His tiny, fragile heart beats in fear and sadness.
A child that has only seen four years of his life has every reason to be afraid. Had he been enrolled in the village's school, he would've cried at being left alone there by his parents for the very first time. Had his mother not lulled him to sleep before he goes to sleep, he would've been afraid of the dark. If there should be a time where he wouldn't be able to see his parents for a day, he would've cried for them.
All these three things; solitude, the darkness and being separated from his parents as he ran into the woods, made him far more fearful than anyone could ever imagine.
The fireplace and his mother's humming would warm his heart and calm his mind, but he would never again hear the lilting voice of his mother again. No warmth can ever be similar to his family home in Elphegort, and his eyes welled up with tears as he tried to wipe his eyes vainly with his sleeves. His heart was pounding, his face felt hot and flushed, and his feet were running, stepping on the grass and the soil of the forest of Held.
In this way, he would never experience the love of his brave father and his gentle mother ever again.
The son of the moon and the star runs in the night, and goes to where neither of them can reach him.
The Third Son
a Seth Twiright fanfiction
"When Adam had lived one hundred and thirty years, he became the father of a son in his own likeness, according to his image, and named him Seth."
-Genesis 5:3, The Bible
Chapter 1
the idyllic life
THREE DAYS AGO
"Mom! Again?!" Seth complained.
"Don't complain!" his mother, Eve sighed. "We have a lot of these growing at the back, and it's really healthy for you if you eat them!"
The boy merely pouted. "If I eat them, you know..."
Deep in the woods, there was a quaint cottage that nestled itself in the midst of abundant greenery and the protection of a god who vouches for the bloom of life. When rain falls in these woods, the air is cool, and when the sun shines in the summer, the trees quietly rejoice in receiving the light in which they can grow. There is abundance and life in the forest of Held, and this was where the Moonlit family, a family of three, resided. The husband, a woodcutter; the wife, a housewife; the son, aged 4, received no formal education but learns in his own precocious way.
It was a fine morning; the sun was up at 7, and it did not scorch the surface of the earth, but warmed it instead like a mother's smile. Dewdrops patiently wait for each turn to fall from the tips of the leaves, and the birds never ceased to chirp to herald a new day. The ground was wet from the rain from the day before, and so was the grass, and the bricks that made up the cottage's well would feel damp to the touch.
In this cottage, where it only had a small window, two rooms, a few drawers, an antique table lamp and a large dining table fit for a family, the son complains. His mother, once known as the greatest witch of her time, has served vegetables for breakfast again. Vegetables, vegetables, vegetables. It wouldn't hurt to have variety, but the problem was that Eve Moonlit, powerful and bright as she was, had a penchant for preferring spring onions.
That was all she ever planted at the back of the house, asides from herbs, and her son, Seth, was growing sick of it, like most children his age. Despite how enchanting and magical the world he lives in is, it still doesn't alleviate any form of disgust towards the accursed leafy greens.
"No, you're not getting out of this one!" the teal-haired woman tutted, raising her pointer finger in the air so as to chastise her young son. "I did my best to make it interesting this time! Spring onion pancakes; you won't know until you try!"
That only earned another pout, followed by an awkward silence from both mother and son. The ticking of the second hand does its job ticking patiently.
"...Really?" Seth asked, folding his arms.
"Really!" Eve beamed, cutting a portion of her food as she decided to prove to her son that it does taste way different from her other breakfasts. She popped one forkful in her mouth, and almost immediately, humming sounds of satisfaction could be heard from her, approving the taste of her own cooking. She munches a bit, and she peers over at Seth, who was, as she expected, starting to look a little...convinced.
"...Really, really?" he asked again, looking at his plate.
She merely kept munching, exaggerating how tasty her food is.
Being 4 and impressionable, it was no wonder that Seth ended up giving into the friendliest of peer pressure, and he hesitantly found himself cutting a small forkful of his spring onion pancake. It looked back at him, with the sauce and the garnish, and he told himself to be brave and open minded to new foods.
He had to, but really, it was so hard.
Before he could even protest more to himself, he ate the forkful, and much to his surprise, his breakfast was not half bad. Rather, it tasted very good, and he also realized that he had never eaten this before in his life. Beaming at his mother, he pointed at his food with his fork excitedly.
