time before the Sunbearer trials, before everything fell apart...

once again, Xio had run from Bad Luck's temple. the place, filled with his so-called ‘siblings’ and priests, always felt suffocating. why was his ‘home’ always so crowded?

he had wandered deep into the forest, far from Los Restos, far from the place that was supposed to be home. he was heading towards Venganza's temple—or rather, what was left of it.

it had become a ritual now: running away when the weight of it all became too much, then staying gone until the guilt twisted inside him. and, when he did return, no one ever seemed to notice he was missing.

but this time, something was different. that evening, his supposed father had told him the truth. Xio wasn’t his son. he was Venganza’s son. and the truth had hit him harder than he expected. he needed to be alone.

his whole life had been built on a lie. a lie that, whether he liked it or not, had saved his life. but he couldn’t even process it properly. not yet.

sob.

he stopped. was someone crying? but how? no one was supposed to be here. everyone had been warned about the dangers lurking in these ruins. monsters, they said. so who else could be here?

cautiously, Xio followed the sound until he found its source. there, in the dim light, stood someone. they looked strangely familiar—like a human version of Chupacabras. it couldn’t be. they had to be another Obsidian. someone like him.

“who are you?” Xio called out, unsure whether this stranger was a threat