During the voyage aboard the ship that was cutting across the sea towards the isolated island, the weather hinted at an approaching storm or heavy rain. Fortunately for the crew, the ship had a safe hiding place within its hold.
The crew spent most of their time there getting to know each other, knowing nothing about the others except that they had been summoned for this secret mission, and they didn't even know who was leading the organization they were working for.
While the team, led by Albert, sat around, Sia chose to tell them her story: "That rainy day, the screams of people being tortured and fleeing, the pitch-black darkness of the night, and the burning embers at every door made it the most terrifying day of my life. Every time I remember his face and his mask, I ache inside. I remember my mother's cries, begging me to run instead of standing idly by, watching scenes unbecoming even of my age. Lloyd sighed. 'Did he kill everyone in the village?' Then Sia nodded. 'I approached my mother, crying. 'Mother, what happened? Where's Father?' My mother smiled and lied, 'We'll be alright. Just run away from here.' Then a young man in a black robe grabbed my hand. I couldn't recognize him, but the scene of my mother being left in the middle of the village, flames circling her like hungry sharks, is still etched in my mind. Every time I remember it, I feel incredibly weak inside, unable to do anything."
But the fire of revenge still burned deep within me, stinging my chest whenever I remembered that despicable man, like an ember that would never be extinguished, no matter how much time passed. She clenched her fist tightly, her fingers almost trembling with rage, and said in a voice filled with suppressed hatred: "He will pay a heavy price… a price far exceeding all the crimes he committed against the people of my village, against my mother and father… Sooner or later, he will not escape justice."
"And if you have opened a window onto your wounds, then you must hear part of my story… I am Caprio, and I tasted the bitterness of moments that can never be erased from memory, moments when my soul froze as I watched my father and older brother being murdered before my very eyes, unable to do anything, as if time stood still to force me to witness the catastrophe in all its cruel detail." They wanted to wipe out my entire lineage, to uproot us completely, but fate decreed that I should survive… a survival akin to a miracle, or perhaps a curse that kept me alive to bear this pain.
During our panicked escape, we scattered amidst the chaos. I placed my mother and sister… they vanished like light in the thick darkness. We entered the "Red Eye" camp, as I recall, and the place was shrouded in an eerie silence, a heavy silence that suggested safety on one hand, and lurking danger on the other. There was no sign of life, no sound, no movement… so I thought, with fatal naiveté, that the place was deserted, that we had finally found temporary refuge from that hell.
But one mistake… a small mistake, was enough to rob me of the last of my family.
On that cold night, as the wind howled like a harbinger of impending doom, I heard light footsteps piercing the silence, followed by the intermittent whispers of people saying in faint, panicked voices, "Hurry... hurry... we don't have enough time... run!" A shiver ran through me. I looked at my mother and sister, finding them fast asleep, as if exhaustion had silenced them from hearing the approaching danger.
Trying to suppress my fear, I told myself, "I must investigate... I must find out where these sounds are coming from, and I'll be back immediately... I won't be long."
I slipped out cautiously, gliding through the shadows, each step away from the shelter weighing heavily on my chest with indescribable anxiety, as if something inside me was screaming for me to return. I reached the camp gate and paused for a moment... a brief moment of silence, but it was enough to change everything. And suddenly… a deafening roar of explosions tore through the stillness of the night, the ground shook beneath my feet, and the sky blazed with red flames as if reflecting the end of an entire world… There, at that moment, I realized that I had lost everything.
Given my imposing physique, my silent commanding presence, and my cold demeanor that suggests unwavering resolve, it appears to those who see me as if I have never known pain, as if my life has always been stable and devoid of any significant tragedy. My outward appearance is like a thick shield, concealing a truth invisible to the naked eye—a truth burdened with deep wounds that do not heal easily.
Yet… what I conceal deep within is not merely fleeting memories, but rather accumulated darkness, a silent pain that has taken shape over the years, clearly reflected in my gaze when I face my enemies, and in the cold cruelty I display without hesitation. I have learned how to transform my suffering into strength, how to make my pain a weapon that instills fear in the hearts of my adversaries, without allowing it to break me. Despite the weight of the past that clings to me like a shadow that never leaves me, I have always strived, with unwavering will, to keep it confined deep within me, far from affecting my path… my progress towards a distant future whose features I draw with my own hands, step by step, without allowing the pains of yesterday to hinder me or drag me backward.