The boy eagerly added chocolate chips to the pancake batter, preparing breakfast for three.
I'm in an awfully good mood.
Smiling ear to ear, Riley flipped the pancakes and, letting out an excited "voila," he served the chocolate pancakes to Kara and Joey, setting the plate down.
Saturday had come. No school, no stress—the three could easily share his warm breakfast together.
Grabbing a water bottle from the fridge, Riley decided to show off a bit.
"Hey, check this out," Riley said, using [Drowning] to manipulate the water and float it up into the air. Joey's mouth and eyes widened, as he looked at it in shock.
"W-woah! Wiley, how awe you doing that!?" He shouted, staring in amazement. Of course, since Joey was a little kid, Riley could trust that nobody would believe him when he told his friends at school that his brother was a water-bender.
"Teehee, it's an adult's secret; they teach you stuff at the hospital, y'know?"
Being a good older brother, he made up a completely absurd lie and wholeheartedly used it as a party trick, showing it off before his naive little brother.
Seeing this, Kara scoffed, gently laughing as she wiped her eyes. Riley put the water back into the bottle and sat down to give his legs some rest.
"Ah, I'm really happy for some reason. Dunno why, though," Riley said, the sun's light shining upon him through the window. Kara rested her elbow on the table, eating the sweet chocolate pancakes.
A happy family eating breakfast together—this was new.
Her heart beating quicker, she glanced at Riley as he smiled.
"Wait, is this… love?" she thought to herself, her eyes widening due to the absurdity.
Riley wasn't exactly all that attractive, after all. To fall in love with him—it was strange to her.
"Then, if it's not love… What is it? Gratitude?"
Trying to decipher her emotions, Kara was a slow eater.
"Y'know," that frighteningly calm voice intruded. Immediately, the two servants got up from their chairs, Riley gritting his teeth with a soft scowl. "You two have been awfully happy as of late. Particularly you, Riley Woods."
"H-hold on Joey, I'll be right back."
Rushing to the bathroom, Riley closed the door behind him as Kara followed him. She stood outside, as Riley listened intently for the Forgotten King's words.
"Failed Star—that's what you are. Someone who was meant to please me with his crumbling ideals, as he tried pathetically to struggle against his new nature."
"—Hk."
Riley Woods was not the smartest person. Yet, even he was able to pick up what Ghira was putting down.
"Stop boring me with your hope. I want violence."
Driven deep into his very bones, the urge returned, stronger than ever before. A sensation that ran integral to his biology, Riley's heart raced as it was thrust upon him. Akin to eating, drinking, sleeping—it was a necessity.
Mouth watering, hoarse breaths escaped his throat. Leaving the bathroom, he dug his hand into his arm, gritting his teeth.
Stop. Please, stop.
Begging himself to not take a single step forward, Riley already knew it himself.
The moment he let his guard down, the Forgotten King would come to ruin everything he'd been working for.
I don't want to. I don't want to.
Knife in hand, Riley moved down the hallway with heavy footsteps.
It's wrong.
Going to the nearest apartment, Riley raised his leg against the door. With a violent thud, it exploded open, crashing into the wall. The sound echoing throughout the apartment, tears of fear streamed down his face.
I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry.
Human beings—no, all life was precious. Life itself was the only thing that mattered in this worthless world. Their ability to help others—that was what decided the value of meaningless things.
Humans, especially, were sacred.
I can't control myself. I just… I just can't.
Moving as though possessed, the weeping Riley moved room to room, having already accepted his next steps.
Drowning. He felt as though he was drowning.
Just as his body screamed at him to breathe, the worst aspects of himself roared at him to betray his heart.
Finding a couple in bed, Riley stared at them with horror. His eyes trained upon them, he recognized the fear in their hearts.
"I'm sorry," he begged, his vision blurry. His voice breaking to pieces, Riley had first and foremost wished for them to know his guilt.
Then,
I don't want to think about it. I don't want to be here. I don't want to think about anything, I just… I don't want to know.
Rushing at them in the blink of an eye, Riley swung the knife once. Closing his eyes to avoid the sight, he sensed a warm, wet splash onto his chest and legs.
Forcing his eyes shut. He would not open them. He mustn't open them. To protect himself, he absolutely could not allow himself to see what he had done.
A bloodcurdling shriek. Then the noise of a sudden, weighty thud dropping atop wooden flooring, followed by the spilling of a thick liquid onto the ground. All he saw was the darkness behind his eyelids.
The smell. There was the smell of blood and unseen gore, the scent which made his stomach churn involuntarily.
His eyes closed, the failed hero reached out, grabbing a collar and making a swift slash with his blade. Yet another eruption of warmth, he heard a light impact onto the bedframe of a solid yet relatively small object.
