The Seven Heavens

Chapter 1

Snakes.
 
As if moths drawn to a hot light, they laid dead, scattered around the girl. She coughed as she flicked off one of the many that had been blown away.
 
 
Dust reigned supreme, taking shrapnel into its domains. An ear-piercing shrill rang throughout the air, ripping her attention from the snakes.
 
The girl rushed for the sides, grabbing whatever would get her to the action quicker. Sticks, rocks, ledges.
 
She had to get to him quickly. Give him hope. Let him know she was still around, he wasn't alone.
 
However, her own body, riddled by bruises and cuts, protested against these thoughts. A nice fluffy bed seemed like a gift from the heavens. It would be so nice just to stop, rest, give in to her own desires...
 
Growling, she threw away these thoughts, only doubling her efforts to get to him. After what had seemed like an eternity, the girl had made it out of the hole.
 
But after looking around she almost regretted her decision. The source of the shrill was the only one left, hunching over with his back to her. She saw his tears hit the ground unevenly.
 
Her- no their beloveds laid around him just like that snakes had to her. 
 
Dead.
 
Wincing, the girl dragged herself towards the male, wrapping her arms around him when she reached her destination. Her own tears flowed along his back.
 
He tried to face her, but his body had given out, exhausted from all his yelling. Her attempt to steady him was nullified by her own fatigue, and he fell to all fours.
 
When he finally looked at her, the girl was met with an implored expression, as if he were trying to remember her features.
 
His expression then suddenly lightened up, possibly for the last time. He placed a comforting hand on her head and brought his forehead to her own.
 
"Live..." he rasped out.
 
The girl clasped her hand with his. 
 
Sweat ran from her pores.
 
"Please live... for us..." 
 
The boy's jaw slackened and his head slide forward, dragging the rest of his body with him.
 
On instinct, she quickly grabbed him, calling out his name solemnly.
 
No answer.
 
The war between her and her body ran out, her body tumbling backwards, dragging his body along with her. As his head rested against her lap, the reality of what happened sunk in. 
 
She futilely called out to the boy. He didn't answer. Using the fumes of her remaining energy she settled for stroking her hand though his hair.
 
A false state of comfort.
 
Around her, there laid broken machines. It was easy to tell that they had been broken only recently as they were still spouting sparks of electricity.
 
The blood of the men who operated them still flowed in a seemingly never-ending fashion. The men- no the monsters who had tortured her, was unliving, dead, never to inflict harm on another ever again. She allowed herself a small smirk over this.
 
But this train of thought brought her back to what had happened to her. Who she had lost today.
 
 
All 7 of them and now it was just her left...
 
They had died for each other and for the rest of their beloved. The first "sacrifice" had opted to die so that the rest could live. Child-like thinking never got anyone anywhere, so the third brother was swiftly eliminated as a "defective product".
 
  She could hear his last words resounding in her ears.
 
"Do anything to me, just let them be."

 
The "second" and "third" sacrifices were forced to fight each other to the death. But the second brother had impaled himself on the fourth's brother sword, hoping that would be enough to let his brothers go.
 
 
 
Natural selection. Irrelevant information. The fourth brother died, killed by the very men who had created him.
 
 
 
His elder brother raised his swords, going on a mad rampage, hacking away at out any guards that were foolish enough to stand in his path. He would refuse to let his own brother die in vain. But off course, the men had planned for this, hiding behind the glorious metal of their machines.
 
 
A sword was nothing compared to a few hundred bullets. He too, fell, joining the rest of the lost souls that day.
 
 
The last brother was quickly round up and brought into the presence of her and the crying boy. His death was slow an agonizing; a torture. Obviously done in order to frighten the children into complete submission-
 
But he was strong.
 
Despite the fact that he was going to die, he kept his smile, practically taunting the uniformed men. They weren't amused. He continued to smile even as his heart was ripped out from his body.
 
 
She hated the glass cylinder, the prison that surrounded her and the crier; the fact that she was too weak to fracture it. Too weak to make a difference. Pathetic. With mad rage she pounded and pounded, red over taking her vision.
 
She ignored the electric shocks that hit her, ignored the blood thickening on her knuckles. And right when her efforts were about to pay off: her brother had died. It was all for naught. The tube opened and there the girl fell; into the Snake pit.
 
 
 
The stress had gotten to her last brother, and he began sparking with electricity, an inhuman sound erupting from his mouth. She felt it before she had seen it. Misery, despair, defeat.
 
 
 
All those emotions seemed to come together in one big blast. It had blown away the snakes that had strangled her but not the emotions that had stuck with her.
 
She would have gladly died in that pit...
 
