Chapter 136: Quinn Larisch (Part 8)

But Ryker stayed just out of my reach every step of the way. By the time we arrived, it was evident just how drastically important the future of Iasa was now. General Kane’s home was burnt to a crisp, a giant junkyard of flaming rubble taking its place. Even though I longed to save my mother more than anything, the idea that we were under attack ingrained itself into my mind as I covered my nose and mouth, taking in the view of the fallen home of our most powerful fighter. All that was left behind was a bumblebee stuffed animal covered in soot nestled into the grass of the front yard.

It was apparent that our communications base couldn’t track what was happening, so our radio signals and surveillance must’ve been scrammed or tampered with quite severely. Kane was a general, and he was married to the woman who possessed one of the seven great pure gemcores in the world. Their home potentially being attacked has been spoken about in meetings in the past, but Kane has always reassured us that his wife is powerful enough to handle herself.

But the destruction of Kane’s home now only proves that Racafi must possess far more powerful wielders than we know. And if Racafi intended to launch an attack against other higher-ranking military officers while we’re distracted with losing our only pure wielder, they could theoretically dismantle our entire country’s military in one fell swoop. As far as we were aware, what we were staring at may have just been the preliminary strike of what could be a full-scale assault in Racafi’s attempt to take over Iasa.

While we stood there, the general in charge of communications informed us that Kane was probably caught up in a fight. This intel led me to believe that if high-ranking government officials are targeted, General Ryker is also in danger. But most importantly, as a lieutenant who played a massive role in keeping Iasa in the fight for so long at sea, it was reasonable to suspect that my name is surely known and hated along the shores of Racafi. Thinking the following, my teeth gnash together.

There’s a high chance that my name is on the kill list, too, and if Racafi isn’t looking to pull any punches, my family and I are in danger. The intruders didn’t only attack General Kane but his entire family. What good is helping my mother escape if she’s already dead? And if I try to manipulate Ryker to help me… I might only bring more unwanted assailants to my doorstep. No matter what I do, I'm putting my family at risk!

After a brief interaction, Ryker and I circle around the house on the opposite side, swiftly inspecting both the inside and outside to see if anything could give us a clue about what had happened. Activating orasi, I could see traces of iris left behind in various spots in and around the house, but no trail was left to follow. While I only discerned the trace of a singular iris user, whoever had attempted such a daunting task was flawless in their execution and escape.

Meeting Ryker on the opposite side of the house, we both can tell from each other’s faces that we didn’t find anything helpful. As I voiced my concern about how dire the situation might be, Ryker agreed with my assessment and believed the best thing we could do now was report back to government headquarters and regroup.

I declared then that I must ensure that my mother was safe before anything else. Ryker nodded before asking about my father. I told him I never had a father, and Ryker cocked a brow at me. He asked me if I was feeling alright, following his question up with a statement that I had a father, but I quickly turned down his deranged claims, denying the existence of such a crazy idea.

I then parted ways from him, taking off toward my house as I shouted back over my shoulder that I’d meet him at headquarters in just a few minutes. He shouted something back to me in response, but I couldn’t hear what he said.

Arriving home a short while later, I burst through the front door. I immediately saw my mom calmly reading a book in the living room. I ran over and hugged her, asking if she was okay. My mother was worried about my paranoia, telling me that she was okay before returning the same question. I nodded against her shoulder and informed her that General Kane’s home was destroyed, presumably by a coordinated attack from Racafi. There was concern that the homes of other higher high-ranking officers may have also been attacked, so I ran straight home to check on her.

My mother nervously laughed but embraced me as she calmed me back down, reminding me that I didn’t need to worry about her. Remembering her skills in martial arts, a wave of relief washed over me as I calmly mentioned to her that now was the perfect time for her to escape Iasa before she died from the age of divination. With all this chaos, she could slip out of the country undetected.

My mother gave me a nervous chuckle this time, but her chuckle ceased quickly. She pulled me away and casually asked why I was suddenly worried about the age of divination. Without answering, I told her I was entitled to worry, especially with her only having eight days to live.

Knitting her brows together, my mother informs me that she’s only thirty-five and is in no danger of the age of divination. Just then, a heavy pair of footsteps walked down the hall, and a man I didn’t know walked into view from the kitchen. Quickly taking a few steps back and manifesting a disc in each hand, I demanded to know who the man was and why he was in our home, worried that he may have been an undercover intruder from Racafi.

The man took another step forward, and I hollered at him to not take another step before throwing a disc right above his left ear, partially scraping against the top. Blood bursts out of the cut as the man quickly covers his wound with his hand, asking why I would attack him. Ignoring his question, I fabricated another disc into my palm and demanded to know who he was working for.

Still covering up his ear, the man raised his other hand and replied that he worked for a local school academy, tacking on the extra detail that he was my father. Hearing that, a searing pain shot through my brain, and I hunched over, gripping the side of my head. After getting ahold of myself after a second or two, I ignored the throbbing pain and stood back up. Threatening to attack him with my disc, I yell that such cheap tricks won’t work on me before demanding that he leave the house.

After I ordered him to leave, my mother stood up between us, and I nearly threw another disk out of concern that he would assault her while she was vulnerable. But something in my bones made me hold on to my disc, different parts of my face twitching as an internal conflict festered.

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I asked my mother what she was doing, and she responded that the man I had just attacked really was my father. I shook my head and told her I never had a father… he had disappeared before I was born. My mother rubbed her lips together briefly before contradicting that statement, claiming that my father has always been part of my life.

While my mother pleaded with me to believe her, tears began to stream down my face. I realized that when I used override on Ryker, I completely erased my father's existence from my mind.

And today, everything I know about him is only from what my mother and father have told me about since that day. Everything I had experienced with him growing up… weren't my memories anymore.

