Kyle stood up from his throne, and walked over to the stands where his mothers stood patiently.
He smiled at them.
This was the first time he had seen them since he left to become Ethan's apprentice, around a month ago.
And now, at long last, they were reunited.
He was a king. A hero. And they were now the women who raised this hero.
They should be given what they deserve, for being such wonderful and successful mothers. This was all that Kyle wanted.
But everyone was so bent against it.
Why?
All he wanted was for them to be recognized.
Things didn't have to come to this.
But here he was.
He had killed many evil men now, who were desperately trying to stop such a situation from occurring.
But through his own hands, Kyle had retaken what was rightfully his.
No, he hadn't retaken anything.
Rather, he had forcefully corrected this entire system.
This entire society.
For some reason, his mothers were scum.
He couldn't understand this.
Why did everyone hate them?
Why did everyone look upon them with disgust?
Why was their profession something looked down upon throughout society?
Something to be hidden?
And most of these people who were looking down upon his mothers were hypocrites.
Shameless people who would go and purchase the services of his mothers, which they selflessly provided.
But these same people would also stay away from his mothers in the streets, avoiding them like some sort of plague.
If they were to be brought up in the court, or in any political environment... no, not even that.
Even if it were something to be spoken about within the household, it would be something that the men would desperately deny.
Disgusting.
Those men were nothing more than hypocrites.
Evil.
This was Kyle's mission, which he had fulfilled.
But there was much more work to do.
And first and foremost, Kyle wanted his mothers to be given the respect they deserved.
"Mothers...."
"Kyle...."
Irene looked at him kindly, as a caring mother would look at a son.
No matter what her son did- no matter how he dirtied his hands, a true loving mother could not stare at a son with hatred.
Yet, here her son was in the throne of the king.
She did not know how, or what had happened for things to come to this point, but she was proud.
However, there was something very concerning.
Irene was nervous about her current scenario. Why was the throne room in chaos? Why were there no nobles here, and how did Kyle become the king on the throne? Even if he was the hero, there was no way the king would simply sit back and allow that to happen.
Of course, the mess had been cleaned up before Kyle's mothers arrived, but there were still holes and cracks in the walls from the fight.
Something was certainly strange.
Kyle looked at each one of his mothers.
Olivia seemed to be taking in the view, but was not too worried about anything. She had never been in a position of nobility, but she certainly knew how to deal with them as customers.
Julia seemed to be gazing at the artwork around the castle, blankly. She seemed intrigued by it.
Naomi seemed to not really care, and was sitting back freely without questioning the sudden summons.
Katelyn seemed to be very nervous. As a former noble, and one who had been kicked out of her family, she certainly didn't have the gut to be here, and only came because it was a summons from the 'new king' himself.
Jordan, like Naomi, seemed to be bored.
She was looking around, wondering when she could get her next paycheck to try to gamble with.
Riley seemed to be investigating the three royal sons, eating them up with her wolflike eyes as if they were mere prey.
"I don't know what's going on, but I want to just tell you this, Kyle...", Irene stated. "We're all proud of you."
"Thank you, mother.", Kyle beamed. The other ones all looked at him kindly.
"I've put a lot of thought into things. Have you all been told that I was awakened as the hero, or should I start from the beginning?"
"Oh, we know about that!", Naomi exclaimed. "That's awesome, Kyle! But why are we here?"
Kyle beamed with pride, readying to explain himself.
"Mothers.... I've spent the last month learning about this society.... it's practices, and life beyond the brothel. And I just want to thank you again for raising me so well. Sincerely. I would not be the man I was today if it weren't for each and every one of you, and your influence on me."
Kyle's mothers gave him kind looks as he spoke, as if he were truly their son.
"But, as I learned more and more about society, and what it meant for me to be selected as the hero.... what it truly meant, I came to a realization."
Kyle looked over to the royal children sitting in the seats next to the throne, perfectly still, afraid to move without the order of Kyle.
"This society.... is corrupt. They are tied to useless practices, and preset conditions which exist for no reason! And it is my duty to change this. To use my power as a hero to implement change in society for the better. And the most useless thing in this society, is the system of royals and nobles!!!"
"What could you mean by that, Kyle?", Riley asked sinisterly while she licked her lips as if she was consuming the third royal son.
"I mean that these nobles and royals are stuck in their practices, which have no meaning aside from publicity, popularity, and diplomacy! They spend more effort trying to look good in front of each other than they do actually contributing to society! And because of this, certain.... prejudices have arisen."
"Prejudices?", Jordan asked.
"Yes. Prejudices. Prejudice against the poor, hard workers like yourselves who slave day in and day out, only to be spit upon when they hear the name of your profession. I witnessed with my own eyes how the nobles reacted to finding out about the very people who raised me. They were petrified, horrified, disgusted! As if I was some sort of monster who spawned from filth! It was unbelievable. And it was not just the nobles. The King, the Emperor of the neighboring country.... so many thought like this! It was absurd!!"
"So what happened, my son?", Irene asked in a motherly tone, listening to her sons story like a caring mother trying to comfort a hurt child.
