In a lost storybook that got buried under the piles and piles of other books is a little storybook world. And in the corner of that little storybook world is a little storybook land, in which is a little storybook town. In this town, every person is born with a “costume” that determines everything about them-what kind of power they will have, how they will fight, what kind of job they will get, and even who they might fall in love with. This little town is one of several towns in which this is the law of the land. But this special place is called Guilty Heaven. And in the town of Guilty Heaven is where our story of the boy without a costume takes place.

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Guilty Heaven

Night 1-The Boy without a Costume!

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Through the crooked, crowded streets of Guilty Heaven moved a mobile white sheet, nervously making his way back to wherever he had come from, or wherever he was going to. The other townsfolk didn’t bother to take much notice-bizarre things were a normal part of life in this town. But the little sheet moved onward, trying not to call too much attention to himself. He wanted to make this trip as uneventful as possible, and arrive at home without anymore incidents.

At last, the little sheet made it to his destination- a giant, foreboding house that loomed over him like it would bend down and eat him. He scurried along the side of the house and went in the concealed back entrance that the servants used, making sure that the sheet draped over his head didn’t float up too far above his ankles. Once inside, he dashed through the kitchen, the hallway, and then up the grand stairs, pitter-pattering until he made it to the safe haven of his little room, opened the white door, and shut it behind him.

Beyond the door was a long flight of creaky, winding, wooden stairs, covered with cobwebs and dust, that he scampered up like a kitten playing with a mouse. Up and up he climbed until he made it to the door at the top, and opened that one too, and then closed it behind. The attic room was the very top of the house, and was furnished with the bare minimum- a small bed with the oldest and holeyest sheets in the house, a broken dresser that was missing a drawer (another one simply refused to open), and a lamp which had to sit on the floor, for he had no little table for it.

He went over to the little bed and sat on it. The mattress sunk and creaked beneath his weight, though he wasn’t that heavy at all. Making sure the coast was clear, he pulled the sheet off from over his head and took a deep breath.

“Thanks goodness!” He quietly exclaimed to himself. “No one tried to attack me today.” He looked around again and pulled out his treasure-a magazine all about the special warriors of Guilty Heaven, who were called Heaven’s Knights. They were the strongest and most skilled knights that had gone through many years of special schooling and training to get to where they were, and they had the utmost honor of defending Guilty Heaven from attacks by the evil Lord Winter, and would, hopefully, find a way to stop the fiend once and for all.

The boy began to turn through the pages, looking at all the pictures taken of Heaven’s Knights. He paused when he reached a long, two page spread featuring an article about a particular pair of Heaven’s Knights who were particularly famous at this point in time. The picture featured a girl with long, black hair in pigtails, an orange eye patch with a black swirl over her left eye, and a giant, black iron key for a weapon, playfully posed next to a much more solemn guy with a red bandanna around his head, a long black waist coat, and several daggers positioned between his black gloved fingers. Beneath the photo was their title: The Dice Pair. He stared in awe of the two. What he wouldn’t give to be a Heaven’s Knight.

The boy looked at himself. He wore a simple back short-sleeved shirt and baggy black and red pants with chains on them. His limp hair was an almost purple black, and his eyes were the exact same shade. He sighed-he had the unfortunate luck to be born without a costume, the only one in all of Guilty Heaven.

‘That’s what happens when you’re the bastard son of a noble, I suppose…’ he thought listlessly, with an outward sigh. No wonder his stepmother hated him-not only was he tarnish on the family, but a disgrace because he was costumeless as well. In fact, the evil woman despised seeing him so much, that he was required to wear a sheet over his head whenever he was in the presence of others, which wasn’t very often. But his real mother-his birth mother- hadn’t cared at all that he didn’t have a costume. She embraced him kindly and spoke softly to him regardless-she had loved him, and he loved her. He had lived with her till she died, but when she did pass on he was sent to live with his father, who, needless to say, wasn’t very…open to the idea. Actually, the poor boy had had to live out in the backyard on scraps for a week before his father finally let him in and sent him to this attic room.

