Chereads / No Pain, No Gain / Chapter 2 - Chapter 1.5.1 - A Boy and the Face of Death

Chapter 2 - Chapter 1.5.1 - A Boy and the Face of Death

14 years ago, in the world of Valrr...

There was a small, bustling, but peaceful town, called Lavvendon. In this town, lived a family of 5, a father, a mother, a daughter and 2 sons, the youngest, being an innocent boy filled with wonder, hoping to one day become a Hero, they lived peacefully and happily in this town. One day, the family went to the market to get some groceries, when suddenly, a huge dragon-like creature flew above them, followed by helicopters, causing the usually peaceful town into panic. The family stayed together, as all the people started rushing back to their homes, they then watched as the dragon-like creature landed and spread its seemingly flaming wings, causing them all to watch in awe, the youngest of the family also watched it in wonder, when it suddenly started blasting flames everywhere, engulfing the entire town in flames. The boy could do nothing but look around him as houses fell apart, people burned alive, screams of horror, grief and pain from every direction. As the family managed to rush into their house, the youngest accidentally tripped, as the other siblings ran back to save him, when suddenly, the house collapsed and crashed onto the parents, trapping them under the rubble. The children were horrified at the sight of everything, the dragon-like creature then screeched, as soldiers then suddenly appeared, rushing in and firing at the creature, but it blasted them with flames as well, incinerating them right in front of the children. More soldiers then find the children and try to evacuate them, but separating them in the process, one of the soldiers tried to take the youngest son, but he resisted, when suddenly, the solder got caught in the crossfire when other soldiers tried shooting at the creature, as he fell down and bled to death, the boy capable of doing nothing except watch. Eventually, the soldiers retreated, thinking they evacuated enough people, leaving the poor child alone as he stood there in the heat, crying, terrified at the sight all around him, when suddenly, THUMP, THUMP, THUMP, the boy heard footsteps behind him, he turned around slowly to see the creature right behind him, looking down at him in wonder, as he stared right back at its face, as its face reflected on his big, wondrous eyes. He looked at the creature closely, which now looks more like a bird than a dragon, with its flame-like feathers, as he looks at it in curiosity, wondering why he isn't affected by the flames. The boy touched the huge, flaming bird's feathers, when the flames suddenly started to vanish. Soon, all the flames in the town calmed down, and so did the bird, as it seemingly turned into a young girl, seemingly in her teenage years, as the boy looked up at her. The girl looked all around her, seeming to be confused, before looking down at her hands, then at the boy. The girl also seemed to be crying, is it guilt? The boy tried to continue interacting with her, but she ran away, leaving the boy in the ruined town, all alone, surrounded by rubble and the cremated bodies of all of his loved ones...

12 years later...

The boy is now all grown up, he's 17-years old, and living on the streets of Artillos Kingdom, but he's happy. He usually goes around town, helping people to earn whatever money he can, helping old ladies cross the street, helping lost tourists, hosting small street shows, etc., he was genuinely a really nice guy.

One day, he attempts to finally get a proper job and is on his way to a job interview,

"Okay, Gavin, you can do this..."

The boy, Gavin, talks to himself, motivating and hyping himself up to be confident for the interview as he practices what to say and answer.

Suddenly, he accidentally bumps into a young lady carrying some things as they both fall,

"Oh, I'm sorry..."

Gavin apologizes as he goes ahead and helps her pick up her things,

"Oh, it's okay."

The lady replies as she begins picking up her things as well.

Gavin continues to help the lady get her things, when it was the last item, their hands meet as Gavin gulps nervously, as they then both look up at each other as they look face to face.

Gavin's heart fluttered as he looked into her eyes, as her reflection shined on his eyes, with his reflection also shining back on hers, but despite what his heart said, Gavin's gut had a really bad feeling about this as his spine also shivered at the sense of danger.

They both then get up, as Gavin lets go of the item, "Thanks", the lady says before running away, leaving Gavin standing there, staring at her as she runs.

"Woah, what a woman..."

