A problem after another, why it makes me feels like this is going to en badly?...
Until waking up in a familiar place with the naked eye, Mlezi looked from side to side perplexed by the place where he was, it was nothing more and nothing less than...
"What?..." The blond boy wondered as he woke up on the beach in front of Fabio's restaurant. "But how?"
He walked towards the restaurant still perplexed to lean out of one of the windows of the place and shout "FABBB!... HELLOO?! FAB-!".
When he suddenly feels something on his back and jumps "*Gasp!*".
"Mlezi? What are you doing here? I thought you were going home" Asked the restaurant owner who came out behind him.
The cub was in a moment that was too complex to process, so much so that he couldn't even intertwine one word with another to explain some of what he felt "B-but you were-, I-I think... what about with the-?!"
"Easy, easy...take a breath and clear your mind" Said the Italian smiling.
"I mean... what about the sect and the invasion...?" Said the confused boy and a little confused.
"What do you mean? You must be tired" Said the Italian sitting next to the boy at one of the tables on the terrace.
"Yeah...maybe it was just that, although the thought of it being real worries me..." Mlezi said, looking sadly at the ground until Fabio put his hand on his shoulder.
"Don't worry, that day will never come. And if it does, we'll beat them! Right?" Mlezi's breathing took a more normal rhythm and he nodded smiling. "Very good...by the way, I've closed right now. Do you want me to take you home?"
The lion stands up to stretch his back "You don't have to, I can do it by myself. After all, you've been bussy all day"
"Nah, its okay. Get on my back and I'll give you a lift" the man offered.
He already knew what the boy was going to answer, he himself cut off the sentence "You have the weight of a feather for me hahaha" If it was true that in part his head felt tired although his body not as much as to accept the offer "Okay *yawn* thanks..."
Both walked the quiet streets where from time to time they observed a 24-hour shop with someone half asleep at the table, a pleasant and reassuring situation...
[For those who are interested in the location of the photos in real life, those images are from the Paseo Mall in Pasadena. It's a seriously beautiful place, so go check it out on google maps because it's amazing :)]
When he arrives at his house, he knocks on the door and a brown woman with blonde hair, green eyes and a lame leg answers "Oh Fabio, what are you doing here this late? *He sees his son* I already said that he was taking too long, I'm very sorry. I always tell him not to come back late and look at him"
"Don't worry dear, I insisted him come up since he's been helping me out again... And trust me, my workers annoy me five times more than him" the man laughs.
"Oh thanks, let me" she tries to go over to pick up her son but almost trips because of her leg. Fabio helps her stay on her feet by insisting on taking the boy "Since you're here, come in, have a drink. As if it were your home"
"I don't wanna interrupt" He spoke as he set the boy down.
"Please accept it..." She told him while looking at him with a sweet face.
"*chuckle* Okay, let me take care of him, come on wake up boy! Wake up! Wake up!~" The voice and face became more and more distorted as Niko looked at him uneasily. Until little by little he opens his eyes in a kind of armored truck with a strange guy talking to him "Wake up! Boy!...".
"AAAaahh!" Niko jumps awake with one leg chained to a stool in the strange room. "Where am I? What is this place?" He said as he stepped away from the subject "And who are you?!"
"First of all, good morning, second, welcome to a trip to the paradise, these assholes pay" Said the guy with prison clothes although the boy continued with his same clothes, the subject was apparently half crazy.
<Oh god, where did I end up...> get me out of here please!" the boy's thoughts were even more disturbed than the boy himself. Suddenly a voice is heard that sounded as if he had a diving suit "What's going on back there, huh?! *thump* *thump*".
"Hey, where are we going?! Stop the truck right now!!" Said the boy defensively as he tried to somehow make his pyromancer powers work but when he tried they immediately left. The boy was surprised at this until he saw a strange metal bracelet on his forearm .
"Of course, we are going to a place that you will like hehehe... And by the way, do you like your new bracelet '''chosen one''''?, take care of it well since it's the first prototype because we couldn't prove it its funcionally before, we're gonna say" Niko gets angry at this and reponds "Go to hell all you, cowards!".
"Hahahaha I like this kid, don't worry, we're almost already in your new home..." The sentinel said as they approached what seemed to be a fairly large fortress <Ok, I really don't like this at all> thought the sentinel quite nervous boy.
After a while the truck stops implying that they had reached their destination.It is here that the sentinel driver of the truck is heard saying: "Well, we arrived, unload the ware from back there, and watch out for the bigwig!" All this was said to other soldiers outside the truck.
