He stands there, on top of the tower, looking toward the small city down below as his skin felt the breeze hitting on his face.
From the top of the Iron Lady, he can see so many things down below. The streets, the cars, the people. His view has been broaden thanks to the position he stands on right now.
But this is not what he wants to see.
"Papa!"
His view turns to his right, seeing a young child running happily and jumps onto his feet hugging him with a laughter is heard coming from the child.
"Aenori," the man kneels down, putting himself close to the child, who could possibly be a girl judging from the presence of skirt in the clothing, "Are you having fun here?"
"Mm!" she nods cheerfully, looking at him with wide eyes toward him, "I see small cars! I see small people! I see everything small!"
He chuckles as she looks around and runs all over the place.
The man pulls himself up again, seeing a blond woman moving close to him.
This somehow prompts him to ask her, "Aren't you supposed to be taking care of our child?"
"Don't worry. Nobody is going to be here," she grins at him, looking at him straight in the eyes, "The sign 'Maintenance in Progress' down there is useful after all. This place is only for ourselves for today."
Somehow her stares make him not wanting to look back at her. His eyes quickly avert away from there, having himself staring somewhere else.
But then she moves close to him and pushes him close to the railing, whispering close to his ear, "You shouldn't be questioning me. You are just a consort. A slave."
"Y-y-yes… ma'am," he whispers back to her.
His hands shake subtly and in his mind, he wishes for her not to be too close to him.
Fortunately, she pulls herself from him, with a smile on her face, "Well, I'll be busy today. Aenori will be with the maids. You are free to do what you want with your life today."
"Th-thanks…"
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Free?
Does she even know the meaning of freedom?
Does she has any idea that freedom does not comes with armed bodyguards placed all over the place?
He can be so sure that they are not there for her. She has never needs any help in defending herself.
No, they are there for him.
Her families… they are scared that he is running away elsewhere. They are scared that he will escape from his fate.
They are making sure that a consort of the Star Child remains a consort.
Walking few steps at the square, he sighs as he goes to sit near a fountain, looking around. He can clearly see people in suit scattered all over the place.
Those are not bad surveillance. Those are warnings; planted by her.
That monster…
Even after ten years she is still a control freak.
If only there is a way for him to escape this…
"Escape?"
What the…?
He somehow hears a voice in his head. That is not impossible, right?
There is no way that could be possible.
He's not going crazy, right?
That's pretty much the sign of being crazy, right? Am I starting to become hallucinated? Am I turning into a psychopath? Wait, is it called a sociopath? Which one is it!?
"It's called schizophrenia, and you are not senile yet."
The voice appears again! He DID going crazy!
"Still, not yet. In fact, it's quite amazing that you have been to not be broken despite having been kept by your kidnappers for almost 10 years now. Most, if not all, people will let themselves become a puppet of others after giving themselves to their despair."
Just what is this voice? Where does it came from? There is no way he could form such sentences!
He turns his head all over the place, finally setting his eyes on a short-haired woman in green long-sleeved form-fitting shirt and a blue jean as he notices how she winks at him. He also notices of her smiling straight at him.
But the sight suddenly shifts with her face is quickly getting close to his, startling him as he backs away from her, calling her out, "Wh-what are you doing!?"
"Calm down," she is still smiling at him, now closing her eyes to show how cheerful she can be, "I've transported you to a different place, far from the eyes of others. You should be grateful."
She's right.
He IS at a different place right now.
They are no longer sitting near the fountain. They are now inside an art museum.
"H-h-how did we get here?"
"You shouldn't be caring about that matters right now," the woman slips near him, moving close to him.
"Wh-what are y-you d-doing?"
He froze up. His body keep on shaking but unable to do anything else.
She notices of this as she turns to smile at him, "Helping you out."
With ease, she pushes his body away from here, making him losing control of his body and move toward one direction.
He can hear voices saying, "I DO love arts! I'm not just all about sports, you know?"
BAK!
"Kyaa!"
He felt his butt hitting the floor, now hurting his bottom, but his attention seems toward a woman he hit, quickly turning toward her, "A-are you o-o-okay?"
"I'm f-"
Her voice seems to have been disable its ability to speak or even finishing her sentence. Her eyes wander all over him, somewhat teary-looking.
"Sh-Sh-Shraffe?"
Her voice appears once more, this time followed by the hint of sadness from within.
The man tries to wonder the meaning of her words. Who is she? How did she know of his name, let alone the name people use to call him?
