Chereads / Tarnished: Journey for the Strongest / Chapter 2 - Meet and Greet

Chapter 2 - Meet and Greet

In a small messy studio apartment franticly walks a woman slender woman with ashin hair. She looked nervous with her cold blue eyes and skin pale white tone similar to freshly fallen snow. She rushed to the kitchen and then the bedroom quickly searching for something. Her face could be seen morphing and twisting with anger as she tears the rooms upside down in her search. This was to no avail, as what small patients she had had ran out.

She'd occasionally check her wristwatch and look out the windows at the bright blue moon. Realizing that she was running out of time she looked around and saw that there was only one room left untouched by her rage.

She walked through the short hallway toward a closed door decorated with cute drawings of three people holding hands, These drawings were no works of art as they were done by a child.

*Slam* She blurts open the door, doing this caused one of the many pictures on the wall way to fall, breaking instantly. "Mo...mom is that you, what wrong?" freighting by the sounds wakes up a young boy seemingly around 10 to 11 years old, this is Edward. Still a bit tired and confused.

Looking outside the boy sees the bright moon in the cold night sky." it's late Mom, is this about my grade. I'll do better, I do bet..." scared Edward tried to ease his mothers's disappointment but she did not even react to him. Rather her eyes wandered around the child's room, she stood still looking at him with a spiteful gaze oozing with disgust. This wasn't the first time he'd seen her angry, but this was the first time he'd seen her detached and beaming with malice.

As he felt his heart sink to his stomach, he felt lightheaded as he reached out his hand toward his mother he felt his body levitate up toward the bright moon. The roof had somehow vanished into thin air. He flowed through the cold knight getting closer to the moon, but somehow his body became warmer and warmer.

From his left eye, a single red tear fell. As he was about to slam into the moon, a Strang silhouette of a woman flew towards him from the moon. It was too dark so he couldn't see anything, except her deep vibrant violet eyes that shone brighter than the moon in front of him.

As the two got closer Edward looked down back toward the ground and saw his mother looking up. But her gaze was not directed toward him as she looked straight through him at the moon it was as if at that moment he did not exist.

*Gasp, Gasp* in a cold sweat dripping from brow to cheek Edward jumps out of bed gasping for air. Confused he looks around trying to get his bearings, his not sure what happened or how he got here the only thing he can remember is passing out in the mountain and also the pure violet. His eyes wandered around the room with a curious caution.

He looked around the room but nothing felt right, he saw the curtains, wooden flooring and even the bed itself was strange it felt as if this was the first time he had seen any of them. A feeling of Jamais vu took him as he looked at things he knew but couldn't recognize, everything felt strange but nothing stood out. This eerieness only got worse as small slivers of memory returned.

He didn't know much, but he was sure of one thing, which was the fact he wasn't supposed to be hear. As he got out of bed and shamefully realized that he was buck naked with everything hanging free. "Ahhhh, the hell are my clothes?" Edward jumps to the bed in confusion trying to use the sheet to cover himself up. 

He looked around for his clothes but the only thing he found was his socks, on the knight standing beside the bed. *Sigh* he reached over to grab them ensuring he didn't lose anything else. Wearing sheets and his socks he looked around the small room, it had solid grey painted walls, with a white shaggy carpet covering its oak wooden floor. The walls were decorated with strange paper charms that would occasionally shimmer with a dim white light.

As he consciously approached these charms he got more and more lightheaded with the charms shining brighter. when he finally reached spitting distance with the charms he collapsed to the ground unable to move, just jerking on the floor with random muscle twitches.

"Sorry kid but they are high-level sealing charms a magi novice such as yourself doesn't have the mental fortitude to break them, so bunker down course this is your new home till we get it out of you." says a woman with a monotone voice. Edward used all his strength to look around trying to find her. 

*Ca-Lank* from behind Edward the sound of a metal opening echoes throughout the room. From behind leans down a woman asks. "Do you know how much you've caused us ?" "Based on this treatment I'd beat an arm and leg?" asks Edward with a playful tone ignoring the pain he is in.

"Arent we funny." says the woman with an annoyed look. But Edwards's comment was justified as when looked at her imposing figure he noticed that she had a cybernetic arm and leg. The woman looked roughed like a former military with short black hair tied back in a ponytail.

"Why the hell would she even, save let alone...*Sigh* because you this entire operation is fucked. So I hope enjoy solitude Mr. Funny Guy! " angrily says the woman while looking down at Edward. "What with the rage is this about the arm and leg thing, in my defense you kidnap and probably do unstoppable this to my naked body," says Edward. 

"You piece of shit, if she didn't mark you I'd kill you where you stand." says the woman as she draws out a short black blade and slowly moves it around his eye. As he looks at the blade he gets flashbacks of what happened at the mountain as his right eye achs. 

"That's enough Sarah he's a victim here too, isn't that right my dear Ed ?" from behind the muscular soldier woman named Sarah, comes a soft yet firm voice from the door. Hearing this voice voice Sarah begrudgingly stops her vent and returns her blade to its seth.

Frozen stiff the memories of the mountain all come flooding back. All the pain, fear, and even relief come pouring back. *Pant, Pant* he begins gasping for air barely able to breathe it as if the creature is back on his chest suffocating him. 

"It's okay now that I'm here, you'll never suffer again whether none in the world of man or the heavenly plains shall dare oppose you, for you are my beloved." 

This strange voice calms him down his heart settles and with his mind relaxed he looks up. Mesmerized that he sees, skin fair as the moon on a clear summer day, an eye violet as freshly bloomed Viola.

This was her, the strongest mortal to ever live, and she had fallen for him.