After a couple of minutes the rear doors of the truck open and a couple of sentinels enter while others in the back point rifles at the boy and the other crazy guy as if it were a prison for dangerous criminals."Everything okay little one? I hope the trip didn't make you nauseous heheh" the guy laughed as he untied both of them from the metal bench.
The boy didn't say anything but look sideways with contempt at everyone.
"Hey! And what about me? no welcome for the celebrity's partner huh?..." The madman said as he walked out of the armored vehicle."Shut up you scum, if we brought you for a reason, it's because you were so crazy that you gave a little grace at least during the trip" replied the driver while escorting him.
"And I did it right?! BECAUSE IT DEFINETLY WAS FOR ME HAHAHAHAH- *Ouch!*" He received a blow from a sentinel's weapon butt while the soldier with the inflated vein replied "Shut the hell up!"
The guy followed was escorted by another crossing while Niko was left to shine with the flashlights being able to observe the place. It was horrible.
It was a maximum security prison of the time, the atmosphere was not pleasant at all since there were spotlights and sentinels everywhere. All that was just not right, the atmosphere was terribly hateful, as the boy walked the sounds of the soldiers patrolling the area were heard and some even turned to look a little, the eyes of those people were all red like the of the leader himself and glowed in a certain part in the dark. It was all creepy, as they advanced, they found themselves with prisoners and guards lurking on all sides.
At a certain point the boy asked himself: <"What place is this? It's like I've gone down to some kind of prison in hell...">
Mlezi stopped thinking when he saw a heavy soldier pass by, it was huge due to the armor, with a bulletproof helmet and two electric batons in both hands. The ground was almost rumbling when he walked past one of those heavy soldiers.
The boy didn't say anything during the entire escort ride to his cell, which seemed to be special in a certain part since the doors were a little different. When they arrived, the soldiers took off the shackles while the one who led the escort approached the boy to say something "Welcome to your new home. We know that you can be a little scared so I congratulate you because you wont be alone, you'll be accompanied by a dear very affectionate gurl hehe...and don't worry, we already warned her not to dare to do anything to you since the Makuu prefers you with as few scratches as possible" (The makuu means The superior in Swahili).
Suddenly another guard begins to speak in a mocking tone "With that muppet?! HA! Let's see if she at least lets him live for more than half a month buahahah... oh, I'm sorry I didn't remember that you could hear me, enjoy your night little man"
"Leave him brother! I think that there have been many emotions for today so good night" Said the sentinel as he closed the cell with the child inside and walked away, as he did so, you could hear the guard calling through the communicator "Order the dinner for the alpha cell in sector A"
"Stop calling me that!" Mlezi cursed. Out of nowhere a rough voice begins to be heard coming from the back of the cell "Who did they send me here now? Look a thing you dumbass!*Mlezi hides scared behind one of the beds in the room* , if you don't respect me here, you and I will have a big problem *footsteps could be heard getting closer to where he was*, do you think you can set me up?, hmm very well" And in less than a tenth of a second a tigress trap the boy ramming him to the ground and with her fist raised and furious eyes she analyzed him little by little.
As she analyzed him, she saw the cub on the ground scared, and little by little his face calmed down until she seemed half shamed and her fist also lowered as her facial expression changed.
"Oh my!A-are you alright boy?" She was sorry and a little nervous caressing him a little trying to calm him down.
She helped the boy up and asked him at that moment "Did I hurt you?". The boy shook his head while looking at her still a little scared.
"Come on, sit" She accompanied him to the part of the room with the bed built into the wall and they both sat together. The girl waited for an answer until Niko gave it "No... don't worry, I'm fine. I just don't understand any of this" He just looked at the ground thoughtfully and tried to look at the woman next to him.
"I'm so sorry, I thought you were... I-it's nothing, I we better forget this" The woman leaned her back against the wall that was near the bed.
Niko looks at her confused at her attempt to explain "And... have you been here long?"
"About a year and a half, here time passes slower than it seems..." The sad look was still present on her.
"That must be horrible...by the way, what's your name?" Niko asked smiling a little to show confidence.
She noticed his smile and smiled back, replying "I'm Mwanga... and you?"
"I'm Mlezi, but my friends call me Niko"
"You're not from here, aren't you?" Mwanga asked curiously.
"Well, I was born here but my parents moved to Marbella shortly after I was a year old, I can speak swahili as my mom. A weird accent, right?"
The woman smiled kindly "It's fine, I like it. I guess you mean it because of your father, right?"
"Yeah... and you?" Asked the kid.
"I come from North Africa, I used to live in the USA. But I came here because of my family, this war goes from bad to worst" Admitted as she played a finger game with a coin.