His name is Ashraf Naqiuddin, but only some actually decide to call him what somewhat easier way to pronounce his way; Shraf, stylized as 'Shraffe' with the silent 'e'.
Those people are those who are truly close to him. His friends… his… family…
Family?
That is something he has been losing for the past 10 years. The exact years of his miserable life begins till today.
"Who…"
"Y-you don't remember?" the woman seems to be begging of him for something.
Who is she?
That voice seems faint. Faint in his memories. He could not grasp the faint familiarity of that voice.
"It's me…" she still tries to make him remember.
"It's… Rina. Rina Natasha, your sister. You… you have forgotten about me?"
R-Rina?
His twin sister?
The one that has been distant to him ever since they have gone into the same primary school?
The one that once wished for him to disappear from the existence for being a nuisance in her eyes?
But she looks different now. She looks like… she is crying…
She seems happy.
"SHRAFFE!"
The woman goes to hug him tight in the middle of the crowd, shocking all of those around them.
But this seems to be ignored by her, judging by how much she pours what seems to have been in her mind, "Wh-wh-where have you been!? We have been looking for you!? Can't you even call home? We thought you were dead… I THOUGHT YOU WERE DEAD!"
What's next is just a bunch of grumbles and blubbers sinking inside her loud cries, but those grumbles and blubbers seem to have soothe him down.
He can't help it but cry too.
He finally get to see his family…
At least one of them…
"H-h-h-h-h-how's… h-how's home?"
"TERRIBLE!" she pulls herself away from him, screaming on his face, "Mom died nine years ago! She has lost all her will after you've gone! Dad… dad… four years ago… Nobody's home…"
No… no… no… no… no… NO!
Is it because of him? It must be because of him!
It's all because he is weak enough to not escape from there when he can. He is too scared to do anything…
"Shraffe? Is that really you?"
He heard another voice. Another female voice.
From behind Rina, he sees a female in white cardigan kneels before him, looking concerned at both of them.
He knows that face. Instantly.
How can he forget that face?
That is Sarah Syarifah, your typical girl next door. Also, the subject of his crush.
"Sarah?" he springs a question.
"YOU BASTARD!" Rina screams, shaking him vigorously in anger, "YOU DON'T REMEMBER ME BUT YOU REMEMBER HER!? IS PUPPY LOVE IS WAY MORE IMPORTANT TO YOU THAN THE FACE OF YOUR SISTER!?"
Sarah smiles, unable to contain after hearing her words. He smiles as well.
This is going to be good, isn't it?
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
"Trapped?"
All three of them have found themselves sitting at a cafeteria, somewhat away from all of those people the two ladies came with before.
They must have really want to catch up with him.
It's not like he has anything good to say. His memory filled with nothing but horrible memories.
So, he had no other choice but telling the tale anyway.
"Yes," with a downed face, he mutters toward both of them, "I was trapped for ten whole years by those kidnappers."
Rina tries to open up a question filled with curiosity, "Wh-who? Why?"
"I don't know. I don't know who they are…"
All he knows is that the moment he was forcefully brought by a group of kidnapper, he was met by this strange larger group in weird clothing hated by fashion police. One of them seems to have a conversation with the kidnappers, asking for a favour to be made upon him.
Of course he knows what that is.
Those… tortures…
Those horrifying violations over violations…
How can he simply shrugs it off?
Just thinking about how he loses his freedom, his sense of reality and everything that makes him, him…
He can't help it.
He had to curl up in fear.
"I really don't…"
Sarah grows uncomfortable, looking restless as she quickly speaks up to him, "Let's not talk about that, okay?"
He slowly nods, not wanting to look at them at all.
Rina takes note of this, pulling both attention into a different direction, "Hey, did you know? Sarah is already… m—mar—"
"Married?" he pulls his head, turning toward the girl in the discussion, "Really?"
Sarah nods, smiling wide at him.
Rina, on the other hand, feeling guilty as she mutters, "I'm sorry… I shouldn't have speak of such thing… So insensitive…"
Sarah is now confused, "What do you mean? It's just about my recent marriage. Nothing bad comes of it."
"Still… Shraffe was like…"
She hesitates on speaking of that topic any further, but Shraffe notices of that. He knows how she might have known of his feeling of said woman and now not wanting to hurt him.
It's okay.
It's just a crush.
"I'm… I'm married too…"
Maybe he shouldn't have said that. After all, his wife is part of this.
But maybe he can divert them with something else… something he at least concern for…
"I am a dad now."
"WHAT!?" Rina is in shock, a great one, "I'm an aunt now!? But I'm still 23!"
