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ALWAYS TOGETHER
Arc 4 Chapter 26: The Storm Cometh, Part—2

Arc 4 Chapter 26: The Storm Cometh, Part—2

My name is Leon Faust, Bolverkr. Bolverkr, commonly known as the destroyer of our world. But I wasn’t born with that name, rather it was given to me. Before being a destructive being, I was just a normal German boy who loved the art of literature and boxing. Being raised in a small ancient town, along with very strict parents who wanted no more than to have their boy achieve a better life than they have; It motivated me to become more than the small shy boy known in his town. I hardly spoke, glimpsed at anyone anytime I walked out of the house. Despite my flaws in social skills, everyone in my town cared about me and looked after my well being everytime my parents were out to work in the crops.

My parents, the two very people who helped to create and bring me to this odd world, were incredibly strict to me as I stated. My mother would scold me for not understanding some basic literature in her favourite poems, my father scolded me for not being strong enough to help him around the farm. Adequately, in the end, they loved me more than any other. And were always appreciated. I loved them so much, and at times I knew they wanted to put their hands on me for me to learn faster, but they never did. They could never put hands on their only son. And I always admired their passion, and understood their strict nature in the end.

Unfortunately, one day, I happened to discover something strange about myself. It happened out of the bloom, and with its discovery, changed our lives forever. Yet it embarked the stepping stone into a life of loneliness and guilt that’s still cemented into my cranium to this day. It was a rainy day, I happened to be reading inside the barn, laying against a bail of hay. My father came in, drenched to the toe. He took his coat off, and let out a raspy grunt. I watched as he made his way to one of the cows, and brushed its thin coat. The rain grew more intense, and a struck of lightning happened to hit the barn, which spooked the animals. My father tried calming them down, but ultimately, they went berserk. One of his prized bulls busted the gate open, and bomb rushed my father. His horn pierced his side, and he screamed. I grew pale as I watched my father be gored in front of my eyes. I wanted to help him, but I was powerless, and tiny compared to the two. Hearing his putrid screams torment my young ears drove me into a blank state, and awakened something in my mind.

“FATHER!”

I leaped out in the open, and growled at the beast. It ignored me as it almost took away my father’s last breath. My teeth were grounding so severely I chipped my canines, and felt my body grow hot. That weird sensation exploded out of me, and the bull had been put in pause. My father, grotesquely was pulled out its horn, and floated mid air. The bull struggled for a moment until it slowly rose off the ground. I can remember my body on fire, my bones weighing a ton. I glared at it, and clinched my neck, which ultimately twisted the bull in half, and being squeezed to death. Blood splattered everywhere, its guts splashed on the floor, and my father couldn’t believe his eyes. Not even I could believe my own eyes as I barely noticed it was me doing the action.

My father was gently put to the ground, his wound healed, and once everything had settled, I collapsed to my knees, and shed a waterfall. He ran up to me, and hugged me to death.

“My boy, I knew it would work, I knew it!” he said as he also wept.

What was he talking about? It almost made it seem as if he was anticipating this event? But in that moment of using telekinesis, I was just too dumbfounded to respond. And since that day going forward, I changed our lives forever. I used my new powers to help more people, grow my social anxiety, and help my family. It led us to be moved up the financial tree. No longer were we struggling to make a buck with my new talent, and most of all, my parents didn’t use me. They could've, but it was I that chose to abuse my powers and show the world just how important I was, growing a new side of me that I’ve come to loathe. My new found ego, driven my overconfidence, the feeling of no one ever potentially harming me as I grew older, I felt invincible.

At just eleven years old, my powers grew exponentially. Even I was growing afraid of how powerful my telekinesis had become. To my town, I was embarked a hero, a God even, but outside, I was seen as a monster. Although, I didn’t mind it. Unfortunately, I saw just how ego driven I became. It was a bright sunny day. I went out to help all the farmers move their animals to a larger farmland that I had constructed with my telekinesis the day prior. As we moved down the dirt road, we were ambushed by thugs, and amongst the group, I met my first opponent that tested my powers. It was a hard fought battle. Bodies were ragdoll, people were killed, the rest ran away, but the towns folk helped me no matter the odds. They chanted, screeched my name to defeat the supernatural person. As we both stood across from each other, my thirst for battle, my first sip gave me a boost that I’ll never forget.

“Die…” I said.

His eyes budged out, I raised him to the sky, and twisted his body, bursting him into a cloud of red and guts. Everyone at first was in shock, but after seeing the others flee, they celebrated and ran to me. Meanwhile, I stood with my first taste of blood in my mouth, smacking my gums, and chuckling beneath my breath with eyes only meant for someone with a sadistic mindset. To my young mind, getting my first victim was an inspiration, and motivated me to get even stronger, and I did. But it would also give birth to the idea of Bolverkr, the destroyer; his first victims being his parents. One day, as I trained out in the night, lightning struck the ground, flickered the skies. I trained all day that day, and seeing such a violent storm, one coming every so decade in our town, excited me.

“Mother nature, and your beams of light shall succumb to my glare.”

I dodged every shot of lightening. I was fast enough to grab them mid air, and played with the light like a string. I would whiplash the sky with its own light, cracking the sound barrier dozens of times over. Seeing my progress and my powers growing beyond telekinesis drove me into a new state of mind. This made me smile bigger than I could ever imagine, and for the first time, I wanted to see just how much I grew. I let it out, and powered out all of the mana in my body.

“Mana, awaken!”

I let out my first war cry, and my mana created an aura around my body, and it swelled up so much, it eventually led to me blowing up my entire town. A giant mushroom cloud flew overhead in the spot I stood, and as the dust, fire, and smoke settled, I could finally see the full extent of how dangerous I’ve become. My eyes widened, my body quaked, I stood in a crater bigger than the one that killed the dinosaurs. I scanned my surroundings, and saw the devastation I had laid. My house, vaporized, our land, flattened, my town, smoothed, scorched into the earth.

“No… no.” I mumbled.

My eyes shed tears, and eventually, crimson erupted out of them. My emotions grew the best of me, and I was blinded into my first state of berserk-like nature. I can remember the aftermath; Military vehicles of all kinds from England, my country, and even the UN were laid to waste, melted by the fire I produced. With my eyes blank, milky, I continued my hunt, but for what? I always questioned why my powers had a mind of its own, and led me to a path of destruction. With no more military presence, I decided to take aim at the very sky we watch. I randomly shot blasts of mana into the sky to see if I could blow anything up, but it would only display a nebula being created. Feeling as if nothing can stop me, I ultimately chose to take my own life as well as the life left in our world. I carefully placed my palm on the ground, and prayed that I would blow up our world along with myself.

