Chapter 29

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Chapter 29

Into the past-4

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When Nikolai opened his eyes, he was greeted with a concrete roof, a far cry from his wooden roof at home. His head was also spinning for some reason, to which he squinted his eyes and squeezed his temple, which did offer some help. Moments later, he cast his gaze on the room to analyze his surroundings and saw to his left, his Mama talking to Mikhail.

His vision got a little blurry so he squinted his eyes to make his vision a little more clear, only to see the worried face his mama had as she listened to whatever his friend was speaking.

' I hope he's not exposing me of stealing those sweets the other day. ' he thought, ' I even gave him two to shut his mouth. '

As of a sudden, his mother gasped with a horrified look on her face and he thought that Mikhail had ratted him out.

" I wasn't the only one who stole those sweets! He took two for himself! " He forced himself to get up off the bed but he tripped on the bedsheets and fell to the floor with a thud.

With the sudden voice of Nikolai, he alerted the two occupants of the room. His mother immediately rushed to her son and picked him up for a tight hug.

" Are you alright my son? " she asked as she checked for any bruises he may have got.

" I took only four sweets mama, I swear. "

" What are you talking about? "

" It's not about the sweets? "

" What sweets? "

" Oh... It's nothing. "

She did not delve into it any further as she had more pressing matters to deal with. She decided to inspect him a little more, more specifically four long scars on his face. Nikolai was confused at what his mother was doing, but eventually, she stopped with a relieved sigh.

" Mama? Is something wrong? "

" I will explain later," she said with a loving smile. " Let's go home. "

"OK, Mama. "

Aroha turned to Mikhail who was just standing there not knowing what to do at the moment.

" Mikhail we are making Borsh for dinner, you want to join us. " she suggested.

" Sorry, I don't think I could go. " He replied as he rubbed the back of his neck.

" Why? "

" Well you see, my Papa said that we are going to visit Babushka in the hospital. "

" Ah! How is doing these days, is she getting better? "

" Papa said that she is recovering. "

" Well, when you meet your Babushka tell her that we all miss her delicious Kompot. "

" Hahaha, Babushka will definitely love to hear that. "

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The road back to their home was filled with silence except for the three-year-old Anahera happily singing a nursery rhyme a few steps ahead of Nikolai and Aroha.

" Sweety don't pick up sticks from the road. " Aroha called as she saw her daughter picking up a random stick from the ground.

" This is not stick, this is magic stick. " she said as she waved the stick like a magic wand.

" But sweety it's dirty, we have a better one home. "

" Really? "

" Yes, and it's more shiny than this magic stick. "

" Yay! "

She smiled at the innocent ball of sunshine in front of her, then she turned to her son who looked at her with a look that pleaded for answers.

" I have heard everything from Mikhail. " she said.

" Mama? Is something wrong with me? " Nikolai pleaded.

" No, my son. " she replied, " It's just that you were affected by " The Maori Madness ". "

" Maori Madness? "

" Yes, this is something every Maori is born with. " she explained, " I am a Maori and you are my son, so you are also Maori. "

" But Mama, what is this Maori Madness? " Nikolai asked. His mother had told him that she was a Maori before, but he did not know what a Maori was. But this Maori Madness thing was more concerning.

" I will give you a simple example. " She said, " You remember the light switch? Yes? The Maori Madness is like a switch that when turned on, turns a person into a ruthless and bloodthirsty savage that feels no fear and pain, a switch that turns you into a Maori Warrior. "

" Mama? What? " Nikolai was utterly confused by the information that was relayed to him, ' Does this mean, I'm turning into a monster? "

" No one has ever done it at such a young age. " She continued, " Normally you need to be at least ten years old to manifest it. I manifested it when I turned fifteen, everyone said I was a late bloomer. Your uncle joked about it for days. " she giggled as she remembered the nostalgic past.

" Wait! So you have it too? And I have an Uncle? " Nikolai was again surprised and excited with the information, so he was not the only one to have it, but the biggest news was that he had other family members.

" Where is he now? What about your Papa and Mama? " His excited questions were only answered with a sad downtrodden look from his mother.

" They have all died... And I guess we are the only ones left from our tribe. "

" Oh. "

They continued the silent walk towards their home, Today wasn't the best day of his life, Nikolai thought. First was the fact that he had some kind of mental disease that turned him into a savage, and then there was the information that he had no other family members other than his Mama, Papa and his sister. He did not really know how to process this information he did not know, his young brain was not really capable of that at the moment.

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.

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" But now since you have manifested it, it's time for me to train you to control it? " his Mama's words brought him out of his thoughts. It was so sudden, that all he could say was, " Huh? "

" We cannot really have you go about the village without any control over your savage self, can we? So I will have to train for that? "

" Umm... Mama, what will I have to do in your training? " He innocently asked, he already had combat training with his father and it was hellish enough for him, he hoped that his Mama's training was easier enough... He really had to jinxed himself.

" It will probably be much harder than the training your Papa gave you and Mikhail. "

" Heh? "

" Don't worry we will start tomorrow after I have a talk with your Papa. "

The moment he heard " Papa ", he started to think how his father would react. Though his Papa loved him, he knew he was a very strict man and the time spent with him during training was enough to cement the type of man his father was.

" Will Papa get angry at me? "

" When he hears that you defended your sister like that, I'm definitely sure he would be proud of you. " His mother said with a loving smile.

" Really? "

" Yes, he could never get angry at you when you go to such lengths for family. Do you remember what your father always said? "

" Family is everything. My family is my life, and everything else comes second as far as what's important to me."

She smiled warmly as she patted his head, " Always keep that in mind ok. Your sister needs all the help can and you can do that. Promise me Nikolai, promise me that you will always protect your sister, can you do that for Mama? "

" Yes! " he said without hesitation, there was no way he was going to let anyone hurt his sister. And if they do, they will feel his wrath.

