After Six Years
In an area surrounded by mountains, two small neighboring families lived peacefully.
In that small house, the sound of children's laughter filled the air.
(Jack was six years old, and Black was four months younger. She was incredibly beautiful, with jet-black hair as dark as the night and rare violet eyes. Her delicate features made her strikingly attractive.)
They were playing together, with Jack chasing after Black, trying to catch her.
Jack: "Bee, if I catch you, I'll pluck out your hair!"
Black laughed at him, stuck out her tongue, and playfully rolled her eyes from side to side as she continued running.
Black, laughing: "You'll never catch me, Jack! I'm faster than you! Hahaha!"
Jack jumped off a small table to grab her.
She screamed, but before she could escape, she found herself caught in his grip.
Jack: "Got you! Now, I'll beat you up, Bee!"
But suddenly, she started crying.
Jack was startled by her reaction, but before he could say anything, he realized someone was standing behind him.
Edmund: "Jaaack… what are you doing to your cousin?"
Jack turned to see Black secretly laughing behind her hands.
Jack: "Dad, she's not my cousin! She's a little demon!"
Edmund: "Jack, why are you hitting her? You even made her cry!"
Jack, sighing dramatically: "I wish I had! But I didn't even touch her yet. Dad, why don't you come back in five minutes? By then, I'll have cooked her for lunch. Trust me, don't worry—I know how to prepare a good meal!"
He started laughing as he saw the fear appear on Black's face.
His father scolded him and carried the little girl outside.
Black clung to her uncle, scared.
Jack felt guilty seeing her like that and quickly ran after them to keep playing.
Jack: "Bee, Bee! I was just joking! Did you really believe me?"
Meanwhile, Sophia and Sarah were preparing lunch, with Edmund and Caesar helping to grill the meat.
However, Edmund suddenly rushed into the house, alarmed. He knew what was coming.
The last time the children ran around playing like this, they had broken many things.
Black didn't need much convincing; she quickly rejoined Jack in their game.
Black, innocently: "Would you really eat me?"
Jack, laughing: "Of course not! I was joking. But I'll still pluck your feathers, little bird!"
The two resumed their game, running after each other as their families laughed at their antics.
Jack and Black later helped their parents set up the table, and laughter filled the air.
(The two families were incredibly happy, having managed to escape for six years. After Jack was born, they spent about three months traveling, constantly moving from place to place, stopping only for food and medicine. During all these years, none of them had used their powers, not even once. Edmund sealed Jack's abilities at birth, and Caesar did the same for Black. Living in the mountains, Jack and Black had never seen anyone use energy or supernatural abilities. They knew nothing about them.)
But the laughter did not last long.
A deafening explosion shook Edmund's house.
The blast sent them flying, and from the raging fire emerged hooded figures, dressed in black cloaks adorned with the symbol of a massive serpent. Their faces were completely covered.
At that moment, they all realized—the time for hiding was over.
They exchanged shocked glances, their minds struggling to process the sudden attack.
Jack's small voice broke the silence, cursing at the strangers.
A shard from the explosion had grazed Black's arm, but she was too terrified to notice her injury.
One of the hooded figures spoke in a cold, deadly voice: "Did you really think you and your wife could escape?"
He turned to one of his men. "Check for the mark."
That was when reality snapped back into focus.
Edmund and Caesar shouted at Sophia and Sarah, ordering them to take the children and run. They knew they couldn't win this fight.
But more than anything, they feared for Jack—his mark was unique. If these men found out, they would take him, or worse, harm him in unimaginable ways.
Caesar, shouting: "Sophia! Sarah! Take the children and go!"
For the first time, Jack and Black saw their parents use their powers.
Water and lightning erupted from their hands, but the children were still too shocked from the explosion to fully comprehend what was happening.
Sophia and Sarah hesitated—how could they run while their husbands faced certain death?
But Edmund's furious voice brought them back to reality.
With tears streaming down their faces, they grabbed the children and ran as fast as they could.
They didn't have the strength to look back.
This might be the last time they ever saw them.
Meanwhile, Edmund and Caesar charged at the enemy with everything they had.
Jack and Black screamed, struggling to break free, desperate to run to their parents.
