A Young Girl's Determination

-In the Three-Winged Plane-

“Where?”

“There he is. I will jump from here; you guys handle the rest.”

"Take care, Fina."

I was observing the district through binoculars, in search of my father. I would jump from the plane as soon as I find him. I found him. I used a Cardon to get down from the plane.

He was drinking tea amid all this chaos…

My whole body was shaking just from this but still, I went with full speed and hit him with the cardon, he fell down. I fired 4-5 bullets at him. It took a lot of courage to do just that but it all went in vain when I saw him getting back on his feet as if nothing had happened. Due to high anxiety, I missed his vital points.

"Yo, Fina. it has been a long time since that night."

I pointed my gun at him but the finger just couldn't pull the trigger, as if he was controlling me. I said all those things to Nicolo that day but now, look at me… completely useless.

“What’s wrong? Can’t bring yourself to pull the trigger? Are you that terrified? Well, naturally you should be since I am your father.”

He grabbed my gun and hit me so hard that I started coughing blood.

"It really feels good to beat you like that. Want to know what happened to Matteo and the others? I tortured them to death. They were already going to die during this mess, so they should feel honoured that they got killed by their own father and not someone else."

“I see, you are still messed up in the head.”

I spit blood onto his face due to which he started punching me in the stomach.

Oh god, that hurt like crazy. I needed to do something, fast. If I could spit blood onto his face then I am sure I am more capable than just that.

After some hesitation, I pulled out a knife from my pocket and stabbed him in the right eye.

He screamed and leaned back a little. I went for the second eye but he was more aggressive. He grabbed me by my hair and threw me at the wall. As I was trying to get up, he kicked me in the face which sent me flying.

This was extremely bad. I couldn't take him head-on. His strength was unmatched. Where was my gun?

As soon I spotted it, I ran towards it. He seemed to notice that as well and ran after me. Just as I crouched down to grab the gun, his kick hit me in the stomach from below with brute force. That threw me in the air and I fell with the same momentum.

Gosh, both my back and stomach are screaming in pain that it was getting hard to stand. But there was no time to think about that because I was successful in grabbing the gun. I pointed it at my father's forehead. My hands were still shaking.

“Can you shoot?” He had a smirk on his face. “You couldn’t even bring yourself to disobey me back then.”

"That was because I was convincing myself that this was my real family. But that was a big mistake. You made my life miserable. I thought I would have died in the fire. You don't deserve to live. I am not even grateful to you for saving me because you were the cause of that fire. I will pull the trigger for my sake so that I can live without any more of your nightmares."

He let out a menacing laugh.

"Seeing you like this, Fina... it makes me want to break you once more. Come to Papa."

Just as he took a step forward, I pulled the trigger and the bullet hit his forehead.

I did it. I finally did it, I was finally free from this terrible nightmare. Hehe… I fell to the ground due to intense pain. I could hear Marsia and Risa's voices.

“Fina, are you alright? Oh my! Risa, she is badly injured. Help me take her to the plane. Aida will provide some first aid.”

“I am sorry.” I said with a weak voice. “I said I will help you in rescuing those people but I can’t even move in this condition.”

“Don’t worry about that, we will handle things from here on.”

"But… you went along with my selfish request."

"Don't talk so much when you are this injured."

My head was spinning and my vision was getting blur. It seemed like I was losing consciousness.

-Near the Leonardo Mansion

-

I was finally here after two years. It looked like people had already evacuated from this place. I wondered if my father was still here…

“I was waiting for you, my son.”

I saw father coming out from the mansion… he was grabbing Sophia by her hand, that bastard. But, he tossed her to me.

“Brother.”

She was really happy to see me again after two years but this was not a good time for a reunion.

"Sophia, step aside for a moment. Father and I have some things to discuss."

With that, I walked towards father.

He was literally in the worst state. Bags under his eyes, torn up clothes, a weak body that gave off a sign that he hadn't eaten anything in a while.

