INITIATOR: the cursed children ♟ intro
♟ Ten years ago, humans were nearly completely irradicated by the Gastrea - terrible, violent monsters spawned forth from humans infected with the Gastrea virus. Those that didn’t become beasts were consumed by those that had, and soon only a small percentage of the world’s human population remained. Humanity only barely survived by creating monoliths made of Varanium, a metal that could repel the Gastrea, and placing them around the city they occupied. It was crude, restricting, but the outside world was far too dangerous.
From the war against the Gastrea ten years ago came another dynamic that shook the foundation of humanity. Girls were born that possessed the genetic makeup of the Gastrea along with their own superhuman strengths thanks to the mothers being orally infected while pregnant. These were what came to be known as ‘The Cursed Children’. Born with red eyes, apparently looking at their own daughter was enough to drive most mothers mad. For a time, many mothers whom had given birth to one of these unfortunate girls ultimately tossed their child into the river, or attempted to dispose of them through other means. The Cursed Children were seen as monsters by the human populace, and eventually came to live in the slums on the outskirts of the city - for living midst the normal people would only result in abuse.
“I… where is this…?" For a girl who hadn’t lived long enough to see a world free of Gastrea terror, Enju Aihara was understandably confused upon stepping onto the streets of Hive City. A Cursed Child or not, she was still only ten years old. The words the scientist had spoken to her through the television screen had only served to spook her, as any of her kind that had come to be used in an ‘experiment’ had never returned alive. Red eyes dashed from building to building, and then to the horizon.
There were no monoliths!? Then everyone was in danger! The Gastrea could get in here…!
“HEY! HEY!” Arms flailing, Enju attempted to get the attention of those walking past her. She had to warn everyone! The inconsistencies in her thought process didn’t even occur to her, since she was so panicked. “EVERYONE NEEDS TO EVACUATE! THE GASTREA CAN GET IN!”
Without thinking, she grabbed the wrist of someone that passed her, freezing them from moving at all. The child’s eyes glowed an eerie red, wide and afraid as they were. Her Gastrea genes stirred, presenting her with a strength far beyond that of a grown man despite her abilities being halved. Her captor wouldn’t be able to escape until they quelled her worries, most likely.
How did Sanji get stuck in a situation like this? One minute he's window shopping and looking for great bargains, and now he's practically prisoner of a little girl with super strength. After meeting so many people during his journey, he can't say that he's terribly surprised to find a girl that has such enormous strength with red glowing eyes, but at the same time, that certainly don't help the growing pain in his wrist as the girl squeezed tighter and tighter in her panic.
"Hey, easy now," he said, trying to speak soothingly as his arm was being crushed as he spoke. "The... Gastrea" - is that the way she pronounced it? For the sake of his wrist, Sanji hoped so - "won't hurt you here. They can't come in here." And you can't go out was left unsaid. Probably not the best thing to tell the girl that's holding your wrist hostage. Speaking of which...
"They won't get you, so do you think you could release my arm? I'll get you something sweet to eat," he offered. What better way than to help people than to give them something to eat?
