Virtuous Son
Chapter One: Lost And Found
It was a warm summer day in the town of Dublith; the various citizens moving about for their usual business, like going to work, visiting friends or family members, or just out on a stroll.
In this case, Izumi Curtis stood out in the meadow, her stern gaze staring across the horizon, the sun rising high above the clouds. Letting out a sigh, Izumi mounted her horse and rode down a bit, towards a river, before stopping at the edge. She then dismounted and got closer, spear in hand, and waited. With sharp precision, she thrusted the spear forward into the water, before then pulling it out, with a fish on the end of the spear, clearly impaled by the spear.
Why was Izumi out and about like this, considering her condition? Well, despite that, she had no intention of just laying around the house, growing old. She needed to go out and do something productive to keep her body in good shape, such as good exercising routines.
For her, it's always a good thing to get out of the house every now and then.
After filling her bucket with plenty of fish, she put away her spear and strapped the bucket on the horse's saddle, making ready to ride back to town, something caught her eye. Looking over, she saw something red a few yards down the river. Pulling her horse along, she got a better look, and nearly gasped at what she saw.
At the edge of the river laid a young boy covered in blood, face down in the dirt near the bank of the river washing over him, his blonde hair messy, his skin pale and several gashes littered his body, as well as several large bleeding stumps on his back.
Crouching down, Izumi pressed two of her fingers to check his pulse; he was barely breathing.
Normally, Izumi wasn't one to care about random strangers, but this was just a kid, lying out in the field bleeding to near death. She wasn't cruel enough to just leave him to die.
Grabbing a large sheet of cloth, she crouched down and wrapped him up as best she could before carefully loading him onto the horse before hoping on herself and riding home to town, all the way to her home.
"Sig!" She called as she got off her horse, then made ready to unstrap the boy from the saddle. "I'm home! Get out here and help me with this!"
Almost immediately, the hulking man called Sig stepped out, then his eyes widened in shock at the sight of the unconscious boy Izumi was carrying.
"Izumi, who is that?" He asked calmly. "And what the hell happened to him?"
"I'm not sure, but he needs serious help." Izumi said as she approached the house, the bandaged boy slung over her shoulder. "Go get the first aid kit!"
Nodding, Sig went back inside while Izumi brought the boy in and gently laid him down on the couch. Once Sig came back with the first aid kit, Izumi undid the wrapping so she can properly tend to the wounds, but when she undid the wrapping around his arm, she carefully opened the left hand find a curious symbol that looked like a scale with a sword serving as the base.
'Where the hell did he get this from?' She wondered silently. 'What kind of parent gets a kid a tattoo at their age?'
Putting those thoughts to the side for now, Izumi undid the cloak and lowered it a bit so she could get a better look at his injuries; from the looks of things, suffered a large number of cuts all over his body, as well having two bloody stumps on his back where his shoulder blades are. Once Sig came back with the first aid kit, Izumi cleaned the boy up as best she could and applied the right amount of bandages to cover the wounds.
Once she was finished, the boy had bandages over his arms and torso, as well as some around the top of his head.
"What now?" Sig asked.
Izumi took her time to think, looking at the unconscious boy, his chest rising and setting as he breathed.
"For now, let him rest." She said. "We'll see about finding out more when he wakes up."
Sig nodded before leaving the room, Izumi moving to do the same after taking one last glance at the boy.
Several hours later…
A pained groan can be heard within the living room, as the boy began to stir, his eyes slowly opening as he sat himself up, a hand pressing against his head, as if to try and numb the pain, before his eyes slowly widened at the sight of his new surroundings. Looking around, he was extremely confused with where he was and how he got there.
"Good, you're awake."
Surprised, the boy turned to see a grown, slender woman with a well-toned figure and tall height. She had fair skin, sharp dark eyes, and upper back-length hair worn in box braids tied in a ponytail. She wore a long white-collared, button-up blouse that revealed her cleavage a bit, form-fitting grey pants that reached her ankles and a pair of opened-toed sandals that have the letter 'W.C.' on them. The boy also took notice of a tattoo on her chest.
They sat there in a long silence, the boy watching the woman carry what appeared to be a tray over near the couch he was currently laying on and set it on the small table near the couch and pulled it in front of him, the boy seeing pancakes and bacon sat on a plate upon the tray, clearly fresh.
"Dig in." The woman practically commanded. "By the looks, ya look like you haven't eaten in a while."
The boy looked at the woman, then at the food, before feeling his stomach growl intensely before he soon dug in, quickly eating the food.
"Slow down, will ya?" Izumi said. "You're gonna choke if you eat too fast!"
Obeying, the boy slowed his pace, soon finishing his meal, breathing heavily and his hunger satisfied.
"Where ya from, kid?" Izumi asked, almost demanding. "Better yet, what's your name?"
The boy tried to say something, but nothing came out; only a scratchy speak. Izumi soon left the room then returned with a glass of water.
"Here." She said, holding it out for him.
