HISTORY & EXTRA INFO

Yori and Hitomi Watanabe were both teachers. They met in their twenties, both having attended the same university. What started out as a mutual love of learning evolved into a love for each other. Their's was a simple life. They worried naught about the war going on around them, it didn't affect them, the didn't let it darken their lives.

They dated for three years before Yori finally proposed. The engagement lasted a year (giving them both time to graduate beforehand) and the wedding was a modest affair that brought all their friends and family together. They bought a house, Yori became a professor and Hitomi a primary school teacher. It was simple, but full of love.

It was no surprise that after a year of marriage that the happy couple announced to the world that they were expecting a child. Hitomi made the choice to leave work early, and began prepping their home and life for the arrival of their child. The couple made to choice not to find out the gender of their baby, and even made the choice to hire a midwife to have a home birth rather than bother with hospitals. They chose the name Ren for their baby, a unisex name that would fit either a little boy or girl.

It was early afternoon when Hitomi first felt the contractions, Yori was home thankfully and it was he who called the midwife who rushed to the house. The contractions didn't take long to progress, each coming quicker and stronger than the last. By dusk Hitomi was already encouraged to push and by nightfall the first child took his first breath in the world. Ren, he was named, just as they had planned. What was not planned was the second baby that wracked Hitomi's body with another contraction. Within twenty minutes a second child came into the world, a girl. They named her Eri, 'Blessed Prize,' for it was truly a great gift to be blessed with two healthy children.

The newly dubbed Ren and Eri lived a blissful life at fist, as babies are wont to do. They were cherished by their parents, and had every need and want met. They were happy.

Life isn't fair forever though. Bad things happen, even to good people. Even to people who tried so hard to pretend that everything was okay. A car wreck sent Hitomi to the hospital, it wasn't fatal but head injuries always warrant a trip in an ambulance and Hitomi wasn't awake to protest anyway. At the hospital the doctors and nurses are always so thorough, so careful when treating their patients. It wasn't suppose to happen, no one was supposed to know. No one was supposed to see the mark hidden on the back of her neck, just under her hair line. A simple name written in elegant scrawl, Cherished, it read. There was no denying what it meant, Hitomi was one of the fated pairs. Hidden amongst the mundane, living among them, so desperate to ignore the name emblazoned upon her skin. Yori as her next of kin was notified of course, and the man was shocked to find that his beloved wife had hidden something so important from him. It should have ended there, but nurses gossip sometimes, and gossips spreads like wildfire. It isn't long before their quaint little city is buzzing with the news. One of them living among them.

Hitomi could have ignored the stares, the dark looks, even the rude comments directed her way, but she could not ignore her husband's disappointment. The way he almost refused to be in the same room as her. The final straw comes when she is out with her children. Ren and Eri are four and love playing at the playground. Hitomi had brought them there several times before to let them toddle about and play with the other children, but that day was different. The other mother's all pull their children away, worried that if even by being around Hitomi and her children that their own will 'catch' something from her. As if she is a disease. She realizes then that she can't stay, that if she does her children and even her husband, will forever be ostracized. So she leaves, she doesn't even back a bag. She lingers long enough to tuck her babies into bed, and kiss their foreheads one last time before leaving. Yori says nothing, even as her eyes fill with tears as she closes the door to their home behind her. Its the last time Ren and Eri see their mother, the last time their little family will be whole.

At five the twins start school, and their innocent outlook on life is shattered. Their classmates, influenced by their parents treat the twins with scorn and malice. Taunts and cruel words are cast at them whenever the oppertunity arises, and Ren does not take kindly to the treatment. The once sweet boy grows violent and uses his fists and teeth to fight back against anyone who dared to even look at his sister.

For her part Eri seemed fine to let Ren fight her battles. She wasn't a violent child by any means, it simply wasn't in her nature. Instead she seemed content to play the part of a bystander, watching as her brother beat her classmates into submission. Apart from her apathy, Eri could have been considered a model student. She excelled at her studies, often ranking first in her year a trend that eventually led to her skipping a grade entirely.

At the age of eleven the twins face several new changes, they are separated for the first time, and their father remarries. Their step-mother is a petite woman by the name of Michiko, who already has a six year old daughter by the name of Mari. Michiko was the general manager of a local hotel who's first husband had passed away several years ago.

In school Eri's grades and dedication to her work earn her the right to skip a grade entirely while her twin remains behind with their year mates. The separation is difficult for both of them but it marks the beginning of a new chapter in Eri's life.

Eri had never been one to socialize with anyone other than her brother, and his absence aches like a hole in her heart, even for only a few hours a day. Her new class is full of strangers, all older than her, and all weary and mistrustful of her. They aren't out right cruel, her brother's rage and aggression took care of all of that but neither do they welcome her. Though to be fair she doesn't ever go out of her way to approach them either. Instead she spends her time buried behind books and school work. If she looks busy then they're more likely to leave her alone, and the work helps to pass the time at least.

At home her father seems keen on bringing his new family together. Ren and Eri have been distant from him ever since the disappearance of their mother. The twins, Ren in particular, want nothing to do with the woman their father remarried. They didn't want a replacement for a mother. Mari however, they are fine to welcome in. Mari was a quiet girl who Eri found easy to get along with. Both girls had an interest in learning and Ren was fine with anyone who Eri liked. Well... Almost anyone.

