"Father?!" Johar instinctively becomes fully awake and wipes the sleep out of his eyes. The father that Emily mentioned is the one that made his hairs stand up on end, the one from Earth.
"Emily! Where the fuck are you, stupid bitch?!" An angry slurred voice can be heard stomping up the stairs.
(That dream felt so real! What is going on?!) Johar follows his sister into the closet as she pulls him along. Still trying to figure out if his future death - and his consequential re-incarnation in Etheria - was real, or just the fanciful dream of a coward escaping reality. It sounds stupid in his current situation, but it's an important matter because it would determine his next plan of action.
Johar can see Emily quivering, her eyes closed tight - hoping that if she doesn't see father, then father also won't be able to see her. "Emily, it's okay." says Johar as he tries to comfort her. "Emily!" The closet doors get slammed open as a fat, balding man wearing just his boxers and a tanktop snarls. "You think you can hide from me?!" He grabs Emily by the hair. She yelps in pain as he drags her out. (...) Johar can only look on as an old, familiar fear paralyzes his entire body. (So what if I've been re-incarnated?!) He thinks.
(I did say I'd protect Emily if I were given a second chance, but I'm just a 8 year old kid!)
Johar's teeth begins clattering. He could hear his father slapping Emily, knocking her onto the floor in the kitchen around the corner - just out of sight. "What the hell did I raise you for huh?! Why are your grades so shitty?!" His father's voice thunders. "That's why your whore of a mother left me!" THOMP! Bale could hear his sister yelp in pain as she is thrown against the wall. Johar clenches his teeth, disappointed in himself for still being the same coward after all that he had went through.
Deep down inside he had to admit to himself: When faced with overwhelming strength, he's still just the same coward he ever was. He had never changed.
"At this point you're worth more dead to me." says the fat father as he drags Emily further towards the stairs. "No! Please father!" Emily begs. "I-I'll do better!" It was quite a ridiculous plea since her grades were already at the top of her class. But it was just an excuse for her father to vent out his self-loathing anger. "You're gonna fall down the stairs and earn me some insurance money!" "!!!" Johar's eyes then open wide. (Fuck it....fuck everything! My life is worthless without her anyway!)
Johar wills his strength into his knees, forcing himself to stand up. It seemed to take everything he had. Even fighting off waves of enemies in the middle of the battlefield seemed so easy in comparison. But at long last, young Johar was finally able to stand up - his conviction renewed.
He then runs towards the fat balding man as he jumps up into the air. Johar shouts as he jumpkicks towards his father with all his might. Hoping he could at least buy some time if his father even stumbles down the stairs. They weren't that steep, so it wouldn't kill him.
(Please fall! Please break something you shitty old man!) Johar grits his teeth, bracing for the impact.
ZTOOM!!! Johar had landed a perfect dropkick right in the middle of the fat mans back. But he did not expect his father to fly through the brick wall, and land 20 yards into the middle of the playground. He could not believe what he was seeing.
A mixture of blood and flesh clung onto the edges of the freshly formed hole. "Huff....Huff...." Johar stares at it while catching his breath. "Oh my god what the hell?!" An old lady shouts as she pokes at the body with her walking cane. "Someone! Call the police!" The poor old lady was only going for her routine morning walk.
"Johar...?" Emily sits up as she makes eye contact with Johar. "Emily! Are you alright?!" He asks "Yea, did you do that?" She asks. "Yeah, probably." Johar sits down on top of the stairs. "Thank you! I love you!" She hugs him tightly. "This isn't a dream right? How did you get so strong?!" She asks.
"I don't know, but..." Johar breathes deep to try and calm down his adrenaline "...The police will be here soon. So please do what I tell you, sister...." "Okay." says Emily confused.
When the police finally arrived, they bring the siblings to the police station after first examining them at the hospital. Emily nervously is sitting in a chair with wires strapped to her arms. Her cheek is painfully swollen, but had been bandaged up at the hospital. She is nervous, but not scared of the man sitting next to her. The man - wearing a black suit and tie - is looking at the graphs displayed on the screen as he scribbles in a notebook.
"....and you said that right before your father was about to throw you down the stairs, a large man picked him up and threw him through the wall?" asks the man. "Yes." Emily replies.
Johar is sitting in a waiting room. The room is filled with the sounds of a policeman typing away on his desk nearby. Deep in thought, Johar recalls himself kicking his father through the wall (This is totally crazy! I've never been able to do anything like that before....why now?)
