The Hero of a failed age.

Hideo lives in the world as a fugitive.

a man who has given up on his friends and family. a man who lost everyone and everything. there is only one person who stayed at his side. an old friend from the age of Heros who comes from time to time to visit. Alonzo is the name of that friend.

Hideo spends his days hunting or building things. his days in solitude aren't as cruel as they may seem to be. Hideo haven't cut his hair or beard in ages. he looks older than his age. he almost looks like a homeless man. 

another person knocks on the door. it is the fifth person in the last month. some people use to come to visit. back then people only came to attack or harassed him. now, the people who come are only trying to get help or trying to kill him. 

Hideo grabs a rusty War-axe. Hideo breathes loudly. he gets mentally ready thinking about the worse possible outcome. he opens the door slowly. today is raining violently. in the middle of the mud lies down a wounded boy. Hideo looks around. he takes the kid inside. quickly Hideo washes the boy and takes a look at the wounds.

"Foolish child. I am not the person you need." there is bitterness in his voice.

the boy wakes up. he asks Hideo for his help. there is no reaction from the failed hero. then the kid mentions a possible invasion from a group that calls themselves the Conquerors.

Hideo feels a mixture of rage and sorrow. Hideo drops the war-axe. he walks around the small cabin as he feels close to have a mental breakdown. Hideo is sweating cold. he is nervously thinking about the past. he falls on his knees screaming and crying. the frustration and rage are taking over as he drags himself in the floor. he trembles.

it takes a long time for Hideo to calm down. the world may move on, but he hasn't overcome the tragedy that led to his present. Hideo takes a cold shower. he puts on his best clothes (which are old and don't fit well as that is the clothes he used to wear in his teen years.) Hideo fixes his hair in a messy ponytail. he sits down for some minutes to think about life.

someone kicks the front door open. Hideo looks up confused. his old friend, Alonzo comes inside holding some groceries bags. he laughs calmly as he talks about his kids. he used to say something about never getting marry. and now he is father. a respected man of family.

the boy comes out of the room. he looks at Hideo and then at Alonzo. the boy starts talking to Alonzo with respect. Alonzo nods as he listens to the boy.

"I need to go. the world needs me." whispers Hideo as his eyes full of conviction meet with the eyes of his only friend.

"What is this about? some renovation plans? some girl you met?" 

"I was told that they returned. they are back. I need to stop them. I need to save them this time."

there is moment of silence. tears come out of Hideo's face. Alonzo looks around nervously trying to deny the information he was given. how can a failed hero and a retired dad save the world? when they failed already once.

"Jesus. Dude, you are my bro. I am grateful to you. I was meant to be a dead man. you saved my life that day in that final battle. our friends died. I was confused at first. I resented you for the first two years, and then I came with terms with the fact that it wasn't our time. we survived for a reason back then. but not for this. I am not going back to war. I am a dad. I have a family to protect. how are you even sure that they are back?" 

"The kid told me. the thing is that he isn't the first one to tell me. for the last two months there had been too many visitors. too many people with information only knew about the Conquerors. they are here. you can stay. I am going. I will face them a final time." mentions Hideo with hints of melancholy in his voice.

"Jesus, dude. why didn't you tell me until now. I can't go, but I will send my apprentice. I took a boy not too long ago under my wing. he isn't me, but he can do better than most. he can be of great help to you on the road. he can be your eyes."

"Alonzo. you are my last friend. everyone else died that day. of course, I couldn't drag you back to the hell that is a Hero's journey. I wanted to protect you. like you said, you have a family to protect and care about. I don't have anything. I have no one." 

there is a minute of silence. both friends say goodbye to each other. Hideo looks at the boy and asks the boy if there is anything else he knows about these invaders. the boy whispers something on his ear. Hideo thanks the boy. Hideo walks out of that small cabin with nothing more than an old katana on his hands. that is all he needs.

the weather has been quite brutal lately. the rain. the smell of the forest. the silence. all of that reminds him of the good old days. a bygone era in which he didn't know solitude. a time in which he was alive in the inside. nowadays he is no more than a walking corpse. maybe a final journey will bring some light to his life.

the forest surrounded by dangerous creatures. plants that could kill a grown man in seconds. there are all kinds of horrors hidden. there are all kinds of people trying to find him.

once more Hideo is out in a journey as a hero. this time is more personal. his redemption is a dirty road set for revenge.

At the distance stands a dark figure keeping himself hidden. An unnamed evil that represents greater evil. The figure just stands there observing.

“Sir, we need to eliminate the hero, now. Before it’s too late. We need to follow the orders of the emperor.” Comments a subordinate afraid of the master.

“I don’t care. I am just here as a wanderer serving as a spectator for the rebirth of a great hero.” Replies the hidden figure.

“Master. We need to act. We can’t let that fox keep demanding and ruling as if he was some sort of king.” Comments the subordinate once more full of fear.

“He will be taken down. It will take long, but his ego isn’t build to survive another encounter with the great hero.” Replies the hidden figure aware of the circumstances.

The wanderer turns around. He demands for his people to back down. He wants to allow for the hero to grow as strong as he used to be once. Strong enough to make the hunt worth it.

The same servant complains once more. The wanderer gets furious. He takes out a pistol and shoots the servant in the head. His body drops almost instantly. 

“Is there anyone else brave enough to defy the word and creed of your master. When the emperor is away, I am the ruling king. Nobody, absolutely no one besides the emperor can govern me.” 

There is absolute silence. It starts to rain. The rain helps to wash the blood away from the scene as the wanderer walks away slowly hidden between shadows.

His subordinates follow. There is so much to do before he can feel capable of facing against his old friend. He can’t stop thinking about the things they can talk about once they stand face to face.

Some subordinates warn him about the existence of dangerous creatures. 

Before the wanderer can say anything. A plant starts to move by itself and it wraps around the leg of a servant. The spines of the plant grow bigger and harder. The man starts to bleed. The blood is absorbed by the plant. The man drops dead.

The wanderer starts to run, follow by his subordinates. There are more plants that start to attack the subordinates. The wanderer demands of them to not use any fire weapons. The use of a pistol could result in alerting others of their presence. 

After running for a while. The wanderer finally stops running. There are only around five, never mind. One was juts taken down. There are four servants left. 

The wanderer doesn’t care about losing his men. They are just tools meant to be used.

“So, here is where you had been hiding. Domitian. You are the face of our empire. We can’t allow you to walk around freely. You need to remember your position.”

Domitian turns around. He welcomes the person in front of him. The men he hates the most.