"And they are fine?" He asked this with a bit of concern as he was aware of such a possible situation.
Mwanga at first began to speak calmly "Everything was fine, it was..." a more breathy tone of voice began to be noticed as she continued "or at least it was until one day these monsters came and took them away everyone ahead, leaving me with life to watch all ..." a tear was noticeable falling from her cheek although the woman maintained her composure, it was noticeable that he was not only the combat but also to a certain extent for inside though of course. Everyone have a limit.
The lion cub noticed that she wasn't even looking at him while he was telling it, so he decided to do what he could do, give her a hug. Mwanga didn't do anything at first, but when he realized this a bit, he also returned it.
"Thank you, you're so sweet..." She said while stroking his hair a little since the boy didn't reach his head "My parents told me that this helped more than it seemed"
The tigress smiled "Your parents know a lot"
He made a correction with pain still "They knew..."
Mwanga was frozen and in shock since that experience as a young man was much more terrible than as an adult, the poor boy had no chance to live his life quietly "Don't tell me... It was them?"
Niko, still sad, quickly replied nodding for not prolonging it any longer. Now, Mwanga's sadness turned to rage "Motherf... I'm so sorry honey. Trust me, I know what it feels like"
"You already told me and I'll tell you the same, you're a good person Mwanga..." The tigress couldn't hold back her tears and hugged him tighter "Thank you Mlezi..." when all of that passed and they broke the hug, wiping their tears, they continued with the conversation "Why did they come for you? Tell me"
"I don't know, they just came to destroy my home, they said that they were looking for someone called the chosen one... And that bastard of Woga started chasing me everywhere" He explained.
"Wait, what!? And they said something about Sahel's spear or the relics?" Mwanga asked fearfully.
"Uhh no?... wait, yes! He told me about a spear but I dont understand what's that"
"The reason of why they locked me up here" the woman affirmed.
The little boy wanted to know, although from the tone of the woman it was intuited that she would try not to tell him for fear of panic "Explain it to me, I want to know... I need answers about what happened to my home"
"*sigh* Okay, but are you sure about this?" Mlezi agreed to this.
Mwanga took a deep breath and began to explain, "The relics are old artifacts that, according to our ancestors, they poisoned the mind of their victims if it was misused...
Legend tells of a great war a long time ago. All started thousands of years ago, in a big lands where several kingdoms lived together. Each of these kingdoms had different laws, different beliefs, different leaders...
But they didn't fight, they supported each other when they needed something. This practice was carried out for many years, until one of those monarchs (a lion who was characterized by his scar that crossed his left eye), Sahel, had an idea. He offers to unify all their kingdoms under the same icon and share power, an unshakable kingdom. The idea was honest and sensible, so they agreed to carry out that union, they didn't know how wrong they were...
The years passed with glorious and successful, but all will change when, in one of the investigations to find more prosperous lands to live, they found a spear, but not just any melee weapon. A golden spear which emitted a glow of strange power, it seemed so curious to them that they decided to take it and keep it in their kingdom under their protection. But it wasn't enough, the hunger of curiosity got the better of them, so they appointed Sahed and some of his scribes to investigate the strange object.
A time after this, some monarchs began to be eliminated one after another, and those lands that once belonged to them were divided among the other kings that were left. They searched and searched for guilty parties, but found nothing, nothing until that day. One of the kings was a victim of a try of murder but managed to survive and thanks to this, it was possible to know who was responsible.
They broke into his palace, there was Sahed... sitting on his throne with the spear in one paw and with a black void in his eyes. The kings demanded explanations and in return, Sahed rejected it showing an arrogant attitude because of a clear intoxication of power and challenged those who opposed them to declare war.
At that moment, the pieces of the puzzle began to fit, he eliminated the other kings to keep their lands and most importantly, with his army. But the traitor king didn't do it all alone, he had several corrupt subjects with a lot of influence who helped him in exchange for a place in his new kingdom. They planned to assemble an army large enough to wipe out the other kings and crown the evil lion as the sole ruler of all kingdoms. The other enraged kings decided to end this and declare war on him, creating two sides: the protectors of Jua *sun* and the warriors of Kovu *scar*
The protectors evacuated their civilians while the other side manipulated them into fighting alongside their army, many obediently due to being illiterate, a low-key trick and depraved.
The day of reckoning arrived, the war between the two sides ended in disaster for both, the citizens who lived in the kingdoms were the only ones who survived to tell the story. Because the rest of the kings had to give their lives to end Sahed's when their army fell.
