Chapter 6:
Philip Le Roux
[Third Person]
[10 years ago...]
Philip's dreary voice can be heard from inside the Fleexim City Central library. He's trying to convince the old lady librarian to let him read books. But instead of talking properly, she hit Philip with the broom she's holding. Philip courageously took the blows head on hoping that it would become his means to enter. After a while, Philip's still standing despite of the injuries he got. Instead of pitying him, the old lady got more irritated. She kicked Philip and he got propelled outside and crashed into the trash cans.
The old lady threw the flower vase located near the door into him. "Get your ass out of here you pesky brat!" she fiercely shouted.
Philip's legs got hit. He held his knees and tried his best to stand. When he finally did, he pressed his palms on each other. "Please, just this once! I'm begging you... Please let me read books!"
The old lady went near him. She slapped Philip and he fell into the ground."YOU DOPE! DO YOU EVEN KNOW HOW TO READ?! YOU REEKS!!! GET LOST YOU WORTHLESS TRASH !!!" she shouted furiously.
After being degraded like that, Philip's tears slowly started to fell. He mewled and not too long, he sobbed. The hatred that he's concealing finally bursted out.
Then so suddenly, a flying stone landed on the old lady's head.
"WHO THE HELL THREW THAT?!"
"My name is Charles Martin! Stop bullying my partner you fossilized old hag!"
It's a child with a black hair and pair of eyes.
Charles continued to threw stones into the old lady until it's forced to leave then he immediately rushed towards Philip."You idiot. Look at your injuries. Sigh. Let's go home, I'll treat your wounds."
Charles carried Philip on his back and went home.
⚫⚫⚫
"And that should do it. Now, get some rest and relax."
"Sorry for being such a burden to you Charles..."
Charles gave Philip a thumbs up. "Don't worry about it."
Philip tried to get up from his bed. "Ouch! But what about our food?"
Charles went near the cabinet to get his favorite hat. He wore it and smiled. "Don't worry. We'll be fine. This awesome future detective here will take care of it. Just be sure to rest while I'm gone. Bye."
Charles left their shack and saw a beautiful lady.
"Hello Miss! Your beauty is much brighter that the sun... Me myself cannot even comprehend your gorgeousness!"
The girl slapped Charles in his face. "PERVERT!" then it left.
"Oh well. There's so many out there. Ladies, here I come!!"
Philip heard everything and sighed after. "Seriously? That Charles... Guess I'll just sleep."
⚫⚫⚫
[12 years ago - City of Xeirofy]
It's been 2 years since Philip and Charles met. It happened back when Philip's still 5 years old.
Despite of difficult living, Philip and his mom Maria Le Roux lives happily. They're not blessed with any luxuriance but still contented of what they have. Philip's dream is to become a scholar. Every day, he always went on the library to read books while his mom works on her job as a street sweeper. Librarians always takes a liking on Philip because of its cheerful attitude. Despite of its young age, he can already talk to adults so conveniently and easily. He's a real prodigy when it comes to any fields.
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One day, the peaceful city of xeirofy became disrupted. A battalion of terrorists robbed things from it's citizen and burned the city whole. Many died including Philip's mother. That very day, he met Charles who's wearing a detective hat and an oversized ragged T-shirt who's tattered with dirt.
Charles reached his hands into Philip. "Are you okay?"
"Of course not! My mother's dead! Can't you see it?!" Shouted Philip then he slapped his hands.
Charles closed his eyes and held his hat." Oh well. Kids..."
Philip looked at him. "You're a child too. Stop acting cool because you aren't."
"Oh well."Charles patted Philip's head. "Hey boy. What's your name?"
Philip wiped his tears with his hands."Philip Le Roux."
Charles looked at his eyes genuinely. "This place is dead. Will you come with me?"
"To where?"
Charles became flustered. "Well..."
And then, abruptly, sound of loud footsteps approaching suddenly can be heard.
Charles grasp Philip's shirt. "Those are terrorists, were going to escape!"
Philip withhold himself. "What about my mother?"
"We can't do anything about that! Let's go!"
And so, they left. They travelled for days until they've crossed their paths into the city of fleexim.
"From now on, we will live on our own" said Charles.
"Sob. Sob. Mom..."
Charles sighed. "Get over with it already. I know it isn't easy to lost someone you love but crying won't take them back to life. You need to become much stronger."
"Easy for you to say..."
Charles looked at the sky. "Just you know, I lost my father the same time as you lost your mother."
"Aren't you a beggar? And if it's true, why aren't you mourning?" Asked Philip.
"How rude. I'm not a beggar this is a camouflage and I'm extremely sad as of now you know but I chose not to cry because this world won't do you a favor if you do. You'll just be at a disadvantage. My father taught that to me and so I'm abiding it. He also gave this hat before he died" replied Charles.
"Oh...sorry..."
Charles raised his fist. "From now on, we'll become the ultimate partners in the whole world."