He closes his eyes as he crosses his arms. He then recalls his other self, Bale, trying to activate the silver Zodiac stone 〘"Body Enhancement!"〙 "!!!" Johar opens his eyes in realization (Bingo!).
(But how? Demonkin can't activate Zodiac stones...). He then lifts up his hands to look at them. (Wait a minute!! This body is human!!!) He then recalls himself, as Bale, falling asleep with the Silver Zodiac stone in his hands last night. (And right now, my body in Etheria is in posession of the Silver Zodiac stone.)
(This means that both of my bodies are connected.) He then recalls Garrus, Milla, and Ebina's smiling faces. (But that also means it was all real. Emily's future suicide, my reincarnation, and my new family).
The door down the hallway opens with a clack as Emily appears from behind it. "Emily!" Johar stands up as he changes his train of thought. "Johar!" Emily runs to Johar as they embrace each other. Behind the glass window, 2 people are conversing while looking at the interaction between the siblings.
"So what'd you find out, inspector Dio?" says a voice. "According to the readings, they were both most likely telling the truth about that shitty father abusing them." "Heh, fuck him then." He laughs. "Hey that's not nice, Chief Segul." responds the inspector. "But anyway, what about the large mysterious guy who threw that bastard through the brick wall?" asks the chief.
"According to the readings, the young girl was probably lying." Dio then continues "But the boy was definitely telling the truth." "Hey." the chief whispers. "What?"
"I heard that brick wall was 18 inches thick." "That true?" Dio then responds "Yeah." The chief then chuckles to himself. "Heh." "What's so funny?" Dio asks.
"The only suspect I can think of is bigfoot."
"Did you tell them what I told you?" whispers Johar. "Yes Brother." Emily answers as Johar sighs in relief. (It doesn't matter if they believe her or not, so long as our stories corraborate) thinks Johar. (And it should be fine. My past lie detector training should be enough to clear us). "So what's going to happen to us now?" says his sister worriedly. "Don't worry, we'll still be together." Johar squeezes her hand to comfort her.
(If I remember correctly, we both ran away at about this time. And we were put into an orphanage together after a policeman found us sleeping in the park). And instead of being sent to prison this time, their father got sent to the morgue.
Several hours later, Johar and Emily - guided by a social worker wearing a suit and tie - approach a large building that looks like an elementary school. It has a large slide in the backyard, accompanied by 2 sets of swings on either side, and is surrounded by a large cement wall. An old woman wearing thick glasses and a long, casual dress approach them with a sympathetic smile. "Hello there, you must be Emily and Johar Heiluck. Welcome to the Tiny Hope Orphanage." She kneels and gives them a warm hug.
Inside the building, the siblings are eating in a cafeteria full of other kids. They're sitting in front of the old lady with thick glasses. She is holding a few sheets of paper with the profile of the siblings on it. She then smiles "By the way, my name is Shelia Wells. I'm the director of this orphanage." Emily then bows her head slightly "Thank you for taking us in Ms. Wells." "You can just call me Shelia like all the other children do." Shelia replies. (Yup, this is exactly how I remembered it.) thinks Johar. "Okay Shelia." Johar replies bemused. "Wow it says here that you two have very good grades." "You two should take the next few days off while we contact your schools and do some paperwork." "Relax and enjoy our hospitality for a little while." smiles Shelia. "I truly appreciate it Shelia, thanks." Emily nods politely.
"Is it possible for us to attend a highschool other than St. Mollys highschool?" asks Johar, his mind already thinking ahead. "Unfortunately, due to our contract with the city we can't send our highschool aged orphans anywhere else." "I see. How unfortunate." Emily is understandably confused at her brother's odd question. "Why would you ask that anyways?"
"I heard that St. Mollys highschool is full of bullies." (Actually, that's the highschool where Emily caught Renalt's eye.)
"You heard wrong, Johar. I assure you." The old woman then continues "It is one of the more prominent highschools in the city, and gets audited yearly."
(That yearly auditing clearly doesn't work) thinks Johar, noting that adults are under the illusion that children cannot be evil.
At Johar's old apartment, Inspector Dio Motobe arrives in a small white oval shaped buggy. There are people in white suits still picking up little rocks and debris with tweezers. "So what do you think, Rona? Find anything interesting?" He asks. The woman, still hidden inside her white outfit and face mask then replies "Inspector Dio, the only prints we could find belonged to the two kids and their father. There's absolutely nothing to indicate another person had been inside the apartment."
