A new path

Nephrite sat in the dark bedroom, the only audible sound being his heart thumping in his chest. None of this felt like it could possibly be real. As he stared down at the paper in his hands, he began to tremble. A flood of memories began to replay in his head.

Flashback, five years ago

"Mama, what's this?" Four year old Nephrite walked into the living room holding a large, thick book. He walked over to Sophia and struggled to slide the heavy book onto her lap. Giggling, she took it from his hands and motioned for him to sit with her. He smiled and climbed into her lap and listened as she explained what the book was.

"This is a book I've had since I was a little girl. It has all sorts of stories in it."

"What kind of stories?" Nephrite asked.

"Well, stories about heroes, mostly. Do you know what a hero is?" Nephrite shook his head and sighed.

"Can you tell me?" he asked, looking up at Sophia with curious eyes.

"Well, a hero is someone who would do anything to protect the ones they love, even if it meant giving up their life for them."

"You mean like daddy?" Nephrite asked, and Sophia giggled.

"Not just him…anyone can be a hero. It all depends on your heart" she said with a smile.

As the memory faded, Nephrite glanced over to the bookshelf in the room, and saw his mother's book lying on one of the shelves. He walked over and picked it up, holding it close to him.

"I hope I can be someone's hero someday" he murmured. Nephrite suddenly began to feel drained, both physically and emotionally, so he decided to try to take a nap. Rather than go into his room, he curled up on his parents bed, breathing in their scents as he drifted off to sleep, hoping he would dream something happy.

Nephrite was wandering alone, surrounded by nothing but wildly blowing snow. He shielded his face from the cold the best he could and braced himself against the wind, hoping he could find some sort of shelter. In the distance, he saw what looked like a mountain. As he came closer, he noticed what appeared to be the opening of a cavern he ducked inside and breathed a sigh of relief, happy to be out of the cold. His relief quickly turned to fear as he heard voices inside the dark space. They certainly didn't sound friendly. As he listened to what the voices were saying, he realized he could be in grave danger if he was caught. He quieted his breathing the best he could and strained to listen, growing more fearful with each second that passed.

"So, you thought you could outsmart us, did you? No one can defeat Metalia, and anyone who dares to defy her must be executed."

"Please, no!" a woman's voice cried out. She then erupted into gut-wrenching sobs. "I have to get back to my son!" Nephrite carefully turned his head so he could see what was going on. A woman with long blonde hair was being mercilessly beaten by a group of large men.

"You're not going anywhere" the man hissed, then ordered the others to lock her up in the dungeon.

Nephrite sat up in his parent's bed and cried out, quickly realizing that no one would hear him. He wiped the sweat from his brow and took several deep breaths to calm his shaken nerves.

"Who was that?" he wondered aloud. He quickly brushed the thought away and gave up on sleeping for the moment. As he sat there, enveloped in the comforting warmth of the place his parents used to dream at night. Suddenly, another memory came to him.

"Daddy, how did you and mommy meet?" Noah looked down at Nephrite and chuckled.

"What brought this on all of a sudden?" Nephrite shrugged and grinned up at Noah.

"I dunno, I just want to know. I don't think you've ever told me." Noah put his axe down and sat on the doorstep, and Nephrite joined him.

"Well, you should know that it wasn't easy to get her to fall in love with me" Noah chuckled. "Your mother has always been extremely stubborn, especially in her younger days. You know, I used to work for her dad, right?"

"Really?" Nephrite asked, grinning.

"Yes. He hired me to help out on their farm. I would run into her often, and no matter how polite I was to her, she always acted like I didn't exist" Noah chuckled.

"So, how'd you get her?"

"Simple. I never gave up. Your mother had been hurt a lot before I came along, but once I proved to her that I was different, and got her to trust me, everything changed."

"I'm glad" Nephrite giggled.

"Me too. You know why?"

"Why?"

"Because, if she and I never fell in love, we never would have had you" Noah said with a wink.

"Do you think I'll fall in love someday, dad?"

"You will. And when you do, it will be the greatest feeling in the world."