And, as his body responded to that feeling, his awkward breaths sped up.
He had known just how horribly intense the urge was. A craving to kill embedded not just into his body, but into his mind—one which clawed at him with intensity and assailed him with its consistency.
Yet, even knowing how intense it was. The moment he actually gave in, and satisfied his cravings, it all seemed pointless.
His eyes forced open by his curiosity, Riley found himself alone. Inside a bedroom covered in family photos, blood, and the remains of the people he swore were sacred, Riley dropped the knife to the floor.
—Something which must not be forgotten.
Indeed, it was a reality which he mustn't ever forget.
No matter how deep human kindness went, it was still human.
Humans were not infinite beings. No matter how much one wished, there was only so much they could do. That was the nature of humanity.
—Human kindness has its limitations.
Having this realization scarred into his body, mind and soul, Riley collapsed to his knees, sobbing in despair.
"Yes, yes. I quite like it. —This is what I chose you for to begin with."
At the loss of life, even strangers he'd never met—Riley bitterly anguished.
"Keep at it. I want to make a mess of you, your ideals, and that heroism you annoyingly cling to."
Bunching up his blood-stained shirt as he held his hand over his heart, Riley cried.
"I hate you. I hate you, I hate, I hate you…"
Sobbing, his voice breaking, his words dispersed by his malfunctioning breaths and his emotion, Riley proclaimed his heart's truest feelings.
"More—more, than anything… I HATE YOU! I ABSOLUTELY HATE YOU!"
Looking up at the ceiling, as though Ghira was in the clouds, Riley grit his teeth. His face contorting into hateful wrath, Riley's choked sobs echoed throughout the room.
Responding with silence, Ghira seemed to have disappeared. Riley's stifled sobs slowed.
Wiping his tears, Riley looked down on the results of his curse. Two people who should not be dead were killed because of him.
The loss of human life was utterly unacceptable.
To defile that which was solely meaningful in this world—unacceptable, unacceptable,
—Absolutely unacceptable.
Hearing soft footsteps behind him, Riley turned back to see Kara.
"Hey. Are you… okay?" Kara asked, peering down and seeing the overwhelmingly bloody scene before him. Unlike anything she'd ever seen before, it painted her vision red.
"...How many servants exist in this world? Do they all eagerly kill others?"
"I'd say—somewhere around forty, including us… And as for that last part—that's been the truth for every one I've met so far. Why? Why do you ask?"
"And… How many people did you kill daily?" Riley weakly asked.
"Usually one. But I was traveling with my brother, so it was two. I've met some of the others, and some hunt a lot more or a bit less—it depends on the person," Kara answered, as she swallowed her spit to wet her dry throat.
His messy black hair falling down as Riley's head lowered to see the blood beneath him, Riley's smile was gone.
"Alright then," his low voice muttered, summoning [Shooting] and checking the revolver's cylinder. Empty. He walked forward, his footsteps splashing with the red liquid surrounding his shoes.
Walking past Kara, his heart burned with determination.
"The loss of one life is a tragedy. The loss of thousands is a tragedy. The loss of millions—is still a tragedy."
Leaving the room, Riley saw in real time the effects of Ghira's protection. The door fixed itself, the blood on his shoes vanished, and the odor of death was removed from the air.
"Day after day, those murders add up. Thousands of lives are lost, and assuming Ghira's been doing this all throughout history, then that number spikes to millions."
I won't forget the pain that even one death can bring upon a family.
His determination to stop Ghira increasing in direct causation with the love for human beings, Riley looked up.
"—Hey. I'm going to kill every single servant out there. You listening, you pathetic barbarian?"
"Oh? Since when did you get so bold? And there's already a flaw—what about Kara? Will you kill her too?"
"She'll join me."
Unexpectedly assertive, Riley declared Kara his ally. Kara, swept up in her confusing feelings towards Riley—unsure of whether it was love or mere gratitude—slowly nodded her head.
"That's right. It's the least I can do… I owe you, don't I?" She wished to clarify with Riley, who shook his head.
"Well, I didn't save your life because I wanted you to owe me. I saved you because I figured the world would still be better with you in it. —But… yes, I suppose I'll play the 'you owe me' card."
"Alrighty then," Kara declared, "we're a team. The minority in history—two people against dozens."
"Very well then. If you intend to follow the path of Jack the Ripper, I'll let everyone know—you two are the enemies of the world."
"—?"
"I'll explain it later," she said. "That aside, you need to get stronger. Trust me, the other servants are definitely much stronger than you are at the moment."
Nodding his head, Riley agreed. His heart aching with the guilt of what he'd done yet burning with determination for a better tomorrow, he left the apartment and prepared to train.
Having made an enemy of the Forgotten King, the Failed Star and the Strongest Sufferer set out.