Chapter 1: Inside the Walls of The Fenix Penthouse

(Solmonath 28, 56 / 10:03AM)

A boy sprang from bed, drenched with sweat which molted his blue pajamas. Feeling the lack of blood soaring through his cheeks, his hands felt like pins and needles.

—Was that a dream?

Beginning to cool down, he glanced around his room.

Dozens of posters were plastered along the walls, as well as his drawers littered with electronics. Looking down at the video game console, his own controllers were trapped in a vine of wires by his sloppiness.

Finally, he took one last glance at the mirror in front of him. Seeing his reflection, he had walnut brown hair, a growing teenage boy face, and most importantly…

Red eyes.

Trying to comb his hair with his hands, he tried to push his side bangs which covered his right eye; but it was part of his hairstyle.

—I wonder what time is it?

Picking up an alarm clock on the ground near his bed, his eyes widened.

—Oh no…

The door to his room swayed open.

Standing in the doorway was a woman wearing baggy sweatpants and a t-shirt. Looking to be in her mid-30s, she had the same walnut hair as him, but she had pointed ears and a button nose.

But not too pointed, meaning she was a half-elf.

“Luke! Breakfast! Come and eat!”

“Sorry Mom…”

“Hurry up before it gets cold, I’m not asking again.”

Settling his bare feet onto the carpet floor, he walked toward the large dresser to the right of his room. When changing out of his pajamas, he tried to recall the dream he had, but it faded away like sand in the desert.

—What was it about anyway…

Luke swayed his head, while putting on a black shirt and black pants.

“Hey Mom, I have a question.”

“Make it quick.”

“One of my friends wants to hang out with me today.”

Luke noticed his mother crossing her arms, her lips pressed into a tight line. Closing the drawer of the cabinet, his hands remained on the handles.

“Is he coming over?”

“Well, he wants me to go over to his club.”

His mother let out a deep sigh, pushing a lock of her dark brown hair behind her small pointed ears. Luke, whose hands tightened around the wooden handles, felt the knobs beginning to crackle.

“You know that’s not going to happen.”

“But Mom—”

“You know the rules.”

Luke groaned. Letting go of the wooden handles, he let his hands remain onto his sides.

“Mom. Fred’s my best friend.”

“I’ve told you Luke, you can’t go outside! You know the rules!”

“Mom!”

“Don’t talk back to me!”

“Woah what’s the matter dear?”

A man in his mid 40s came into the room, wearing a black tuxedo suit with a bow tie. Inside of his chest pocket, he had a pocket of tissues, already opened with some sticking out.

Having messy blonde hair, and a hair bang covering his right temple, he had a similar hairstyle to Luke. Tall, slim, underneath his nose was nothing more than a little mustache.

“Why so mad at this hour?” He blew air out of his nostrils. Using his right hand, he wiped away the mucus trailing from his nose. “Want me to get you a cup of coffee?”

“No thanks honey, just lost my temper, that’s all…”

“Then how about we take this conversation to the table? Breakfast is already made, yes?”

Sunlight sprayed through the blinds of the windows, as Luke walked his way toward the kitchen. Feeling shut out from the world—well, he is; he couldn’t speak to it with his mom.

He didn’t want another fuss with her, considering her temper.

Inside the dimly lit kitchen, the family already sat down and began eating their breakfast. All of the utensils were shaded in gold, and the plates themselves were molded to appear as if they were china-silverware.

The cups being glass instead of plastic, even the napkins were replaced with handkerchiefs.

“You have done it again Mary! Combining Tician and Kepputhan food again was genius! The mix of eggs and bacon with the side of white rice is delicious, but try to keep the oil down…”

The man, who was none other than Luke’s dad, ate his breakfast with a smile and carefree face. Sticking another chunk of bacon into his mouth, he chewed and swallowed before looking at Luke.

“So Luke, do you mind telling me what you and your mother talked about?”

“I just wanted to hangout with Fred…”

“Then why not invite him over?”

“He wants me to come over to his place…”

His dad dropped his fork onto the plate, his eyes narrowing at him. Complete silence filling the kitchen air, his dad swayed his head.

“No, you won’t be going.”

“D-Dad—”

“If your mother says no, and if I say no, then you’re clearly not going.”

Luke darkened his eyes, his stare being directed to the plate full of egg and white rice. Getting up from his seat, Luke’s dad pushed in his chair, his feet leading him toward his son.

Placing his hand on Luke’s shoulder, his father’s eyes softened.

“You’ll understand what I mean, and besides…”

Luke’s dad looked at him with a serious face, a face that could make even the rowdiest of kids to remain silent.

—“You’re not ready.”—

Pulling his hand away from Luke’s shoulder, his father left the kitchen and walked toward the front door. Putting on a black coat and hat situated on the coat hanger, he tilted the tip of the hat to not let a single sunlight shone his face.

Turning the door handle, he opened it wide, before shutting it softly.

Feeling lost, Luke looked down and shut his eyes.

As for Mary…

“Ow. I’m still constipated from yesterday.”

Getting up from her seat, she barely finished her breakfast. Since Luke’s dad left, she lifted up the half-eaten food from both hers and her husbands plates, but left Luke’s alone.

“Please promise me you won’t go anywhere.”

Luke remained silent, blocking his ears with his hands while staring deeply at the wooden-tiled floor. Mary huffed out a chunk of air, while walking to the kitchen.

Finally getting up from his seat, he walked over to turn on the TV. Ignoring his plate filled with food, Mary placed the half-eaten plates onto the counter. And softened her eyes at him.