Thinking back on the happier times made Nephrite feel a little better, but the lingering pain and loneliness still dangled over him like a dark cloud. The day seemed to crawl by, and before Nephrite knew it, night had fallen upon Elysion. He looked out the window at the moon, and a small smile crept across his face. The moon was full that night, and as its silvery light covered the landscape, Nephrite felt a sense of peace for the first time that day. He refused to fall asleep, afraid that the nightmare from earlier would return. As he laid in his parents bed, surrounded by the silence, a thought struck him. He had no idea what had happened to his parents, but maybe someone else did. He jumped out of the bed and began to run, never looking back for a second. He ran into the forest and tried to remember where Helios' hideout was. After searching a while, Nephrite became discouraged. He sat down in the grass, buried his face in his knees and silently wept. Suddenly, a calm voice cut through the evening air.

"Fear not, young one. I am here." Nephrite sniffled and slowly looked up, seeing Helios standing before him.

"Helios…you're here" Nephrite said softly, wiping the tears from his cheeks.

"I promised you I always would be" the man replied, smiling at the boy. He knelt down next to him and placed a hand gently on his shoulder.

"Helios, my parents…they left" Nephrite sniffled. Helios closed his eyes and nodded, frowning slightly.

"Yes, I know" he said sadly.

"Do you know where they went?"

"I'm afraid I can't tell you that, because I'm not sure. However, I can tell you why they left."

"I know why they left" Nephrite said softly, pulling the letter from his pocket and handing it to Helios. Helios unfolded the paper and glanced over it, sighing.

"I see" he murmured, folding it back up and handing it to Nephrite.

"Do you think I'll ever see them again?"

"It's hard to say. Sometimes things happen, and we have no way of understanding why. Part of me feels like this needed to happen in order for you to get on the path you need to be on" Helios explained. Nephrite glanced over at him, curious.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"You were born with a very special purpose, and I believe now is the time for you to fulfill that."

"What is it?" Nephrite asked, hoping for something more than Helios' usual cryptic answers.

"I can't fully explain that to you yet" Helios said reluctantly. Nephrite sighed, and Helios continued to speak. "Come with me. There's somebody I want you to meet." The man stood up and Nephrite followed, and soon the two arrived at his secret hideout.

"Your hideout is in a different place than before" Nephrite giggled.

"I change it often to lessen my chances of being found" Helios explained. The two continued walking, and up ahead, Nephrite noticed a boy about his age sitting by the stream.

"There's someone else here?" Nephrite asked curiously, looking up at Helios as they walked.

"Yes" he said with a smile. When they reached the stream, the other boy stood up and smiled shyly. "I'd like you to meet Jadeite."

"Hi, I'm Nephrite. It's nice to meet you" Nephrite said shyly. Jadeite nodded, and the two boys shook hands.

"So…did you lose your parents too?" Jadeite asked hesitantly. Nephrite looked at the ground and blinked back tears, sucking in a breath before making eye contact with Jadeite again.

"Yeah, I did. They left last night without telling me. I don't know where they are, or if they're coming back. What about yours?"

"Well…my dad…he joined the dark army when I was a baby, and he came back and made my mom go with him."

"I'm so sorry" Nephrite said softly. "That's horrible."

"It's okay. I'm going to save them someday. I'm going to be their hero" Jadeite said, smiling confidently. Hearing him say that caused Nephrite's heart to skip a beat, and he thought once again about his mother's book.

"Me too. I'm going to save my parents too" Nephrite said. The two boys continued talking, when a sudden cry in the distance caused them to fall silent.

"What was that?" Nephrite wondered aloud. Helios stood up and turned to walk away.

"You two stay here" he instructed, then he was gone.

"What do you think happened?" Jadeite asked quietly.

"I don't know" Nephrite answered, and the two of them waited.

After following the sound for a while, Helios came upon a house. Inside, a young boy was kneeling on the floor next to a woman who wasn't breathing. Helios noticed her clothes were stained with blood, and next to her on the ground was a knife, also stained with blood. He calmly walked over to the boy and knelt beside him. The boy looked up and when he saw Helios, his eyes grew wide with fear and he began to back away.

"You don't have to be afraid" Helios said calmly. "Just tell me what happened here."

"I'm…I'm sorry. I didn't mean to."