Nodding, the boy took the glass and drank, letting out a sigh of his thirst being quenched.
"Thank you." The boy finally said.
"Glad to see you haven't lost your voice." Izumi said before taking the glass. "So, mind telling me who you are and how you ended up nearly dead?"
The boy seemed confused, watching Izumi set the glass down on the table, "I was out grabbing some fish for the butcher shop when I found you near a river, covered in wounds and bleeding to death. Brought you here and patched you up as best I could." She then stood before him. "I also noticed that curious tattoo on the palm of your hand."
Curious, the boy looked at his left and raised a brow with curiosity at the mark.
"I'm guessing it means you're someone of importance, right?" Izumi asked.
The boy looked at Izumi, then the mark, and finally at Izumi before shrugging his shoulders.
"You're telling me you don't know why it's there?" Izumi said with a raised brow. "Can you at least tell me who you are and where you're from?"
The boy seemed to be in deep thought, as if trying to think hard for the answer, his face scrunched up and his eyes squeezing shut, before his expression softened before he spoke.
"I do not remember…" He said worriedly.
"You're telling me that you have no memories at all?" She said.
The boy only shook his head, Izumi pinching the bridge of her nose; on one hand, she was suspicious if he was being genuine, since there were cases of people faking amnesia. But on another hand, this boy seems genuinely confused, lost, unsure on what to do, scared even.
Eventually, she sighed and said, "Alright, here's the deal; I'm willing to let you stay here for a while until you get your bearings, but you're gonna work to earn your keep. No way I'm gonna let some freeloader slack around, understand?"
The boy only nodded, before Izumi threw him a set of clothes, "Put these on; I grabbed some for you while you were out. Also, we need to give you a name, since you can't remember it."
"What would you call me then?" The boy asked.
Thinking for a moment, and looking at the symbol on the boy's hand, Izumi declared, "Justin. Yeah, that'll work."
As though thinking it over, the boy now called Justin nodded in acceptance.
"Alright, boy, get some sleep." Izumi practically commanded. "First thing tomorrow morning, you'll be worked to the bone!"
With that, she turned and left the room, Justin looking out the window to see the sun start to set, before he simply laid back down to sleep.
The next morning…
Justin slept rather soundly, before suddenly feeling as though he was sent flying off the couch.
"Up and at 'em, kid!" Izumi yelled with authority. "There's lotsa work to be done!"
Justin fell on the floor with a thud and the falling on top of him before he groggily pushed said couch off of him.
"What was that for?" He asked in pained confusion.
"To wake you up." Izumi said bluntly. "Now get on your feet!"
Justin quickly got to his feet, putting the couch back into place.
"Okay, listen up, boy!" Izumi declared, the boy giving her his utmost attention. "I've prepared a list of chores for you to do around the house. While I'm gone, I expect these to be done before I get back, understand?"
Justin nodded before Izumi handed him a sheet of paper, "Now, hop to it! I expect the place to be spotless by the time I get back!"
And with that, she marched out of the house, Justin standing there with the paper with the list of chores to complete, raising a brow at some of them.
"You look confused, little man."
Justin turned his head and looked up to see the hulking man that was Sig standing next to him.
"I'm not sure what these chores entail." Justin admitted.
"Don't worry, I'll walk you through it." Sig said. "No point in throwing you in the deep end with no training."
After a few pointers, Sig walked Justin through on some of the chores, showing him where to apply the cleaning sprays when cleaning the bathroom, washing the dishes, sweeping and moping, and dusting down the furniture. Eventually, with Sig's teaching's, Justin was able to complete the chores on the list, the inside of the house looked spotless.
"Not bad, kid." Sig complimented. "You shouldn't have much problem getting the work done now."
"Thank you for the instructions, Sig sir." Justin said with a polite bow.
"Eh, don't mention it." Sig waved it off.
Just then, Izumi entered the threshold, looking about the inside to see how spotless it was, and grinned.
"Not bad, kid." She said. "I'm surprised you did it right the first time."
"I did have to walk him through some of them." Sig stated.
"Understandable." Izumi shrugged. "It's an amnesiac we're dealing with, after all."
She walked up and pulled out another slip of paper, "After lunch, I want you to take care of these, alright? Sig will walk you through it."
"Yes Ma'am." Justin nodded.
"Now, go wash up." Izumi ordered. "Lunch will be ready soon."
After Justin went upstairs, Izumi and Sig were left alone.
"You're starting to look like a mother already, Izumi." Sig pointed out.
"A little, yeah." She nodded. "Still, I don't think I'm there yet."
Meanwhile, there was a curious crow sitting outside their window, looking through the glass, having watched everything, a weird looking grin on its face.
And here's the new story! I've had this story idea bounce around in my head for quite a while since I started reading the manga. And after some thought, I thought about this story, where there are Homonculus that are against the Father and his Sins. Not gonna reveal too much, as I want to reveal some stuff over time. I hope you guys look forward to what I have to offer!
And with that, I hope you stay tuned for more! Reviews are greatly appreciated!