Chapter Text
It all happened so sudden. One moment, a young inspiring girl wish her father luck in catching two wanted bandits, the next she was waiting far too long. Her godfather, Matthew, current leader of the best adventuring group of all the Free Cities, the Flying Pigs, would frequently check up on her, yet not speak a word of her father’s absence. Moreover, it seemed like he would only check to see if she was still alive, for he knew all too well, her stepmother, though technically isn’t, is abusing her.
Griselda, was a woman of the highest class, got brought down low to raise an unwanted child. Her origins seem to be shrouded in mystery as medical records shown that she came from Meidi with amnesia. Her social rank rose quickly when her memory slowly returned. But no matter how many times she had been warned of the man she claimed to have loved, he had a child, she brushed it off as a mere hoax or trickery. Even though she claimed to have loved children, in reality, she was disgusted with them.
Every day since her father’s departure, she had waited at the windowsill, sitting, waiting for her father to walk up the sidewalk. Day in, day out, she sat and watched those long days turned to weeks.
Thud, went the door, causing her to jump in the seat.
Rushing in, a small boy, not much older than her, caused the door to slam open wide. “Alex, look what I brought!” The blue hue of the boy’s hair drowned most of the anxiety and calmed the young girl’s already anxious hands. The boy came up to her, who had realized she had not moved once. “Have you been here all day, again?”
The girl didn’t responded instead asked, “What did you bring?”
Sighing, the boy held out an old relic. “Don’t tell you-know-who, but I was digging near one of the old abandoned ruins and found this,”
Alex took it and examined it. The Old World as history calls it, were advance in all things technology and roaming AIs, at least until one day the Day of Corruption occurred killing millions of lives and soon followed with the Age of Darkness. The relic piece itself looked to be a case of sorts. Until the rest of the pieces were gathered, they could only speculate. “You wanna be a builder, is that what I’m understanding?”
Titling his head, he asked, “What gave you that idea?”
“Luka, you’re covered in dirt, your hands are red and clearly, you must have built something with the look on your face.” She said.
Luka sighed. “Yea. I hate it when you go “detective” mode on me. I did build something. But it was just a small bookcase for neighbor. Their old one broke.”
Alex chuckled. “Yea, they had that one forever.”
Luka chuckled. “I’m gonna go wash up before the beast shows up,”
Alex waved to him as he ran off to the washroom. She turned back to the window, spotting said beast and Matthew speaking on the sidewalk. She tried her best to read their lips. All she could gather from the conversation was, her godfather saying he was sorry and his hands were tied with classified information. Her stepmother seemed furious as she slapped him, most likely shouting unethical words at him before storming to the house.
“Alex! Get away from the damn window and go make dinner!” She spoke, grabbing her arm and tossing her towards the kitchen.
Watching the scene unfold, Matthew stepped into the house, helping her to her feet. “Why don’t you head upstairs and I’ll make dinner,”
Alex looked at him, then to her with furrowed brows as her jaw clenched, she patted off the dust from her pants and ran upstairs.
Matthew watch silently as she ran. Turning to the woman, who stood still, he shook his head and headed on the kitchen. Griselda huffed and marched off towards her own bedroom.
“Alex? What happened?” Luka asked as he came into her bedroom. He approached her bed, and crouched down. “Come out, let’s talk about this,”
She shook her head. Luka sighed. “Then scoot over,” she did and he moved under the bed with her. “What happened downstairs?”
She didn’t say a word, as per usual. She snuggled up to him, desperately trying to hold her tears. Luka stroked her hair. “It’s okay to cry. We know she can be a witch, a wicked witch, but when it’s you and me, don’t hold back. Better to let them out then hold it in,”
As on cue, she cried as Luka just held her close, despite the cramp space under the bed. He didn’t need to say anything, her sobs were enough to give him what happened downstairs. They both soon loose track of time, exhausted from her sobs, Alex had fallen asleep, as well as Luka, who hummed himself to sleep.
