Chapter 003

Echoes for Vengeance

I shot up in the morning panting. I immediately started crawling until my back slammed into the wall. My eyes darted around the room, looking for any sign of the murderers. However, the glare from the Tree of Luminance stabbed me, making my eyes shut. I rubbed my eyes and blinked in rapid succession, but my eyes were still heavy. I pinched my eyes lids open, the light burning them like oozing magma.

Spiderwebs, wooden walls, windows–nothing out of the ordinary. I was half expecting my mom to be smiling next to my bed but that nightmare was real. It had been 5 years, but the memory still plagued my mind. I could barely remember what she looked like. My memories have faded away, blending into the air like dust.

But I did remember what she looked like. It was impossible to forget her always smiling face after everything she’s done for me. It’s just that I didn’t want to remember her. Purple hair, depending on how close it resembled her, triggered pain I didn’t want to tear me apart during the day. Anything resembling that night causes my scar to ache and my legs to collapse.

My siblings were snoozing under the rags next to me. I wished their carelessness floated into the air so I could absorb some of it. That’s right, the murderers weren’t here, I live somewhere else now.

My heart pounded violently. The nightmare was still so vivid. I swear the green-haired murderer jumped out of thin air and strangled me. My legs trembled under the blankets.

I was so useless. The green-haired murderer was still harming my life even after all these years. I needed to avenge my parents and make them proud, only then will they finally rest in peace. If they saw that their feeble son was able to protect himself, maybe they would smile again.

My breath cycled out of control. I couldn’t quell my rage. I flopped back onto my bed, using my arm to wipe my forehead which was drenched with sweat.

However, the tension was cut by the croaking snore of my brother, Lav’arc, in the bed next to me.

I rolled up the rags I used as a pillow and chucked it at him. It hit him dead on his face and he started squirming around in his bed like a worm.

He grabbed the now-unrolled rags and aimed it at me. However, his eyes widened from my cold glare like a winter breeze. His grip ended up slipping and the rags plummeted onto his head. He saw body tremble from my nightmare.

“Are you… that scared of my power?” He inquired snickering. “Just kidding!”

I didn’t even crack a smile though. My breathing returned back to normal though.

“Did you have another nightmare Lac’en?” asked Lav’arc, but his serious look was ruined by his yawning. His icy white hair was muffled because of the bedhead. He slapped his face to wake himself up.

“Isn’t that obvious?” I responded, pointing towards my swampy head. I slid off my bed and walked, trying to hide my shuddering legs.

All of us Lakiria have light-colored hair. Light red, light blue, light green, light yellow… basically a light variant of every color. Well. In some rare cases, like Lav’arc and I, we Lakiria are born with white hair. White hair is supposed to symbolize strength and good luck because the body is “pure.” Obviously, I’ve never bought into it, but it came with a lot of perks. Others treat you better so good luck could rub off on them. So it was nice to be treated well even though I’m worth nothing.

I wouldn’t be here for much longer anyways. After I avenged my parents, I’ll have no reason to stay here. Plus, the green man’s healing would probably reverse when he dies.

The orphanage did a good job taking care of us. Our family was lively. Father Airo made sure all of our plates were full. Mother Lay’rene made sure we had some love in our life. However, I didn’t deserve such kindness. This was no place for somebody like me.

As I strolled down the hall, my scar stung my chest. It became a tearing, vomiting pain like a fire was cast right inside of me. I stumbled down onto the coarse carpet. Images of the green-haired murderer smiling flashed into my mind. Sweat trickled down my head. The nightmare was still so vivid.

Lav’arc gestured his hand out to help me up, but I slapped it away. I didn’t need his help to survive. It would be best if he didn’t get involved with someone like me. Other people only haltered my revenge. Things like signing me up for the Academy that taught me how to read and write. It was useless now, especially after I killed the cloaked murderers. The only thing I needed was strength and food. I needed to survive at least until I finally saw them take their last breath.

