-Dream-

"Mom! Dad!" A blonde-haired boy was seen running towards his parents.

"Oh, Zephyrus!" His father turned around and grabs his son, carrying him onto the air, laughing. Zephyrus' eyes were glistening with hope and he was also laughing joyfully.

His mother then came to Zephyrus, lightly kissing him on his forehead. "My beloved son."

"Yes, mother," came the reply.

Zephyrus' father then lowered him down. His father then brushed Zephyrus' stray hair aside, with a kind and gentle smile that formed on his lips. "My only child."

The happy faces of his parents suddenly began to fade. "Mom, Dad?" Zephyrus proceeded to touch his mother, but his finger went through it, as if it was made of gas. His parents started to fade even more, followed by his surroundings.

"Mom! Dad! Don't leave me!" Tears was starting to form on Zephyrus' eyes. He lifted his hand to touch them again, and again his hand went right through them. By then, his parents had already completely faded out of sight. "Mom! Dad!" His surroundings began to fade, little by little, finally everything went pitch-black.

Little Zephyrus sat in the abyss and started to weep. "Mom...Dad...why...? I...I...don't want...to be a...alone..."

-Dream ends-

Inside the old warehouse...

"Mom...Dad..." Zephyrus continued to murmur in his sleep. Suddenly, he felt water being splashed on his face. He ignored it as first, until he felt a hard, stinging slap on his face.

"#&& you kid! You've been murmuring all night long! SHUT THE &#$&# HELL UP!" a rogue carrying a bucket of water shouted at him.

"B...but...I miss my mo..." Before Zephyrus could finish his sentence, the rogue gave another hard slap on his face. Tears immediately formed on Zephyrus' eyes.

"WHAT DID I JUST SAID YOU $$ RASCAL! I SAID SHUT THE DAMN $ HELL UP! AND GET YOUR DAMN FACE AWAY FROM ME!" The rogue then tossed his bucket away and walked back to his seat, obviously in rage.

"Rosh, calm down. Abusing him won't do us any good," his friend said to his friend.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN THAT DOESN'T DO US ANY GOOD! AT LEAST HE CAN SHUT THE #$# HELL UP! I'M TIRED OF LOOKING AT HIS DAMN FACE! I MIGHT AS WELL JUST KILL HIM! AND..."

"...and if you do so, I'll make sure your body's placed next to him," his other rogue friend interrupted calmly. Zephyrus looked at him for a awhile, then blacked-out, unconscious, due to hunger. He haven't ate since yesterday.

"Flazer? Why are you saying so?" asked his companion.

"Luke, Rosh, have you two forgotten the purpose we kidnap him for?" Flazer replied calmly.

"Ask for money from his parents. Nothing special," Luke replied. Rosh was still in the raging mood, breathing heavily.

"At least you haven't. Aren't we gonna make a plan for it?" asked Flazer. His attention then moved to Rosh. "And I suggest you sit here and help too."

Rosh grinned but he still managed to calm himself down and went over to them. "What now?" he asked.

"How are we going to ask for the money?" Luke asked.

"Somebody have to send a letter though." Rosh suggested. "But how?"

"Who will go then?" Flazer asked. The room then went quiet for a few seconds. Flazer then noticed a Lunatic entering the warehouse. "A Lunatic? What's it doing here?"

"Ahh, let me deal wit.." Rosh stood up but was stopped by Flazer.

"Hold on, look." Flazer pointed at the Lunatic. The Lunatic saw the unconscious Zephyrus and went straight to him, jumping on his lap, hoping to wake him up.

"And you mean..." Luke came to a stop. He got the idea.

"Yes. The Lunatic should be his pet, it has a silk ribbon on it. And of course, we could use it..." Flazer said. The three then grinned and proceeded with their another evil plan.

Later on, in Zephyrus' house...

"Where have he been?"Zephyrus' mother asked while walking back and forth. "He should have told me if he's going far..."

"I've contacted the Prontera Chivalry about the problem. The knights should be looking for him now." Zephyrus' father tried calming his wife, though he felt unsure himself.

