Shoutout to my new patron:
Damien Taing
You are a legend!
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(General POV)
"Would you mind explaining yourself now?" Finn said as he leaned on his desk,, staring intently at the boy in front of him.
On either side of his desk was Gareth and Riveria, with Loki sitting on the desk again, swinging her legs back and forth, not looking particularly serious about the whole ordeal. If anything she was just immensely curious.
"What would you particularly like to know?" Lyze asked, standing straight and refusing to cower before their glares.
"What do you think? I understand that you were perhaps displeased with the way they were treating that young girl. But even that did not warrant such a violent attack. So why did you do it?"
What other reason did I need? Drug dealers, vandalizers, murderers, slavers and rapists the whole lot of that filthy Familia are." Lyze spat.
Riveria raised her brow. "Very hefty accusations to make against a Familia, Lyze."
"But not an utterance of slander! One would think that with your connections, you'd be at least somewhat aware of what the likes of them get up to where not many eyes are turned."
"It doesn't excuse you taking justice into your own hands, even if that is true." Finn said sternly. "Besides, how would you know that those three men were the same?"
Lyze said nothing, tightening his jaw.
"You see?" Finn continued. "One cannot generalize a whole group of people with the actions of the few that you have seen. Even if they did abuse Lili, whom you seem to be particularly defensive of for some reason, electrocuting them to the brink of death is not justified."
"What was that anyway?" Gareth asked, diverting the topic a little. "I've never seen such violent magic before. Chant-less too."
"It wasn't magic." Riveria said before she looked at the boy. "Red in colour, multiple streams and arcs?" Lyze nodded. "Yes, that was not magic."
"Have you seen it before Riveria?" Finn asked. The elf nodded.
"I have. He used it on Goliath the first time they fought, the day he levelled up. Even back then, I was caught off-guard at the sheer explosive power. Not to mention none of it felt like magical power at all."
"I wanna see it!" Chimed Loki as she put her hand up, grinning in anticipation. She slowly let both down though as the executives levelled a hard stare at her. "Come on, I haven't gotten to see all of Lyzie's powers yet. I keep seeing them on his Falna but I have no idea what they are!"
"Can you take this seriously for once?" Riveria asked her exasperatedly. "We're trying to chastise one of our young members for misconduct and abuse of power, and you want to encourage it?"
"Nobody said anything about encouraging." Loki moaned as she put her arms behind her head. "Besides, I don't particularly see what's wrong with what he did. Old Soma's too lazy with his wine pressing to keep an eye on the kind of things his kids get up to. As much as I like his wine, you have to admit that Lyze is partially right when it comes to them. If anything, this might serve as a wake up call to Soma to get his children in line." Loki paused and though for a moment before shaking her head. "Nah, probably not."
'It's only because he's one of your favourites that you're so lax about it.' Gareth thought grimly.
"What's wrong is that he just brutalized three of Soma's children, and it is probably going to come back to bite us in the form of demands for reparations and hospital bills." Finn said. "I'm surprised they were even conscious after that , let alone able to run away."
"Lili." Lyze said quietly. They all turned to him at the sound of his voice.
"Huh?" Finn said.
"Liliruca Arde. The Pallum girl." Lyze said.
"The cute little fuzzball you brought in? The one you saved? What about her?" Loki asked.
"I did what I did...because she's like me." Lyze muttered.
"...Do you...have history with her, lad?" Gareth asked, intrigued.
"I knew all the kids of Daedalus." Lyze said quietly, his head lowered. "Many of us shared similar pasts, suffered the consequences of the actions of the same people. The difference between me and her...is that I escaped. She did not. That's why I did it."
The executives shared looks between each other. Lyze's past was a sensitive matter. That much was clear by now. And despite all their efforts to encourage him to open up, he always swerved by the subject. But this was the first time he himself said anything about it. Lyze continued.
"If I must serve a punishment for what I have done, then I will do so. But you cannot convince me that what I did was wrong. Anybody who is willing to hurt a child like that deserves so much worse than what I did to him."
"You don't regret it?" Finn asked.
"No." Came the firm reply. Finn sighed.
"I'd been hoping to give you a lecture on your errors, but if you insist on your front, then I have nothing more to say to you." Finn said. "I will decide on the rest of your penance later, but as for the first part of it, whatever is provided to that girl will come out from your own pockets. The cold season is coming and as wealthy as our Familia is, we cannot spare funds from our own coffers to feed someone who is not one of us."
"Understood sir." Lyze said. He bowed and made to leave the room before he was stopped by Loki.
"Wait Lyzie~" She cheered.
"What is it Loki?" Lyze asked tiredly.
The redhead pranced over to him and leaned forwards.
"I want to see that lightning of yours."
"Why?"
"Just let me see it."
Lyze shrugged and held up his thumb and index finger. A single stream of Red Lightning crackled between the two digits, lighting up the candle-lit room with a bit of a glow. Loki leaned forwards even more to inspect. She then circled Lyze, trying to see it from all angles which greatly confused the boy. His confusion was shared by the rest.
