Stick War: Inamorta and beyond

Chapter 28.5: A Boy Born In Chaos

26th February 1074, 8.39am

I never wanted this. Why was I born here? I just wanted to be normal. What is normal anyway? All my life has been a living hell. I do not know my parents. I do not even know my name. The place I am at is some where called the 'Chaos Empire'. I'm broken. I have died in the inside.  Legends and myths once said that the sky was once blue in colour, but I do not know. In the land of Chaos, the sky is always gray. It reminds me of this land, dark and gloomy. 

If you have been wondering, who am I? Well, I am a slave. Yes. An enslaved miner with no will. I am barely seven years old and haven't eaten for days. Everyday was torture, the other slaves and I were working for the Empire. Men called 'the punishers' will come and beat us up when we were 'slacking' or even talk. All we have is a pickaxe and what we do is work. We will work throughout the day till midnight when it is time to sleep. We will be forced to wake up and work before daybreak. We only get fed thrice a week and do not have a day off. Once we die, the punishers will just dump our bodies into a pit filled with the others that perished in this hell. Sometimes I felt like dying, I wanted to commit suicide. Maybe that way, I can meet my parents.   

However one day changed everything. It was just a normal day for me, getting beaten up and mining with barely any strength. I was about to collapse due to hunger when someone caught my eye. It was a girl at about my age. She wore nice clothes and had red hair tied in a ponytail. She was with one of the bosses of the punishers. She then looked at me and ran towards me. I stood still while she examined me. She looked at my tattered clothes, dead eyes and malnourished body. I could see sympathy in her eyes, she then gave me a wrapper with something inside.

"It's a candy. Take it. What's your name? Mine's Ariana." She spoke while smiling.

I looked at her again with my cold, dead eyes confused. I looked into my hand and stared at the 'candy'.

"What am I suppose to do with this?" I asked with a monotone voice.

She giggled and opened the wrapper, inside revealed a small red, round ball. I smelled it and my eyes lightened up. It smelled sweet and nothing I have seen before. I popped it into my mouth immediately and for the first time in my life, I smiled. It tasted like nothing I have eaten before. The food here is just a small bowl of undercooked rice and it smelled just like a sewage. However, the food called candy that the girl gave me was sweet and yummy. The girl giggled at my reaction.

"My name is Ariana. What's yours?" She asked again.

I looked around for any punishers but surprisingly, none of them were in sight. So I figured that I can kill some time by talking to her.

"I do not have a name. People in this place just called me 'brat' or 'scum'. I do not have a name." I answered back.

"Hmm... How about I give you a name?" She asked.

I was surprised by her reaction. I expect her to be at least disgusted by my appearance but no, she was not. Instead she smiled at me with compassion.

"How about Kibou? It means hope!" She exclaimed happily.

Tears started to fall from my eyes. This is the first time an actual person have treated me like a human person. My cried out in happiness while she stared at me in shock. She thought that she had done something to offend me and is trying to calm me down. I finally stopped crying and thought about my new name.

"I like it. Kibou, hope." I said to her while smiling.

She smiled back and hugged me. At first, I was shocked. No one has ever gave me a hug before so I do not know how to respond. My instincts eventually took over and I returned the hug. After that, we went to a secluded area where no one can see or hear us. We chatted and played a few games for the entire day. It turns out that she is the daughter of one of the generals in the Empire and her father is here for working reasons. She then wanted to tag along with her father. Eventually, it was time for her to go.

"Bye bye! I hope to see you again Kibou!" She exclaimed while running back to the mine, probably back to her father.

I then walked back to the mine slowly, thinking about what happened today. It is the most enjoyable day of my life. I smiled and thought about whether I will meet that girl again. Thinking about her just puts a smile on my face. Just something about her made me feel so happy.

But everything changed when I went back to the mine. The punishers knew that I was missing and when I returned, they demanded the reason why I disappeared. I did not answer them so they tortured me. They burned my skin and made me walk on the floor with nails on it. Nails penetrated my feet. I cried out in pain but I could not betray her. I endured all sorts of punishments they threw at me. After several hours of torture, they decided to kill me.

They dragged me all the way to a cliff and pushed me down. When I was falling down the cliff, time seemed to slow down. I remembered all of the things I did today and for a split second, he saw an azure blue sky.

'Ah, so the legends are true, the sky really is blue. That candy she gave me was delicious. She was kinda cute. What was her name again? I think it was Ariana. Today is suited to be my last day. Kibou huh? A name that meant hope. I guess it was kind of an irony right? Well, I'm dead now so I do not need to think about it. Mother, father, I'm coming to see you.'

Meanwhile in a huge mansion. 9.52pm

A little girl with red hair tied in a ponytail was looking out the window wondering about the boy she named today. She played with Kibou till evening today. She was smiling when she thought of him. She thinks that he was cute and kind. At the moment she was going to sleep, she felt a tap on her shoulder and heard Kibou's voice: 'Thank You'.

She looked back but saw no one. She shrugged her shoulders and went to bed.

Meanwhile at No man's land

It was supposed to be a peaceful night at the northern mountains of No Man's land. but the giants are getting restless. The Chaos Empire further up in the north requested an alliance with the Giants. Some of the giants joined the Empire but others declined. And so, the Giant faction split into two, half of them joined the Chaos Empire and the other half remained in No Man's land. A sole giant who is neutral was sick of all this political stuff and decided to leave his land. He decided to venture into the territory of the humans to stay and also seek help. He wanted peace in his land instead of a possible civil war. So after much thinking, he decided that he could join a faction from the humans to bring peace to his land once again. The giant was none other than, Aramis.