"Congrats!" Sarah instead looks happy, "Who's the mom?"
"I…Sh-"
"Shraffe?" she quickly notices something, "Is something wrong? Is there something you didn't want to talk about your wife?"
"Sh- she's fine."
Lie.
"She's a friend. A gentle one."
Lie.
"We love each other so much. I'm glad to ever meet her."
LIE!
Does everything have to be a lie? What is he trying to prove? What good does it make by doing this? What is he hoping for?
THIS IS SO CONFUSING! HIS LIFE DOES NOT NEED TO BE THIS MORE CONFUSING!
HE HATES THIS LIFE SO MUCH!
Rina mutters, "Boy or girl? How old?"
"It's a girl. Her name is Aenoria Estare. She's 2."
"WAARRGH!" she squeals in excitement, "I CAN'T WAIT TO MEET HER! She must be really cute!"
Sarah just stares at him.
There is not even a hint of smile on her face.
But when he turns toward her, he can see she is trying to fake her smile, looking at him with a wide smile.
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
RIna has something else to attend to.
Both him and Sarah walks down the path to whatever they are going to.
He gets to meet her.
That's all he care for.
There is nothing else he could've asked for.
Sarah instead has a different idea, "Who is she?"
"Hmm?"
"The wife. Who is she?"
Shakes.
"C-"
More shaking.
"Ce-"
More shaking.
"Cecilia. Cecilia Estare…"
"The leading woman of the Estare Foundation?"
He nods.
"I hate you."
"What?"
"Nothing."
A smile from her.
But that's a fake one.
He knows it if he sees one. He has been doing that for ten years.
But what is she hiding?
It doesn't matter. It won't change who he is.
She steps forward, now waving at him, "I'm glad. You are still alive and well."
"Thank you."
The two part ways, moving to a separate direction.
Shraffe is now having a wide smile as he walks through the park, now wondering where the direction to the hotel he is staying for the nights is.
But that same girl…
She appears once more, now in front of him.
She did not look happy.
She looks sad.
"Don't be happy just yet. You should not be."
"What? What are you talking about? Who are you?"
"I'm sorry. I truly am. But this is the only way."
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
He is now gasping for air.
Wait, where is he now?
He was at the park, but now he is… tied up?
There are ropes all around him. His two shoulders are being held by two men in suits. Their hands push his face into the bucket of water once more.
He… can't… brea-
Gasping again.
Footsteps in front of him as he pulls his face, looking upward.
It's her.
It's Cecilia.
"Cheater."
Her eyes are staring deep into him. He can feel anger within her, "I was worried that you are not happy with our life together, so I thought that from today onward I should give you a freedom for the outside world."
"I never thought you use this chance to go and have fun with other ladies. Didn't know you had that in you, you beast!"
"That…" he tries to speak up, "That… my sister…"
But now she laughs out loud, muttering words in struggle, "I see. You have felt the air for the first time, and now you are able to speak back to me. Where are all of those obedience my parents gave you? You piece of shit."
BANG! BANG!
"Wh-"
Cecilia looks away for a moment, being whispered by a man entering the room as she smiles wide, turning back toward him, "You whores are now dead."
Two more men walking into the room, throwing bodies in front of-
Those… those bodies…
"Rina… S-Sarah…"
"How cute… you called them by their names. You never called me by mine."
Cecilia moves to him, whispers to his ears, "Then again, you shouldn't be calling anyone's names."
"Leave him. He should reflect his actions. I hope now you know your lesson for cheating."
The woman and other men walk away from there, now leaving him looking at them both.
He sees the bodies with headshots; blood flowing, filling up the floor.
Wh—why?
Why?
Why?
WHY!?
He is now crying.
He hits his head on the floor, repeatedly.
What he did wrong with his life?
Why must he suffer for this?
Is the world hates him so much?
In the midst of all of the crying, he didn't even realize how the world is now breaking apart.
Maybe he didn't care all of those. Why should he?
Screw the world!
SCREW EVERYTHING!
"Screw everything, right?"
There is the woman.
There is she… the one in green.
"Who are you!? What is all these!"
The woman moves close to him, closer and closer as she pulls him up to his feet, ignoring his questions, "Can you even screw the world if this is how you act?"
"What?" he stares at her. Anger fills him.
"Look at this place."
His head turns around.
What is this?
"What happen to this place?"
"I don't know. Let's go outside."
"O-outside? B-but…"
"Shut up," she grabs his hand, pulling him away from the room.
Where is she bringing him to? What about the bodies? What about those people? Why…
Wait…
Now that he sees it…
He just came to notice how weird this situation is.
