"Leah, why don't you sit and eat with us?" Kane said suddenly, surprising his dad and the maid.
"L-Lord Kane," Leah stammered, her eyes widening, "I don't think that's necessary."
"Here, this plate has an extra helping. We'll share." Kane beamed.
Leah gave a nervous chuckle. "I appreciate the offer, Lord Kane, but-"
"Sit. Sit down," Kane ordered, flashing her his signature smile.
Leah hesitantly sat down, Darian glanced between her and his son.
"Well, I'm certainly glad to see you both getting along." Darian said after a moment of awkward silence, "A few months ago, you wouldn't even look in her direction."
Kane shrugged. "I was younger. Immature, Papa."
Darian smiled and quietly finished his food. He raised a glass of water to his lips and sipped.
Suddenly, Kane stopped eating and glanced in his father's direction.
"You want a drink, Papa? I can get you some."
Darian waved his hand. "I've got my water, thank you."
Kane shook his head. "No, no, that's not strong enough. That's just water! Look, our maid, she's having whiskey. I'll give you a whiskey, too. I mean, if that's what you want."
Darian and Leah exchanged a glance.
"Ah, no. Not tonight, son." Darian said, putting his cup down on the table.
Kane nodded. "Fine, suit yourself."
There was a long, uncomfortable silence. Eventually, Darian coughed and cleared his throat.
"Well, it's been a tiring day. I think I'll head upstairs for a bit. You two should clean up and do the dishes, Leah."
"Yes, sir."
Kane nodded. "Yeah. Goodnight, Papa."
Darian smiled and headed up the stairs, his eyes falling on the full bottle of wine on the dining room table.
Kane watched as his father left, leaving him and Leah alone.
He turned to Leah, who was clearing the plates.
"So, uh, thanks for the meal. I guess." Kane fumbled, not really knowing what else to say.
Leah nodded. "You're very welcome, Lord Kane."
"So, need some help?"
Leah shook her head. "No, no. I'm fine, Lord Kane. You should head to your room and get some rest."
Kane stood there for a moment before turning around and exiting the room.
He walked down the hall and past his father's room and noticed that the light was still on inside. 'Hm, weird. He said he was tired...' He thought, 'Maybe he's not going to bed?'
Kane walked closer to his father's door, he pushed the door open slightly and peeked inside. His father's form was laid across the bed, a hand clenched around a picture frame.
'What the hell is he holding?' Kane wondered.
Kane looked closer at the frame, recognizing his mom's young face in the photograph. It was a photo from their wedding, taken in the village.
'So he's just looking at old photos? Strange. Strange.' Kane observed and glanced at the wine bottle next to his father's bed.
'Just looking...'
Kane snorted.
Kane closed the door and hurried to his room. He sighed and lied down on his bed, a knock at his door making him shoot up, "Y-Yes?" He uttered.
The door opened, revealing his father, "I'll come by after I get something done. Take a shower before bed. " He said, closing the door.
Kane rubbed his cheeks, "My face feels so dirty."
With those thoughts, he rose and headed to the bathroom. After undressing and turning the knobs of the shower, he entered and started scrubbing his hair, sighing as the water hit his scalp.
Five minutes later he got out of the bathroom wrapped in a towel. He didn't bother wearing his underwear or dressing up for bed since he usually slept nude.
He threw the towel in a corner and walked towards the bed, his vision blurred from his wet eyelashes.
A knock at his bedroom door made him pause.
"Come in."
Kane whipped around and the door opened, Darian standing on the other side, his eyes glued on his son.
"Papa, you-...uh..." Kane squeaked.
"I see you don't like clothes much," Darian snorted.
Kane blushed and snapped, "H-Hey, don't just barge in."
Darian's nose scrunched up, eyes flickering to the towel lying in the corner.
"I did say I'd be coming by."
Kane pursed his lips.
"Alright, alright... I'll put on pants, no need to stare..." He murmured, embarrassed, and started to put his pajama pants on.
"Have you heard of something called shame, son?" Darian chuckled.
Kane sighed.
"I-Is there something you need, Papa?"
Darian raised an eyebrow, "What? I can't just check in on my son?"
"I mean...it's a little odd."
Darian merely shrugs and sits on the edge of the bed.
"Can I tell you something?" He says.
"What?"
"You know how the city you were rescued from is in Algaria?"
"Yeah?"
"Well, there's a young blonde girl over there who just so happened to be adopted by the President."