“That’s enough!” someone shouted.

I eerily brought my gaze to the source of the voice, and saw someone coming through the fiery smoke of destroyed military equipment. As he exposed himself to me, I could see who it was. A tall man with weird spiked hair. His eyes were as cold as the ice clouds of Uranus. His outfit had a very steampunk, yet formal look to it. I stood straight, gave him a cold stare, and fired at him. At first, I thought I’d ultimately taken another life, but he walked through another cloud of smoke and dust, brushing off my attack.

“You’re an explosive one, ain’t cha?” he said.

His tone, it had a pitch to it, but also held a deep rasp. He had a snarky laugh, and did a rex pose every time he let out a cackle while I kept blasting him with mana beams. He dodged every single beam, clash, and deflected my glare with just his frozen eyes. Eventually, he gassed me out, and I stumbled to a knee. He came closer to me, and eventually stood over me as I panted, and fell on fours. I brought my gaze up at the man who made a fool of me, the very first, and saw his childish yet gentle grin on his pale face. He bent his knees, and patted my head as my eyes were beginning to bag.

“You’re a lost kid, and I'm barely reaching teenage hood despite being alive close to a hundred years.” he said.

I coughed out blood, and fell to my side as he shifted his head to the surrounding area.

“Ey, someone outta teach you how to use your mana, kiddo. Because if we don’t get it under control, you and I are going to be in a heep of trouble with a certain Exorcist and his group.”

He picked me up, and I can remember his cold hands freezing my warmth.

“Introductions! My name’s John Malificus. A Witch who happened to stumble upon an out of control Esper, heheh!”

Again, that snorty laugh made me twitch an eye, but gave me a warmth of joy.

“From now on, you and I will be friends. And I’ll take you to a home where I happen to be staying. A place all rejects go where they feel left out and comprehend their existence!”

“John…” I mumbled.

From that day forward, I not only found my first real friend, but also my closest. It took me a while to remember our first interaction. I always thought we met in the academy, but I only found out when he reignited my lost childhood memories. Since that day, he did everything that he could to teach me about who I am and how I became an Esper despite thinking I was born gifted. It was John who went out of his way to discover that my parents were involved in some Witch cult to save me from dying because I was born prematurely. He found out they transferred the unwanted mana of a captured Esper who happened to be half demon as well, thus saving my life. But in return, it created the monster I became.

With my talents, my mind, my soul, I became more than a demon, but a God of destruction to the rest of the world. I destroyed civilizations, continents, planets, stars, and I wanted to do more than that, but John, he was always there to stop me and put me in control. Although, he did fail twice; Once when we were in Brazil, and the second being when I infiltrated a base of Exorcists and killed them off. He always made sure to tell me how grateful I should be for saving my life, otherwise William H. Christ would’ve already taken my life. And I did, thanking him everyday until I met Samantha.

She became my new world, the new light to the shadow of evil that tailed me since my birth. I always thought I’d never find anything else that I could control: my soul of destruction, my blood thirsty hands, my wretched thoughts of ego driven destruction. Yet, I did and I didn’t find it, she found me. Because I walked through a valley of evil throughout my life, I knew my soul would stay dimmed, wanting to find a source of light and when she became a part of my life; I couldn’t have been happier. Until one day, she shattered my soul, and broke my heart, turning me back to the dimmed soul I once was.

Growing older, time fading slowly, the years seeming like centuries as I stayed in her wretched home. Everyday I wished for death, I wanted to find a way to kill her, for ruining me and breaking the dangerous ego I once thrived on for survival! I was feared throughout the lands, every being would succumb to my wrath by the simplest glance! And here I am, wasting away and thought to be dead, killed by her envious hands. I thought I’d never find anything left to strive for in life, hoping to one day, to grow the courage to attack her and have her end me, to bring my misery to an abrupt end. But I did…

That was a little girl, a being I supposedly helped create, my only child, Sarah. Watching her grow since she was a baby to her childhood, I wanted to know the very life I helped create. But she never allowed me. She would always give me a glare with that horrid thin smile of hers. It made my face twist, my already broken heart ache every time I tried to speak, look at her. Yet as time went by, she started to resemble her mother so much I vowed to never look at her face because she reminded me of the very one I last saw betray me. Her crimson eyes, her raven hair, once she reached closer to eighteen, the resemblance was terrifying. It was like looking at the past coming back to haunt me, to remind me of the fool I became, and the monster that should be vanquished.

When I thought I reached the end of my suffering, my own daughter broke the barrier between us, and with the help of my closest friend, John; I finally grew the balls to get to know the very flesh and blood I! Helped make! It took so much for me to even be near her, listen to her throughout these months. I wanted to know if I could still feel and instead of focusing on the pain. And she confirmed it. She killed it all away, and made me question who I have become. My daughter became my new sweetest friend and I finally found a new strive in life; And that is to protect her and ensure her a future where she would never be to the likes of her mother. I not only want her to not live by the stains of her mothers past, but to not wear my crown of thorns. Sarah, my loving daughter, I, Leon Faust will not let you down and not make you hurt. If I could start again and walk a million miles of stone, I would find a way to birth you again with a different mother, find a way for us to live a simpler life… so I can one day, be able to look into your eyes and hold you in my arms without fearing you in the slightest.

***

Surrounded by metal enhanced by mana, the stakes at a high point, Leon stood his ground despite feeling that there was nowhere left to run. But his face, despite seeming blanched, also showed his determined will to protect his daughter. The military began to advance forward and the earth shook. Jack stood closer to Sarah, and watched as the circle slowly closed in.

“It’s all my fault.” Sarah said.

Hearing his daughter's self guilt made his stomach turn, and grow angry at himself.

“No! It’s not your fault, Sarah.”

“What will it be, Mr. Leon? Surrender now and face your consequences like a man? Or go down in the history books as the first inhuman we managed to take down?” The lieutenant said as the megaphone whined.

Leon can’t think straight being this stressed. Never has he been in this tight of a predicament since the day he was betrayed by Samantha. He felt so trapped, stuck that he uncontrollably rubbed his head.

“Why… Why me?! Why are you going after me! Of all the superstitious people, it had to be me?! To be an example to the rest?!”

