Relic-Verse: Champions of Hope

Chapter 16

-- Part 1 --

Sage smiled softly, sitting comfortably in a chair while watching his daughter play on their TV. His blond hair was combed slightly to the right, covering the top of a large scar that ran down his face, starting from the bottom left of his chin and traveling up across his nose and right between his murky green eyes. He was dressed simply with a yellow undershirt and black vest, with the only standout thing about his outfit being his earrings, which were two jagged teeth that looked like they came straight from a Dralor, attached to small golden hooks that were pierced into his ears.

His daughter, Thyme, was barely thirteen, and had long dirty blonde hair tied into pigtails. Her eyes burned with determination as she played her game, with her round yellow glasses pushed firmly on her face. She was in a simple set of blue lounge clothes that looked a size bigger than her, forcing her to roll up the long sleeves of her jacket so they wouldn't get in her way.

Sage leaned back and closed his eyes, a small peaceful moment of self reflection. If this is the life everyone strives for... I guess I got lucky. Peace, quiet, and no one to upset the delicate order of it all. He opened his eyes and silently looked around the room.

It was a simple room, matching the rest of the relatively simple house. The floors were polished wood, and the walls were painted a mahogany brown. His family had amassed a few pictures of them, with Thyme being the most prominent face decorating the walls, with only a handful being focused on Sage and his wife, Parsley.

A warm breeze blew through the room, causing Sage to relax before jolting up, his eyes darting to the previously closed window as it stood ajar, letting the late afternoon air in. His motion caught Thyme off guard and she turned to him before he put a finger to his lips and stood up, quietly moving through into the dark hallway to look for an intruder.

"Well that's no way to greet your friend." A rough voice spoke from the shadows, causing Sage to flip on the light and facepalm at the sight of Ziro leaning against his wall and studying a family portrait.

"Why are you here?" His voice was filled with irritation as he stepped forward and snatched the picture from the cyborg's hands.

"Why else? I'm here to talk." Ziro shrugged and stood up, reaching into his pocket and tossing the man a piece of paper. "And to share some interesting news."

"..." Sage caught the paper and quickly opened it, before glaring and crumbling it in his hands, "It's a contract."

"Correct, nothing gets by you buddy."

"Why did you bring this here? I told you, I quit. I am not going back on that."

"Oh boohoo, you can't just leave your friends hanging, you know."

"Can I even call you a friend anymore?" He tossed the paper, causing it to bounce off of Ziro's forehead and fall to the ground.

"Can you?" He eyed Sage suspiciously, his eyes starting to glow red as he stepped forward, crushing crumpled up paper beneath his foot. "Usually friend's don't take the first chance to bail on each other. Which if I am not mistaken, is exactly what you did."

"Look, it was rough alright? Do you think I wanted to flee at the first sign of light? I was out of options! Thistle wasn't gonna stay oblivious for long, and I had a family to protect!" Sage stood his ground as the cyborg took another step forward.

"So?!" His eyes glowed brighter, "Does that mean you can just abandon us?! Nine years! You and your family were perfectly fine for nine whole years! If you hadn't ditched us, Maxton would still be able to walk, and hell, Thistle might be dead by this point!"