Black Memory

In and out of consciousness, Saikyo is slowly healing with the soul essence he gathered from the killing the Dragon Bear. Footsteps approach him in a hastily fashion.

"Oh my Gaia, it is you." A girl says as she runs towards Saikyo.

"Isn't that the halfling?" A boy says.

"Doesn't matter, he needs help!"

"Why should we help him? He's a Zenoikian."

"Woah Kagi what is your problem?! His soul essence healing won't hold out, his wounds are too grievous, he needs ours."

"You mean yours. I'm not helping some Zenoikian just because he's on his deathbed."

"Fine, be that way! You know, you keep bringing up the fact that he's Zenoikian but fail to realize that he's half human too."

"Tch, whatever you say." The boy said as he walked into the distance.

Their voices to Saikyo sounded akin to a traveling wind, his head still messed up from the injuries he sustained. 

"W-who...the..hell...are you?" He said as he tried to pick himself up from the ground; ultimately falling back down, passing out.

"Hey! Hey!" The girl yelled. Her voice became muffled as Saikyo's sense of sound slowly starts to fade.

****

11 Years Ago

"Hey!" A man shouted. The man was tall and had a very muscular build, most would say he had a body akin to that of a Greek god. His hair shared a dirty blonde color while his eyes were that of a pale blue.

A young Saikyo quickly turned around with dirt on his face and stains on his clothes and an axe in hand.

"Dad!"

"Saikyo, what are you doing out this early?"

"I'm getting firewood, it's almost winter and mom is sick, I have to do this, I want to help."

He went up to Saikyo and patted him on the head, roughing up his hair.

"Look, Saikyo, you're only five years old. You have no business being the only one that has to do all the heavy lifting, leave it to your old man." He boasted with a smile.

Saikyo in return for his father's request gestured a smile.

"That's my boy! Now come on let's go home your mom's waiting for us, I'll be carrying the fire wood so don't worry." 

He picked up the firewood and as he was bent down he pointed to his back. 

Saikyo then climbed onto his back to which his father replied "How fast?".

"Not as fast as last time dad, I got dizzy!"

"Oh don't tell me you're turning chicken little man~." He teased.

"Who are you calling a chicken!?" Saikyo snapped as he bonked his dad on the head with his small little hands.

A sound of reverb can be heard by the hit almost like something hitting metal in a long hallway, just then, even if for a split second, a small white wave of light had dissipated from where Saikyo's punch landed.

"By the stars, the boy has gotten immensely powerful, is this any way to treat your old man?" He teased more.

Saikyo hissed about with his childish anger but in the back of his mind his eyes were filled with fascination and intrigue as he had felt his playful punch didn't even touch his dad, but an entirely different force.

The handsome father then started jumping through the air and trees, eventually leading to flight.

After admiring the view from the sky, Saikyo had a question for his father.

"Dad, when can we go back to Galaxy 5? It was beautiful there and the air was really refreshing. We lived on the capital planet. Why did we have to leave?"

"Saikyo, We can't go back there, it's not safe. I know that galaxy 18 is underwhelming compared to what we used to have but for now, it's the only thing we can do."

Saikyo didn't talk back or disagree, he had always trusted his dad, so his only response was no response. 

After some thought he finally called out to his son.

"Saikyo, you're growing up, and that means sooner or later your mom and I will be out of the picture, at that point it'll just be you and Seicho, when that time comes, I need you to protect him." 

"Come on Dad, don't talk like that."

"Protect him." 

Saikyo couldn't refuse his own father so he just agreed with a nod.

The two finally landed. Surrounded by trees the two touched ground at a wooden cabin.

Where a baby can be heard crying. A woman came running outside.

"Jin!"

She ran into the fathers arms holding the crying child.

"It's Seicho, I don't know what to do he won't stop crying and you're better with the kids so I-" she continued to ramble on.

"Woah, woah, woah, it's ok, calm down. Lo It's ok I'm here let me get him."