Some citizens came back to collect the spear and took it to their new settlement in India, kept the spear and buried it deep so no one else would find it. With the passing of time, a large tree grew right there from which a rare healing power sprouted from its roots, which it took from the buried spear. The inhabitants of the commune chose those closest to their former monarchs to take charge of the kingdom and to study that phenomenon, what they found didn't even seem real, it was capable of curing what seemed impossible to cure. To do the test they brought crippled, blind or chronically ill people, they all ended up healed.
The citizens baptized this one as the "Tree of Life" as a tribute to their former kings who gave their lives for them, to this day it remains a sacred sanctuary. But there is something else, inside the tree are preserved writings of that civilization, which affirm that they saw with their own eyes the very kings who lost their lives during the war.
They saw them as spirits, or rather as clouds in the shape of their heads which spoke at the same time. Before they disappeared, for never be seen again, they left one last message:
<If the artifact is removed from the its place,
a chosen one will be sent to retrieve it and return it>"
And that was exactly what happened a few years ago, someone changed the original spear for a copy and apparently, the one chosen to face the thief of that thing is YOU.
The boy couldn't believe what he was hearing, he's... a guardian"A-And how does that influence me?"
The tigress tried to remember all the paraphenalia that she read there, which was difficult because of how fanciful it sounded "According to what I managed to read about it, you've powers related to some kind of sun's fire which you can manipulate at will, your senses are supernatural as well as your physical conditions, blah blah blah blah... and your regeneration of your body is faster too to your essence"
"My...essence?" Asked Niko.
"Your chi essence or something like that, you know, that chinese belief older than life itself. The vital force of living beings that can be used, with the appropriate techniques and knowledge: to heal by giving from your's to other's, to attack and..."
"I can imagine it. What I want to know is... Are you saying my "vital power" is superior to everyone else's?"
" That's right" Mwanga replied.
"I heard something about a power called prana, an indian concept, and a legend about some kind of rare tree with similar powers. Although, it sounds like a children's story created by a crazy old man"
"Both things are the same, what happens is that in China it's called chi and in India prana but, let's be sincere, it's the same thing" She explained.
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Writer's note: I've suspicions that chi could be canon in the lion king universe. Since in the tree of life (located in india), Janna uses this same power stored by the tree using herself as a "conductor" to heal Ono when he was blind.
In addition to that yellowish color, for which this power is known, appears in the roots of the tree when the healing is used. This is curious because at no time is the name of chi or rather prana, which is what it is called in India, mentioned. You can investigate it yourselves but there are many coincidences. For Dragon Ball fans, the chi and the ki are the same thing, with that you can more or less imagine its uses and importance.
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"And this bracelet retains them?"showing her the bracelet, she looks it carefully "I saw this before, although according to what I read, it shouldn't have an effect on you. Something strange is happening with that and I don't know why"
The entire conversation was cut short by a knock on the cell door "You two, dinner's ready!... hm? what's up cubby? Has the cat bitten your tongue? hahahah it doesn't surprise me, what a beast with which you have ended up" sometimes these sentinels were infuriating despite their creepy eyes.
"What is he talking about, Mwanga?"The woman wanted to wait for the guard to leave to tell him why in private "Hey! He's talking to you"
"Uhg! I hate you so much!, *she relaxes for a moment to approach the boy* they call me that because I've killed more than one of them when they came interrogate me" Mwanga explained.
"Yes, and without lying, it can be fun to watch many times" the tigress woman looked at him with an angry face as she pushed the boy out of the guard's sight."What are you looking at? Do I look handsome to you? Come on, have your food and tomorrow you'll answer my question when it's over, ok? Goodbye, beautiful" he said winking as he left the door.
"SON OF A ..." Mwanga said in a very low voice so Mlezi wouldn't hear her "Sorry about that , sweetheart. These people get on my nerves... I don't like killing anyone. And I know it's not right but..." the boy cut her off right here.
"Don't worry, I know. You can be seen in your way of being and I'm like you too, but I also confess that I killed one of them too for save a friend by that they were stalking... sometimes I can't believe I did it" A consoling smile turned to a slightly guilty look at the floor.
Mwanga did not know very well what to answer since that was not something usual, but she knew very well what it was like to be forced to do those things without an option "Don't worry, it wasn't your choice"
He crouched down to her height and put his hand on her cheek "Do you think this will end someday?... I don't want this" Niko tried to explain the matter.
"Listen, we will get out of this situation, I assure you. It won't be easy though: they will make us work hard, we will meet some very strange people and we'll have to deal with it until we know what can be done about it"
Until they started to hear some boots steps going up the metal stairs. At first they thought he was one of those guards but no, to their misfortune there was that sinister subject so imposing because he was the only one without armor and without a helmet "You know? There was a time when nobody believed that the world wouldn't return to go through another change..." They both looked at the one with the sinister voice and long hair with certain contempt "But this one needs to make a change for progress and for that, we need order"
"And what makes you think I would support you?" The anger was noticeable in the boy's eyes.
