To enter our destination it seems like we need to climb down the stairs. They explained that because they were outcasts of the country, the way to enter the country from the surface is only through this narrow trapdoors that needed hundreds of steps of ladders to go through.
"You guys do this everyday..?" I asked them with concern because this seems to be a very tiring task to just even climb..
"Yeah, this is already our daily routine" Sotiras said with no hesitation..
'The children in this world is really something else..' I thought silently.
"We needed to do this so we could survive.. but today.." Xal said grimly.. he seemed to be thinking of a way to survive today..
"It is very unfortunate it seems.." I said also with a little regret that I had not save them sooner.
After that we silently climbed down the ladder until we saw a bright light..
"Urgh.." I instinctively covered my eyes because of the bright surroundings and after a while I looked around me..
"This.." I said in astonishment..
"Welcome to the last united country in Sydron, The Country of Aplistía" Xal said while leading the way.
"Of course this is only the side of the country where the poor and outcasts lives.. but hey.. it's still more than being on the surface.." Xal chuckled dryly and I could see that Sotiras was holding his shirt..
"This place is really quite the place isn't it..?" I said with an amazed expression. This place looked like a giant sand country. The surrounding walls were paved with hard sandstone that held up all the sand from above. The architecture is also very uniquely formed.. making this place looked like an underground ancient egypt.
"Shall we go?" Xal asked me with a smile and I nodded. Then we walked with Xal leading the way with Sotiras by his side towards his home..
'Is it really okay for me to follow them..?' I thought in my mind..
.
.
.
"We are home.." Xal said lowly to not be too loud and entered a small house in the outskirts of this place. It seemed to be quite small and run down.
"Mom..!" Sotiras immediately ran inside towards his mother.
"We have a guest today, dear.." Xal also entered the house while I followed suit politely..
"Excuse me.." Inside was a normal looking house with old furnitures that could be counted as antique. Weirdly enough it was quite cold inside here despite being under this ton of sand.
"And who might you be, young man?" A gentle and sickly voice could be heard right besides me. I looked at the source of the voice and found a pale and sickly figure of a woman in her 30's. Looking at her face she, Sotiras's face was quite similar to her face.
She had a yellow hair that looked like the sand with amber eyes that looked like a gemstone that shone under the little light they had. She has a moderate figure with pale skin.
Xal like the opposite had a hair that was white from age and a beard that had also went white. He has brown coloured eyes that seemed to absorb the light that went into his eyes. He had a bulky figure with enough muscles to support his daily work..
"Hello, Ma'am. My name is Zero Origin you may call me Zero. I am around 17 years old.." I introduced myself to her politely. She looked at me up and down and chuckled to herself.
"You still seemed really young don't you, Zero?" She said with a teasing tone. She seemed to really adore children for some reason.. but inside of her eyes were sadness and grief. It went by almost unnoticed but I could vaguely see it..
"Ma'am..?" I said to her in a concerned tone. She seemed quite surprised that I actually saw through her expression.
"Ah.. sorry. You just reminded me of one of our deceased child.." I widened my eyes a little in surprise. I didn't expect that..
"Sorry for asking.." I said with a little bow and she seemed a little flustered when I did that. After all it awakened a bad memories of the past and pain of grief.. I myself knew that the most.
"Hahaha.. no need to be sorry. Nice to meet you, as you can see I am the wife of this man here. My name is Leios Idrytís." She introduced herself in a graceful manner.
"So what brings you here?" She asked with a curious tone. But before I could answer her question, Xal answered it for me.
"Ah! This young man saved both me and Sotiras from the horde back in the surface.." He said with a wry smile when remembering the events that had happened.
"Yeah! He is very strong!! When I was grabbed by one of them he suddenly had already killed all of them!!" Sotiras said enthusiastically but suddenly covered his mouth when he found his mother had looked at him with stern and worried eyes.
"You were captured by one of them..!! Are you fine? Are you cursed? Are you feeling weird?" Leios barraged her son with questions regarding his safety. I decided to move to let her worry about her son more.. because that's what mothers do. I promptly sat down on one of the chairs while looking at the family who were doing their own business..
"*sigh*.." Looking at the pair of mother and son made me smile a little and remembered my past a bit..
"What are you smiling for, young man?" Xal asked me while placing a cup of something that looked like tea on my side. I thanked him a little and explained myself..
"Seeing this really just made me remembers my past a little.." I said to him with a vague smile. The smile holds many emotions. Grief, sadness, nostalgia, gentleness, and many more..
"What about your past, young man?" Xal seemed quite curious about my past. Well looking at it, I still looked like a young man even if I really am..
"Hmm.. nothing much really. I just remembered about my own mother.." I said to him.
"And.. where is she now..?" Xal asked even though he already knew what happened..
"She is.. now resting in peace.." I said with a sad smile over my face. Xal seemed to understand and patted me on my back.
"Cheer up, young man. You don't want your mother to see you crying right?" He said with an understanding smile. I looked quite surprised when he said that but I just pass it off with a chuckle on my side.
"No one deserves to feel pain and grief in this whole world.." Xal suddenly said cryptically.
"Life is something to cherish, but it doesn't stop death from coming.." He sat down next to me while holding his own cup of tea..
"But that doesn't mean you can grief forever. You need to learn to let something go.." He said as he stared into my eyes like a wise sage that had lived for hundreds of years.
"But you also can't forget about them.." He says again after taking a sip of his drink..
"What you can do is to just look forward.. to what you will have in the future" He said while smiling gently while looking at his wife and son.. he seemed to have a knowledge in this kind of pain. From what I can deduce, he also had a deceased son..
