It was supposed to be a coming together.  An end of the year celebration where he would be able to see the rest of his family.  It started out ok, he and his sister, Portia had been happy to see their cousins after so long but something was strange.  In the back of his head, there was a nagging feeling that pulled him away from the crowded rooms.  By instinct, he followed it to an old storage room, filled to the brim with junk piled high on shelves, left to collect dust.  There was a warning to find it in his mind, but what it was unknown.  

He pushed items out of the way, his mind not processing the screams from the main area as he continued with single minded dedication.  Finally, he found what he was looking for.  A glistening black sword, one that seemed to have seen frequent use by the multiple dings seen across the blade.  With that, his mind came back to him and that was when he heard the terror behind him.  He dashed from the room, hoping that he would find his sister, his family, safe.  

But what he found was not what he expected.  His beloved sister, one that could not do wrong, was drenched in blood and fire.  His family had just been playing with not charred corpses.  Portia turned, eyes flaring as she dashed at him.  He tried his all, blocking her ravenous strikes with enough care not to cut her but he was growing tired from his sloppy attempts.  

Then he heard it, a nudge in his mind.  “Boy, do you wish to make a pact?”  it offered him much.  The ability to cut his sister free, the ability to cut his foes, and the ability to cut people's perception.  With unknowing innocence, he accepted.  The sword took hold of his body, plunging its blade into her chest but it seemed like her physical body was ok.  

Slowly, the flames dissipated, leaving her to slump back to the floor as a red mist dissipated into the wind.  “The pact is sealed” he heard as the sword crumbled into ash.  He stood there, watching her figure as he tried to process what was going on, until he heard noises behind him.  He pulled the magic of his Illusions, once a simple parlor trick into what was now much grander.  He covered his sister, making it seem as if they were part of the victims instead of the perpetrator.  

It was Junko, someone related to his great grandpa that had passed long ago, but he decided this would work.  He spun a story of bandits that broke in and slaughtered everyone.  He needed help, and nothing was safer than family.  She decided to take them in, letting them live in a store room in her tea house she owned.