Knock, knock. The door creaked open. “Alex? Luka?” Matthew called, only to gain no answer. He stepped inside and checked in most of the places she tends to hide in. Lastly he looked under the bed and there they were, sound asleep. He chuckled as he slowly took the two out from under the bed. He lifted Alex up and on her bed. Luka slowly woke on his own as soon as Matthew turned. He helped him to his feet and towards his room.
“Luka, there’s something I need to tell you,” he said as he took a chair.
Luka sat on his bed, preparing to hear those words he longed to never ever get. His heart sank to his stomach, knowing the dread which laced his words next. “It’s my ma, isn’t it?”
Matthew hung his head low. How it pained him to not only lose a brother, but also a dear friend. “Yes. The treatment plan had been working but with how weak she was upon arrival, she didn’t make it.”
Luka hung his head, he was ready for it, but his emotions clearly weren’t. Matthew moved the chair up closer to him as he put his hand on his shoulder. Lula instantly embraced him, crying his eyes out.
What seemingly felt like hours, a few minutes passed as Luka was on his own bed, passed out from the emotional coaster. Matthew mouthed ‘I’m sorry’ before closing the door silently. Though dinner had been made, the days event caught up with everyone. Griselda was the only one who ate, no surprise there. Matthew headed into his brother’s room. Glancing around the abandoned room, he found himself sitting on the bed, as the tears shed. “Help me, Ryan. What am I supposed to do?”
Lynx, First Lieutenant of the Civil Corp, best known around the Free Cities as the Flying Pigs. He and Matthew have been family ever since Matthew’s parents were killed. Though Lynx and Matthew’s parents were just neighbors and nothing more, they chose to raise Matthew regardless. From that point, the two have been inseparable. Raised like brothers, an unbreakable bond. Yet now, Matthew stands alone, torn and lost. “You left us, left her alone in this world.” He spoke as he buried his face in his hands.
What he had not noticed was a little shadow at the door. Darting away from the door, little Alex now knew something was wrong, very wrong. She took her jacket, as it was a bit chilly out, and ran out the door. Of course not even bothering to shut it. The only place that could answer her thousand questions, was the temple, the Church of the Light. The civil corp building sat almost next to it, she chose to peek in records there a bit.
Taking out her special tools from her jacket, a lock pick set, she fiddled around the keyhole. Click. She entered the the building before anyone could spot her. Luckily it was late in the evening, about 20:00 hour. Heart beating in her ears, she makes towards the file cabinet, in hopes to find something related to her father.
Paper after paper, she couldn’t find one thing in the cabinet. Mostly it was bills, civilians complaints, etc. She had to think where else they would keep important documents. Her eyes wondered the office and soon landed on the desk. Every inch of her body was shaken, due to the fact she broke into the civil corp building, but also snooping. It pained her that it came down to this, but she was desperately seeking answers no one was giving her.
A full twenty minutes had passed since she entered the building, she soon found her father’s file. But what was inside confused her more. “Located in the temple archives,” she read the only paper in the file. “Why is it in the church?”
So, not only having to break into the civil corp, she also has to enter the temple as well. Great, just great. The words sprung in her mind, though it didn’t help the sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach.
Taking moments of the silent temple to compose her trembles, Alex slowly made her way towards the possible location the archives could be. She absolutely has no damn clue where or what an archive room looks like. Each footstep she took, dread sank in. Further and further she ventured forth, the worse her stomach twisted. Nausea nearly over threw her a few times, as she pushed froward. Determined to uncover truth, it was soon to be in reach.
The archives she was searching for hid in plain sight, just a simple work desk and file cabinet. How unoriginal. “There you are.” She whispered, pulling the file out of the desk. Her fingers trailed over the name, Lynx, holding back her tears enough to open the file. Her eyes skimmed over page after page. Until it hit her in the face, time of death Summer, June 25. Trying to see the error of this, her eyes caught the current date Summer, July 9, there was even a stamp of the Civil Corps on the page. Her tears drenched her face, as she collapsed to the ground. Her breath halted a moment, suddenly having a difficult time trying to breath, uneasy breath came in waves. Her body trembled, as she curled her body forward, unable to contain her screams. Time stood still, in a blink of an eye, she was destroyed. This new revelation, the untold truth of her own father finally came to light, at the cost of her heart. It laid broken and shattered on the church floor, her nails dug holes in her palms, desperately trying to recollect herself. Her heart pounded at her chest, threatening to burst from under the skin. Everything in her vision narrowed, like fish-eyes lenses. Her head spun, the dread from before came back in force as she hack out her stomach.