He looked back to the picture of the Dice Pair and feebly smiled once more. These knights all had the best costumes and the best weapons of which to fight. They were so lucky…

He ripped the pages with the article out and stuck them on splinters that were coming out of the wooden walls, just like he hung many other pictures from past issues of the same magazine. He smiled brightly. Maybe someday, with any luck, he would be able to find a way to become one of Heaven’s Knights. Yes, that could be very possible.

What this boy, 14 year old Noir, didn’t know, however, that this was about to become more possible than he ever believed it could be.

There was a loud thumping up his stairs, and he quickly hid the magazine under his bed sheets, for fear that the intruder would take it, and he had a good idea of who the intruder was. The old door flew open with such force he was surprised that it didn’t fly off its hinges. Standing in the doorway was just who he had expected it to be-his stepmother, his father’s wife. Her spider-web like hair was pinned back with proper preciseness, and she wore the fancy clothes of a noble’s wife. Her expression was the same as when she always looked at him-sour, like she had bit into a lemon. She turned up her nose and looked down towards him, keeping her distance, as if his bastardness would rub off on her.

“Stand up when a lady enters a room, boy.” She said coldly. He hesitantly stood, holding his sheet in front of him. “Now cover up. You know I can’t stand to look at you.” He timidly put the sheet over his head and adjusted it so that he could see out of the crudely cut eye holes. “Good.”

He felt his knees shaking, as always when he had to face his stepmother. She was a frightening lady around people she liked already, but when it came to him, the person she hated most in the world…

“I’d like you to go out tonight.” She said bluntly. “We are having guests over-two of the bishops from the knight’s academy. They are going to be evaluating Grenwald, to see how suited he is to be a Heaven’s Knight.” She looked up to the various pictures he had hanging on his wall and smirked cruelly. “The Knight academy doesn’t accept powerless little freaks, you know.” She turned her back to him and left without another word. Only when he heard her close the door at the bottom of the stairs did he dare throw the sheet off his head. Grenwald, his half brother, his father’s legitimate son….

‘Sometimes, he has all the luck!’ Noir thought. ‘If only I could somehow become a knight! But she’s right…I need a costume, a weapon to be a knight.’ He sighed heavily and decided that tonight; his mother’s grave would be a good place to stay until it was safe to come home.

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“So, they’re on the move again?” She asked, looking at the projection orb in the center of the dark room.

“It appears so. Tonight, we’ll stop them before they enter town.” A man replied. The two looked at each other with confident expressions before turning back to the view they had. It was an aerial view of the town graveyard.

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As soon as night had fallen, Noir was kicked out of the house. With his sheet over his head, he made his way through the now deserted streets, toward his destination, in silence. A big, full moon hung in the sky overhead, lighting his way. As he went down the road, he caught glimpses of families sitting together around the dinner table, all the children smiling brightly, each of them dressed in their own costume. He tried to keep sad thoughts out of his head as he proceeded to the twisty iron gate that led to the wide open fields, dotted with headstones.

He knew the way by heart now, down this row and up this way, over the little hill, around the sinkhole, and there it was, third from the left-never changing, never moving, the only stability in his life. He looked around cautiously before pulling the sheet down from over his head, and then smiled sadly at the dropping flowers he had left there last time.

“Hello, mother,” He greeted. The epitaph-“RIP Lilia”-gave him a cold response. “I see your flowers are dying again. I’ll have to bring you some new ones soon.” He found a comfortable spot on the ground and sat, trying to remain as cheerful as one could before the grave of the only person who ever loved them. “Mother…do you think it could be possible…for me to become one of Heaven’s Knights?” He asked, resting his head on his knees. “I know I don’t have a costume, but…I really think I’d be good at it. If I was one of the knights, then everyone would look up to me. Instead of saying ‘there’s that deformed boy with no power’, they’d say ‘there’s that boy, who, even without a costume, was able to become powerful and protect us.’ People might like me then, you think?” He asked. Silence was his answer. “Well, I can always try, right? I can’t let Grenwald have all the fun.”