“Your such a hassle,” remarked Lav’arc. He grabbed my arm and yanked me to my feet. He wore a smug that screamed, “Thank me.” But I shrugged his arm off and continued down the steps. His sun-like eyes burned into me with a piercing glare.

“I never asked for your help,” I responded, dusting the dirt off my saggy, tan clothes. Even though we were treated as good luck, we never had enough money for expenses like clothes. Not that I was complaining though, the food was good and we had a roof to sleep under.

“Five years of living together and this is the cold shoulder I get?” replied Lav’arc. He was probably making some sort of disgusted face but I didn’t turn and see.

I tried to continue trudging, but suddenly, our older brother, Jav’ris dashes in and whacked my head. It was a soft blow. I didn’t fall, but it was enough to make my head drop. I rubbed the top to make sure there wasn’t a bump or a bruise.

“You should make sure to thank brother Lav’arc,” ordered Jav’ris, glaring at me with such force that my eyes faltered and I shriveled up. I couldn’t look at him. His short fiery-red hair gave off steam. “Look at me when I’m talking!”

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Brother Jav’ris was a muscle freak. Our ragged clothes were way too small for someone of his height. He also lost his parents at a young age. So, he stresses the importance of family. He bent and grabbed my hair, yanking my head back into place.

“Yeowch!” I wailed as I tried to pluck his monster-like hands off my hair. Lav’arc stuck his tongue out and snickered. Keep that up and I’ll make sure to rip that tongue out.

“We’re family remember? We don’t have anyone else. So can you thank Lav’arc?” Asked Jav’ris, but it felt more like an order. “I wish you would learn that you have people that love you. What is this, the billionth time?”

What kind of family drags each other around by the hair?

He whacked me in the head again, but this time, it didn’t sting.

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The morning was as crisp as an apple. A breeze blew in from the window and brushed my bangs into my face. I hurried downstairs with Lav’arc behind me.

We met the twins Silvia and Sheila downstairs. Sheila didn't seem to notice our presence and continued her dash to the dining table. Silvia did notice us but only stopped to wave slightly. They were actually related, unlike the rest of us. Well, Jav’ris and Father Airo have been trying to convince us that we are related. The twin’s eyes had a jeweled sparkle in them. Silvia had cold, lemon hair, and Sheila, on the other hand, had feisty, magma-orange hair. Sheila’s hair quite resembles Jav’ris’ hair; you could mistake them for siblings if you saw them on the street.

“Come get breakfast before you starved” yelled Mother Lay’rene from the dining hall. The happiness in the room rose out of them and filled the air. I almost smiled, almost.

“So much food!” gleamed our younger brother Kino. His bright, sparkling yellow eyes glistened and his face was brighter than the fireplace. His deep, sea-magenta hair was a mess after not being washed for a week straight. All of our water was used for drinking. If we wanted to wash ourselves, we would have to walk an hour to the nearby river.

Of course, Kino never wanted to walk that far.

“That’s right! The village had a good harvest this season,” responded Father Airo. Father Airo was wearing his robes from teaching as a professor at the academy. He taught Gyra usage enhancement classes for students hoping to become warriors. Gyra was such a strange power, it took both talent and understanding that allowed a person to progress, which allowed for academies to be established. Father Airo had dark white hair from his constant battle with time. He had ice-blue eyes that resembled mine. Of course, his scruffy, scratchy beard remained along with a burn scar on his left shoulder from his glory days on the frontlines of the perpetual war with the Yamqia.

“Now then, all members of our family that can be present, are present. So, let’s start the prayer,” announced Father Airo.

Everyone closed their eyes—except for me—and gestured to the shape of our true forms as Lakirias with our hands.

“We thank our world. We thank ourselves. We thank our friends. We thank our family.” Announced Father Airo, “We thank our gods, the Ailvas for protecting us. We thank them all so we can eat here, so we can survive here, and so we can love here. May the light guide us all.”

We mindlessly responded in unison.

