A Cage of Bone.
What else is there to protect our hearts but a cage of bone? Sometimes it takes just a little time to discover how much we should appreciate that protective barrier, that shelter, for it doesn't take much to send it crashing down.
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Prologue.
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A young boy named Eridan Ampora, no older than 4 years of age stood firmly planted to the ground, his petit fists clenched up into little balls causing his nails to dig into his soft-skinned palm. An echo of shattering glass, yells and shouts had made themselves clearly audible for him to hear, hell, for his neighbours to hear. He had no desire or need to place his ear up and against the door of his room to hear what they were arguing about, he had no desire to even know what they were arguing about. He wished he could drown himself in silence but it was impossible. He sighed shakily, his breath hitching as he dragged his feet to his velvet bed sheets supported by his oak wood bed stands, crawling under the covers and holding onto them tight as a form of protection. His vision went blur, choking on his breath as he sobbed silently. He would've cried himself to sleep if he could sleep through all this noise. He had never been a heavy sleeper or even a slightly average sleeper. The sound of lightly pelting drizzle would cause him to jolt from his sleep if it pattered against the roof and window panes. It was twisted his nerves, his nights growing sleepless and exhausted. This was unfortunately something he would have to get used to.
A young boy, no older than 6 years of age sat silently in court, watching the two of his parents fall under a deadly glare with each other as if one were prey and the other were predator. The question was which was which. They hadn't gotten along with each other any better after the big argument they had a couple of years ago. He supposed it could've been his fault for not calming them down and being there for them, he supposed it was never any of their faults and only he was to blame for this. They were never close with him, not a single word would leave their lips and direct towards him but that didn't bother him anymore. It all just stopped becoming something he cared about in the end. But why was he unable to stop his tear ducts from flooding with salty, warm tears at that moment. He didn't just lose them. He had lost them both a long time ago.
A young boy, no older than 15 years of age walked grudgingly in the hallway, bumping into people carelessly as he strolled around with a blank, pained face. His cheek had been bruised under the eyes, shaded by the thick frames of his glasses. Dried blood stained his bottom lip, a slight swell cautiously displaying itself upon his lip. His eyes darted down to his feet as he quietly exited the building, clutching onto his backpack's strap tightly, having lost his money to a group of violent boys. His parents never gave him anything but money so he could feed himself and attend school. It seems like he won't be having any dinner for some time. Not loosening his grip, he began walking back home. No one waited for him, he waited for no one.
A young boy, no older than 18 years of age stood in front of his bathroom mirror, his tuff of hair dyed purple and gelled back neatly to compliment his face structure. He glared into the mirror behind his glasses, his gaze dead serious as he opened his mouth to begin practicing his charisma and speech. Tonight would be his graduation from high school, a chance to move on and start new. Tonight was the night he would let out his fury within his speech, proving to the entire world; or at least the entire student body in his grade that he was better than all of them, that this would probably be the happiest moment of his life. Fucking off and starting new. Tonight was the night that Eridan Ampora became a new man, for better or for worse.
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