Kane's lips twitched, and his nostrils flared.
"Really...Sadie?"
Darian nodded.
"I only found this out recently, so I hadn't bothered telling you sooner."
"Right.."
"Yeah, they asked me to come to a party hosted by the President."
Kane's ears perked up.
"To a party?"
"To a Gala... a huge party, held at the Octagon, for the heroes."
"Octagon? You mean the great castle?"
"I- Yeah, you can call it that. Although, it's more of an octagon than a castle..."
Kane smiled.
"That's super cool."
Darian scratched the back of his head and smiled nervously.
"You wanna come? See Sadie?"
"Do you mean it? Yes! Yes!"
Kane grinned and reached out to hug his father, but his grip faltered, and he fell against him, arms flailing as he struggled to balance himself.
Darian gripped the back of his shirt and held him upright.
Kane groaned.
"Papa... do you think I can master my power? All of it, I mean?"
"Well, we don't even know how all of it works, so that makes things harder. But I'm confident you'll learn to control it eventually."
"What about the other things I want to do? I can heal people, but what else..."
Darian shook his head.
"You want to be a hero?"
Kane's lips curled into a wicked smile.
"I want to be strong, Papa. So much stronger. I want to be the strongest, not some lame superhero who is restricted by society's laws."
"Is that so?"
Darian stood up, grabbed his son's shoulder, and pulled him close.
"Tell me one thing, son."
Kane raised his head and looked straight into his father's eyes.
"What would you do to become the strongest?"
Kane thought about it, but in the end, he shrugged and murmured, "Anything, Papa."
"Anything?"
"That's right," Kane's smile widened, "Anything."
Darian laughed, releasing Kane's shoulder and towering over him.
"Oh boy, you have no idea what's coming for you."
Kane frowned, scratching his head.
"What?"
Darian responded with, "Things will be interesting at the gala."
"Hm, how so?"
"Politicians and heroes are bringing their children, proudly flaunting their potential. They're going to throw you kids at each other and make you duel to see who has the 'brightest' future. You've got a lot to learn before we go."
"Like what?"
"A lot."
"How long do I have?"
Darian thought for a second.
"We leave in six months."
Kane gulped.
"That's too long!"
"It's okay, don't worry about Sadie...worry about yourself now."
"Are you gonna teach me?"
Darian looked deep into his son's eyes and grinned.
"I have the perfect person for the job."
Kane grinned, his eyes beaming.
"Seriously? Who?!"
Darian shrugged.
"You'll see."
"Aren't you gonna tell me?"
"Nope."
"Gosh."
"It'll be more exciting that way."
Kane sighed and rolled his eyes.
"Fine."
Darian smiled and lightly pinched Kane's chin.
Kane replied with a confused look. "What?"
"Goodnight, my son. Rest well."
Kane sighed and returned his own childish grin.
"Thanks, Papa. Goodnight."
Darian ruffled his hair before getting up, pausing at the door. He turned and sent him a look, "Don't stay up too late, or I'll take away your books," He said, his warning all too clear.
Kane bit his tongue, the frustration leaking.
"I said goodnight, Papaaaaaa!" He groaned.
The moment his father left, the door locked with a click.
Kane waited until his dad's footsteps became distant before closing his eyes and muttering,
"Tomorrow, then."
He could barely contain the smile as the covers covered him, "It's time for bed," He exhaled, closing his eyes shut and drifting to slumber.
A week later, after breakfast, Kane headed to the library, like every morning.
Self-study was something he enjoyed, and it was a good distraction from life.
Lately, Kane's been learning about the history of Earth; with an eager smile, he walked into the reasonably massive building compared to the rest of the village.
He headed straight for the historical section, stopped before a particular bookcase, and looked up.
In front of him, stretching from floor to ceiling, was a giant, golden-oak bookcase. The top was way too high for him to reach, but the lower ones were filled with enough books.
Kane loved the atmosphere in here. It was so quiet and calm that he could quickly lose track of time.
Taking his blindfold off, he gets his hands on an encyclopedia and is amazed by the pictures. He plopped down on the carpeted floor with the book on his lap.
'I could spend days and days in here, just reading and reading...' Kane mulls over.
Kane heard voices nearby and looked up, his ears focused. It sounded like people were talking somewhere inside the building.
After a while, a young blonde girl walks past his aisle and almost screams when she spots him lying on the floor.
"Oh my God! What are you doing here, kid?" She stops, leaning against the shelf, her breath wheezing.
