Legacy Mutation (Book Eight)

Chapter 56: Song For Her

Destiny knocks on Dean's bedroom door gently, holding a plate with three slices of pizza on it.

"Dean? Honey? I brought you dinner," she calls softly.

There's a clanking noise and a few grunts of pain from the room. The door opens, and Dean holds his hand out to take the plate. His eyes are reddened, his face miserable and showing just how broken he feels.

"Thanks," he mumbles as he takes the pizza.

Destiny grips the door before he can close it, smiling sadly at her son. "I heard about what happened."

His eyes fill with tears as he looks away, suddenly finding it hard to breathe. "So it's true? I'm never going to fly again? I might never walk properly and do ninjutsu? Play football?"

She doesn't respond right away, knowing that the truth is tough to say out loud. Of course, she doesn't know the exact truth either, she simply knows what the evidence is leaning towards.

She knows how much ninjutsu, football, flying...even being able to walk means to him, so she wants more than anything to be able to tell him honestly that he'll be able to go back to normal.

"No one knows exactly what's going to happen, Dean," she murmurs. "But...the evidence points to yes. It's true."

A few tears run down his face, and he limps back to his bed, his bandaged wings quivering with every movement.

"Okay...fine. I'll just eat here," he mumbles.

She moves into the room, leaning down and kissing his forehead gently.

"I love you," she reminds him.

He doesn't smile, but his voice remains sincere. "I love you too, mom."

She turns and leaves. He looks around his room; at his ninjaken sword on his shelf, his extra football jersey draped over a chair, posters of Space Heroes and others. Two of the three main items remind him of what may never happen again.

He places the pizza on his bedside table, holding back growls of pain as he lays down. He slips the braces off his legs, letting them collapse to the floor as he hugs his pillow beneath his head. The tears don't stop.

🍕🐢🍕🐢🍕🐢🍕🐢🍕

Asher sits in the living room playing the violin, as per usual. He gets more skilled every day, his mind picking up the instrument swiftly. The fact that he only has three fingers does little to change that.

As he plays, he hums a song to himself. His mind flickers to Ruby and Kelly, the two girls he cares most about besides his mom and sister. Both of them were and are incredibly special, holding a place in his heart that can't be filled easily.

Lately, whenever Asher thinks of Kelly, he finds himself remembering the happy times. He remembers the Spin the Bottle game in grade nine where he earned his first kiss with her. He remembers all the times in grade ten where him, Kelly, Lukas, and Dakota would try to make something and have it blow up in their faces. Their only reactions were laughter and a "let's try again" attitude. He thinks of the short amount of grade eleven that the four of them got to have, spending their spares laying in the grass and talking about nothing that seems of any importance, but when Asher lets himself think about it, he wouldn't trade those talks for anything.

"Hey guys?" Kelly asked.

"Yeah?" Dakota responded, her finger tracing the clouds lazily.

"We should stay best friends forever, okay?"

Asher and Lukas looked at the auburn-haired girl, smiling fondly as she adjusted her glasses over her deep green eyes.