Dark Rose

In a forest where the moon shone and leaves rustled, a boy could be seen. He looked no older than 7, with dark hair and eyes. His eyes looked cold and lifeless as he gazed in front of him at the bodies of three little children, with puddles of blood surrounding them.

'So I finally did it, huh...'

Behind him lay the body of a dog, while next to his feet was a knife, stained with fresh blood, indicating how the three boys died. Yet the dog didn't look like it was stabbed; it seemed beaten to death...

Suddenly, the boy heard footsteps approaching from ahead of him. He instantly picked up the knife stained with fresh blood and aimed it towards whoever was approaching.

It didn't matter to him anymore. If the person was innocent or not, he couldn't have any witnesses. As he looked ahead, he saw a man wearing a long black coat with black pants. He had a small gray beard and a black hat on his head, yet strands of white hair could be seen on his forehead. The man looked old yet stern. The boy simply felt inferior standing in front of the man.

The man halted a few meters in front of the boy, gazing straight into his eyes, making the boy shudder and tremble out of fear. Yet he didn't run away; instead, he gritted his teeth and firmed his feet more on the ground as his eyes got more fierce and determined.

"Ooh~ I like those eyes, kid," the man spoke, gazing at his eyes, which he liked. Instead of answering, the boy decided to stay silent and be on high alert if the man took any action in front of him. He didn't know if the man had a gun or knife with him, hidden in his coat. All he knew was one thing: the man in front of him was strong. That was what his instincts were screaming at him.

"Heh," the man scoffed at seeing the boy staying silent.

"You caused quite a mess, didn't you, kid? Who would've thought that a mere orphan kid would be responsible for burning his own orphanage while all the other innocent little kids and caretakers were inside being burnt alive," he said, as he gazed at the far distant behind him, seeing black smoke still coming out into the air.

"And now I see three bodies of little children in front of us and you holding the same knife that probably took their lives. If I am right with my guess, then the kids in front of us died before the orphanage was set on fire by you."

"Why did you return?" he asked. He was curious what made this boy return to the bodies of the children he killed himself instead of running away. He probably would've gotten away with everything as well, since they would've thought he died in the fire as well.

'Did he perhaps feel guilt about killing the kids? His eyes certainly don't show any guilt...'

Then, after pondering, he noticed the body of someone else... The body of a dog that the kid was protecting by standing in front of it.

"Oh~ So you came back for your dog? But he is dead without any knife wounds. Instead, he looked beaten to death... Ah, I see. So you took revenge for your dog by killing these people," the man said to himself out loud as he finally realized the boy's action.

"Tell me, was it really worth it to kill all these innocent people just for a mere dog?" the man said curiously. He wasn't sad nor angered; all there was was an amused and curious expression and tone from him as he asked the boy.

The boy, hearing him question, finally decided to speak.

"What makes you think they are innocent? What makes you be the one to decide who was worth more than the other?" the boy asked.

'Heh,' the man couldn't help but try his hardest to suppress his grin that was threatening to show on his face, so instead he looked at the boy inquiring him to continue.

"For me, Puck, who was just 'a mere dog,' was worth more than these humans. In my eyes, the lives of them weren't worth anything if I compared them to Puck. The least I could do was take their lives just like they did to Puck," the boy said, yet no emotion of sadness or anger could be seen on his face or heard.

"Hmm. Then why did you return if he already died?"

"Because he was there for me for a long time when I was sad, so at the very least, I could bury his body," the boy said, gazing at the man's eyes this time.

'This kid!' The man couldn't hold back anymore as a sadistic grin appeared on his face, making the boy creeped out, though he didn't show it on his face.

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHHA," the man started laughing like a madman without control.

After a good five minutes of laughing, tears started forming in his eyes. He looked back at the kid, who was cautiously but curiously looking at him.

"Kid, how about you join me and my organization?"

"Organization?" the kid asked.

"Yes, I am the leader of an assassin organization called Dark Rose. You can just call me Aushburn," the man said to the kid, whose expression turned into surprise.

'So that is why he was so calm... he could kill me anytime.'

"What do you say, kid? I will personally adopt you, feed you, give you a roof over your head, and make you the best assassin there would be!" the man said with a wicked grin.

'I don't have anything left. I have no goal anymore. I have nothing left to do. Now I will probably die by myself if I don't accept this...' The boy didn't think for long as he stared back at the man.

"I accept," the boy said, as the moon shone on his face, illuminating his black hair and dark lifeless eyes, bodies surrounded them with the thick scent of blood oozing out of them, wild black smoke behind in the far distance caused all by a 7-year-old child. As the man gazed at his lifeless eyes and he gazed back at him, he felt a shudder for the first time in a while run through his spine. He truly felt that the sentence "if you gaze long into an abyss, the abyss also gazes into you" was most fitting here in this moment as they both looked at each other's eyes.

"What is your name, kid?"

"#$!@"

****************

In a luxurious room, a boy lay on a huge king-sized bed that felt as comfortable as if he were lying on the clouds themselves.

Lucas's eyes fluttered open as he groaned and got up. As he checked the time, he saw it was only 8:43 AM. He always loved to sleep as long as he could, but it looked like his mind wouldn't allow him any rest.

