Chapter 11 - Peaceful Life...?

"Alright, we're all set. Our flight is tomorrow night, make sure everything's packed and ready," Remarked my father.

"We've packed everything we need to take, we're ready to leave any time," Nodded my mother with a grimace.

It's the 8th of February, 2010, a few months after the explosion on my fourteenth birthday. And things have gotten really bad in this country...dozens of people have been fleeing the country in fear for their lives, both Alters and normal humans.

And we were fleeing too, heading back to my parents' home country of Iscor, in the continent of Angla. It was just too dangerous...last week, another pro-Alter activist group was wiped out, brutally killed by anti-Alter fanatics.

My parents started receiving death threats, and were responding by making the very wise decision the get the fuck out of this hell hole. We fly out tomorrow night, so this'll be the last night I spend in this country, at least for the foreseeable future.

"How and why did it come to this?" Sighed my father, pinching the bridge of his nose with a look of frustration.

"I hate to say it, but there's nothing more we can do...the situation in the country has just gotten too dire to salvage, it's only going to get worse from here," My mother shook her head.

"If only Unity had set up a branch of their organization here, that might have prevented this," Frowned my father, as I headed back to my room.

Unity is a group of Alters that originated in a country called Cahgo, which is in the continent of Angla. Their organization was founded thirty years ago, when Alter prejudice was high in Cahgo.

They thwarted both anti-Alter and Alter terrorists, controlling and reducing the spread of prejudice in the country. Eventually, they made a deal with the government, effectively gaining recognition as a legitimate organization.

Since then, they've branched out into several other countries, recruiting like-minded Alters to their cause, and as a result, Alter prejudice and hatred has significantly reduced in all of those countries.

There are a total of thirty countries in this world, not counting the independent islands...and Unity have branches in seventeen of them. Unfortunately, that doesn't include this country, Larisk.

There's also another similar organisation that fights for Alters, called Liberty. But there's a big difference between the two. Unity makes an effort not to break the law, specifically stuff like avoiding killing people, in their efforts.

Meanwhile, Liberty don't mind getting their hands dirty. It's a question of whether the means justify the ends, and each of those two organizations answer that question in the opposite way to the other.

Most countries regard Liberty as a terrorist group, and it's unknown how many countries their presence is in.

Well, it doesn't really matter, neither organization is in this country, so the situation here isn't going to improve unless something drastic and unforseen happens.

And the fact that they aren't here supports my decision to not use my powers to fight for others...I mean, if an organization large enough to put their presence in more than half the world isn't enough to bring peace, what difference could I make by my lonesome?

The risk isn't worth the reward, simple as that. Once we get out of this country, I'll continue living a selfish, peaceful life. The only thing that's gonna change for me is the location, everything else will stay exactly the sa-...hm?

I just heard a loud crash, I think it came from the front hall...did something fall? I got off my bed and opened my door, heading out my room and down the corridor.

"What happened? Did something get dropped and break?" I inquired, as I spotted my parents in the hall.

"Get back, Ario! Go to you room and hide, this is-...!" Began my mother, right before another loud crash echoed out and the front door fell in as the sound of splintering wood burst out.

"There they are, the Freak-loving bastards!" Exclaimed a man, as a large group stormed into the house.

Oh, yeah, Freak is a derogatory term used for Alters. More importantly...this looks really bad, these people, they...they look like they're out for blood.

"Please, leave. You're not welcome here," Frowned my father, as he stepped out in front of my mother.

"Fuck you, old man! Because of people like you, those damned Freaks demand that they should be treated equally to us! Just look at what they've done to our country!"

No...no, no, no, this can't be happening. There's no way this is going to go well...I can't take it, not again, not like this. I...I don't want to die at the hands of people like this again...

"Take whatever you want, you can have all the money we have in our possession...and you can do whatever you want to me, just please...please leave my wife and child out of it," My father implored them.

"Hm, let me think about...nah, we're not here to negotiate, we need to make an example out of you people. This is what you deserve!" One of them sneered viciously, as he pulled out a gun...and shot my father through the head, killing him instantly.

"N-no...no, please, no...," Gasped my mother in horror, stumbling back.

"Hey, nice aim, man! That was square through the middle of the forehead!"

"Yeah, that was tight!"

This can't be happening, please no...

"That's one down. Two more to go," Smirked the man with the gun, as he took aim at my mother.

In that instant, what happened with my aunt flashed through my head, and before I could think twice, I found myself racing forward in desperation, pushing her out of the way...before an excruciating pain burst out across my neck, as a loud gunshot rang out.

I let out a choked, wheezing gasp as the bullet tore through my throat, blood gushing out as I collapsed onto my hands and knees, writhing in agony as I struggled to breathe.

"No, Ario!" Screamed my mother in despair.

"Haha, what a brave little fellow!"

"Let's shoot one into his head, I think that effort deserves better than a painful death-...huh? Hey, what the fuck? Look, his blood, it's...it's black!"

"He's a Freak!"

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