"What are you doing Loki?" Riveria asked her annoyedly.
Loki just waved a hand in her direction as if shooing away her words before sticking a finger into the current all of a sudden.
"Wh-!...Loki! What are you doing!?" Lyze asked alarmed.
She didn't appear fazed though as she drew the finger back. The red stream of electricity curled around her finger for a couple of seconds before it fizzed out of sight.
"Interesting." She muttered. "Very, VERY interesting." She looked down at Lyze. "I suppose you're free to go now. That's all I wanted to see."
Lyze nodded and swiftly left the room, befuddled by her behaviour. Loki whistled as she walked back towards the three adults that were giving her weird looks.
"What was that about Loki?" Finn asked.
Loki gave a foxy grin and brought her finger close to Riveria's rear. A sharp spark of electricity made the high elf jump a little as he hand flew to the respective buttock, and the other hand which held her staff slammed it down on Loki's head.
"What was that!?" She yelled.
"Lyzie's special Lightning, of course." Loki said cheerfully as she nursed a bump on her head.
"Are you okay Riveria?" Finn asked concerned, while internally trying to keep the bubbling bit of laughter at Riveria's action buried deep. His stoic face gave nothing away.
"Yes, I'm fine. But that was such a horrific sting." Riveria said as she rubbed her backside, then stared at her hand. "What was that? Why did it hurt so much?"
"Because it wasn't magic." Loki said, grinning mischievously.
"Really?" Riveria asked, her eyes widening as her suspicions were confirmed. "Then what was it?"
"That is a secret which you mortals should not know." Loki grinned. "Let's just say that I'm more keen on keeping him now than ever."
"I don't think that's a valid excuse to keep us in the dark Loki." Finn said. "An ability like that is yet another anomaly he's brought forth, and he's shown that he clearly has no qualms about using it on people."
"But I'm your Goddess." Loki said as she she plopped down on a chair. "And if I say no, then it's no."
"Why are you so adamant about it?" Riveria asked.
"Let's just say that I don't think that even he knows what that special lightning of his is capable of." Loki said as she hummed offhandedly. "I can't wait to see the look on his face when he does find out though."
"I can't help but think you're giving him preferential treatment." Finn said to her.
"You're one to talk. Why didn't you give him one of your informative lectures, hmm?"
Finn grabbed his head and sighed. "Because I don't know how to deal with him. Sometimes he acts older than he is. Sometimes he's happy and in a good mood. Other times he's angry and sorrowful. He's much too strong for someone of his level, and yet at times he has the weakest restraint with it. I'm not encouraging that behaviour but I don't know how to deal with it."
"I blame you two." Riveria glared at him and Gareth.
"Why?" asked the dwarf confusedly.
"I was not aware you were taking a child to a drinking game, in a pub full of uncultured pigs and gambling swine." She fixed them with a cold stare.
The two of them sweated nervously with their mouths hung open a little, not knowing how to respond. Finn was looking for something to reply to her with when there came a rap on his window.
They all tensed, ready to jump at the sign of any attack as they turned towards the window. There they saw a hooded figure, waving a rolled up bit of parchment and waving over at them. Finn relaxed, relieved before going over to the window and opened it.
The hooded figure, whose features were concealed dropped the rolled up parchment in the Pallum's hand. They then gave a small salute to the captain.
"Lord Hermes sends his regards." They rasped before dropping a couple of stories to the ground. Finn didn't bother looking after them as they disappeared into the night.
"Is that what I think it is Finn?" Riveria asked him.
"Yes. It is. And a fitting time too." Finn replied.
"What is that? I wasn't aware you requested an investigation." Gareth said.
"I didn't tell you. I'm afraid it slipped my mind."
"Exciting!" Loki said. "Even I didn't know about this. So what was it about?"
"Lyze's past." Finn said as he unrolled it and read its contents away from the others' eyes.
"What?" Gareth asked confused.
"Some time ago, Finn requested an investigation into Lyze's past in Daedalus." Riveria explained as she allowed her captain to read through the information. "Remember when Lyze said that he was known as the 'Cursed Child'?"
Loki folded her arms thinking for a moment, before she slammed a fist into an open palm. "Oh, yeah! That was the day I gave him my Falna!"
"Yes." Riveria nodded. "We'd hoped that using that title, we could gain an insight into Lyze's past, and figure out a better way of helping him with whatever was uncovered. This was just before Lyze seemed to spiral out of control."
"And I'm beginning to see why it was against that particular group." Finn said as his face became grim upon seeing the contents of the letter.
"Why? Tell us." Loki said as the other gathered around.
"Barus and Leontina Keele. Support members of the Soma Familia. They joined just a decade ago in hopes of making some money. The wife was an archer and the husband a swordsman. But in just under a year, they found the dungeon life too taxing for them.
