END Initiated...

"Papa is no more..."

As the words left Kiel's mouth, time appeared to have stopped for the little boy. The whole world seemwd to have come to a standstill, as a deathly stillness overcame his very self. But even as the news struck him, his eyes didn't mist up. He didn't start to cry or wail. Instead what came over him was complete emptiness.

His eyes still had it's beautiful turquoise color, but the regular cyan glow in them had vanished. His previously mischievous look was now replaced with a vacant expression, accompanied by his now tremebling legs, which appeared so heavy that the whole world's gravity seemed to have focused on him at that moment.

Kiel suddenly found that he couldn't keep up with reality anymore. His worst thoughts had seemingly turned into reality. What he even thought about never thinking, had now filled the majority of his thoughts. And with the realization of the situation, a growing confusion had now started to build up within himself. 

Kiel couldn't hear of what Awenasa spoke up anymore, or even notice the person whom she was talking too. Neither did he have any courage to listen to anything anymore. He was too busy handling himself at the moment.

Feeling his insides clenching, and a tinge of pain escalating within himself, Kiel perceived a familiarity with this prickling sensation. And it appeared to be very strange to him. Feeling the strangeness, Kiel tried to recall the previous time he felt something like this, in hopes to forget about his current emotions, but he couldn't remember it. And the more he tried, the more prominent the images of his father became in his eyes. Although Kiel was not overly attached to his father; nonetheless, Derek was the first person who treated him like a son. And Kiel still considered his father to be someone close to him. So he should be very sad now. But what he was feeling didn't seem sadness, Kiel was sure about that. It was much more like a sense of hollowness. And this terrified him even more.

As his thoughts turned more messy, Kiel felt like running away. Running away from this mess and this tinge of pain, which although appeared very small, was even more unbearable than the moment he embraced death itself. And as the thoughts to run away from the pain became stronger and stronger, his legs suddenly started moving on their own without his control. Slowly by slowly, one step at a time, his feet carried him away from the worst place he ever came to. He just walked and walked slowly. Not knowing where to go, Kiel  even walked out of the inn quietly unknowingly.

"I know it must be hard on you but now you have to be their pillar. So don't lose hope"

"I know. Sniff... Even if Derek can no longer be with us, I will take care of little Kiel as my own son. Sniff"

Walking down the streets, the voices of his aunts rang in his ears notifying that it was all real, while the images of the various scenes he spent with his father flashed through his very eyes. But all he felt was helplessness and emptiness, without a tinge of sadness. 

'Why am I not feeling sad? Why am I not crying? I know I'm horrified by the situation, but then where are the tears?? Papa Are you really gone? '

As his thoughts started becoming even more confusing, the images of his mother and his sisters too flashed before his very eyes. And with it, a worry that something similar may happen to them again. And he would be again in the same position, just thinking about the after process. But then would he be shedding tears or just staring vacantly ahead? 

'Am I going mad by the sudden shock?'

Walking down the busy road which seemed almost endless, turning at turns passing by the myriads of people in the busy city… the confusion slowly started to die down, but now a new emotion replaced the previous confusion in him- rage.  A rage that burned his very self. Kiel didn't know where he was going. He just walked around where his legs could take him, while raging at the events that occured. Kiel was so terrified at his previous state that now that he found that he could feel something else, it even provided him some solace although all he could feel was wrath.  Anger about his helplessness on the situation. Anger about how calmly he was taking the situation. Worry about how he would face his mother with the news. But mostly rage because of the people responsible for his current situation. The feelings didn't die down but were becoming even stronger by the second.

As his wrath boiled down his very insides, unknown to the little boy, a tinge of red began flashing in his eyes every now and then. As the rage and negativities in him bottled him up more and more, the redness inside his sclera started becoming more and more prominent, even slowly replacing the usual cyan glow within. 

Although, Kiel was oblivious about such changes in him; but the more he raged at himself, the more he could feel himself clear headed. A clarity which was different from his usual tranquil state. In this state, he too felt totally concentrated, but what was different about his current state was a d.e.s.i.r.e for violence, a d.e.s.i.r.e for bloodthirst. This perspicuity didn't refresh him but instead seemed to magnify his emotions even more. And the more he felt his rage consume himself, the more prominent the redness dyed his sclera. 'Hehe kill…  I will kill everyone. I will f.u.c.k you all up in the worst possible way, all who are responsible for my Mama's tears.' And what complimented his thoughts even more was a fiendish grin gracing his face now. Walking on and on, the little boy became even more lost in himself, gradually forgetting everything else around him.

