***
It all began 27 years ago. Humans at that time had a relatively simple life and their goal was to further better it.
Everything changed when the humans interacted with an unknown intelligent extraterrestrial species. They were attacked for no utmost reason and driven to the brink of extinction.
The extraterrestrial race called themselves Itonians. Their actions shattered the lives and dreams of many. They were incredibly fearsome creatures with no regard for life, peace and culture.
Like a ship slicing through water, the Itonians left chaos in their wake. The battles with the Itonians were the ultimate test for mankind, for as a certain wise man once said,'Under pressure carbon turns into diamonds or it crumbles'- something like that, just don't berate me- most humans crumbled but those who remained were molded to be tenacious.
Mankind was pushed to the utmost limit and just a handful of survivors were left. The once glorious civilization of mankind was reduced to almost nothing.
'Almost.' It is quite funny how the word for nigh perfection was what saved man. At the lowest low of the gruesome war which was officially named the First Itonian War- first because everyone knew that the war was far from over and there would most likely be a second if not a third war. Some called it the Culling because they claimed it weeded out the weak leaving space only for the strong, others called it the massacre because that is what it was , a complete one sided massacre that killed both strong and weak alike. It was during these dark times that mankind found a solution to their problems, literally.
A team of scientists made a staggering discovery, by accident just like most groundbreaking discoveries. They had managed to synthesise a compound.
The compound was later coined Xeron and had the ability to give man special power,weird abilities which were unexplained by science. People with the strength to crush mountains with their bare hands and tear the sky asunder by just sighing. All this was made possible by Xeron.
It would have been the golden age of mankind if not for the looming shadow of death hanging over them. Xeron was a weapon man created without understanding or knowing.
Excited by the turn of events man jumped into the war with it without even understanding how it worked. Through Xeron man was able to change the tide of the war.
A few years after the discovery of Xeron and a lot of casualties on both sides was man able to force the war into a balance, a truce was called and man could finally rest and regain his strength again whilst preparing for what would be thrown at him.
***
Once upon a time... that was how fairytales began. If so, how would one begin a nightmare or a story of gruesome and chilling horror?
***
The city of Kneuman basked in the golden embrace of sunset, its paved streets shimmering as though kissed by liquid amber. Advertisements and music spilled from the glowing neon billboards, their melodies mingling with the gentle rustle of leaves in the breeze. Market stalls were being packed up and some were being opened up, students exchanging jests with others and children playing without a care in the world, their giggles echoing through the narrow alleys. At the center of it all, a grand skyscraper loomed, its billboard frozen in time at 6:15, as if Kneuman itself wanted to savor this idyllic moment forever.
Yet beneath the surface, the city harbored a darker rhythm, one that was present in every society, one that pulsed like a faint heartbeat through its shadowed alleys and hidden corridors.
In a quiet suburban neighborhood hidden away from the dark rhythm of the city in a house identical to most around it, blending in with the bland masses.Inside, the illusion of peace shattered, the sound of muffled screams echoed off the walls as a woman battled against several others. Metal scraped against metal in a chilling cacophony of death. The air was heavy with the scent of iron and the woman like a graceful dancer weaved between the blows of her attackers reaping their lives with chilling precision. But she was not unscathed, looking at her one would wonder how she was still standing let alone fighting.
She fought for love and she fought to protect. Eventually the battle ended with both sides losing. There were only three people alive left in the room. The woman bloodied and battered, gasping on her final breaths. A kneeling man with a mean look and a fresh laceration on his face, the wound running from below his left eye extending all the way to his chin. And finally there was a little boy of eight who had just witnessed unrestrained violence, his whole world shattering before his very eyes. His mother was lying in a pool of her blood.
Sobbing and scared out of his mind he approached his mother.
"Promise me hon, promise me that you'll become stronger, stronger than me, stronger than your dad. Promise me that you'll become strong enough to protect those you love and cherish." She actually said to him despite her wounds
"I promise mom, I...promise on house Dixon, that I'll be strong...."
There was a long eerie silence.
"...and I'll take revenge on those who did this."
Jack looked at the last of the assassins who was still alive. At that moment he was consumed by rage and he just wanted to kill him. In his anger Jack picked a shard of glass and ran towards the man and stabbed him in the shoulder... or that was his plan. The glass slid off the man's skin without leaving a scratch.
Jack stabbed and stabbed and stabbed until his own hands bled, the man didn't even move a muscle. It wasn't that he didn't want to, in fact if it were up to him he would have finished off the bitch and her little twerp but the bitch actually managed to bind him in a soul contract and thus he was now a slave to the little boy.
Jack's mother's aim had never been to win but to protect her son. She knew she would never be able to kill them all whilst keeping her life even when she had two, the best she could have achieved was mutually assured destruction but with a son she couldn't settle for that so she went for the next best thing.
Enslaving one of them to be a protector, at least she knew that even if she was gone her son was safe for the foreseeable future.
"Jack... darling..." she coughed and wheezed. "Stop. Leo is *cough* going to be *cough* your protector from now on use him well and survive." She paused, taking in long but shallow breaths.
"Come closer I have a gift for you." Jack came to his mother and knelt close to her. "Take my hand, my strength is failing me, I won't last long." At this point Jack was emotionally spent, his mind just shut down his emotional processing capabilities and he was numb.
With his bleeding hands he took his mother's hand. Almost immediately he felt a stinging pain as a hot feeling wormed up his hand and settled within his chest. The warmth spread around his body and invigorated him.
There was a swarm of blue sparks of light which formed around his mother's hand. The sparks swirled and then coalased into two books. A mundane person would have been shocked but not Jack, he had seen his mother do this several times and was already used to it.
She gave him the books which had leather covers and were made with actual paper. In this day and age paper books were a rarity and most even considered it a luxury. Written on its cover was 'Quin mastery' and on the other book was 'Infinite Armaments Battle Arts'
"Take my ring, it's a spatial storage that will serve you well when the time comes."
"Mom you promised you would buy me sweets and said you will always be with me... what is going to happen to you now." Jack sobbed uncontrollably
"I'm going to a better place. I'm going to join daddy and we'll always be watching over you so don't forget to be a good boy, okay?"
Jack sat there for a long time holding onto his mother's hand long after she had gone, crying uncontrollably and cursing the names of those who did this. Eventually he curled and fell asleep besides her dreaming. Dreaming of all the good days gone by and lost in the sands of time.
He dreamt of things he wished he had done,he wished he had said but now it was too late. Now all he had left of her was a gaping hole in his heart, a void he didn't know how to fill up.
Leo recovered enough when it was morning and disposed of the bodies of his comrades, cleaned the house and organised a funeral for the wrench; he didn't want her lingering around and clinging onto him after all.
Leo eventually bought the house just besides Jack's own and from then they became neighbours and away from the prying eyes of others were master and servant.
Ever since that fateful day Jack abandoned his name and identity. And from there onwards he adopted the name Aiden Smith, an unfortunate orphan of war.