"Again..." His eyes turned cold, surpassing even the coldness he showed his family yesterday, before returning to normal. He didn't understand why he kept getting more memories of his past life in his dreams. It felt like the more he tried to suppress them, the more they would show up, and each time they would get more vivid.

"I don't understand... Did I get this nightmare because of all the things that happened yesterday?" Lucas thought that it must be because of yesterday for his memories of his previous life to show up.

In a single day, he found out he had a little sister, which his parents hid from him, almost thought about killing his own father, made his own mother cry and his sister scared twice, and then started revealing everything that happened when he adventured but then got teased because of Luna and Sylv.

Yet he didn't know if the cause was mental exhaustion. Perhaps it was one of the causes. He didn't want to remember his name, even if he tried subconsciously his brain wouldn't allow that. His feelings were chaotic; it was a mix of his previous life and current life. He felt happy having a loving family, but it was still a basic instinct for him to solve every problem by killing. It had become a habit of his...

As he gazed at his own room, he felt happy and nostalgic. It had almost been 3 years since he slept in his own room, and he really missed it. He felt like his emotions weren't suppressed at all when he was with his family or in his house, nor was it with someone who would manage to earn his trust and get close enough to him, but he understood that he still must have looked extremely cold to strangers, especially those he didn't like. But that was only when his parents or someone he cared about wasn't around. Yet in those 3 years, it had gotten worse as his emotions started getting more suppressed again. If it wasn't for Luna always being with him, he wouldn't know what he would have done.

As he pondered, he finally decided to freshen up instead of going to sleep. He took a shower, wore some casual clothes, and left his room quietly, making no sound at all, since everyone was probably still asleep or at least most would be.

As he went to the garden, he froze in surprise as he saw his mother sitting on the grass, watching Lena running around playing with Luna.

Noticing a gaze on her, she turned her head and was equally surprised to see her son up so early.

"Lucas!? What happened, dear? Why are you up so early!?" She said, running so fast that Lucas barely could see her, and she was in front of him with a worried face.

Seeing her act like that, Lucas couldn't help but release a soft smile while looking at her with a warm gaze. 'Yeah, I really love these feelings, don't I?'

His mother was surprised as she watched in worry and suddenly saw her son smiling warmly at her with affection, making her heart melt.

"I am fine, mother. I just couldn't sleep, so I decided to just wander around," he said, reassuring her that everything was fine, though she still wasn't convinced.

"Really? What happened? Why couldn't you sleep? Did something happen?" She asked rapidly, with worry.

He couldn't help but sigh at her worried behavior. She still must be a little on edge about yesterday, even though they both made up.

Lucas decided to just take her hand gently, surprising her, as they both walked towards where she previously sat and decided to sit with her on the grass as well.

His mother obviously complied without hesitation and decided to sit next to him. But after that, she did something that surprised Lucas instead. She placed his head on her lap, making him lie down as well, as she started gently caressing his cheeks and hair, making his ears turn a little red. He still really wasn't used to this type of affection. Even when his memories returned, he didn't really spend much time with them before he left for his adventures.

"Mother, I am not a child anymore," he said, trying to stop her from treating him like a baby.

"Fufu, don't tell me you are getting embarrassed, my dear~," she said, gently teasing him.

"In my eyes, you will always be my little baby Lucas. I am your mother, after all. There is no need for you to be embarrassed or shy when you seek affection," she said gently, while Lucas just had his eyes wide open as he listened to her attentively.

"I-I see," he eventually said, while averting his eyes, still feeling embarrassed.

'I can't just accept being treated like a child so easily after everything, I suppose...'

Seeing Lucas still finding it difficult, she couldn't help but sigh, but there was still nonetheless a warm smile on her face as she gently caressed his face.

"So, want to tell me what woke you up so early? Surely this bad habit of yours for sleeping so long wasn't fixed after starting to adventure?" she asked.

Hearing her, he couldn't help but chuckle a little but still had his eyes averted.

"No, I still haven't fixed that. I just woke up early today because I had a small nightmare, that's all..." Lucas said vaguely.

"You know you can always talk to me about it, dear?" she said, a little worried.

This time, Lucas decided to meet her in the eyes and smiled warmly.

"I know, mom. Thanks," he said in a gentle tone filled with love.

His mother, though, instantly froze for a second and looked at her son with wide eyes.

"E-eeh?"

"Huh, is something wrong?"

"N-no, it is just I can't remember the last time you called me m-mom instead of mother..." she said, a little dazed and happy.

'Now that she mentions it, I really had stopped calling her mom.... I guess I found it embarrassing back then before my memories? Well, I don't really think it is so embarrassing anymore...'

"I wish you would call me mom every time again..." she said, a little sad and in a small voice, not intending to let him hear it, but who was Lucas? He was a half-dragon, of course, his ears could easily pick up her voice.

"Hmm, well, I don't mind calling you mom again instead of mother."

"E-eh, really? Then do it, call me mom from now on!" she said excitedly, with sparkling eyes.

Lucas found it adorable that his mother was acting so spoiled and childlike; he couldn't help but chuckle.

"Sure, mom."

"Hehe~" she started giggling happily as both enjoyed the warm sun while lying on the soft grass, enjoying each other's warmth as they gazed warmly at Lena and Luna playing and running around together without them noticing anything else...

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