The Game Before the Fall

Side Story: Brand New Kai

Side Story: Brand New Kai

"Leave me alone already!" Kai shouted at the maid who chased after him as he jumped from roof top to roof top. He grit his teeth in anger and frustration. The bright skies and pleasant weather of Elastire only serving to sour his mood even more. Finally he stopped, skidding to a halt on top a large building overlooking the city. Though it wasn't as tall as the Castle, it gave quite the view.

Kai faced the maid, "Why do you keep following me? Don't you have anything better to do?"

"Why do you keep running away?" Chloe returned with a question as she gently landed several metres away.

"Because you're annoying!" Kai yelled. "You keep pestering me and pestering me to do things. Can't you just get it already? Leave me alone."

Chloe smiled, "I follow you because you need help. My programming won't let me leave you alone."

"Your programming...." Kai knew she wasn't human, and he also knew she was much stronger than him. Despite entering the realm of a Master Aura user, he couldn't compete. If he could, he would have already pushed her away forcefully. "If your programming wants you to help people then go help someone else. There's plenty of us idiots loitering about."

"That's true," Chloe nodded. "But out of everyone I have seen so far, it looks like you need the most help."

"I don't need your help. I don't want it!" Kai spoke bluntly, hoping she'd just leave. "Go drag one of those dead beats out of the Clan. They're the ones you should worry about."

Chloe shook her head, still smiling, "They refuse to interact with Elastire. We'll get to them slowly. You however, every day you look around the city. You step outside. You're curious. You try to run away but I think you want help."

"I said I don't want it. Don't you understand?" Kai couldn't comprehend the maid. He didn't want help. He just wanted to be alone. He didn't deserve to be helped.

"Is it so hard to just try living normally?" Chloe purposefully asked.

"Live normally?" Kai laughed back at her with malicious frustration. "We don't deserve normal. We killed and killed. I killed people! For years the only enjoyment in my life was to watch others suffer! There is no normal!"

Chloe's gaze became tender, "Everyone deserves a chance to change. So many of your Clan have started to try." She turned her gaze to the city, "I love it. Elastire is more active than it's been for a very long time. Even if there aren't many of you. You're my family now."

"Family...," Kai thought the word. He could barely remember the feeling of a family. It felt so far away. His 'family' was the Clan... and all the pain that came with it. A sudden sensation touched his cheek, surprisingly warm. Chloe's hand pressed against his skin. Kai jumped back immediately, "Wh-what was that?"

"You looked sad," Chloe replied simply. "There are so many in your Clan that were under great stress. I can feel the pain you're holding inside. As your family, I want to help you."

Kai laughed again, this time pitifully, "And what exactly could you do? Find me a job like the others? I had a job. It was to kill people, to kidnap them, to steal, to cause chaos wherever I went. I enjoyed it. The faces of those I hurt, their moment of desperation and fear. I can see them in my mind, and I love it." Kai's expression widened into madness, "What job do you have for someone like me? Someone who tried to kill you already and failed?"

Chloe didn't turn away, "That's up to you. It would take time, but I believe there's something you could do as well. Something that you truly want."

"There's no one to hurt here," he chuckled. "Not anymore."

"I spoke to Zen," Chloe began as she took a step closer towards him. "She said you were kind before. The kindest. What did you want back then?"

"Back then?" Kai could barely remember what he was like back then. He knew he was weak. Back then he couldn't bring himself to hurt anyone. Why would he want to hurt others when he knew what it was like to be hurt?

"I can help you remember," Chloe reached out with her hand. "The memories you think you lost. I can make them clearer."

Kai paused, his heart beating harder than ever before, his mind nauseous and stomach sick, "Can-can you take away the others?"

"No," Chloe shook her head, "but I can make the good ones stand out more."

What did he want? Kai fell to his knees. The past few days had been a storm of uncertainty. Kai knew he would one day die doing what he did. He was looking forward to it. The day someone stronger than him appeared and put an end to his life. He thought that day had come and yet he was spared, and the madness continued. The emotions that swirled inside him. The sadistic want to hurt others. It truly was madness.

"I... I want to try baking bread," Kai's words were tense, as if even by saying them the dream would fade. "I wanted to feed my friends."

Chloe's hand pressed against his cheek again and slowly she pressed her forehead to his, "Let us remember what it's meant to be."

A warmth passed through Kai that he had never felt before. It wasn't cold like the Aura he had trained but filled with sincerity, hope even. The memories he wanted to remember began to appear in his mind. He smiled to make the others smile. He held their hands when they were in pain. He passed his portion to someone hungrier. They were the memories that had been wrenched from his mind and now they returned.

Like that Kai fell to tears. A young man who had never cried in such a way before. He wanted to change and as the maid held him, he felt like he really could.