She handed Seicho over to Jin; he made a funny face in front of the crying child calming him down and eventually making the baby laugh.

"I'll never know how you're so good at that." Loah said with her worried face now fixed into a slight smile.

"I know, I'm kind of a natural." Jin boasted pointing at himself heroically.

Loah giggled before turning back to Saikyo.

"And you." She said in her scolding tone.

Oh boy 

Saikyo thought as he gulped in a cold sweat.

Saikyo looked over at his dad as if he was asking for help with the situation.

Jin noticed his son's plea but instead he whistled while walking away as if he didn't see anything at all.

Saikyo's eyes twitched at this sudden betrayal.

Scum. Idiot. Old man. Traitor.

Seicho resting on the shoulder of his dad, the one year old boy blew a raspberry at Saikyo in a taunting manner.

Eh?... Eh!?? The old man corrupted my little brother! These sins shall not be forgiven!

"Mom, I'm sorry I didn't mean to-"

Loah pulled the young child in for a hug.

"Don't ever do that again, you could've gotten lost or worse. Saikyo, you have to be more careful, for you, me, your father, and your brother." Loah exclaimed with tears in her eyes.

Saikyo felt a set of tears build in his own eyes as seeing his mother sad was always the most difficult thing for him to deal with, seeing her cry was something he couldn't bear.

"I'm sorry, I won't run off again."

"Promise me."

"I promise."

Loah let go of the boy and now came face to face, Saikyo looked into his mother's beautiful purple eyes.

"Then all is forgiven." Loah smiled.

They all walked inside of their small cabin, a couple hours passed then Saikyo woke up. He kicked his little body out of the bed as he walked around the house before noticing that there was a crack in his parents door.

He saw Jin sitting behind Loah with both of his hands on her back. An energy can be seen seeping from his hands, it was flowing into Loah.

"Jin."

"Yes?"

"I don't think I'll last much longer." Loah said depressingly.

"Don't talk like that, Lo!" Jin responded hurriedly.

"But it's true, ever since that mage messed with my core it's been unstable. You've been trying to share your soul energy with and luckily the two energy's are compatible but it won't be enough."

"Lo! Just have a little faith, this'll work, it'll be enough just a little more, ok, I won't let you die."

Loah turned towards him and held the man's face gently with both her hands.

"It won't be enough, I've already died once, it could happen again."

"So you're just going to give up?" Jin snapped with a teary eyed expression, his voice even cracking at some point.

"I'm not giving up, I'm preparing." She responded with a teary eyed smile.

Jin stopped at the realization that the whole time she had been talking she was always smiling, even when she was sad, when she knew she was dying, she still smiled.

"I'll never know how you're so good at that." Jin said.

Jin about to embrace Loah with a kiss saikyo busts open the door in a teary rage.

"Mom! How can you say those things! What about Dad and Seicho, you can't just leave us like this! What about me!" He yelled. 

Jin and Loah were surprised by the sudden outburst but before they had a chance to respond Saikyo ran off. 

"Saikyo!" Jin yelled out.

"Don't worry I got it." She said abruptly running out of the room.

"No you're sick you can't-"

"I said I got it."

Saikyo ran through the woods as fast as he could thinking about everything that was said in that room, the thoughts ran repeatedly in his mind, they were so frequent it was as if someone was screaming in his ear.

Mom said she's died before, what does she mean by that! Why's she giving up, is her condition really that deadly?! Unstable core?! Soul energy?! What does all of that mean, I don't get it. I don't understand, fight it, I know you can so why won't you fight it.

His thoughts were running rampant while tears ran down his face. Loah finally caught up to him, then Saikyo finally stopped and turned around. 

"Mom I don't get it, help me understand."

"Ok, I'll explain, let's just get home first where it's safe-."

"No!" Saikyo blurted out. He raised his voice so high even birds in the trees got startled and flew away.

