Hazy… blackness.
This again?
Where am I now?
Voices echoed in the dark: distant to start with, muffled, as scenes grew slowly clearer.
A man's voice complained, "This? Seriously? Why does he look like that? He's so ugly."
The irritated woman snapped back, "He was just born! He is still a baby. And he's your son. He inherited your face!, idiot."
Son?
Ash scowled inside the fog of his mind.
Is this… are these my parents?
The man groaned. "Come on, look at him. He looks exactly like you."
"You." The woman rolled her eyes. "Enough. The doctor is coming."
Footsteps; a door slides open; someone clears their throat.
"Have you two decided on a name?" asked the doctor.
"How about Gray?" the man said, pointing. "Look at his hair."
"Oh?" The woman smirked. "Then how about Blacky? Since he has black eyes, right? Perfect name, yes?
The doctor coughed into his fist, clearly holding in a laugh.
She looked at the baby again. Gray hair, soft and faint. Then she looked out the window, saw the surrounding burning red: a heat wave, smoke, and debris floating in the air as if a volcano erupted not too far away.
She smiled softly. "How about… Ash?"
The man looked out at the red-hued surroundings outside. His face turned serious and heavy.
He nodded after a long, silent pause.
"Ash… perfect."
The world started to vibrate like there was an earthquake.
Sirens sounded, red lights flashed, somebody screaming, something exploded, and the whole building shook violently.
The man grasped his armament and ran out.
The woman struggled to her feet, still weak from the delivery, and handed the baby over to the young assistant.
"Watch him for me," she whispered.
Then she ran out the door.
Booms. Clattering metal. Roars of monsters echoed through the underground city. The walls shook as if the whole place was collapsing.
The man shouted, "Defend our home!"
Soldiers lined up, steam weapons roaring to life.
Steam swords are heating things.
The steam hammers are vibrating.
Steam bows locking and loading.
His body flickered as if a glitch in reality, teleporting his existence, and he suddenly materialized in front of this towering beast-and in one neat swipe, slashed its head clean off.
The soldiers cheered and surged forward.
With silver illusion energy dancing around her like mist, the woman stepped onto the battlefield.
"Illusion Manifest… Mirroring."
"Illusion Distortion… Five Senses."
Monsters stumbled, confused. Some swung at shadows. Others attacked each other.
The man and woman fought side by side, smoothly, naturally, as if they had been practicing every day of their lives.
Then everything changed.
Something was off.
Anomaly No. 22
Hollow.
A towering creature, with a huge black hole in its chest, as if something had eaten through its body. Something wrong. Something unreal.
Even the air felt frozen.
The man stopped right there.
The woman's breath stopped for a moment.
A shaking soldier nearby said, "Sir… the Steam Cloud malfunctioned. The siphon stabilizers failed. 2 anomalies managed to get in."
Veins bulged from the man in anger. "Damn it! Why today?!
Teleporting forward, blades at the ready.
More monsters came crashing toward them: beasts mutated with too many limbs, with burned skin, and glowing bones. The soldiers struggled, their shields shaking; some could barely hold on.
The woman struck the air with her two hands.
Illusions diffused like ripples.
Monsters screamed as their senses collapsed. Some clawed at their own eyes. Some attacked walls. Some fell to their knees.
But the battlefield was shifting.
The ground cracked.
Pipes exploded from underneath the metal floor.
Another Hollow crawled down the ceiling like a long, twisted lizard. It was lean. Its claws were longer than its arms, sharp as black curved scythes.
It stared silently.
Then it disappeared.
Not teleported.
Yeah, just vanished from existence for one second.
It reappeared behind the man.
And....
Shlkk.
Its claws pierced his stomach.
Blood sprayed.
The man was coughing violently, choking.
"NOOO!" The woman screamed.
Soldiers charged, but the Hollow backhanded them away like toys. Bodies flew with the man's body. Bones cracked. Someone screamed for help.
The first Hollow roared, and the hole in his chest sucked in the air like a vortex. Rocks, weapons, and even the steam were pulled towards it.
Chaos erupted on the battlefield.
Monsters hurled themselves at the soldiers.