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
"But that boy passed the lie detector test."
"If he thinks he saw a boogey man, he'd pass the lie detector test even if there was no boogeyman." Rona retorts, seemingly annoyed.
"What if he saw bigfoot?" inspector Dio ponders aloud. "Heh, when did you start telling jokes?" Rona rolls her eyes. "If you only came here to tell jokes, I'm gonna get back to work."
Over at the Tiny Hope Orphanage, Shelia was fast at work on the guardianship process. The siblings are shown around the place by a female staff member, such as the music room, the classrooms, restrooms, and various other rooms around the orphanage.
"So what do you think? Not bad right?" smiles the staff member in a polite tone. "It's more than we could ever ask for." Emily smiles politely, still unused to such attention. "Anyways, I'm sure it's been a long day for you two. You should turn in for the day." urges the staff member. "Do you remember your assigned rooms?" "Yes." Johar and Emily politely smiles. "I'll see you tomorrow Emily!" Johar then waves at her as they part ways. "Yes, lets meet up again tomorrow!" Emily waves as Johar rounds the corner in the carpeted corridor.
As Johar arrives in his assigned bedroom, he is greeted by a few kids lazing about on their beds, playing games on their handheld devices. "Um, hello." they smile and greet him. "Nice to meet you." Johar replies with a child-like smile (I already know who they are, but I guess I'll just play along).
Johar surveys the room as the children continue on playing with their handheld devices. It's exactly how Johar had remembered it -A tiny bedroom with 2 wooden bunkbeds on either side. Each bunkbed is built to have compartments for 3 children. So each room would hold 6 children. Johar dragged himself through the process of greeting his new roommates as politely as he could. He never was close with them in the past and sure as hell doesn't want to bother trying now. "Wanna play some games with us?" They ask, hoping to make a new friend. "Nah I'm good." Johar refuses. "I'm tired so I'll just go to bed." "O-okay..." The children noticed right away that there was something off about their new roommate -and decided to give him some space.
Johar changes into black sweats that he retrieved from his apartment, and crawls into the bottom bunk on one side. (I gotta use this time to plan out my next move...) The gears in Johar's mind begin to spin once more.
Late at night, the moon is at a quarter full. A perfect night to sneak around. Well, not really - the streets are full of lamp posts. Emily is in bed, thinking about her brother Johar. She recalls him kicking her father through the brick wall. (Johar, thank you for protecting me). She continues to think (And here I thought I'd be protecting him instead).
At night, a nun is patrolling the orphanage. She slowly cracks open the door to Johar's room and quickly glances at the bunkbeds. Satisfied that the children are sleeping, she closes the door and continues on her patrol. Little does she know, Johar has stuffed his blanket to make it look like someone is sleeping in it. He's currently outside in the back yard, facing a large concrete wall. His face is covered with a face mask and a gray ballcap. He's also wearing cotton gloves, a black sweatshirt, and black pair of sweatpants. He has more or less figured out how to harness the power of the Zodiac stone. "Body enhancement." Johar says in a low voice. He easily leaps over the 7 foot wall with his newfound powers.
As Johar is scanning the neighborhood, he finds his target: a bike rack. Magic will not activate unless you verbalizes it, but you can cancel it just by thinking about it. "Body enhancement." Fwoosh!! His aura flares up as he grabs the chain of a bicycle lock and breaks it with a slight bit of effort. He then starts pedaling into the darkness. (First I re-incarnated through death, then I returned through sleep). Johar furrows his brows as he thinks (I don't know how it happened, but this may be my last time here with Emily.)
"If she can't avoid running into Renalt in the future, I'll just kill him tonight before they ever meet."
Johar cycles through the back alleyways to avoid being seen. He knows exactly where Renalt and his family lives and how to get there. But before that, Johar must first make another stop. He quickly peeks around the corner of a building where he parked the bike.
And there he sees his next target: A small local gun shop.
But it's got cameras and lights monitoring both the front and the back of the building. Time is running out, he'll just have to break through the front entrance and be quick about it. And so Johar picks up the top lid of a nearby trash can. FWOOSH!!! The air suddenly dances around him as he powers up. (First, Body enhancement.) He then looks at the aluminum garbage lid as a slightly visible aura surrounds it (Next, shield re-inforcement).