"Come on, it's obvious. The people of each territory have been fighting between them like wild monkeys since long before, if the differences end, goodbye war and goodbye problems. Everyone happy, got' it?" Replied Woga.
"Goodbye war?! You already created one!" Reproached Mlezi angrily "You don't give a damn about people and much less their beliefs or feelings, don't you?! Oh of course, I couldn't expect more from someone who underestimates himself below the spirit of an ancient tyrant who we don't even know if existed"
"Oh man, you're stubborn as hell. Of course they exist, they are watching us from up there, in their own kingdom above the clouds, it's enough to call them and wait for their response to know that they are real, the spear was created for subdue the weaks to achieve a greater purpose. Sahel was the only one who knew how to use it, unifying the masses means ending their differences, which is synonymous with peace"
Mwanga was fed up with him but she needed answers "And what about the massacre that started all this? Do you know how many innocent lives you destroyed there?! How many children did you orphan?! And I don't give a damn about your purpose, that act was so deplorable like you"
"*chuckle* MY purpose?! I only fulfill the purpose of other entities that are beyond the reach of our understanding, that ones who came before, we are only their tools. That doing were only to imply that a new stage for this world would approach" Woga approached Mlezi while saying this but at the end of the sentence the woman stood between them as if trying to protect the boy.
"A stage of social misery where only you reign!" She said it to his face but he raised an eyebrow at her with a serious face and hardly flinching.
"First, we would be the cub and I, the superior beings to us have better things to do than keep an eye on that bunch of grid beings and of course, I'm not going to destroy anything. That's quite insolent..." the last part, he told her getting closer to her face little by little with some anger in his voice while Mwanga tried to keep his composure solid since Woga was quite intimidating, but out of nowhere Woga went from that angry face to laughing quite calmly "And it would be a lie if I say that this doesn't amuse me from your part..." the sinister man turned around at the end of this sentence "Although it's true that every great change requires a certain sacrifice"
"THEY ARE PEOPLE TOO, just because they haven't been chosen to be a weapon with paws don't make them worse!" Mlezi yelled defensively being fed up with the matter.
The man outside the cell stopped and turned "We are both superior to them because we were chosen to be. Mlezi, the only difference between you and me is that I accept the purpose for which I was chosen. While you allow yourself to be invaded by those people with an insignificant existance unlike ours, who don't have the slightest idea about improving the world"
They both fell silent as the guards closed the door. While Mwanga looked angry, the little boy had a sad and bewildered look.
"You don't have to break your mind with this" the woman was already worried about what the boy was thinking.
Niko: "It's not that, it's that we have to find a way to do something about it. But locked up here, I see it hard"
"Listen, we're going to get out of here sooner or later. Everyone is against these people, at some point there will be a chance" Niko looked at her a little less sad and she reached out to grab his shoulder "Trust me, it's not the first time I meet them"
The little boy looked at her with a smile "Thanks, I love you...", Mwanga was moved by this "Me too honey, me too..." and everything ended with a phrase from one of the sentinels "Lights out! Everyone to sleep!"
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------The next day was practically a normal day behind bars, although from then on they made them work for cleaning and other things. There were always soldiers everywhere: in the courtyard at every corner, at the lookout posts, in the dining room, especially where they both went, there was always one or two more sentinels just in those cases. During the passage of time, things were discovered either by talks or by documents that were secretly stolen, some of them were quite interesting, especially for the boy: It turns out that to do what Woga wanted to do, a kind of manufactured invention that needed a few strange artifacts that would took years to find and investigate. Which meant it was going to take a long time to build, those were good news for the world.
The days were slow and the hours passed as if nothing had happened, it seemed that there was no way out of there. Or at least that is what was believed.
Almost two years passed, an excessive amount of time apparently, and by then a third of the parts needed for the machine had not been found. Nothing really changed regarding aspects except some marks of dirt and other things.
The main thing is that Mwanga accepted the young boy as her adopted son because they both lost practically everything they knew, the emotional state of both was maintained thanks to that (Mwanga's mentality even improved making her less aggressive over time but without lose his rudeness in the face of threats).
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It was the dawn of another day, Mwanga slowly woke up from his bed.
It was more or less 9 a.m. Due to the brightness of the sun that entered through the window, the woman woke up a little sad and annoyed since the previous night was a torture of work. When she was going to get up, she noticed the little boy who slept next to her with a book by his side, he spent his free time studying on his own since he was not given the opportunity to receive classes from anyone.