Suddenly, he heard a low, growling noise behind him, and felt a shadow swopping over him. Cold breath licked the back of his neck, making his hairs stand on end. He slowly turned, and saw, looming over him with superfluous amounts of drool leaking over the sides of ridiculous big jaws, a big, black wolf. He was frozen in fear-what was this thing? Certainly it couldn’t be one of the town’s people?

The wolf laughed at him, glowing red eyes eyeing up his next meal with interest and delight. Noir stepped back, inching towards his mother’s gravestone, as if it would provide supernatural protection somehow.

“Little lost sheep…or maybe it’s a black sheep….?” The wolf growled. It was easily the size of Noir’s house. He scampered back, bumping into the tombstone and sliding to the ground. The wolf approached, ready to devour. “Let me end your misery of being a deformed child!” The teeth neared at a greater speed, and Noir closed his eyes and turned away, hoping not to watch his own demise.

A loud roar came instead of teeth piercing flesh. Noir dared to look to see that someone had attacked the wolf from behind, and had inflicted a very large wound, for dark blood was now pouring onto the ground in thick, gushy globs. Noir was frozen to where he sat, not sure what was happening.

“Looks like the big bad wolf couldn't resist a walk under the full moon eh?” A female voice taunted. The wolf turned, allowing Noir to get a glimpse of the assailant, and his jaw nearly dropped in his lap. A giant, black iron key was slung over the girl’s back, and her long black hair was tied in two pigtails on either side of her head. Over her left eye was an orange eye patch with a black swirl.

It was one of the Dice Pair. The Dice Pair was here to rescue him! This had to be a dream come true.

“The knights were so slow to respond. I devoured three people already…” The wolf said, turning on the girl with the key.

“So we heard. And your carelessness with your victim’s bodies led us straight to you, you stupid a-hole!” She replied accusingly. She swung her key around with one hand and leapt up at him, swinging it around in front of her as she went, and then dragging it down through his body. She flipped over his body after she had landed a successful blow and landed right next to Noir, who was still paralyzed in fear and awe.

“You’re amazing….” Was all he could get out of his mouth, which seemed to refuse to cooperate with him at the moment. She turned and noticed him for the first time.

“A kid? What are you doing out here?” She exclaimed, surprised to see him. There was little time for explanation, because the wolf was coming around for her again. She leapt back to draw the wolf away from the terrified boy, and he followed, blood flowing like a thick, wide river from the two gashes on his back. He dragged along the ground as he moved towards the key girl. He raised a giant claw and then brought it down, landing a direct hit and sending her flying.

“Oh no!” Noir shouted, crawling around the tombstone a bit to get a better look. He glanced back at his sheet for a moment, debating on whether to throw it over his head or not, but decided there really wasn’t time for that. He jumped up and began to follow the battle as it moved over the hills.

The girl landed hard in the dirt and lay in the small hole that had formed on impact before struggling to get up again. She found her giant weapon, stuck the end in the ground, and pulled herself up, grabbing onto the loop on the end for extra support. When she got back on her feet, the wolf was already approaching again. She sighed heavily to herself before putting her weight fully on her legs and yanking the key out of the ground.

“Lord Winter must be finally taking us seriously. This stupid a-hole should’ve disappeared by now if it was a normal feint.” She commented to herself. With another heavy breath she raised her weapon to shoulder height and dashed at the wolf again. This time, she went straight for the area between the eyes and struck with fatal force against the skull. The wolf gave an unearthly roar that shook the surrounding area a bit before echoing off into the night. The girl landed on the ground again, making sure to dodge the streams of blood that poured from the wolf’s head.

Noir watched in complete awe as this all happened before his eyes. So these were what top knights like the Dice Pair were like. A single thought dominating his mind as all threats of danger seemed to become unimportant.

