Flames and Frost

Chapter 2- Destruction and Distraught

Pandora...The name haunted Claude's mind every second of the sleepless night that he had. The mere name sends a shiver down his spine. He tried to pet his fire again, hoping that it would bring warm comfort but even the fire was afraid.  He thought of the fire's warning over and over again in his head. "Warn Everyone"  But Claude everyone was just probably gonna ignore him. Shun him and laugh at him. So, he hesitatedly decided not to. Ignoring every single doubt in his head and the fire was even more afraid. 

It was by dawn when Claude's Mother woke up. It was obvious that She still wanted to stay in her sweet slumber. She was droopy eyed and yawning a lot. He went out of her room and went to the kitchen and tried to make a hot pot of tea. When she was done, she went out to the fields and rested her head on a nearby tree and gazed skyward onto the still, dark and auminous clouds. And sighing as she sipped on her little porcelain tea cup and then put it down. And then she soothed back her slightly gray hair with a hairband to match. Except it was sliver. Yes, their life improved because of Claude's magnificent  shows and he was due to give another this very day.

Claude was still anxious and paranoid because of what the fire said. But there he was, Staring blankly at his four white-marble walls. Thinking, reflecting..The boy was now 14 of age. He did fire eating for such a long and continous time that it lead their family's life to prosper. They went from a dirty and  husky old hut to a Normal stable house. The modern ones. indeed, they were no longer poor for even the king enjoys the Shows that Claude puts on and he is payed with a hefty amount of gold and silver coins and bought everything they need in the time. Claude then got tired and decided to rest on his bed that was much, much more comfortable than his old straw mattress. His straw mattress was not how you say...comfortable. Although he had to live with it when they were poor, As well as he had to rest beside insects and filthy vermin that crawled through the straw every damn night. 

It never bothered him, though. After his father Zidane died, He asked his mother to have his father's room. His father...Claude loved him as well as he loved both his mother and fire, Even if he never set eyes on his father's real face. His father was always a mysterious and conspicious person.The only thing that Claude remembers of him was only his figure. His deep, yet smooth voice. And his mask. Zidane always favored the dark cover of the night. He was a gifted Fug. A talented robber. He always wore his mask even in the structure and walls of his old hut. He always felt the need to wear it because he always had a bounty on his precious head. Although, His wife, Leona was a talented mage of the healing arts. Zidane' Mask was as dark  as the Night itself. In the form of his favorite animal that blended perfectly for a gruesome robber who favored the darkness. The Crow. It's large Beak and black feathers was so realistic you could've thunk of it as a real Crow.

Later, When Claude and his mother were eating breakfast, They were having Eggs for breakfast again. And after that, Claude's mother said " Claude, You are due to perform again after breakfast, get your things ready and go to the marketplace to perform.  I hope you bring in a good haul today, Don't burn yourself and mind the weather. It looks worse than yesterday!"  As she said this, she cupped her hands between Claude's face and kissed him on the forehead. Yes, that always made him happy, For one sweet moment, He forgot about worrying about the warning. "I know, mother. And don't worry, The fire doesn't bite me and it follows me." With this, He bid his mother goodbye and went to the marketplace. 

There was a bustling in the marketplace, People were swarming everywhere around the beautiful lot. There were stalls on each side. Some for healing, Some for the Smiths and armory, and some for delicacies.  Claude was squeezing through the crowd of people and trying to get onto the center on his stage made for him. And then when they were done selling and buying, Claude decided to start his show. And there he was. Playing with fire as he did for a very long time, but with every show a new trick and surpise at the end. That was what made the people entertained and interested, He mastered fire. He played with it, Smelled it, Tasted it and walked through it. He did everything a fire eater and a fire dancer couldand could not do. And he did so at a very young age, There he was Spinning and juggling 3-no, 4 torches in the air as high as the rooftops and made them disappear. And then, He spoke the fire's language, And then he showed a big bucket of water and set fire On water! and then he made them mingle passionately and then finished with a mirage of smoke and then launched a tiny flame in the air and made it glow brighter and explode in the shape of a flower up in the dark sky with all it's majestic beauty. And the crowd gazed in awe as if it filled the whole sky with light.  And Claude bowed his head and listened to the crowd's resounding Applause. But then, It all fell terribly silent as the fire died down, The sound of thunder rolled and resounded and then a Roar shook the land and everyone turned pale, Even Claude. 