Defeated by her own emotions, she remained on her hands and knees, focusing on her breathing. The world seemed perfect, unfeeling, unmoving. Yet not everything was fine. She, a 7 year old girl, had to uncover the truth of her two week missing father, to come to the truth he was dead the whole time. It wasn’t real. It was just all a hoax, it had to be. Denial, that’s was the only explanation for her to continue to look thoroughly at the files again. Page by page, it became all to real and clear, he was no longer of this world. Resting with her departed mother in the light. Alex cursed the words. Now she could no long deny this fact, her emotions drifted. She shoved everything off the desk. Glass shattered to the floor, scattering in millions of pieces. Anger, hatred, all were to be triggered for a child. She recked havoc in the church. Smashing the desk, bookshelves, ripping the murals on the walls, tossing objects at the stain glass widows, etc. anything and everything was at her mercy. Blood was all in her eyes, all she saw was red, she wanted it to burn and burn it shall be.
Taking what was at her disposal, she made three small explosives and set them at different areas.
BOOM! Off went the first, then the second and finally the third. The walls began to crumble, the ceiling broke in parts soon after. Fire broke out, burning everything in its path. Files, important documents, Old World relics, etc. Alex stood in the center of the falling temple, unmoving, she’d welcome death knowing the hurt she’ll cause. Her blank stare was clear to the naked eye, she was empty.
“What is the meaning of this!?” The pastor spoke rushing into the burning temple. He would soon spot Alex, who looked at him with the cold, dead stare, that very stare which pierced his soul. Yet he managed to grab the girl by her left arm and yank her out of the building.
The townsfolk soon around around to drown out the fire, most watching the pastor manhandle the small child. None blamed the child for the deed she done, for it was expected. Some wished they had told her in the first place, whereas others wished they had the courage to tell her.
Soon the minister arrived, completely in absolute disbelief. “Who did this!?”
“This child, sir.” Spoke the pastor.
The man turned to face Alex, the child of the man who he deemed unworthy of the Civil Corp memorial and honors. He approached her and smacked her face, to the point she fell to the ground. Not the first time she been hit, she’s used to that at least. The minister soon raised her back to feet by her left arm, only to shove her to the ground again, dislocating her shoulder in the process. Her dried screams caused the townsfolk to rush in, shielding the girl from them.
“Leave her be!”
“She’s been through enough!”
“You monsters kept a truth from her!”
More voices rose up in the chaos, until it was all halted by the Civil Corp, the Flying Pigs. Pain painted Matthew’s face, how he was tore from his role as Captain and godfather to Alex. There was a decision to be made, one even he hated how it goes. But the mayor took over instead. “While I understand the situation, we can not commend this type of behavior. My sincerest condolences Alex, truly, I am sorry for your loss. In the brief months I’ve known your father, he loved you dearly. Talked about you none stop. I’ll send word to a friend of mine in Portia, to provide you a place to live. As of right now, must leave Lucien as punishment.”
“But Mayor! She burned the temple!”
“And whose fault was it to hid the death of a family member from a child. While her actions hold severe consequences, I cannot blame her for the burning of the temple. You should count yourself lucky she didn’t kill you and your pastor out of anger.”
The minster huffed as they both left. The crowd soon opened up as the small boy came running to Alex. Luka looked at her, her eyes were lifeless. Not a speck of light shined. Her face was still, it pained him as he pulled her close, careful of her arm. “I’m sorry Alex…I wish I had known myself. It would have saved you this heartache.” His own voice cracked. She buried her face in his neck, unable to shed anymore tears. Matthew soon approached. “Come, lets get your arm looked at.” With little to no strength left in her legs, Luka carried her on his back to the local doctor.