After listening to his grandpa's story, he walked with no destination in mind, a light frown on his face as he considered what he heard.
It was late, the sun setting in the background as he reminded himself of his father's expression.
He counted himself lucky to have parents who were like his, but the way his father looked at him was a thing that pained him.
"You sure screwed up big time today, huh?" Ethan's eyes snapped open and relaxed his stance as he watched his oldest brother look at him with a disapproving frown.
"Sorry… It's just… the Marble Exams are in a few weeks… I was hoping to get in their ranks this semester," he softly said, eyeing the cattle around their farm. It was his responsibility to protect them…
And if it wasn't for the man in front of him, they could've lost a lot of money.
"Ethan… I understand your desire to follow in Gramps footsteps, but you have to be realistic about your prospects," he shifted uncomfortably at hearing that, only sheer will stopping his eyes from getting moist. "Everyone can be a Marble, but you're not everyone…"
"You think I don't know that!" His voice snapped, his mind recalling all the words of those who disregarded him when they saw how non-existent his talent was. "I know I'll have to work ten times to catch up, but it's my dream, Sam! And… and you know me well enough! If I need to, I'll work a hundred, no, a thousandfold! But it is what I want to do with my life!"
The youth gazed deeply into the adult's eyes, seeing the sadness and disappointment there. With a low growl, he turned back, towards the forest, and proceeded to run as fast as he could.
Sam blinked and saw that his little brother wasn't there anymore. Groaning, he began the trek back home, his face a mixture of emotions that he quickly hid away.
I'm the older brother, I have to be what they aim to become… but I sure as hell don't feel like that now. He knew that his young brother had drive, the burst of speed that he showed was enough indication of all the training he did… But that wasn't enough to win in the real world… He's far too gentle. He'll get himself killed…
He kept assuring himself that this was the correct way, but none of the words he spoke to himself could stop the nagging feeling that he was wrong.
While his family may have wanted the young boy named Ethan to remain as a son of a farmer, fate had other plans for the boy.
He kept running.
He did not know how long he ran, the sky had long since darkened, a faint glow on the horizon indicating the coming of an eclipse.
Along the current darkness, he felt the light inside him being snuffed out, slowly giving way to a darker, foreign emotion, one he couldn't quite place yet.
It felt like the hollow innards of an old, dead tree, great and vast, slowly rotting away what was in the exterior, signaling the coming of a being who was as old as humanity.
As he ran, he noticed the cold, both inside and outside, the silence of the very nature perturbed him somewhat, Ethan instinctively looked around, searching for a hidden animal or any source of life.
"The heck's happening?" His voice above a whisper was cut with the sound of moving flesh, his attention was then brought to the exterior of a cave. As the moonlight cut the darkness, he saw moving tentacles, made of flesh and bones, lying in wait, anticipating his every move.
Gulping, his gaze moved towards the maw of the cave. It was literally like a maw, a darkness enclosing it. The very light avoided that place as if an unholy abomination dwelled deep inside…
Gulping, he tried to move, but fear seized his body as he felt a gaze of something…
"Who 's there?" He called, waiting for an answer that would never come. Instead, lots and lots of dissonant whispers filled his ears, enchanting him, and beckoning him to enter.
With unsteady steps, he complied, his mind trying to come up with something. Anything that could answer what was happening. His grandpa's stories were playing by his ears, his mind forcing itself to come up with an answer.
"Hello, lambkin…" A voice whispered around him, his eyes trying to adapt to the darkness, fighting to grasp anything in that abyss. Suddenly, the darkness receded, the light tentatively entering inside the cavern, revealing to Ethan its meaty interior.
His blood ran cold as his eyes scanned everywhere, noting the huge amount of bones, eyes, and mouths that lay in the walls.
"What is the matter… Did the big, bad wolf catch your tongue? Kukuku."
The voice rumbled his eardrums, and the chuckle from the thing caused shivers to run through his spine.
"What… what are you?"
"What a rude question… I'm Agar, the lord of flesh, kukuku… Now, do answer my question, lambkin… What are you?"
Ethan drew a blank, trying to associate a name with the face. Having little success, he sighed, noting how he was in the literal maw of the beast, he decided to answer truthfully.
"I'm human… my name's Ethan…"
"A human, you say? Your essence is pure… purer than any other I came across from this age. Yet, your name's Ethan… tell me then, Ethan, who has birthed you? Any surname you're aware of?"
With a loud gulp, he tried to hide the truth, but the whispers were stronger than his will, forcing him to answer, his knees buckling under the pressure.
"No, not that I know of. As for my parents… my father's name is Ethral, my mother Natasha… both nameless as well…"
"Is that so? How amusing… How many years has it been?" His voice sounded oddly contemplative, his interest in the young man obvious, even if the cause alluded to Ethan. "If I'm not mistaken, the current government placed taxes in one's surname… to think your lineage would fall in disgrace… how amusing, kukuku."
"How is it amusing?" Ethan asked, trying to mask his annoyance with curiosity. He would have been successful, had the being in front of him been a normal one.
"No need to be offended, lambkin… It is amusing for reasons that are outside your control… However, if your family's as important to you as your tone of voice implies… I do wonder… Kukuku, I just got the greatest of all ideas…"
"What…"
"Worry not, lambkin… I'll paint you an unforgiving, unforgettable picture…"
And then, as if answering to a higher being, the flesh covering the walls shifted, entering the creases of the rocky stone as a light so intense then permeated the cave, showing only a teen whose face was ashen, the knowledge of what was coming making him cringe a bit.
"No… he surely didn't mean that…" Then, fire erupted from the distance, his enhanced senses picking up the scent of blood and screams cutting the quiet of the forest.
Turning, mechanically walked towards the entrance, seeing the smoke cutting the red-filled sky.
Then, as reality dawned, he ran. Ran as fast as he could towards the Cuckoo village, a pit setting in his stomach as the light of the sun eclipsed the star-ridden sky.
The Eclipse had begun.