Black Tears

Chapter 3: Homecoming

As Serenity woke up slowly from her sleep, she saw Luke packing up all the camp equipment.

"What are you doing?" She asked, as she gets up. "We're leaving." He quickly responded.

Serenity was wondering why he was in such a rush to leave. "Is the NDA close by or something?"

Luke turned towards her and said "There's no time to talk about it, we gotta go now!"

Serenity got a little scared. "Okay, okay." She grabbed her stuff and the silver jar and follwed Luke hastily.

Luke pulled out a map to navigate through the forest in order to find a nearby town where his friends were.

"So umm, where are we going Luke?" Serenity asked patiently.

"My home, we'll be much safter there." Luke walked faster as Serenity tried to keep up with him.

"Hey, slow down Luke." She said. As they were walking, Serneity tripped over a tree branch and started to fall, but then, in a blink of an eye, Luke grabbed her arm, saving her from falling to the ground.

"Are you okay?" Luke asked. Y-Yeah, I'm fine thanks." Luke pulled her up and they continued to walk.

Meanwhile, the NDA returned back to their base to discuss matters regarding Serenity.

"Okay so, what do we know so far about this Serenity girl?" Said the commissioner.

"We know that she lost her mother when she was 9, she doesn't have a father, and she destroyed an entire school buliding and killed everyone within it. So now someone tell me why the hell haven't we captured this maniac yet?"

The commissioner started to get angry at the men because they didn't fulfill their objectives yet.

"You, come here!" Said the commissioner, in anger. "You want a promotion right?, then go out there and bring that bitch to justice! You understand me?"

"Y-yes sir." The soldier said, fearfully. "Dismissed, all of you!"

As all of the commissioner's men left the briefing room, he called his son. "Hello?, hey Michael its daddy. How's momma? Is she okay? Heh, don't worry, I'll be home soon okay? Daddy is at work right now trying to make this city a safe place for you to play in. Okay daddy has to go okay? I love you and protect momma for me okay? Bye-bye."

The commissioner hanged up and stared at a picture of his son and wife together. He started crying and then throw his phone in anger. "Serenity, it doesn't matter how many times you run from the law, you cannot hide forever, I will find you, and bring you to justice!"

After walking a few miles Serenity and Luke finally reached the hometown that Luke came from.

"Here it is Serneity, my home, Reinhardt. A strong and proud village that thrives on its pride and good citizenship."

Serenity looked amazed and asked Luke a question. "How long have you been here?"

Luke hasitated to answer for a minute, but then answered her. "47 years."

Serenity was shocked. "Wow, you really are old dude." Luke looked at her and chuckled.

"H-hey, I'm still at my prime, don't let the beard fool ya." She laughed and said "Uh-huh."

They continued to walk into Reinhardt and as they did, villagers started looking at them like complete strangers.

But then suddenly, they got surrounded by Reinhardt hunters, "Hey, hey what's going on?" Luke said surprisingly.

"Don't move!" One of the hunters said. "Luke, what's going on?" Serenity asked frighteningly. "I dunno, a homecoming party? Just dont move kiddo."

As they stood in place, the hunters made a path for the leader to walk through. He looked at both of them suspiciously.

"Who are you?" The leader asked. "Umm, it's me, Luke remember?, and this is Serenity, a friend of mine." The leader dropped his sword and started crying in shock.

"B-brother, is that you?" Luke looked at him and smiled. "Yes, its me Sage, I've returned."

Sage ran to him and hugged him. "I thought you were killed by the NDA, you asshole. Don't scare me like that again."

Luke laughed at him and said "Heh, I'm still stronger than ever Sage, the stupid NDA can't even touch me."

Sage smiled and said "That's my brother alright." Serenity looked at both of them and said "Umm yeah hi, I'm Serenity, the girl standing here in this random family reunion."

They both laughed at her and Sage asked, "You're Serenity eh? I've heard many things about you."

Luke pulled her aside and said, "She's my problem, not yours Sage." Sage looked at him with a mischievous look on his face.

"You haven't changed a bit brother, the Reinhardt blood still courses through your veins."

"Weapons down!" Sage said to his hunters. "Come brother, let's head inside the guild haven, we have alot to talk about."

Luke and Serenity followed Sage into the Guild haven, but then, Serenity started feeling a headache.

"Hey, are you okay kiddo?" Luke whispered to Serenity. "Yeah, it's just....something feels off about this place." Serenity said.

Her headache turned into flashes of images, consisting of cognitive events of something bad that was about to happen in Reinhardt.

"Luke, I don't think we should be here." She whispered to Luke. "C'mon kiddo, we just got here. Just relax okay?, everything will be fine." Luke said with a wink.

As they enter the Guild Haven, Sage introduced Serenity and Luke to everyone within it, officially welcoming them to Reinhardt.

"Whoa, this is awesome." Serenity said as she looked around the Guild Haven.

There were red and gold ornaments everywhere, azure blue water fountains, and fruits laying across the eating section.

"Where did they find the money to get all this stuff?" Serenity asked. "Remember, they're highly trained hunters. They find the richest resources in the world and bring it back to Reinhardt." Sage said. "So, wouldn't that make them thieves?" Serenity said curiously.

Sage paused for a second and looked at Serenity. "How can they be thieves if they're stealing what's already been stolen?"

Serenity looked at him nervously and said "O-okay I got it now heh." Luke looked at them and smiled.

Sage hopped on top of a table and said "Alright now listen up everyone, let us celebrate the return of my brother, Luke! All drinks are on me!" Everyone yelled in excitement. "Lets go!" Luke said to everyone as they followed him to have drinks.

As time passed on, Serenity took a seat at an empty table to relax, but her headache was getting worse.

"What...is this?" Serenity asked herself. She stared at the silver jar in her hands and said "Mom..." She was thinking to herself if these visions were because of the silver jar, but she wasn't sure if her mom was somehow trying to tell her something. "Something's wrong, I have to get Luke."

She tried getting up but her head was severely hurting so she sat back down. Serenity held her head, starting to panick and said "Something's coming...."