DARK PARADISE || Ryomen Sukuna

ENCOUNTER

1000 years ago, the reign of monarchies and hierarchies by power remained. There was a small range of known curses, some feared and some seen as nothing more than amusement.

Among those, there was one considered fairly new but still an aspect of fright on the people. Sukuna Ryomen.

He was searched high and low for, people expecting to conquer the "king of curses" but none lived the tell the story. Or, if they grew luck on the tip of their fingers, they weren't capable of finding the curse.

He disguised himself amid the kingdoms and villages. About 100 years of his reign, people began to believe some hero had killed Sukuna but went down with him.

Instead, he was a suitor among many others in the kingdom that would meet its downfall a century later.

And it so happened to be that he had walked into a pleasant paint store one of those days. It was quite crowded with people of wealth who saw beyond their richness.

He scanned the store, trying to locate a worker, but instead, he found a girl in a regency dress that matched the shade of his pinkish hair almost perfectly. It caught his attention, walking towards her as she distinguished different shades of red in paint tubes.

She held a clipboard in her hand, writing a couple things down.

"Excuse me," He spoke, a voice deep enough to make her turn. She lifted a brow, confused. "Do you need help there?" He clears his throat and points out her reaching for something she can't grasp.

"Ah, thank you," She smiles softly, backing up and allowing him to get it for her. He placed it onto her palm, "Are you fond of painting?"

She gave him a small nod of appreciation and finished writing something on the clipboard.

"This is for a customer, but I do enjoy it myself," She holds the paint up, showing him the name tag labeled on the tube. "Forgive my directness, such a lady of beauty works here? Not to demean, but you seem youthful and wealthy, is there a reason behind this choosing of labor?"

She giggles, not taking his statement to heart at all but instead as a compliment. "Why thank you sir, but I chose it on my liking for art. It is pleasant to meet different artists on the daily." He nods.

"But, what led you in here? You don't seem to be the artistic type." She spoke again, engaging in conversation as she made her way to the customer who asked her for the tube in the first place. Her clipboard remained in her arms, giving a warm smile to the customer and then appointed them to a place to pay.

"Do I not?" He asks smugly, teasing her almost. "Not to judge by any means, but you really don't." He laughs at her comments. Her straightforwardness was like no other. And she didn't seem ashamed of it, not even a bit.

He followed her around, as she appeared busy but unbothered by his curiousness.

"I'm Kenshin," He lies through his teeth, throwing out a fake name. He reaches a hand out for her, trying to get a handshake. She ignores it, continuing to read through the lists on the paper.

"I'm Serena, Serena Pandora." She spoke confidently, finally turning back around to face him and give him a handshake. "Pandora? So you do come from wealth?"

She wipes sweat from her forehead, "It is no means to me where or what I come from." Her hands were jagged, stained by paint and what looked like dirt. She had tiny bruises on her arms, nearing her shoulder. A few cuts on her hands, that looked like paper cuts.