General Shannon can feel, hear his hurt. It made him regret doing this operation for a second, but he remembered the photos presented to him by the young lieutenant. The destruction, the maliciousness on his face, but more notably, his blank eyes that lacked any form of resentment or empathy. When he wanted a turn to speak again, the lieutenant took back the megaphone from him and cleared his throat before speaking.

“Leon Bolverkr, the destroyer! At last, we met!”

Leon knit his brows, and a thick wrinkle formed between his eyes.

“That’s the abnormal.” he said.

Sarah put away her guilt to show her dad she’s strong in moments like this.

“Yeah, I sense no life energy in him.”

“Because he’s a goddamn summon.” Leon said.

“A-A summon?!” Jack exclaimed. “What the hell is a summon?”

Leon’s corner lips twitched as he stared into its lifeless eyes.

“He was summoned to our world by someone. And he’s doing their dirty work. Tch, it reminds me so much of those wretched fallen spirits who are troublesome to the rest of us.”

“Don’t mumble! I want to hear what all of you are discussing! But, nevertheless; You’re a wanted man sir Bloverkr, and I have authorization to terminate you!”

“Huh? Authorization?! Who gave you the authorization to do so?” General Shannon said.

He ignored the general and laughed.

“We’ve been looking for you for years! And here you are, standing close to pissing yourself, my dear Esper!”

“Es-what?!” General Shannon shouted. “Rookie, goddamnit, tell me what you’re—”

“Surrender the girl, and the boy. So we can exterminate you without them being in the way, Bolverkr the destroyer!”

Leon hated his snarky, high pitched, calm tone. It gave him some motivation to try to convince them that their true enemy was standing beside them.

“Don’t listen to him! He's abnormal! He’s your enemy, trust me!”

“That’s what a cornered criminal would say! Begging to turn the tables to give them a chance of escape, but it won’t work on us and especially on this smart man right beside me!”

General Shannon can easily tell he didn’t mean that; Complimenting his intelligence. Rather, it sounded convincing that Leon knew more about him than he did. Although, he can’t let him slide given his past actions. General Shannon took back the megaphone, and brought his gaze to Sarah.

“Young girl, please come to us along with the young man. We’re here for him, civilian's must stand out of the way.”

Leon’s eyebrows drew together as he felt more discouraged.

“Why?! Why are you doing this? She’s my daughter, he’s her friend. I’ve done nothing wrong to anyone. It’s him that you people should worry about.”

Leon pointed at the lieutenant.

“That thing will backstab you before you can even think of blinking. All of this isn’t necessary.

Leon raised his hands, and eased his temper.

“Yes, I’m not normal, but I’ve been living a normal life for eighteen years.”

Leon stepped out to the open.

“I’ve lived a horrible depressed life and have done more harm than good. I thought I’d never find another purpose in life, until now.”

He turned to Sarah, and smiled which made her eyes glisten.

“I’m not the same man that I once was. I have a loving daughter who I care deeply about. So please—”

He turned back to the frontline of the military, and spread his arms out.

“I am Leon Bolverkr, the once feared destroyer. But now, standing before you, I’m just Leon Faust, your typical business man. And I’m just as human as any of you are!”

The lieutenant grew a vile grin, and raised one hand.

“Prove it.” he mumbled.

He flicked his wrist forward, and one man aimed at Leon with a javelin, and shot it. It shot into the air, and the three could see the rocket rise from behind the line of vehicles. It stopped combusting, and suddenly exploded to come straight at Leon. Leon grit his teeth, and caught it with his hand. Consequently, it made the General gasp with shock, and grow fear. Leon quickly caught what he did, and let go. The rocket fell to the ground, and Leon slowly shook his head.

“No, I-I only did that in self defense.”

“You see, you see!” the lieutenant shouted, pointing at Leon. “I told you he’s dangerous, we must act now, and further see the full extent of his might!”

General Shannon nodded, and radioed his men. But as they radioed back, they informed him they were inside the city.

“Huh?! What the hell do you mean you’re in city lim—”

He glanced at the lieutenant and growled.

“What did you tell my men, you son of a bitch.”

“Huh?! Me! Oh, yeah, I told them to stay back and watch the city while my men and I take care of this situation, for now, heheheh!”

“Your men?!”

General Shannon looked around and behind him, seeing these supposed men who looked stiff, frozen, and doll-like.

“What type of men are they?”

“The best! Now, fire more rockets at him!”

More men popped out of their vehicles and more than twenty had AT4 launchers aimed at Leon. Leon prepared himself and Sarah wanted to help, but her father put his hand out behind him for her to not intervene.

“But dad—!”

“No butts! You two stay behind me. I don’t think there’s no persuading them until I deal with that wretched summon.”

The lieutenant raised his hand to the air, and gasped in a huge breath.

“FIRE!”

A line of rockets fired in sympathy. All interlaced, warping the sound barrier as they hurtled towards Leon. He reacted carefully by smacking every single one to the ground in front of him. Rockets quickly pilled up and with the last just being a foot away from his face, he threw it to the side. The general couldn’t believe his eyes, but the lieutenant was amused.

“Normal rockets are no problem for someone of your might. But what if we up the antsy to some enhanced ones, shall we?”

He chopped the air, and any vehicle with machine guns mounted began to fire. Leon sensed the mana enhanced bullets coming his way at light speed. He deflected every single bullet with the tips of both his index fingers and grew more annoyed.

“Enough! Stop this at once, please!” Leon shouted.

The General wondered why Leon wasn’t attacking back. Everything told to him made it seem as if he were lied to by this mystery man. Is Leon as dangerous as he claimed he is? Is he really responsible for all the disruptions that have occurred the past months? Everything wasn’t correlating and he was beginning to grow anger towards the lieutenant.

“I think I should handle this from now on, rookie.” The General said.

The lieutenant didn’t hear a single word he just said, rather his joy had blinded him in a tunneling path to see Leon’s power ignite. He began to think of ways to see how he’ll respond and show his true colours. He rubbed his chin, tapped his noggin, and thought of something barbaric.

“Time for phase two!” he said.

He sprung both arms into the air, and spread them out. Leon could feel a surge of mana beginning to swell behind the line of military vehicle's. The General grew tired of this charade and tried taking away the megaphone but the lieutenant put his arm forward, and a trail of smoke erupted behind them. Leon gasped as he saw mana enhanced rockets hurtling his way, more than a hundred. He aimed his palm at Jack, and shot the young man away from the scene. Jack was sent away as he could see the hundreds of bombs coming their way. Leon jumped into the air, and in mere seconds, blew away every single rocket to the sky. They exploded and engulfed the sky with flashes of red and green light. More rockets were shot, and the men also shot as well.

