Disclaimer-I will never own any of the characters in this story. So don't even bother trying to sue me for money. The title of this story is taken from the song "Breaking the Habit," which is sung by Linkin Park. This song belongs to its respective writers, producers, singers, and all those who are associated with the song "Breaking the Habit."
Breaking the Habit
Isabel Night
As I stand on top of this concrete bridge that overlooks a small lake in something the mortals call a "park," I am left here, alone, to decide my own future. The gentle rippling of the blue-green water that makes up this artificial lake should be able to soothe me, but instead of serenity, I only feel a crushing inner turmoil that threatens to overtake my mind.
Could that monk, the one who calls himself The Ancient One, really be telling me the truth? How did he know that Master Talpa and I weren't seeing eye-to-eye anymore? Was there any truth to those monk's words when he told me that I have the right to choose my own master? Moreover, with the revelation of my armor's virtue, do I even know what I'm fighting for?
Even with all these questions that seem to keep swimming through my head, what about Dais, Cale, and Sekhmet; don't they also have ability to choose their own master as well? If they don't choose their own master, will they blindly follow Talpa, not even realizing the blossoming potential they have within them? If I have been taken for a fool…and if I have been only given my power and rank because the demon I serve wants the suit of armor that I wear, then I have to leave Talpa's castle. If, according to The Ancient One, I have the right to choose my own master, then don't I also have the right to flee from that Kami-forsaken place and start my life over again? However, if I do leave the castle, where would I go? The Mortal Realm has dramatically changed over the past 400 years, and I simply cannot go back to Kyoto, marry, get a job, and start a family. I have no income, no blood relatives to turn to, and many mortals would turn me down for a "full-time" job because they say I should be in something call "school." Yes, I know that I physically stopped aging when I joined Talpa in the 17th year of my life, but over the past 400 years, I have become a mature and responsible adult. I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself, even if I have to live alone for the rest if my life.
Still, my weakened and world-weary mind keeps telling me that if I don't leave Talpa's castle, then I will never be able choose my own master. If I cannot choose my own master, then I am nothing more than a marionette puppet with no free will, no free soul, and with no clear mind. I don't know how these treasonous thoughts seeped into my head, but I don't care. All I know is that if I get caught, Dais, Cale, and Sekhmet will hunt me down, bring me back to the castle, and execute me.
I don't want to be caught up in a world where I have no free will, but I also don't want to subject those I call my own to a fate as a lifeless doll. The only way I can save them is to break free from those bonds that hold me down. If I have the right to choose my own master, then my fellow seasons must also have that same right. If I, however,am able to exercise that choice, then I must break free from Talpa and my old life. I must, as the mortals say, "break the habit," before something goes terribly wrong…
THE END