Besides the attack on Kane and his family, Racafi kept from making any further moves. It was a threat, no question about it. Kane’s children died that night in the fire, and his wife presumably died not long after she was taken. From Kane’s report, we learned that he defeated one of the two intruders he encountered while the other escaped. After throwing the captured intruder behind bars, it was revealed that the individual was an infamous assassin known only as Armaros, and he was one of the six paragons of Racafi.

And while we didn’t lose our stock of iris shards, we lost one of the seven pure powers in the world and Kane’s motivation to continue fighting. With our heaviest hitter out of commission, the war's end was imminent. We were at the mercy of Racafi, who now possessed two pure wielders, and whatever demands they imposed… we were forced to abide.

Luckily, they weren’t aware of our secret collection of iris shards. Still, the damage they ended up dealing could not easily be repaired. A war may not have officially taken place, but the fear they instilled was grave. And with that fear came submission. We forked over half of our natural resources immediately, knowing that the rest would slowly be exported to Racafi over time.

Oddly, they requested complete control over our mines, which we never found much value in, so we didn’t even attempt to argue much on that demand besides putting up a tough front. That being said, Racafi had no interest in overtaking our land or depriving us of our food… they only sought our resources and valuable items, meaning famine was not an issue for them.

Over two thousand lives were lost during the pseudo-war against Racafi, and the already declining economy plunged to an all-time low. An extreme famine level swept through the streets, and our nation was slowly eroding into utter disarray. Following the peace talks, Kane vanished, never to be seen again. There were attempts at finding him, but it was obvious that he didn’t want to be found.

Ryker eventually learned that I had lost the memories of my father, and he emotionally released me from my service as a lieutenant. There weren’t any disputes to be made from my end, I was distraught by what had happened, and I hadn’t been myself ever since. When he released me, Ryker first informed me that while my intellect would always be valuable, my abilities and service weren’t as relevant to the next phase our nation would be forced to endure.

I couldn’t really argue with that, but then he revealed something I had never known about him prior. Ryker told me that he once had a family, too, and even though they are gone now, he still cherishes the memories he made with them. Locking eyes with me, Ryker gave me one final order… to make as many memories with my parents as possible before it’s too late, adding on at the end that he was looking forward to catching up with me after I passed the trials.

I lived at home with my parents since that day. Little by little, I got to know my father again, but nothing we tried could spark the memories I had lost of him. Those were gone for good.

I was nearly seventeen years old when I was dismissed from my duties as a lieutenant general, so I only had around a year left before I would be forced to compete in the trials. The trials were an annual event, though, so after I turned eighteen, I would have to wait for the trials to take place in that calendar year. Thanks to some inside information from Ryker, I knew the trials were scheduled to go down around eighteen months from then.

And also, around that same time, my father was scheduled to be executed for reaching the age of forty. It was a difficult pill to swallow, the idea of losing my father for a second time… but I decided to let things run their course this time. If I attempted to help him escape, who knows what other memories of mine would be lost. The memories of my father again? Of my mother? Of Ryker? For the first time, I understood the weight of having your memories toyed with. I swore that I wouldn’t use this power again unless necessary.

The next eighteen months went by relatively fast. My family still managed to support itself, but there were a few occasions when food was scarce. I can’t imagine what it must’ve been like for the poor, with food so hard to come by… I was thankful that I wasn’t one of them.

While I spent as much time as possible with my father, I still trained with my mother. Even though I hadn’t sparred with my mother in years, it only seemed like she had gotten better, too, or perhaps she was just holding back on me. The spars were intense and kept me in shape during my time away from the government. I hardly knew anything about the trials, but I knew at least some physical aspects would be involved, so I wanted to ensure I could handle myself.

I would devote time to training my iris during the mornings and early afternoons while my parents were at work. I practiced iris circulation through meditation, focusing on how quickly I could flow and channel my iris around my body. Additionally, stretching and martial arts gave me a better feel for my iris and its limits in given circumstances. For example, if I was forced into a situation where I would need to run on a wall to dodge an attack, I could channel my iris into my soles and take five steps on the wall before losing traction and slipping off.

Lastly, while I avoided override altogether, I trained my other ability, ‘Discast’, quite often. Discast was an Ano ability, and when used offensively, my discs acted almost like throwing stars, with the sharp edges digging themselves into walls or tree trunks quite easily. I learned that my discs weren’t powerful enough to take out an opponent in a single blow, but they could do some serious damage if used creatively. In terms of defense, by magnifying or minimizing the size of my discs, I can use them like shields against particular attacks. Something I also picked up along the way is that my discs are insulators, which can be incredibly useful against specific element-based abilities.

Another thing I learned was that while my discs could be thrown, they could also be stopped mid-air. This means that if I tossed a disc five feet in front of me and stopped its motion, it would stay hovering in the air; however, after halting the disc’s movement, I couldn’t move it again. The only way to destroy a halted disc is from an opponent’s attack or if I make contact with it, which causes it to disintegrate. If a disc disintegrates, I absorb some of the iris used to create the disc, but if a disc is destroyed, there is no chance of recovering any iris from the disc.

Discast is a tricky ability... and like override, there are also downsides. When creating a disc, there is a brief instance where my hands and arms become vulnerable during combat. If I were to move any muscle in my forearm and hand while producing a disc, the creation of the disc would fail. Which means that engaging in a battle with someone who likes to fight using hand-to-hand combat is a severe disadvantage for me.

Before I knew it, I was eighteen, saying goodbye to my parents as they dropped me off to compete in the trials. I knew that that moment would be the last time I saw my father... and although I only had a little over a year to get to know him again, I was going to miss him a lot. After giving him and my mom some final, heartfelt hugs, the three of us said our goodbyes to one another, knowing that this might be the last time we see each other.