Pipes burst with boiling steam.
Somebody was sucked into the chest-hole of the Hollow and disappeared completely.
The woman's eyes blurred, her heartbeat racing. Something snapped inside her.
Her illusion energy exploded.
Silver ash-like light swirled around her, growing brighter and more violent.
Her hair changed-gray turning into glowing silver-ash.
She shouted through her clenched teeth:
"Illusion---Manifest---Reality!"
The air rippled.
Illusions combined with real matter.
Pieces of broken metal floated.
Shattered stones twisted.
Steam turned into shining threads.
Everything started to coalesce, becoming tangible, actual, something lethal.
Around her, a storm of silver spikes now formed.
Her voice cracked.
"Siphon… respond…
As if it heard her, the siphon energy responded.
Too strongly.
It pushed into her, feeding her power beyond what her body could handle.
Her skin cracked with light.
Her body shook as if something inside was being torn apart.
The spikes are multiplying like an illusion.
"AGHHHHHH!"
Everything came pouring out.
Spikes rained down everywhere.
Hollows were shredded.
Monsters impaled.
The battlefield was cut up like paper.
The room fell silent.
The doctor and assistant watched in horror.
"That's… impossible…" the doctor whispered in shock.
But the assistant didn't celebrate; his eyes simply widened in fear as he noticed immediately that something was wrong with the woman.
The woman's body was shimmering.
Fading.
Her hand turned translucent.
She was disappearing
She looked at herself and already understood.
-Overload.
-Berserk.
-Conversion.
-Transfer.
She turned her back and smiled weakly at the assistant.
"Promise me."
Tears immediately welled up in the assistant's eyes as he understood it immediately. "I-I promise! I promise!!"
She turned to her dying husband.
He wasn't moving.
Upon seeing this, she uttered a chant in a quivering voice.
Her body broke into fine silver ash.
The wind of the battle lifted it.
Then, she was gone.
…
The haze dissolved.
Ash stood alone, shaking.
The tears were falling long before he knew it.
Why…
Why does it hurt like this?
"They're Ash's parents… not mine," he whispered.
But the pain felt real.
Like he lost someone.
Like something was taken from him.
His vision warped.
Darkness swallowed him whole.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ash woke up, crying.
His breath quivered. His face was wet, his chest aching as if somebody had punched straight into his heart.
A bright voice teased him.
"Crybaby~ finally awake?
Ash sniffed and, wiping his eyes quickly, said, "It's. Not that. I just had a nightmare." He looked around. "Where am I?"
The girl puffed her non-existent chest proudly. "Welcome to my workshop—"
Pak.
She got a gentle slap on the head.
"Ouch!"
The old man behind her cleared his throat, correcting her, "She means… welcome to my boss's workshop."
Ash blinked at the scene and chuckled. "You two… are weird.
The girl huffed. "He hit me for a light reason!"
The old man laughed her off and continued staring at Ash.
Ash sat up, touching the bandages wrapped neatly around his stomach and shoulders. "Thanks. Really."
His eyes shifted to the girl. "So… those guys who tried to kidnap you, who were they?"
The girl froze. Slowly turned her eyes to her boss.
The old man didn't say a word. He looked at Ash in silence.
An awkward silence fell upon the room.
Ash let out a deep sigh and then rose to his feet slowly. His legs still ached, but he could walk. "Okay… I'm going home. Thanks for the bandaging."
He walked towards the door, his hand reaching for the handle. He stepped out when- "Boy." Ash stopped.
The old man's voice continued, slow, delayed. "Beware of the Academy. And… good luck."
He closed the door before Ash could reply.
Ash stared blankly at the wooden door, puzzled. Academy? How could he know…? Could it be…
He clenched his hands. Something wasn't adding up.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Inside the workshop…
The girl frowned at her boss. "Boss… why didn't you tell him the truth?"
The old man sighed. "For his sake."
The girl lowered her head. "I see."
The old man went to his desk. A little picture frame sat there.
He traced his finger over it gently. A doctor. An assistant. A woman holding a baby. And a man hugging both of them. His eyes softened. "So, the child has finally awakened... some truth... must wait."