1 Family

Federation Calendar, Year 26122

*Clank*

Hearing the gates to the prison opening, and a hooded figure entering his cell, Axel lifted his lifeless eyes to gaze open his assailant. His long black hair covering his face as a sense of madness oozed from his amber eyes.

"Am I going to die?" He asked, half-joking.

Taken aback slightly, the hooded figure hesitated for a moment, before using a voice modifying device and spoke a single word.

"Yes"

The voice sounded like sandpaper scraping against steel, but Axel did not feel it sounded unpleasant. In fact, he simply smiled and nodded.

"Alright. But do it quickly."

As he said that, he looked up at the black cell ceiling, and thought to himself.

'Mother, Father, Lily, I am going to come over now.'

*Splash*

Blood splattered as his head rolled to the side, and his body fell onto the black metal prison floor.

30th day of the 5th Month of the Federation Calendar, Year 2612

*Beep* *Beep*

"Alright! I'm awake!" After exclaiming in a fit of rage, Axel opened his amber eyes reluctantly and got out of bed. Being forced awake by the alarm he had set up the previous night was incredibly infuriating, but he was already used to this.

With no one other than himself and his adorable little sister Lily at home, he had to forcibly wake up before Lily needed to, and prepare everything for himself and his sister. Thankfully, he had Spark to help him out.

"Spark, set another timer for 15 minutes from now, and wake Lily up then."

[Done]

Quickly getting ready and putting on his school uniform, Axel went ahead and began cooking food for himself and Lily.

15 minutes later, Lily drowsily awoke from her slumber and came out of her room.

"Ho! The little princess finally decided to leave her castle?" Axel teased with a bright smile on his face.

"Brother!" Lily blinked a few times with her large jade-coloured eyes before realising that her brother was teasing her. With her face turning red like a little tomato, Lily turned around and left the living room, heading to the bathroom to get ready for school.

Both Lily and Axel studied in different schools, due to their age difference. Axel had already entered high school, while Lily was still doing her primary education in elementary school. With Axel being 16, and Little Lily being barely 7, Lily saw him as a figure closer to a father than a brother. And naturally, Axel saw her as somewhat of his own daughter, treating her as he would his own daughter instead of a sister.

This was not some unusual relationship, but more of the pressure of the circumstances that they were put in. Axel's parents had gone missing when Lily was barely 3, and Axel, who was just 14 at the time had to take care of her. Where the couple had vanished, no one knew. In his vague memories, he remembered his last conversation with his parents, and that was also his last conversation with them.

…

*Rumble*

A streak of lightning dashed out of view, lighting up the sky behind it, followed closely by resounding thunder. Back then, Axel was afraid of the sudden sound thunder made, and when it happened, it made him flinch slightly.

Even after flinching, Axel was more occupied by his parents, who had packed up their bags and had hidden their faces under caps, followed by grey hoodies. They looked like an odd combination of a normal person preparing for a jog, and a member of some mafia in the movies.

"Little Axel, mother and father will be gone for a while. But do not worry, we will make sure to return. Do not worry about us, instead you need to take care of your sister. After all, after both father and I are gone, you…"

At this moment, Axel interrupted his mother, "…I am the man of the house. Yes, yes, I know mother. Don't worry. Just come back quickly!"

Back then, Axel was incredibly eager for his parents to leave, so that he could have the entire house to himself. For absolutely no reason, he loved the freedom he had every time he had the entire house to himself. Naturally, that was what he told himself, but in reality, he loved to steal the chocolates and ice-creams and enjoy them while eating in the living room while watching his favourite television show; Flagon Ball.

After his parents left, he happily did exactly as he had planned, completely ignorant to the fact that this would be the last memory he would have with his parents for years to come.

Just as Axel was reminiscing in the past, he suddenly felt a throbbing pain in his head. It felt like his brain had exploded, then been rebuilt with every heartbeat. Suddenly, he felt nauseous, and then felt an even more intense form of pain in his mind.

It was so much pain that he could not do anything and just collapsed onto the ground. His rather frail body landed on the ground, but not much sound was made, since he somehow fell right into the sofa.

Since his parents had borrowed an incredible amount of money from lots of relatives and some other people before they had left, his house had been taken over not long after their departure. Axel and Lily would have been left out onto the streets if it were not for Uncle Lee, who had an apartment that used to belong to his deceased son, and decided to lend it to the kids until their parents returned.

But this house was incredibly small, with the kitchen and living room being combines into one which barely fit the electric stove and the few other appliances, a tv, 3 chairs, and a couch, which was the one Axel landed on. There were two incredibly small bedrooms, with only a single shared bathroom, which was one of the reasons why Axel needed to wake up earlier than Lily.

Lily, who was busy washing up and getting ready for breakfast, was unaware that he beloved brother had fallen unconscious, with beads of sweat already forming all over his body, beginning to soak up his clothes. His expression was severely contorted with black lines strewn across his forehead.

For Axel himself, he had stopped feeling the pain since the moment he fainted, and instead, he was experiencing something incredible. It was a similar feeling to when he was in a dream, but he had lost complete control over it.

However, no actual 'dream-like incidents occurred in this dream. No meteors fell from the sky, and no zombie invasion occurred. Besides, even if either of the two were to occur, the federation had plenty of methods to prevent either of the two.

This dream was less of a dream, and closer to memories. Time flashed by slowly, as the daily life of Axel was played out. The sounds, tastes, touch, smells, and feelings were vividly felt by Axel, and thoroughly integrated into his mind.

Within mere moments, he had already reached the end of his life in the memories, which was plenty miserable. However, Axel did not feel the pity, or sadness, or relief that the Axel in prison felt. No! Instead, he felt anger. Anger bubbling from deep within his heart. Along with that, came a thirst for revenge, like a spark dropped onto a pool of gasoline.

However, suddenly, the need to protect those who were close to him, especially those he could not protect in his past life emerged like a flood and downed the flames of hatred that had just barely formed in his heart.

This entire process took just a single minute, and after everything was over, Axel opened his eyes once more.

'Huh…'

That was the only thing that came to mind as he was faced with new memories, that had yet to happen.

With his mind still buzzing from the throbbing pain, Axel's slightly fuzzy thinking led him to some random evaluations and conclusions instead of what was actually important; Lily's breakfast!