I didn’t believe one thing about it though. I will curse the world and curse the gods. If they were truly protecting us then I wouldn’t have been here. Our parents wouldn’t have died. I was thankful, but loving and caring weren’t in my best interests. I didn’t want to scar them when I died. They didn’t deserve that. They had already done too much for someone like me.

But for now, I needed to keep on living. I couldn’t achieve my revenge if I was dead.

Ailvas, if you can really hear me–even though you probably can’t. Can you make sure I can kill my parent’s murderers? After that, you can forsake and torture me like you always do. I just want to tear off that smile right from his head.

I opened my eyes to the lively clamoring of everyone. They encapsulated the light from the Tree of Luminance like little fireflies. Silvia and Sheila were fighting over the last pieces of bread. They were tugging the plate, yanking each other’s hair, and even a light stabbing with forks. It was quite entertaining.

“Silvia… Sheila… You are both grown up now. You have to remember proper etiquette.” Sighed Jav’ris as he elegantly cut his meat with a paper roll in his lap because we couldn’t afford napkins.

“Oh let them have some fun.” Chuckled Lav’arc as he continued stuffing his mouth with the mincha fruit. He and Kino were having a full-intensity race to clear their plates. Fires sparked in their eyes as they jabbed at their slices of bread.

“Slow down, please. There is plenty enough for you. Make sure to enjoy.” Pleaded Mother Lay’rene because she was clueless about their life-or-death battle to chug their hoxamyk and clarrfruit soup. Mother Lay'rene was always wearing the blue and white robes she wore for her job at the library. By now, she had old grey hair, but I heard that she had purple hair like Kino. Her yellow eyes never withered away though.

I poked at my meat, mindlessly jabbing at it with my fork. I leaned on my arm and sighed. I took a glance at Lav’arc’s plate and noticed he was noticeably ahead of Kino. I slid some of my mincha fruit onto his plate.

“Father, can I be excused?” I pestered.

“Sure, but eating is family time. You have to stay for all of dinner.” Father Airo responded, not touching his plate. The rest of the family continued chowing down like wild animals. It seemed like Kino had barely edged out Lav’arc by a slice of bread and a piece of clarrfruit. Sheila had managed to vanquish Silvia into the no-fifth-slice-of-bread-realm; she proudly chomped on her bread, enjoying the spoils of victory.

“Are you not going to eat too?”

“Our village might not be low on food. But we will always be low on money. I don’t see a problem in making sure my family gets fed before I do.”

“But you’ll starve.”

“But if that means all of you won’t, then that’s fine with me,” he replied, walking over to me. Nobody seemed to notice our conversation except for Mother Lay’rene. Everyone else shouted about something—excluding Jav’ris—but it was muffled into the background. Father Airo clamped his hand on my shoulder. “Lac’en, look at me. You're a good kid. You have good people around you and a potentially nice life ahead of you. So, why don’t you give up on avenging your parents? I know you want to kill the bad guy and be the hero, but you have to realize something. Death only brings misfortune to the world. Take it from someone like me. A guy who spent his prime years on the battlefield well into his retirement age. So, maybe it's time you’ve given up on your revenge. Focus on what you have now, not what you’ve lost.”

He had a gleam in his eyes that I had never seen before. There was a star within him, it wasn’t flashy or big. It wasn’t even powerful or bright. It was dim and quiet. But it managed to scream louder and shine brighter than any other star. It didn’t even care if its flashy show was seen. He grinned and leaned on Mother Lay’rene’s chair as she smiled, dumping some more food onto his plate.

“I’m not sure if I’m ready to make that decision,” I replied. “This is the journey I’ve chosen. My parent's killer could be killing others, taking away countless dreams from other kids like me. I’ve already set myself on this path.”

I continued trudging down the hallway. My scar still ached, causing a limp. My only goal was to avenge my parents. Not anything else. It would be useless because I will die whether I achieve my goal or not.

“Regardless, Thank You,” I responded, bowing. I slowly turned, looking back at my family, and shuffled out the door.