"What's this?" Seth asked animatedly. "Really tasty, mom!"
Eve winked in triumph. "Ah, now you say it's tasty?"
"What is iiit?" he insisted, taking another bite.
"Stir-fried pancakes, with spring onions!" she proudly promoted, putting another pancake on Seth's plate. "I haven't made this in a long time, and because your father went to town to get some flour, we'll be having a good breakfast this morning!"
"Dad always sleeps in," Seth stubbornly complained, eating more. "Why does he always come back late? Isn't it scary outside when it's dark?"
At that, Eve looked worried. "That's true...but he always works very late to get more wood...Maybe that's also why he complains about shoulder pains..."
"If his shoulders hurt, won't it be painful if he carries wood?!" came the shocked question. Immediately, a wave of concern crossed the young boy's face, and before Eve could reassure him, the aforementioned woodcutter comes out from the bedroom, yawning.
"Adam!" cried out Eve, rushing over to her husband in light of the conversation that she had with her son. "Do your shoulders still hurt? You really should start coming back early; too much work will...!"
The long-suffering husband smiled over at his wife and son, even going so far as to laugh a little in hopes that it would ease their concerns. "It's nothing to be concerned about! Just a bit of rest and the pain goes away, I promise."
"It doesn't work like that," Seth insisted, finishing his food as he narrowed his eyes at Adam.
"E-Eh..." Adam nervously said, half-berating himself mentally for not being able to catch his son's ever-sharp tongue and mind. "I-It really is okay, Seth! Eve, you tell him-"
What Adam received were merely disbelieving glares from both Eve and Seth, and he knew that he had lost.
...Well, he was never a good liar anyways.
"I give up," he surrendered, raising his hands in the air, and both mother and son shared triumphant smiles. They grinned to each other from ear to ear, and Seth hopped down from his chair after drinking some water to tug onto his father's shirt.
"Off day, off day!"
"Take a day off, dear!" Eve cheered on.
"Not today, unfortunately," Adam scratched the back of his head, taking a seat on the breakfast table as Eve put two more pancakes on his plate, accompanied with his morning coffee. "I have to go to town today."
"Town?" Seth asked curiously. "Again?"
"It's where he gets the news for the week," Eve smiled, ruffling her son's head. "You'll be getting books for Seth too, right, dear?"
Adam nodded and smiled. "Of course. If I remember correctly, Seth's only ever been to town twice, right...?"
"Town's stupid," Seth irritably said, turning his head away from his parents as he stood next to his chair.
"Seth!" Eve chided.
"It's true!" he insisted. "Dad got robbed with a weighing scale in the market!"
"Cheated," his mother corrected, giggling.
"Cheated!"
"I admit that I'm still attached to electronic balances..." Adam laughed, recalling the incident clearly. An unbalanced weighing scale cost him a hefty sum for a loaf of bread one horrid afternoon in Calgaround, and while Eve couldn't blame him for not knowing, Seth ended up feeling rather cheated himself.
"Alright, you two!" Eve laughed, retying her apron strings. "To prevent that from happening, why don't we all go to town together? We'll have so much fun; it'll be a family trip from the forest to the market! How about it?" she grinned, thinking to herself that it was a mighty fine idea.
Going to town was a very tempting prospect to Seth, because curiosity ate away at him almost immediately. From the two times where he ever went to town, it was filled with too many people, too many shops and a lot of children like him. As exciting as the town was to him with its cobblestone roads, bakers baking pastries and bread, and far too much variety all around, it didn't give him much room, much less have fun. Every new place is a wonder to him as a young child, but there are also dangers lurking about, hence, his parents' basic teachings.
Don't trust strangers.
Don't go running about alone.
Always hold our hands.
Don't accept gifts from strangers.
Common teachings became code and law. Going to town seemed like a test to Seth, and with his parents smiling at him in agreement over the entire escapade, he ended up thinking quietly to himself. They would all be going as a family to the town that his father frequents, and to the town where he only set foot on thrice.
It'll surely be fun, but he still thinks that the town's stupid either way.
"How about it, Seth?" his father smiled. Looking at his parents' smiles, despite not really wanting to go to town, made him smile a little as well.
"...Okay!"
The boy's name is Seth Moonlit, son of Adam Moonlit and Eve Zvezda, and he is 4 years old.