Philip smiled and nodded.
From that day, Philip and Charles became the best of friends. They helped each other out and strive to live despite a difficult life.
⚫⚫⚫
*Cry of roosters can be heard*
Philip yawned. "It's morning already? Sigh. Charles! What's our breakfast?"
No one answered him. He shouted several times but the outcome is the same. He searched in every place that they both know but he can't find Charles anywhere.
"Where in the world is that guy?!"
Philip waited for days, weeks, months and years. Charles never came back.
Instead of crying, he toughen himself up as it is the very important thing that Charles taught to him. He live on his own and tried his best in every coming day.
•••
"It's been 5 years since Charles disappeared. Where in the world is that guy? Maybe he left me for good because of always being a burden to him..." Philip slapped his face. "Nah. He wouldn't ever do that!"
Again, Philip continued his usual routine. He'll walk around the city hoping that he will find Charles.
Then suddenly, a cart stopped near him. A fat bearded man came out and it approach him.
The man grabbed something on his pocket and showed it to Philip."Perhaps are you the genius Philip Le Roux? This is my ID. I'm a professor of Asflouronia University. The name is Robert Frost. Would you like to study there? You'll become a full scholar if you do."
Philip astonished." You mean I can study there for free?"
Mr Frost nodded. "Yes."
Philip shook his head. "I'm currently searching for my long lost friend. I can't go with you right now" said Philip sadly.
"And what's the name of this friend of yours?"
"Charles Martin. He's gone for about 5 years" Philip answered in a sad manner.
"If he's gone for that long there's only 2 reasons behind that. Either he permanently left you or something's bad has happened to him" said Mr Frost.
"No! He'll never leave me alone. We're the ultimate partners in this whole world!" Philip reasoned.
Mr Frost smiled. "If that's so, I'll help you search for him."
Philip got astonished. "REALLY?!"
"Yes and of course and my offer is still up. If you ever feel like accepting it, I'll gladly accept you" said Mr frost.
"No need for you to wait. As long as you accept my demand, I'll come with you anytime."
"My pleasure then!"said Mr frost joyfully.
•••
Philip went into Asflouronia University. As expected, he became its top student and exemplar while Mr Frost continued to search for Charles. However, he's never been found.
When Philip turned 16, he left the university to have a journey of his own. He plans to share his wisdom to people who need it the most. That time, he completely accepted that Charles is already gone.
While he was in the forest, watching the birds near the lake, his sense of hearing suddenly disappeared. He could no longer hear the birdsong and after a minute, a strong vibration came out from the ground. It made him fell unconscious. When he woke up, he met Aquila who's waiting for him to awake.
"Who are you?"
"I'm the guardian spirit of Wisdom, Aquila. I've obtain all the knowledge known to man. I have chosen you as my master. Mr Philip Le Roux."
"Seriously? Why me of all people?"
"Because you strive for knowledge. To help anyone who needed it the most."
"Oh. If you already made up your mind, do I have any other choice?"
"That's something for you to decide."
"Okay. If that's so, then let's go. I formally accept your offer."
Using Aquila's power, he attempted to know what happened to him but something's blocking his access. Without knowing any means to know what's happening, he just ignored it. Instead, he continued his journey to share knowledge.
Philip and Aquila worked together and poured people with wisdom using the academy they founded. People older than him became his student. Including Ban, Bin, and Bon who later build an academy of their own. Since Philip's is much better, people undoubtedly chose his rather than those 3's. Ban, Bin and Bon's academy never received any student so because of envy, they maligned Philip. They made a wicked rumor about Philip being a witch and using black magic together with Aquila. However, Philip is too trusting. He never bothered to defend himself since he believes that his students won't ever distrust him.
One night, he heard a clamor coming from outside his academy. When he get out, he was astonished. Countless of people have gathered, including his students and all of them are holding a torch. When they saw him, they shouted.
"DIE YOU SHITTY WITCH!! BRING YOUR DEMON WITH YOU!!! WE WON'T BE FOOLED BY YOUR LIES ANYMORE!!!!!"
"I'm not a witch! Aquila is the guardian spirit of wisdom!" Philip reasoned.
"GET LOST!!!"
"But---"
Ban, Bin, and Bon raised their hand and shouted. "FOOLISHNESS!! Throw you torches into that crappy academy!!!"
People followed and the gigantic academy became enveloped with fire.
That moment, Philip remembered everything that happened in his childhood including his mother's death and Charles' disappearance. The memories he's supposed to forget started to came back. His tears started to fell. Without any trace, he left the academy and locked himself inside the library located in Mt Shereva and decided not to make contact with humans anymore because he thought that interacting with them will just make him suffer more. However, Aquila didn't gave up on persuading him to go back to his own self. He secretly created a puzzle in his ruins that once completed, a map pointing their location will appear hoping that someone who can win over Philip will one day come.