She was moved and couldn't bear not caressing him, it was the only thing that encouraged her. Then she got up to prepare for the new day.
"Ok, let's see what happens today" she said to herself. It only took 10 minutes after this for the soldier to appear with breakfast, here the times for the distribution of daily meals were strictly adhered to by the guards, although sometimes they were stupid..."Hey! Here's breakfast!" from this point the guy notices the woman picking up the tray "Heyyyy *whistle* how was your morning sweetie?"
"Don't even think of calling me that you miserable!"
The guy let out a mocking laugh as he leaned against the cell door "Oh come on I thought you'd get used to that hehe"
"Neither I nor anyone in those cells belong to you sewer rats! I don't know how many times I have to tell you"
"They live under this roof that we put up for them, they should to thank us for not leaving them outside in the open air"
"YOU SON OF A... You know what? Forget it! As if I wasn't sick of repeating it." The woman left the tray on a table that was near Niko who was sleeping "
"Say what you want but we are still short of someone for the break time of surveillance group C, and everyone works here in one way or another..." Mwanga knew these people and their hints very well so she put answer right away.
"LOOK FOR SOMEONE ELSE FOR THAT AND LET ME LIVE IN PEACE DID YOU UNDERSTAND?!"
"Wow... easy beast, it's work in exchange for us letting you be here. Isn't that convenient for you? It's better valued"
Mwanga was upset "I don't care, I still have dignity! Unlike certain people I'm going to save mentioning"
"The leader of this sector has promised that, if you accept on your own, that there will be more breaks for the boy between jobs"The woman was about to send him to hell but when she turned around and saw her son asleep, she thought of what was best for him and she thought about it for a few seconds. It was throwing away part of her dignity, but for the poor little creature she was willing to make the sacrifice.
"And good?" the guard asked impatiently.
Until in the end she decided to swallow her pride and still angry but calm she made her decision "Fine..."
"Hehehe perfect, we'll see you there jewel" The guy left the cell down the metal stairs.
"Pfff go to hell" the woman muttered.
"Don't worry Mwanga..." A man from one of the cells across the corridor started talking to her, he had a sad tone "They also did the same thing to me and I refused, but when they put my wife and daughter in the middle... what option did I have?"
"The people who work for that guy are unscrupulous demons, despite spending more than two years putting up with them, I can't get used to them. They are unbearable" she sat near the door to be more comfortable.
"It is our duty to take care of them and I am aware, they encourage me to continue in the worst situations" while the man was speaking, Mwanga kept looking at the boy, which made her understand what the man was trying to explain "Yes, after So many years without company, I don't know what would have become of me without Niko"
"Heh I see him seem to be doing well"
"Yes, the little one is quite mature for his age and I am trying to teach him to keep his way of being" The woman smiled tenderly as she explained."I see, it is true that power often changes people... Hey Mwanga, could I ask you something?"
"Uh huh, tell me"
"I know it may sound crazy but... in the hypothetical case that the boy can get out of this and get stronger, I mean, get to become a warrior strong enough to fight. Do you think he would still be himself?"The woman left her a little undecided when asked this question, they were talking about a very special case
"Well... look, I could answer you directly yes, saying that he is a good boy and that's it. But if I'm honest I wouldn't know how to tell you very well, I would say yes because I know him, although who knows what awaits him"
"I understand you, dear, and I appreciate your honesty. From what little I know about the boy, I imagine so, but the unknown is how..." Thoughtfully, the man launched a hypothesis based on his own experience "The key is that he be happy in his new life despite what he has suffered here".
"Yes, I agree with that. He made me much happier than I was before he was here with me, and I think I could be much happier around more people like him" The tranquility was noticeable in the environment.
"A family, a big family... trustworthy people that he can emotionally lean on. That would definitely do him a lot of good."Mwanga smiled and affirmed to this, to which the curious man asks him a question "Would you be willing to do anything for him?"
"Sure, he is my son after all"
"Even love...?"
The woman was a little shocked and a small blush was noticeable in her face "Y-yeah, I mean, it depends on the type of man of course heh"
"Hahah don't get nervous, I ask you it because I'm partly with my wife because of that. At first it wasn't very safe but in the end who knows?"
"For your daughter? What relationship did those two have?"
"She was her pediatrician. Turns out her husband died of a terminal illness and she was alone."
"Poor woman, and how did yours go?"