"You really ruined everything, didn't you? I told you, time and time again, to not pull a stunt like this but you didn't listen to me. Don't you care about any of these people?"

"That's rich coming from you. We were nothing but a tool for you to maintain your status and nothing more. You were so obsessed with it that you sent bounty hunters to kill your own blood. Not once but countless times, repeatedly one after the other. But how does it feel when the same son is standing right in front of you, holding a gun?"

"I don't feel anything. You are the result of my incompetency. But, now what? You ruined the entire district. Are you happy now? Will you live in peace after all this?"

"I will. I made my mind to not regret any of this. We will destroy everything and make a new start where no one will have a higher status based on money. The country will be ruled through a democratic system. We will connect ourselves with the outside world and develop a better place to live."

"Do you really think you will succeed in accomplishing all those objectives?"

“Maybe not, but one thing is certain. We will create a better society than this.”

There was a brief silence. Father was staring at me with a blank face.

"Your great grandfather, Grigio Leonardo left a memoir from 100 years ago."

A memoir? From 100 years ago?

"I knew the truth. I knew everything. Yet, I chose to turn a blind eye to it. I read that memoir as a kid and was fascinated by it. But as I grew up, I was getting more and more obsessed with the headship. It was to the point that I convinced myself that I will never read the memoir again and started looking down on the people of the Low End even though they were meant to guard this country."

Guard? What did that mean?

“Do you wish to know?”

I didn’t say a thing.

“It’s in my office. You will find it once you search the room. It’s an old book with no title on it.”

…

“What’s wrong father? You are oddly cooperative today?”

"I am tired. I did everything I could to get back to my seat. I cursed you all the time, made myself a clown, humiliated myself but it was all for nothing. Riccardo and Antonio already left me behind and Sophia doesn't see me as a father anymore."

“You are the one to blame here.”

"I know that very well. I ruined everything with my own hands. But now, I don't even have the energy to regret my decisions. You are here to kill me, right? Get over with it. Kill me and take the memoir."

"I have never seen you in such a pathetic state before. It's such a shame but I already made up my mind to end this right here and now. I do feel pity for you since you are my father after all but by not killing you, it will be like betraying myself."

I stared at my father but he didn’t say a word. What a pathetic end.

“Sophia, close your eyes.”

She knew what I was going to do so she closed her eyes without a second thought.

"Goodbye… Father."

*Bang*

He was on the ground as his forehead was bleeding. He was dead. The bullet pierced through his skull.

“Ughhhulll”

I threw up. Killing my own father was a bit too much. Even though he caused me nothing but pain, we still shared the same blood.

“Brother, are you alright?”

“Yes, I am fine.”

Sophia was trying not to look at her father's dead body. This would be a haunting experience for a child like her.

“Valentino, where are you?”

“Heading towards your mansion.”

“Give me a call when you arrive. I will be in the basement.

“Fine.”

“Sophia, come with me. We are going inside.”

I grabbed Sophia's hand and went straight to the basement.

“I am so happy to see you again.”

“Me too, Sophia.”

"But, what's up with all these injuries?"

“I got them while fighting Giovanni. But forget that, tell me where Riccardo and Antonio went off to.”

"They disappeared like two days ago. But before that, Antonio told me about them running away from home. It would be humiliating for them to ask you for help after all they did so they decided to live a life of their own. They were tired of Father's constant ranting and the condition of the family just kept getting worse. That's why they left for a better place."

"Good for them, I guess. What about you, Sophia? They didn't cause you any trouble in the meantime?"

“Not at all. I remained very obedient to avoid any disturbance.”

“You really have grown.”

She smiled as I patted her head.

We entered my father's office. It was as clean as it used to be.

“Sophia, look for an old book. It must be somewhere around here.”

After searching for few minutes, Sophia found an old book.

“Is this the one?”

“Yes, I think. It’s my first time seeing this memoir as well.”

It starts with “Year 2800.”

This was definitely the book that my great grandfather left hundred years ago. Let's see, what this book has to offer.