‘It’s incredible.’

The wolf struck down his paw again-a blind shot-and sent dirt and pebbles flying. She had jumped back to avoid the attack, and now slid to a safe stop, key poised behind her back and ready for the next strike. She jumped up in the air and slashed forward as the wolf came near, getting him across the snout. He lashed about wildly with his teeth, trying to catch her in his jaws, but instead hit her with his nose, sending her flying through the upper branches of a dead tree, and then into the ground. She sat upright slowly, and cursed to herself.

“That stupid feint! That stupid a-hole!!!!” She shouted.

“Watch out, miss!!!” Noir shouted. “He’s coming right at you!” She turned to see the mad animal stampeding in her direction.

“Shit!” She exclaimed, and got ready to get out of the way, but the wolf suddenly stopped dead and four fountains of blood erupted from the wolf’s back. Both Noir and the girl turned to see where that could’ve come from. The girl smiled. “Shinnosuke.” She stated. Indeed, standing on top of a little hill was a guy with a red bandanna around his head and a long black waist coat. Several little daggers were ready to be thrown in his left hand.

“Ankh,” He called, “instead of cursing, try to keep focused on the job at hand. We must eliminate the feint.”

“Oh shut up, Shinnosuke! One of your daggers missed! Only four hit this stupid a-hole!” She yelled back at him, slowly standing back up with the aid of her key. “Let’s just finish up this stupid a-hole before any more trouble his caused!”

“Agreed.” He replied softly, and threw the daggers in his hand towards the wolf, while Ankh charged and unleashed another furious blow. The two weapons hit the beast at the same time, the daggers planting themselves in the neck and the key cutting down the head. The wolf collapsed on the ground with a loud and heavy thud, and then crumbled away into black dust that flew off in the wind. The two knights approached the place where the wolf had fallen. “That feint was much stronger than the last one.” Shinnosuke said. “Lord Winter must be getting close to starting whatever he’s been preparing for.”

“You mean we’ll have to fight more of these stupid a-holes?” She whined. Noir still stayed a short way off, watching the two knights bicker back and forth to each other, still in complete awe. They were so strong and had such amazing weapons. He couldn’t believe that he had witnessed such a fight-they had treated that wolf like it was nothing. He didn’t really understand the technical part of if, but what did that matter? They had defeated the threat to Guilty Heaven! And he had been able to see them, the legendary Dice Pair, complete the task.

“Well, that’s the end of that. We should report back to headquarters.” Shinnosuke said softly. They were leaving? Noir began to panic. If he wanted to approach them now, this would be his only chance.

“I hate reporting to those old geezers! They’re stupid geezers!!” Ankh whined again.

“Keep complaining and I will ask for a new partner.” He threatened.

“You would never!” She cried out, before the two completely disappeared. It was so suddenly, that Noir wasn’t sure what had happened-only that they were there one minute and gone the next. Though he was still very excited from having seen them fight, he couldn’t shake off the heavy feeling in his heart. He wanted to talk to them, to ask them how they became knights, what kind of training they did, and if it was possible for someone like him to…

‘But what would they say? They’re such powerful knights…would they laugh if someone like me asked them if I could become a knight?’ He dragged himself back to his mother’s grave and sat back down in front of it, the stench of blood everywhere around him. He tried to ignore it as he stared at his mother’s name engraved forever in granite.

“I want to be a knight…I want to be one of Heaven’s Knights…” He whispered to himself.

“Really?” A voice replied. He blinked, not expecting a response. He looked up to see a new girl, with short brown hair under a pointed black hat with a wide brim. Her black skirts were torn as they hung limply around her legs. She was leaning against the tombstone with a smirk on her face, like she knew everything all at once. Noir wondered who this new stranger was. There was no way she could be a knight- she didn’t seem like the type. And he was pretty sure he’d never seen her in town before. She smirked, not in a mean way, but in a sly way, and asked him again “Do you want to be a knight?”