From his very own eyes, he sees the floor literally came apart, with some other parts of the floor are floating midair. None of them ever move from there.
Not to mention, the ceiling are also falling down to the floor. But those that fall never complete their journey.
The world is… stopped?
"What is…"
"It's nothing special," the woman smiles at him, "I just tweak some stuff here and there. We're pretty much out of time."
This makes no sense. She makes no sense.
"What are you trying to say…"
The woman… who is she? What is she trying to do?
She turns around, bowing at him as she mutters, "I'm sorry. I did you wrong."
"Y-you did what?"
"You don't need to know that. What you need to know is what happen out there."
She keeps on pulling him, moving close to a window near a collapsed corridor.
They somehow jump through the opened window with no problem of moving through it, finding themselves now landing near the street.
Or what it is used to be known as.
You can't call that a street anymore.
The roads break apart. The buildings around explode into pieces. People running all over the place.
Erm… what?
"A… space ship…"
"Yes," she turns around toward him, "And you are not around to stop them."
"What are you talking about?"
"I'm saying that this is not your story. You are not supposed to be a locked up slave, acting as a faithful husband away from the entire world. You are supposed to be a hero that save the world numerous times."
"That's impossible. I can't fight at all."
"You can. You just don't know it."
She walks close to him, having her face close to his, "And I am here to make that a thing."
"Wh- how?"
"I'm going to give you a choice. Would you go back and save yourself from being taken away or would you rather stay here?"
"Th-that's crazy!" he turns around, looking at all over the place, "How am I even going to do that?"
"Time travelling. Simple as that."
"That's not simple at all!"
"It is actually. We just have to wait."
At that very moment, a huge black spiral appears far on the sky, with several figures jump out; or rather being thrown out of there.
The figures smash onto the already cracked floor, cracking them even further.
One figure in black suit with green accent, looking like a medieval knight with three horns on his helmet stands up, pulling his black sword out of the ground, standing and ready for a fight in his own stance.
The other figures, which appear to be humanoid dog-headed figures with spikes on their shoulders also standing up, charging forward toward him.
The knight moves the hilt of the sword close to her, spins the edge of the hilt clockwise as the sword seems to be filled with black swirling aura.
DARKNESS!
With a single swing, he strikes down all of the dog-figures, splitting them into two each as they fall off the ground.
The knight then turns around and sees both of them, rushing toward them as he, or she due to her feminine voice, reaches the woman beside him, "Great grand-aunt!"
"Who?" Shraffe turns toward her, wondering the weird name she called her.
The woman simply nods, "You're here as expected. I brought him as promised."
The knight somehow loses her armor, revealing herself wearing a formal golden suit with white shirt underneath, also having her black hair flowing till it reaches her shoulders.
She looks at him with what appears to be a pair of teary eyes, quickly jumping onto him and hugging him tightly, shocking him greatly, added the shock value thanks to what she called him as.
"GREAT GRANDPA! You're here!"
"G-what? Wh-who are you?"
"Ah, sorry," she wipes her eyes as she gives him a warm smile, "I'm Nana Mizuki. I am your great granddaughter from the future."
"F-f-f-future!?"
"No time to explain! We gotta get you out of here!"
"Here?"
"The future!"
The woman in green responds, "Go back to the past and change everything here. Be the hero you were meant to be."
"But… I can't…"
Shraffe hesitates.
Why would he? This is what he used to wish for. He hates this life of his! He wants to go back to his home! His parents! His family! The life as a normal student in a normal school.
But why would he hesitate? This is his chance to correct what's wrong with his life!
But he's not stupid. He knows what will happen if he do so.
He'll kill his daughter.
Aenori.
She will cease to be born if he were to be saved from the cult. He may never meet his wife again. Aenori will never be born again.
Nana, his so-called great granddaughter looks nervous as she shakes him up, "Just do it! Do you really love this life?"
"My daughter…"
"There's no time! Ah, mou!"
Nana quickly pulls his right hand toward her and puts something weird around his wrist.
"Wh-what are you-"
"We're doing this no matter what! This is no time to be a coward!"
The two women grab each of his hands, pulling him away as they run toward the spiral, but when they are close to the hole, more of those dog-people appear out of it, preventing them from moving any further.
"Damn it!" Nana screams in annoyance, "Just call it quit already!"
The other woman taps his shoulder, whispering at him, "Now is the time for you to fight. Go."
From the tips of her fingers, Shraffe can feel electricity running through his body. For some reason, his body felt a little more muscular than its supposed weak state.
