"I have to do this."
Walking through an abandoned alley with rusty pipes, torn walls, and faulty electrical wiring, a young man with pale skin and sunken dark eyes was carrying a cup of coffee. He was walking towards a well dressed older man seated next to a broken pipe with a small smile on his face.
"Took you long enough Nacht! I was starting to wonder if you got caught stealing again."
Nacht looked down at the cup of coffee with guilt. Food was hard to come by in district nine, because of this he had to resort to some unlawful methods to receive a meal. But despite the lack of food, he was still relatively tall for his age, albeit a bit thin.
"I need to survive somehow."
The man furrowed his brows.
"Although, a District Nine slum rat like you getting his hands on coffee. How did you manage that?"
Nacht sat down opposite of the man and held out the cup of coffee.
"For you."
Taking the coffee the man took a sip and shook his head.
"Anyway, why did you call me?"
Nacht looked at the man with a grim expression.
"I want to know about penance."
The man's face went pale.
Among the common people, penance isn't something that should be talked about lightly.
"Why would you want to know about penance?"
The man shifted uncomfortably.
"Does this have anything to do with your mother?"
Nacht's eyes darkened.
"That's none of your business, Solren."
The man snorted.
"That's uncle to you brat."
In the next moment Solren's expression saddened.
"You know she was my little sister. What happened to her was a tragedy."
Nacht gritted his teeth.
Every year the capital took thousands of people from District Nine as sacrifices to fuel the growing demand of soldiers or enlightened as they call them. The enlightened were humans who wielded supernatural powers.
They were the elite and humanity's answer to the monstrous abstracts that threatened their world. Nacht's mother was chosen as one of these sacrifices. For someone to become an enlightened, they must conquer the first gate of penance, and the only way to enter the first gate… was to take someone's life.
After all, how can someone enter the gates of penance if they have nothing to repent for?
"This isn't about her."
Solren furrowed his brows and took another sip from his cup.
"Then why do you want to know about penance?"
In the next moment a determined expression appeared on Nacht's face.
"I'm going to attempt the first gate."
Solren nearly spit out his drink.
"You're going to what!?"
Nacht could understand his uncle's reaction. Attempting to conquer the first gate and becoming an enlightened was a suicidal task, especially for him. The people from District Nine were too weak and uneducated to survive the impossible challenge.
Hell, they could barely survive their normal lives, let alone the harrowing trials beyond the gates. Many people from around the world attempt penance, but very few come out alive.
Nacht smiled faintly.
"You don't think I can do it?"
Solren shook his head.
"Hell no I don't!"
Nacht's left eye twitched.
"Why not?"
Solren looked at Nacht with a bitter expression.
"What do you know about penance?"
Nacht scratched the back of his head.
"Well I guess I don't know much."
After thinking for a moment he answered.
"I know that penance is a deadly realm filled with all kinds of terrible people and monsters. I also know that once someone leaves they obtain mystical powers enabling them to become an enlightened."
Solren let out an exasperated sigh.
"Penance isn't just a path to power brat. It is eternal damnation. A prison for those that go against the will of the gods! Think of it as a halfway point between life and death. So whatever horrible abstracts or people you are imagining, think ten times worse."
Solren paused for a moment and then continued.
"Now do you understand? Penance is no place for people like us. Unlike you, the children of the enlightened are born with their clan's primary ability, their rune. You know what that means don't you?"
Nacht shook his head.
"It means they were born to enter the gates. When they awaken their core, their rune will become active as well. Their power core will synchronize with their rune making them full fledged enlightened with full access to their supernatural abilities. On the other hand, when you enter penance, you will only gain some marginal benefits. After all, the power of the enlightened mostly comes from their powerful runes."
Nacht focused on his upper spine where his rune would be located if he had been born with one. Instead there was a ragged scar that laced his upper back. Everyone who wasn't an enlightened or their kin was born with a black mark on their back. However, his mark seemed to be particularly mangled compared to everyone else.
Solren took a final gulp from his cup of coffee and placed it on the metal floor.
"And this is just one aspect in which you fall short, not to mention that the children of those clans have gone through rigorous training and education to prepare for the gate of sacrifice… or the first gate as you called it."
Nacht wasn't surprised, he knew penance was a hellish place and he knew that the children of the enlightened had all the advantages they could ever need. He wasn't surprised that he was about to go into penance handicapped. However, that didn't mean he wasn't going to try and improve his odds.
Nacht leaned forward slightly.
"Then how do I gain a rune of my own?"
Solren shrugged.
"How am I supposed to know? Most of what I know about penance is incomplete and comes from knowledge from the higher Districts that the clans have reluctantly disclosed. Although hypothetically speaking it should be when you have conquered the gate, since that's supposed to be when an enlightened gains their new rank and power. It's just that the clans have found a way to give their kin an advantage."
