Yggdrasil: Svartalfaheim

Chapter 3: Nero's Past

Many of us believe that we would make the right decisions in difficult situations, like those we see in movies. We think we know how to react when we witness a crime, how to survive a zombie attack, or how to cope with the loss of someone we love. However, I learned six years ago that I was not as prepared as I thought. One day, my father disappeared from my life, leaving me without any close family. As a young child, I didn't know how to live without him. Luckily, my aunt's family took me in and welcomed me warmly. Without their support, I would have struggled to move on.

Despite my father's absence, I still cherish a core memory of us together. In this memory, I show my father a book about binary code, and he patiently teaches me about computers. He instilled in me a love for technology that has stayed with me ever since.

I also remember how proud my father was of me when I achieved high grades in school. He never pressured me to study, but I felt motivated to do well because I knew it would make him happy. Seeing him proud of me made me happy, too, because he was the only close family I had.

The first few years after my father disappeared, my new family helped me a lot in trying to locate him. They frequently checked in with me and spoke to authorized personnel regarding the investigation. While I appreciated the authorities' assistance, they were unable to make much progress as there were no leads.

"Nero, are you alright?" Aunt May asked me as I was getting ready.

"Yes, I'm fine, Aunt May," I replied, while opening my bedroom. She was already in front waiting for me to finish. She had a few white strands in her hair, but her face did not look old at all. In fact, I had seen an old photo of her with my father when they were young and she looked really pretty. Her face was still rounded and small, and her eyes were still circular. Although she looked more mature now, those features hadn't changed much. You would think she was in her late 20s instead of her late 30s. I heard my cousins teasing her about her hair, but she brushed it off as the result of stress from taking care of them.

"Let's go and get some help from the police," she said, smiling at me and taking my hand.

We brought various photos of my father from different angles and other documents to the police station.

"Sure, we will try our best!" exclaimed the police officer confidently.

"Thank you. We'll be counting on you," my aunt replied.

Months passed, but we still had no news about my father's whereabouts. Nero was staying at his aunt's house after the incident.

"Uhm... sir, do you have any news about my brother?" my auntie asked.

"Sorry, ma'am. Mr. Jun has yet to be found," the policeman replied, clearly uncomfortable with delivering the news. We were prepared for the worst, though, so it wasn't a shock.

Year after year, I hoped for my father's return. Without him as my motivation, I lost the drive to excel in school and only aimed for passing grades.

I tried to hide my emotions and put up a facade to avoid feeling terrible about my situation.

In my senior year, I met Rin Allen. She was half Japanese and half American, always cheerful, and appeared to have no problems in her life.

"Okay, let's fix the seating arrangement," the professor announced.

"Draw a paper from this box, and the number corresponds to your seat."

Everyone drew a piece of paper, and I found out that my seat was in the second row at the back, on the right side near the classroom door. Rin was my neighbor in front of me.

We grew closer and became best friends, but people would often tease us for being a couple, though we didn't take it seriously.

One day, we talked about our families, and I found it easy to tell Rin my story about my father and my situation. She knew I wasn't doing as well as I appeared to be. I even told her about how happy my father was when he saw my grades.

"You know, you should continue doing that, even without your father," Rin said seriously. This was the first time I saw her in a serious mood.

I wasn't able to respond immediately, but I knew she was right. Even practically speaking, it would help me greatly in the future. I looked at her, and she seemed confused.

"Yeah, you're probably right. Thanks," I said. I knew it was the best thing to do, and I was being immature not to realize that earlier. She was flustered and told me that it was obvious, and I would have realized it sooner or later.