"So, no one dared to face it?" Damien's voice boomed across the hall and echoed throughout the mansion. His temper kept rising until he saw Jinx – his last born – descending the staircase.
Damien rushed toward the five-year-old girl, almost about to fall, grabbed her, and wrapped her around his shoulder.
"We tried but ended up losing all the Tier Four awakened humans we had under our watch." Jax's face saddened the moment his voice faded.
Damien stood there panting shallowly. He walked toward the transparent inner door and lifted his gaze upward. He watched the sky – how the clouds moved, how the stars brightened the dark sections, and how the darkness remained where no stars appeared.
"So, what do you think we should do?" Damien asked in a voice that seemed to have no emotion.
Jax stood there with a strange smile on his face. "What we always do." He screeched his fingernails against his fingers as the silence returned.
Damien closed his eyes. His mind replayed all the moments with his family – from the day he married Nora, to the intimacy they had before their firstborn, Yung, to the very cause of Nora's blindness, and the memories they shared after Jinx was born.
He opened his eyes after what felt like five minutes of silence.
"I have to do something first." Damien smiled, walked toward Jax, tapped his shoulder, and headed inside.
After an hour, he returned, holding a black envelope. He handed it to Jax and smiled.
"What's this?" Jax asked, confused by what Damien was planning.
"That's my will. I need someone I trust to fairly distribute my wealth to my wife, son, and daughter." Damien showed a glorious grin after speaking and walked Jax out of the mansion.
"We do everything together. We know you're the best in everything. But we've fought side by side and celebrated together. I can't just watch you face it alone," Jax said in a low tone as they neared Yung, who was drenched in sweat – still repeating the same pattern over and over.
Damien placed one hand on Jax's shoulder and pointed the other toward Yung. "Look at him. I can't just leave him in an orphanage. You know how they would treat my wife and little sister if we both go."
In their world, every family loss was the government's gain. No matter the nature of the family that lost its head, all their wealth would fall into the hands of the cruel government.
Not even a penny would be handed to the family. A wife in Nora's state would just be used as a sex slave for both the celestials and the government officials.
Yung and Jinx would be sent not to a children's orphanage, but to a prison for kids.
Damien knew his son possessed the kind of power that could be used for good in the right hands – or for terrible evil if the celestials laid their hands on him. If that happened, he knew no human or celestial could restrain Yung or even fight him down.
"I will try my best to keep them safe. But you must return safely as well," Jax's voice echoed, followed by a droplet of tears.
The clanging sound of metal echoed as Damien unlocked the gate. Jax walked out but kept looking back at him.
A blinding light surged out of the Jeep like opened eyes. Through it, the grey-haired man smiled as he saw Damien's smiling face.
Jax waved for the last time as the engine hummed. Damien stood there and watched until the Jeep disappeared from sight.
He walked back to the field where Yung was standing.
"Hey kiddo. Take a break and let's go for a walk."
Hearing his father's voice, Yung fell to the ground, panting. His body heaved countless times, but he still managed to rise and follow Damien.
"Where are we going this time?" Yung asked, smiling widely.
Though his father sometimes treated him so badly he regretted being Damien's son, he still enjoyed the moments they shared – the walks, the laughter, the story times (which ended when Jinx was born), and the instrumental lessons.
Yes, Yung was a guitar player. He was not that good, but he could pluck the strings and make danceable tunes. Damien, on the other hand, was a cello player who could soften the hardest heart on earth.
Their duets were always adored by his mother and little sister. Sometimes, Yung sneaked out to the city and played the guitar at big programs with large audiences. He had already become one of the faceless rock stars in the city.
"I'm going to show you the meaning of some constellations," Damien replied, holding Yung's hand, squeezing and teasing him a little, before running off laughing.
"I'm tired! I can't chase you…" Yung cried out with joy. But Damien didn't stop, so Yung knew he had to follow, trembling body and cracking bones or not.
"Dad… wait for me," Yung shouted as Damien sped up.
Laughter tore through the sky like lightning. Dust swirled around their legs like tiny clouds. They ran along the snake-like pattern of trees, slapping their hands against every trunk they passed.
Yung managed to mark twenty trees with his handprint, but Damien had already marked fifty-nine and was going for his sixtieth.
Yung's scream blasted through the silent night, startling bats and night birds from their nests into the obsidian glow as Damien ran ahead.
Damien's breathing changed as he halted and welcomed the sweet, fresh air of the open space into his lungs. He stood there quietly staring at the stars. He shut his eyes the moment soft footsteps approached him.
Yung halted, bent down, and gasped for air. He placed his hands on his waist as he straightened up. Seeing his father stand quietly, he walked softly toward him.
"Dad…" Yung tried to speak but stopped when he saw Damien raise a finger.
"Close your eyes and repeat the breathing pattern we practiced this afternoon." Damien's lips didn't move, yet the words reached Yung's ears like a blast.
Yung scanned the area sideways. Before he reached the edge, he felt something watching him but couldn't figure out what it was.
"What are you waiting for?" Damien said, cracking one eye open and glancing at Yung.
Seeing Damien's lips move, locking eyes with him, and hearing the words, Yung pushed the feeling away and joined him.
"Take a picture. Any picture. And imagine yourself at that moment in time," Damien's voice echoed just after Yung finally closed his eyes.