Home is Less Than Just a House

Zaid woke up groaning in the alleyway unable to remember where he was for a moment. Then it came back to him and he proceeded to bite his lip in anger so hard it began bleeding.

"Freaking Nathan!" he said to himself nearly cursing in anger. "He's gonna get his if it is the last thing I do."

He then started to look around for his glasses since he could barely see his surroundings without them. He could make out general shapes and could mostly tell what stuff was so he would not have a problem getting home without them but he would have a hard time reading anything more then a foot away which could be problematic.

Noticing his half crushed glasses he went over and picked them up. One lens was almost completely destroyed while the other one was mostly intact.

"Well better than nothing I guess" he grimaced with a slight sigh.

He then put them on his face and noticing that it made him a little dizzy to see out of them with one lens crushed in addition to his injuries he decided to put them up on his forehead for the time being.

He slowly started shambling his way home.

...

...

...

...

...

"Ma, I'm home!" he called out as he stepped past the door into their shambled house, if you could even call it a house.

It was more of a small shack that the common person would consider almost unlivable. There were clear holes in the walls and the windows were boarded up. There was also a lingering smell that Zaid could not get rid of no matter how hard he tried. Still, it was home. Or at least it was the best he had.

"I don't even know why I say that anymore" he chuckled to himself as he walked towards one of the two bedrooms in the house to see his mom.

Sitting in a chair with drool running down her face was his mom. There was a glazed look in her eyes as she turned to stare at him when she heard him come in.

Nobody knew what her condition was. She seemed to be somewhat conscious still but she could hardly do more than eat or sleep. His father was also nowhere to be seen. Zaid hadn't seen him since he was at most 5 years old. Due to this the government started providing him and his mother with the bare minimum of financial aid to keep them alive.

Zaid walked over to his mother and took her hand giving her a little kiss on her forehead.

"Let's get you some food" he softly whispered to her.

He then went into the kitchen and took out a bag of white rice and began boiling it for them as he told her about his day.

"Tomorrow it is finally going to be time" he said with conviction in his voice.

"I am finally going to get my ability mom. If it is strong enough...NO! When it is a strong ability our lives will be able to change" he said as his voice filled with passion.

"My scholarship at the best school in the city allows me to go to the Ability Tower built on the strongest mana hotspot in hundreds of miles. I will have a much better chance getting a good ability there than pretty much anywhere else"

"Just you wait mom. We will be living in the lap of luxury! I will drag Dad back here for an explanation on why he left us! And..."he paused..."I will find a way to heal you". He turned to look at his mom then bringing over the rice and fed it to her as a tear dripped down his face while she stared at his with her glassy sky blue eyes.

Once they were done eating he went to bed to prepare for tomorrow. "They'll see." He muttered to himself as he fell asleep. "They'll all see"