"So, I killed them all. And I've taken up this position as the new king. I will force the nobles to evacuate their homes, and you all will take their places in the noble court!! It should be hard workers like you who make the decisions for the direction of the country, not these silly nobles who are only focused on themselves, and have never experienced hardship! Am I wrong?"
Riley smiled.
"You're exactly right, Kyle. We should be the ones in charge."
The other women stayed quiet. Some seemed concerned. Others nodded in agreement.
"Soon enough, I will begin the purge of all nobles from society. I will drive them out of their homes, forcing them to live on the streets, in the positions that you were all previously in!!! They will understand the harsh living conditions you all have had to face, and you all will be able to experience the luxury that they once lived in! For they have already received their reward!!!"
Kyle walked back over to the throne, and sat down.
"As for you four, I suppose I don't mind if you stay here in the palace for now. As our servants, that is. Now, brothers, why don't you assist my mothers with their move in preparations? Well? Go on! Surely they need some hands to move all their belongings to the royal palace! Unless of course, you would prefer that I relieve you of any connection to royalty, that is!"
The three stood up, and immediately headed over to the seven women, somewhat disgruntled and disturbed.
Of course, they did not show any displeasure on their faces, but Kyle understood well exactly their intentions.
Using his skill [Perceive Intentions] he could figure out exactly what each person was trying to do.
He knew that they wouldn't try anything funny, for now.
"Mothers, I will come as well. Come now, everyone! There is plenty of work to do, after all! Rewriting an entire system cannot be done in a day! Guards, you all as well! Come with us! Oh, and as for you 'sister'.... I suppose you can go and join the maids. Have whoever the head maid is teach you the ways of cleaning, because that's what you're about to be doing a lot of."
And so, Kyle and his mothers loaded themselves into a large carriage, surrounded by a set of guards with the royal siblings at their tail.
Kyle looked back to see the royal siblings riding horses.
Opening the window, he shouted back to them.
"Did I say you could ride horses? Are servants supposed to ride through the town in style? Hahaha! You all must be quite the comedians. Get off. Now. And walk like these other guards."
'Grr...'
'This bastard....'
'He's enjoying this, toying with us.... if only he weren't the hero....'
'I have to be patient.... nobody in the country can defeat this man.....'
'For now, I need to do as he says and bow down as his servant. It's shameful! I would never have agreed to these conditions, but I have no choice!'
The three brothers were all sincerely disturbed at the turn of events, but there was nothing they could do.
Their entire lives had been flipped upside down.
And society too, was about to be completely turned on its edge.
----
Veronica looked around her. The bandages which covered most of her were somewhat in the way of her eyes, but she had been given a strange object by Coran.
It was apparently called the 'torch of illusion'. It was an item which was invisible to other people, but to the one holding it acted as a regular torch, providing light.
This provided her with an advantage if anyone came back through those tunnels. Her orders were to detain anyone here, and make sure that they don't escape alive.
"If anyone comes back, kill them. There is no need to let those cowards live, as that would mean they are scum who abandoned a group of orphans out of fear.", Coran had instructed.
It was then that Veronica heard a set of frantic footsteps coming from the 3rd tunnel.
'Ah, it seems like we have a runner.'
A young man with glasses came dodging down the hallway, panting endlessly.
His eyes caught with Veronica, who stood at attention.
"What's wrong?", She asked patiently while approaching the man. She walked over and held him steady, and he fell into her arms while looking back with vibrating, terrified eyes.
He pointed into the hallway with a shaky hand, and tried to mutter out a set of words.
"M.... monster.... monster....murderer.... maniac..... dead.... all dead.... except him.... he killed them all..."
He was shivering beyond belief.
Veronica slipped out a blade, and stabbed the man in the back.
She felt the blood drip, and smiled through the bandages as the man looked at her with horror.
"You....cough...blergh...."
"Heh heh.... did you think you would escape the monster by running? Things aren't so easy. Scum."
The body dropped onto the floor, lifeless.
Veronica stood up and prepared to hide the body.
'Terrified like a child. It was so easy that even a weak woman like myself could do the job. I wonder if any others will come by here?'
----
Patrick had a very strange childhood.
He was a relatively average kid. He didn't have any strange habits or inclinations, and eventually began his schooling.
However, when he was 5 years old, the first incident happened.
It was during school, at recess.
The children were allowed to go outside to play, and Patrick decided to go out with the others.
They played a game of kickball in a field,
However, when it was Patrick's turn to kick, everyone on the other team would always start to shout.
"Easy out!!!"
"Easy out!!!"
Patrick wanted to show them.
Who were they calling an easy out?
Did they think that he would just stand by and let himself be called that?
Patrick would kick the ball as hard as he could.
He would get a home run, and kick the ball so far that it would go into the woods.
They would all complain to him, saying "Patrick, why did you do that? Now we can't play ball anymore!"
And Patrick would shrug in response.
"You were the ones who called me an easy out. What? You couldn't get the out? The ball was too far for you to catch?"
Or at least, that was what Patrick hoped for.
But that was not how it ended.
Patrick ended up slipping after trying to kick the ball as hard as he could.