His mother, Eve, possesses the blood of the stars in her, and her magical prowess knows no comparison. Her lineage proves her radiance, her kindness even more so. To all who know her, they would unanimously sing praises of her power and her beauty, in where even the spirits of the forest of Held would agree with the opinions of mortals. She hums a song as she walks with her son and husband; her long teal hair fashioned in twintails sway about gently as she moves, and there is not a trace of difficulty nor suffering on her joyous face.
His father, Adam, is blue-blooded in the name of the moon; royalty strengthens his divine claim. In contrast to his wife's magic, he makes up for it with his boundless intelligence and the will to compete for the best in everything. He is strong and regal; kind, yet rash. No one could say that he is not incapable, no one could say that he is weak; brilliance is his shield, and strength is his sword. His shoulders ache from hard labour as the man of the family, yet he smiles with his wife, humming along with her in perfect harmony as he walks with his wife and son. If there were any regrets, they were forgotten; if there were any pains, they were disregarded.
And the boy, the boy himself, inherited the blood of both. The blood of the moon and stars flows in his veins, and his face was the splitting image of his father's, as if it was a divine will. His eyes, however, were as gentle as his mother's, and his energy knows no bounds. From two gifted parents comes an exceptionally gifted and precocious child; at his age, he already knows basic spells and common knowledge that would not be taught to his age in schools. He has the abundant cheer of his mother and the piercing scrutiny of his father, and indeed, through and through, he is his parents' son.
There is no questioning the serenity of his parents, and Seth, of all people, knew this very well, but the sheer commotion that Calgaround offered nearly took the boy aback. Serene smiles and hums ceased instantly as Eve excitedly dragged Seth and Adam to a bakery, wanting to buy some bread, and Seth immediately realized that this was not the town that his parents promised to bring him to.
People here did not look like villagers; they dressed nicely and properly. There was far more laughter, and there were very few stalls, maybe one or two. There was more money being tossed around, and when people spoke, news spread like wildfire from one person to another. If they so wished, they could make it seem as if they were passing news and information from one group to another, and it would've been the same either way.
The place was not a town, with its finely dressed people, with its many streetlamps, and with a little more development than an ordinary town.
Eve waltzes into the bakery, and opening the door for her and Seth was Adam himself, who looked very pleased over the prospect of getting more delicious bread to take home. The proprietor greeted the family with a warm "Welcome! Please take your time!" but even that did little to quell Seth's irritable anger.
"...Mom," Seth pointed out crossly, "...this isn't a town."
"I-It isn't," Eve said nervously, laughing a bit over her mistake. "It's the city of Calgaround! I thought that we should treat ourselves to a much nicer place! What do you think?"
The selection of bread instantly shut Seth's mouth; chocolate breads, sugar breads, wholegrain loafs, buttered loafs, cakes of all assortments, cupcakes, even, and his childish anger quelled. He scrutinized the many varieties of breads and pastries, and he nodded in satisfaction, as if his parents deserved his silly forgiveness.
"Very good!" Seth chimed.
"Pick whichever you like," his father encouraged, and Seth ran over to his father, who was holding a tray and food tongs to pass onto him. Bending down to give them to Seth, Adam looked over at the proprietor of the bakery as Seth struggled to take the tray before determinedly going over to the section where they sold chocolate breads. The proprietor was reading a book, behind the wooden counter, and he heard Seth pipe up from the section:
"Can you tell me what bread you want, Mom, Dad? I'll get them for you!" he cheerily volunteered.
"Okay, Seth! Thank you!" Eve giggled, poising herself to not lift a finger at all, as to her son's wishes.
The little boy excitedly used the tongs to take pieces of bread, and both Adam and Eve went over to the counter, hoping to get their news for the week. The proprietor looked up from her book and smiled, putting the book aside for politeness' sake, but before she could say anything, Adam cut in rather quickly.
"We're sorry," he said, "but is there any news going around this week?"
"This week, this week..." the proprietor thought aloud, then shook her head. "No, nothing from Elphegort. There is a lot of strife in the Magic Kingdom though; riots from Apocalypse, can you believe it? To think that a country with so much technology and knowledge would have so many problems!"
"Life really is much more simple here..." Eve agreed, looking concerned. "It did take us quite a while to get here! We live in Elphegort too, but pretty far away..."
