Chapter 6
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Quinton walked across one of the rope bridges that connected the plaza and the section where he and his family live. He had just got done buying some material that they use to craft formula at home after Alejana had requested it of him. He had also found a beautiful sapphire ring that had been sold by a dwarvern merchant a while back. It wasn't all that common for lower level families to give rings to their spouses, but he had recently come into some money after a scouting quest and had decided to splurge a little. He could not wait to see the look on his wife's face when she saw the ring that was so clear it matched her eyes.
As he was walking, he heard two elven women talking. He had managed to pick up something along the lines of 'blue haired boy and sister'. He laughed as he could only imagine what trouble his mischievous daughter had gotten his son into this time. As he walked through the door, he noticed his wife's face. It was pure panic.
"Alejana. ALEJANA! Are you okay? Do you need a doctor?" (Quinton)
"Please, have you seen the children?" (Alejana)
"Wha- they aren't home yet? It's pitch black out and it looks like a storm is coming!" (Quinton)
As he threw down his backpack and picked up his coat and walked out the door,
"It's probably nothing, don't panic. I'll go get them. Stay here." (Quinton)
"Please, I believe in you." (Alejana)
Although he said it was probably nothing, he wasn't too sure. Although his daughter always got her brother into all kinds of trouble, he knew that Aiden was responsible enough to come home before dark. It worried him that he was not home yet... something wasn't normal. As he ran out the door, he went back towards where he had heard the two women talking.
***
"-din." Slowly, a voice brought Aiden back to his senses.
"Din-Din! Please! Get up!" (Hana)
He woke up to his panic sister screaming at him. He could not see out of his left eye, although he knew that it was still there due to the fact that he had touched it earlier. Although it was there, it seemed to be cut beyond functioning. The pain throughout his body was unbarable, and he looked down at his arm to see that his torn shirt had been wrapped around it in an attempt to stop the bleeding, although it was already soaked and was practically useless. He took off the makeshift bandaging and replaced it with less sloppy ones using one of his pant legs. He could probably stand if he wanted too, but he'd much rather not.
So troublesome. Hana is all cried out, it looks as though she has been crying for over a few hours. She must be all out of tears, I hope she isn't hurt. (Aiden)
"I think, they are here." (Hana)
At these words, the bushes rattled. Out of the bushes came two more snakes. It seems like these were part of land crew that had split off from the rest of them. In total, his senses had been a little off and there were about seven of them. One had died, while the other two had ran away, so that leaves four left. There's two more... somewhere.
The one that had initially attacked them had been at least twenty feet long, and the rest were at 9-15ft long. Due to his photographic memory, the ones that ran away or died were around 12ft, and the ones in front of him were 9 and 10ft long. That left a 15ft and a 20ft somewhere. The 20ft long one seemed to be the leader at first, but it baffled him that the leader was the first to attack. Did snakes even have leaders? It seems unlikely, but their coordination by splitting up earlier seemed like a command was given.
When it was seven of them there was no hope, but these were the two smallest ones. If he could not beat even these ones, there was no way he could get him and his sister out of here. As the two snakes jumped up, Aiden finally stood up. As he stared at the snake, fear ran through him. Thoughts of it turning his remaining arm into hamburger meat as well ran through his mind. As he took a deep breath, he grabbed a nearby stick with his right arm, he swung it as hard as he could with his enhanced arm. The mana was more controlled than before, since he only put it into the one arm as opposed to his whole body, and the stick cracked in half as it tore through the metal like scales on the first snakes side. The other bit him directly in the left shoulder, but the pain was already so immense that it was like a drop of water in a desert.
He grabbed the snake with his right hand, and since it was the smallest of the group it wasn't too hard. As he did, he directed the mana directly into his fingers as opposed to his arm, and squeezed the snakes head. It squirmed for a bit and tried to wrap its razor sharp scales around Aiden's arm, but its skull was crushed before it could. Shards of bone cut into his hand, but he did not care as he through the snake that was taller than him to the floor. His sister looked into her brother's eyes that were full of nothing but hate, and involuntarily squeaked out of fear. She knew that he was protecting her, but she couldn't help but crumble under the immense pressure he released. With one arm glowing in bright blue light, he ran forwards to the rustling of the bushes, with nothing but his bare hand, he took on the remaining 'boss' snakes.
***
*POV Quinton*
As the girls specified, I jumped over the wall at the location the kids climbed through. Using wind magic, I dispersed the fog. After a bit of searching, I found a trail of blood. I stopped dead in my tracks. There was... too much. It felt as though the person that was bleeding would die soon. The fear of my dead children shocked me. However, I did not have the time to be shocked. Even if there was a 1% chance that they were alive, even if there was less than that... I would do whatever it takes to find them. I followed the trail to a river. This river lead directly to a nearby waterfall, but we tend to stay away from it due to a terrible creature that sleeps at the bottom. I hope to god they did not get swallowed up by that. I followed the river down to the waterfall and stopped at the cliff.
Tears formed in the sides of my eyes. Surrounded by dead Rank D creatures known as Razor Boas, was my son. Bloodied and battered, his left arm looked as though it had been gnawed on as a toy for a dog. He was passed out on the floor, as my daughter remained virtually untouched. She was asleep on his bloodied chest, and it looked as though her puffy eyes had seen a little too many tears. With both of them passed out from exhaustion (and one from blood loss) I hurried home with them on my shoulders using wind magic.