"I see.. of course I knew that" I said with a smile while taking a sip of my own drink. It was sweet like fruit but tasted like tea..
"After all, I still need to fulfill my promise" I said while gripping my chest.
Behind my shirt was a necklace. It was a gift, a special gift from Shihori.. she gave me this when I turned 16.. it was a pendant of our familial love. A vow that she will always be right by my side and I will always protect her..
"Hahaha! Go on, young man!" He cheered for me with a hearty laugh of his.
"I do not know where you are from, young man. But just looking at you, I could see that you aren't from this place, are you?" Xal said with a serious face. I was quite shocked hearing that. He figured it out quite earlier than I ever expected really..
"Indeed.." I confirmed while nodding my head slightly.
"I am not from this place.. that is the truth.. and I need to return to my place.. but there are circumstances.. but I'll be sure to be back..!!" I said with determination on my eyes. I will fulfill my promise after all.
"Hahahaha! Be strong, young man!" We both have a laugh until suddenly a loud knock on the door could be heard from outside.
"XAL! YOUR PAYMENTS HAD BEEN DUE FOR A WEEK! YOU KNOW WHAT TO DO!!" We heard the voice of an arrogant man. His voice disgusts me.. it sounded like those people who ridiculed my ways of living.. even when they do not know what I had been through..
"Xal..?" I looked at Xal who now had a grim expression on his face. Both Sotiras and Leios also went silent and walked up to Xal in concern..
"*sigh*.. Please wait.. a while, young man" Xak said while walking forward to the door..
"Miss Leios.. who is that..?" I asked Leios about the man. He seemed to have a bad connection with this family..
"He is a.. tax collector for the government.." She said solemnly.. I closed my eyes to think for a while..
'Even in another world.. government seems to be trouble for a lot of folks..' I thought while sighing..
'But is it a good idea to be involved..?' This is the thought that I had been keeping for myself..
"Please, Sir Ploútos..! I'll be sure to pay.. next week so please..!" I heard the pleading voice of Xal then I saw a man with an extravagant outfit for a country that lived underground enters the room we're in..
He looked like he is in 40's, he has an arrogant expression on his face as he lifted the cigar that was on his mouth. On his other hand was a giant rifle that looked like a M1 Garand.. I immediately assumes that is a semi-automatic rifle based on it's looks..
"Oh..? You seem to be hiding quite the capable young man, Xal!" He seemed to said as he looked over at me..
"Tsk..! what do you mean by that, you damned old man?" I spoke with clear hostility but he seemed to be only amused.. rather than surprised.
"Talking back now, young man?" I stared at him with cold eyes now that he drew his rifle and pointed it at me..
"So what..? People like you are just trash upon the sea of trash.. but that doesn't mean I couldn't threw you into your deserved place.." I said with clear killing intent which even shocked Leios and Xal..
"And to where is that now, young man..?" The man spoke fearlessly.. no it's not that he is fearless.. he is just.. stupid
"Hell! Kyo..!" I said coldly as I suddenly appeared behind him which even surprised him but he reacted quickly and spun his body around.. but it's futile as a sword had been shone in front of his neck even before he could react..
I really was about to kill him mercilessly with the pain of a thousand souls.. but Xal.. stopped me..
"Please wait, young man..!!" His voice made me stop in my track but I let my guard down and he suddenly shot his rifle towards.. Sotiras...!
"Tsk..!" I quickly dashed towards Sotiras and stopped right in front of him before bracing my sword with a stance..
"[Sword Arts: Precise Cut]" I calmly raised my sword and swung down in an exact and precise manner and timing.. which cuts down.. the speeding bullet...
"I- Impossible..!" The arrogant man said..
"What's 'impossible', huh? You dumb shit!" I was cursing him with all my soul.. it really seems like he isn't someone that ever felt pain in their lives..
"Y-You will pay..!" He said while cowering in fear.. after all that arrogance.. it seems he is just stupid after all..
"Tsk.. go away! You ruined my mood.." I said with an annoyed expression clearly written on my face.
He immediately got up and ran away to his giant mansion probably and said what happened to his daddy which could help him get revenge on me and this family..
"Thank you.. young man.." Xal said with a surprised expression on his face.. what are you so surprised for..? You're the one who told me that I should let him go..
"..No problem" I said as I make my sword disappears once again..
"But, won't he come back again..?" Leios said with a solemn expression on her face. She seemed to be concerned more about my safety rather than their own safety..
"I'll be fine on my own.. but what about you guys..?" I am really concerned about their safety now that I had done something stupid..
"We'll be fine. You should worry about yourself, young man" Xal said to me without any worry on his side.
"Indeed, do not worry about us, Zero" Leios also said while embracing her child who was cowering in her arms.. but looking at both of them.. they seemed to be really confident.
"*sigh*.. Tsk..! Alright! If that what you want to do.." I stood up from my seat and slowly walked towards the entrance of the house.. All 3 of them stared at me worriedly..
"Do not worry about me. I have been through worse.. be safe" I said to them facing them one last time.. I wouldn't know when I will be able to find them once again..
"I hope for your safety, young man" Xal said while smiling at me..
"Come back safe, Azaroth" Leios said full of hope..
"B- Be safe.. brother!" Sotiras said which kind of surprised me how he called me 'brother'..
"Hahaha! Thank you.. I will be safe. After all, I am Zero Origin!" I said proclaiming my fake name that I made for myself.. even though it is a fake name.. I had a feeling of comfort with this name.
"[Flash Arts: Lightning Speed]..!" With that I left the house.. in style.