Mmgh...
"ROAAAAAARRRR!!!!!!!"
Nn...
"Ladies and gentlemen! The adherent of the forest has finally been caught!"
Mmmph...
"Sir, why are you dragging your child like this?"
"Shut up."
Ha...
"Now, who dares to challenge this beast to a duel? As per tradition, only our finest of warriors can have the honor of slaughtering the beast!"
"I have a kid."
Mm...
"Wake up."
Wah?...
"WAKE UP!!!"
"H-Huh? Dad?..."
"Get up, you bum. You're embarrassing yourself in front of the crowd."
"D-Dad?! H-How did you get inside?? I-I thought I locked the doo--!!"
"Get. Up."
Not wishing to anger my dad any further, after he releases my leg, I get up and I see crowd gather around the caged beast. I've been here for a while at those beast demonstrations, it was a notable form of entertainment for a while. But why did my dad drag me here?...
Oof!
"Get in."
Wha?
*THUD!*
"Dad?!"
"And would you look at that! It seems Matthew Fortune wants to fatten the beast up by offering his child!"
"NO!!!"
I look around to see Carolyn being absolutely horrified as the crowd degrades into uproar. I also see Oswald being shocked as her covers Sol by his side.
"Oh, but to give it more suspense, let's give the little guy some advantage! I've heard adherents and daemons loooooove when their prey struggles. And who knows, maybe he'll even emerge victorious, overcoming such an indomitable foe?!"
A small, rusty knife was thrown my way. And then I look at the beast.
It's towering over me.
It's barely held by the chains.
And it bares its' bloody teeth at me.
No...
No...
NO-NO-NO-NO-NO-NO-NO-NO-NO-NO-NO-NO-NO-NO-NO-NO-NO-NO-NO-NO-NO-NO-NO-NO-NO-NO-NO-NO
"On a count from 1 to 3, we're releasing the beast! One...
Two...
...
Three!"
The beast is unleashed and it lunges towards me, I barely managed to dodge it and it damaged my already tattered coat; feeling its claws graze my skin.
"Ow!!..."
"Grr..."
It lunges another time and I roll around, protecting my arm. But as I thought I could recuperate, the beast charges once again immediately and I barely managed to evade it in time.
"ATTACK IT, ASSHOLE!!!"
"WHAT'S THE KNIFE FOR?! ATTACK IT, DUMMY!!!"
The crowd starts booing and I steady my knife. As the beast charges at me, I attempt to attack it while it's down, but it immediately retaliates by slashing my body and knocking my knife off.
"GRAH!!!"
In a panic, I try to grab the knife, but the beast slashes at my face.
"Uwah!!"
I blindly pick the knife and manage to land a counter attack on the beast. It roars in pain and slashes at me once again, knocking me away.
"Oof!"
Why...?
"The knife's stuck!!"
Why does this keep happening to me?...
"And the kid's knocked down!"
Every time... Every time I try to reach out for happiness... It gets taken away from me like this!?...
"Looks like the gory scene is about to unfold! And the kid's covering himself as well! He's too terrified to act!"
I don't want to die... Not like this!...
"Oh! Oh! The beast is about pouce!"
If only... If only...
"GROAAAAAAAAR!!!!!"
If only the time had slowed down...
=ACT [___]: GRAND CLOCK=
"You see that pendulum over here? That is responsible for the clock's heartbeat."
"The beast is?!"
I can hear the crowd going wild, and opening my eyes I see the beast being suspended in the air. Looking closely... I can see it moving, but it feels like everything's in slow motion. I look at people around me and they're all shocked and excited. I see Sol get particularly excited and amongst the crowd I see my dad in complete disbelief.
Looking at the beast yet again, I see a knife stuck to its side. Hesitantly, I reach out to it and step aside. When I tried to grab the knife, I felt like my hand was getting stuck in honey, yet with enough pushback, I can feel it freely swimming in that "bubble". And as I stepped aside, the beast crashed against the bars and everything returned to normal.
"Dad!! Did you do anything?!"
"N-No! I d-didn't do anything! That's..."
"GRAAAAAAAAAH!!!"
Shit.
I go for a kill and stab the monster in the face and it screams in agony, trying to shake me off. Eventually though, it manages to shake me off, dropping me to the ground. It attempts to dive into me, but I roll off and jump onto its back. At this instant, I feel my hands quicken, repeatedly stabbing the beast.
I can't seem to comprehend anything at this point, and in a blink of an eye - the beast is dead.
The crowd goes haywire and the cage is opened.
"Congratulations, err, kid!! You have defeated the monster! Did you have any experience slaying such beasts?! The show you put on is amazing!"
"I... I don't..."
"What the hell just happened, A[___]!?"
"D-Dad..."
"Fortune! There you are! I would like to inquire you about--"
"Hey! What kind of fucking business do you have with my son, cunt?!"
"Ah-uh?! Excuse me sir, how dare you talk to me like that in that tone? Who are you?"
