The dark rain clouds filled the sky, hiding the sun behind its back, not allowing any light through. The rain constantly washed away the blood on the ground, drenching the bodies of the victims. A boy no more than ten years of age with brown hair sat on one such body, his hands shaking and tears streaming down his face, washed down by the rain as well.

The stench of iron hung in the air, however faint it was. The gentle pitter patter of footsteps on water broke the boy from the trance he was in, wearing a uniform much like the boy’s, of the opposite gender. The drenched sight of the attire couldn’t hide the bloodstain on its belly.

“You couldn’t protect me.” She said. The boy nodded, looking at his hands. They were red. The color of blood. The boy watched solemnly as the girl degraded into nothing more than a skeleton, everything liquidifying and pouring down to the ground. As the siren of police cars resounded through the forest.

“Hey kid, are you fine?” The shout of a policeman could be heard, walking out of the car.

The boy nodded. Falling to the ground.

Edward’s eyes opened wide as he saw the silhouette of a man covering his mouth and dragging him off the bed while not letting his limbs move even a tiny bit. The man was strong, and Edward was the epitome of a squishy glass cannon as of now.

His eyes had been blindfolded and he could hear the glass cracking, most likely belonging to the window due to some shallow cuts he had attained in the process, from the pain. Then he could feel the wind relentlessly smashing into his body, most likely due to the extreme speed the kidnapper was traversing.

Not long after, no more than 5 minutes, he was thrown to the ground. The sharp pain seemed to be one of his ribs breaking. His body was far too weak compared to his old one. Without the rigorous training, he doubted his body could attain its former superhuman glory.

“We got the cursed child.” A man of hoarse voice said.

“Good job, now we can claim the bounty.” Another man, with a smoother and higher pitched voice said. For convenience sake, he would think of the first man as Villain No.1 and the other one as Villain No.2

“Can we be so sure? The vixen was the type to reap all the benefits and would rather not spend unnecessary money.” A female said, a Villainess.

“Don’t worry, we could steal the lord’s precious son. What makes you think we can’t run away if things go south?” Villain No.2 said.

“Holding him for ransom would be the best course of action for us. At least we won’t be cheated.” The Villainess said.

“That’s ridiculous! You want the goddamn imperial army on our tail? At least a fallen noble family placed against another one would be more reasonable.” The Villain No.2 said.

“And it’s fine because they are a FALLEN noble family. They don’t have anything to do with the empire without gold.” The Villainess explained with a sigh.

“I agree. As long as you give me back, I’ll assure your safety.” Edward added, resulting in an awkward silence.

“Is that really a child? I don’t think so. He’s definitely possessed.” Villain No.1 said, followed by what appeared, or rather, sounded to be two weapons clashing.

“Wait. Since he’s smart, I think we can reason with him.” Villain No.2 said. “Brat, how about you just forget about all this after we give you back? That’s surely better than giving you to-“

His words were cut off by Edward, knowing in advance who he would say.

“The wretch known as my mother.”

“Well, damn this. If he’s this smart, then we can just talk the conditions with him than send one of ours to negotiate with the lord.” The Villain No.2 said, followed by another boot of silence.

“Like hell. He’ll stab us in the back!” Villain No.1 said.

“If it wasn’t for you, we wouldn’t be in this idiotic situation where we are being threatened by an arrogant viscount and offending a titled baron. This is just damn ridiculous and the pay isn’t that good, you buffoon. We could have been chilling and killing some goblins for some spare change instead of this damn suicide mission. And who even allowed you to go and kidnap the child without our consent?” Villain No.2 argued, followed by a small noise of metal sliding on another, most likely a sword being drawn.

“Wait, you idiot. Let this be a warning not to leave Rock alone again, okay? And as for the ransom part, if we get on the good side of the baron, we can possibly get out of this scot-free. Like a lie.” The Villainess suggested.

“The sly brat’s not gonna agree.” The man now known as Rock chimed in.

“Will you?” Villain No.2 asked.

Edward sighed. “I don’t care. And you brought me valuable information that the hag is after me. Surely I won’t forget that.”

“He seems legit.” The Villain No.2 said. “Elena, put a geas on him. He looks like he’s the type to agree.” The woman now known as Elena then chanted, from what Edward could hear. It was mostly because her voice deepened much like Morrigan’s when she declared him her child.

“By the ancients of dictum,

And elders of onus,

Let the mana be our stone,

And the trust our chisel,

The words our law,

And the act our oath.”

The cloth tied over Edward’s eyes was taken off, the bright flash of light blinding his eye for a few seconds before his gaze fell on the three figures before him. The closest was Elena, a blonde haired woman, quite attractive with blue eyes. She wore a dark blue cloak, the hooded pulled down.

The smaller man behind her appeared to be of Asian descent, unlike the Europeans that Edward was constantly seeing after coming to this world. He had long black hair, tied in a ponytail, a curved blade known as katana at his waist. In a world of myth, it could be less fragile than normal, but he didn’t wish to count on it. The attire he donned resembled what he had seen in movies depicting Edo period in Japanese history, a dark green and blue kimono.

The other man couldn’t be said to be big, just… athletic. His muscles showed from behind his clothes, his skin tan and a bald head. All in all, he gave the impression of a shaolin monk with European looks, wearing black clothes that looked as if it consisted of several bandages, suggesting he was closer to a ninja than anything.

Then as his eyes adjusted to the darkness, he could now see some transparent words floating in the air. They formed to create:

“1. One who breaks the code of conduct will lose their free will, if not stated elsewise.

Party 1 mustn’t reveal the truth of the kidnapping to anyone. Party 2 mustn’t hand over the member(s) of Party 1 to Party 3. Party 2 will see to the safe return of member(s) of Party 1. If any Party has a distance of more than 1000 meters aka 1 kilometer, the geas will be nulled.”