"I'm studying," Kane replies, continuing to look through the book.
"Why are you not wearing your blindfold?"
"I can't exactly read with it on... Why do you care," Kane replied, not looking up.
"Aren't you a bit young to be here?
"Aren't you a bit old to be worried?" He huffs, glancing up from the book in annoyance.
"I-I, uhm, I'm not worrying. Just confused. This is a library...not for children," she stammered.
Kane shrugged. "So? You look like a kid, too."
The girl shook her head, seemingly exasperated. "So, why are you here?"
"I'm studying," Kane answered.
"Yeah, but..." the girl falters, "shouldn't you be doing that at home?"
"If I did, I'd never get anything done," Kane shrugged and added, "Besides, I enjoy reading."
"I can see that..."
"Wanna sit down?" Kane gestures for her to join him.
"Not really. I have to go."
"Well, I don't want to go home right now."
"Why not?"
Kane grumbled, "Ugh, my dad keeps annoying me...apparently Elder Amira is training me."
The girl smiled sympathetically, "I hear you, haha!"
"But since you're here," Kane patted the ground beside him, "Why don't we read a bit together? I could use some company," He flashed a smirk.
The girl hesitated, "Uhm..."
"C'mon, I wanna know why you're here, anyway."
"I'm helping out," she shrugged, "doing some inventory, making sure people aren't messing around...that kind of stuff. I also have some work to do with the new books."
"Well, wanna help me out?" He smiles innocently.
"I'm pretty busy," the girl sighs.
Kane shrugged. "How busy can you get at a library?"
The girl bites her lip, looking around the empty corridor.
"I guess I can spare a few minutes," she relents, "If you really want me to."
Kane's smile widened, and he patted the spot next to him, "Cool, sit down, and we'll talk!"
"Okay. I'm Lucia."
Lucia grunts slightly, wedging herself on the carpet between a shelf and a table and retrieving a stack of books from her bag.
"And you're Kane."
Kane nodded. "Yeah. How'd you know?"
"Everyone knows." She rolled her eyes. "It's not hard to pick up, with you running around town and healing people. Not to mention...your unique appearance."
"Fair point," Kane nods.
They sat in silence for a moment.
"Uhm, well, then, uh...here you go," he muttered, lifting the cover of his book up, showing her one page full of pictures and text.
Lucia looked at it for a second, then glanced at him, an eyebrow raised.
"Um...?"
"Read a little," Kane urged, "It's interesting."
She hesitated.
"What? You don't know how to read?"
"I-I do!"
"Okay!" Kane scooted closer to her.
Lucia smiled awkwardly.
"Here," Kane gestured to his book, "There are some illustrations if you're interested."
"Sure," Lucia moved a bit, coming a little closer.
"So, what do you think?" Kane prodded, glancing up from the pages to study her face.
"About what?"
"About Elysium?"
"Oh, well...I guess it's nice."
"Would you want to be a hero?" Kane continued.
"Maybe," Lucia giggled, her green eyes sparkling.
"Cool."
"Yeah, but I've got things I need to do before I can leave the village, haha," Lucia glanced down, nervously twirling a strand of blonde hair in her fingers.
"Same! For the record, this isn't about heroes, but still! The whole world seems so exciting."
"Right..."
After a few seconds of awkward silence, Kane asked, "Um, how old are you?"
"Why would I tell you that?" Lucia narrowed her eyes suspiciously.
"So I can understand you," Kane replied matter-of-factly.
She snorted. "Well, if you really want to know...but that's rude to ask people."
"Well, excuse me for being curious."
"I'm ten," she chuckled, "Though everyone tells me I seem much older."
"Ten!" Kane gasped in disbelief.
She gave a weak laugh, "Yeah, most people don't believe it either."
"You're weird," he murmured, his jaw dropping.
"Guess so...kid."
He shook his head. "Eh. Stop calling me a kid, and you're only like three years older!"
Lucia giggled, "I'll work on it."
Kane opens his mouth to reply, but a hand suddenly grabs him by the wrist and pulls him into the air; he winces, pain jolting his arm.
"Just who I was looking for!" The owner of the hand roars.
Kane flinches. He struggles to get free from the tight grasp, "Lemme go!" he begged, whimpering.
"It's time for your lessons with Amira. Let's go."
With that, Darian tugged Kane away from Lucia.
Kane grumbled and lowered his head, watching as his new friend faded away in the distance.
'My lessons with the crazy woman...'