Ralph's body was filled with anticipation, and even as he tried to bury it, the pace of his strides and his impatience did not stop reflecting the truth. Ralph made his way through the polished streets and into the more crude and run-down parts of the metropolitan paradise. As Ralph passed through the run-down and abandoned streets, he wondered if there was a magic that could erase poverty or, rather, if anyone was willing to even find it.
Ralph's strides slowed down, and his anticipation withered away as he neared his destination. Even as he tried to hide his reason, the bystanders could recognise people like Ralph; they had seen far too many of them. Ralph noticed their gazes as well, some filled with pity, some with disdain, and some seemed to look at him as though they knew what he felt, as though they could empathise with him.
"Who do they think they are to look at me like that? They have no idea what my reasons are; I am nothing like them."
Ralph only felt disgust upon seeing the empathetic gazes; after all, how could they ever know his pain?
Ralph made his way into an old abandoned factory that had become obsolete after magic was fully commercialised in all sectors. The structure was nearly half a century old, but somehow it was managing to keep standing even now. Had they adapted well to the era of magic, it might still have been working in full swing.
Ralph noticed a shady man standing in the corner with a watchful gaze; he kept looking at Ralph from a distance until he could make out his face, and then his gaze dropped as recognition dawned on him instead.
"Well, well, seems one of the regulars is here today. You gonna buy a lot today, or you here to spend chump change again, boy?"
The man's tone and manners were crude and unsophisticated, but Ralph did not voice a complaint even as he tried to physically intimidate him because, in this moment, Ralph couldn't care less.
"Just pack me the usual amount."
Ralph handed him a lump sum.
"Well, here's your stuff, boy."
The dealer looked around before taking the money and handing Ralph a vial half-filled with a pearlescent blue liquid.
"See you next week, boy."
Ralph pocketed the vial and left in a hurry, leaving as quickly as he arrived. Ralph rushed to his home and, upon reaching it, he walked straight to bed. Ralph looked around nervously and checked every door to see if it was properly locked or not. Once he had properly locked himself in, Ralph took out the vial from his pockets and gazed at it with impatience and anticipation roaring in his heart.
Ralph fought against those feelings and hid the vial in a drawer, and went to take a shower. As Ralph took off his shirt, he revealed a skin-tight black suit that covered his entire torso and his arms up to the wrists; he had been wearing it all day, and as he took it off, the reason for that became very clear. Ralph's entire torso and his arms were fully covered in horrendous burn scars, at a glance they may seem like the result of some freak accident but the clean border at his collarbone between the burnt and unburnt skin doesn't seem like something an accident would result in and if one gazed even longer they would realise that the scars themselves seemed to carry a pattern almost as if he had been branded over and over again until the brandings twisted in a chaotic mess.
Ralph looked upon himself with a disgusted expression. "Fucking monster," Ralph growled at his own reflection. "I hope you at least gave the one who did all this an equally horrible death."
Despite his words, Ralph's heart ached with a strange longing; he could see the scars on his body, but he did not remember the pain they came with. He could guess his circumstances, but he didn't know his own past; he could pity himself, but he couldn't empathise with his own suffering.
A strange hollow ache born from the feeling of losing one's past settled in Ralph's heart,
and he truly abhorred that pain. He draped a towel over his shoulders as he left the mirror and finally got into the shower.
After the bath, Ralph put the skin-tight suit back on to hide his scars and held the vial in his hand, wondering whether or not he should continue taking it. Logically, it made no sense; financially, it was a wasted expense, but it was the only thing that could ease his aching heart, the only thing that could answer his questions.
Right then, his phone rang; it was a call from Noir.
"What mess did you make this time?"
"I didn't make a mess, buddy; I just called to jog your memory. Happy Birthday, Ralph; today's the day we decided was your birthday. Now get ready and come down; I am waiting down here, birthday boy."
Ralph looked at the calendar and remembered what Noir was talking about; today was the day when they had found him two years ago, broken and dying in that dark alley, not even remembering how he had ended up there in that state. The day he doesn't know whether it was the luckiest or the worst moment of his life, and maybe he will never know.
Ralph quickly put on something presentable and rushed downstairs, a hint of joy in his eyes. As he reached the bottom of the stairs, he found Noir, who was not alone; beside him stood his older sister, the news anchor whom Ralph had been intently watching on the news.
"I didn't know Nyx was coming as well." Ralph was pleasantly surprised, but he tried his best to hide it.
"Am I not invited now? Oh, how the times have changed. I saved your life, and now I can't even celebrate your birthday."
Nyx spoke with bold, dramatic gestures, which stood in complete contrast to the confident, dignified appearance she showed as a news anchor.
"Stop being a drama queen. I really can't understand which idiot thought you would be a good news anchor." Noir playfully punched her shoulder.
"Nobody thought I'd be a good anchor; they know I am a good news anchor." She responded proudly.
"Your co-workers are such good liars; they make you believe all the nonsense they say." Noir gazes at Nyx with exaggerated, pitying eyes.
"Stop fighting, you two. I thought you were here to celebrate my birthday." Ralph diverted their attention away from each other and towards himself.
"Yeah, buddy, let's go and party!!"
Noir howled in excitement.
And just like that, the three of them disappeared into the night.