Child of Omens Ruination: Aftermath

Chapter 15: Words to Hide the Pain

The ride back to the warehouse was stressful, to say the least. While Falke desperately tried to break the silence with chatter, the rest of the group constantly eyed Hawk. He didn't mind, these were all people he had personally affected with his past actions. Ace kept his hand firmly on the grip of King of Clubs, ready to gun down Hawk if he tried anything. But he didn't. Hawk just sat in the back of the van reading out of his book. Soon they arrived back at the apartment complex over V's lab. Using a disguise to hide Hawk's face, they quickly walked inside.

Eventually making it to the lab, they walk in to see V standing opposite the group. Hawk straightens as he makes eye contact with V.

V: "Hawk. It has been a long time."

Hawk: "Indeed, it has been. It's good to see you're still around." Approaching V, he holds out his hand for a handshake.

V: "You don't know how glad I am to see you still alive." He shakes Hawk's hand as he pulls him into a hug, which Hawk happily returns.

The rest of the group watches on with slight surprise and confusion.

Ace: "Uh? What?!" The two old friends break the hug to turn towards the rest of the group.

V: "Apologies. Hawk and I have known each other since he was a young boy."

Hawk: "He was one of my greatest friends."

Falke: "Well, now isn't this a fine and dandy reunion. This is a pretty cool place you got here." He says as he jumps in a wheeled chair and spins around.

V: "I don't believe we've met. You are?"

Falke: "Technically, we have met, just not you specifically. See, I'm an alternate version of Hawk from an alternate universe."

V: "I assume this is due to the Yamato." Hawk and Falke nod. "I had deduced the Yamato could do something like this."

Nero: "Well! We brought the two of them here. What do we do with them?"

V: "Well, I had planned for Hawk's return. Well, to be more exact, the Hawk that had done the atrocities. But I do have a cell of sorts."

Hawk: "If it eases the nerves of the others, I'll head into this room you speak of."

Velvet: "Yeah. You do that." Venom practically leaks from her words.

V shows Hawk to a small glass chamber that seals Hawk inside. He takes a seat on a chair provided after being adequately disarmed.

Ace: "Ok, now that we have you taken care of, we can start with the questions."

Velvet: "So you said you've been meeting with your counterpart here for seven years now. What've you been doing for all this time?"

Hawk: "After I left Falke's world, I went to different worlds, acting as a wanderer. Helping those worlds in their dire need."

Ace: "How come you never came back for you 'Four Swords'? They haven't died from what I've heard." There was a silence from both Hawk and Falke.

Falke: "That a bit of a sore subject for him. When he came to my world, he brought them with him. Not going to explain the details of that one, don't worry about it. Anyway, over the three years, he had been dead on your world, each of them had slowly been possessed by demons. By the time Hawk and I figured it out...it was too late-"

Hawk: "We only managed to save Pyrrha, the others..."

V: "No. You don't have to go any further. I'm sorry, I truly am."