Gavin says to himself with a slight smile, sighing a bit in relief, but that sense of uncertainty comes back as well as he feels his spine shiver, suddenly causing a slight flashback to the incident...

Gavin eventually shakes the feeling off, as he continues running to go to his job interview before he gets late.

A few hours later, Gavin exits the building, as he then sits on the sidewalk and lets out a heavy, disappointed sigh,

"sigh Damn, looks like I couldn't get the job, again..."

He says to himself as he wipes some sweat and unties his tie, sitting on the sidewalk as he rests. As he was about to get up and leave, suddenly, someone appears in front of him,

"Hey, you alright? You don't look very okay..."

A familiar soft, feminine voice is heard as Gavin looks up to see who it is, it was the lady from earlier, holding a bag of groceries as she stops by where Gavin is sitting,

"Oh, uh, yeah, I'm okay, just... sigh I failed to do something again and, feeling pretty down, y'know?"

He says with a deep sigh as he awkwardly converses with the girl,

"Oh, that kind of sucks..."

She says, feeling a bit of pity for him. She then grabs an apple from her groceries as she then hands it to the sad Gavin,

"Here, take this, just for you to feel a little better. As they say, an apple a day keeps the doctors... I dunno."

She says with a smile, chuckling jokingly as Gavin looks up at her and smiles back,

"Heh, thanks..."

Gavin replies shyly, chuckling back softly as he takes the apple and looks at it.

"Well then, it was nice to meet you again, that's a thank you for earlier too, and... uhm..."

She stutters nervously as she stands there.

"My name's Courtney by the way"

She introduces herself shyly as she stands in front of Gavin.

"I'm Gavin, nice to meet you Courtney"

Gavin introduces himself as well with a warm, welcoming smile as he holds out his hand to shake hers. Courtney takes his hand and they, well, handshake.

The two then separate, Gavin leaving to wherever he plans on going as he takes a bite out of the apple, and Courtney going as well, looking back at Gavin for one more glimpse, before walking away with a slight smile.

The next day, Gavin is looking through different newspapers for a job, as he walks by the nearby guild,

"Huh, the adventurer's guild... I wonder if they'll still even have any jobs that'll accept me..."

Gavin says to himself as he begins walking towards the entrance. He then walks in, as crowds of adventurers sit everywhere, laughing their asses off, drinking or having fights as the busy guild stays bustling with business. Gavin squeezes through the crowd, as he manages to get at the counter, where the guild assistant stands,

"Greetings, new adventurer! How may I help you?"

The guild assistant greets Gavin, as he stands there awkwardly,

"Uhm, actually, I was wondering if, maybe I could work here...?"

He asks as he shrugs a bit in nervousness, as the guild assistant chuckles softly,

"Oh! About that... All the jobs and positions within the guild are taken as of now, sorry... But you can still apply to be an official adventurer!"

She says cheerfully as she pulls up a holographic screen of instructions of how to become an adventurer and other stuff,

"Oh, well then, never mind then... Thanks for the help, miss."

Gavin says with a slightly disappointed sigh, as he thanks her before leaving,

"Okay, sir! But if you ever change your mind, we're always here waiting!"

The guild assistant continues her cheerful attitude as she waves Gavin goodbye, as the disappointed Gavin once again squeezes through the crowd before leaving.

Gavin exits the guild, kicking away a rock in frustration,

"Dammit! Why can't people get a normal job these days!"

He yells in frustration, before turning around to walk away, when suddenly, he almost bumps into someone again, it's Courtney!

"Oh, uhm, sorry... Wait... Gavin! It's you!"

Courtney says in surprise as she greets him,

"Oh, Courtney! Didn't expect to see you here..."

Gavin says with a slight, awkward smile

"You didn't see all of that, did you...?"

Courtney chuckles, "Well, yeah, I kind of did...", she says as she laughs at him a bit, causing Gavin to chuckle in embarrassment,

"Oh... Well then...", Gavin stutters, before taking a deep breath and fixing his composure,

"So, what are you doing here? Where you heading?", Gavin asks her for some small talk, also to shift away from the previous topic,

"Oh, nowhere special, was just going to... Uhm, get some... groceries! Yeah, groceries, again...", she says nervously as she smiles innocently, causing Gavin to get weirded out again,

"Uh huh...", he says in suspicion, his spine then shivers once again, as his gut tells him there's something off about this woman once again.

