FOR MY LOVE | WINGS OF FIRE AU. ✓

00 - Assassin.

✶ PROLOGUE 00 - QIBLI ✶

Qibli's earliest memories were of gunshots and yelling that took place during the hot summer nights. He remembered arguments from his neighbors, their yelling loud enough to be heard through the walls into his home. He sat awake all night, listening to the yelling and the sounds of glass breaking. Moments later, a gunshot, then silence. Little Qibli, at age five, was scared. He felt no safety in his city or in his own home. He knew that his streets were littered with criminals and dangerous weapons that should have been detained long ago. 

But growing up within a mafia family, in a dangerous city, in a war-torn world, was something Qibli could have never changed, no matter how he wished. His father was dead, his mother hated him, and his siblings hated him too. They beat him relentlessly and his mother never helped. She only kicked him aside or yelled at him for being so weak.

Qibli's second earliest memory was the day his mother had sliced a knife across his face. He asked about his father, and his mother simply turned around from what she was cooking, wielding a sharp knife. She scolded him to never talk about his father. But Qibli, at age seven, was too young to fully understand this. He had barely gotten a sentence out, only managing a "But-", and his mother had slashed the knife across his nose. 

Qibli had gasped and sobbed out, huddling against the dusty, cracked wall. Clutching his bloodied nose, he pressed up against the wall as he tried to put as much distance between him and his mother as possible. Sirocco and Rattlesnake had watched silently, but as soon as Cobra left the room, they laughed and jeered at him.

But poor little Qibli had yet another year to live with his family before he could be free. At age eight, he was sold to a friendly woman who radiated warmth, comfort, and love. Her name would be Thorn, and she worked in an organization within Scorpion City, called "The Outlaws". The Outlaws worked to create a better place out of the beaten-down city, and one of their jobs was to destabilize the numerous gangs, mobs, cartels, and mafias (including Qibli's family) that called Scorpion home.

Thorn had seen the cruelty of Cobra's parenting, and while she was out one day, had bumped into Qibli, the little freckled boy with a nasty scar upon his nose. He had politely apologized for bumping into her, and Thorn's heart broke for the boy.

Cobra had sold Qibli to Thorn without hesitation. No matter how Qibli's heart broke at being given up by his mother, Cobra would never care. She never batted an eye at the tears streaming down her son's cheeks.

When Qibli was adopted by Thorn, they still lived in Scorpion. Qibli no longer lived in a mafia, but a loving group of good people and a mother who cared. For years, it would remain that way, until Thorn became Queen of the Sand Kingdom. Qibli now lived in a beautiful stronghold (or palace, as he preferred to call it, since it sounded fancier).

But a month ago, Qibli was offered to work for his family. He accepted. He didn't know why. Perhaps it was the place in his heart that wanted Cobra to love him.

Or perhaps, it was the fact that Qibli had never fully felt at home with Thorn. He didn't fit in. There was something wrong with him. Sometimes other people would ask him, "Why are you so.. creepy?" and "You look like you're plotting a murder.".

He didn't know what to respond to any of the questions they gave him. So, Qibli would simply shrug and wonder if he had truly inherited something from his family. 

Qibli got his answer when Cobra started training him to become an assassin. He never declined, never argued. Just went along.

And then it started getting appealing.

The feeling of pulling the trigger of a dangerous weapon made him feel powerful. Wielding long, horrific knives gave him a surge of ambition that certainly wasn't good.