"Why do you smile even though you're clearly sad! Why do you not fight even though you have a chance at winning! You're a liar! You said that I'd have to be more careful in the future for Dad, for Seicho, and for you, how can I if you won't even be here!" Saikyo ranted; sobbing all the while.

"It's not a lie. I smile for you, for all of you."

"That's just another lie."

Loah walked up to Saikyo and kissed his forehead gently.

"I smile even when I'm sad because I love you all. I smile because I don't want you to worry, that even when I'm sad you won't be, I smile because I want you to look back on that smile one day and remember how I taught you to be careful, how to prepare yourself for what's coming, how to be strong, how to be loving." She said as she wiped the tears from his eyes.

"If you look back on that smile and remember those things then that's good enough for me." She smiled.

Saikyo saw her face and tried to avoid her gaze.

"But I do worry, I worry all the time, why won't you fight, why are you giving up."

"I'm not giving up, your dad, he won't accept the reality of the situation, but I will, and the truth is, I'm going to die."

Hearing this broke Saikyo in pieces.

"But there is a way to save you, right?!"

Loah silently shook her head.

Tears fell down his face as Loah pulled him into a embracing hug.

"When you were around three years old I would tell you stories about the other Zenoikians, do you remember?"

"Only a little." He said depressingly.

"The brandings we have, give special powers centered around the creatures special to our culture. Mine is what humans would call a phoenix."

"What does that mean?"

"Well we Zenoikian call them Zeytions, the rarest branding in the entire Zenoikian race, only a handful of Zenoikian have ever had it." She took off her robe and revealed a branding of the Zeytion on her back.

Saikyo was perplexed and he noticed that the wings were split into three parts, with the two on the ends being a little more faded than the rest of the branding.

"Zeytions are birds of a black fiery flame that never dies out once it touches something, they also have the power to resurrect, people with the branding get the same powers, however if you had a deadly disease, although it wouldn't heal you upon resurrecting, it would keep you at 100% of your health for one whole year." 

"What do you mean by that, are you saying you can stay aliv-, here a little longer?"

"Yes, the wing variations of the Zeytions are between one and one hundred, I only have three. I've already died once which means I've got around two years left."

Although this was still bad news Saikyo still had been uplifted by this information. To him it meant he still had more time to spend with his mother.

"I'm sorry for calling you a liar mom."

"Don't worry, I'm the one who should be sorry, I shouldn't have hid such a thing from you."

She smiled at Saikyo but instead of avoiding her this time he returned the gesture.

Loah bent down and pointed to her back.

"Eh?"

"Mom, that's dad's thing." He said as he looked away in a slight laughter.

She stood up in a slightly embarrassed manner. She faced him and held out her arms.

"Well what about this, it's been a while." 

Saikyo pushed away in a refusing manner.

"No thanks, I'm way too old for that."

Just then Loah made a pouty face Saikyo tried to look away but he noticed that her face was even more whiny.

"Fine, but never again." Saikyo said, crossing his arms.

"Yay!"

Loah held Saikyo the way mothers would hold their newborn infants.

Arriving back at their cabin, they saw Jin waiting outside. Noticing they were ok Jin went to his teasing ways.

"Aww, look at the wittle baby, he's so cute~."

Saikyo bonked him on the head while still in his mothers arms.

"Shaddup!" Saikyo hissed.

Loah laughed at the two which caused them to laugh also. 

I... can never be happier than at this moment, it's the first time... I've seen Mom smile for herself.

****

5 minutes after

"Yessir, yeah, I've found them. I saw them in the woods with what seemed to be an argument, yes, ok I will await your arrival Mr. Xavier." A man said, speaking telepathically.

"Xavier is really coming, didn't he and Hageshi come to an agreement? Why is he disobeying orders?"

"Your guess is as good as mine, he must really hate the Zenoikian to go against Hageshi, both of them are monsters, either way... the Ikimono family dies tonight."

****

Author: Catch chapters two weeks ahead over on the site, Goodnovel.com.