Shadow Slave: Monochrome

"I see it... I see it... nevermind I don't."

A timid looking boy with hazelnut brown hair was sat on top of a wooden bench. He was staring deeply at a rather crude painting, that seemed to depict an endless black ocean with an incomprehensibly small boy looking off into the distance. There was nothing at all in that world, nothing at all, apart from the sea, the sky, and the boy.

"What do you mean??"

The painter in question was a boy who looked nearly identical to him, with the only difference being the old scar under his right cheek. In his right hand, was a paint brush? It looked like it was made from random junk laying around.

"The colours are a bit soulless... I guess I'm just not a big fan of the black."

"I had to get creative, we can't afford pain."

The two turned to look at each other for a moment, before bursting out laughing. Before they could continue on however, the voice of a women called out to them from downstairs.

"Nero! Epsilon! Your friend is here!"

Nero turned to his brother, who nodded at him silently with a dark look on his face. It was time for work.

Nero and Epsilon were twin brothers who lived with their mother in North America, more specifically, in a land that was formerly known as Detroit. Life in Detroit was already miserable, but after the descent of the nightmare spell, the entire region had gotten even worse.

The colony city which the three lived in was called Endroll, a poor colony where people who could afford to brush twice a day were considered the upper class. But despite that, there were internal conflicts taking place in here too, more specifically, between three parties.

The Government, the Red Sons, and the Prophets.

The Government was arguably the strongest of the three. They had already managed to establish order all around the world, and it was only a matter of time until the later two were fully erased. In fact, it wouldn't be wrong to say that the Endroll Colony was the last city to have any conflicting groups on all of earth.

The Red sons were the second strongest. They were mostly spread out across the cities interconnecting underground bunkers and sewage systems, making them immensely difficult to eradicate. They were like the mafia of Endroll, human trafficking, extortion, and especially drug trafficking. They did all these things.

That last one was a particular issue in Endroll. Their infamous highly addictive drug, Carnage is one that can cause... carnage really. Just a couple hundred milligrams of it can send a person across the universe and back, even awakened are susceptible to the stuff. Whatever it's made from, the Red Sons had sole monopoly over it, and the Government were determined to get it off the streets, no matter what.

The Prophets were the weakest, smallest, but most creepy of the three. Despite that though, no one had a single clue as to where they were. All they did was appear in highly dense areas, commonly struggling poor areas(The entire colony honestly), before whisking their inhabitants away.

Even then, they would ask before doing it! So bizzare!

The two boys were lucky enough to live in a two story building with their mother, however the entire place could really collapse at any minute. It was a miracle that it had even lasted this long, but that's exactly why the rent here was so cheap.

The two boys swiftly headed downstairs, but not before Epsilon tore off his canvas apron which was covered in a strange black goop. The black paint wasn't even paint! It was a mix of ash, water and some kind of white slime of unknown origins.

"I'm not really much of an artist anyway, I think I could do photography instead?"

"Where would you even find a camera..."

Epsilon had a wasteful habit of picking up random hobbies. He'd stick with it for a day or two, before throwing it away.

**

The two boys were stood before their mother. She would've been a lovely looking women, if it weren't for the fact she was covered in dirt and grime. Of course, water, especially clean water was a rarity in these lands. Although the government were able to fix, and provide clean filters for their water pumps, the water itself was still too expensive. And thus, it was common that people in Endroll didn't take baths a lot, unless you happened to work for the government.

"You two best be careful alright?"

Although she tried her best to smile, it was clear that she was worn out. The two boys tried their best to smile back, as their mother gave them a warm hug. Just seeing her like this was incredibly hard.

"Ah, you guys haven't eaten yet, right? Don't forget to take some Synthpaste with you."

Nero jolted.

He quickly escaped the house without a second thought. He'd rather starve then eat that rubbish again.

"I'll take an extra one for him."

**

This part of the town was empty as per usual. There were some people here and there, but they were all homeless bums who lived on the streets. Nero stood just outside the door, waiting for someone, and eventually that person came.

"You guys took your time."

It was a girl just a head smaller than Nero. She had pale black hair, and onyx black eyes which seemed devoid of most hope.

"Where's Epsilon?"

Right when she asked that, Epsilon came out from behind a piece of cloth which acted as a door. Although the girls eyes lit up, Nero's strained.

Epsilon tossed Nero a tube of Synthpaste, which the latter stumbled to catch. He hurriedly stuffed it in his pocket, debating whether he would actually eat it or not.

Emma hurriedly approached Epsilon, before giving him a light kiss on the cheek, making him turn bright pink.

"W-wwhat!"

Nero just sighed before turning around. Emma was a friend of the two, however it wasn't that long ago that she had actually confessed his feelings towards the Epsilon. Since then, they had been dating.

'Love in a crap colony like this? Young people I swear....'

"Anyhow! We were supposed to work weren't we! Let's get going."

"Aw! You jealous? Don't worry, love will find you too someday... hopefully..."

"..."

Emma silently nodded as she prompted the two to follow her. In the short moment the two looked away, Epsilon staggered a little.

He was a little confused by this at first, but after a few moments, he quickly realised something dreadful.

"No..."

Nero turned around and asked,

"What? Did you just say something?"

"Oh.. no it's nothing."

Nero looked at Epsilon with suspicion, before sighing. He turned around and just kept walking forwards.