It was Leon's second day in the orphanage, and he was already at a funeral. Mr.Kaelen entrusted everything to the new member and finally was relieved from his burdens.
Funerals held in the Ascensions were much different than those on earth. Leon was quite surprised to see no candles being lit, no flowers veiled around the neck, and no grounds dug to place the body. They simply rested their hands and said one after the another
"You can go, honey" Mrs Kaelen was the first one
"you can go, old man" Faf whispered "but don't forget about me"
"You can go, Father" Liora burst into tears
"Be in peace" Agasthus concluded
Leon was a little confused about the words he needed to unjumble. He thought and he thought as everyone else turned to him. Mrs.Kaelen was aware about the distress, it would obviously be harsh on a new member to convert unbarrental emotions into words. But the pause ended as he spoke few words in utter silence
"I'm here; as you, as me, as him. So you may rest in peace"
As everyone prayed for his peace, the body simply started to fade into tiny glowing matter. Every part eventually faded after the adjacent flesh. And that was when he came into the sight- transparent but slightly visible soul of Mr.Kaelen. It had little vivid sharpness and slightly blurry facial edges. Maybe it was his final attire to say goodbye.
Finally it was over….
The body completely faded away….
The glowing matter extinguished….
Mr.Kaelen was now in the hands of God….
With the funeral coming to an end, everybody turned back to the house. But Leon kept on gazing at the damp left behind.
"Are you coming, Leon?" Mrs.Kaelen came in
"I will take a walk through the town," Leon turned to her and smiled.
But that wasn't what he was going to do. What he meant to do was completely different. He took his heavy and despondent strides towards the town. But he didn't stop, in fact he headed straight towards the illegal crossing of the town. The path that no vanguard was aware about, the path that heads straight towards his destroyed birthplace. A visage crushed by grief and walk composed of stalking strides, everything resembled the chaos inside him.
He accepted the deal, the deal to destroy the ascension. But to do that he needs to be more powerful, he needs to be omnipotent. The emperor Tistra wasn't going to be an easy fish. Also the path he got was obviously quite a tricky one. It wanted the amusement of blood and flesh. Everything was quite at odds.
All these questions rushed in as he stared at the rope still hanging on the tree. There was a damp near it- a larger one and a smaller one right beside it. Those were the remains of Drasthamus. A saddened gradient tinted Leon's heart as he dragged his feet towards the apocalypse. The bodies weren't there, so he simply flowers the damped remains. Another tear dropped as he compared Makina with his mother. But it wasn't the time for grief, he had to change the Ascensions. And so, he went back to the imperial town.
What he saw inside were the Happy houses and the crowded streets. Son looking at their dad with hopes of getting something delicious. Daughters gazed at their mothers requesting glittered ornaments. Some were waiting by the sweet shop, while some others waited by the festival.
Among the chaos, his heightened senses- sensed a scream
"Help…. somebody…."
It wasn't loud enough, as if somebody was covering the mouth of the victim. Leon rushing in the direction of the scream found out a girl being kidnapped. Crike syndicate, as published in the newspaper, was an underground organisation kidnapping young girls. Few of their members were imprisoned, but none knew the location of the main base. This bare fact had made their arrest difficult. According to recent sources, their action had increased rapidly. Many girls were abducted and the royal force was completely unaware about their presence. When the issue finally came into the light, it was too late, as the Crike Syndicate became stronger.
Leon catched the complete situation in that instance. He was thinking of a response against the situation. It was a dark alley haunted by abandoned balconies of old quarters. It smelled of dead bodies and degraded marines. A perfect place for a crime….
The man didn't flinch at the sight of Leon's arrival, thinking what can a mere child do? Both were looking right into another's abyss….
"Turn around and go back kid"
That's when the path was enlightened for the first time….
[ Path of Eternal Deity is excited ]
It was displayed right in Leon's conscious mind, something only he can see and read.
"Didn't you listen to me,huh?"
"Why don't you leave her alone"
"Are you out of your mind, kid?" He pulled out a sharp edged knife….
[Path of Eternal Deity is curious] another slide dropped down.
"Well, I'm damn serious. Let the girl go…. and I will give you a merciful end"
[Path of Eternal Deity is amused]
"You are a disobedient child" the kidnapper swung his knife high, ready to pierce it straight into the neck of the young girl. His vision was straight towards her neck. A hand came into the scene from the corner of his eyes. It was his own, accelerated straight at his target. Right before the edgy tip was going to graze the neck, a splash of blood spread on his right eye. At first the kidnapper was completely unaware of what happened. But soon he felt a strange numbness, more of emptiness around his right wrist. It was gone, his palm was slashed from his wrist with the fingers.