“Father!”

“No! Don’t even think about it!” Leon shouted.

Leon continued kicking, slapping, punching away every barrage of rockets and gunfire until one of those new futuristic vehicles shot a ginormous rocket, nuke sized towards an opening below Leon’s feet, directly aimed at Sarah. Leon yelled, and leaped in front, putting his arms in front, and facing her. The rocket made an impact, and blew up the earlier rockets on the ground behind Leon. A massive explosion occurred, one that shook the earth, shattered everyone's ears, and sent a cloud big enough to be seen from another city. Sarah’s eyes swelled as she saw the excruciating pain on her fathers face.

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“Dad…”

Leon grunted, repeatedly took in breaths of air as he trembled in pain. His entire back was charred and his flesh peeled off. Sarah could see the blood pour over his shoulder, and his shirt flew off to expose the burnt tissue peeping from the corners of his body.

“I will not… use my powers.” Leon growled.

He coughed but kept his stance. Sarah begged to help him, but he refused and screamed, turning back to them as more attacks came their way. Despite the burning, and horrid pain, Leon relentlessly continued his retaliation, deflecting everything they had up there sleeve. The lieutenant can’t help but laugh and rejoice seeing the damage he inflicted onto Leon.

“No normal rocket would’ve done that much damage to him! Thank God for my knowledge bwhahaha!”

The General finally had enough and pushed him against the jeep window frame.

“You lunatic! You could’ve killed us with that type of power! For a second I thought that was a nuclear freakin bomb!”

“Oh General, but it was, but my own version. Though mines can minimize the damage only directly to its target. And my bomb had enough power to blow up this entire world more than quadruple times if I let it happen!”

“You maniac! I’m calling off this—”

“You shall do no such thing, sir.”

His tone changed and his eyebrows weighed down. He grabbed the General’s wrists, and easily got them off his shirt.

“I’ll let you handle this once I show you who we’re really up against.”

Leon panted, and fell to a knee as he punched one more rocket away. Sarah grabbed his wrist, which resulted in him to freak out for a second but contain his emotions. He allowed her to grab him.

“Please, for the love of mother nature, let me help you, dad. You’re severely hurt.”

Leon ignored her plea, and kept pushing forward.

“No more… yo-you don’t know what you’re doing. I-I beg of you, stop.” Leon said.

The lieutenant shook his head as the General radioed his men to watch for anything suspicious happening around the city.

“We’re just getting started, Leon Bolverkr.”

He eerily raised a finger to the sky, and circled it. Leon squinted an eye, his burning flesh sizzled as it sent more pain signals throughout his body. Both Sarah and Leon waited. Leon wondered what they’ll do next, but to him it didn’t matter, because in the end, he vowed to protect his daughter.

“Sarah, when-when I say run, you run, go-got it!”

“No, I’m not leaving you…” She grabbed his hand, and clutched it. “I’m not letting you push me away. I’m staying by your side until we can resolve this!”

Hearing her daughter's rebellious rebuttal motivated him and gave him a surge of hope. He chuckled but it came to an abrupt end when he felt something coming down at them from above the sky. He turned to the sky, and saw another bomb similar to the one that damaged him coming down, but ten times more powerful. He panicked and before he could leap into the air, hundreds of more rockets were coming their way from every direction. Leon didn’t know what to do other than use his mana but in doing so would fuel their purpose. He came to a conclusion, and summoned a barrier around Sarah. She loudly gasped with shock, and smacked her tiny fists against the barrier.

“I’m sorry, Sarah,” he said.

“No! Let me help you, dad!”

The rockets were coming, the nuke above them gained more momentum. Leon grinned, his hair fluttering, the dirt, debris scratching, scraping against his wounds as he accepted his fate and faced his oncoming death. He let out a war cry, and unexpectedly, his knee cap was shot by a mana beam, collapsing him to one leg. He shivered, but refused, and stood up despite being a broken mess now. More mana beams struck his body, and Sarah screamed her lungs out as she watched her father being ruthlessly shot. Blood splattered across the barrier, and with the rockets finally in close proximity, all Leon could do was spread his arms out, and shield the last thing he truly cared about in this cruel world.

“Sarah…” he mumbled.

“NO!”

Sarah shattered his barrier, and put her harms forward, forming her own that shields the two from devastation. Everyone retreated and pulled away as the explosion happened. A massive mushroom cloud rose above the atmosphere and scorched the area around. The lieutenant and General were almost caught in the explosion but luckily drove far back enough with the enhancement of the mana powering their jeep.

“And like that, Leon is no more!” he shouted.

The General’s jaw dropped as he watched the remnants of the explosion beginning to quickly fade.

“This is surreal…”

The lieutenant clapped and hopped out the jeep, pulling out binoculars to see if he truly succumbed to his attack. Once the dust and smoke had settled, he could see Sarah standing frontline, unscathed and Leon behind her still alive.

“Damn it…” he muttered. “Prepare to engage my men!”

Sarah’s teeth were grit, her hair levitated as Leon let out repeated gasps.

“No, Sarah, why?” he mumbled.

Sarah put her arms down and her mana faded away.

“I could care less if I exposed myself. But I’m not losing you, dad.”

Leon’s eyes glistened and he clutched his right arm.

“I’ve barely got to know you, but as we’re getting along, it’s been the most memorable months I’ve had in all my life. And I still have yet to do one thing—!”

She looked over her shoulder to him, and smiled.

“—that’s to hug you, dad.”

Leon let a tear slip out and he also returned a smile, but their bonding moment came to another end when he saw more rockets coming their way. He grabbed Sarah’s wrist, and blocked them with his forearm, each exploding and ripping away his flesh. He yelled and for just half a second healed his wounded joints to give them a start in running away. He dragged Sarah away as fast as he could in the condition he was in. The lieutenant can still track him with ease with his technology and kept shouting for his men to keep fire. Leon forced Sarah to dodge, duck, jump, leap over obstacles as they ran away from their line of fire. They jumped meters away but were met with more vehicles up ahead, all taking aim and shooting. Again, he used his body to block their missiles and attacks, and took aim to the sky. He gripped Sarah’s wrist, and raised one foot.

