Child of Omens: Ruination Part 2

Chapter 15: Cast Aside, There's No Going Home

All Hawk could see were flashes of a time he couldn't place. He could barely make out the images flooding his vision; they overwhelmed him. He could see what looked like a hospital room, a doctor holding him tightly. He remembered hearing a set of voices, one soft and filled with worry, the other cold, unforgiving, almost disappointed. He then sees her face, the only face there, she was young, around his age and it was terrified. Was she scared of him? Or was she scared for him? He then sees a set of gloved hands take hold of him. He remembers the rough feeling, the laughter as two people took him outside. He then remembers the stench, that of a dumpster; he remembered crying in for what seemed like hours. He then heard a shattering, and when he saw her face, Raven's face, his mother's face. As the flashes fade away, he looks forward to see that same woman from his past. She was much older now, and she looked at him with worry.

???: "Are you okay? You stumbled for a bit there, I don't think you know, but I called for your friends." He looked to see that she managed to move him to lean on a closed chest.

Hawk: "How? How do I know you?"

???: "I don't know what you mean? Would you mind trying and explaining it to me? Maybe the pieces might...click."

Hawk would then begin to explain what he'd witnessed. Everything he could make out, the hospital, the voices, the doctor, the dumpster, and finally Raven. As he explained his memory, he could see that woman in front of him face turn from her grim expression to that of disbelief and finally to joy. Hawk was caught entirely off guard by her pulling him into her, as she hugged him as tight as she possibly could. Hawk, about to push her off, stops as he hears the slight sniffles coming from the woman.

???: "*sniffle* My sweet boy's finally come home." Hawk's breathing hitched as he didn't want to believe it but couldn't deny it.

Pyrrha: "Hawk?! Are you alright?" Hawk could hear his team from the stairs.

Hawk: "Yes, I'm fine. It's safe to come up." The other three headed up the stairs, followed by Klein.

Klein: "Mrs. Willow, are you alright?"

Willow: Letting go of Hawk. "Yes, Klein. I'm more than fine; my baby boy's come home."

It was safe to say everyone else in the room was more than surprised. Hawk slowly got up, using Rebellion to help himself up.

Pyrrha: "Hawk, she can't be serious...can she?"

Hawk: "I think we may have found out why I have white hair." There was a long silence before it was subsequently broken.

Nora: "WHAT!!"

Several hours later, Team HVRN and Willow Schnee sit in the large study that she frequents. Willow sits across from Hawk as Pyrrha and Ren sit next to him, Nora too busy ogling over Rebellion.

Ren: "It seems, Hawk, you went through a re-association event. When you experience a traumatic event at an early age, your brain will trick itself into forgetting the memory, but when you encounter a trigger, i.e., your mother, in this case. It'll cause your brain to remember the memory. In a sense, it's like your brain hiccuped, which caused the nose bleed."

Pyrrha: "I can't believe Jacques would do that to a child. Even worse, a member of the family."

Willow: "Unfortunately, Jacques isn't a noble person. After Winter was born, he began to treat our family more as an annoyance than anything of real importance."

Hawk listened to his birth mother's words and felt responsible in a way. He felt as though he should've remembered Willow, remembered his family, but his weakness in his human mind tried to remove her from his memories. But he was stronger now. He could protect Willow from Jacques, protect her like he should've protected his mother, Raven.

Willow: "Hawk?" Hawk raised his head to look at her. "If you wouldn't mind, I'd like to know what happened after I lost you? I've missed a lot of your life."

Hawk would begin to tell her about how the Branwen tribe raised him, how he was raised to be a bandit, to be a swordsman. He would tell her how he met his team and how he saved Pyrrha from the Fall maiden. He'd also tell her about the fall of the clan and of getting his revenge at Haven. But Hawk never mentioned how he was a demon now, and he never mentioned Dante. But telling her his life story, all he went through, it reminded him of who he was...what he was.

Hawk: "I'm sorry, but we have to leave. Let's go, team."

Willow: "Wait, please don't go."

Pyrrha: "Hawk, what's the matter?"

Hawk: "We have a job to do, come on. Ren, Nora, let's go." Nora and Ren look at each other before getting up to follow.

Pyrrha: "Hawk, please, I know you blame her, but she didn't do anything wrong."

Hawk: "Her? I don't blame her for anything. Now come on, Pyrrha."

Willow: "Please, son-" Hawk turns in anger, transforming into his Half-Demon form.

Hawk: "I'M NOT YOU'RE SON!! MY NAME IS HAWK BRANWEN, SON OF RAVEN BRANWEN!! THE CHILD YOU LOVED IS GONE!! Now only a monster stands in his place. I'm sorry, I truly am, but I can't be the son you want me to be." Changing back to his human form as he exits the room.

Later as the team is back on the bullhead heading towards the southern border of Atlas to the city of Argus. The team is silent as Hawk reads through one of the journals of his "grandfather", he needed to take his mind off the past situation. As he read, he found a small poem, written at the back of the journal, and it had the same mark as the one on the back of his coat.

At the gates to paradise
Where the red sun sets
Using the key with a heart
The pathway to power shall be open

Every time he read this, it seemed to be more complicated than the last. "Gates to paradise? Red sun?" He had no idea what these meant, but he knew the key had to be Rebellion. As he concentrated on the journal, he felt a hand brush against one of the horns on his head. He could tell who it was, Pyrrha. She didn't apply any un-needed force but just enough to where he could feel it. It felt...nice. It calmed his nerves and eased his stress. He could feel his weight loosening as he leaned to his side, his head falling into her lap. Looking up to see her soft, gentle smile reminded him that he wasn't alone, that he had her, that he had Nora and had Ren. He met her eyes as she slowly leaned in and placed a gentle kiss onto his head. Taking it as a sign, he closed his eyes and rested.

Pyrrha: Taking the journal from Hawk's hands. "He seems to be focused on this...poem? Ren? Come take a look at this." Ren made his way over.

Ren: "Hmm? Give me a moment." Taking the journal from her.

Nora: "Man, Pyrrha. You sure know how to calm him down."

Pyrrha: "Thanks, but I only just help him."

Ren: "Got it. It's the Arches of Beauty. It's a huge gateway-like stone formation that formed around 100 or so years ago. It's located in Vacuo."

Nora: "Vacuo? That's on the other side of the planet."

Pyrrha: "I may know some people that could help us...hopefully."