His name was Mara Bhagat. He was a transfer student from India, and she was assigned as his mentor during his first few days. Her teacher hoped to coax her out of her isolation, and she hoped that Eri's mild mannerisms would rub off on the boy who's penchant for fighting -it was written all over his transferred records- seemed to have gotten him in far too much trouble. Who would have known that the simple hopes of a middle school teacher could have been the first in a series of violent events that would shake Eri's very foundation.

Eri was enthralled by him the moment she laid eyes on him. Something about Mara pulled at her, something inside her felt drawn to him, like a moth to a flame. He was dangerous, even at only twelve years old. Perhaps it was because he reminded her of Ren, or perhaps it was something more, something deeper than she could yet understand. Whatever the reason, Eri for the first time felt herself wanting to befriend someone other than her twin.

She is quick to tell Ren of her budding friendship, though her twin does not react in the way she imagined. Ren is angry (and jealous), he's heard of Mara's reputation and instantly worried for his twin. He worries that Mara will use her then cast her aside, and though he never tells Eri, he's also worried that the stranger will take Eri away. Perhaps even then Ren could sense that there was some change in Eri, a change brought on by Mara. Something about her was changing, she wasn't the same as she had been. Ren tells her to stay away from Mara, and for the first time in her life Eri doesn't listen. She does something that she knows will hurt her twin if he were to find out. She befriends Mara.

The years seem to go by in fast forward after that. It felt like before meeting Mara she had been walking through a fog, Ren was there leading her through it, but she could never see more than a few steps ahead. With Mara the fog was gone, swept away entirely. Things seemed clearer, more certain. The future was open, full of endless possibilities. She continues to spend time with him in secret, afraid of what her twin might say (or do) if he were to find out.

She is barely sixteen when her life changes. A word appears on her hand, seemingly over night. Maelstrom. Her English is good enough that she doesn't have to look up the meaning of the black letters carved into her palm. Its appearance unsettles her. She knows about the world of Fighters and Sacrifices. Knows about the war. Knows that this was the very reason her mother was driven away from her family. No one could know.

Hiding it was easier said that done, her family questioned the appearance of gloves. It may have been fall, but the weather wasn't cool enough to warrant such things, least of all when inside. In the end it is her father who discovers it. She was washing her hands before preparing to cook dinner when the man saw part of the angry black scrawl peaking out around the soap bubbles. Yori was angry, so terribly angry. He wouldn't have another family ruined, couldn't allow his name to be tainted again by one of them. Eri remembers her father screaming at her, and grabbing her hand, demanding to know when it had appeared. His shouts drew Ren out from his room, who upon seeing how his father was treating his twin, began screaming at their father. Eri was released as her Father held up both of his hands to defend himself from Ren's fists. Ren didn't know what was going on, all he knew was that his father was hurting his twin, and he couldn't allow that. The two of them struggled and wrestled while Eri stood by, frozen with her hand clutched at her chest.

It all happened so fast, one moment her father was there and the next he was laying in a heap on the ground, his neck twisted at an awkward angle. The human spine isn't meant to bend that way, it was simply unnatural. He was dead. Ren stood over him, chest heaving and his hands clenched in tight fists. That was how Michiko found them. The older woman let out a terrified scream, her hands digging through her purse to find her phone. She was going to call the authorities. Ren was going to go to jail. Eri's secret was going to get out. She couldn't let that happen. She barely even registered picking up the knife from the counter, the knife she was going to use to chop up the raw fish for dinner. One moment she was just standing there and the next she was right in front of her step mother, the knife wedged between them. The sharp blade cut through Michiko like butter, slipping sideways between her ribs. Horrified, Eri stepped back, pulling the knife with her. With nothing to stop it, the blood poured out of Michiko's chest like a river. The wound was situated too close to her heart, and with each beat more and more rushed out. Her own heart was killing her faster. Still screaming, the poor woman fell to the ground desperately clutching at her chest. Eri and Ren just stood there, watching her die. Eventually she passed out from blood loss, or maybe she died. Neither twin bothered to check.

That was how Mara found them, somehow he seemed to know that something was amiss. Something had driven him to come here, to find her. Ren was furious at his arrival, and perhaps another fight would have started had Eri not finally intervened. There was no time for their jealousy or anger. They had a house with two dead bodies and too much evidence to deal with. The choice was made to burn the place down. It was the only way to make sure no one found out the true cause of the deaths.

What felt like an eternity later, but in reality was only an hour at most, the three teenagers stood outside Eri's childhood home, watching as flames devoured it from the inside out. Of course that wasn't the only disastrous thing to happen that night. Of course not. For life had never been kind to Eri. Life ignored her, till it felt it was her time to suffer. Ren demanded that the two of them leave now, they had to get out of there while they still could. Before anyone noticed the flames. Mara wanted her to run with him too. Both were fighting over her, both wanted her to go with them. She felt like she was being torn apart. How was she supposed to chose between the two of them? Ren who'd held and protected her heart for so long, her beloved twin. Mara who'd opened her eyes, who became the friend she'd so desperately needed, who seemed to be the other half of her soul.

She will never forget the look of betrayal in her brother face, when she stepped away from him and linked her bloodied hand with Mara. It was the last time she saw him.

Three years, almost four, have come and gone since then. She and Mara, after discovering that they were a fated pair, fled to the Isle that proclaimed to be a safe haven for their kind. Eri found work at the hospital which had a program to become an RN. Despite having not finished school, or even graduating, the entrance exam for the program wasn't difficult for her. All her years of studying and keeping her nose in a book having paid off. Meanwhile, Mara seemed more inclined to involve himself in one of the Unit factions on the Isle.