“Hold on!”

Sarah nodded, and stayed close. He shot his foot into the ground and the two launched into earth's skies. Leon flew them past the fluffiness of the clouds, and even being this high up they were still shooting at them. Leon effortlessly played off their attacks and felt they were finally reaching an end to their attacks. Until jets coursed there way from in front, springing from behind, and flying right below them.

“Damn it!”

He made them fly at light speed but the jets easily caught up and he knew these were no ordinary jets. He sweated profusely as they began to fire missiles, bullets at them. He made sure Sarah was protected by his barrier while he had to endure their attacks. Even up to this point, he’s still refusing to use his mana in fear of his old self remerging. With Jets on their tail, Leon had no choice but to use just an ounce to have them blown away. His eyes grew wide, and he abruptly stopped the two while the jets flew past them. They zig zagged up above, and dove down on them. Leon shot his palm in their direction, and he shot out a blast of gravity at them, which forced them to eject out of their jets or swirl uncontrollably. Leon grinned and Sarah felt proud of her father.

“I may be hu-hurt… but I know we can—”

Leon and Sarah were suddenly ignited by an explosion. A puff of black smoke expanded, and coming down through it was Leon who held his daughter in his arms as they fell back to the earth like a meteor. The lieutenant fisted the air, and gave himself a pat on the back as he watched them pummel towards the earth. They made an impact, and the two were split up by it. Leon bounced, skid off the ground multiple times, eventually skidding his way into the earth on his back. He groaned with one arm resting on his chest as he closed his eyes momentarily. The entrails of smoke evaporating off his body, the sense of dread hitting his instincts as he quickly tried to open his eyes and regain his consciousness.

The lieutenant chuckled and eased down his binoculars.

“Gotcha.”

He flicked his wrist forward.

“Everyone, onward to the crash site. We must confirm our kill.”

Leon moaned, and slowly opened his eyes, seeing where he landed but more importantly, where Sarah was at. He quickly sat up, and scanned the area, and saw his daughter lying in fetal position, motionless.

“Sa-Sarah…”

He quickly got to his feet while holding his arm and rushed to her. He saw no movement, and felt no presence. His voice, his sigh, his gasps trembled as he carefully reached one hand towards her, shaking, and tried touching her. He moved her arm gently and got nothing. With the sound of military vehicle's approaching his area, and the earth shaking on his knees, Leon’s eyes quivered. The guilt in Leon’s eyes, seeing no reaction and feeling how cold her skin was, made him shake uncontrollably. Leon reacted in a robotic stiff way, his hands trembling, his heart breaking whimpers demonstrated that this was entirely his own doing. He had failed as her protector but more importantly, failed as her father. He shakenly placed his forearms against his face, and wheep in silence.

The military had arrived, and saw Leon on his knees, and saw his body shaking. One of the lieutenant's men stepped out of his vehicle and pointed in Leon's direction.

“Bolverkr still lives!” he shouted.

“Don’t just stand there, shoot at him!” the lieutenant replied.

A dozen Tanks rolled up, past them, and aimed at Leon. They fired individually and blasted his back. This time, he didn’t react to their attacks, instead they had no effect at all.

“Keep firing!” he shouted.

They continued relentlessly firing at him; Leon’s eyes exploded, his shudders stopped, and he growled. His wounds began to molt together, and heal. The sun was starting to set, the sky turning to a menacing blood red. Leon’s hair shot up, a thick aura of corruption formed around him as he let out a blood curdling scream filled with his rage, simultaneously turning to the military. His pupils dimmed, his eyes went blank and he shot his left arm in their direction, going into a deranged trance, blasting away all the tanks. Everyone was struck with fear, and immediately tried to retreat while returning fire. Leon raised his right arm, and used his telekinesis to raise the earlier vehicles to the sky, and wipe the air, wiping them out of existence, displaying his true power.

General Shannon put the jeep in reverse, and the lieutenant screeched with horror.

“Let's get out of here!” the lieutenant said.

Leon roared and used another attack, one that flickered in front of the tips of his fingers. It pulsed plasma around him, and he shot it at the retreating vehicles. It blew past them, and just by the force of it passing destroyed more and blew up the rest parked in the original mile circle.

“Your men, tell them to stop him! Shoot him, have him stopped!”

The General refused and kept driving as more of his futuristic weaponry became victims to Leon’s oncoming path of destruction. Despite moving slower than a turtle, he gained closer and closer to them as he continued forward, destroying everything in his path. To the military vehicles succumbing to barrages of mana beams, flickering discs of destruction slicing the upcoming city buildings, nothing could stop him as his blind rage was heading towards civilization.

“My battleships will put him to a stop!” the lieutenant shouted.

“Battleships?! Who gave you authorization to use battleships and how are they going to find him?”

He pointed at the Michigan river as they were within city limits.

“I had two deployed and ready to strike him just in case.”

“You’re mad! How did you do that without causing a disturbance?!”

The lieutenant grew crazy eyed and laughed maniacally.

“I’ll show him, I’ll show him what I’m made of!”

Leon lumbered his way closer to the city, and with the two battleships spotting him coming over the hill, they shot at him. Impact after impact shook the city, sent shockwaves closer to the entrance. People freaked out, sirens went off as Bolverkr the destroyer marched his way through the smoke and took aim at the ships. With more military personnel pulling up at the city entrance, more futuristic tanks firing at him, Bolverkr’s blank eyes flashed a glare at them. Above them appeared strikes of plasma that destroyed the tanks to smithereens. Bolverkr was struck again by the battleships powered by mana, and he lumbered his way to them.

Jack could see the devastation and heard everyone's terrified screams.

“Sarah, Leon… what on earth's going on now?” he said.

Jack stumbled, and groaned, remembering being thrown away like a rag doll by Leon.

“Sa-Sarah!” he shouted.

As he stumbled forward, someone grabbed his shoulder, grabbing his attention. He was surprised to find a strange man with a steampunk outfit standing next to him, but more importantly, his strange teal eyes already indicated he wasn’t normal.

“Who-Who the hell are you?”

The strange man watched as Bolverkr continued his path of destruction. He looked over to Jack, and grinned for a moment.

“I’m an old friend of Leon’s—”

His grin faded, and he walked backwards.

“But we must hurry to your friend. We don’t have much time.”

“You mean Sarah?! She’s-she’s hurt!”

