GREEN EYES
PROLOGUE
Ten entire years.
Truth be told, I had managed to immerse myself in my duties so thoroughly that I somehow forgot the flow of time, but that happens when one is dead. It certainly helped that the boy was so much trouble- some would call it 'outgoing', I feel that the word places too positive a spin on it -and that I had my fair share of situations to deal with. Most were inconsequential, of course: acting the father and attending the boy's sports matches, comforting the mother when she yet again fell sick upon forgetting to eat and, finally, dealing with the outbursts and tears after her frail body finally received it's desired rest.
I always wryly smiled when he would yell at me and stomp away yet again. It reminded me of why I had refrained from marriage or children.
But things were different tonight. He would be on his own, and knowing this worried me. His battles were often fought by others, the byproduct of becoming a near-celebrity. How would he fare dealing with the onslaught I knew was coming?
No matter. I would find out soon enough. I cast my gaze warily to the horizon, out over the waters of Zanarkand. There was no movement yet. I then turned my head back to the cheers of the stadium, the sound of the horn as yet another point was received and wondered briefly if he knew I wasn't there. Most likely. He found it hard to play unless we fought before a match, he'd told me once. His anger toward me gave him strength.
I stepped up onto the railing before me and slowly crossed out onto the steel buttress now supporting my weight. The wind was stronger away from the shelter of the build's exterior shell and the force of it against my heavy wool coat was near enough to knock me down to the streets below. Not that it would have ultimately mattered with my current state of health.
And now, the wind changed. It carried on it a scent of death and each touch brought with it a hint of electricity on the air. Then, almost imperceptibly, the waters changed. They began to churn, and then eventually rose in height. I swallowed deeply, my mouth going dry, remembering the pain this creature had caused to millions in my homeland. This was no pilgrimage. This was a return home.
It neared the docks, tearing through them quickly like toothpicks, tearing apart the boy's home in no more than a second. There would be no going back.
I turned to face the creature, already heading back into the building now that I had my confirmation. I paused briefly and sipped from the jug of acrid alcohol I carried with me always (to dim the pain of wounds, though others would tell you differently), then held it towards him. Sin. Our punishment eternal.
"Welcome back, old friend," I murmured to the air as I took a gulp of the liquid. It burned as it went down and I stepped down from the buttress to make my way to the stadium, my laughter echoing through the empty halls and then fading as the sound of destruction overtook it.