Kael's boots squelched as he trudged through the alleys, puddles rippling under his boots. The storm was long gone, leaving only the hiss of dripping gutters and the far-off roar of factory vents. Minutes later, he was a block from the orphanage when a shadow peeled itself from a broken stairwell.
"Oi," a voice slurred. "You, boy."
Kael stopped.
Two men stepped into the alley ahead. They were in leather coats, holding rusty knives glinting under the lamplight. Another closed in from behind, Kael knew these guys, they were from the gangs that usually terrorized this section of the district.
The tall one grinned, showing broken teeth. "Empty your pockets, boy. Make it quick."
Kael turned slowly, water dripping from his hair, expression flat. The tall man's grin faltered the moment their eyes met.
Kael knew this one, names' Marcus.
Meanwhile, Marcus had also recognised him. His face, previously set in a generic thug-scowl, shifted into an expression of profound annoyance.
"Oh, for the love of… " He sighed, and face palmed. "Never mind, my bad kid. Didn't know it was you."
The shorter one, a newer face which Kael doesn't recognise, stepped forward towards Marcus, and spoke in utter confusion.
"What? You scared of a scrawny brat now? He's wearing new clothes, surely he has something!"
"He's got a talent for making my life difficult, is what he's got," Marcus retorted, sheathing his knife with a sigh of resignation. "You don't wanna mess with the kid. He's the one who dislocated Jax's shoulder with a dustbin lid."
"So? There's two of us!"
"There were five of us last time. We got a bag of old socks and a collective medical bill. It's a terrible business model. Now move." He gestured for Kael to pass.
But the new guy was too invested. With a grunt of frustration, he lunged.
But it wasn't even close.
Kael sidestepped, caught the man's wrist, and twisted. The crunch echoed through alleyway. Before the short one could scream, Kael kicked his leg out from under him and drove a fist into his gut. The man folded with a wet gasp. Kael stepped aside, letting him fall into the puddle.
Marcus just groaned, dragging a hand down his face again. "Gods above, every bloody time."
Kael turned towards him, and smiled. "You gonna help him or just stand there?"
Marcus ignored his tease, and just sighed, "You always this gentle with newcomers?"
"Depends on their manners."
"Fair."
They stood there for a moment, but the silence was broken when Marcus jerked a thumb at his fallen companion. "You mind if I take him before someone calls the watch?"
Kael shrugged. "Do I look like I care?"
"Didn't think so." He grabbed the short one by the collar, hauling him up. "You know, one of these days someone's gonna think you're the problem around here."
"I sure hope that day wouldn't have to come."
Marcus chuckled, shaking his head, and turned his attention to his accomplice.
"I told you," He muttered, brushing some unidentifiable gunk off their shoulder. "Welcome to the district. Now you know."
He looked back at Kael. "You're a real headache, you know that? Makes my crew look bad every time. The boss won't be happy."
Kael gave a faint smirk. "He'll appreciate the consistency. He needs someone to humble the new guys."
"Yeah, yeah. Stay dry, kid."
"Too late for that."
The man barked a laugh and the two disappeared into the alley, their footsteps sloshing into the distance.
Kael watched until they vanished, then turned back toward home. His knuckles ached faintly, but it wasn't the worst pain he'd felt tonight.
He adjusted his coat and kept walking. The encounter almost made the whole day seems like an ordinary Tuesday.
Expect for the fact that it wasn't ordinary.
---
A few more minutes past, Kael had taken the long way around, and finally reached the orphanage. His home.
Well it wasn't the prettiest.
The place leaned like a drunk, scrap wood walls patched with tin and old fabric. The front door had been fixed three times in the last year, and it still sagged like it was begging for death.
Kael rapped on it twice. The hinges groaned as it cracked open.
"Back from getting yourself killed already?" An aged voice rasped through before the door widened. A old man squinted at him with one sharp eye, hair grey and uneven like he'd cut it himself with a knife. His robe wasn't much better, it was half-tied, with sleeves rolled to the elbow, and a cigarette stub still clinging to his lip.
"Happy birthday, kid," The old man said flatly. "Sixteen, huh? Congratulations. You're officially too old to freeload."
Kael huffed a laugh. "Good to see you too, old man."
This was Richard, the man who raised Kael after he was orphaned after the crisis. He was the man responsible for the orphanage, and the man who had somehow managed to kept the crumbing place afloat.
Richard eyed him up and down, lingering on his eyes. "You look like hell."
Kael shrugged. "I felt like hell."
"That so? Then I guess you lived through something." Richard stepped aside, took out his cigarette and threw it onto the streets, but not before letting Kael in. "Get in. Dinner's probably still hot, I think."
Inside smelled like boiled beans and damp wood. The kids were asleep in the back, their quiet breathing carrying through thin walls. Kael dropped his satchel by the door.
Richard sank into a rickety chair, lighting another cig, groaning as if it might kill him, "So? You going to tell me why you look like you wrestled a furnace, or do I gotta drag it out of you?"