Jack, screaming: "Mom, let me go! I need to go to Dad! Let me go! LET ME GO!!"
Black: "Mom, put me down! MOOOM!"
But suddenly, they all froze.
A blood-curdling scream echoed through the air.
They turned just in time to see Edmund catching Caesar as he fell.
The hooded man who had spoken earlier was holding an iron spear—its tip buried deep in Edmund's heart.
He had sacrificed himself to save his best friend, the man who had left everything behind to escape with him, only to meet death at his side.
Caesar's rage exploded, his body surrounded by a powerful aura of energy.
He tried to strike the hooded man, but two others attacked him from behind, using earth and wind energy.
Blades of wind and chunks of rock struck Caesar, sending him to the ground, bleeding from multiple wounds.
He and Edmund had fought with everything they had—but they hadn't even been able to land a single hit.
Sophia and Sarah stood frozen, watching their husbands die before their eyes.
Tears choked their throats.
Jack and Black screamed their names with all the strength in their little bodies.
Sophia and Sarah wanted to run back, but Caesar was still breathing.
With his final, labored breath, he told them to run.
They hesitated—but then the hooded man stepped forward and struck Caesar's head with brutal force.
He died instantly.
Sophia and Sarah snapped.
Sarah summoned water, and Sophia unleashed the wind.
They attacked with everything they had.
Black was too stunned to react, her body trembling.
Jack, on the other hand, felt something burning inside him.
Rage and grief consumed him.
He saw his mother and aunt being held by the hooded men, about to be killed.
He ran with all his might to save them.
Black followed, screaming for their mother.
Sophia, in desperation, cried out: "They will try to kill you when you have a child, JAAACK!! Be careful! I LOVE YOU, MY SOOOON!!"
Sarah, screaming: "My beautiful girl, don't come here! RUN! Jack, Black, RUUUN!!"
But their little legs weren't fast enough.
The hooded figures sprouted claws—and in an instant, they slashed the mothers' throats.
Jack and Black froze in place.
Black, already feeling lifeless, suddenly felt an intense heat radiating from Jack.
A fiery aura surrounded him, and his eyes blazed like an inferno.
He let out a scream so powerful it felt like his vocal cords might tear.
Everything around him began to burn.
The hooded leader's eyes widened in shock.
Summoning fire was extremely rare.
And it brought back terrible memories for them.
Jack lunged at them with all his might, aiming to kill.
He managed to wound some of them, but they overpowered him.
Seeing this, Black frantically searched for something—a rock.
She grabbed it and ran toward them, screaming and crying.
But they caught the blazing child and grabbed the small girl by her arm, lifting her into the air.
The hooded man moved to check Jack's mark.
Before he could, a figure emerged from nowhere.
He fought off the attackers and took hold of the children, restraining them as they thrashed and screamed.
Jack, raging: "LET ME GO!! I'LL KILL THEM!! I'LL KILL ALL OF YOU!!"
Black, sobbing bitterly: "Let me go, you man, let me go! I'll crush their heads!"
Both of them stared at their family, drenched in blood, their tears flowing like an unstoppable waterfall.
That man sprayed something on their faces, and their vision started to blur. Their voices grew fainter until they lost consciousness. Jack's fire dimmed, and both of them collapsed into a deep sleep.
As the mysterious man attempted to escape with them, a masked figure called out to him.
Maskedman: "Do you think you can get away with this, Gara? Do you think you can save them? Why didn't you stay in your hole like you always did?"
Gara turned to him.
Gara: "I think things will never be the same again."
He looked at the two children, then back at the masked man.
Gara, coldly: "From now on, things will get much more interesting, Simon..."
And with that, Jara vanished.
Simon did not order his men to search for Gara. He knew that if Jara wanted to hide, no one could find him unless by a miracle.
Instead, he commanded his men to burn down what remained of the houses and incinerate the bodies.
---
The next day, Jack woke up in an unfamiliar place.
His eyes darted around, searching for Black, but she was nowhere to be found. Forcing himself to stand, a cold and hardened expression settled on his face—he looked like a lifeless body moving without a soul.
Jack stepped outside, fully prepared for anything.
He glanced around, searching for Black and for anything he could use to defend himself.