"Well, I once went to a meeting with her because my daughter told me that she wanted to see me and it was on a park bench, I mean, it wasn't even in her office. And when I get to her and ask her, she asks me why that I quote her there, I was surprised and told her that my daughter was the one who said that she was the one who wanted to see me. At that moment I smelled what was happening "
"And your daughter? Is she adopted or...?"
"No, she belonged to an ex that I had who cheated on me trying to scam me and I caught her and got rid of her. I don't know how I let her cheat on me like that..."
"The feelings and affection towards that person are delicate"
"Yep, but it was no longer for me, since there are lot of people in the world that in my case: women. But for my little girl, it was her mom and one person is not the same as another in that situation, you understand me"
"Yes, and very well. For the children, the things are not like that and I understand it. The truth is bad"
"Would your son like to have a father?"
"Yes, he mentioned it a long time ago, although I-I...""
"You want to be and feel the same for that man but you are afraid that your son wants that man as a father but you don't feel comfortable or vice versa. Am I wrong?"
Mwanga's face was a strange mix between confusion and surprise (and deep down relief that he knows what it is) "N-No, but how..."
"Hehehe I already went through that woman, don't worry, you end up getting used to it"
"Hmm thanks, I'll take it into account" immediately afterwards a little girl's voice is heard coming from the back of the man's cell "Daddy, when do we have breakfast?"
"Now sweetheart"
"Heheh that's cute, the bad man who brings the food will be here now you-" Out of nowhere, there is an explosion in the building which makes everyone panic.Niko jumped out of bed in a fright "Whaaa!!" causing the boy to fall to the ground.
"*Gasp!* Are you alright son?" the woman told him as she helped him sit up "Don't worry mom, I'm fine but what was that?"
The man who was the other with whom he was speaking heard a voice that could not be heard from the other cell "There's a riot going on! We have a chance to get out of here!"
"Finally, did you hear that Nicky? We-" the man interrupts them "Shhh someone's coming"
Out of nowhere a sentinel runs up to check the cells in that area to see if everything was in order, to which he approaches the boy's "The chosen one is still in place, over"
The man had a belt full of things from the prison, among them something that Niko noticed and which gave him an idea "Sorry, I think the bracelet is doing something strange sir"
"Hm? the bracelet you say? let me see that quickly" he shows his arm and to the one who sees how the boy is sneezing hard, which makes him hit his leg hard "Ahg hey! be more careful wimp, I'm not your colleague to those things!... Nothing is wrong with this garbage and now leave me alone, I have things to do"
The man leaves to which Mwanga is surprised "Niko, what was that supposed to be for? Now we don't know if he'll come back to-" the boy picks up something metal from the ground that seemed to be a bunch of keys.
"That is...?" her face was stunned.
"Yes mom, that was on purpose since I know that he was going to pay attention to me because of who I am. Wait for me to look for the key"
"Oh Nicky, you don't know how much I love you little *muach!*" Mwanga celebrated.
"Got it, come on! *Both leave the cell* Wait, I'll get you out of there... I got it, get out quick!"
The man along with his wife and their daughter in his arms leave the room "Free at last hahaha! Thank you seriously Niko. My family thanks you"
"It's nothing hehe, but there's no time, grab the keys and get the others out quickly!" Ordered the boy.
"Alright, i'm going"
From here, those who were coming out of their cells took the keys to other cells to rescue the other people locked up."We have to go and quickly! The sentinels will soon notice that we are missing!" Said the man warning.
"Separate yourselves" They all ran carefully through the corridors of that place until one of those sentinels appeared.
"HUH?! Stay right there, that nobody move!" She started pointing the gun at them.Niko got brave and made a distraction "Woga?! What are you doing here?!"
The woman looked back surprised (because her boss wasn't there really because some buisness in other site) and the boy tried to throw the gun to the ground. This triggered the trigger accidentally but just the boy put the bracelet in the mouth of the gun stopping the bullet "You damn jackanape! Come back here!"
The sentinel accidentally dropped the gun trying to catch the boy while he was resisting until Mwanga picked up the gun from the ground while the other was amused "Hey you cockroach!!"
The boy just managed to escape his grip and the woman in a fit of rage hit her in the face with the handle of the gun so hard that it made her fall down the stairs. Making her land on one of the tables downstairs, which ended up smashed.
As she took a breath, she approached Niko "Are you alright? That was dangerous even though you got us out of trouble-" she passed from looking worried to a tender face "I'm so proud of you..."
"Yes, we are not your relatives or anything, but we are too" the man with his wife and daughter approached them.The 10 year old girl in her mother's arms was even amused by that "I want to be like you too!, I want to hit the bad guys too!"