They were not even making any progress in terms of their stats. They ended up being discarded to the very lowest ranks of the Soma Familia and they were forced into Daedalus slums. Unfortunately, the wife was also pregnant at the time. They tried to make due but eventually succumbed to the effects of Soma wine and drugs.
Eventually about four years later, they were victims of a homicidal attack. And the child they'd had mysteriously vanished from the place they'd called their house. Reports from some of the residents say the description of the boy matched very well with the 'Cursed Child' that once roamed their streets as a sewage cleaner."
"And why was he called that?" Loki asked.
"Here's where info gets a little scarce." Finn said. "To begin with, there were not actually many left who remember the 'Cursed Child'. Just some children he'd been acquainted with, and those he'd undergone certain...'escapades' with. They described him as the Cursed Child because whenever someone attacked him, they would wind up dead in the most gruesome of ways. Methods that no child would be capable of."
"What happened?"
"Well from the first time it happened, it seemed that one of the bigger kids in the area had a scuffle with Lyze. There were a couple of witnesses on the scene but they all swear that in a moment, the offender ended up mangled and twisted in such a gruesome way, the only thing recognizable about him was his eyes.
Ever since then, people tended to steer clear of him. And those that still attempted to harm him ended up the same way, but again something that a child was physically incapable of doing."
"What was the description of him? Does it say?" Riveria asked, intrigued.
"Yes actually. Pale skin. Short and scrawny. Messy black hair with a prominent cowlick and ...purple coloured eyes." Finn said, looking at his comrades for a moment.
"So he didn't have the blindfold back then." Gareth concluded. "Everything there looks like it could be Lyze except the purple eyes."
"Perhaps he got the blindfold during his time with his master?" Finn questioned before he read even lower. "But that wouldn't make sense."
"Why?" Gareth asked.
"Because according to this last bit here, the last time he was seen when he was cleaning one of the bigger sewage ducts."
Riveria wrinkled her nose sightly at the thought.
"It was one of those older ones that date back to the time Orario was built." Finn explained.
"Hmm." Gareth thought. "Then it would be one of those ones that probably connect with the currents that come out from the Lower Floors, after the Great Tree Labyrinth. The Water floors."
"But here's the thing." Finn stated. "Anybody who has fallen in one of those, could not possible survive. If scraping along the sides of the walls doesn't kill you, to fall in such deep waters would most certainly make you drown. And that's what apparently happened to Lyze. According to some witnesses, he fell down the hole and was never seen again after that."
"So he survived then?" Gareth concluded.
"But it shouldn't be possible." Finn said. "If it did connect with one of the tunnels that run through from the dungeon, Lyze would not have been able to make it out of there at least until he reached Melen. But a child like that would be long dead by then."
"Well he's here now, isn't he?" Riveria said. "I think I remember him saying that his master took him out of Daedalus. But that doesn't match with what is said in here."
"So maybe the sewer wasn't one that connected with the old waterways." Loki suggested. "Maybe he stayed in Daedalus after he fell and his master rescued him somehow."
"No. It has to be one of the old sewers." Finn said as he pulled a map onto his desk. Taking out a set of pointers, he prodded at a specific location in the Daedalus area. "There is where the manhole supposedly is. And it connects with others along here." Finn pointed at another few locations. "They are all confirmed to connect with the old dungeon water ways. So Lyze would have ended up in the same place."
"Where he is supposed to have clearly 'perished'. But clearly he hasn't." Riveria pointed out. "Lyze is tougher than other kid his age. Perhaps that was something natural to him even before whatever tutelage he undertook, and he survived whatever happened thereafter."
"I can't imagine he would have escaped completely unscathed though." Loki mused before gaining a sad expression. "Maybe that is what put him in a blindfold!"
"Well although Lyze says he is able to see everything, and I'm tempted to believe it since he doesn't move like other blind people, he doesn't use his eyes to do so." Finn said. "It's just so confusing. What happened thereafter?"
"More importantly, I think it explains why he has some bad blood against the Soma Familia." Gareth said. "If he and his parents suffered while under Soma's wing, then it's clear why he doesn't like them. He probably knows a whole lot about them that the rest of us don't. Children don't let go of grudges easily either."
"I see what you mean." Riveria said. Silence ensued before a horrified look came over her face which was instantly noticed by the others.
"What is it?" The others asked her.
"I just...realised." Riveria breathed heavily. "If his parents were members of the Soma Familia when they died, they must have also been members when he was born. If that is so, then..." she trailed off, overcome with a sudden bout of fear within herself that she couldn't explain.
But everybody else caught on quickly, and the same worried looks came over their faces. The most affected was Loki as she realised the grim truth as well.
"Then he was born into their Familia." The redhead finished off for the elf. "That would make him not one of mine...but Soma's. It explains why they may have gone looking for him. By right of Soma himself, and the circumstances of his birth, Lyze is a member of the Soma Familia!"
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