"I'm his goddamn dad, for moon's sake!"
"Well, I would let you know--"
"SHUT THE HELL UP PANSY!!!"
"No!!!" I yell and run away from it all. All those people crowding over me: I hate it - I hate it all!
Why?! WHY?!
Why am I still alive?! God! I wish I would've just been mutilated here and there!
Why?!
Why does everything have to go to hell all the time?!
Why can't I just be happy?!
Why can't I just be a normal kid?!
Why every time I try to be happy, life goes out of its way to ruin me?!
It's not fair!
It's not fair at all!!
I hate it!!!
I HATE IT ALL!!!!!!
Please... Somebody please save me
I don't want to...
Please...
Just somebody... Anybody...
I'm scared...
"Fortune?"
Huh?
"Fortune... Are you alright?"
Who?...
"I... I have a handkerchief beside me, let me at least wipe your face."
Opening my eyes I see... Her.
Sol.
"Will you... Let me?..."
"Yeah."
Sol kneels towards me and begins to wipe the blood and tears. Tucking my bangs, she sees something I was so embarrassed to show anyone.
Tucking my bangs, she sees something I was so embarrassed to show anyone
"Wow... Didn't know you had heterochromia."
"H-Hete--what?..."
"Heterochromia. That means you have two coloured eyes. You look so pretty this way. One eye is gray metal, the other is gold... It's so mesmerising.
"Dunno... Everyone I knew told me it was ugly..."
"It's not ugly. It's a rare. My dad told me only 0.5% of the populace has it. And you... You're the first person I saw to have it. I... Feel truly lucky to have met you."
"You think so?"
"Yeah."
I can't help but to cry. To hear someone say that I'm the best thing to happen in their life...
~
"Brother... I have to be honest with you. As much as I love you, I wish you weren't born."
"You... Of course you're going to be happy... You're a man after all..."
"You're truly... The runt of the litter."
~
It hurts... It hurts so much... Why... Why does anyone value me so much?... Me, a worthless less than a human being?!
"Shh... It's alright. I'm here. Don't cry, alright? You can sneeze if you want... Not that my parents approve, but if it's you, it should be okay."
"T... Thanks..."
Sneezing into her white handkerchief, she offers me some water.
"I remembered to carry my bottle with me this time. I think it wouldn't hurt if I let you..."
"Thank you... Thank you..."
I greedily drink off of her water bottle, as she continues to gently caress me, speaking to me with a soft voice, softer than anything else in this world, telling me that I did good. I try to not drink it all, and I let go of her bottle.
"Sorry... I think I drank too much..."
"It's alright. I don't drink too often anyway. But I do feel like drinking too... I feel like I'm on the verge of tears as well... Don't mind if I do."
She drinks from the bottle herself and wipes her lips with a sleeve.
"Do you want to see a magic trick?"
"Magic trick...?"
"Yeah. I'm a magician after all, so might as well show it to you"
Out of thin air, the ball of light appears in Sol's hands and soon it forms into a bunny. She lets her hold it in my hands and it looks... Adorable. It's like I'm holding the real thing. It then poofs into numerous lights which are shaped like tiny bunnies jumping and swimming through the air. The light reflected in Sol's eyes is truly beautiful. It's like I'm seeing stars in broad daylight in them.
"Does that make you feel better?"
I smile "Yeah..."
"Also, um, Fortune. I think your dad called you by other name. Would... Would you mind telling me what it is? I couldn't hear it clearly."
I take a deep breath
"Well, promise me that it's a secret that is only between us. I... I don't like when people call me by that name... But I feel like you saying it... might make me feel a bit better about it."
"Pinky promise."
"Alright then... Sol, my true name is...
Aurum Fortune.
Nice to meet you... Again."
"Aurum Fortune... I like it. But I'll be using it sparingly. It is your secret after all, and I intend on keeping it. Trust."
"Thank you, truly."
We then embrace each other, basking in the lights around us. I'm so happy I met this ray of sunshine.
"Here you are guys! I've been worried sick!"
"Huh?"
We see Oswald approaching us and he hugs us both "God, please don't run off like that. Who knows what could've happened..."
"Don't worry dad, I could protect Fortune any time!"
"I swear to god... Anyway. Everyone! The kids are here!"
I see Carolyn rushing towards me and she pulls me away from Oswald, hugging me tightly "Oh god I'm glad you're okay!... God I'm so useless... So useless..."
"Ma'am... There's nothing you could've done..."
"No I could've!... God, let me walk you to the hospital, those wounds are not pretty."
And then they stare at my father, who's just standing here, looking at them in disbelief. For the first time... I felt... Truly safe.
"Alright, I'll be taking Sol then. You'll watch Fortune for me, yeah?"
"Of course, sir. Thank you so much." Carolyn bows and we both go to the hospital.
I wave Sol goodbye and she does the same.
I'm... Truly glad I met her.