for your name and you ain't speaking? Fine! I'll tell you first if you are going to be so petty about it!"
He paused, reaching into his green suit pocket and taking out a metallic card, made of what appeared to be gold, which he then handed to the kid.
"Stein Brevmore, happy to meet you."
…
Years passed in the blink of an eye, whether it be the day of the Belvedere Casino's grand opening or the day Ezra officially became the second in command, reporting only to the owner himself.
His life was amazing.
For the first time, he could get anything he wished for with a simple shout, relishing the invigorating feeling that his authority brought him.
While the mental wounds left by his past still ran deep, he could at least keep the future happy and clean, living in a world of wealth and comfort for the rest of his days.
And at the center of it, his friend and boss, Stein Brevmore, the man who had helped him fulfill the dream he didn't know he had.
He spent his time peacefully, occupying himself with work, and soon, his twelfth birthday arrived,
On that day, he received a sudden summons to the owner's office, which was strange since the silver-haired man usually celebrated Ezra's birthday elsewhere.
Maybe he wants to surprise me this year?
Tossing the possible explanations around in his head, he opened the door to Stein's office, the sight of two dead bodies around the poker table immediately appearing in his view.
At the end of the table, his boss held a pack of cards in his hands, the special ones he always carried around, with tips that, when coated in mane, could slice through a human throat with ease.
Of course, they didn't pose much threat to Ezra, whose entire body was immune to such attacks, negating all mana before it could touch him.
Sighing heavily as he walked past the corpses and towards Brevmore, he bowed his head respectfully, waiting for him to speak.
"You didn't tell me you had a sister, now did you?"
Ezra's eyes widened at the words that caught him completely off guard.
"W-what?"
Before he could ask another question, Stein stabbed his knife into the table, a dark look coming across his face.
"You also forgot to mention your last name to me. Flock? As in Javier Flock's grandson? Perhaps that should've crossed your mind at some point."
The black-haired boy had seen the boss in this state before, and so, he knew it was too late for explanations now—the only fate awaiting him would be a knife in the back.
"Oh no, don't misunderstand."
Noticing the concern on Ezra's face, Stein Brevmore raised his hands in submission, a slow smile creeping across his face.
"I'm not going to kill you or your sister. Now, what's interesting about you is what I've heard from my information brokers. Apparently, your parents didn't want a son, so they sold you to the highest bidder. Cruel, I know…"
Holding back a laugh, he continued.
"After you, they waited a while before having a second kid, a girl named Abigail. You even got the same funky-looking eyes!"
Pointing at Ezra's multi-colored pupils, he didn't stop his story.
"Well, anyway, to make this story short, I killed your parents, and now your sister is here. I know! Family reunions are so great."
Ezra's jaw dropped, the insanity of what his boss had just said leaving him dumbfounded.
Not paying his subordinate any mind, the man clapped his hands together, and a hidden hatch suddenly opened in the middle of the floor, making the black-haired boy do a double-take.
"Zenithia! Bring the girl and then make yourself spare!"
The boy's head whirred as he turned around, only to see the newest recruit throw a tiny, black-haired child into the room, a bag placed over her head.
She couldn't have been older than three years old, a toddler who screamed and cried as she struggled to get the bag off her head.
Ezra rushed over without thinking, kneeling down and removing the bag from the girl's head before freezing in place, staring at the bawling baby with a pale expression.
Meeting his eyes with her own, one red and one blue, the child's screams faded into silence.
Slowly, the girl reached her hand out to touch her brother's cheek, a slow chill running down his spine.
With an expression of pure horror, Ezra turned his head towards his boss, who wore a happy smile.
"Stein… Whatever you plan to do…"
Before he could finish, the man, still smiling, held up one finger and flung a card straight at the girl's head, a strike meant to kill.
However, as it did with Ezra, it bounced off harmlessly, a barrier of anti-magic stopping the attack before it could hit her.
Laughing loudly, the silver-haired man spoke up.