It took him a few moments to find his voice again and gain some control over his tongue, which felt like a lead weight in his mouth. There was something different about this lady. Was it the sinister glimmer hiding in the corner of her eyes? Was it her ruby red lips or pale, moonlight skin? No, it was something deeper than that.

“Yes.” He answered firmly. “I want to be a knight.”

“I know. I can hear everything your heart is whispering right now.” She said. Suddenly, like an eel, she sort of…floated over to him, gripping his shoulders from behind and leaning over his shoulder. “Your heart is calling out to me, though you don’t even know it. That’s why I came tonight.”

“My heart is calling out to you?” Noir questioned, not understanding what she was saying as her harsh breath rattling against his ear.

“That’s right. I can hear your every desire, but one of them is louder than the rest: I want to be a knight.” She floated away again, standing up in front of him. “Do you know who I am boy?” She asked, commandingly. The tone eerily reminded him of his stepmother.

“No…I don’t know.” He replied. She smirked and gave a short laugh before giving her reply.

“I am the Frost Witch.” She told him. His eyes went wide and his very soul seemed to freeze at the mention of that name.

The Frost Witch, the most mysterious, powerful, and dangerous inhabitant of Guilty Heaven…

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6H:A few notes to end the chapter with, if you don’t mind. Feel free to skip if you wish.

This story itself branched off an old idea I had that was a music project. It was going to be a simple story of a girl who feels like she isn’t scary, and then she meets this boy who hides under a sheet because he isn’t scary at all and his family is ashamed of him. Then he makes a deal with the Frost Witch to become scary and ends up nearly losing himself, but the love of the girl saves him. The story wasn’t very well developed beyond this.

Noir: His background, his appearance, and most other things about Noir came easy, except for his name. I thought for a long time about it, but then decided on Noir. It’s a good name, because for me, it invoked the image of someone who’s a little timid, which Noir is. He’s not your usual Shonen hero-childish, sometimes annoying, bright and outgoing. Noir is quiet, timid, reserved. He’s used to not being liked and to hiding under that sheet. I like calling him “the little sheet” though.

The Dice Pair: I’m not sure where I thought of the name, but I thought it just fit them well. They take risks in battle together, kind of like gambling. Perhaps more plot-ish stuff will develop around this name. They’re an elite group though.

Ankh: She was one of the first characters I envisioned. Her fighting style is really unique, and I love to envision how it would look if this was drawn out or animated. It would flow nicely as she flies around swings her giant key all over the place. Please don’t think badly of her because of her bad language-it’s part of her character when she fights, but she’s actually a good person at times. Don’t think of her key as something like the keyblade in Kingdom Hearts. (Not mine!) It’s like a regular old key with a circular top, and it’s BIG. It’s bigger than Ankh. Originally, I wanted to call her “Anko,” but decided against it at the last minute. I like how her name fits with her character. Doesn’t “ankh” actually mean “key” in some language? Hahahaha, that’s unintentional.

Shinnosuke: I’m not really sure where his name came from, but it just kind of fits him. His character was envisioned easily too, right alongside Ankh. They look good together, and their characters and personalities complement each other. They’re close friends. When he threatens to replace Ankh, he doesn’t mean it. He wasn’t always going to have daggers for weapons, but I gave the weapon he originally was going to have to another character. I really couldn’t think of anything else to give him that was unique, and I felt bad about that. Daggers are kind of overused sometimes.

Stepmother and the rest of Noir’s family: Whenever I try to picture the stepmother, I see the mother from the web comic “A Stranger in Paradise.” (NOT MINE!!!!! But it’s very good, you should read it for sure ) I want to try and knock that image out of my head. I really am not sure what kind of costumes they have…

Noir’s mother: Lilia’s name came from out of nowhere. I wanted something that sounded pretty and elegant, and left you to wonder what she might look like. She’ll be described later on, of course.

Notes about the Frost Witch and others will come in the next chapter!!!