He didn’t say anything else, and instructed Jack to follow him. He did and the two quickly ran their way to where Sarah was resting. They quickly ran past the wreckage and cleared path of destruction Leon had laid out. Jack couldn’t believe his eyes, the battle shock around them was unbelievable. The battle continued behind them, explosions drifting around as their onslaught sounded to failure. Upon arrival, they saw Sarah still unconscious and Jack rushed to her side, lifting her off the cold ground.

“Sarah, hey, you okay?!”

The strange man at first hesitated to approach them, but eventually he did. He put one hand against her forehead, and still felt her heat.

“She’s going to be fine, come one, we can take her in my car.”

“Hey, wait a second! Before we go forward, tell me your name so I can trust you.”

He chuckled and winked at the young man.

“My name’s John, and as I said, I’m that hothead's old friend.”

“John? Alright, so you’re supernatural I assume.”

“Yup.”

“And I’m guessing you're here to stop your friend's rampage?”

“Yup.”

“Now, how will we do such a thing when he’s obviously destroying everything in his path?”

John pointed at Sarah.

“Your friend there, she’s the key to stopping him.”

“Okay, cool. How will she be able to stop him?”

John’s finger drooped and he gave Jack a scrunched look.

“You ask too much. But enough buying time, come on! We gotta go before he wrecks havoc on not only our world but on the universe!”

Jack picked Sarah up in his arms, and rolled his eyes with a squinty face.

“I’m really getting tired of this shit!”

John ran and so did Jack. The two arrived in his car and hopped in with Jack having Sarah on his lap. John floored the car, and were on their way to the city.

Meanwhile, Bolverkr arrived in the middle of downtown Detroit, and more military forces tried stopping him. They shot their guns, and fired more tank missiles while evacuating civilians simultaneously. Bolverkr raised his right hand again, and used his telekinesis to stop every bullet midair. He turned the bullets back to them with thousands of times the force which destroyed the infrastructure around them. This time, General Shannon's men arrived and were engaging with Bolverkr. But human weapons were no match to him, but their determination to stop him kept them motivated to stay and fight. At first, he wanted to retaliate against them, but something in his subconscious, deep down crawled its way back in to tell him they weren’t the enemy. He ignored their petty attacks and continued pushing forward while charring the earth below his feet.

One of General Shannon's men radioed him, and watched as the supernatural man ignored any Marines attack.

“Sir! Target is not engaging us, repeat, target is in pursuit of the battle ships instead.”

Both the General and the lieutenant had arrived at the port of Detroit, and could see his might heading there way.

“Had he attacked any of you guys?”

“No! Not a single one nor normal grade vehicle. He’s only targeting the strange men who came with that man and his weaponry.”

“Interesting…” He turned to the lieutenant, and saw his glinted cheerful eyes.

He’s enjoying this while civilians are caught in his decisions. Perhaps he was right about him being the enemy. General Shannon thought.

He walked away, and made a call, but the lieutenant appeared in front, shutting his phone off with an eerie smile.

“I already told you, I got this, Sir.”

General Shannon’s eyes sharpened, and he ground his teeth.

“This mission is over. I’m getting my men out of there and stopping your reckless plan.”

He stiffly shook his head, and his smile grew bigger.

“That won’t be necessary. Because in the end, if all else fails—”

He tilted his head forward, and had a sinister open mouth smile.

“—I have a backup strong enough to handle not only him, but everyone else that’s supernatural, General.”

“You’re a mad man, rookie.” He pulled his phone out, and dialled again. “This operation… is over.”

While the General did his thing, the lieutenant turned back to Leon who was closing in just a mile away, and grinned.

“Suit yourself.”

***

John drove through the destruction, and Sarah was beginning to wake up.

“Sarah, you’re okay!” Jack said.

Sarah’s eyes were dead serious, and she let out a groan.

“Where’s my dad?”

John glanced at the two while they were reaching the inner city and finally getting a dot view of Leon’s aura.

“Oh hey, glad you’re awake. You see, there’s a bit of a turmoil and if we don’t stop your father, he’ll not only kill us all, but it’ll have a means for the great William to come down and take his life.”

Sarah gasped as well as Jack.

“What? Why do you think I’m here? I’m the reason why he might be getting killed because I made a deal with him, heh!”

Jack growled but Sarah reacted in sadness.

“How are we going to stop him?” she asked.

He put his hand on her head, and patted her.

“You will, sweetheart. You’re the key to taming the loose beast.”

She grabbed his hand, which made him tingle and giggle.

“Drive—faster!” she shouted.

“Yes ma’am!”

John floored the car to its max while dodging destroyed building infrastructure and roads. Meanwhile, Bolverkr had just arrived at the peer and laid his eyes on the two battleships miles away. General Shannon and his men quickly blocked the city, and watched him as he stood there, menacingly. He froze, the light aura around his body produced a horrific static sound that vibrated everyone's eardrums. Everyone wondered what he’s planning to do next.

The General clenched his fist, and trembled.

“God help us.”

John and the two arrived at the blockade. The noise died down and everything grew windy and silent. They opened their car doors, and hopped out, watching as Leon stood there like a statue. Sarah couldn’t take more of this and ran through the gathered crowd, and the two chased after her. She pushed her way through and eventually met a wall of military men. They put their hands out, and stopped them from getting closer. But Sarah had no time to waste, and awakened her aura just for a second which made them step back and take aim at her.

John got in the way, and put his hands forward.

“Woah woah, hold up there fellas! I know she’s scary and adorable but she’s the only one who can stop that man!”

The General appeared from behind his men and walked up to them.

“What?! What are you saying!”

“I ain’t got time for introductions but I’m his friend, and know him very well. And the key to stopping him is this girl.”

“What girl?”

John lightly gasped, and Jack saw Sarah running her way towards her father.

“Sarah!” Jack shouted.

John grinned and pointed at Sarah.

“That girl.”

The battleships prepared for another attack, and Sarah could feel the humongous surge of mana forming in front of their cannons. She panicked and ran faster. Her father eerily raised both hands, and the battleships fired, and he stopped their beams, evaporating them away. The lieutenant bit his fingernails aggressively and laughed like a maniac as he ran back to the General. Bolverkr dropped his left arm, and his palm took aim at the ships. A surge of energy sucked into the Centre of his palm, sending destructive shockwaves that forced everyone to take cover or cover their faces. His palm flickered out gamma bursts, electric particles shattered the atmosphere around the area. A ball of purple plasma the size of a basketball formed in front of his palm. The momentum gathered faster, and faster, and finally, Sarah had reached her father.