"Hmm, can I... come with you?", Gavin asks her, hoping to distract himself from everything for now,

"Oh! Uhm, s-sure...?"

Courtney replies, suddenly getting tense and nervous, as Gavin gets that feeling again, but he eventually just pushes it aside. The two both go to the nearby store, Gavin keeps looking at the nervous Courtney, she seems really tense and scared, looking around like something's wrong,

"Hey, you okay? Is something wrong?, I could leave if you want, y'know...?"

Gavin asks the nervous Courtney,

"W-what? No... It's not that... It-it's something else..."

She replies to Gavin as she continues looking around in the store, trying to hide her face. Gavin sighs and chuckles, patting her head to try and calm her down.

"Hey, just relax, if you think there's any danger nearby, I'm here!"

He says with a confident, reassuring smile, trying to cheer the tense Courtney up, as Courtney then looks at Gavin, her eyes shining as she blushes. Gavin then looks away nervously and shakes his head.

"Dammit Gavin... What was that!?"

He thinks to himself as he begins hitting himself in embarrassment.

"O-okay..."

Courtney replies nervously as she continues walking with him, blushing heavily at Gavin's words. Gavin then takes a deep breath, as they then resume their little shopping trip.

The two continue going around the store together awkwardly, walking around and getting things as they go, eventually arriving at the counter, as Courtney shyly hides her face. She pulls out her credit card to pay, as Gavin stands there next to her, waiting.

They both then finish up and leave the store together, Courtney then suddenly pushes Gavin into a nearby alleyway,

"Hey, Gavin, listen... You need to go now."

She whispers to him as she looks around to see if there's anyone there.

"What, why? Is something wrong?"

Gavin asks, concerned, wondering what's going on.

Before Courtney could reply, some guards suddenly run into the alleyway and point at them,

"There!"

They shout as they chase after them. Courtney then starts to run, as Gavin realizes and follows close by, they both run through the alleys, as more guards appear from other entrances, eventually, they all get through the alleys, but find out they've both been trapped, as dozens of guards and police surround them on the other side.

"Freeze! You're under arrest, Courtney Magni, drop everything you're holding and give up!"

The police shout as they all aim guns at her. The confused and terrified Gavin is there, trapped between a crossfire,

"What!? What is going on, Courtney?"

Gavin asks Courtney in confusion as she stands there panickung, thinking what to do next.

Eventually, she takes a deep breath, as Gavin suddenly feels the temperature rise exponentially, as Courtney glowed a red aura, she then suddenly pulled out her hand,

"Eternal Flamethrower!"

Courtney yells, as flames are fired from her palms at all the soldiers, causing them all to scream in pain and fire in panic.

Gavin is terrified as he tries to protect himself as the bullets all head towards him, but before that could happen, Courtney transformed into her complete form, a huge, blazing, red Phoenix, as Gavin looks up at her in shock, shaking as his PTSD kicks in, memories flood back into his head, the burning town, the screams of his loved ones, the screech of the creature, that... girl. It was then he realized that Courtney was actually the monster that ravaged his hometown over a decade ago.

Courtney then protects Gavin as she wraps her wings around him, lowering her temperature to make sure Gavin isn't hurt, on the other side, bullets are fired everywhere from the burning guards and policemen as eventually, they all burn to death.

As soon as the shooting stopped, Courtney then picked up Gavin, before flying away to someplace safe...

A few minutes later, they arrive at a nearby forest, as Gavin is dropped onto the soft grass, Courtney untransforms, as he pants heavily. Gavin then gets up and crawls back away from Courtney in horror.

"Gavin, are you okay?"

The concerned Courtney asks the terrified Gavin as he sits there, traumatized as he starts to cry, he looks at Courtney going towards him as he starts crawling backwards, away from her

"Y-you! You were the one!"

