Chapter 37: Childhood
Lights flashed in Deoxyia's eyes. She blinked trying to clear them out. Her head was pounding, but she couldn't feel any blood. There was no pain, no sign she had even been in a wreck. Confusion sat in and she began to wonder if she had been killed. Was this the afterlife, she thought. She found herself unable to panic. There was no reason to. She felt safe, she felt comfortable. Until the lights stopped flashing. She opened her eyes and looked around. She was no longer in the Arwing. She was in a house. A house that was very familiar to her. Is this an illusion, Deoxyia thought, blinking repeatedly? There was a loud blaring of an alarm clock echoing in her ears. She rubbed her eyes, scared that something was wrong. Over the alarm clock she heard sounds of loud banging coming from downstairs. She got out of the bed she was in and headed towards them. "Mommy?" she heard a voice say. Deoxyia headed the downstairs and saw a lavender, Cerinian fox rushing around the living room, shoving things into a suitcase. Deoxyia couldn't believe her eyes when the woman turned around and looked at her. It was her mother.
"Mommy, what's going on?" the voice said again. It was her voice. Deoxyia was a little girl again. Her mom was in hysterics, tears running down her eyes. "Deoxyia, honey, you're awake. That's good." Hearing her mother's voice again was soothing, but panic inducing at the same time. Deoxyia knew what was going to happen, and it was going to happen soon. "Are we going somewhere mommy?" Deoxyia asked. Her mom grabbed her and carried her over to the couch. "Yes sweetie, your daddy got into trouble and wants us to leave." She said bluntly still packing. "Is daddy coming with us?" Her mom stopped moving at little Deoxyia's question, looking down at the ground. She didn't answer for about a minute before she started packing again. Deoxyia sat there and waited for her mother's answer, but it never came. Her daddy was in trouble, but what kind of trouble? Was he put into timeout for eating the crayons? That happened to her once. She was about to ask again when a loud sound resounded from outside. It was the sound of engines roaring. Her mother heard them too, and her eyes widened in fear. "No, they can't be here already," she said her voice trembling.
"Who's here?" Deoxyia asked, starting to get scared herself. Here was her mother, her strong mother, crying and hysterically packing her things and she was obviously terrified. The sound continued to roar outside, but eventually begin to gradually decrease to a dull hum. Deoxyia watched in terror as her mom fell to her knees and began to sob uncontrollably. Deoxyia opened her mouth to speak, but was interrupted by the door crashing open. Deoxyia screamed in terror as a large figure stepped out of the darkness and into her house. He was big, and dressed in black armor. He had red fur and a scar ran across his muzzle. There was a red skull on his shoulder with the numbers 666 underneath it. Everything about him was intimidating. Except for his eyes. His eyes were a beautiful sea green color, piercing yet soft. On his back rested two swords sheathed in an x shape, in his hands was a large black rifle, and in a holster at his side was a pistol. His expression was hard, but it softened when he looked at the crying Deoxyia. The large man turned away from Deoxyia, and focused his attention on his mother, his expression changing to one of anger. "I would have figured you would've gotten your child out of here by now," he said in a soft tone. His voice was gravelly and rough, with a heavy accent. "At least that's what a good mother would've done." Her mother's sobs increased at this man's words. The man stepped closer to them and Deoxyia found herself screaming again. The man scowled and put his finger to his lips. "Hush child. Don't make this any worse on yourself." Deoxyia retreated into her mother's arms and buried her face into her chest.
"Please don't hurt her," she heard her mother sob, "She has nothing to do with this!" There was silence for a bit before Deoxyia heard the man talk again. "I have no intentions of hurting your child. I'm not a monster." "I beg to differ," Deoxyia heard her mother snarl. The man chuckled, but not in humor. It was forced, sarcastic even. "To show you I mean what I say, I'll let you pay your respects, then she can leave. I'd hate for a little girl to see what comes next." Deoxyia felt herself pulled from her mother's chest, and found herself looking into her mother's eyes. They were full of fear, but something else. They were full of love for her child. "Deoxyia, honey," her mother began, trying to keep her voice from shaking, "You know Mommy loves you." "I love you too Mommy," Deoxyia sobbed trying to bury her head back into her mother's warm chest. Her mother stopped her though, and Deoxyia couldn't figure out why. "Your mommy has to go away for a while, okay? She has to go find Daddy." Deoxyia looked at her mother, confused. "I want to go find Daddy too." Her mother shook her head and replied, "You can't sweetie. You can't follow me where I'm going. Not for a long time."