FWOOTOOM!!! The door to the gunshop easily bursts open as Johar zips inside. He is but a blur to the low cost cameras. After making it inside, Johar doublechecks to make sure he still has his mask and hat on. Next, he quickly grabs a 9mm pistol and a knife on display, then shoves them in his pocket. He next grabs a magazine and a box of ammo.
(Thankfully, enhancement magic can give this 8 year old body enough strength comparable a 1000 kilo vehicle.) He also noted that the body enhancement magic increased his body weight significantly, but he wasn't exactly sure how much.
Johar was out just as fast as he had entered. And now he pedals onto his final destination, with murder on his mind. (Being timid and cowardly got me nowhere in my last life, so now I'll try and be more agressive)
Surrounding a large oriental style mansion are large iron picket fences 10 feet tall. And at the front of those fences is a wooden gate, guarded by two security guards. They're relaxing comfortably in their sheds on either side of the front gate, reading newspapers and drinking coffee. They were expecting just another uneventful day, like any other day. 'What a great job to have' they would often think to themselves.
WHAM!! Unfortunately, within a split second, their sheds get crushed from the side and sent flying into the empty lot surrounding the mansion. Johar had rammed them at full speed with the re-inforced trashcan lid. "Huff...Huff..." Johar, catching his breath, quickly glances at the bloody guards now sprawled on the floor in the distance. He was unaware of how strong those sheds were, so he had to use his full power. (Sorry guys, but I'm sure you understood the dangers that came with your job) Johar apologizes silently. The dogs in the distance begin to bark at the loud commotion, prompting Johar to move on. TOOM!! He kicks the gate and breaks it open as he then sets his sights on the mansion. He quickly zips towards it and kicks in the front door.
Johar doesn't know the layout of the mansion, and never bothered to figure it out in his past life. Renalt already was living in a condo by the time he was in highschool.
Johar then begins to run in the direction where he hears people stirring due to his loud entry. "KYAAA!!!" Several maids screech in surprise as he kicks the door in to their room. They're in their pajamas. He then points his gun at them and disguises his voice the best that he can.
"Where is Renalt Young?!" Johar shouts. "Which room is he in?!" "What? A kid? Is this another prank?" They ask. "Fuck no! I'm a midget!" shouts Johar. BLAM!! He fires into the ceiling. "AHHH!!!" The maids then scream in terror as they cover their ears. "Where is Renalt Youngs bedroom?!" He shouts as agressively as a 8 year old kid could. "T-top of the stairs! Go all the way left after that!" shouts the maids, kneeling with their hands held up.
"Mommy what's going on?!" shouts a 12 year old boy with spiky red hair. He had just finished taking a bath and laid in his bed, looking forward to another day of fun at school. A middle-aged woman with long curly red hair hurriedly shuffles to him. "Shhh! It's okay Renalt! Stay quiet!" She grabs the boy and sits on the bed while hugging him.
Footsteps get louder as maids could be heard screaming in the distance. "Renalt! Are you in here?!" a mans voice could be heard approaching. "Honey!" shouts Renalts mother as she sees a large skinny man with a goatee and slicked back raven hair approach, loaded shotgun in hand.
"Oh good, both of you are safe!" Shouts the man, relieved. "I pressed the panic button, the police will be here in a few minutes!" Thankfully, he had continued to keep the shotgun in their bedroom -against the wishes of his wife. The irony that he worked feverishly to bar citizens in his state from obtaining fire-arms is not lost on him. He then peeks out of the door to see Johar approaching with a garbage lid in front of him. "What the fuck?! How did a midget get past the security guards?!"
"Back off! I'm warning you!" The father aims his shotgun at the approaching figure.
BLAM!! Johar lowers his head behind the lid. BLAM!! BLAM!!! BLAM!!! (What the hell?! That's just a flimsy garbage lid!!) the man thinks in a panic, seeing the slugs just falling to the ground as if they'd hit the plate of an armored tank. KLACK!! KLACK!!! He runs out of shells as Johar then lifts his pistol. POW!! A hole is then planted onto the man's forehead.
The man's goatee twitches as he slumps downwards like jelly. His wife screams in terror as she throws a pillow towards the approaching Johar.
"Shut up bitch!" POW!! Johar also puts a bullet in the mother's head as she falls back onto the bed, now quiet. Renalt's eyes follow his mother on her way down, with tears rolling down his face.