"Oh, where?" the other woman asked, interested. "Aceid? Nemu?"
"Aceid," Adam lied easily enough, and catching onto her husband's facade, Eve followed right after.
"Yes, Aceid!"
"Oh, that is far..." the proprietor agreed, frowning. "Did the three of you really walk all the way here? How old is your son? He looks very small and young..."
"Four!" Eve proudly said. "Four, and he's really, really active!"
Indeed, Seth was active, given how much he looked and skittered around effortlessly. The three adults ended up laughing to themselves as they saw the child darting around as fast as his eyes, seeing new breads that seemed extremely fascinating to him.
"Mom! Dad! They have green tea bread!" he exclaimed. "Do you want that one?"
"Get one for me!" Adam called out.
"Okay!"
"But really, there's nothing much here," the proprietor smiled, counting some coins on the counter. "Elphegort's a good place to raise children, and the both of you look like really young parents! Your first child?"
At that, Eve stared blankly at the counter. Was Seth her first child? She was meant to have twins, wasn't she? Her twins perished on that awful day, and a child...a child was what she wanted, a child was what she needed, a child was what she had prayed for to any god who listened. She had prayed to the twin gods, to Held, to any deity who would give her a child to replace the gap in her aching heart, and yes.
She had two children, but they are gone.
Seth is her third, and the one who replaced them. Her heart rejoiced upon being blessed with this bright, cheerful and hyperactive child, and she beamed at the proprietor, despite her husband's concerned expression.
"My third! My one and only, my third child-"
You see, dear reader, this is where the idyllic life stopped.
Riots come without warning, but they do come with a reason.
In the middle of gushing over the fact that she does have a child, and about how proud she is over her son, pandemonium erupted from outside the premises. A cacophony of screams pierced through the walls, and immediately, the proprietor let out a piercing shriek of her own. Adam rushed over to Eve, and Eve reached out for her very shocked son, who dropped the tray of bread that he was carrying in a moment of surprise. His eyes saw, but could not comprehend, nor register quickly; the sight of people running away and the sight of people massacring innocents took a while to sink in. His small arm was quickly fetched by his mother's firm grip, and his father rushed out of the bakery to escape the troubled city, if only to escape.
The once peaceful city of Calgaround became a death zone under the hands of Apocalypse, and the ones who knew were the general public, who were running for their lives, and Adam and Eve themselves. Before their very eyes, people got murdered and blood was spilled; the reign of peace was instantly toppled over by figurative horsemen of death, and Seth shook in fear.
He ought to; in any moment, he could very well be taken by another murderer and get killed himself.
How the fires of hatred rained upon the innocents! How the anguish resounds in the streets! In a moment of chance and bravery, Adam held both the hands of his wife and son, trying to brave through the crowds while escaping possible trouble by making his way towards the city opening, until...
...The worst happened.
He tugged, and to his horror, Eve did not move. She did not move, and her hand quickly wrenched free from Seth's hold as she shuddered herself, looking wildly around her as if she was half-possessed. She dropped down to the ground, her breathing erratic, her eyes frantic. The blood, the screams, the woman with the red dress looking at her in confusion brought back nearly everything that she so dearly wanted to forget, and she has a son now, doesn't she? Isn't her son and husband all that she needed?
Then why on earth, at that particular time, did she start shrieking?
"MY CHILDREN!" she yelled, clutching at her face and hair, to the point where her hair ribbons threatened to untie themselves so as to no longer bear the responsibility of holding her hair together. "MY CHILDREN ARE NOWHERE TO BE FOUND! MY CHILDREN ARE NOWHERE! NOWHERE TO BE FOUND! THEY ARE NOT HERE, MY CHILDREN!"
"Eve!" Adam exclaimed, trying to get the poor woman to her feet from the cobblestone ground. "Eve, we have to go-!"
"MY CHILDREN ARE NOWHERE TO BE FOUND!"
A/N: Hello! It's Maguro again! I've come back after many, many years of hiatus!
Thank you so much for supporting me all this time! I passed on my works to Nairo, but now, I decided to come back with an obscure idea that sounded really neat! I hope that you can stay on for even more chapters, and I'm really sorry that this one is short!
-Densetsu-no-Maguro