Live Like A Warrior

Chapter 9

The air was cold and musty,and the room was dim.Faint morning sunlight streamed through the small window that was on the wall,near the ceiling. Small puddles of water were splattered across the cement floor.Sage,Seko,and Candy all slept soundly near each other.Clay had removed the ropes,reluctantly,as a request from Akiko.The three of them had never seen Akiko in person.But they came to the assumption that Akiko wasn't nearly as heartless as Clay.It was Friday morning.The sun was just barely rising into the sky,casting its golden rays into the quiet forest.A few birds were starting to sing,and something caused the weeds outside the building to rustle.Sage's eyes slowly opened as he woke up.He rubbed his eyes as his mouth gaped in a large yawn. "Looks like mom still hasn't found me yet." He mumbled to himself. He stood up,being careful not to wake up Seko and Candy. Sage had never met the two girls before this,but he could tell who their parents were just by looking at them.Seko had dark blue hair,put into loose pigtails.She also had some light freckles on her cheeks,along with light blue eyes.He obviously knew that was Haruka and Glitch's daughter.And Candy looked a lot like Ashlynn and...Kuo?She had light purple hair, red-rimmed glasses,and she was a neko.She was missing a tooth;Sage assumed it fell out.She also had rosy cheeks and a small birthmark on her left wrist shaped somewhat like a heart.And then there was Sage.The two girls had tried to guess who his parents were,but the closest they got was Sebastian and Dakota. Sage chuckled at the thought. He strode over to the window,standing on his toes to get a better view.Although the window was filthy,he caught a glimpse of the landscape outside.He saw the trunks of trees,and what looked like flower bushes. They were bright purple. Lilacs,maybe? No,they usually bloom in spring. Maybe they're a type of violets... Suddenly, Sage remembered something. When mom would take me into town, we would walk through a path in the woods. And I picked some purple flowers for her. Could that path be near here? Sage felt a small glimmer of hope dwindling inside of him. "Oh, hi Sage. I didn't know you were up already." Candy said in her sweet voice. Sage turned around to see her standing up and stretching. Seko was still curled up on the floor, sleeping soundly. Candy walked over to Sage and stood beside him. "So...It's really Friday. Clay said he'd kill us if our parents didn't find us by tonight." Sage said, his gaze clouded with sadness. Mom would miss me so much. She said she already lost my father. "I just know my mom and dad will come for me. I'm a bit doubtful about Seko's parents, though. And hey, what about you? You never told us who your parents are." Candy looked at him with curious eyes. Sage shuffled his feet around for a moment, considering whether or not he should tell her. But before he found the right words to do so, the basement door opened and Clay came walking down. His purple eyes were glimmering with mischief and anticipation. Sage assumed he was excited to see how this day would play out. "Good morning, kids! I hope you slept well. It might be the last time you ever open your eyes after slumber again." Clay had to stifle a chuckle. Sage scoffed and turned his back to Clay. "My mom is gonna kick your ass." He muttered through gritted teeth. Candy backed away a few steps, afraid to get in the way of any quarreling. Clay stopped at the bottom of the stairs and leaned against the wall. "Can your mother do it all on her own, though? What about your father? Michael?" Clay asked. Candy gasped. Michael? So that means... "How did you know Michael was my father? He's dead! Did my mom tell you? Or Sebastian or Arsheena?" Sage demanded. Clay smirked. "Oh Sage, you have so much to learn. Your mother hasn't told you the truth?" Clay asked, obviously finding amusement in this conversation. Sage's gaze of hostility faded and was replaced with confusion and disbelief. He slowly turned around to face Clay. "W-What? What truth?" He asked nervously. Seko finally woke up as the tension in the room. She opened her mouth to speak but was cut off by Clay. "Oh yes, the truth. The truth is, your father isn't really dead. He's been alive all this time. Your mother just didn't want to break it to you that Michael wanted nothing to do with you! In fact, he just proposed to another girl last night!" Clay said in bursts of laughter. Sage couldn't believe it. He stood there with widened eyes. "N-No...That can't..." Sage cut himself off. He knew he couldn't lie to himself. The look of pain in my mom's eyes when she told me about him...That wasn't grief. That was heartbreak. That's why she didn't let me go out on my own. She didn't want me running into him. Oh, mom...I feel so bad! Did I push the love of your life away from you? Sage dropped to his knees, his bright blue eyes filling with tears. Everything felt so clear now. But at the same time, it was almost as if Sage forgot everything he had just heard. Now I know why mom was so overprotective towards me. I was all she had left.