I open my eyes fading from a stream of unconsciousness. I'm not sure how long I was out but, it seemed longer than last time. I awoke to the smell of home cooking and a familiar sight, Alice with her blue eyes shining with happiness. She had a faint smile and large bags under her eyes. I decided to tease her "Aw, did you stay up all night waiting for me?" Her cheeks turned beet red she quickly turned her head to the side. "N-No way, I just got here for your information," Alice said this in a very flustered tone that combined with the bags under her eyes, made me almost certain she had been here all night. "Now now Alice, there is no need to be bashful." at this point she seemed to have reached peak embarrassment she put her hands on her face and crawled into a fetal position in her chair. I took this time to scan my surroundings; I was in a cozy room with a patterned rug in the center. The walls seemed to be made of some sort of sandstone or adobe. It had a window with a wood cross in the center and a thick curtain to the side. An armoire with a glass pane over shelves on the left side. On these shelves, there was a picture of a family with a part cut out and other assortments of knick-knacks. In the c On the other side were a plane door and shelves beneath. The last thing I noticed was a large mirror in the corner of the room before my scanning was interrupted by an annoying voice "Hey, lay back down you still need rest!" Alice spoke again her embarrassment seemed to have passed. "What are you talking about I'm fi- ow, ok never mind I'll rest." just as my head hit the pillow the door slammed open. I heard the voice of a young boy "Hey, mom look the mysterious man woke up!" In trotted a little boy maybe nine or ten he had black hair brown eyes and darker skin, he seemed excited to meet me I guess he must be outgoing. Someone who I could only assume to be his mother followed behind she had beautiful black hair falling to her left shoulder in a braid she had hazel eyes and umber skin with a tray of soup and tea in her hands. She spoke in a calm but assertive tone "He sure is honey but, we should let the man rest he's been through a lot." her voice was soft and soothing, she addressed me "So, how are you feeling? We seemed to have found you in the nick of time any later and you would have frozen to death. Lucky for you this young lady patched your wounds." Alice began to blush again. I responded to my hostess with a "Yeah, thanks." she walked over to my bedside with her tray "Kamuzu, please get the table for our guest." The Kamuzu responded with an enthusiastic "sure thing mom!" and ran over to retrieve a folding table in the corner of the room next to the mirror. He set it up at my bedside and the mother placed the tray on it. The boy spoke to me with excitement permeating his tone. "Hey, my name's Kamuzu what's yours?" the boy spoke in an enthusiastic tone his eyes sparkling. "Sorry kid doesn't have one." he seemed immensely surprised "Hey, it's ok if you don't tell me but, you don't have to lie to me." he looked to his mom "right mom everyone has a name right?" His mother simply looked down with a solemn shake of her head. She began to explain to her son "Kamuzu, sometimes people are born without parents to name them. This man has clearly had a hard time let's let him rest." surprisingly I heard no pity in her voice as I usually do instead I only had compassion and empathy. "So how about Mr. Grumpy Pants?" Alice had suddenly decided to give her two sense on the topic of my name. "Wow even though I don't have a name that's the dumbest thing I've heard in a long time." Alice chuckled it seemed to lighten the mood "You know I was joking right? Altho that name would be fitting." she continued to laugh this time with even more elation this time. " What's so funny?" she broke into a howl of laughter then she calmed herself down a bit "ok, ok I'm ok. Serius time, how's this name sound to you, Chase." her speech was periodically interrupted by giggles. " Honestly it doesn't really matter what you call because I really don't care." Alice was still smiling but her laughter stopped she spoke within an exaggerated tone of disappointment. "Aw, well I'm going to call you Chase from now on whether you like it or not" she was definitely assertive in a bratty way. "Ok, I guess I'm Chase now, not that I really care. Now get out of here so I can sleep" She walked to the doorway as she exited her final remark was "Sleep tight don't let Mr. Grumpy Pants bite" with that she took her to leave. She turned the lights off as she left. As I lie in bed staring at the ceiling I began to become lost in thought recalling the past eventually I drifted off to slumber. That night my past returned to me in the form of the dream. Nondescript images from a time long past. First I was in a room on a cold table giant tubes of green liquid lining the walls. A man in a surgical mask and goggles loomed over me then, I fell the bed fell out from under me I was in a war zone bullets whizzing through the gunfire sounds all around me. The screams of the fallen created a symphony of death and despair. I looked down I was lower to the ground than usual before I had time to process as I looked up a bullet hit me in the face I screamed in agony before I knew it the morning had come I woke up screaming clutching my left eye. The sound of footsteps pounded through the house the door to my room swung open "Hey, are you ok?! I heard Screaming! What's going on?!" it was Alice seemingly immensely concerned. At this point I had snapped back to reality, releasing that I was in a safe, cozy room in a warm house inhabited by a beautiful family I calmed down. I addressed Alice in a somber tone "Yeah, I'm fine, sorry" she didn't buy it "You are not fine! What kind of person wakes up screaming and is a-ok?!" I stood up, my back felt fine now but Alice wasn't having it "Woah, woah, woah, stop you still need to rest!" I put a hand on her head "Don't worry, I'm fine." she gave me an annoyed pout and swatted my hand away. "Well if you're really fine then let's check the wounds." she unwrapped the bandages on my back to reveal the wound, she got a look of immense