Gavin yells, sobbing and crying,

"You... You killed everyone!"

Courtney panics and tries to calm Gavin down,

"Gavin, please, listen to me..."

Courtney says in panic as Gavin continues to back away.

Gavin continues to sob and cry as he gets backed into a tree.

"No, stay back! Please... Don't kill me..."

He begs in fear as he then closes his eyes, preparing for the worst.

Suddenly, instead of a burning blast, Courtney jumps in and hugs him, trying to calm him down and comfort him.

"Gavin, please... Just listen..."

Courtney says, her voice breaking down a bit as she hugs him, trying to calm him down and comfort him. Gavin sits there, shaking and unable to move, as he feels his heart beating heavily, his eyes continue to tear up heavily, as he then continues to cry, sobbing loudly as he buries his face into Courtney's chest.

A few hours later, Courtney is lighting a pile of wood on fire, as Gavin sits on a log, covered in Courtney's cloak to warm up from the cold, as Courtney and Gavin then sit across each other around the fire in an awkward silence,

"Uhm, Gavin...?"

Courtney breaks the silence as she tries to talk to the silent Gavin, who's sitting there, staring into the flames as it reflects onto his eyes.

"Listen, all those years ago... I didn't know what to do, I had a late awakening and I couldn't control my power, I'm sorry..."

Courtney explains to Gavin, who only continues sitting there, listening in silence.

"Gavin, please understand, I didn't mean to do all of that I swear, I didn't mean... To kill..."

Courtney sighs as she continues to explain, while Gavin still continues to listen,

"Then, one day... as I was running away from the guards after stealing from another shop, they almost captured me, then... I awakened. I blacked out as soon as I did, but when I woke up, all I saw and heard around me was... A burning town, screams of despair and... A little boy..."

Courtney explained in tears, as Gavin listened closely, his eyes widening a bit at the last few words, as he glanced up a bit at Courtney. Courtney gulps nervously as she thinks and realizes,

"T-that was you, wasn't it...?"

She says softly as she looks down at the fire, crackling with embers as Gavin also looks back down, about to sob as he thinks about his past.

"Can you at least say something! Please?"

Courtney shouts a bit as her voice starts to crack, more tears flowing down her face as she sobs. Gavin flinches at her reaction, eyes wideninv a bit in shock, yet unsurprised, his mouth breaking as he sniffles, about to cry again.

"I..."

Gavin finally makes a sound after hours of silence, causing Courtney to look up at him and listen, but Gavin goes back to silence, as he sighs, looking back down as he continues sitting there. Courtney then gets up and goes over to Gavin, giving him a tight hug.

"I'm sorry, Gavin..."

She says in guilt as she hugs Gavin as he still sits there, holding back his tears as the reflection of the fire in front of him can be seen. When Gavin suddenly gets up and wipes away his tears.

"Tell me..."

Gavin suddenly says to Courtney with a serious tone, as Courtney looks up at him in surprise.

"W-what is it?"

Courtney replies, hearing him out as he finally says something. Gavin takes a deep breath as he asks her the question.

"Do you have any actual evil intentions...?"

He asks with a serious tone as he looks down at the defenseless Courtney, his eyes staring into hers intimidatingly, as Courtney then looks down nervously and plays with her fingers,

"N-no... Like I said, I really didn't like doing all of this, I never do, I just... I just want to live, and run away..."

She replies as honestly as she can, a sad look on her face as she looks down, disappointed in herself, knowing she could never redeem herself to someone especially like Gavin. When suddenly, Gavin then pats her head, causing her to jump a bit in shock, Gavin then sits down and gives her a warm, comforting hug.

"It's okay then, I... I forgive you... What you did was horrible, but if the souls of my hometown were here right now and listened, maybe they'd... They'd probably understand... And I... I do", Gavin says as he slowly hugs Courtney, trying to comfort her as well, causing her to start crying as she hugs Gavin back tightly, burying her face into his chest, as Gavin spaces out, staring off into the distance as he thinks about what he's doing to himself...