1 Chapter 1 : Childhood

"... The brave warrior walked into the Cave of Eternal Slumber and came face to face with the gruesome cyclops that named itself Scar. The warrior drew his sword from the sheath and charged at the foul monster. The warrior swung his sword at Scar and ..."

"And what? What happens next?" young Lyte eagerly asked his mother, an excited shine reflected on his huge green orbs.

Lyte was a boy with autumn brown hair and emerald green eyes. He got his hair from his mother and his eyes from his ancestors from his father's side. His features attracted a lot of attention as it was unique for a person and quite handsome. People around him, especially maidens, would walk past him and could not help but stare at the boy in front of them. He looked so perfect it was unreal to the eyes of many.

"I will tell you tomorrow, my dear. It is getting late. Go to sleep," Lyte's mother answered him and closed the storybook. She placed the book in its original place and began tucking him to bed.

"Pleaseeee, mom. Please tell me what happens next,"

"No means no, my little warrior. It is way past your bedtime and you have school to attend to tomorrow morning,"

"Come on, mother. Please! Just this once. I need to know what happens next,"

"No, Lyte. It will be a surprise. You will know what happens next tomorrow night. Ok, dear?"

No matter how much Lyte begged and pleaded, his mother refused to continue the story. She simply insisted it was a surprise that would be worth his wait.

She tucked Lyte in, kissed his forehead goodnight, turned off the lights and walked out of the room, closing the door gently behind her. Leaving a grumpy Lyte lying in bed in the dark room where the only source of light is from the moonlight through an open window.

"HMP! I'll show you, mother!" pouted Lyte.

He got out of bed and wrecked the whole room, making it super messy. He was a little kid and anyone can imagine the havoc Lyte had done out of a little tantrum. By the time he was done, the room looked like a barn for human. Books and toys were all over the place. One of the toys somehow got stuck in a crack on the wall. It was every parents' greatest nightmare come true.

"This will definitely make mother regret not telling me the ending of the story. She deserves it! Now how am I going to fall asleep? I will be thinking about the possible ending all night long!" said Lyte without a second thought of the consequences that may bring.

Although he thought he couldn't fall asleep at all, he dozed off to the land of dreams seconds after he lied down and placed his head on his comfy pillow.

That night, Lyte had a horrid nightmare, it felt so real to him.

He dreamt his mother being taken away by a dark hooded figure welding a big and scary scythe. His mother had a bright light emitting from her body but her face was contorted into a cry for mercy. She was begging not to be taken away, yelling out that it was not her time to go yet.

Lyte tried to help his mother. He reached his hand out to grab hers and as soon as their fingers touch, everything went dark. But before that happen, Lyte caught a glimpse of the hooded figure. Where there should be a face was a pearly white skull, grinning at him with a sinister aura.

Lyte was surrounded by darkness that seemed to suck the light around it. Pitch black and scary. Lyte could not even see his own ten fingers in front of his face.

Suddenly, Lyte's body moved downward and he was falling down to a never ending hole in the ground, into the abyss.

Lyte jolted awake as he reached the end of his dream where he felt his body hit something hard below him. He looked around in sweat, weary of the place he was at and the condition of his body after a seemingly long drop. He calmed down and breathe a sigh of relief when he found himself on the floor of his bedroom. The hard wooden floor suddenly felt comforting to young Lyte after the ordeal he went through. The nightmare would be stuck in his memories for a long time.

"What a dream," he said to himself while getting up. However, for reasons he could not understand, the dream did not felt like any ordinary dream, like it had a meaning to it. Lyte just shook the thought out of his head after a second of contemplation. He took a look at the clock and immediately jumped up.

"Wait a second. What in the world! Mother was supposed to come wake me up hours ago! It's bad enough that she didn't tell me the end of that bloody story, now she made me late for school! She is the worst mother a child could have!" screamed Lyte in his heart while he changed into his school uniform as fast as he could.

When he was done, he picked up his school bag and quickly made his way to the kitchen to grab a bite. Late as he might be, breakfast is still the most important meal of the day and he could not miss it.

When Lyte passed by the master bedroom, he decided to barge in and scold his mother for not waking him up for school that day. He placed his hand on the doorknob, twisted it and walked in.

Just as he decided to open his mouth and begin his lecture, he froze in his step. What welcomed him was a sight too unusual for his young mind to decipher. He was only 7 years old.

Beside the master bed, his father was weeping hysterically. In bed was his mother. She was as still as a statue. Her lips were blue and her whole body looked pale. Her skin was cold to the touch. Her left hand was held tightly by her husband, seemingly as if she would disappear if he loosen his grip. He kept on murmuring things like 'please don't do this', 'this can't be true', 'wake up, I beg you'.

Confused, Lyte asked timidly "Father, why is mother still sleeping? It is already pass day break. Is mother alright?"

His father looked at him with sorrowful eyes and suddenly pulled him into an embrace, almost strangling him in the process. He started telling Lyte that everything was going to be alright, that he promised they would get through it, over and over and over again. Lyte then fainted as if on cue.