surprise "My lord, it's a miracle you are completely recovered!" at this point I was getting pretty hungry I looked to Alice "Anyway get out of here so I can get dressed." she appeared annoyed by the way I said it as she spoke "Yeah, yeah, you could have said it nicer you know." With that she left the room, finally, I can get some clothes on. I stepped out of bed feeling little pain my body was pretty hardy so a little flesh wound isn't going to put me out of commission. I decided to walk to the corner of the room to the mirror to get a good look at myself as I haven't done so in a long time. The man I saw looking back had dark grey eyes that looked as if they had seen it all with long straight hair covering one of them; his hair was a dark brown fading to a lighter tone at the tips. He had relatively sharp features his chin had a bit of stubble sticking out. His muscular body was covered in the scars of combat the most notable one stretching from his left shoulder to the lower right side of his chest. Once I finished examining myself I moved to the armoire to get my clothes I opened the door. My clothing consisted of a standard grey, shirt tattered pants, a belt, a tattered red coat with yin yang holding the collar together and the last thing, an eye patch for my left eye it was black with three red circles with tails swirling around each other. I donned my outfit the last thing left was my kinetic blade leaned against the back of the armoire. It looked like a katana the hilt is black with blue diamonds and it has a red trigger to activate the kinetic absorption, a charm at the end the hilt looked like a red half of yin yang. The sheath had a dragon snaking along the length of it. I unsheath my sword to get a look at the blade it is pitch black with red triangles layered turning toward the hilt. The edge of the blade had a faint blue glow. I resheathed my sword and attached it to my belt. I opened the door the scent of a home cooked breakfast filled my nostrils. It's was a comforting scent of bacon and eggs cooking, though the kitchen was far away I could just barely hear the sound of the bacon sizzling. I walked down the hallway it was a simple hallway with doors leading to a bathroom and another bedroom in the middle of the hallway a staircase descended to the first floor. The aroma was coming from the first floor so, I walked down the stairs and turned into a room I could only assume was the kitchen. I was greeted with a warm "Good morning" form the mother. Having just woke up I responded with a groggy "huh, yeah, good morning" I was still half asleep I sat down at the table placing my sword off to the side. Kamuzu and Alice sat at the table it was set with a checkered pattern cloth the plates and bowls seemed to be made of plain clay, the silverware was not silver but wooden. It was all placed nicely on the table. The mother was at the stove just finishing up our breakfast feast. She was swiftly working in a very elegant manner almost as if she were dancing through the kitchen. The food being crafted smelled delicious with a mix of spices and sizzling bacon. She brought the bacon out of the pan and gracefully cut it into small strips with quick strokes of her knife. She seemed to be very skilled with her blade. She then sprinkled the strips into the porridge on the stove, the source of the scent of species. The mother grabbed oven mitts and placed the pot on the center the table she then placed a ladle in the pot. Kamuzu was just about jumping out of his seat in anticipation. "Oh boy, Moms breakfast soup is the best!" Alice was basically drooling at the sight of this soup. I decided to tease her I looked to Alice "I think someone else is excited too." her face turned beet red, she wiped her mouth " What are you talking about? I'm just ready to enjoy this wonderful meal prepared by our gracious host." The mother sat down and began serving the food she decided to strike up a conversation "So, I never introduced myself my name is Chione and, this is my son Kamuzu. It's a pleasure to meet you." the way she spoke put me at ease as I was rather rattled from my dream last night. We ate, Alice and Kamuzu made idle chatter. They seemed to get along well. I looked around the room the door was behind me. There was a stove to my left and a plain wall to my right. The left wall also had a window and several cupboards which I could only assume were filled with snacks for Kamuzu and stuff for cooking. I took a bite of the food in front of me, It was good, really good the aroma wasn't misleading, it had the perfect Balance of spices with savory flavors present but not overpowering the broth which was a vegetable broth with a mostly carrot-like flavor. Overall the dish was a delight. As I was enjoying my food Chione smiled and said: "looks like someone is enjoying the food." I didn't have a poker face when it comes to food I'm sure pure delight was strewn across my face. As I was blissfully eating Alice decided to start up a conversation "So, I gave him a name last night" that sentence annoyed me "Really, I'm not your pet or something so you don't get to name me" she brushed off my comment "any way you can call him Chase from now on." Kamuzu's eyes sparkled "Really that's such a cool name! It's not quite as cool as Kamuzu though so, can I really call you Chase from now on?" his eyes were brimming with excitement. "Uh, yeah, sure it doesn't really matter what you call me anyway." Alice chimed in "oh, so we like the name now?" she had a great tone of smugness in her voice this irritated me "I didn't say that! Like I said before I don't care what you call me." Kamuzu unfazed by our bickering spoke in a jubilant tone he stuck his hand out "Nice to meet ya, Chase!" I reluctantly took his hand we shook hands "yeah, nice to meet you." Chione had her hand over her mouth as she was giggling "You're not too good with people are you?" I blushed having heard this, that hit way too close to home. "Haha, yeah I guess you could say that" now I was thoroughly embarrassed. All this talking and my soup were nearly gone huh I guess it was just really good. I could get used to this peaceful, cozy house but nothing can last forever.