That night, I couldn't sleep. I just laid there motionlessly and stared out the window of the room. A bit of moonlight peeked into the dark room and lightened it with life and color. The silence of the night was awfully loud. It seemed to have swallowed all possible sounds and left me with nothing but my rambling thoughts.
I just didn't understand... why the old man didn't want me to practice magic. Did I do something wrong? I thought. Why were my flames black? I asked. What do I do now? All of these thoughts, yet I could not find an answer. Eagerly, I sought for an answer, but all I could find was a numbness. Although I couldn't sleep, my eyelids felt heavy.
There was no point. I don't understand magic. I'm confused and thinking further would just provoke more mysteries... with once again, no answers.
Damn it! I thought as I clenched my teeth as tight as possible. My hands followed along and clenched into tight fists bearing death-gripping strength. Inhaling deeply, I fell victim to an overwhelming feeling of anguish. The urge to fight my tears from falling was strong and overbearing.
I was tired... tired of being confused. Tired of being paranoid. Tired of feeling useless.
"If I don't do this, who will?" I cried out to myself in a lowered voice. Slamming my fist down into the mattress, I let my head fall and cried as silently as possible. "To hell with it all!" I muttered between breaths. "With Aerodom! With these stupid visions! And certainly, to fucking hell with the damn bastard that keeps tormenting me!" I cried out.
A dark essence surrounded me in the midst of my rage. It had nearly swallowed me until I noticed the rising sun. Coming to my senses at the sight of sunlight, I calmed down. My breathing eased. I wiped my eyes with my forearm before slowly lifting myself off the bed to avoid waking Cres.
What time is it? I thought. The day was still very early as the sun had just risen. "Mia and Romeo will probably be up soon," I said softly.
Moments later, the door creaked open. I turned to face the visitor. It was the old man.
"I apologize," he said. "I lashed out and acted recklessly yesterday. That is no way a host should act towards his guests—especially a guest such as yourself." Slowly, he approached me. He latched his arms onto my shoulders and gently shook me while maintaing eye contact. "Look, you must not use that power again... at least not in public. I'm not even sure if it's safe for you to practice it at all."
Trying to reassure him, I attempted to nod my head. Once again, I was at a loss for words. Just when I had opened my mouth to speak, Mia and Romeo had snuck up behind us.
"Ares, Grandpa!" they screamed out with arms opened wide.
Mr. Gonzo, quickly changing his facial expression and putting on a wide smile, turned around to greet his grandchildren. "Good morning, kids!"
What are you not telling me, old man? I thought. You're hiding something.
"I'll go ahead and make some breakfast for you all before you head out today!" Mr. Gonzo announced as he took his leave.
"Good morning, Mr. Ares," the kids said.
"Good morning, Romeo. Good morning, Mia," I said as I patted their heads.
As the words left my mouth, I found myself genuinely smiling back at the kids despite the recent events crowding my mind. It was as if their smile was a beam of sunlight piercing through my cloud of thoughts, and for a moment, I had forgotten my worries.
"Cres!" The kids hollered in joy at the sight of the monkey waking up.
They crowded him with smiles and threw him in the air. The poor monkey didn't even have a chance to fully wake up. His eyes widened and he croaked in the suspense of his falls before finally coming to his senses and flying away.
I chuckled a bit. It was moments like these that made the mysteries and depth of life more bearable.
"Food's ready!" the old man hollered from the kitchen.