The pain hit as soon as he cried out loud. He could no longer hold himself and jottled around all over the alley. From the edge of one wall to another he simply wanted to rest. The rest was for deceiving the pain. It finally hit the brain and the man fell on his knees.
[The path of Eternal Deity is proud]
[POWER INCREASE]
[Status:- 260 Elixirs]
Another palm of the kidnapper swung to the residing door of the apartment. The blood spewed all around and the path was even more pleased.
[Status:- 261 Elixirs]
"I'm sorry" the man cried
"I gave you a chance" Leon was pure evil in that exact moment. His eyes were numb but scary, his veins were popping out of his forearms. The blood was boiling and rising towards his skin, as he glowed hot red "but now it's too late".
Leon was holding a sickle that emitted purely his solemn energy. The sickle was tagged with Leon's power the moment he held it. But the blood seemed to have disgusted its look.
Another swing and the man was beheaded
[Path of Eternal Deity is satisfied]
[Status:- 280 Elixirs]
Leon's adrenaline calmed down- his eyes turned normal and his heart rested from exertion. Looking around he didn't find the little girl, it was obvious that she ran away. The man's body faded slowly without any offering- it indicates that the abductor had no one to return to.
The time was for the night near the damped death. The desolate night was in the shade of a resplendent full moon. Following its shade, Leon reached the house. It was looking beautiful, afterall it was his first time looking at the house from this perspective. Once wooden planks in the walls were now reflected as years of sweat. Once planted and grafted, the garden was now the trail of the queen of the night.
He opened the door….
The drawing room was empty….
The house was dead silent….
Heading upstairs, he checked other's rooms….
Still empty….
Turning around through the corridor he found stairs suspended down from the attic. Heading upstairs, he found everyone surrounded by melancholy and grief. It was a little late for evening but still he stuttered
"Good evening…. everyone" he paused, waiting for the reply that never came. He understood the tension and the reason everybody was in the attic. It was a place admired and taken care of by Mr.Kaelen. Little colourful lights spread parallel to the shed close to the floor. The place was congested but still amusing. That's when Leon saw the "noctyra" in the close corner. It was a musical instrument similar to the violin in the human world. Its strings when strung were said to give divine melody. Not many could use it even in the upper realms, but Leon with wisdom from Alice knew exactly what to do. He held it, vibrating the string once he announced his arrival. Everybody else in the attic turned around to see Leon embodied as Mr.Kaelen. The noctyra looked completely similar to as with Mr.Kaelen. The stance, the pose, the way he vibrates string and the seamless expression he gives, everything was exactly the same.
The music kept on winning over the hearts and that's when the gravity lost its role. The house felt light like a feather all of a sudden. The floor didn't shake, or the tiny crumbles of dust in the attic didn't vibrate, but the floor was simple enough to levitate. The house rose higher into the thin fibres of the cosmos. It was the power of noctyra, it was like a barrel of wine- the effect and the pleasure was unexpectedly efficient. In the thin margins of cosmos they saw something unbelievable and luring. Each one of them saw something different and unique- what they saw was, what the cosmos wanted them to see.
Mrs.Kaelen lost sight of Leon and simply gazed at her son and husband from the large window of the attic. They were standing on different hazes of colour. It was yellow and pink. It was more of glowing caramel liquid flowing in the vacuum of the cosmos. They looked at her and simply smiled, which speaks a lot. It dictates her to stay strong and help Leon integrate the house. It dictates that now her son won't be alone anymore, instead he would be with his father.
Agasthus saw his parents holding his little self. They were running through the orchard of their gardening neighbour. The run was towards Alice for the daily fruit of wisdom she offers. He in the edges of the cosmos saw every emotional memory that made his childhood. In the tiny last fragment he saw his only brother Leon. The brother he trusts the most, the boy he knows would never betray him.
Liora saw Mr and Mrs.Kaelen picking her up in an abandoned alley. Faf saw him being adopted by the old couple from a church. Both of them were flushed with their old memories too.
But what Leon saw was different….
He saw wrath of the vanguards destroying his town, he saw lust of humans assaulting the other, he saw sloth of the mediocre to forsake the change. But this time he wasn't afraid or confused.
He had already got an answer….
[Path of Eternal Deity is getting chills] the screen bannered.
He knew what he needed to do ….
The task was simple….
Kill, destroy and torture the enemies for strength….
And become overwhelmingly strong to defeat Tistra Domiscus.
["Let's destroy this dim-witted world together, Leon Vale"
Path of Eternal Deity, send you a message]