—“No matter how much you’ll ignore me … I’ll always treat you like my son …”—

Mary then left toward the bathroom, leaving Luke to surf the channels from a boxed TV.

The TV looked to be the typical television set at the time. An antenna on top, the specks and pixels shining in color, and bits of static lingered on the screen. Right now, the channel played the late morning news, with a bunny-human reporting it.

“More reports of kids going missing around the Azazel region. Some say it’s linked to the Los Cerdos de Ojos—”

Luke changed to the history channel. Instead of a bunny-human, it was a regular human.

“Conspiracy theorists claim that there lies an underwater civilization just beneath Khazuan Territory—

Changing the channel again, it led to the sci-fi program. Seeing both a dog-human and a regular human, both of them wore casual clothes, and wore circular glasses.

“You know, our planet Terra is weird.”

“How so?”

“Well, have you heard of the artificial world theory—”

Luke turned off the TV, not wanting to watch a bunch of conspiracy theorists playing the role of journalists and scientists.

________________________________________________________________________

Luke placed his elbows on the edge of the balcony.

Overlooking the city in front of him, he was on the top floors, the wind whooshing the penthouse with carefree morning air.

Hearing cars honking in the distance, and seeing tiny dots of people walking, it put him in ease. With his eyes, he could see the lesser buildings, street posts, billboards; the playground of the big city of Clastine.

But there’s only so much he could imagine before feeling a pool of disappointment in his stomach.
“Why can’t I go out for once? I could handle myself. Besides, nothing really bad happens in this city…

“Tell me about it.”

Luke jerked his head back. Pulling back his elbows from the railing of the balcony, he saw a man wearing all black.

The man wore a mask covering the entirety of his face, as well as sunglasses that covered his eyes. Wearing a black magician hat, his gloves and clothes soaked underneath the sun.

“W-Who are you?! Where did you come from? Why are you here? W-When d-did you come here?!”

“Relax dude, I ain’t going to hurt you.”

Based on the man’s voice, Luke thought the voice belonged to a teenager. Taken aback by his nonchalant nature, Luke scratched his cheek with his pale fingernails.

His gloves rubbing underneath his chin, the masked man smirked underneath his facial mask.

“Not gonna lie dude, you look pretty scrawny.”

“What?”

“I mean, you’re still a kid, but come on. I’ve seen tougher—nah, I’ve seen tougher girls look stronger than you.”

“P-Please be quiet…”

“Damn dude, you can’t even bring yourself to tell me to shut up.”

He started laughing. Hunching his head forward, he placed his right hand onto his knee, laughing harder and harder until his breaths came with wheezes.

All the while Luke huffed and pouted his face, his cheeks beginning to turn red.

“W-Why are you here?”

The masked man stopped laughing. Clearing his throat, he straightened his back and looked toward Luke.

As if the whole mood changed, the carefree wind blowing toward them ceased.

“You don’t wanna know … so I have a proposition for you.”

“A p-proposition?”

“Yeah, so here’s the thing. You have two choices you could take.”

The man kneeled on one knee, his hands unarmed. Seeing the man looking to have nothing up his sleeve, Luke let his lips seal from the man’s goggled stare. Looking at Luke directly, Luke noticed the man’s sunglasses reflect the sunlight onto him.

“You could lay back, drink Copsi, and play on your Game-Girl or whatnot, or…”

The man stood up, his height being about a foot taller than Luke. Gulping down whatever saliva in his throat, Luke took a step back.

“You could explore the city, if you just step out that door.”

A black or white type of question. The choice between indulging in the betterments of luxury food, with survival not even a thought to him.

Or disobey his parents, fulfilling the human need for living and exploring.

Luke started sweating, his temples flowing out or one two droplets of sweat. His hands becoming clammy, he tried not to clutch his hands together, or else they’ll stick like glue.

“I … I don’t know…”

“Well? Do you want to get out of the penthouse or not?”

He loves games, he loves reading, he enjoys spending time indulging in all his indoor hobbies. But what he really wanted—

“I want—”

His heart, trying to bring his motivations out in word form, began to be chained by his vocals.

Feeling as if the entire world was going to crumble and tear, the thought of disobeying his parents barged into his brain. Every word, lecture, promise, everything he did to be the perfect son tried to hold his heart back.

“I…”

“Are you ok bro?”

Droplets of sweat trickled the cement next to his shoes. His face, beginning to turn pale, made him fidget his hands.

In a fit of frustration, the masked man stomped with his right foot, his hands balled near his thighs.

“For God’s sake bro, hurry up! Are you going to live with your heart or with your shadow?!”

A last push, a last push he desperately needed, Luke said the words he always wanted to say out loud and clear.

________________________________________________________________________

A door swayed open.

Coming out of the bathroom, Mary’s entire body was drenched in a heap of sweat. One of her hands clutching her stomach, her other hand swiped away sweat lingering her forehead.

“I should eat more fruit…”

Walking along the hallway, her only thought would be upon Luke and what he was doing. Any loving mother would check up on their only child right?

But upon entering the living room, the TV was off, and Luke was nowhere to be seen.

“Luke?”

Entering inside his room, she saw his bed still messied, along with wires wrapping around his console the last time she entered. Her heart pounding against her chest, she looked through the closets, the balcony, the kitchen cabinets…

Anywhere.

“Luke! Come on out now!”

Finding herself back to the front door, Mary placed both her hands onto her waist. Looking toward the door, she noticed it was unlocked.

‘Joseph unlocked it when he left’ Mary thought.

She widened her eyes.

“LUKE!!”