"Why not Mommy?" Deoxyia didn't understand. Why couldn't she follow her mother? She'd follow her anywhere. "One day you'll understand baby," her mother said releasing her from her embrace. "I think it's time to wrap it up, I don't have much time," she heard the man say. Her mother gave Deoxyia a loving gaze and said, "I need you to do something for me baby." "Anything Mommy," Deoxyia said, still sobbing. "I need you to run as fast you as can. Get as far away from here as possible. Can you do that?" Deoxyia nodded, unable to speak through her sobs. Deoxyia heard the sound of a rifle behind her before the man spoke again, "You best do what your mother tells you little one." Her mom pulled her in and gave her a kiss on the forehead. "Mommy loves you Deoxyia. Don't ever forget that. Now run." With one last look into her mother's crying eyes, Deoxyia forced herself to pull out of her embrace, and she began to run. She bolted out of the broken doorway, and into the empty darkness outside. As she ran across her front lawn, she looked behind her and froze. The man was aiming his rifle at her mother. She saw his finger begin to pull the trigger. "Mommy!" she cried as the gunshot echoed through the night.
…
Deoxyia's legs burned. She had ran and ran and then ran some more. She couldn't keep it up. She looked behind her. Her house was no longer in sight. No sign of the man, or her mother. She had seen a ship fly off into the distance earlier. Tears still stung her cheeks as she tried to continue running, but couldn't. She collapsed onto the gravel road, skinning her knees. She buried her face into her hands and begin to sob uncontrollably. She missed her mother. She wanted nothing more than to see her again. She lay on the ground for what seemed to her like hours. She didn't want to continue. She wanted to go home, but she couldn't. Her mother had told her to run far away. She had to keep going. Deoxyia forced herself up and began trying to run again. She made it a few feet before stumbling and crashing right into a teenaged boy. They both stumbled to the ground, with Deoxyia landing on top of him. When Deoxyia looked up she looked into the face of a gray furred fox. He had brown eyes, with an expression that had been hardened by pain. When the boy looked at her there was no emotion, no signs of what he was thinking. Deoxyia stared at him for a minute before quickly scrambling back in fear, kicking the boy in the jaw in the process. "Ow!" the boy cried, standing up and rubbing his jaw. Deoxyia trembled in fear at the tall boy, still trying to get away. Now that he was standing up she could see that he had a steak knife holstered at his side, as well as a katana on his back. A pistol rested at his side and to any other person this boy would've been perceived as a threat, but Deoxyia felt no fear of him, rather she felt fear of being hurt.
The boy looked at her cocking his head to the side. "Easy now," he said raising his hands, "I'm not going to hurt you." He brushed himself off and rubbed his jaw again, flexing it a bit. "You have a nasty kick, I'd hate to get on your bad side." His tone was joking and he had a smirk on his face, but his eyes still seemed to be devoid of emotion. Well, that wasn't entirely true. There was something in his eyes, something dark. A lot of anguish, pain, and anger built up inside that was now reflected through his eyes. The boy held out his hand and Deoxyia hesitatingly took it. He helped her to her feet and knelt down so he was eye level with her. He looked her up and down, taking in every little detail about her. Her pink fur, her green eyes, the crystal in her forehead. "You're Cerinian," he said, surprise in his voice. "What's that?" Deoxyia asked. She had never heard that word before.
The boy just shook his head and continued looking at her, his gaze eventually finding its way to her knees. "Looks like you got a bit banged up there," he said pointing to her bleeding knees. Deoxyia nodded and replied, "They sting." The boy chuckled and said, "Oh I bet. Skinned knees are the worst." The boy reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a rag. Deoxyia looked at him trying to take in all the details she could as well. He was wearing a navy blue warm-up jacket, like soccer players would wear. He had combat pants on as well as hiking boots. Underneath the jacket was a dirty t-shirt. It was torn, and stained with dark stuff, but she could barely make out words that said "Live Free." He had a pack on his back that he had dropped when they collided. He reached in and grabbed a yellow tube of something. He squirted some of what was ever inside onto the rag and said, "This may sting a bit." He began to clean Deoxyia's knees. The stuff on the rag stung like crazy, but Deoxyia tried her best to tough it out. After a few minutes, the boy finally stopped and said, "There, all done." Void put the rag back in his pocket and the tube back in his pack.
