Rex groaned.
His voice was way too painful to the human ears, it escaped its way out of his throat like a dying dog’s last breath. His ribs trembled with each breath he took in.
With all the strength left in his broken body, he tried to stand.
I saw his arms wobble, his fingers clawing against the blood-soaked ground as he pushed himself up— only to collapse again.
Splash!
His face smacked against the pool of his own blood.
The world around me spun in his vision, a mixture blur of red and gray, and through his hazy consciousness, I watched him helplessly as he tried and failed, over and over again.
The men who took Lucy were already gone, leaving nothing behind.
Rex’s lips parted.
"...Lucy…"
His voice was brittle.
A tightness seized my chest, squeezing the air out from my lungs. My throat ached.
It made me feel awful.
Powerless.
Useless.
I couldn’t do a damn thing.
And then—
The rain came.
A single drop landed on my cheek—his cheek.
Then another.
And another.
Tip… tip… tip…
The soft patter of raindrops drizzled through the silent streets, growing relentlessly as they slammed against the marble ground.
Water mixed with Rex’s blood.
Washing it all away.
The red stain on Rex’s body, the stains on his tattered robes, the footprints of the men who had taken Lucy—
All of it.
Erased.
With one eye barely open, I finally saw the full view of the marketplace.
The people who had once ignored us… were now running.
Not towards us.
Not to help us.
But to escape the rain.
Tucking their robes over their heads, clutching their belongings close—they hurried and ran past me, sparing us not even a single glance.
Leaving us all alone.
No one cared.
No one ever would.
At that moment, I remembered my Master’s words.
"The world does not pause for grief. It does not stop the suffering. It does not care if you are broken, if you bleed, or if you beg for mercy."
"It moves forward, indifferent. Without any care."
"And you—"
"You are left behind, drowning in the rain, choking on your own sorrow, while the world turns its back."
"Because in the end, it does not matter how much pain you carry, how much loss you endure."
"The sun will rise again, and with it, the world will continue—with or without you."
I understood it.
I felt it.
The loneliness.
That same, unbearable loneliness.
Again.
Sniff… sniff…
Rex cried.
His body curled in on itself, his fingers digging into the wet ground as he clung to the last remnants of his strength to stand.
But it was useless.
His chest ached with different kinds of pain.
A pain that could not be seen.
It was guilt.
The weight of his failure to protect his only little sister, consuming him.
Lucy—
He lost her.
She called for him to save her. She needed him.
And he—he couldn’t protect her.
The anguish in his heart twisted into something darker, more sinister.
Something beyond violent.
Anger.
Frustration.
Helplessness.
It boiled beneath his skin.
And yet—
There was nothing he could do.
Nothing even I could do.
Rex cried—We both cried.
Loudly, unrestrained, in the middle of the market, in between this relentless rain, our wails were dimmed out by the rain.
The world did not stop. The people around us did not stop.
But we cried anyway.
Because what else was there to do?
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Lucy was the only family Rex had left.
And now, she is gone.
I don’t know how, but I could see Rex’s memories. The glimpses of his past printed into my mind, the emotions of his, they felt like my own.
I saw all of it.
I saw the moment Lucy was born.
A tiny little thing, barely the size of my forearm, her fingers curling around my thumb—Rex’s thumb.
I saw the stars in his young eyes, the way his small hands held her fragile body, holding her like she was the most precious thing in the world.
Because she was.
And then—
I saw the night their parents were taken away.
Guards, wearing the same armor as the one who took Lucy, stormed in their home with a creepy, cold gaze.
Rex’s screams filled the room.
Lucy’s cries in his arms.
At the end, the way their mother held them, she had the same silver-white hair as Lucy, and the same thing with her eyes too. She was whispering something in their ears.
Then both their parents were gone.
I wanted to know why.
I strained my mind, reaching for the detailed conclusion—
But I got nothing.
The memory was cut off.
Like it didn’t want me to know.
’Why?’
Why did it stop there?
All I knew was that after that night, Rex and Lucy were left alone.
They were just children.
Lucy—barely three years old.
And Rex… probably fifteen.
They were so young.
Too young to endure something like this.
Too young to be abandoned by the world.
But the world didn’t care.
It never did.
So Rex begged.
On the streets, in the alleys, on his knees in front of strangers, swallowing his pride, doing anything he could—
For Lucy.
Just so his baby sister could eat.
Just so she wouldn’t starve.
And I—I watched it all.
The hunger, the sleepless nights, the cold temperature.
The way his fingers trembled as he placed the last piece of bread into Lucy’s hands, forcing a smile, telling her, "I’m not hungry."
It was a lie.
One of many lies he told her.
Such a tragic fate.
RUMBLE! RUMBLE!
The sky split open with an absurd amount of lightning.
I stopped trying to move.
Because it was useless.
Because no matter what I did—
I was just a mere spectator.
"Aaaaaaaagggggggg!"
Rex screamed.
He made a sound so guttural, so primal, it sent a shiver through my very soul.
His hands—bloodied in his own blood, slammed against the ground.
SLAM! SLAM! SLAM! SLAM!
Once.
Twice.
Again.
And again.
And again.
The lightning above us cracked again, as if responding to his rage.
His nails split, broken fist.
The skin of his fingers peeled away.
His knuckles, bruised and torn flesh, slammed into the stone with a force that made my own hands ache.
I watched all of it.
The pool of blood beneath him vanished—washed away by the rain, as if trying to erase the evidence of his suffering.
But it was still there.
It would always be there.
"They will pay."
His voice was low.
He made a vow.
I felt it.
The grudge.
The hatred.
The insatiable need for revenge.
And somehow—it became mine too.
It oscillated into my mind like a disease, twisting, warping, infecting my thoughts with a thirst to destroy.
To burn everything around me.
To make all of them suffer.
Rex clenched his teeth, his jaw tightening so hard I thought it might snap.
And then—
I saw his eyes.
His reflection in the rainwater.
Those weren’t the same eyes from before.
They were different.
Much darker.
The innocent silver hue was gone, replaced by something—
Unfamiliar.
Unforgiving.
It reminded me of someone.
’But who?’
I tried to recall.
I reached the endpoint—
Nothing came to me.
Just an empty void.
My thoughts were a tangled mess.
Just like Rex.
To be Continued...