Chapter Text
Across two worlds, two voices sang as one.
One was a bright world, filled with beauty and soft warmth, belying a dark, underlying cruelty. A young man with soft, black hair sat on a stool in a vast living room. Large wings resembling a magpie’s sprouted from his back, the clipped ends rustling gently as his slim body swayed in time to the melody emitted from a nearby gramophone. His expression was bright as his pretty lips moved, forming lyrical sounds following the music.
The other was a dark world, the air filled with the suffocating scent of cigarettes, blood, and sex. A young man with black hair, greasy from neglect, sat on a wooden bird perch upon an elevated stage. Short, pathetic stumps were all that remained of his arms and legs, his toned torso bound with various restraints. Tears streamed down his face, his voice wavering as he sang for a leering audience.
Two different songbirds from two different worlds.
And yet—they shared an identical face.
Beside them, their masters stood, watching them with piercing intensity.
An older man, with silky white hair that cascaded down his back like a river, sat on a plush leather sofa near the magpie, golden eyes watching his pet songbird’s performance intently. The room around them was bathed in the light of the afternoon sun, a warm breeze gently fluttering the curtains covering the large windows.
An older man, with black hair tied back into a low ponytail, stood by the stage where the amputee performed, pose relaxed with his arms crossed as he watched his pet songbird with sharp, golden eyes. A jagged scar ran down one side of his face, just beside his left eye. Around him, the audience uttered words of praise for his pet’s voice, beauty, and helplessness.
Two different masters from two different worlds, sharing an identical face.
Two sets of identical faces, belonging to two different worlds, now drawn together by the strings of fate.