Deoxyia watched him as he packed up his stuff before she blurted out, "I'm Deoxyia." The boy looked at her and smiled. "I'm…" he paused for a minute, his smile faltering, and "I'm Void." His smile returned and he slung the backpack over his shoulder. He looked around before pointing towards the woods behind him. "Come with me. I'll bet your hungry." Deoxyia's eyes widened at the mention of food, and she nodded her head. Void turned and began walking towards the woods, motioning her to follow him. Deoxyia hesitated, but begin follow the boy into the woods. They ducked and dodged through bushes, tree limbs, and other shrubbery. After what walking for what felt like hours, they finally reached a small clearing in the woods. Deoxyia was shocked to see a makeshift tent and a fire pit already set up. "Welcome to home," Void said in a sarcastic tone. Deoxyia couldn't help but crack a little smile. This boy was kind of funny. Void pointed to the tent, which was really just a tarp held up by sticks, and said "You can have the sleeping bag in there. You need it more than I do." As Void put his pack against a log, Deoxyia responded, "But then where will you sleep?" Void took a rock and a metal thing out of the pack before looking at Deoxyia and smiling. "You don't need to worry about me," he said, kneeling next to the fire pit. "I don't get much sleep nowadays." "Why not?" Deoxyia asked getting closer to him. There was already wood in the pit and Void quickly started striking the two objects together, creating sparks. He did not answer Deoxyia's question, but instead dedicated most of his attention to what he was doing.
Eventually, the sparks created a small fire. Void blew on the flames causing them to grow bigger. It wasn't long before they had a nice fire going. Void grabbed two cans out of his pack as well as a pan. "Now, you'll have to forgive me. I'm not a gourmet chef." Void took out his knife and opened the cans pouring them into the pan. They were beans. "But I do make a mean can of beans." A few minutes passed, and soon both of them were sitting next to the fire, eating. Void ate fast, and greedily. It was amusing to Deoxyia. She had never seen anyone scarf down food as fast as him. "You eat really fast," Deoxyia said as Void reached into the pan for his third helping. "This is nothing. You should've seen how fast my dad ate." "Where is your dad?" Deoxyia asked. Void's expression hardened and he sat there staring into the flames for a minute. "He's…" he paused, "He's not around anymore." After that, Void shoveled beans into his mouth and didn't talk for the rest of the meal. After eating, they sat next to the fire in silence.
Deoxyia stared at the boy. She wondered what he was thinking, and why he was out on his own. He didn't look like an adult. As Deoxyia wondered these things, Void stood up. He stretched out, his back cracking as he did so. "You should get some sleep, we'll talk in the morning. At the mention of sleep, Deoxyia realized just how exhausted she really was. Her eyelids felt heavy, and her body ached. She nodded drearily and made her way to the tent. AS she settled into the sleeping bag, she could still see Void standing, staring into the fire. Then the vulpine put the flame out, and he disappeared into the darkness.
That night all Deoxyia dreamed about was her mother's face. It haunted her, but she couldn't wake up. She was forced to stare at the same image until morning. When she woke up, she heard shuffling outside the tent. Void was already awake. He was picking up his camp, erasing any evidence that he had been there. Deoxyia climbed out of the tent, rubbing her eyes. "Good, you're awake," Void said as he began to quickly pack up the tent. He had it all packed up in a matter of minutes. He grabbed Deoxyia's hand and escorted her back to the road. "Where are we going?" she asked. "I don't know yet." When they got to the road, Void stopped and put her in front of him. He knelt down and pointed to the direction of Deoxyia's home. "Last night, a ship flew off from that direction. You came running from the very same direction." Deoxyia nodded, trying to hold back tears. "Yeah, a man showed up at my home and scared my mommy." Void's eyes narrowed and he continued, "Did he have red fur?" Deoxyia nodded. "Black armor? A sword on his back? The numbers 666 on his shoulder?" Deoxyia nodded to all of his questions. When Void finished, he cursed. "That's a swear," Deoxyia said. Void ignored her and stood back up, pacing along the road. He appeared deep in thought. A few minutes passed when he finally turned back towards her and knelt down again.
