POWER: A Tale of Greatness

CHAPTER 36

Five decades ago...

SLAP! THUD!

A slam shook the dim lamp on the table, "You never will listen to me, won't you," the bulk man shouts at the woman on the floor with tears in his eyes. "W - What will this thing bring you, huh? Pleasure? Fame? Money? Parasolla may be a city of passion, but that kind? You must rethink your decisions."

"You don't understand, Gideon!" The woman, whose face was decorated well and attractively, stood with her petite body and pointed a finger at the man. "Your son is growing up, and let us admit that your stupid hobby that you call work will never sustain our needs!" She weaves her curled hair to her back and paces away from the man.

"Don't you dare call my work stupid! I have dedicated my life to this, just like how my father, his father, and every man from our bloodline did." The man pounds his palm. "I am a man of science, Vanessa! I don't go to the field and study the flora, the fauna of this world, for nothing. This is for–"

" 'This is for the future of our son and the world where he lives in,' I have heard that many times before from your lips! But when will you prioritize your family?!" She covers her face, suppressing her tears. His husband came towards her with an embrace, whispering his apologies. "This is all I can do, Gideon. The only thing I can do to feed Griion so if you will stop me, then you better show us that you can provide better sustenance."

"My wife, forgive my narrow-mindedness, I should have listened well. You don't have to use your body anymore." Gideon reassures her in his calming voice. "From now on, I will be a more responsible man in this house."

"In my eyes, I never understood what my father and mother were talking about, why their voices were raised, why they hurt each other and hug every time they finish." The young Griion peeks from the slit in his room. "But all I know is that they don't mean them. Those words, those slaps and pounds. They love each other, and I am the reason why they are fighting."

"So after father gave up his passion for a high-paying job, and my mother quit her job at the nightclub to take care of me, I studied hard for me to repay the sacrifices and love that they have given to me."

"How I wish I did."

One evening, Griion came home from Franzia—where he is pursuing his undergraduate degree—to visit his parents for the holiday. Cold, chilling winds greeted him from outside their house, which were being watched by a crowd of people.

His stomach almost turns. He suppressed it and made his way through the people. Within their gate, the house was cordoned, and the authorities were all scattered all over the place.

"Griion? Griion!" A man came towards him, frantic and nervous in his breath, and the man spoke. "Your mother and father are gone! The gang leader whom your mother promised to please came here with his gang to take your mother, but your father..."

Griion remains silent, but his heaves start becoming more frequent.

"He fought but ended up losing his life with his wife."

The young man rushed towards their home, and with his size, not even the authorities were able to stop him.

"Griion!"

"I wish I had made my way home faster... came to a closer university... never left my own family."

"I lost my only reason to live, and days have passed, I found myself standing over a canoe in the middle of the Estuarian River." The wind blew warmly despite the cold north easterly winds coming from the cold mountain ranges, the waves were calm, and the birds sang sweetly. "Then I jumped."