He fell flat onto his back, covered in the muddy orange clay.
The other children laughed at him.
Even the ones on his team.
"Hahaha!!"
"What a try hard!!"
"He can't even hit the ball!!"
"Should I pitch a little slower, Patrick?"
"Hahaha!!!"
"HAHAHAH!!!"
"AHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!"
His ears were filled with laughter.
What was this, though?
Why did the laughter seem to be getting louder?
Why did it seem to be getting more malicious, and evil?
Why did it seem as if it were attacking him, eating away at his mind?
All of a sudden, the laughter stopped.
What was this now?
Everything was dark.
It was as if he was asleep, but awake at the same time.
Wait.
His eyes were now opening.
Patrick looked around.
Around him, were the other 17 kids playing ball with him.
Their necks all had red hand marks on them, as if someone had choked them.
They were all passed out to the ground.
Who did this?
What happened here?
Patrick was terrified.
As a 5 year old, to wake up to such a scene of carnage, Patrick was unable to handle it.
He began to cry.
"Help!!! Somebody!!! Help!!!!"
Soon enough, a teacher came out to see the mess.
"Oh my goodness!!!"
"What happened here!!???"
"This is terrible, we have to get a nurse!!"
Soon enough, all the children were transported to the nurses office.
However, Patrick was taken aside the next day.
"Patrick. The other children said that you did some naughty things the other day. I'm going to have to suspend your privileges from going out to play with the rest of the children."
"Huh?"
"Don't 'huh' me. You know what you did. You went crazy after you tried to show off and missed, and then started attacking and choking all the other children. Don't try to act like you don't remember. Now go sit in timeout, and I want you to apologize to each and every kid that you strangled. You're lucky you didn't kill any of them!"
"Huh?"
Patrick listened, and went over to sit in timeout, but he was completely confused.
"I didn't do anything, but here I am.... in time out..... grrr..."
It was then that Patrick heard a voice within his head.
"Do you want to see what happened?"
"What?? Who are you!? Who's there!?"
"Shh.... people will find out about me.... do you want to know, or not?"
"Who are you!!!"
"I'm you, of course!"
"Me!?!? That doesn't make any sense!! I'll call a teacher!!"
"Haha... but Patrick, I helped you out yesterday. Don't you understand? Those kids were making fun of you. They were looking down on you. All I did was put them back in their places."
"What!?"
"Shh.... well, why don't you just take a look"
It was then, that Patrick's head was filled with memories.
Memories which did not exist before, of the previous day.
Memories of him standing up, while the other children laughed at him.
His eyes rolled all the way back inside his head, only to reveal a new set of eyes, with inverted colors. The whites were black, and the pupils were white. His formerly green eyes were now tainted red.
"Run that by me one more time. What are you laughing at?", Patrick asked the children who were mocking him.
"Eh?"
Patrick grabbed the collar of one of the kids nearby him.
"What are you doing? I'll tell the teacher!!"
"Oh really? And what if I don't let you?"
Patrick grabbed the throat and held his hand on the child, choking him and rendering him unconscious quickly.
The laughter of the children quickly stopped.
"What just happened?"
"Patrick just killed him!!! He just killed Tommy!!!"
"Get him, everyone! He's a weak nerd!! We can take him all at once!!!"
Patrick got into a brawl with the other kids around him, one by one beating them up and choking them, leaving them unconscious.
"Heheheheheh!!!!! AHAHAHAHAHHA!!!!! Hey, do you all know what time it is?? Take a look up at the sun!!! Ah, wait! None of you can figure something like that out! Looks like I had better count the time on my own!!!"
Soon enough, the people from the outfield came as well, and he did the same to them.
"Well??? Does anyone here know what time it is right now???"
Patrick shouted frantically at the students, asking them for the time while he strangled them to the point of unconsciousness.
It was a mysterious scene. However, when this finished, Patrick fell to the ground, asleep.
"I'm... tired.... I suppose it's time to sleep...."
It was after that, that he woke up.
"What..... what am I?", Patrick asked in disbelief.
"You, are a maniac. But don't worry. I won't show up too often. See you next time."
"Wait! Where are you going?!"
The voice had gone.
Patrick no longer could speak to it, nor did it return again.
Not until he was 16, on a fateful day.
Patrick had found himself in a desperate scenario, surrounded by a group of 6 thugs.
They were trying to scramble him for money.
"Hey kid! Give me everything you got! Or I'll drive this knife into your throat!"
Patrick of course, put his arms up, and began to empty his pockets slowly.
"Hurry it up! I don't got all day!!!!"
The thug lunged at Patrick, trying to scare him.
It was then, that his eyes rolled back into his head.
Patrick saw nothing but darkness, but he could tell.
It happened again.
When he woke up, he was surrounded by a group of corpses.
They all had their own weapons, sticking out of their bodies. Some had knives in their heads, others had cuts that went down their entire torsos.
It was a bloody massacre.
And Patrick lay in the middle of it.
Once more, Patrick looked at his hands.
The hands of a murderer.
The hands of a psychopath.
"What am I???"