“I accept.” The three of them said and Edward followed stead.

“I accept.”

He could feel the nauseous feeling from before again, but this wasn’t wrong or right, just like it was… supposed to happen. As if a hot room was now feeling humid instead of nothing at all.

The words faded into nothingness as the sympathetic kidnappers all sighed in relief.

“So this is the plan. We find some of the men from the viscount’s family, murder them, and place them somewhere isolated, like this place. Then we will act as good-willed Samaritans and give you back, which of course the baron will pay back in kind with a reward.” said Elena.

“You said we were gonna hold him for ransom.” Rock lashed out.

“You can kill him now if you want.” Elena said, shaking her head. As Villain No.2’s hand was placed upon the hilt of his sword, a smile appeared on Rock’s face as he took a fighting stance, probably a hand-to-hand fighter.

“I’ll take the child to the baron. You two take care, and be ready in about half an hour. The scouts are most likely fast on their legs, comparable to Rock.” She said, standing up.

“I would rather not taint my blade with the blood of the innocent.” Villain No.2 said.

“It’s not the time for one of your petty honor squabbles today. We’re talking about our lives, and do you really think they are innocent? Those corrupt fools who serve a rotten lord?”

“You have a point.” He nodded, walking out the room with Rock.

Elena sighed, cutting the ropes binding his hands and feet with a knife.

***

The building started quaking, and the worried face on Paul even deepened. Her daughter was angry again, and that spelled the doom of more than several guards and servants. The family was on its last legs, yet she continued to murder them without care. He was just too old and tired for this.

He slammed his hand on the table of his study, shattering it into a dozen pieces and another small quake. This couldn’t go on any longer. He had to stop this. And stopping his daughter was plain suicide. She was a little wrong in the head. As much as he hated to admit it, her only equal in power, in the town of Riverfront was Albert, her former husband.

The only way was to kill his grandchild. As much as he hated to, it had to happen one way or another. Or the family would be driven to ruin. Kidnapping him wouldn’t be such a challenge to a warrior of his caliber. Even if his time as a paladin and with it, his longevity would end. It had to happen. The house of Adams couldn’t fall this simply.

It was then that he turned around, instantly purging the foolish undead that dare barge into his room. However, as he realized what it was, his thoughts halted. A transparent silhouette of a woman floating in the air caught his attention.

It was a banshee.

“Your powers of light can not phase me, little one.” She said, the temperature in the room dropping steadily.

“What do you seek, witch?!” Paul hissed, the powers of Lugh overflowing through his body and his eyes glowing as bright as the sun.

“You should know…” It answered as it faded into nothingness, of its own will than the holy light of the sun.

Paul stumbled to the ground, his old body unable to contain the great power of the light any more. His time was near. And he would rather save his family and meet his maker than do nothing and fall on his throne.

This was his final quest.

***

The gates of the mansion opened wide, to the presence of the young lord. The happiness on the faces of the servants was genuine as far as the atmosphere told. Trees lined up at the sides of the cobblestone path, magnifying the beauty of the dirty white building reflecting the lights of the mid-noon sun.

As far as it went, the woman traversed the path far slower, in all senses. She even took rests along the way, Edward taking on the kind offer to rest his childish body as well. The town seemed to be a nice place, filled to the brim with smiling people and the aroma of sea and fishes clear in the air.

The name Riverfront was betraying in ways more than one. It was a sea, and it wasn’t front, more along the lines of half of the town being submerged under the ground. It was all too clear from the mountaintop the small cottage was located on.

As they approached the gate, the familiar form of Gilbert, his brother, could be seen. He was a musclehead with crimson hair, as big as an adult, with a muscular body. Considerably large for his age of fourteen. There was the talk going around in the mansion that his mother, the second wife of Albert, was a descendant of a berserker clan, not seen in the least bit by Gilbert’s sister Anna.

“Glad you’re back, brother.” He hugged Edward, nearly breaking a bone or two and put him down after. If there was anything good about him, it was his honesty and kindness.

“Yeah.” Edward nodded his head, walking past. On the other hand, Dario was the exact opposite. He hated Edward for an unknown reason, and it was visible from the glare he received from the leaner teenager, standing with his back against a tree in the shadows.

The reunion between brothers lasted no more than half a minute as the duo were led by an older warrior, the steward of Albert. The scar over his left eye was all he needed to recognize the man, after all, there aren’t many who live after being scarred.

“The lord waits for you in the meeting room.” The warrior said nonchalantly before leaving. He was one of the people that didn’t feel that formal, just what Edward was used to in his old world.

Edward gestured for his companion to follow him and walked through the long corridor. The sound of hurried footsteps overtaking them sounded out from behind. Not many people run around in the corridors except his brothers. As he turned his head to see who it was, he fell into the gentle embrace of Serena. She hugged Edward, as if a mother would to her child. In a sense, she was more of a mother than his birth mother.

He wondered if a mother was supposed to unconditionally love her child. Theo as a person never knew his mother, and Edward was abandoned by her. Which was better? Not knowing at all or knowing she wanted him dead.

Edward embraced her as well, just to let the girl feel more at peace. She deserved it after worrying this much.

Elena stared at the two with a confused expression and nodded her head after a while, more or less figuring out the situation. And she knew being quiet was the best course of action to take. After what seemed to be forever, Serena then carried Edward to the guestroom, the rest welcome to his tired feet. The muscles didn’t have much time to come into existence, let alone be strengthened. The simple act of him reaching the place was, however, surprising. A normal child shouldn’t be capable of that. There were certainly some biological differences, surely about growth rate and longevity.

The chamber’s door opened, revealing a serious looking Albert sitting on one end of the long table, resting his head on his knuckles. Edward had never seen him so angry, or serious for that matter.