The Storm grew fiercer, It rained hard on inferia, And the thunder roared and Lightning struck everything on the city of Inferia.It even burned the castle down and caused widespread panic all over Inferia. Claude hid in a house nearest to the marketplace. He made a fire and warmed himself. Unluckily, the owner of the house got struck by lightning. He was shivering with fear as the Roars resounded through the city louder and louder....Pandora. Claude just couldn't stop thinking about that name. Then he heard Giant footsteps outside. then there it was, right before his eyes....The Pandora.

There stood the giant monster, Stood tall like a dinosaur and it had silver scales, Big Muscular arms and legs, And Dark eyes. As black as the void. And when it roared again, It created a soundwave so intense, It pulverized everything around it, Except Claude, The fire managed to form a barrier around Claude just in time. Then Claude tried to be brave and stand up to the beast but it was no good. He quivered in fear and with every step and roar, it killed and destroyed everything around it. And he ate people, buildings everything....It was a terrible sight to behold. He tried to make the flames attack the monster, But the fire was so afraid that it burned Claude instead. And that stood as the day the flames didn't obey him. His flames were still tender of age as he was. But he desperately tried to stand up to the beast and then he blurted out in rage. And managed to scald the monster with his puny flames. The monster turned so abruptly even that caused damage and it grabbed Claude and launched him through it's throat and then Claude closed his eyes.... "So, this is how i'll die...eaten up by a monster with not even a flame to help me.." whispered a little voice in his head as he started to see white women reaching outto him inside the belly of the beast. and calling for him. He started to think that it was over for him.  But then he saw a picture of his mother...his sweet mother. and then suddenly,he stopped falling. He thought he was dead. But no, He opened his eyes andin surprised, he smiled to the sight of the flames carrying him before the monster's stomach acid. "Not Today!" He shouted inside the  beast with a disgnified voice and felt the flames surging through him. Like a hidden potential waiting to be awoken.  He then Bursted out with flames going around his body and burning the monster from the inside. And then flames shot out from the soles from his feet and rocketed out of the monster and broke through it's mighty teeth. 

He then got out of the monster with the flames acting as wings under his feet. And as he was majestically airborne, He commanded the flames to attack the monster and the flames shot out from the palm of his hands.  And that  burned the monster's scaly silver, dinosaur like face and left burning ashes and soot on it's face. The monster was distorted with pain and retreated. It flew skyward and left. For a moment, he felt brave. really brave and happy. Despite the city's ruins and all the dead and destruction around him. And he learned something new in the art of fire. Using it for combat. 

He rushed towards his house out in the fields but when he got try here he saw nothing...nothing but ruins and remains of what was left of it. Everything was destroyed. He tried to gasp for air but then he remembered one thing: His mother. 

He searched the ruins for his mother, He looked everywhere. He was about to give up when he saw it....His mother's dead body. He found it lying with blood under the field. She was crushed by a boulder that fell on her when the house collapsed under the roar of the Pandora. He sat there. Distraught. Looking at his mother's dead body with the bloodstained grass under her. He picked up her body held her pale hand and hugged the dead body and crying as he laid his head on her breast. Oh how he wished he could've just died there. But no. He couldn't. He was crying heavily and then picked up the body and Screamed at the sky. He put her down. He was left wordless. For what was there to say? When his lips and toungue were numb with fear and loneliness. He got his things and set out to the center city. Metanoia. As he mourned for his dead mother and wiped away his fears and stuck to the only friendhe has now. Fire. From then on he was left with no family. He was left with the title of the only survivor from Inferia. But now, An orphan.