Chapter 2
A/N: Wow! I didn't expect this story to get even one review, let alone three - major thanks to Madame Kasumi, InvasionoftheCat, and Guest. You all get the internet cookies I promised you, thanks so much! *gives*
This chapter takes place a few years later, so Conway is three or four years old in this one. Enjoy. :)
Dark slate clouds smothered the sky in grey, filling the night air with icy rain. Through the curtain of water, in the window of a single house flickered a lone light.
"...and his image was painted in the stars for everyone to remember how he had saved them all." The book fell closed with a thump, the jewels on the gilded cover shining in the lantern's glow.
The little green-haired boy let out a tiny yawn and snuggled closer to his father on the bed. Nando's eyes softened as he wrapped an arm around him.
"Dad?"
"Yes, Conway?"
"The people in the star stories..." The boy stifled another yawn. "Are they real?"
"They were." Pause. "A long time ago."
"The pretty magical lady?"
As the night fell, the moon caught the highlights in her sweeping curtain of green hair that reached down to her shoulders, the color of shadows cast among the trees in the dusky twilight. "The most beautiful in the whole world."
"The scary man with the blue hair?"
A cold spark shone in emotionless eyes behind metal glasses as the blood dripped off his pristine white coat. Mouth twisted into a psychotic smirk, he raised the scalpel. "As heartless as anyone could ever be."
"Like other people?"
Nando chuckled. "No, Conway. Not all of the people in the world are bad. They're just scared of anything that's different."
"Like you."
"Yes, like me." It was true, Nando was different. Try as he might, he just couldn't bring himself to be like others. To make friends, to enjoy life like a normal person should.
That was the least of it. He wasn't normal, and he knew it. However much he despised the people in this stupid little village — how they whispered behind his back and made fun of him when they thought he couldn't hear them — living in this unknown place was the only way to stay out of the sight of a much more dangerous enemy. An enemy that had pursued him for years.
They weren't far behind. Nando's lungs burned with every step, but he ran as fast as his seven-year-old legs could carry him. Not daring to look back, the boy fled along the moonlit path, but he only made it five more steps before a hand grabbed him by the wrist, sweeping him into familiar arms. With the little strength he had left, Nando kicked and fought against the man's grasp, but he was thrown to the ground and his arms were pinned behind his back.
"Don't fight, you little freak," the voice hissed. "Master won't be happy."
A tug at his sleeve jolted him from the unpleasant memory, and he returned to the present with Conway sitting beside him. "Dad? Are you there?"
"Oh? Oh, yes," Nando replied. "I am sorry."
"Dad..." A pause. "What's the outside world like?"
More silence. "For me, it's the most dangerous place to exist. For you, it may not be. The world isn't kind to people like me, but to someone like you, it can be full of wonderful things."
"I want to see everything," the boy declared. "I want to explore the whole world some day."
Nando affectionately ruffled his son's hair. "Someday, you will. But right now, it's time for my little explorer to go to bed."
"I'm not tired," Conway protested as Nando pulled the blanket up around his shoulders.
"I know you aren't. Think of it this way: when you sleep, you can always explore the world in your dreams. In your dreams, you can be anything you want."
"Anything?"
"Anything." Nando removed Conway's glasses and set them on the nightstand table, bending down to give his son a light kiss on the forehead. "Good night, my little one. I love you."
As his own eyes closed and he slumped down in the chair next to the bed, the last thing he saw was his son curled up in the soft blankets, hugging his pillow.
They were safe for another day.