***
Quinton burst through the door to the doctors home. It was the dead of midnight, and it raining bullets, so the sleeping doctor was instantly woken up from his happy dream. As he awoke, he saw Aiden. Getting up without saying words, he pushed the plates and cups on the table to the floor. He put down a white sheet as the still panting Quinton softly placed his son on the table. While nodding,
"Doctor... please. I'm begging you." (Quinton)
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As he said these words, he left with his daughter to go home and get her to sleep before coming back. As he got home, his wife was crying. He had been gone for over an hour, so she must have correctly assumed that the kids were not in the town. Their town was fairly large for being hidden and secluded, but for the most part, everyone knew each other or at least knew of each other. It wasn't hard to find one of your children just by asking around, so the fact that it had taken more than an hour meant that they were outside of the walls in this storm.
Alejana's face brightened as she saw Quinton walk in with a sleeping and virtually unharmed Hana. Her clothes were torn and she had some scratches and bruises but she was fine. Just as she was about to relax, she noticed,
"Ai-Aiden. Where's Aiden!?" (Alejana)
He cast his gaze to the floor.
"He's alive." (Quinton)
"Where is he!?" (Alejana)
"At the doctors house." (Quinton)
Hearing these words, her eyes began to flow tears again. She rushed out the door without even grabbing her shoes, wearing nothing but a plain long white negligee. Quinton quickly ran out to stop her.
"I-I don't think you want to see him." (Quinton)
"Wh-what the hell is that supposed to mean! He's my son!" (Alejana)
As they went through the rain and approached the doctor's house, again Quinton tried to stop her.
"Honey, i'm serious. You should give him time before yo-" (Quinton)
Slapping him, she walked past him and opened the door to the doctors house. As she did, she saw her son. She instantly fell to her knees.
I-I tried. (Quinton) As he rubbed his red cheek, he followed his wife in and placed his hand on her back.
Alejana looked over her son. He was naked and lying on the table, and he had multiple bite marks across his body. What did the most damage though, was the snakes scales themselves. His right side was mostly unharmed besides for his hand, which still had the snake's skull fragments stuck in it. However, his left arm.
She threw up. She was ashamed, but she threw up. All of her dinner was put into an empty bucket after looking at her sons arm. The skin was torn off, and it honestly looked like some kid's first attempt ad butchering an animal. It was torn to shreds, as pumping veins, bones, and muscles were all visible. Quinton held her hair back and patted her on the back as she emptied her stomach.
She puked at the sight of her own son's injuries, and she hated herself for it. However that wasn't the end of it. A long cut wrapped around his shoulder and reached all the way up to his neck. It split into three, and twirled around his neck as if it were actually three skinny snakes. They all met up again on the left side of his chin before going up past his eye. His eyeball was there, but it was not salvageable. One of his beautiful eyes were cut in half, and it was completely red now. The most the doctor could do was disinfect it and Aiden could keep it, but he could never see out of it again. Instead of the beautiful white and blue eyes, the entire eyeball besides the pupil was red. His eyelid was slit as well, the cut reaching just past his eyebrow, and it would probably take an effort to even open it.
The doctor had stopped the bleeding on his arm, and it had already started healing. The bone and muscles healed and were all intact, but the skin hardly grew back and it still looked disgusting.
"His eye, he can't use it anymore. The eyeball itself is okay but it is not going to transfer any light to his brain. He will probably have trouble opening it anyway, so it will most likely be closed. Also... his arm. I don't think that it is going to look any better than this. I prioritized his muscles and bone, so it should be functional but..." (Doctor)
They all cast their gazes to his arm. Alejana gagged again, but held it in. Quinton looked away as he pat his wife on the shoulder.
"You can sew right? I would suggest getting a sleeve or something for him. I-I'm sorry to say this but... I don't mean to sound rude but... Look. I- I don't think anyone would want to see that." (Doctor)
Although it seemed rude... he was right. Aiden was already an outcast... now he looked even more intimidating and it looked like he had been through a war.
My... baby (Alejana)
"He is stable. He will live, and he will be able to function just like normal, minus the eye. I-I'm sorry. He... he is a brave boy. Seeing as Hana was unharmed and all of his injuries are focused on one side, I can only assume that he protected her with not only his power, but when that failed he used his body. This boy is sure to grow up to be a great protector." (Doctor)
"Of course, he is my son after all... but Doctor, I'm sorry as well. I broke into your house in the middle of the night, it's just... we trust you the most. You're the only person i thought of. I know you are supposed to be retired but... I'm sorry I was selfish." (Quinton)
As Quinton pulled out his coin purse, the doctor held up his hand.
"I'm not going to allow a child to die in my own home. I didn't do it for money, I did it because it was right. Please, just take care of my upcoming grand children in your daycare and i'd be more than happy. I would like it if you could bring him in for monthly checkups... although preferably not at two in the morning next time..." (Doctor)
"You sure know the right times to joke huh. Haha, it's okay. No offense taken, you saved my son. We would be glad to take care of your grandchildren for free, but even that isn't enough. If there is ever anything we may do for you please let us know." (Quinton)
On that note, the night ended. Alejana stayed up creating a skin tight black sleeve for Aiden's terribly torn arm. When she finished she went into Aiden's bedroom and saw her husband asleep in a chair next to the bed. While smiling, she kissed Aiden on the forehead. Although he was asleep, he winced at the touch, causing Alejana to jerk back. Tears formed in her eyes but did not flow, and she apologized. The mental trauma on the children may be greater than any physical pain...
In his dreams, Aiden was afraid. Snakes... snakes were everywhere. He was in a bath of snakes. His sister was sinking, further and further. His mother was sinking and his father dove in after her. Everyone he knew was sinking in the sea of razor sharp snakes, as he was powerless. Powerless... powerless... he had to become stronger. As soon as he awoke he would train both body and mind to the limits.
He convinced himself. He repeated it over and over again in his dream.
'Never again, never again.'
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Eaton here. Sorry for going all typical tragedy eye loss on you guys, I don't mean to be a fuxxkboi. Hopefully you like the chapter and sorry for the poor quality of the last one.
Like I said, hope you enjoyed.
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