akira tendo ◭ pyros manteia

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THE STRAY

Lee was born in a low income neighborhood of RYTAI to a happily married couple on surface, although even at that age he still remembers the fighting and awkward silences at the dinner table. For his part, he was as average as could be for a boy his age; happy, friendly and always willing to make new friends around the neighborhood and in school. The fact his parents rarely seemed to get along with each other didn’t worry him as much as it should have – at least, until the day they told him they were getting a divorce.

A mutual divorce just wasn’t a notion he was willing to accept at that age and he spent a great deal of time finding ways to blame himself for it during the proceedings. Lee took the sudden absence of his father especially hard and although he resented the way his mother slept around afterwards, he accepted it because it seemed to be the only time she was ever happy. For the most part, the men she brought home either ignored him or were spooked by him, which suited him just fine.

Meanwhile, his activity and interest in school deteriorated despite having initially been one of the more promising students. He spent less and less time at home than he did roaming the neighborhood with his friends getting into trouble. Despite his mother’s numerous flaws, she felt he’d been punished more than enough already when he would inevitably turn up on their doorstep by the scruff of his neck.

As time went on, he began to notice his mother seeing a certain man over others and curiosity led him to spend more time at home. The man was charming and friendly – which, more often than not, just made him angry and possessive of his mother‘s attention. His mother however insisted he would like the man if he’d only just give him a chance and the worst part, he would reflect later in his life, was that she was right. Lee did grow to like and accept his new stepfather’s attention.

That’s why it felt like such a nightmare when they told him he’d be having a baby brother a year later. Given his already tenuous sense of presence and importance in the household, sibling rivalry was impressive before his brother had even been born. Lee rapidly started to act out in various ways during the pregnancy, not the least of which were desperate bids for attention. To make matters worse, his stepfather slowly came to shun him the more out of control he got. Lee's rebellious behavior worsened gradually over time.

By the time Lee’s brother was born, his stepfather’s resentment towards him had reached its pinnacle. He named his newborn son ICHIRO out of spite and the staunch belief that Lee had reached a point where he could not be salvaged. Lee, prompted in part by his stepfather's cruelty, nearly injured his newly born half-brother one night in a fit of rage, but stopped short with the realization his half-brother was the only one that loved him unconditionally. The incident left him guilt-ridden and distraught for almost having proven his stepfather right.

From that moment onwards, having been given up on by everyone but his little brother, Lee knew beyond a shadow of a doubt he had to prove that he could be good to win back the affection he'd lost. The effort made him increasingly neurotic and depressed, largely due to his stepfather’s progressive cruelty; neglect grew into emotional abuse and over time, physical abuse. His seemingly dual personality, kind one minute and cruel the next, inspired fear although he never raised a hand to anyone other than Lee.

Ichiro was both a blessing and a curse, the most successful of his efforts, but also the most crushing of losses. Everything came tumbling down the day Ichiro tried to break up a fight between them and was struck down for the first and last time. The incident would prove to be the very last straw for Lee’s damaged psyche and the catalyst for his innate abilities. Lee, unable to cope with the situation, quickly found himself raging out of control in a way he’d never felt before. His recollection of the event is hazy in places, but he remembers observing his stepfather as he burned to death at his feet and carrying his then unconscious baby brother out of the house. Lee and Ichiro were the only survivors.

There was an investigation into the events leading up to the incident afterwards, but it didn‘t take authorities long to realize that Lee was both mentally and emotionally unbalanced. In the end, he was sentenced to rehabilitation and was relocated to a psychiatric institute in ANIAR until he came of age. Lee doesn‘t like discussing his time there in detail, but openly regards it as the darkest period of his life despite everything that came before it. What is known is that he spent five years under the institute’s care, just one year short of the end of his sentence.

When he was seventeen, his biological father came to visit him in the institute. This may have been because his consistent good behavior, short of several minor incidents early on, almost ensured his release in the following year. The exact details leading up to his escape from the facility are unclear, but the visitation ended in a facility-wide riot between the patients and staff as a previously undiscovered ability surfaced.

THE MADMAN

Lee spent the next year in homelessness on the streets of Aniar, avoiding the authorities and just trying to survive on his own. The moment he felt that he’d successfully slipped out from underneath their radar however, he drifted from Aniar back to the streets of RYTAI. From there, he aligned himself with various gangs and criminal syndicates in an effort to stand up on his own two feet. He started out as a GETAWAY DRIVER for petty criminals and eventually earned himself something of a reputation for his fearless demeanor and willingness to accept extremely dangerous tasks.

In return for the majority of his early work he requested forged documents such as personal identification, which he used to take up his mother’s maiden name to prevent authorities from realizing who he was. He also started gradually changing his appearance, mainly by cutting and dying his hair and applying make up.

Lee had little allegiance for any one criminal organization over another and would often secretly double-cross them in order to maximize his profit margins. His lack of loyalty however landed him in a jail cell when one of his schemes didn’t go as well as he’d expected it to. Facing a significant amount of jail time for his wrongdoings, things looked pretty grim until a stranger paid him a visit in his cell. The stranger turned out to be a member of THIRTEEN.

Thirteen was a specialized group of mercenaries, assassins and intelligence agents for hire with ties to the government. Headquartered in ANIAR, they ran out of an established electric company as a front for their activities and special clearance was required to reach the floors dedicated to the organization. As the name would imply there were only thirteen primary members at any given time. New recruits were considered associates and fulfilled many different tasks until the lower echelons of the group were freed up, usually due to a death in the ranks.

Lee was trained specifically to deal with high risk missions and learned, to the very best of his ability at the time, to survive even in the worst case scenarios. He took to the challenge and competition of his new life like a fish to water, although perhaps a little too well. While outstanding achievements in the field were considered the politically correct way to advance rank, he opted for the quickest method in rank advancement. Namely, the untimely deaths of those above him.

More often than not, those in the upper echelons of the group turned a blind eye whenever a member of the lower echelon died under suspicious circumstances. Competition between members was silently encouraged, possibly due to the level of expertise it takes to become successful in their line of work. It was merely regarded as something of an occupational hazard for them. Lee successfully orchestrated the deaths of SIX MEMBERS and maintained a fairly high success rate in the field during his time in the organization.

The disappearance of Security Representative JASMINE ZHA, their primary source of lucrative government contracts, left an unspoken rift in the organization. Contracts became more difficult to secure between Thirteen‘s members and rumors spread about a mysterious affliction that robbed valuable psychics of their powers. Lee took things in stride for the most part and worked harder than ever to sustain himself.

It was only when he received orders from the upper echelon to eliminate several of his co-workers that he realized the full scope of their situation. Rumors had become reality when several key members, completely drained of their abilities, went missing. Consequently, they were condemned as traitors in lieu of the sensitive information they possessed about the organization. The truth of the matter however, was that his co-workers had become a costly liability – and there was no such thing as a retirement plan in their line of work.

Something will go here.

Something will go here.