Parallel World: Fated Oracle

Chapter 4.1

"Then again, you're the reason why this small part of the Outerwall is at least safe from troublemakers."

"Just who exactly are you?" Kenneth asked, his gaze shifted onto Ethan, who was still glancing down at his son with the softest smile on his face.

"...I'm just a humble father living with his son in the Outerwall, that's all I could say for now."

"When the time's right. I can tell you more, about a failure's story." Ethan expressed, his words were heavy yet he looked so calm, watching his son sleep peacefully, without a care in the world.

The hours burnt slow. Nathaniel drifted into a dream. A dream where a cold yet salty breeze hit his face. He glanced down, he felt taller and indeed he was. Perhaps he embodied an older version of himself, he stold on wet sand as gentle waves hit his shins. The water felt cold yet comforting.

He lifted up his gaze, pointing at the endless horizon. His mouth instictively opened.

"...A world of peace, beyond the horizon." Words came out yet Nathaniel didn't let out a tone, at least that's what he thought. He remained in his dream until his mind grasped back to reality.

Birds already chirped with the warm morning light. Young Nathaniel and Ethan sat across each other, eating stale bread, Nathaniel kept on taking big bites as if he's in a hurry. "Papa" He blurted as he swallowed. Ethan shifted his gaze onto Nathaniel's small grey eyes. "What is it, son?" He asked as he drank some water. "Is the sea...real?" Nathan asked, his tone filled with curiosity and doubt. A minute of silence followed before Ethan opened his mouth.

"...Yes" Ethan answered. "Can you take me there!?" Young Nathaniel immediately followed. Ethan stood up as he made his way beside Nathaniel, ruffling his hair. "...Maybe when you're older." Ethan replied with a soft tone. Nathaniel stood up as he pulled away from Ethan's grasp, his lips carved into a pout. "Papa's a cheapskate! I'm going to play!" Nathaniel expressed as bolted out of the house. Ethan could only sigh as he watched his son disappear.

Ethan tidied up the table before he prepared gardening tools. He laced his boots before stepping out of the house. Immediately, his nose took a whiff of something cold and bitter, blood. Ethan cautiously made his way to the back of their house, a potato patch could be seen, in the distance. A worn down shed, he felt unease as he shifted his gaze down. The dirt mixed with dry droplets of blood.

Each crunch of his boots became louder and louder. Ethan stood in front of the shed's door. The broken chains that bind the handle laid on the dirt. His fingers wrapped handle, he slowly pushed it open. The morning light slowly filled the dark shed.

Ethan's eyes widen in shock, only to see a hodded person, laying down on sacks of potatoes, their cloak soiled in blood as their arm is dismembered, still seeping out blood. Ethan immediately knelt down in front of it, casting the cloak aside.

It was a man, with a youngful body, a symbol of exorcism stitched on his shoulder. Ethan's gaze darkened as he caught black veins creeped on the man's arms. A symptom of corruption.

Nathaniel walked beside Kenneth, passing though the neighborhood. Kenneth's gaze was busy lingering around every dark corner.

"Hey Mr. Kenneth, what you said last night. How much of it was true?" Nathaniel asked as he continuesly kick a small rock as their boots dig on the path.

Kenneth clicked his tongue. "How much? All of it was true!"

"But I won't talk to someone who doesn't believe me." Kenneth replied as his gaze still lingered around the neighborhood.

"Okay. Let me be an exorcist, if I see the sea. I'll believe it." Nathaniel said as he gazed up at Kenneth.

"That's not what believing means Nathaniel."