"Chief, what should we do? There doesn't seem to be any talented people around for this year Mana Ceremony. Can we really find someone suitable?"

"Hmm? Well it all comes down to luck. If we are lucky enough, the person who we are searching for will come straight to us. We won't even have to search directly. And if fortune is against us, no matter how much we search, we will never find anyone." 

Walking on an empty road were two hooded figures. Faces covered in black hoods, along with a loose tunics which  wrapped their bodies. But anyone could easily figure out that one of them was a muscular young man, while the other was a elderly person.

 "But the fourth princess has already found someone with the legendary space element. If we can't find someone on the same level, we are gonna lose the competition."

"Well the Professor has prophesied we would find someone in the western area of the kingdom. These region comprises the 4 provinces of Frita province, Alter port province, Midnight province and the Wrico province . We have already searched the first three. If we still can't find someone in the following month, then the next target is the Wrico province…" the old man replied while sliding down his fingers through his white beard.

"Well, I hope that we find the person as soon as possible"

As the two were crossed a turnover slowly on an empty road,the two noticed a little kid walking towards them from behind. The kid had beautiful silver hair, and was walking slowly with his head lowered in a rather unarutal way.  However, they didn't pay much attention to him, as the little kid felt harmless, and the two war hardened veteran didn't have anyone to fear in this small province with their immense strength to begin with. So they just continued on their conversation.

" Well you don;t have to worry. I have served the queen and know that the current queen is a wise person. If she did something, it may have her own reasons."

"Ya. The queen is wise." the muscular man had stars in his eyes while talking about the queen.

"Hmm… Oh you know today I saw a strange little kid in the library. He..."

But before he could continue speaking further, a sudden uneasiness overcame him as shivers ran down in his whole body jolting the old man's war honed body to abruptly go into attack mode; as he released his whole aura, punching straight at the source of uneasiness. It was as if his own body reacted without his control, so as to protect him from something.

"Chief! What happened? Why did you release your aura? And why did you suddenly punch towards the little kid? Was he an enemy?" 

The muscular man asked rather surprised. He had never seen the chief act like this before. Even in the war times, the chief was always a calm figure in his mind. But now the same chief suddenly went into attack mode and punched towards a little kid, who looked rather harmless. Although the punch never connected, he knew the impact behind his chief's full blown attack.

As, the old man came back to his senses, he realised that he had punched towards the little kid at their back. Although he knew the punch didn't connect as it was just a sudden reflex, but a little kid could never survive from such an attack. But before he could sympathise with the little kid, the abrupt experience of the moment flashed through his mind, sending down chills along his entire body.

 He couldn't control the deep fear which could still be seen in his eyes. Drops of sweat drenched the old man's body, as he became confused by the sudden situation. Looking around, finding there was no such threats, the old man wondered what exactly happened to him in that instance!

"I… I don't know.. It was like… " the old man huffed for a moment as he recalled the horror of the situation he was actually in. The senses which he had hardened through who knows how many years, abruptly tingled warning him about danger. The old man didn't even get the time to think about what really happened when he felt like a huge snake staring at him while coiling around his entire body, constricting him to not even move a muscle.

Startled by the sudden sensation, his war honed body acted on its own, releasing a mana burst to the source of the uneasiness automatically to protect him.

'Was it my imagination? Or did someone really attack me?

 But soon he composed himself. "Let's see the little kid." 

"Oh ok." Although the muscular man realised something was off, he still followed behind his chief to look at the little kid. 

As they reached the broken wall on the side, they saw a little kid splashed with blood all over. The old man felt a little guilty as he had struck down an innocent child. He  quickly went on to check on the kid, who seemed a little familiar. Although, he had no hopes on the kid, he still wanted to check about the kid, because he felt that the situation was somewhat related to this little duckling here. 

And to his surprise, the kid was still breathing, but seemed unconscious. He was again surprised as it was a full blown attack and the kid still survived.

'Maybe the attack was not focused on the kid and he just happened to be there by accident. So the attack didn't connect properly and gave him a chance to survive. Ya that maybe it. But this kid sure is tough to even survive that blast. Or maybe...'

"Hey Louis! I think maybe we found whom we were searching for!"