The Ghost's Shadows

Chapter 12

Ajax POV

"I grew up in a family of four. Me, my mother, my father, and my brother. I hardly ever shared any time with them, though. My mom was a proficient huntress, so she was always on the field, the same goes for my father. Not that I enjoyed our time as a family at all. My father would often go off the radar for days, sometimes even weeks. Whenever he came back my mom would get angry at him and they would argue for hours." 

I let out a long sigh.

"I... never got to hear what they would argue about, but it didn't really matter at the time, at least not to me. My mom kept that knowledge from me to protect me. She..." - I hesitated a little - "She wasn't always the best mother, but I knew that if I needed her at any time she would be there. She protected me from what she thought I didn't need to know, and I'm thankful for that. Even though she was absent oftentimes, I was the happiest whenever she was around."

"But we eventually grow, don't we?" I looked at Weiss, she smiled faintly, almost unnoticeably. "Not so long ago, I found out why they argued so much; my father hated the idea of huntsmen and huntresses and became obsessed with expressing his ideas, one way or another."

Weiss looked at me a bit startled -"But wasn't your father a huntsman?" - she asked.

"Technically he was, but he never felt like one. He faked his ideals and friendships in order to blend in, but sooner or later, someone would find out. My mother eventually found out the truth, but, despite the pain and betrayal, she had been with him too long to hate him or to leave, for that matter. They kept living together, though they were complete opposites. My mother kept me in the dark, so I wouldn't worry, since I wanted to be a huntsman like her when I grew up. My brother, on the other hand, knew what was going on the entire time, and he couldn't stand my father. He left the house at a rather young age and I haven't seen him ever since."

As I talked I could feel the lump in my throat tightening up, it was the first time I ever said any of these things out loud, and I hadn't realized how fucked up everything was. My hands started shaking, and I was beginning to get nauseous until I was pulled back to reality when I felt Weiss's hands on mine. 

"You don't have to finish." - she locked eyes with me, with a serious, but worried look. - "Perhaps I'm not the best at handling these kinds of stuff, but if someone knows how difficult talking about family can be, it's me" - She seemed to drift off for a moment, but neglected the thought with a slight shake with her head. 

"Thanks, Weiss, really." - I smiled at her, a small blush surfaced on her face, but I pretended I didn't notice. I took a deep breath.

"The day of my graduation, my mother was already ill, and his identity was still a mystery to the public and me, so my father came to the ceremony in my mother's place, even though he wasn't supposed to know about it. I was walking towards the center of the main stage when I saw him standing at the far end of the amphitheater. He smiled at me in a way that froze me in place. My mom always told me not to mention school to him but now there he was, smiling at me from the end of the amphitheater. That was when I knew something was off. Before I could have said something to anyone, he summoned his mask and scythe, and then...Darkness." - I inhaled slowly to let out a quick exhale - "You know how some semblances can be inherited, right?" - Weiss nodded, toying with her collar. - "Well, as you know, my semblance is shadow manipulation, Umbrakenesis. It's a combination of both of my parents' semblances. My mom had her shadow phase, which allowed her to move through the shadows, though not manipulate them. My father, on the other hand, had darkness manipulation. Back at the academy, he filled the entire room with darkness. It was suffocating...  At that time, I didn't have much training with my semblance, but I had some immunity to his darkness. So even though I couldn't move, I could see what was going on. Something I wish to this day I hadn't been able to do. Screams filled the room as I saw my father reap everyone in front of my eyes; my teachers, my fellow classmen, my friends... Worst of all, no one was able to do something about it. By the time he finished everyone else, he looked at me with the same pain a preacher would have before making a sacrifice for their cause."

I could feel a tear running down my cheek, I grew tense and a wave of melancholic anger built up inside me. I looked at the ground.

"He raised his arms, scythe in hand ready to slash me, when my Guardian, Jester, intercepted him. Since he lost focus, his dark grasp lost power, so I managed to stop his darkness by summoning a small knife," - I summon the exact small shadow knife - "and stabbing him in the side of his stomach. He fell to his knees and placed his hand over the wound, startled. Rage filled me. I could feel all my extremities burning up and my eyes tearing up, all my muscles became tense and my throat itched to shout. I screamed and cried, asking him why as I lost control of my body. Before I knew it..." - I stuttered - "I was stabbing a lifeless corpse."

I was afraid to look at Weiss, so I maintained my eyes attached to the floor as the tears kept flooding my view.

"I left the academy in panic and returned home only to find out my mother had died due to her illness that same day. I didn't go out for a long time, after all, I didn't have any reason to go out and no one would come back home, no one did for a while." - I laid back down and looked up, still avoiding eye contact. - "Heh, when I say it out loud it sounds kinda depressing, doesn't it. But hey, at least..." - I was interrupted by I warm feeling in my chest as Weiss embraced me, I was taken aback at first, but eventually melted into the hug. A long silence filled the scene, yet she told me more than she could have ever done with words.

"You know, for someone with ice powers, you give pretty warm hugs."