He… he knows how to fight.
No, that's not it.
A new set of muscle memories entering his brain.
What is this?
Shraffe steps forward, moving past Nana with his right finger pulled up close to his shoulder.
There appears to be a golden arrow-shaped bracelet around his wrist. The bracelet has a cyan lining around its edge and there is a circular translucent orb in the middle of it.
The orb appears to have a word that reads 'BATTLE'.
He quickly swipes his left palm above the circle, triggering the orb to be shine brighter than how it first appears.
"Zeroic Henshin!"
Golden lines fly out of the orb, moving toward all over his body, enveloping him as each of the wraps becomes tighter and tighter, turning into a cyan-colored skin tight bodysuit. Golden armors in the shape of a crusader appears around his chest, knees and his gloves. His helmet appears to have two horns with v-shaped cyan visor.
He just realized what happen to him, "What am I…"
"That is sooo cool!" Nana approaches him, taking a look at him, "I've seen this suit before, but now that I've seen you wearing it… I LOVE IT! YOU LOOK JUST LIKE HOW I IMAGINED IT!"
"You… what?"
The woman in green interrupts them both, "Stop fangirling. Shraffe, you know what to do."
"I don't really-"
Wait, he do know what to do.
Impulsively, he cracks his fingers and get into a stance.
He can see three dog-people approaching them. They look fierce.
The word 'look' should be emphasized.
ZOOM!
Rushing forward with a speed of a car while leaving a trail of golden after image, he stops in front of one of them and goes for a jab on the face, pushing it away from them onto a nearby building.
The other dogs turn toward him and starts smashing their fists onto him, but he deflects each of them with his arms, before pushing them away from each other to each of his sides.
Shraffe moves his left hand toward the orb, grabbing a hilt of a sword that came out of small golden portal and pulls out a golden double-sided sword, twirling it around as he spins around, slashing both at their abs, splitting their bodies into two.
The one that got thrown away now standing up, rushing toward him in anger.
But he is already ready with his right fist, glowing bright.
As soon as the dog-man reaches him, Shraffe goes for an uppercut, punching him far toward the sky.
He then moves his right hand, putting it up on the sky. Golden particles appear to be gathered around his right palm as they are compressed, turning it into a golden pistol.
The orb on his bracelet is now having a word 'FINAL' on it.
"Shoot."
The gun shots out a brilliant bright laser, moving fast toward the dog and penetrates its chest, letting the dog roaring in pain.
He is not finish yet.
Shraffe pulls his leg muscles and pushes himself upward, jumping high as he reaches the dog, holding his bright right fist and punches him downward with a great force as the dog-thing is thrown back to the ground, blowing up a hole as the figure is nowhere to be seen.
Nana is watching everything from the side as the woman beside her turns toward her, "So? He should have a hero name of his own, right?"
"I know what to call him! He is Marzonn Zero!"
"Marzonn Zero? What is Marzonn? Why the number zero?"
"Marzonn is not a word of this world. Zero is the true beginning number. My great grandpa is a hero not of this world and the true hero that begins the era of heroism. Thus, Marzonn Zero."
"I like the name."
Shraffe has landed onto the ground, losing his costumes in the process as he reverts back to his previous clothing with the two now approaching him.
"Let's go, great grandpa!" Nana persuades him, "We should go back in time!"
He smiles faintly at her, nodding, "Okay."
The two now walking toward the portal, but he stops, turning toward the female in green, "What about you?"
"I'm just gonna stay here. Don't worry. You'll be meeting me again."
"At least tell me your name."
"It's Leliana. Leliana Hathaway."
"Then, we'll meet again, right?"
She nods as they proceed to run into the portal, jumping into it as he waves him goodbye, "See you, Elly."
The spiral disappears.
Leliana stands there, not moving a muscle.
Her face looks shock, but then turns to sadness.
She is crying.
"Stupid Shraffe… You keep giving me hopes every time…"
KRROOOOOMMM!
The place breaks apart as people are screaming to be saved. Explosions are all over the place.
Leliana closes her eyes, letting herself being engulfed within the destruction of that world.
But for two people, this is just a beginning of a new story.
All done! Yes, I am rebooting Marzonn Zero from before. That story is too boring and have no great impact from it. This time I changed it into an origin story and how he starts as Marzonn Zero.
Next: Shraffe and Nana arrived in a city called Xero Garden 01. Yup, they do not travel back to the past. They are in a different world by mistake. Now they are going to find a way to escape the world where sexual relationship equals to power; the world of Savior Zero.