Chaos In a Nutshell: Fresh-ish Start

72. Flashing back

Troy stares out the window, his arms crossed

Yami stares at him

"You okay?" She asks

"Huh? Oh hey, I didn't know you were back" Troy smiles

"Yeah, got you a beer" Yami tosses him a can

"Thanks" Troy catches it, cracking it open

"What'cha thinking about?" Yami sits down, hunching her back

"It doesn't matter" Troy shakes his head

"Now I'm curious" Yami grins

"...Just my mistakes" Troy sighs

Yami leans back, kicking her legs up on the chair's arm

"You know I had more kids than just Petra, right?" Troy asks

"Yeah, 'course" Yami nods

"Well, I've just been thinking about one of them, one of the two I feel like I did a half-a$$ed job on" Troy laughs

"What's her name?" Yami asks

"Myth, her parents had abandoned her for some reason, and I just saw her crying on a bench, she was just a baby then" Troy explains

"Why the hell would anyone do that?" Yami shakes her head

"Hell if I know, but I did what I could, I looked for any tracks of her parents, couldn't find anything, so I called the cops, they came and got her, she might've died if I didn't, about a month later, I went in an adoption center, originally I was looking for someone until I saw that same girl, I just couldn't help but adopt her" Troy stares down, smiling

"My god, her parents were horrible" Yami furrows her brows

"Well, I started raising this kid and did the best I could've, whenever she hit about...like 14, 12, something, I got a call from someone" Troy builds suspense

"Who was it?" Yami asks

"It was Myth's parents, they wanted her back, they had in mind if they let someone show them a "crappy" parenting lesson with a single dad who only had his art skill supporting her, then show her some snobby rich parents, she'd like the parents more and all of that, so, she gave me 14 days to give her up, I used every one of those 14 days to make sure she had the absolute best time I could give her...I guess that was horrible in the end, because when it got to the 14th day, they came and got her, and...she left crying...I knew I failed as a parent at that point" Troy forces a laugh

"That's BULLsh!t, you did your absolute best, there's gotta be some law against them taking her back, what about child neglect?" Yami asks

"Well, I thought so too, but like I said, snobby rich, if we went to court for her, I'd lose everything I had and not be able to support her, there was just no chance I'd win a case like that, keep in mind, this was before I started being a merc and meeting Alayna" Troy explains

"Wait, what?" Yami stares

"Alright, let me explain something else then" Troy nods

Yami listens intently

"I never met my real parents, they left me to die, then this woman named "Lira" adopted an outcast like me, I considered and still consider her my mom, she did her best to provide for me and my brother, one of her actual kids, a$$hole's name was Ultimas, I did my best to do everything I could for her, she worked 4 jobs, had a sh!tty boyfriend, and could never make the right choices, one day when I was 12, we were eating dinner at the table, steak, to be exact, and her boyfriend all of a sudden slammed the steak into the wall, watching the sauce slowly slide down to the floor, his exact words were "D*mn b!tch, you better make this food right or don't make it at all, you'd be better dead than with me, I'm doing you a huge favor taking care of these kids" when in reality, while mom was gone, he'd go out and smoke some cigarettes and drink beers, if he had a child he liked, it wasn't me" Troy smiles

Yami slowly shakes her head

"Well, that was the best steak in my life to be honest, but that night, my mom woke me up at about 11, 12, 1-ish, something, and had tears falling from her eyes, she had both of our bags packed and we left that realm, got banished, and never went back, but that wasn't it, about 2 years later, I was strolling through town with some friends I made, my mom called me and sounded horrified, she told me that someone broke in and she was hiding in the closet, then she told me to stay away, I just hung up and got there as fast as I could...I was too late, I searched that whole house for her, then I remembered she hid in one of the closets, first I checked hers, nobody, then I checked mine...what I saw I can never forget...her entire body was dismembered, her eyes out of their sockets...I went back into the living room and guess who I saw, nobody but my brother with a bloodied knife, all I could do was run out of that house, not a single thing else...I swore after that day I'd never be weak again" Troy squints

"Holy sh!t, I never knew it went that deep, Troy, I'm so sorry" Yami shakes her head

"I've got a pretty f#cked up life, don't I?" Troy laughs

"I'll drink to that" Yami clinks her beer can with Troy's

"Hey, you know, you remind me of someone, I guess that's why I've always liked you" Troy points

"Who?" Yami starts drinking

"Alayna, she was so f#cking stubborn...hey, when you and me get back down to Earth, what's say we go to an amusement park or something? My treat" Troy smiles

"Sounds f#cking great" Yami agrees

"....Hey Yami, can you do me a favor?" Troy asks

"Depends" Yami shrugs

"Never give in...never quit until it's on your terms, you've got power stored deep in you, I've got a feeling that one day you'll be as strong as me, maybe even stronger, that's the first time I've ever told anyone that, not even Alayna, you keep this power stored away, but it'll come in chunks, the only way to unlock that from inside you is to never give in, so please, never stop being yourself, never stop being stubborn" Troy preaches

"...You're probably wrong, but what the hell, I promise" Yami takes another sip

"Fair enough, let's see what's happening on Law and Order today" Troy turns on the Tv

"You mean Law & Order, right?" Yami asks

"Oh yeah, sorry, gotta have the &" Troy points

Yami grins