Let The Hunt Begin

Graylon City  

It was a normal afternoon, the skies were clear and the bright golden rays of sunlight made the world look orange to Steve's eyes.

He could make out different noises around him that irritated him greatly, people chattered noisily and cars could be heard honking loudly as they drove around, he could even see an ice cream truck play it's melodious music while selling to kids. 

"Honk! Honk!" 

A car blared it's horn as it sped past him and drifted around the corner disappearing from sight, he was still staring after it when a man suddenly bumped into him and shoved him aside,  

"You blind?" 

Steve dawdled on without even replying the man only to hear him rain strings of curses on him. Steve sighed lazily and took a deep breath as he took in his surroundings. 

Lion's boulevard, the place he had lived in for as long as he could remember, it was just like every other boulevard so there was nothing really special about it, after losing his mother when he was four to the infamous Green Plant gas explosion where she worked, he had grown under the tutelage of his grandfather, Mr Matthew Heracles, a retired police detective.

His father, Mr Alex Heracles was a researcher who worked under the government and he rarely came home so Steve didn't know much about him apart from the fact that he was a grief stricken old drunkard who didn't have time for his son. 

Steve had learned to live without him so eventually, it was like he never had a father. Grandpa Matt was the only true parent Steve had and he taught Steve a lot of things among which sword fighting was his favorite. Thinking about this brought up a memory in Steve's head, 14 years ago when he had his first training session with Grandpa Matt.

"Grandpa" little Steve called 

"Yes boy" Grandpa replied 

"Why are we learning with a sword Isn't a gun stronger?" 

"Ha ha ha" Grandpa Matt laughed in his rich strong voice,

"No boy, he who learns his swordsmanship well can defeat any gun wielder. Never forget that". 

At the time, little Steve thought his grandpa was a delusional old man until he had an experience with him one day. 

Grandpa Matt and little Steve were in the bank trying to deposit some money when five armed robbers clad in black clothes without masks barged into the building and shot bullets in the air while screaming at everyone to lie on the ground, the people there were instantly stricken with fear as they fearfully complied and lay on the ground except for Grandpa Matt and little Steve who kept on standing. Annoyance was visibly written on the face of one of the robbers who seemed like he was their leader. 

"You, old man, do you want to die?"

He asked Grandpa Matt as he pointed his gun at him, little Steve began trembling while silently tugging at his grandfather's sleeve begging him to lie down, 

"Don't you have any manners?, Didn't your mama tell you that it's rude to point weapons to elderly people" 

he said this and made a gesture with his hands and the next thing Steve knew, his grandfather held a long silver sword in his hand. 

"Ha ha ha"

the robber laughed mockingly, 

"Do you really expect to fight me with a sword over that distance….Never bring a sword to a gun fight". 

He pulled the trigger and three shots rang out but Grandpa Matt quickly deflected them with his sword, closed the distance between them and in that instant sliced off the robber's arm and kicked him aside, the other robbers couldn't even follow his movements and before they knew it they were…. 

Steve was jolted out of his thoughts by the screeching of car tyres as he looked up in time to see another car disappear around the corner,  

so much for the drivers of Lion's boulevard...

'oh, I'm at home already'

His house was just down the road, a high rise six-storey  tenement building where he had lived his whole life with his family.   

"Hahaha"

he heard a lady laugh appealingly, he turned to glance at two pretty ladies dressed in blue jeans and summer T shirts who passed by him while laughing and chatting excitedly about something. He recognized one of the ladies, the shorter and more beautiful one, Fiona, a rookie actor at Graylon city's movie agency and his neighbor at the tenement, he had known her since her and her parents moved in when he was four. 

She was really pretty even from back then, her flawless fair white skin, long eyelashes, light blue eyes and long light golden blonde hair were a few of the features that accentuated her formidable appearance, he was the only guy to closely watch her spring up, mature and blossom to stunning beauty like a flower. 

Normally, one would've expected Steve to wave to his childhood neighbour but the truth was that Fiona hated Steve, or so he thought. She had never replied to any of his greetings since she moved in, and even after they attended elementary, middle and high school together, nothing changed. 

He could remember one certain time in their third year in middle school, it was recess and Steve was in a corner of the cafeteria eating his lunch when he heard a racket coming from Fiona's table, he looked up and saw one of Fiona's female friends crying while holding her red cheeks, it was evident that someone had slapped her. It was later that Steve found out that it was Fiona who slapped her because she called Steve her neighbor.   

Since then, he had learnt his lesson and became wary of her, maybe she saw him as a visionless person, who knew?. 

Today wouldn't be any different as Fiona and her friend walked past him and he moved forward ever so slowly towards the building he lived in. 

'I haven't even thought of what to tell Grandpa Matt about the job I just lost…..he was the one who referred me to Mr Arnold there and this is how I pay him back?, Getting fired for something so trivial as constant day dreaming during working hours….. miserable'

"….. You Heracles or whatever you call yourself, you're as miserable as a street beggar and as lazy as a sloth, people like you aren't supposed to make money, you belong in the slums, get your lazy, day dreaming ass out of my office and don't ever show your face here again…." 

Steve flinched as the words cut deep into his memory again, he was already on the first floor where their flat was.

'So much for a laundry job'

he finally thought as he inserted the key into the keyhole and opened the door. 

Steve, his father and his grandfather all lived together in the three bedroom apartment with a living room and kitchen, the apartment was peculiarly messy. There was a TV, a center glass table, one couch and two armchairs in the living room, there were clothes piled around on the chairs, books were scattered on the table and there were leftover plates on the dining table.

'Haah, there's really a lot of work to do' he thought and locked the door "….Sheesh, the house smells like mothballs"

He hadn't been at home in two days and it seemed like grandpa Matt hadn't been at home either. After freshening up, he picked up his phone and he saw a text from Grandpa Matt,

"Training today, 4pm",

on seeing this, a sly smile made it's way to his lips.

Graylon City mountains…. 

      The moon was high up in the sky and a crow could be heard cawing in the distance, the air felt light and smelt fresh and the night was silent except for the sound of the crow that was cawing stubbornly. 

    A man in a black cloak silently made his way up the mountain, he approached a boulder stuck up to one side of the mountain and whispered into the air, 

"Hypocrite",  

just as he said it, the boulder slowly rolled to the side while making a loud groaning noise that tore through the silent night like it was made of fabric. The cloaked man walked into the tunnel, a tunnel that led to an underground base below the mountain, as he walked he entered several doors with the same pass code and evaded several booby traps… 

'…the things men do for privacy'

the man thought in his head as he approached the sentries at the last door,  

"Welcome sir", 

they said as they stood stiffly at the door with their guns, 

"Master awaits you inside"

one of them said as the door opened slightly, the cloaked man could see smoke seep out slowly from the door. He just nodded and walked in. 

     It was a large room, filled with thick white smoke that burned the cloaked man's nose fiercely, though he couldn't see the master, he knew that he was there, sitting on the throne, his presence was powerful. In an instant, the cloaked man threw himself to the ground and said, 

"The lowly servant greets his master".

"Stand and give your report" 

came the voice from the smoke.  

"Everything is ready master, we await your orders"

"Proceed...let the hunt begin."