"You two really are siblings! Hahaha… I had been told she was like you, but I needed to make sure in case the buyer was worried…"
Shaking his head, he pulled out a small piece of paper from beneath his desk, the lamp above him flickering with odd sparkles of green falling from it.
"Sign this contract, and you'll both live happy lives."
Staring straight into Stein's eyes, he placed his sister on the table and slowly straightened up, gazing over at the paper with a nervous look.
I, further addressed as Party B, do hereby agree to donate one liter of blood every week to Stein Brevmore, further addressed as Party A, for the rest of the time I offer him my services. Party A has the ability to nullify the contract if Party B breaks their end; however, Party A agrees to provide protection, safety, and an environment for the prosperity of Party B for the duration of the contract.
It was just a short passage of text, yet it stirred up memories of long ago, bringing them back to the forefront of Ezra's mind and making the needle marks covering his arms ache like fresh wounds.
"I-I can't sign this…"
Stein shook his head at the black-haired boy's words, a low sigh coming from his lips.
"Well, my friend, option two is to kill you and take the blood from the baby, so I'd hope you'd choose the first for the sake of you and me… Killing babies is so… Well… Outdated…"
Shrugging his shoulders, he looked up at Ezra with a smirk, waiting for him to sign the paper.
"What are you going to use my blood for?"
This one question would determine his decision, for if Stein answered in a way that went against the boy's morals—which were already set lower than normal—then he would attempt to flee with his sister.
He wouldn't get far, but perhaps far enough to grant the girl he had just met the safety she needed.
In the less than five minutes he had known his sister, he already knew he would do anything to protect her, regardless of whether it cost him his life.
Therefore, as he waited for Stein's next words, he prepared to bolt through the emergency exits he had personally installed in the room.
"Well, my younger sister, who is really a hideous woman, is getting married soon to a powerful noble family in the Sea of Wishes. However, the noble's mother is quite sick, and he has sent out a request for medicines across the world. The doctors think her condition is mana-related and therefore, a child with complete immunity to mana could be the solution! If I can create a cure and give it to her, then not only can I make millions off the reward, but I can sell the formula and become the richest man in the world!"
Throwing his hands up in the air, his figure overlapped with the figure of Otto's for a moment, and an uncomfortable feeling settled inside Ezra's stomach like a rock.
It's always the money…
Taking a deep breath, he gazed down at the pen and paper, picking up the writing utensil slowly.
Scribbling out his name, he heard Stein ramble on, clearly satisfied with the outcome.
"I knew you'd make the right choice. Pleasure doing business, kid."
Then, he snapped his fingers, and men rushed into the room, grabbing Ezra by the arms and taking his sister away.
"What the—"
Before he could respond, he was gagged, his shirt removed, and a metallic chain placed around his neck.
"Now listen. I have a zero tolerance policy about lies, so to make sure you understand that…'
He snapped his fingers again, the chain around Ezra's neck tightening to the point where he could barely breathe.
"KRCK!"
Blood dripped from the boy's neck as he struggled to free himself, yet it was a hopeless effort.
Through the ringing in his ears, he heard the sound of metal clanking somewhere behind him.
"Ooooo, now for the fun part!"
Leaning back in his chair, Stein watched as one of his subordinates lashed Ezra with a whip made of the same chains that were squeezing the boy's neck.
"Uuugh—hh—"
Air ripped from his constricted throat in a painful huff, the ghost of a scream dying before it could fully form.
Another hit arrived soon after.
One hour turned into two, then three, until Ezra completely lost any sense of time—the whipping seemed never-ending.
"Pain really is the best motivator… Wait… He already signed the contract… I guess pain is the best reward? Eh, who the hell cares…"
Disregarding the thought, Stein laughed as he watched the boy sit through the torture, his eyes laced with betrayal and hatred.
"This is just the luck of the draw, kid. You were dealt the wrong cards in life, and now you're paying the price."