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{ Four hours later }

They say news and rumours travel very fast when you live in a village and for Boris the news of his son beating up a boy older to the point that his own mother can't even recognize him, made him so confused that the only answer he came up with is:

" Blyat. "

He then asked the gossipers for what exactly caused his son to beat the living hell out of the older boy, but he got no concrete answers.

So, he had to get information straight from the source... His son.

As he walked through the snow-covered road to his house, he tried to put together some scenarios in his head, as to why his son would beat up someone, but nothing came up in his mind. He knew his son very well, he was not a child to inflict violence on others for no good reason. He was not angry at his son, but he at least wanted to know why he did it in the first place.

Soon he arrived at the guard fence to which beyond it was his wooden cottage, his and his family's home sweet home. He cast his gaze at the humble house in front of him, pride filled his chest because he and his wife built it with their own hands. It was not much but it was enough for them.

So many nostalgic memories were made inside this small house. He can't believe that had already been seven years since the day he decided to go against his family and live his life like a normal person. He was certainly sure that his family were " not happy " with his decision, but he now has a family of his own now and this was the happiest he had ever been in his entire life. This was the family that he had always wanted, a family filled with love and joy, a family where he could happily sacrifice himself so that it could grow and prosper.

This, was everything he ever wanted...

A true genuine and loving family.

And this is all that matters.

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KNOCK! KNOCK!

Aroha was making dinner when she heard a knocking sound from the front door, she stopped whatever she was doing and went to open the door and found her husband, who smiled warmly at her.

After everything that had happened today, just by the very sight of her husband brought joy and reassurance to her poor heart. His very presence told that everything was going to be alright, that he would do his very best to ease whatever problem that came in their way and find a solution for it, together.

Her emotions got the best and she wrapped her arms around him giving him a very tight hug. Boris was a little surprised at the amount of affection his wife was giving him, but he simply returned the affection by hugging her back.

" I don't know why I deserved this, but I am not going to complain either. " Boris joked as he kissed her forehead. " I'm back home. " he whispered to her ear.

" I missed you... " she mumbled softly. " I don't know what I can do without you. "

" Don't worry, I will always be there for you. "

They continued to stay in that position for a few more seconds before they separated. " So I heard that Nikolai got into a fight? " he inquired.

" He had manifested the Maori's madness. " She simply stated, which surprised Boris.

" Is he not supposed to manifest at around ten years old or something? " he asked, to which Aroha replied, " Do you know Vadim? "

" You mean the village leader's son? " Boris said not understanding why this Vadim fellow is involved. He and his father were both identical in both appearance and personality, an asshole through and through, it was best not to even talk about them.

" Well, Vadim said some very bad things about Anahera, regarding her condition. " the moment she said that, Boris's face turned stoic instantly. She could clearly that he was absolutely pissed.

" What did he say? " the amount of venom in those words was strong enough to tremble in fear. But she was no simple woman.

" Didn't really matter, as Nikolai taught him a lesson he will never ever forget? "Boris's face immediately shifted from his stoic self to a giddy face that could not stop smiling. " Nikolai beat him up? Haha, now that's my boy! "

" I heard Papa. " from the other room, Anahera came running towards him the moment she heard him laugh. Boris picked her up and hugged her and kissed her showered kisses on her face. She giggled she also tried to shower kisses on her father too, but it seemed Boris was winning.

" How was my little angel's day today? Did you have fun at home? " he asked as he gently put her down.

" Papa Papa, today Mama taught me a song! "

" Oh really? Then I really have to hear it after dinner. "

" After dinner? Why not now? " she pleaded with sad eyes.

To which Boris gave let her sniff his coat. She reeled back at the pungent smell of sweat. " Papa smell bad! Go take bath! " she complained as she squeezed her nose shut.

" Hahaha. " Boris laughed at cute reaction of his daughter. " Ok I will go now. "

As he entered the next room, he saw his son standing by the door, looking at him with guilt.

He wanted to say something, but he seemed to hesitate.

" Papa. "

"Don't worry, I'm not angry at you. " Boris patted his son's head lovingly. " In fact, I'm very proud of you. "

He kneeled down so as to look at his son face to face. " You are a very good boy, but most importantly you are a brother. And I'm very happy that you did that for your sister. I'm glad that I have you for a son, please always be there to protect your sister when I'm not able to. "

" Don't worry Papa, I will never let anyone hurt my dear sister, that is a promise! " Nikolai no longer felt guilty for his actions this day, he was instead filled with joy and eagerness.

" Well, since I can already smell dinner I will take a quick bath so that we can have diner together. "

" Ok Papa. "

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Everyone was happily eating dinner, with the entire household listening to Anahera singing Kalinka. Though her lyrics did not even match the original a bit, it was the effort that mattered the most.

KNOCK! KNOCK!

All of a sudden, they all heard a loud knock on their front door.

" Who in earth wants to visit us this late? " Boris stood up and walked towards the front door. The knocks were getting louder and louder as seconds passed by, and this getting on his nerves. " Blyat! I'm coming Cyka. "

He unlocked the door hook and swung the door open, " What do you wa- " he could not finish the sentence as he saw three dark misty creatures standing in front of him.

The mist seemed to dispate itself there seemed to be three men in black robes standing in their place with the hoods covering there faces.

" It's been a long time since we last met Boris. " the one in the middle spoke as he removed the hood revealing a face that caused Boris grip the door so right, that the wood was starting to crack.

" It's been a long time... Brother. "

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Author's Notes:

Well, I have nothing much to say. I hope you like the chapter and I wish you all a very very belated New year.

Please do leave a comment and review, I would really appreciate it.

See you all in the next Chapter.