Kael hesitated, fell onto a wobbly chair nearby, then tugged down the collar of his shirt just enough to show the faint glow of the moon mark at his neck. "I awakened, or at least sort of awakened."
Richard stared. His cigarette ash fell onto the table. Then he barked out a laugh made of pure disbelief.
"You're screwing with me.
Kael shook his head. "Kindled. Full moon." He pointed to the tattoo again, it glows brighter, almost like it understood that Kael and Richard were talking about them.
Richard's laugh died halfway through. He blinked once, leaned back, and squinted. "Wait…what was that bit about 'sort of awakened'?"
Kael scratched the back of his neck, eyes drifting. "It's hard to explain," he said slowly. "It started like how the stories say. The pain, the light and the burnings. I thought I was dead."
Richard leaned forward, one eyebrow lifting. "And then you weren't."
"Yeah. But that's the weird part" Kael said. "It stopped halfway through. Just… stopped. The mark stayed, but everything else went quiet, and I didn't feel much better than before."
"Well damn." Richard murmured. "That ain't good."
Kael frowned. "Ain't good how?"
Richard didn't answer right away, he sat in silence, than stood up, to open the window and let the smoke out. Outside the air was still misty, and the banging of steels could still be heard.
When he finally spoke, he shuts the window and spoke in a heavier tone. "You didn't tell anyone else, did you now?"
"No. Just you, went home as fast as I could." Kael filtered out the encounter with Marcus and the bargaining with Mr Ted, those didn't led to much.
"Good." He nodded. "You should keep it that way."
"Why?"
Richard sighed, and just asked, "Kael, ever heard of a 'Hollow Awakening'?"
Kael shook his head.
Richard dragged on his cigarette. "It's when the process goes wrong, the soul fusion starts but fails midway. The mark is the only thing take remains of your awakening, the rest doesn't hit."
He looked at the confused Kael. "To put it simply: Outside you look like the real deal, but inside, you are hollow of pulse and powers."
"For a second, Kael didn't say anything. He just stared at the table, waiting to feel something, anger, fear, anything. Nothing came."
Kael's expression hardened. "So I'm… what? A broken Awakener?"
Richard snorted. "Broken, fake, pick your word. They don't matter. What matters is you don't let anyone find out."
"Because?" He was becoming increasingly unhappy with his condition.
Richard smoked again. "Hollows are rare as hell, one in a few million awakeners I reckon, meaning that you are a precious lab rat to the Bastion."
He paused, then continued again. "We don't know a damn thing about the Hollows, the Bastion only ever caught a handful. But we do know that no one has ever seen those Hollows again."
Kael leaned back in his chair, the legs creaking. "So I just pretend?"
"Exactly"
"You make it sound easy."
"Lying usually is." Richard tapped ash into the chipped mug, eyes still on him. "You've had years of practice, haven't you?"
"I learned from the best." Kael gave a faint smile.
"That's my boy," Richard said, though the tone was dry.
They sat for a long moment. They could even hear the snoring of a few particularly loud kids.
Kael finally broke the quiet. "What happens now?"
"Now?" Richard shrugged. "Now you keep your mouth shut. Tomorrow they would be kicking you out of here, but since you 'awakened' and have the sigil – the Bastion flags it and you can't hide from them unless you're strong enough. So they'll send to you the Academy, I'll make the call for them to send a car, it's that or you being dragged there." He said whilst stroking his chin.
"But if I had only one advice for you kid, is that you must tell no one about your condition, don't think just because it's an institution they'll protect you. It's not all sunshine and rainbow there." His faced twitched, and something could be seen in his expression, was it anger? Or was it anguish? Kael could not tell.
But if he had to guess, it's obvious that Richard was there at one point, and didn't have the time of his life during the academy.
Kael was being dragged into his thoughts, only to be pulled up by Richard's voice. "Just thinking about that twat makes me want to…" Richard seem to have drifted off.
"Ah, whatever..."
Kael looked up again, but now this time Richard was playing with his cigarette and began pouring cheap liquor which tastes like piss.
The tension hung there a while. Richard exhaled through his nose, muttering something too quiet to catch.
Richard took another shot, breathed, then, as if flipping a switch, his tone lightened. He then spoke with a soften face and voice. "Say, Kael, do you remember your time at the inner-city?"
The boy nodded, he haven't been there since he was five, but he still somewhat remember how the place works and behaves.
"That's good, real good." He paused, letting some air through his lungs, then made comforting smirk, back to his usual self. "Means I won't have to teach you basic manner."
Kael smiled with him.
Richard stood up now, chair steadying itself, and turned away. He closed his eyes like the conversation was over. "Now piss off and get some rest. Sixteen's a big number." He then added. "Just remember to wake up tomorrow alright, those council boys are mighty impatient." He walked off with a small grin
Kael sat there a moment, then decided that he agreed with Richard's statement, and went off to his room. The sound of the decaying floorboard echoed with his half-ripped boots, forming a strange melody which somehow eased Kael from the pressing weight of the day.