Chapter 9: Heart for the Future (2).

I had once asked.

"Father, who is mother?"

I said as I looked at the painting of three people on the wall. My father answered me with a smile.

"I thought you'd never ask."

My father stroked his marvelous mustache as he said.

"She was a good woman."

I looked at my father, then asked.

"Is she....gone?"

Hearing that, my father looked out the window, staring at the vast horizon with a sad smile.

After a few moments, he looked at me and said.

"Nah, she's still kicking."

I stared at father.

He stares back.

Father then burst out laughing.

"Hahaha, my apologies son."

I facepalm and ask him.

"So......where is she?"

My father smiled and answered.

"I wonder?"

Father then let go of his mustache and said.

"Though, if you ever see her"

My father pointed at the woman in the painting.

"Run for your life."

*****

A woman clad in black stands before a boy.

Black hair and grey eyes, calling her beautiful would be a severe understatement.

Yet the boy is in no mood to be impressed.

After all, those grey eyes stare at him with unconsealed hostility.

"Mothe-"

Boom!

A deafening blow echoes as the boy is suddenly kicked flying.

"DO NOT CALL ME THAT!"

The woman roars, then, a look of guilt crosses her face as she hurriedly runs towards where the boy had landed and grabbed him.

"I'm sorr-"

The woman freezes, because when she looks at the boy's eyes, what she saw was not fear nor pain.

Rather, what she saw was a look of disdain, as if she was not worthy of acknowledgment.

She had seen those before.

That man.

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His golden eyes.

That arrogance.

All the same.

Whatever the reasons the woman came back here for vanished, replaced with dark and cruel intentions.

"That damnable, prideful golden eyes!."

The woman grabbed the boy's head.

And slammed it into a patch of fire.

"Aaaaaaghhhhhh!"

A scream echoes through the burning mansion.

"You! How dare you! You are just like him, so burn. Hahahah-aaahh!"

While laughing, the woman's face suddenly morphed into shock.

"No, no, no, no"

The woman pulled the boy's face out of the fire, then she took out a bottle and poured the contents on the boy's charred face.

The boy's face then visibly begins to heal.

Touching the boy's face, mixed emotions appear on her face.

Hate, anger, and guilt.

And perhaps, longing.

The woman then carries the boy, on where she walks, the fire dims and dies, and leaves the mansion.

As she walks away from the house, darkness seems to dance around her and conceal her presence.

When she reaches a clearing nearby, she drops the boy and says.

"I'm sorry"

The boy did not respond, he only stared at her blankly, before closing his eyes and losing consciousness.

Seeing that, the woman takes 2 dark gold coins, enough to feed a man for a lifetime, and places them in the boy's pocket.

"Never appear before me ever again."

With those parting words.

The woman leaves.

*****

Midnight.

The boy wakes up.

He then surveys the surroundings, not far away, he can see the mansion, still burning in the distance.

A myriad of emotions assaults the boy as he remembers what has happened today.

Shock, anger, and most prominently, confusion.

The boy touches his hair and then moves his hand down to his face.

Rumble

Raindrops fall from the sky.

Minutes pass as the boy lies down on the ground, looking at the cloudy night sky.

"Too dark."

The boy tries to stand, surprisingly, his body feels fine, energetic even. That potion must be expensive. The boy thought as he got up from the ground.

He stares at his hands, still burnt. The boy then takes a deep breath and closes his eyes.

And as rain fell, the boy stood still.

After a few moments, the boy opens his eyes and gazes at the mansion.

He takes a look, one last look at his home, and proceeds to walk in the opposite direction.

The boy walks, walks, and walks and before he knows it, he is far from home.

The boy finds himself in the city, cold and empty. Its inhabitants are asleep, getting ready for the day.

Or so he thought.

"Heya lad, what ya doing ere?

The boy immediately turns his face towards the voice, there he sees an old man, holding a bottle in his hand, sitting against the alley wall.

"Nothing."

The old man looks at him from head to toe and says.

"Ya look like ya just saw a duck ride a donkey riding a dolphin."

"......what?"

That is the only thing the boy can say after hearing that. The man then took a sip off his bottle and said.

"Ya look as confused as a dolphin."

The boy stares at the old man, the old man then takes something out of his pocket and says.

"Want some mint?"

The boy waves his hand and says.

"No thanks, whatever that is"

"Your loss."

The old man then looks at the boy with.... mischief?

"Kid, do you wish to learn the Hundred Blade Armaments technique that will make you unrivaled under the nine heavens?"

Hearing that, the boy stares at the old man, no, the madman in front of him and says.

"Go home, old man."

Suddenly, the surroundings became quiet, as if everything held its breath.

"Then do you wish to know your Heart?"

The boy became still. He doesn't know why, but something tells him that this is not normal.

The boy takes notice of his surroundings. No insects chipping, no thunder rumbling.

It is quiet.

Then the boy realizes.

It is not raining anymore.

A feeling grips the boy's heart.

A feeling he had forgotten because of his Pride.

Fear

*****

The world is silent, still, and peaceful.

A voice then echoes, breaking the serenity and creating a foreboding omen.

"Tell me, boy, who are you?"

The boy freezes upon hearing that question, as if cold winds blew past him, yet something.

Something screams.

"I...am Haze Worth."

The old man looks at him, his green eyes glowing under the moonless night.

"I ask not of your name."

The old man points his hand toward the boy's chest.

"Who is it inside of your heart?"

The boy looks down, unable to meet the old man's gaze.

"Answer me."

An oppressive aura then begins to weigh down the boy. As if a thousand bricks are placed down his back.

The boy's mind and body scream Submit, obey, and kneel.

But then.

Something.

Something within his heart.

Rages.

"..I.."

The boy's back then became straighter, his knees becoming more firm.

The old man's aura becomes more intense, but.

The boy raises his head, meeting the green eyes with his golden ones.

He will not bow.

He would never kneel.

"Make me."

A heart that never wavers.

A heart that never yields.

It is at this moment, that Pride becomes something more

Indignity? no.

Shame? no.

Honor? no.

From his heart.

All illusion is cleared.

And hidden within.

Is a will that transcends Pride.

A Heart to stand above all.

A will to dominate.