A lunatic then ran inside the house, carrying a letter in its mouth. "Krystal? Aren't Zephyrus with you? Where's he? Wha..." Questions continued to come from his mouth when he noticed the letter it brought. "What's this?" He opened the letter. It wrote:

This letter is sent regarding your son. He's now safe in my hands, don't worry.

If you want back your son, meet me at the inn's back alley lane tonight at 12pm. Bring along 10 million zeny to reclaim your son. No less.

And remember not to call the knights for help. I'll instantly kill your son if you do.

Your son's fate depends on you. Farewell.

He dropped the letter as soon as he finished reading it. The content of the letter really shocked him. His confused wife picked up the letter and read it, and her reaction was the same. "10 million zeny?" his mother covered her face in her hands, obviously panicking. "Where are we going to get that much sum of money...?"

Zephyrus' father sat down, trying to calm down. "Damn it! He's kidnapped! Where am I going to find that much money...?" Being an ordinary mercenary in Prontera was not the easy way to earn money. He suddenly thought of an idea. "I can lend from Dervix, my blacksmith pal. Thank God..."

"And you have to go tonight?" Zephyrus' mother asked in curiosity.

"Unfortunately, yes..." came the reply.

"I'll follow," his mother said.

"But..."

"No buts. Your son is my son. I'll follow." his mother insisted.

The father thought for a awhile, and finally nodded. "Fine..."

That night, at the inn' back alley lane...

Zephyrus' father went with his wife to the inn's back alley lane, along with the 10 million zeny as demanded. Just as they was walking along the lane, two figure appeared in front of them. "Where's the money I wanted?" one of the figure asked.

"H...here," Zephyrus' father replied a bit shakingly as he showed the money bag to him. "W...where's my son?"

One of the figures checked the bag and confirmed that it's genuine money. "Your son's...here," the figure said as he holds out a gagged little boy.

"Zephyrus!" His mother proceeded to hug him with teary eyes. Zephyrus too, stared at his mother with tears in his eyes. His father watched from behind, and was glad it was over.

It wasn't over.

The figure in front of them grinned, and flicked his finger. Zephyrus' father wondered what he was doing, until he suddenly felt a sharp pain on his back. Rosh appeared from his back and backstabbed Zephyrus' father. The dagger pierced his heart, killing him instantly.

"NO! DAD!" Zephyrus shouted as he watched his father's lifeless body fell to the ground. "No..." Tears started lining down Zephyrus' cheek, a mix of hate and sadness blending inside him.

Zephyrus' mother cried too. She couldn't stand it any longer and took the dagger that killed her husband. She stared at it for a while and said "Zephyrus, take care..." She then stabbed herself on the stomach, and she too, fell to the ground, dead.

Zephyrus stared at the two dead bodies, crawled over to them and cried. "No...Dad...Mom...Nooo...why...why...?"

Rosh appeared behind Flazer and said, "Wow, I killed two birds with one stone."

"Make that three." Luke said as he drew his dagger and went over to Zephyrus. "This is to prevent others from knowing what happened. So long, little child," he said as he raised his dagger, ready to strike.

Zephyrus stood up, face down, as if preparing himself to be killed.

Luke made his slash, but he was stopped by an unknown force. "Huh? Why can I...Argh!" An invisible force then hit his stomach, stunning him a little. "What the...?"

Zephyrus lifted his face, his teeth grinning in rage. The air around him started to swirl and an aura formed around him.

"What the hell...?" Rosh started to back-off.

"AAAAAARGH!" Zephyrus suddenly screamed. Medium-sized bolts of fire started to rain from the sky, the rogues as the target. Most of the bolts missed them, but some hit and charred them slightly.

"What the..magician spells..OW! We'd better run!" Luke tried to run as he was almost hit by the bolt. The three then ran away, leaving the money bag and Zephyrus behind.

The aura started to reduce and the air around started to get calmer. The aura then completely dissappeared. Zephyrus stood still for a while, then fell unconscious.

Not too long later, a girl with light red priestess uniform appeared. She scanned the area for a while, and said, "What a mess..." She saw the dead bodies, and prayed that the souls would rest in peace. She also saw Zephyrus being unconscious on the other side. "Poor little thing..." She then went to him and carried him away.