Twin doors. Standing side-by-side to each other, these two doors represent more than you know. The doors of hell, the doors of heaven, the doors of denial and retribution. The doors of escapism. The doors of the treaty and breach of peace.
The doors..to King.
Chapter 1: Retaliation, White Rose
"I wanna be king! I wanna be king! Grandpa, I wanna be king!!"
Sunlight hits the small beach island of Torova as seagulls fly overhead. Inhabited by no more than 250 people, Torova is a small island that is known by only a few outside of its inhabitants. Residing on this forgetful island are former Marines, retired Navy and-
And criminals. Lots and lots of criminals.
Shops. Toys. Sweets and savory. Small shops and businesses surprisingly thrived on this small insignificant island as the population density was abhorrently large compared to the size of the island. As such, businesses here made much more profit than those across the sea, and the shops here had to be restocked almost daily. The sound of kids playing, birds chirping, the sound of crying and laughing were all too common in Torova. One sound that was not so common, however,..
Was the sound of the Honkai.
Purple, white and gold. These were the colors of the people who overcame. Crossing paths with a Honkai was rarer than seeing a Wings of GoodEye user. The ones who weild the torches of the future do control the past, after all.
"Grandpa!", said a little boy excitedly, jumping up and down, his blue and orange jumper shining in the sunlight.
The boy's Grandpa, who was no older than 83 years old, stared at the boy with widened eyes. Nobody in Torova, much less a kid, would ever dare to say those words. And yet here was a kid who was not just saying them, his own geandson, for God's sake, was saying them..
..with passion.
The Grandpa stared at him before forcing a smile. After all, he needed to deliver the news without breaking his grandchild's heart.
"You'll never be King, Hiacho. You will never, ever, not in a million years..be King."
Hiacho's grin instantly dropped. He stopped jumping. His hands fell flat on his sides, and his lips started to quiver. Well, shit. He's gonna cry no-
"Then I'll make sure I'll be King. Even if it takes me one million and one years to do so."
The tone of voice. That..that tone of voice. It was just like he remembered it. His grandson..his own grandson..!!
"Hiacho, no." Hiacho's grandfather's voice dropped 100 decibels. His hands started to shake, slightly. Not with anger, but with fear. Jealousy. Why did he meet his grandson?! Why did that bastard, that all-tuxedo heart breaking piece of shit even dare to meet Hiacho?? Because this, this..
No. He would not allow it. The war just ended 115 years ago. There was no way he would ever allow the Extend to be ruined. No. He would never.
Hiacho's eyes widened as his grandfather slapped his face, hard, so hard in fact that he went flying into a nearby wooden shed. His eyes widened further, however, when he saw his grandpa.
Laughing at him.
"Boy, boy, boy.", grandpa said, laughing so hard that he couldn't even stand up. Hiacho stared at him blankly, his eyes showing no signs of comprehension.
"..grandpa?", Hiacho croaked weakly.
"Listen, Hiacho. There are over a thousand Bastions in the world. Only twelve of them have the keys to become the future. Twelve. Only twelve in the entire world. Use your brain, little one. You will never even come close to formulating your own Bastion, much less obtain the key to become King."
Grandpa wipes his mouth on the back of his sleeve. Other bystanders watch in terrified shock as he walks up to Hiacho, his eyes showing no guilt or remorse whatsoever about hitting his 7-year-old grandson.
"Listen, boy.", he said, stopping a mere two inches away from Hiacho's face. He crouched down to Hiacho's eye level, his eyes never leaving his.
"You, and this is the last time I'm saying this, will never, ever become King. Forget King, you won't even become strong enough to become Krull of a Bastion! Only those cursed by fate manage to do so, and those who do still end up meeting an untimely fate."
"Forget what that young bastard said, he's retarded. His name is Lincoln for a reason..anyway-"
BAM. The sound of a fist connecting to cheek resounds in the small area as Hiacho stares at his grandfather in pure disgust.
"You..grandpa, you..!!"
Tears welled up in his eyes - not for himself, not for hitting his grandfather, but for Lincoln - the best Krull in the world. He taught him how to fight bad people, protect himself. How to be kind to people, treat everyone with respect and dignity. He..he taught him how to live.
"You can say bad stuff about me all you want, but..but when you badmouth Lin is when you cross the line!!!!!!!"
Grandpa gently presses his left hand to his corresponding cheek - it's warm. It hurts. His own grandson just retaliated against him, his own grandfather, in front of quite a large crowd of people. This'll be a spectacle around here for quite a while, he thought bitterly.
"Hiacho.", grandpa says, his eyes growing dark and dull as he straightens up again, this time not looking anywhere except the void. "He has really done it, huh? Really corrupted you knowing that you are still impressionable. Gullible. Forging artificial truth instead of carving out true lies. He was always a sharp soul, after all, so why am I surprised? Why do I feel..
..so disappointed?"
Hiacho runs back to his house in tears and bruises. He tells his parents everything, and his grandfather is forever banned from even coming anywhere close to their son. After all, Hiacho is their only reason for living. And as the president of Torova, his father not just banned his father from ever seeing Hiacho again, they also banned him from the Island of Reincarnation, Torova, for life. The weather shifted a little as the talk of a kid getting abused by an old man spread throughout the small Island like wildfire.
As the authorities roughly guided the child abuser onto a ship that would take the grandfather to Pinnacle, a small white rose lost one of its petals.
TO BE CONTINUED..