She ran around him, and waved her arms.

“Dad! No! Stop!”

He heard her voice, which sounded to his ex wife. Simultaneously while abruptly turning his head at Sarah, the momentum of the plasma ball forced him to shoot it out into the air, past the battleships overhead. The ball shot out into the sky, past earth's atmosphere, ultimately exploding in outer space. It was a plasma purple dome-like explosion heard and seen by the world. A gorgeous yet terrifying display of haunting purple that blinded the world in electrification for a moment. Everyone gazed at the sky as the plasma faded out, lowering their arms from the once blinding light. Afterwards, everyone set their eyes on Leon and the girl standing next to him.

For a moment, Sarah couldn’t believe it either. Never has she seen this much of her father's power displayed. Seeing it first hand in reality froze her bone marrow. She took a deep breath and carefully walked in front of her father. Leon immediately took aim again, but this time at her, but she stood her ground, and put her arms out to the side.

“Da-Dad… it’s me, Sarah.”

Bolverkr’s heavy breathing sent chills to Sarah’s ears but she began to shorten the distance between them.

“I’m your daughter, and you’re not a monster, Dad.”

She continued walking forward, and Bolverkr’s breathing grew heavier and heavier.

“You’re not a destroyer. You’re not the same man you claimed to be…”

She stopped in front of his palm, and stared into his dimmed eyes.

“I’m okay… see?”

Bolverkr tilted his head, but made a disturbing crunching sound in the process.

“You don’t have to be the destroyer you once was. You chose to be a normal business man who loves and provides for his family. You chose to put an end to your madness, and you also chose to—”

Sarah gently grabbed his hand, and while shaking, she placed it against her face, and rubbed it against her cheek.

“—to be the cool dad that I love… so much.”

Her voice changed from his ex wife to his giggling daughter and his senses were slowly coming back to him.

“Sa-Sa…”

“Now dad, show them the shy business man you always were.” Sarah softly said.

At last, Leon’s eyes grew life, and his pupils reappeared.

“Sar—ah…”

Leon’s aura faded, he gasped repeatedly and retracted his hand, backing away while shaking. He gave his daughter a pitiful look and appeared embarrassed but disappointed especially at himself.

“It’s okay, it’s okay. Everything's fine Dad. But we got to show them that not all supernatural people are reckless monsters.”

Leon’s face transitioned to surprise, and he looked over his shoulder, then nodded back to his daughter.

***

“Huh?! He’s actually friendly? But the photos this idiot show'd me?” General said while shaking his head, shocked.

“Yes, as I’ve said multiple times, he ain’t a bad guy, just misunderstood. But, attacking him ignites his thirst for battle, but when you put one thing that he cares about in danger, you’ll jeopardize all of reality.'' John said.

The lieutenant jumped in between and his eyes grew crazier.

“Don’t listen to this man, General! You just saw what he’s capable of! We were just seconds away from dying!”

“Alright, I’m putting an end to this. You, summon, I’ll deal with you myself!”

John took a step forward, the General stopped him, and looked over to the mentally breaking down lieutenant who continued biting his nails.

“General, help me destroy him! Lend me your men and we can stop him now or else the futures are at stake!”

“Sir, he’s coming this way!” one of the marines shouted.

“General, if your men attack now this whole thing will start all over again but a thousand times worse.” John said.

“SHUT UP WITCH!” The lieutenant yelled.

The General began to sweat, the pressure began to build as he heard his men, civilians shouting, growing in a panic.

“GENERAL, PLEASE!”

“SIR, ORDERS!”

“HE’S GETTING CLOSER!”

The lieutenant screamed and grabbed the General's collar.

“IF WE DON’T KILL HIM NOW WE’RE ALL DEAD?!” he exclaimed.

John pushed him away and put his arm in front of the general.

“You are done, but the minute this all blows over, you’re mine, freak.” John said.

“HE’S HERE!”

“Don’t shoot, we’re friendly!” Sarah shouted.

The General panned his attention to the frontline and saw Leon grabbing Sarah’s hand.

“Hold your fire, the girl’s fine?”

“IT’S A TRICK!”

The General had enough of the lieutenant and walked forward.

“You’re a goddamn maniac. Men, apprehend him at once and stand down.”

Jack was the first to apprehend him, and grab his arm tightly.

“You’re not going anywhere, punk.”

The lieutenant’s eyes bled red, and he ground his teeth so severely they cracked and he began to scratch his face. Leon presented himself, and gently let go of Sarah’s hand, putting his hands up.

“I’m not your enemy. And I want to show you all just how sorry I am, by using my powers to rebuild the entire city, alone.”

The General slowly approached Leon, and stood two feet away. Sarah tapped her fathers back, and he nodded. Leon stepped forward, and bowed.

“I’ve brought shame to not only you, Sir, but to all of humanity. It’s true that I was once a destroyer, but I’m no longer the man that I once was. I’m Leon Faust, a typical depressed businessman who works to provide for his family.”

The General let out a grunt, shook his head, placed his hand on his hips, but returned a half grin.

“You gotta a lot of work to do once this is all over. You better make good work of yourself, but if you happen to go berserk again, I’ll gladly put a bullet between your eyes.”

Leon raised his head, and let out a chuckle.

“With pleasure.” Leon replied.

Some civilian's were hesitant and some began to shame him, but he quickly shut them down by using his telekinesis to rebuild the area around them. They were in awe, but scared. He knew he wouldn’t buy their trust immediately, and wondered if the General’s doing this just to show everyone else that everything will be fine despite Leon being a monster in their eyes. Leon wanted to prove everyone wrong, and was willing to risk his exposure to the world by rebuilding everything he had damaged.

“I! Leon, shall devote myself to humanity and do more than just rebuild Detroit, but, rather, fix all our infrastructure and flawed nature of our state. I swear on my life.”

He flexed his fingers at the General, and he stepped more forward, and the two were meeting eye to eye.

“If I happen to fail you all, I’ll lower my mana enough so this man can take my life. I swear on mother earth.”

At last, more than half the crowd, marines applauded and nodded in approval. The General also got news that no civilians were killed which made him trust Leon even more. The lieutenant grew livid, and reached into his pocket, pulling out a phone and frowned.

“LAUNCH THE MISSLE NOW!”

