Book VII: A Master and his Doll

Chapter LVII

"Hey, before you leave, I want your story," Acacia demanded from Canaan.

"Why? I don't see the point. The less you know about me, the better," Canaan replied glumly.

Acacia sighed. "Because there's a more than decent chance that you'll end up fighting my sister, and you know that. What's your reasoning? More importantly than that, I want to know who the hell you actually are."

Canaan, while annoyed, understood. Honestly he hadn't even told King Zeke the full story, but maybe getting the whole thing clear in his head would help him focus on the coming battle.

"Very well, however I will not repeat it, so listen close."

...

An Ardainian marrying a Gormotti, this was a relationship that was considered unthinkable. Well... it would've been a couple hundred years ago. As of modern day, it was more common for people of different races to marry each other. A descendant of two different races was simply called "New Tornan", and in the new world, it was more than honorable to have that title. Then unthinkable part stemmed more from an Ardanian man leaving Mor Ardain. Alba Cavanich was a terrible place; people stuffed into unlivable circumstances, living in constant slavery, and only existing to amass debt. My father wanted nothing more than to get his two children out of this hell hole.

"If we leave, we will be hunted til the day we die," my mother had said with concern.

"If we stay, that day will come much sooner than either of us want," he responded.

He had always been strong, but in Alba Cavanich, it didn't matter how strong you were. People only cared for what they could take from you or get out of you, whether by slave labor, extortion, or straight burglary.

Zane and I had wanted nothing more than to simply grow up normally. However you could tell by our hobbies that that would never happen. Zane had accidentally blown up a building at the age of four, simply by playing with the wrong electronics, and I had a terrible knack for picking fights that didn't involve me. I would love to say I had the best intentions, but if you so much as looked at me funny I'd be the first to knock a tooth out. I was only eight, but I was very protective of Zane and Finch, most of my fights were simply because Finch forgot something or Zane caused a malfunction that ended up pissing someone else off.

"Pack your bags boys," our dad had told us. "We leave by train at midnight, get your rest, you'll need it."

Little did we know that we were about to make a big mistake.

Midnight came all too quickly and we rushed to the train station as quickly possible, but not before we got cut off by one of the people dad owed money to, and three lackeys.

"You didn' think you was gonna get away now didja?" he said in his gross accent.

"I'll stay then, let my children and my wife go," my dad offered. He wasn't a fool, but maybe he could reason with them.

"Oh no! No no no no no. Y'see pal, you owe me a debt, and these are yer dependents, yeah? The way I sees it, they owe me just like their ol' man does," he explained.

Finch threw my dad her weapon without hesitation. The large, two-handed club in his hands began glowing with ether.

"GO NOW!" he yelled as mother grabbed us and ran towards the train.

The men had pulled out rifles of some kind and attempted to fire at us, but our mom had an ether shield, and she used it to protect us from the bullets.

My dad seemed as if he knew this was going to happen from the very start, and he ended up clubbing two of the lackeys down quickly as Finch shielded him.

Our mom got us on the train quickly and it readied itself for departure.

"What about Dad?! We can't leave without him!" I yelled as I tried to kick myself out of my mother's grasp.

"This is what he wanted," my mom choked out.

I looked at her face. It was red and she couldn't stop herself from crying.

I had never seen my mom cry before, not once ever. When I looked at her face, my heart sank. I knew what this meant, what my father was doing, even when I refused to believe it, I knew. Seeing the tears stream down her face broke me, in a way I'd never be able to explain.

Once my father knew we were safe, I watched the man shoot him in the head. My father had finally paid his debt.

"Mommy where are we going?" Zane asked. "Where is Daddy?" He hadn't seen his father fall to the floor in a bloody mess. Mom wouldn't let him, but she couldn't stop me, I fought her too hard.

I was always stubborn, I had always been angry, but the feeling I felt at that moment was far more than anger. I didn't have a word in my vocabulary to truly describe what I felt, I only described it as one thing, hatred. I wanted to watch those men shriek in pain as I carved them out, I wanted to see the blood pour, I wanted to smell their fear. However, I stood there, powerless, unable to do anything but watch as my father and Finch were both taken from me.

"We're going to Torigoth, you guys will finally be able to meet your grandparents," my mother explained with all of the strength she could muster.

"B-But... where's my daddy?" Zane asked again. "Where did he go."

"Well... he's-" my mom started, trying to find a way to explain it to him.

"He's gone," I said, angrily. "He's gone, and he's never coming back."

I wish that had been everything that I had to deal with that day, but the train made a brief stop between Alba Cavanich and New Torna before it would continue and eventually work its way around to Torigoth, and a man pulled a gun on my mom and shot her point blank.

"Regards from the boss," he had said.

I knew my mom had kept a knife strapped to her leg, but there had been no time for her to react, but I could. I pulled the knife and plunged it into his leg, tearing through his flesh. I then dragged it down and couldn't help but smile as he screamed in pain.

He fell to his knees and I was able to look him dead in the eye as I drove my knife into his eye.

"Die you pig," I stated as I watched his face turn pale and the light disappear from his eyes.

...

"We didn't want to go to Torigoth, because we were scared that we'd get our grandparents killed too, so we lived alone in New Torna. I learned to control my anger and find a way to fight those who took advantage of others as an assassin, and my brother kept playing with electronics until he found ways to help me become a better assassin. I had always wanted him to leave me and move on with his own life. And when he told me he had gotten a girlfriend, I thought that maybe he was finally getting smart," Canaan explained.

"So that's what mission she was on before I left...," Acacia said in realization. "I'm... sorry."

"Don't be, it's not your fault, but I promise, when I get the chance she will die," Canaan couldn't stop himself from saying that.

Acacia nodded, it wasn't the response Canann thought she'd have to hearing that he'd kill kill her sister.

"My relationship with my sibling wasn't like yours, maybe if her heart stops, she'll finally get the rest she deserves. Go, and don't hold back," Acacia stated.

...

https/youtu.be/UmnQXyiIFp4

And now Canaan stood outside the BCCHQ, ready for his assault. He could tell Adonis wasn't in there, and neither was Mythra, but that had only been a secondary reason for him. The primary reason was there.

He was going to kill Violet Uzuzki, or die trying.

Readability Level: 9-10th Grade

Time Taken: 1 Hour