In a small alleyway in the village of Solaris sits a man of large stature. He looked like a rugged man, perhaps 27, with a dusky complexion, pitch black hair tied up gleaming against the moonlight.
A bottle in his hand sloshing as he sways side to side, he pulls it up for a sip but misses and pours it into his nose. He jumps up cursing, knocking over the bottles that are lined up on the ground. A cold wet feeling started to build up in the back of his nose. He leans against the wall and blows his nose hard enough to almost pass out, completely oblivious to the figure approaching him.
He jumps again when the figure pats him on the back.
"Leo, are you alright?"
Leo coughed, he could only stammer, unable to reply.
The figure brings him a bucket of water. Leo grabs it and gulps down half the contents. He silently looks at his reflection, then at the person in front of him.
Leo stared deeply into her eyes and tried to ignore his shadow that stood at a distance mocking him. "Lisa, please leave, I don't want to hurt you" he mumbled as he weakly pushed her away. "AND DON'T LOOK AT ME LIKE THAT!" Leo screamed as he pointed at his shadow.
Lisa looks over confused but thinks nothing of it.
"Leo, you need to come home."
He attempts to walk away but stumbles and falls into the pile of garbage nearby.
"I don't have a home"
Leo's eyes start to droop as the effects of alcohol start to settle in again. He embraces the darkness as he sees the shadow start walking towards him.
*****
The birds are chirping and the sun is shining.
Leo wakes up as a flash of pain strikes him on the head, his mouth feeling like a desert. Fortunately, his body felt fine. He quickly climbs out of bed as last night's drinks start to climb up his throat.
His foot snags on the hook of a bucket, sending him plummeting towards the ground like a sack of bricks.
CRASH!
He groans, tears streaming from his eyes as blood starts to trickle from his nose. Bile starts to sear his throat, threatening to release the contents of his stomach.
He ignores his pain and bolts to the door, but to his dismay, his shadow stands there blocking his path. He runs into it, unable to hold back any longer, he unloads the contents of his stomach onto the shadow.
Chunks pass though the shadow's ethereal body landing on Lisa who was running to see what the commotion was all about.
"For Gods Sake Leonardo, you need to stop drinking so much" Lisa grumbles as she looks at the mess on her clothes.
Leo's stomach suddenly felt cold and started to growl. To his horror, a warm feeling starts to spread in his pants.
Leo desperately tries to stand up but slips on the pool of stomach liquid on the floor and slams back on his ass.
An old hag walked by the doorway, took one look and started to chuckle.
Leo's face started burning, setting the tips of his ears on fire.
"GET THE FUCK OUT-" Leo slams the door in their faces but instantly feels guilty about losing his shit.
Leo turns around to the mess behind him.
'it's gonna take me a long time to clean up…' Leo sighs in his head.
"Yo" he turns to his shadow "can you clean this up for me?"
Leo's shadow gives him a look of disgust, but quickly puts on a cheerful mask and passes through the door while giving Leo the finger.
Leo washes up and leaves the mess behind him.
Arriving at the bottom floor, he is met by Lisa with a bowl of oatmeal and fruit.
He stirs his spoon through the food absentmindedly thinking about the past…
Leo grew up never knowing who his parents were. Lisa was all he had before Granny Iris found them in a dumpster somewhere in the slums. She took them to her inn and took care of them.
"Stop staring into space and focus on eating your food dummy , your oatmeal is going to get cold!" Lisa chides.
"I know… l know.. Lisa, have you wondered why Granny took us in?"
"You will know in the future" Lisa managed to say after some time, which sent shivers down Leo's spine.
The silence was quickly broken when a hunched hag walked between them and faced Leo.
"Brat, Go clean up your mess before I beat your ass."
Leo grins " OK, Grandma."