But he had asked her to live.
 
The telltale thumps of heavy boots came closer, and electricity sparked around her once more.  "A survivor."
 
 
She still wasn't aware that the anguished cry she heard was her own.

 
Riiiiiing!!!
 
The alarm began its daily cry, much to the agitation of the one hearing it. A hand sneaked beneath the blanket, grabbing the torture tool.
 
The alarm kept ringing, even as it met its fate at the far wall, joining the others before it.
 
"That has been the fifth one you have broken this week, Young Master,"” the butler said with mellow baritone.
"..."
The Young Master didn’t respond, instead pulling the covers over his head.
 
"I would like to inform you that if you keep this up, you will be late for school,"” the butler rephrased as he stared at the lump in bed.
"..." 
No response.
 
"The second Master has informed me that he will arriving home tonight. In fact, he is already on his way to the airport."”
 
“The butler sighed, ellipting a voice full of pity. “"Oh, well. I wonder what will happen if he comes home to find a deep sleeper in bed"…”
 
“"Alright, alright, I’m up now! Are you happy, Grandpa?!"” The raven-haired boy scowled as he emerged from the depths of the abyss.
 
“"Certainly, Young Master,"” the butler smiled warmly as he backed out of the room.
 
The boy sighed, knowing that skipping school would be nigh-impossible; especially since his brother was coming over. He threw on some clothes and slid to the kitchen.
 
Seeing as breakfast was one already on the table, he downed his milk (Hey, he gotta be tall like his big brothers!) and grabbed his toasts to eat on the way home.
 
“"I’m going, Gramps. See you later,"” he called out before racing out the door.
 
“"Have a good day, young master,"” the butler replied.
 
The old man was the who had been taking care of him, his older brothers and the house since he had been born. Hence the nickname “Grandpa”. Of course, who would ever suspect that the gentleman grandpa would turn out be a professional bodyguard?
 
It was the perfect disguise.
 
Unfortunately, being the youngest of the brothers, he was still stuck in high school.
 
He was envious of his oldest brother, Kou-nii, who was the CEO of a company (and the one providing his funds). The eldest brother always seemed to spoil him, letting him do what he wanted and cleaning up after his messes.
 
The second one was a model, but he always liked to tease him. Even if Raven-hair attempted to avoid him, he would always be found out in the end.
 
The eldest brother was the one who resembled his father the most, with the same black hair and dark eyes. The second brother got his looks from his mother, having her blue eyes and blond hair.
 
Raven-hair ended up gaining grey eyes and well… raven-colored hair.
 
Even though they didn’t have parents the brothers never felt incomplete. Just them and the old man was enough to sustain them.
 
The old man was the one who had saved them from the slaughter of their household. Their parents, grandparents, maids. Not even the house itself was spared as it burned down to the ground.
 
The reason?
 
The public was told that it wasn’t known but we knew what the public didn’t; the reason of our parent’s deaths.
 
We were told by the old man that our parents were scientists who were opposed to an inhuman experiment happening within their own group. By bringing the experiment to court, they hoped to stop it in its tracks.
 
Apparently, their fellow colleagues didn’t take disturbances very nicely.
 
Raven-hair was only a baby back then, so he didn’t know his parents that well.
 
But his fellow brothers were seven and ten in age, so they knew their mom better, and were looking into the “who” in their murder.
 
With the help of Gramps of course.
 
“"Oi, ya bastard! You dare show your face ‘round here, eh?"” A voice popped the illusionary bubble around his person, dragging him back into reality.
 
Raven-hair turned to find delinquents from a neighboring school advancing on him.
 
He sighed, bring a hand to his head. "I guess no matter what I do, I’ll be late to school." he muttered. Taking this shortcut was a big mistake. It was mostly quiet and devoid of any actual activity, marking it as a gold mine for delinquents and the like.
 
Raven-hair brought his hand away from his head. "“I’m sorry, but I’m running late. May we continue this at a later time?"  he asked politely.
 
"“Who do you think you are, mocking us?"” The leader replied, cracking his knuckles.
 
Shit.
 
Fighting would just be annoyance but pussying out would just be as bad. He didn’t need to give any more ammo to Ryou-Nii- his second brother -so that he could pester him constantly.
 
Unfortunately, while he was lost in thought, the leader had closed the distance, already having a hand on Raven-hair’s collar.
 
The shadow of someone’s silhouette caused the Delinquent to falter, capassingm to let go of his collar.
 
It was a second too late as Raven-hair fell, not being able to notice that he was being pulled down with him. He held his hands out instantly and braced himself for the impact.
 
But what he didn’t meet was the ground.
 
It was an angel.