"Deoxyia I hate to do this, but I'm afraid we're going to have to part ways." Deoxyia's eyes widened and she screamed, "Why?!" Void clamped a hand over her mouth to silence her, but Deoxyia could feel the tears still running down her cheeks. Void spoke softly and sweetly, "It'll be alright little one." Little one. That's what the man had called her, but when Void said it was… different. "There's no need to cry. We'll meet again, I promise. I'm going to remove my hand, but you have to promise me not to scream ok?" Deoxyia nodded and Void removed his hand from her mouth. "Why are you leaving?" she sniffed. Void sighed and said, "That man that came to your house is named Devil. He's very dangerous, and if I don't take him down he could come after somebody else." "I want to help you!" Deoxyia said. Void shook his head. "You can't little one. You're too small." Deoxyia hung her head, but Void put his finger to her chin and lifted her gaze to his. He had a warm smile on his face and for the first time since she met him, a glint of emotion in his eyes. "Don't ever hang your head. I'll tell you what," Void reached and took the sword off of his back, "This is a katana. It's a type of sword, made for cutting." He handed it to Deoxyia, and she took it gingerly. "I want you to train with it. Get really good with it, okay? And when you feel like you're ready, come track me down." Void wiped the tears from her eyes and stood up. "It was really nice meeting you Deoxyia." Deoxyia ran to him and wrapped her arms around her waist. Void welcomed her embrace and put his arm around her neck.
They stayed in this embrace for a few minutes before Void pushed her away. "Go now, little one. Remember, don't ever hang your head. You are strong, and nothing will stand in your way. There's a shelter about five miles from here. They tend to Cerin… people like you. Head there, and they'll take care of you. Go now." With that, Void turned and waved goodbye, and began to run towards Deoxyia's house. Deoxyia watched as the teenaged boy got farther and farther away. Eventually, he disappeared from sight completely. And once again, Deoxyia was left to travel alone.
Deoxyia looked up at the building before her. It looked to be in a bit of disrepair, but it was big, spreading the length of what would've been a few blocks had it been inside of a city. Deoxyia took a deep breath and begin walking up the front steps. When she reached the doors, she raised her arms and hesitated. She couldn't seem to will herself to knock. Every part of her wanted to turn and leave. To find Void and help him track down the man that was at her house. She couldn't do that though. Void specifically told her not to. She had to knock. If she didn't then she would be letting him down. With that thought she knocked on the door. The doors creaked open, sounding like they were ready to pop right off their hinges. Standing there before Deoxyia, was an old badger. Age was not nice to this man. His knees wobbled, and his snout drooped. His eyes were squinted, trying to peer around the circular lenses he wore on his eyes. He smiled when he saw her. He was missing teeth, but his smile was warm. "Welcome young one! What is your name?" Deoxyia stammered a bit, "D-Deoxyia…sir." The man stood to the side and beckoned her in. "Come on in young one. I think you've found the right place."
Deoxyia walked inside, and admired the surroundings. The building looked a lot nicer on the inside. It was huge, with stair cases connecting the floors. The floor was made of shiny rock, and there were white columns adding support to the building. "You look surprised young one. That's to be expected of course. Do you see that crystal over there?" The badger pointed to a shiny blue gem sitting in a class tube connected to the floor. Deoxyia nodded and the badger continued, "It creates the illusion of an old worn down building, that way we ward off unwanted visitors." "Am I an unwanted visitor?" Deoxyia asked, worry in her voice. The badger chuckled and shook his head, "Of course not young one. You're Cerinian, which means you are more than welcome here." Deoxyia gave him a confused look. "What's a Ce-ri-nian?" She asked, pronouncing the word slowly. The badger chuckled again and replied, "It's a race of people, thought to have been wiped out long ago when their planet was destroyed. They possess powers beyond all others. It's my job and the job of this establishment to help children like you learn how to use these powers, and to discover who you are." "Who I am?" Deoxyia asked pointing at herself. The badger nodded and said "That's right young one. Who you are inside, your heritage, everything. My name is Mr. Johnson. I will be your caretaker. Why don't you have a seat next to Diamond over there?" The badger pointed towards one of the tables, where a light blue vixen was sitting poking at a tray of food. "I'm sure you guys will get along just fine."
Deoxyia walked over to the table and sat across of the vixen. She put her stuff down as the vixen glanced over at her. She scoffed and went back to poking at her food. "Hi!" Deoxyia began, "I'm Deoxyia, and it's nice to meet you!" The vixen did not answer, but instead just looked at Deoxyia. Deoxyia frowned and shifted her gaze to the floor. "Sorry to bother you, I was just hoping we'd be friends." Deoxyia started to get up when the vixen spoke. "I'm Diamond. It's nice to meet you too." Deoxyia looked at her. Her voice was smooth, and silky. She had a gem on her forehead, just like she did. "You have that gem too?" Deoxyia asked. Diamond nodded, "All Cerinians have it." Diamond gave a small smile. "I think you'll like it here."
