"Come on sleepyhead! Wakey wakey~ How long are you gonna sleep! It's time for school!"
The warm hands of a woman caressed the small forehead of a seven-year-old boy with love and care. The woman patted and messed up the black hairs on the boy's head.
As if disturbed in the middle of a sweet dream, the boy lazily opened his eyes and his pitch-black pupils shined like gems.
"mm, let me sleep a little bit more~" (Rio, 7 years old.)
"No sweetie! You will be late~"
"Come down for breakfast after washing up..."
After the woman said that, she left Rio's room and went downstairs.
The boy got up lazily, his blurred vision cleared up slowly after he rubbed his eyes for a few seconds.
…
(The scene changed to the breakfast.)
Rio sat on the chair and started to nibble on the toast that was placed in front of him, he wore a school uniform and seemed to be ready for school.
Suddenly he noticed an unfamiliar man sitting beside him, Rio was shocked that the man appeared seemingly out of nowhere.
"Mom! Ghost!" (Rio)
Rio screamed with a look of horror on his face. The woman who had woken him up before came running from the kitchen with a glass of water in her hand.
"What!?"
The woman had the same pitch-black hair and pupils similar to Rio's, her face was full of panic, and she seemed to have been surprised by the screams of her kid.
The man who appeared out of nowhere had red hair and pupils with a blackish tint in them. The man looked at Rio with a complicated expression and then looked at the women and said:
"It's been a while Alicia." (???)
The glass of water in the hands of Alicia slipped from her hands and fell to the ground. The water got spilled on the ground everywhere. But Alicia didn't pay it any mind, instead, a shocked expression appeared on her face.
"K-Kevin… is that you!?" (Alicia)
The man nodded his head in approval.
"Yeah, it's me, I am back…" (Kevin)
While the two adults were busy in their happy reunion, the little Rio looked at all this and was shocked beyond belief.
'My mother is having an affair!? She said my father was dead, so this man must be her past lover!' (Rio) (Yeah, the original little Rio was a dumb kid.)
Kevin got up from the chair and just when he was about to give Alicia a reunion hug, Rio hurriedly defended his mother and stopped Kevin from approaching.
"No! You can't have Mom! She's my Mom!" (Rio)
Kevin looked at his son who didn't even recognize him and rubbed his forehead.
'This is why I hate kids, they are all little sh*ts!' (Kevin) (This guy hates kids actually.)
Before Kevin could say anything, Alicia hurriedly took Rio in her arms and said in an aggrieved tone.
"We don't know you… Sir! Please leave!" (Alicia)
Kevin repeatedly tried to say something, he wanted to console Alicia, he wanted to ask for forgiveness for leaving her alone for whole seven years, but in the end, he could only sigh and leave with his head down and a sad expression on his face.
Before leaving Kevin glanced at Rio who was tightly held by Alicia in her embrace.
"At the least, tell the kid about his father-" (Kevin)
"No need! Rio's father died seven years ago! There's no point in bringing out a sad past! Please leave!" (Alicia)
Kevin shook his head in defeat and hurriedly left the house.
Rio looked at Kevin's fading back and finally understood that this man was his real father. But Rio had no time to think about it, he had to provide support to his mother who started to cry after Kevin left.
…
While outside the house Kevin glanced back and remembered the day when he left this house seven years ago. At that time, he didn't tell Alicia that he was going to go on a secret mission, he had no choice at that time.
'How do I tell you, the national security was at risk, I had to get insider Intel on the demon army, it was inevitable…' (Kevin)
Kevin sighed and left.
That was the first and last time Rio had seen his father.
(Later, Kevin stayed in an abandoned house on the nearby mountain, until the day he died while fighting the demons, during the Drift City massacre.
No, he didn't try to talk to Alicia again after this one time. He had no idea how to do that and he lived the rest of the three years of his miserable life while drowning himself, in alcohol and regrets. He thought that Alicia would forgive him one day and would look for him eventually but that day never came, instead, his death came for him earlier than that.)
…
(The scene changes to the day of the massacre)
Alicia ran with all her might with the ten-year-old Rio in her arms.
She was an ordinary human, she had no mana or any other capabilities of an awakener, but to protect her child she ran forward even when her legs trembled in fear of her own life.
In the morning when Alicia and Rio were eating breakfast, a demon fell on their home and shattered the roof, its enormous body destroyed the floor and messed up all the furniture in the house.
Alicia knew that something bad was going on outside, she immediately grabbed Rio and ran as fast as she could. Several lower demons chased her but they were disposed of by a person wearing ragged clothes. (At that moment, Alicia was in a hurry and didn't know that the person in the ragged clothes was Kevin himself.)
When her stamina ran out and she could no longer run, Alicia put Rio down. While panting heavily she hurriedly looked for a place to hide Rio. Luckily she found it. (Nearly all the houses were smashed and shattered around her, she hid Rio in the debris.)
Alicia asked Rio to hide and hurriedly covered the spot with debris from the broken houses.
"P-promise me, Rio! That you will not come out until I come back! Stay hidden here!" (Alicia)
Alicia kissed Rio on his forehead and patted his head one last time before fully covering the place with debris.
And that was the last time Rio saw his mother. She never came back.
(She was shredded into several pieces by a low-rank demon, just about fifty meters away, from Rio's hiding spot. During her last moments, her only regret was that she didn't get to see her son grow up into a fine young man.)
The hiding spot was very small but Rio could easily fit in there. He had a thin physique after all. Rio stayed in that hiding spot as he had promised his mother. Time passed slowly and Rio fell unconscious due to lack of oxygen.
But luckily he was discovered by a man who had golden hair and pupils. A large great sword hung on the man's wide back.
"It seems there is a survivor, his parents are likely not alive anymore, send him to a healer and inform a nearby orphanage…" (James, Lia's father)
James handed the unconscious Rio to his subordinates and flew away somewhere else. (At that time, James didn't recognize Rio as Kevin's son.)
…
(The scene changes to the orphanage.)
27 May 4345.
"Here, this is your ID card and this is your uniform. If you have any questions please contact the help center using the smart-watch issued by the academy."
After saying that the man in the black suit got up and left hurriedly, as if he was in a hurry to leave and didn't want to waste his time here.
Rio didn't pay it any mind and looked at the uniform with a complicated expression on his face.
'So, this is my uniform…' (Rio, 15 year old)
Rio got the enrollment invitation from the Great Freya academy, because of his background. (The government had announced that the survivors of the Drift City massacre would get special benefits in the future, to appease the anger of the common folks.)
Rio got the special benefit of getting an invitation from the greatest academy of the human empire, this already solidified his future to be bright and good.
With mixed emotions, Rio packed his luggage. He had to move to the boy's dormitory of the academy the very next day.
…
13 August 4346. (Present Day.)
Rio got up from his bed, looked at his hands, and tilted his head in confusion.
"These memories again…" (Rio)
This was not the first time Rio had experienced these memories. Every once in a while these memories appear in Rio's mind while he is sleeping.
Rio has seen this same dream many times now.
Rio shook his head and left his bed to wash up.
He had to go and steal some chances.
'At the end of it all, your strength is the most reliable thing in the world…' (Rio)
…
…
Author's Notes.
Yo! Your beloved author is here.
This chapter sheds some light on the events that happened in the memories of the original Rio. I hope you guys will have a better understanding of the timeline with this chapter.
Question of the day.
What do you think, how much of a deadbeat is Kevin?
(Tell me in the comments)
By the way, don't forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.