This is an original piece for two prototype characters of a story i'm working on. the working title is "Soul Numbers", which i will definitely change. in this universe, everyone is born with a number circled somewhere on their body from 0-99. it could be on your forehead, under your foot, on your butt.. there is no rhyme or reason to where it appears. thus, for some people it is easy to hide, and others, a permanent and obvious marker. a number has never been seen above 99 so it is presumed that this number represents the number of times you have reincarnated on the earth. it is also believed that the higher the number, the more likely it is that your soul is corrupt - that your soul has failed to ascend to the next life and thus been sent back to earth to try and live a life that the god or gods would deem worthy of moving on.

because of this, many cultures and societies base their judgement of your character around your number. people with higher Soul Numbers are often looked down upon as deviants or troublemakers, and because of this they often have a harder life than those with lower numbers. though as generations passed and society became more modernized, Soul Numbers became more of a private matter and less of your identity as a person. those who could hide it often never thought much of it. still, many cling to the old beliefs and the marker is something that can never be completely ignored.

the main character of this story (the girl with the blue and pink hair) was born with a 99 inscribed on her inner right thigh. her parents, devout followers of one of the many religions revolving around the markers (and a respectable 13 and 17 themselves), were distraught and terrified at what they believed to be the worst possible marking for their daughter to have. but, because of its location, they decided it would be best to attempt to hide this marking. they sought out a master forger of markers and had a false 11 printed on her hand.

as she grew up, she quickly learned of her parents' decision in which she had no say. begrudgingly, she grew up knowing of her false marking and kept her true marking a secret from the rest of the world for the sake of her family.

in this picture, we see her entwined in a ceremonial yellow cloth with an important friend she meets in high school - a friend who will be the first person besides her parents who discovers her secret by accident. she keeps this knowledge between them because she cares for her friend - but also because she has an even bigger secret herself. the Emblem of Marked Souls underneath them is a magical device that changes its appearance to everyone who looks at it. its markings depict every life your soul has lived on Earth, and one of four ultimate fates that it met.