A New Age, A New Team
Chapter 28: A Mother's Wisdom Never Dies

The beautiful craved wooden door leading out to the garden quietly opened as Hiro (Void) walked out into the garden. Everyday, he tried to take time out of his day in order to walk through the garden to clear his head. A lot of the students did it because it was essential in the hectic world they lived in. However, Hiro was different about it; he did it to appreciate what he was given and not to mourn what he lost along the way.

While he was walking, his dark brown eyes followed the unseen wind as it danced in the air. He watched the different flowers sway back and forth to an unheard beat and the willow dance along side the wind. As he watched the willow dance, he noticed someone sitting under the cover of the willow. He began to slowly walk closer and closer before he realized it was Linx.

Linx's all black hair with red highlights underneath was pulled back into a ponytail for once, and she was dressed in jeans and a rather large, baggy teal shirt. Her legs were crossed and her two-toned eyes were closed as she meditated.

Hiro cocked his head to the side and stood there for a moment. I heard about the person they call "Grimm" and everything that goes along with her… He thought to himself as he watched her underneath the dancing willow. But Sam's file mentioned Ghost and when I looked up Ghost I knew I needed to find out about him. Hiro sighed as he cautiously walked closer towards Linx.

Hiro wasn't one to remember his past. He hated talking about it and he hated remembering it. A lot of people at the mansion hated remembering it, but Hiro was definitely one of the few that did everything in his power to forget it.

Hiro softly brushed the willow branches out of his way as he stepped underneath the canopy of the willow and stood before Linx. He didn't know what to say and she hadn't seemed to notice he was there. "Linx?" He said softly.

At first, Linx didn't respond in any way, but eventually she opened her two different colored eyes and looked up at Hiro. "Hello Hiro." She smiled softly.

Hiro nodded before sitting down in front of her, "I wanted to ask you about Ghost…"

Linx's two different colored hazel eyes seemed to light up as the edge of her lips curled in interest. "Ah," she nodded a couple of times, "He's an interesting case, to say the least."

Hiro cocked his head slightly to the side and looked at Linx for a minute before speaking, "Can you tell me about him?"

"What do you want to know?"

"Everything you know about him."

"Where to begin..." Linx asked herself for a minute as she thought and then lightly chuckled, "Begin at the beginning and go on till you come to the end: then stop" She reminded herself.

"What?" Hiro asked as he raised an eyebrow at her.

Linx chuckled as her hazel eyes twinkled, "Nothing. It's a quote... Alice in Wonderland." She smirked. "Ghost isn't like the typical boys," she began, "he a special way about him that..." Linx looked down at the ground for a moment as she concentrated.

"Linx?" Hiro asked in concern as he leaned forward and placed his hand on Linx's shoulder.

A flash of bright white light blinded Hiro, and when he opened his eyes again he was surrounded by a world lacking color. The ground was a dull black that looked like ash, and was cracked throughout the land. Trees with no leaves and branches sticking out in every direction were randomly placed throughout the land, and looked as though they were burnt, but had managed to stay alive. The sky was a crimson, blood-red with black clouds filling it. Spread across the land were people who shuffled their feet as they walked with their heads down.

Before Hiro stood a person in a long black robe with a large hood, holding a scythe; much like the grim reaper would. What the hell is going on! Hiro thought as he remained calm on the outside. His dark brown eyes watched as the hooded figure pushed the hood back to reveal black hair with hints of bright red highlights. Linx? Hiro thought as he watched he quickly walk off in what seemed to be a random direction. He slowly followed behind Linx in curiosity and confusion.

Linx crouched down in front of a young girl, who looked exactly like Linx but younger. "Are you alright Grimm?" She asked as she brushed some of the young girl's hair out of her face. "What's wrong?" She asked again as she wiped some of the young girl's tears.

Grimm? Hiro thought and then it hit him. Linx had transported him to the Dead Realm. Hiro felt his body become ridged as he watched the two girls interact. He had heard that they were one in the same, but it wasn't possible for someone to exist as an adult and for their child-form to exist at the same time… And yet Linx did.

He jumped when he heard someone scream out a scream that made his flesh crawl and his stomach churn. He looked over to his side and saw a woman with her head held to the sky screaming. He watched her in pain and studied her face, which was terrified and sad. Even though she wasn't saying anything, he knew why she died and why she was screaming; her scream told her story.

The woman had lost her child at birth and then committed suicide because of it. Hiro felt his heart sink as he watched the woman lower her head and continue walking as though she had just told the story of her death. Her arms were wrapped around her stomach as she shuffled her bare feet through the ash ground.

"Who is that?" Grimm whispered to Linx as she pointed timidly at Hiro, who was busy staring at the woman in pain.

Linx looked over her shoulder and gasped in surprise as she saw Hiro. "I must have transported him when you called…" She said as she stood up, and felt Grimm hide behind her legs. Linx glanced down at Grimm for a second before walking towards Hiro. "It's sad isn't it?" She asked as she stood behind him.

Hiro slightly jumped as he turned around and face Linx, "Um, yes. Very." He sighed before he noticed a little head peaking behind Linx's robe. That must be Grimm…

Linx followed Hiro's gaze and then smiled, "This is Grimm." She said as she stepped to the side. "Grimm this is Hiro." Once the little girl was out in the open, she no longer seemed afraid. She actually seemed confident and excited to meet Hiro.

Hiro extended his hand to the small girl, "Pleasure to meet you."

Grimm carefully took Hiro's hand, but she didn't shake it. She wrapped her small fingers around it and slightly pulled him closer towards her. Hiro glanced at Linx, who was staring at Grimm in a peculiar way, before he crouched down to Grimm's height.

"I've been waiting to meet you," She smiled.

"You have?" Hiro asked with a soft smile.

"You have?" Linx asked in confusion.

Grimm looked at Linx and nodded with a smile, as if Linx would understand, and she did. "I have." Grimm turned her attention back to Hiro and wrapped her arms around his neck to give him a hug.

At first, Hiro was taken back by the young girl's gestures, but he wrapped his large arms around her small body softly and felt a feeling of content and security wash over him. It was feeling he hadn't felt in years and didn't realize until that moment, that he missed that feeling. He closed his dark brown eyes as he tried to remember what used to give him that feeling. He had blocked out his feeling for so long that he had forgotten some of them were even there.

"There probably isn't any meaning to life, but you know, there's always something interesting you could find along the way." Grimm whispered in his ear softly before she slowly let go of Hiro.

Hiro's brown eyes flashed opened in an instant as his heart sank. He looked at Grimm in disbelief before slowly standing up again. Momma? He thought as he remembered where his feeling originated from: his mother.

He stared at Grimm in utter shock. It had been so long since he had thought about his mother. He prayed to her every morning, but he purposely forgot her memory to control his emotions. However, in that instant he remembered her scent, her voice, her laughter, but most importantly, her wisdom.

She had always said that to him when he used to question life as a child. She always said it in relation to having him as her son. He was her life, and she was his, so when she died he lost all meaning except to live for her sake.

Hiro tore his eyes away from the small child and looked at Linx, "Please take me back." He said calmly.

Linx nodded slightly before tapping Hiro's shoulder with the back of her scythe. Hiro began to glow a brilliant red before breaking up into little orbs that floated up into the darkness of the sky. Both Linx and Grimm's eyes followed the orbs until the last one disappeared.

"He's hiding something from his past…" Grimm said softly, which made Linx look down at her in confusion.

"What?"

"He's hiding something." Grimm repeated as she looked over at Linx.