Leaning back on his hands, Nacht let out a long sigh. He was starting to regret his choice to attempt penance, but he had already made up his mind, there was no going back now.
"How do I leave penance?"
Solren looked at Nacht with a confused expression on his face.
"Isn't it obvious? You have to repent."
Nacht tilted his head slightly.
'That actually is rather obvious.'
"How do I repent?"
Conquering the gate can't be as easy as apologizing for what you have done. There has to be some kind of challenge or penance wouldn't be feared as a death sentence to most people.
"That's for the challenger to figure out during their time in penance."
Nacht let out a defeated sigh.
'Of course it wouldn't be that easy. The path to repentance is probably different depending on the person and where they're sent inside the gate.'
Solren continued to speak in an annoyed tone.
"Listen Nacht, even if you survive the first gate there's still a chance you get dropped off in a region where the abstracts reign supreme. If that happens, it won't matter how strong you are, you won't survive. You're only sixteen, you have your whole life ahead of you, don't throw your life away for nothing!"
Hearing that, Nacht stood up and glared at Solren.
"I'm not risking my life for nothing. You may not understand since the higher Districts have treated you well, but I refuse to leave my fate in the hands of the powerful and I refuse to end up dying like the powerless. I don't want to end up like my mother, so I will attempt to conquer the gate and I will succeed… no matter what."
Solren scoffed.
"You don't know what you are getting into."
As Nacht turned around and began to leave, Solren stood up as well.
"Tell me whose life do you plan to take? Whose son or daughter do you plan to sacrifice?"
Walking out of the abandoned alleyway with a pale expression on his face, Solren's voice faded into the background and he was met with a world of grey carved from metal and concrete. The air smelled of ash and the atmosphere was strangely silent. Looking around he saw thin people in poor health with shabby clothes and grey hair.
In a sense, they looked similar to himself despite the fact that he had white hair instead of grey. As he walked, he began to hum a tune, a habit he had picked up from his mother when she had been alive. He usually did it to calm himself, but it never seemed to soothe him the way his mother had.
While he observed the area, he continued to walk aimlessly almost as if he was in a daze. He noticed gangs roaming the streets, he saw kids playing with rocks in abandoned alleyways, and he saw sick people laying on the side of the road. Staring off into the distance, he also noticed a towering wall on the horizon that surrounded the entire District.
The inhabitants of District Nine were told it was to keep them safe, but that blatant lie wasn't fooling anyone. Its main purpose was to keep them confined rather than safe. The area in which Nacht lived was considered the slums of District Nine, but not all of the District was like this.
Closer to the center of District Nine, things got a little better with some fortunate people being able to afford small houses and luxuries like owning a bike or buying coffee. So not everyone in the district was suffering like the rest.
As Nacht continued his stroll, he came across the side of a building which had clearly been vandalized. There was an image depicting an upside down shield that had been crossed out with words scrawled at the bottom.
[Death to the Capital!]
[Death to Clan Chalcore!]
Staring at the image that was meant to be the sigil of his district's ruling clan, and the message along with it, Nacht let out a sigh. The people of District Nine weren't even trying to hide their anger anymore and the enlightened clans didn't care to silence them. And why would they?
The people of district nine weren't a threat, they were weak and they lacked strength. Why should they care what a few unembellished humans thought?
Turning away from the image, Nacht continued to walk until he saw a construction crew laying the foundation to a new building.
'Another orphanage.'
Many children were left without parents in the district. Many were in jail, sick, or suffered the same fate as the unlucky few that were sent to the capital to die. So it made sense that another orphanage was being built. Nacht felt sorry for the children that were left in this world alone and without their parents. After all, he was one of them.
He blamed the enlightened for the living conditions he and his people were subject to, he blamed the world for the hand he was dealt, and finally he blamed himself. He hated how weak and powerless he felt, if only he had the power to change that. Clenching his fists, Nacht turned away from the soon to be built orphanage and kept walking.
***
Nacht didn't know how long he had been wandering around the streets of District Nine. All he knew was that the grey sky had turned black, with the only light coming from the moon and distant stars. The air smelled of rain which was yet to fall and the wind was whispering a silent tune.
Eventually, Nacht stopped his march and he came face to face with a familiar abandoned alleyway. After who knows how long, he forced himself to take a single step, then another, and another. Each step felt heavier than the last, and at some point, it had started to rain.
Looking down he noticed a cup of coffee that was almost half way filled with rain water. Seeing the cup made Nacht's heart start to race. Further ahead he noticed a silhouette of a person laying on the ground. Moving closer to the silhouette, Nacht looked down at the motionless figure and felt an avalanche of guilt assault him.
'Forgive me.'
Falling to his knees Nacht clasped his hands together and whispered in a broken voice.
"I invoke the law of penance."
In the next moment the dead body in front of him vanished and his vision turned to black.