“Huh?! Missle?!” The General shouted, turning his head to Jack and the lieutenant.

Everyone also did and from over the horizon of the city, they could see a humongous bright light coming out from behind a hill and making its way into the sky. The heavy trail of smoke behind its power gave an ominous sensation while the city’s sirens went off again. The air grew eerie, the sense of hopelessness struck everyone like a torpedo, wondering what was launched and having war sirens go off. Everyone watched as the giant bright light passed the clouds and dug deeper into the sky.

“What you fuck did you just do?! YOU IDIOTIC MADMAN!” The General screamed.

The lieutenant faced the crowd, and waved at them.

“We’re all going to die, people.”

He laughed and Jack was pushed away from some unknown force.

“See you all in hell.”

“Grab him!”

The lieutenant vanished out of thin air. Everyone gasped but panned their attention back at the missile.

“Confirmation, what type of missile has been launched?” The General radioed.

He was quickly told that it was a hydrogen bomb but it was too massive to be a normal one. It was five times the size of the tsar bomb and even with today's technology, it would be impossible to launch a missile that heavy into the air. Once people heard the radio say it was a nuke, people hugged their loved ones and began crying, praying while some accepted their fate.

The General dropped his phone and let out one tear.

“I-I failed you all…” he said.

Sarah’s eyes quivered as she watched the bomb climb higher and higher.

“Dad… we-we can stop that, right?”

She paned to her father, and saw the concern look on his face.

“That bomb has enough mana in it to blow up our whole world more than a million times.” he muttered.

Sarah walked up to her father while Jack approached her with John. Leon grew a nervous smile towards his friend, but John immediately knew that smile which made him return one. He shook his head, but understood what Leon’s smile was telling him.

“Dad?” Sarah said.

Leon kneeled, and grabbed Sarah’s shoulders.

“Sarah, my loving daughter.”

He covered his mouth, and mustered his emotions before speaking again.

“These have been the most interesting but happiest moments of my miserable life.”

“Dad… what are you saying?”

“Before, I had no purpose… but getting to know you… gave me a new purpose.”

He looked over her shoulder to the distressed crowd momentarily, and once he lay eyes on his daughter's forehead, he swallowed.

“And now, I must prove to the world that we aren’t all so bad.”

She grabbed his wrists, and her eyes began to swell.

“Dad, wh-what are you implying—?”

“Sarah… before I go, could-could you look… into my eyes?”

Sarah’s eyes leaked and she carefully looked into her father's eyes. Leon’s breath sounds shaky, he also let tears flood his eyes as he was finally able to look into Sarah’s eyes without consequence.

“You’re nothing like your mother… and I’m so happy I got to know you, Sarah.”

Sarah couldn’t retain herself, and her eyes flooded. Leon let go and slowly walked backwards while keeping eye contact.

“I love you…” Sarah abruptly said.

Leon frowned, and snapped his fingers. Sarah’s limbs went numb, and she began to freak out.

“Jack, hold my daughter.” Leon said.

Jack couldn’t watch this, but listened and grabbed a hold of Sarah while she screamed. She begged him to not do anything reckless. Leon had already made up his mind and before leaving, he waved goodbye to his friend and John shook his head, but also replied by waving. Leon launched himself to the air, blowing winds that forced everyone to cover their faces.

“DAD, NO!”

“It’s going to be okay, Sarah, it’s going to be okay!” Jack shouted while trying to retain her fallout.

Leon had his arms to his sides, his fists clenched as he made his way past earth’s atmosphere. Once he passed it, he held his breath, and saw the missile starting to lose momentum, shutting off for a moment as it turned towards the earth. It exploded with propulsion again and launched down. Leon faced the oncoming missile, his lungs beginning to tighten, he swallowed his last breath and grit his teeth. He readied himself, put his hands forward, and could see the dot grow closer. He could hear his daughter's words echo into his mind, which made him smile again as a tear fell out his eye and floated in the vacuum of space before being evaporated.

“—to be the cool dad that I love… so much.”

His eyes twinkled, and after two decades, they regained life and were no longer empty.

I was finally able to look into my daughter's eyes… He thought.

The missile drew closer and closer, and Leon slowly closed them.

If only I had the guts to hug her, just… once. He wondered.

Impact!

Down below, everyone saw the enormous explosion that flashed the world in an array of nebula, gamma bursting rays that swallowed the earth in space dust. It was as if they were in a fairytale as golden dust particles fell to the ground while the hypertype nova explosion slowly faded out into the darkness of space. Sarah’s eyes were in a permanent state of shock, bigger than they ever have stuck out while flooding. Jack turned away as the crowd cheered and gave Leon a heroic ovation for his sacrifice. Not only was he able to minimise the explosion, but enough to save the planet and everything around their solar system. The General gave him a heroic salute as he took off his hat as well as the rest of his men.

Sarah couldn’t comprehend what just happened and can’t accept that her father’s dead. Yet, mysteriously enough, as she turned her permanent state of loss to the cheering crowd, her mother walked out of it while keeping her eyes locked to the sky.

“Mo…ther?” Sarah mumbled.

Seeing her mother gave her enough energy to snap out of her broken state, and break free from Jack’s hug. Jack couldn’t believe his eyes, but more notably, John.

“Samantha.” John whispered.

The crowd could actually see Samantha without succumbing to a horrific death. She looked just as sad as her daughter while wandering around. Nobody knew how to react as they watched a gorgeous woman dressed in an elegant gothic black and red dress meander in the middle of the circle. Sarah carefully approached her mother, and could feel her dread.

“Mother… I’m—”

“Move…” Samantha said.

“H-huh?”

“Move!”

Samantha quickly leaped in front of Sarah, and pushed her out of the way. With her eyes permanent to the sky, she put her arms forward, and took a stance. Everyone wondered what the heck she was doing? That was until something came crashing onto her arms that sent people flying away and a heatwave that gave a burning sensation throughout the area. After the hot smoke had drifted away, Sarah coughing her lungs out, wiping the smoke away, she could see her mother on the ground, tending to her charred father. Samantha let a tear slip out and once it landed on his face, it healed it and she was able to peel the char off his face. Once every piece of black chips were off, she massaged his face, and gently placed her face against his while silently whimpering.

Sarah stood with shock. She couldn’t believe what she was seeing but also questioned as to why her mother’s acting this nice to a man she always tormented, thought was pathetic, but more importantly, never wanted to love him, until now.

“Mother…” Sarah whispered.