His eyes landed on a knife resting on a fruit plate. He grabbed it and heard a noise outside. Without hesitation, he stepped out to see who was there.
The house was of medium size, perched atop a mountain peak. There were no fences around its edges.
For the first time, without a hint of fear, Jack walked to the edge of the cliff and looked down coldly. Memories from the past resurfaced—when he used to stand like this, feeling that a strong gust of wind could push him off the mountain.
(Though he had lived in the mountains, his father and uncle had always surrounded their home with fences and other safety measures.)
A voice came from behind him.
"Well done. Only cowards and weaklings are blown away by the wind."
Jack spun around quickly, pointing his knife at the speaker—a man standing there unfazed, holding a basket filled with mushrooms and other items.
Gara, continuing: "But you... you will be the storm that uproots everything in its path."
Jack, coldly: "Who are you?! Where is Black?"
Gara: "Gara. My name is Gara… As for the girl, she's asleep inside."
Gara turned to head back into the house.
Jack followed him, stepping in front to block his path.
Jack: "Stop. Why did you bring us here?"
Gara: "Don't you remember me, boy?"
Jack, with biting sarcasm: "Oh, I remember you well. You could have saved everyone, but you were a coward who stood back and watched them get slaughtered. And in the end, I have no idea why you decided to play the hero. Why did you save us?"
Gara: "First, I wasn't a coward. That wasn't my fight, and I had no reason to interfere. Second, they weren't going to kill you. Maybe the girl, but then they would have left."
Jack: "And why wouldn't they kill me? And why did you interfere?"
Gara: "The girl is waking up. It would be better if she sees you first when she does. After breakfast, I'll tell you both what you need to know."
Meanwhile, Black stirred in bed, slowly regaining consciousness.
Inside the house
Jack rushed to Black, who was curled up, crying bitterly. He could feel her fear and panic.
He sat beside her, gently calling her name, trying to bring her back to reality.
Jack, softly: "B-Black, it's me. Jack. Open your eyes and look at me."
Hearing his voice, she immediately opened her eyes and clung to him so tightly that Jack felt like she was about to bury herself inside his ribs.
Her sobbing grew so intense she could barely breathe. Jack's fear for her deepened—Black was all he had left from that massacre.
He gently patted her back until her cries subsided a little.
Then she looked up at him, her eyes searching his face. He was stiff, not shedding a single tear.
She hugged him and ran her hand over his back, crying harder.
Black, voice choked with sobs: "Jack…"
It was as if her words had given him permission to release everything he had been holding back.
In an instant, memories of the horrific night overwhelmed him, and he broke down. Tears streamed down his face uncontrollably.
His father and mother had been killed before his eyes. He had done nothing. Overnight, he became an orphan. He had lost his family.
He pulled Black into a tight embrace, clutching her so hard that his nails almost dug into her arms. But she didn't mind—her own grief was as deep as his.
Memories of his father scolding him for being mischievous flashed through his mind, and he cried even harder.
Jack : "D-Dad… Please, Dad, I promise! I won't misbehave anymore! I swear I'll listen! I won't be a troublemaker! Aaaahhhhhh!"
Jack, wailing: "M-Mom! I-I will sleep in your arms from now on! You always asked me to, but I refused, saying I was too grown up! You knew… You knew you might die soon… All you wanted was to spend more time with me… Aaaaaaahhhhh!"
Jack, screaming in agony: "Mom, I'm sorry! I'm sorry, Mom! Mom! Dad! Aaaaaaahhhhh!"
Black : "Aaaaaaahhhhhh!"
Jack, muffled scream: "Aaaaaaahhhhhh!"
Gara stood outside, listening to their heartbreaking cries.
But he did not enter. He wanted them to cry until they had nothing left inside.
He quietly walked away to prepare food.
---
Some time later
Jack sat in silence, not uttering a single word.
Black, hesitantly: "J-Jack… W-where are we?"
Jack: "In the house of the man who got us out of there."
Black, in disbelief: "Are they really dead? Will I never see them again, Jack?"
Jack tried to hold back his tears. "Yes. They are."
Black started crying again, and Jack pulled her into another embrace.
Black : "W-what will we do now?"
Jack's voice turned deathly cold, like that of a man long dead.
Jack: "We will get revenge."
To be continued…