Five years. That's how long it had been since Deoxyia first arrived at this establishment. She still didn't know its name. Nobody would tell her. Three years ago, Mr. Johnson had passed away. A woman named Mrs. Kennedy took over, and what was once heaven turned to hell. She took away their rights, tried to turn them into to slaves. She didn't treat them like they were people, but instead like they were insects. She had taken over three years ago. Well, it had been two months since her and Diamond escaped that wretched place. Deoxyia sat in cover behind a tree, waiting for Diamond's return. Hopefully the blue vixen would come back with some food. Deoxyia sat there, deep in thought. Her birthday was two days ago. She was now ten years old. She missed celebrating with her mom every year. She missed her mom. She was brought back to reality by the sound of rustling near her. Her hand shot to her katana, ready to unsheathe it. She had gotten a lot better with it and Diamond had been teaching her hand-to-hand combat. She'd never be as good as Diamond though.
The rustling continued, and just as Deoxyia was about to draw her sword, Diamond appeared from the bushes. Deoxyia let out a sigh of relief upon seeing her friend and set her katana down. "Did you find anything?" She asked. Diamond shook her head, a solemn look on her face. "Absolutely nothing. I would've kept following the trail except Mrs. Kennedy has some goons out on the trail, no doubt looking for us. We've gotta get moving." Deoxyia stood up, ready to go until the sound of shouting cut them off. The two vixens ran out into the clearing, only to find the goons from the establishment. There was four of them, and they were big. "Come on little pretties, Mrs. Kennedy wants you back," one of them said. His teeth were crooked and yellow, and he wore an eye patch. Deoxyia drew the katana and Diamond drew one of the two staffs she had. They both had crystals on the end that glowed and dispensed magic. One crystal was blue and the other was pink. "We're never going back to the damned place!" Diamond growled. "I beg to differ," The goon in the middle said. He was large and muscular, with sunken eyes. The people at the establishment just referred to him as "Crusher."
He stepped forward and as he did so the two vixens stepped back. Deoxyia knew there was no way the two of them could take the three of them in hand to hand. However, they had their staffs and Deoxyia was confident that they gave them an advantage. She had hers at the ready, just waiting for them or Diamond to make a move. But Diamond never moved. Instead she glanced at Deoxyia and said, "Run." With no further warning, Diamond launched a fire ball from her staff. It hit Crusher square in the chest and exploded, sending smoke and embers everywhere. The grass was too dry though, and caught fire as well. The flames quickly spread to the trees, and soon a raging forest fire was in front of them. Deoxyia spun and took off into the woods, Diamond following her. A gun shot sounded and Deoxyia heard Diamond cry in pain. There was a loud thump followed by twigs crunching. Deoxyia spun around and saw Diamond on the ground holding her leg. Two of the goons were closing in. Diamond looked at her and said, "Don't stop, keep going!" "I can't leave you!" Deoxyia said. Diamond growled and snapped, "Just go!" Deoxyia took one last look at Diamond, tears flooding her vision, before she turned and ran deeper into the woods. As she ran her vison started to dissolve into black, and she took one last look at Diamond as everything faded away. Soon, all she could see was black.
There was a loud beeping and Deoxyia could smell fire. She opened her eyes slowly, her head throbbing. She looked around, blinking rapidly. She was back in her Arwing. The ship was clearly on fire. She tried to unstrap herself but the side of the cockpit had collapsed in. It was then she realized her arm was trapped. As soon as she noticed it she felt a stinging pain, and she bit her lip. She reached her hand up to her temple and felt blood. She sighed and leaned back. Things were not looking good for her. She closed her eyes and prepared to let the pain overtake her before light suddenly flooded the cockpit. "Whoa there, don't you let those eyes close." Deoxyia's eyes fluttered open at the familiar voice. Her vision was blurry, and all she could make out was a large figure. "I'm going to get you out of there, just hang on." The figure disappeared, and Deoxyia wanted to call out to it so they would come back. She felt things moving around and occasionally she would move. The straps holding her in were ripped out, with incredible force. The force tried to pull Deoxyia out of the cockpit, and the vixen clenched her teeth in pain. She managed to point to her arm and say in a soft voice, "Trapped…" She heard the voice swear and she was put down. "Deoxyia, this is going to hurt." Deoxyia turned to look, but before she could there was an unbelievable pain and she hunched over clutching her arm. She was wretched from the cockpit and laid onto the ground. Blood was spilling from her wound and she looked up into the figures blurry face. "You're going to be okay. I've got you now." Deoxyia managed a soft smile as she drifted into black.