Kael stared at his palm.
He could still remember the first Heart he ever absorbed.
His father's.
Rain.
Kael sat beneath the roof of the old house, listening to it strike against the wooden floorboards.
His mother was cooking.
His father was outside.
For once, everything was quiet.
Kael watched his mother from across the room.
"Mom?"
She looked over her shoulder.
"Hm?"
"Why do you always say I'm hungry?"
She smiled.
"Because you always are."
Kael frowned.
"I'm not."
She laughed softly.
"You finished dinner ten minutes ago."
"I could eat again."
His mother placed another bowl in front of him.
"See?"
Kael stared at it.
Then at her.
"...What exactly is your Heart?"
His mother's smile faded slightly.
"You've never asked that before."
"I heard Dad talking about Hearts."
A pause.
His mother sat beside him.
"My Heart is called Gluttony."
Kael tilted his head.
"What does it do?"
She hesitated.
"It consumes."
Kael looked down at his hands.
"Like food?"
His mother smiled.
"Not quite."
Later that night...
Kael woke to shouting.
He sat upright.
His parents were arguing downstairs.
His father's voice echoed through the house.
"You can't keep hiding this from him."
"He isn't ready."
"He needs to know what his Heart can do."
Kael quietly stepped toward the stairs.
Then—
BOOM.
The entire house shook.
Kael froze.
His father's voice changed.
"Kael."
Silence.
"Stay upstairs."
Kael didn't listen.
He ran downstairs.
His father stood in the center of the room.
His Heart was burning around him.
A pressure filled the air.
Kael could barely breathe.
His mother stood opposite him.
Her own Heart had awakened.
The room began to tremble.
"Run, Kael!"
His mother screamed.
But Kael couldn't move.
Something inside his chest...
...was pulling.
His father's Heart.
The power surrounding him.
Kael felt it.
Calling.
Inviting.
Hungry.
His hand slowly reached forward.
"Kael..."
His father stared at him.
"What are you doing?"
Kael's eyes widened.
"I..."
His Heart activated.
And everything went silent.
The light surrounding his father began moving.
Toward Kael.
His father staggered.
"NO."
Kael screamed.
"I CAN'T STOP IT!"
The Heart of Conquest was ripped from his father's chest—
—and disappeared into Kael.
His father collapsed.
Kael stared at him.
"...Dad?"
Nothing.
His mother rushed toward him.
"Kael!"
She dropped beside her husband.
"Wake up."
Nothing.
Kael stumbled backward.
"No..."
His hands shook.
"I didn't..."
"I didn't mean to..."
His mother looked at him.
And for the first time...
Kael saw fear in her eyes.
Not anger.
Not hatred.
Fear.
Kael looked down at his hands.
Something new was burning inside him.
Something enormous.
Something that wasn't his.
And somewhere deep within his Heart...
Conquest awakened.