He's all alone now, in a horror movie-like situation that he never thought he would be a part of. Johar slowly raises the pistol to Renalts head - and pauses. (Dammit, I already resolved myself to killing the child version of Renalt. but now that he's right in front of me....) "Huff...Huff...." Johar is breathing hard, as if he is having a panic attack. They then make eye contact, Renalt looks like a deer stuck in headlights.
"Huff...Huff..." Johar's breathing becomes more frantic as his internal conflicts arise. (Just pull the damn trigger dumbass! Remember all the things he did to you and Emily!) Johar recalls himself as a 12 year old boy, pleading with Emily outside of the Orphanage on the side of the road.
〘"No Emily, don't go!!" He pleads. "It's alright Johar, we're just going to have dinner." Johar looks back at a fancy red car on the side of the road, Renalt and 2 of his thuggish friends are waiting inside. "Hey hurry the hell up!" Renalt shouts. "Be right there!" replies Emily. "Renalt promised to leave you alone if I go with him just this once." says Emily. "No! He's lying! I don't like it!" shouts Johar as he tries to pull her back.
"Ack!" Johar falls flat on his face as Emily forces him off while backing away "I'll be back, I promise!"
All Johar could do was look on helplessly as Emily boarded the vehicle. He then makes eye contact with Renalt who sneers arrogantly at him.〙
"Huff....Huff...." Johar then recalls his past self opening up the door to Emily's shared bedroom. 〘 "Sister, you've been quiet the last couple of days, are you o--" "!!!" His eyes open wide as he sees Emily dangling lifelessly from a rope tied to a beam in the ceiling. "AHHHHHHH!!!!!" Johar drops to his knees and shouts as tears of despair flow down his face.〙
"Huff! Huff!! Hufff!!" Johar looks at Renalts pleading eyes, breathing hard as internal conflict grips his heart. (In just 5 short years, this boy will become a monster. End him right now....!!!). Johar's trigger finger seems to have been turned to stone. It would not follow his commands to pull the trigger.
GRAB!! Suddenly Renalt grabs Johar by the right wrist that's holding the pistol. "!!!"
Renalt quickly raises it up into the air, making sure to be clear of the pistol's line of fire.
He next grabs the stunned Johar by the throat with his free hand and slams him into the wall, towering over him. He then brings his face close to Johar's. "Heh, that was close." Renalt sneers at him. "I beat up little pussies like you every day, but today I'm gonna kill one."
"Body Enhancement." FWOOSH!!! "!!!" A sudden wind begins swirling around the room, surprising Renalt. Johar then closes his eyes and exhales in a sigh of relief, his paralysis cured "Thanks."
"What?" Renalt is confused. How could that smaller boy still talk when his throat is being crushed?
Johar then grabs Renalt by the throat, and calmly lowers his gun, overpowering Renalt. "!!!" His overwhelming strength forces Renalt to his knees.
"U-Ugh! W-wha?!" For some reason Renalt could not lift, nor even shove Johar like he did just a few moments ago. It felt as if he was trying to move a 2 ton truck. And finally, the pistol is once again pointed at Renalts head.
"P-please, Why...?" Renalt begs softly, crocodile tears falling down his face. "FUUUUUUCK YOUUUU!!!!" Johar shouts angrily. Most of that anger directed at himself. POW!!! Renalt's brain splatters onto the floor.
After quickly gathering himself, Johar tosses Renalt's body onto the floor. "So, he was already a little shit at this age." "It's just like killing baby hitler. Nothing wrong with it."
Even though told himself that, Johar still felt a bitter taste in his mouth.
Johar then tosses the pistol and trash lid onto the floor, then quickly leaves the mansion. FWOOSH!!! He then jumps over the iron fences and quickly mounts the bicycle that he set aside in the distance. He then quickly begins cycling away into the alleyways as the police sirens get louder.
After about a half hour of pedaling, Johar arrives back at the orphanage. He leaps over the concrete fence and sneaks back inside through an open window. He then takes off his sweatshirts, mask, hat, and sweatpants, and throws them into the burning kitchen fireplace.
He then sneaks back to his room and takes note of the time, It's 1 am. The whole ordeal only took 2 hours, but the Zodiac stone had severely taken a toll on his body.
He then flops into his bed in exhaustion. (Fuck, I'm tired as hell...) He then recalls the pleading look of young Renalt. "Why?" (...I wanna go back to Etheria...) Johar drifts off as his exhaustion catches up to him. (Fuck you Renalt, just....fuck you).