"Hehe I don't really recommend it, but thank you very much"responded Niko till the man's wife started to speak "I don't want to interrupt this but, I think it's time to go"
Mwanga heeded the advice "You're right, let's go everyone!"
They all ran outside where there were a lot of guards fighting with the people who were locked up and with people who also carried weapons and apparently belonged to the army of a nearby kingdom. They came to a sort of military car park by the side of a cliff with a river just below.
"So, what can we do now?" asked the wife.
Both the man and Mwanga were thinking about something and looking around until one of the two saw something "Look, Mwanga that vehicle is open and started. There is no one inside besides, I think it's from one of the reinforcement sentinels that they have sent"
"Yeah... I see it, well done!" Said the woman.
"We're going to try it!" Mwanga stood next to his son who was looking into the distance near the cliff fence "Mwanga... are you coming or not?"
"Yes, just give me a moment with him"
"Ok, I'm going to the car" The man went with his wife and daughter.
The woman stood next to Niko on the railing "What are you thinking?"
"Nothing, just what will happen next"
"Don't worry darling, we'll come up with something and by the way"
"Yes, whats up?"
"Your bracelet is..." The boy looked at his arm seeing the bracelet that, because of the bullet from before, was damaged and sparks came out from it. But the light was still on, curious Niko tried to use his power and some flames came out of his hand although not with the same power due to the effects of the invention.
"Wow...that is amazing Nik"
"It's not that powerful but I'll see what I can do to get this thing off"
"At least we're out now, we're going to start a new life Niko. Are you nervous?"
"Not much, I have you after all"
"I'm glad son I guess it won't be long in- *while Mwanga spoke Niko felt something*" His instincts enhanced due to the faulty bracelet wasn't working at all in that occasion.
Concentrating a little, he saw behind ella a sentinel rising from behind a wall with wounds and half-broken armor pointing at Mwanga and he felt that the soldier was going to pull the trigger, he quickly pushed her away, throwing her to the ground. And with the speed and precision of a cowboy, he launched a flare which hit him in the part of the face where his helmet was broken, injuring him.But he had time to pull the trigger of the gun just as the flame hit him, hitting Niko in the shoulder. The boy lost his balance and crashed into the gate which fell down causing the girl himself to fall behind.
Mwanga as soon as she recovered realized this and with tremendous anguish she went to try to catch the boy "SONNNN!!"But it was already too late and he fell straight into the water "AHGGGGgggg-!!", the woman was devastated and with her hand outstretched looking down. With shock and tears he prepared to jump into the water.
"N-NICKY DON'T WORRY I'M COMING FOR YOU!!"Suddenly someone grabbed her shirt from behind before anyone could, it was the man from before.
"Mwanga p-please! Stop! This is not the solution!"
"HE'S MY SON, do you want me to let him go?!"
"N-No Mwanga! of course not but throwing yourself behind can end badly-"
"GRRR!!"
"Gasp!" The wife came over to try something "Honey...please let us help you"
Mwanga feeling bad, calmed down little by little "I-I'm sorry, it's just that *Sobs*" she began to cry silently.
The couple, trying to comfort her, hugged her "Calm down dear, we're going to go down there and look for him, ok?"
"O-ok *sobs* thanks" the girl approached her, when Mwanga was crouched down the girl came to give her a hug.
"Why are you crying?" asked the girl with a sad face who didn't know what happened.To which Mwanga was going to answer a little insecurely, the mother interrupted her "Calm down my girl, she just feels bad"
"Is she sick?"
"Em-uh y-yes! yes sweetheart, that's it" The mother replied, the girl looked at the orange-haired woman "Come with us and we'll take care of you, will you?"
"I... I don't really want to disturb"The girl's father interrupted her right there "You're not annoying at all, we owe you the fact that we got out of that place. Both you and... *sigh* I'm sorry"
"Don't worry, we're going to... you know what?" the man replied "Sure, let's go"
The couple helped her up and the little girl took her by the hand to take her to the vehicle, but in her head there was only one thing clear: "<<Don't worry, Niko. I'll go look for you even if I have to travel all over Africa>>"
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Ok, here it is true that I overdid myself writing hehe. But hey, they were data that had to be given so that people understand the context of the story, which has its task.
I could have written about the days locked up there but, to be honest, nobody would be interested since it was: Get up, breakfast, work, lunch, work, shower, dinner and go to sleep (Along with the break shifts). It was like that day after day so very interesting was not.But yes, there were certain factors that I wanted to put on my own, such as: When the people who were in the cells were summoned by the guards to make forced sexual exchanges in exchange for privileges for their loved ones (this was practically done by all the young adult people in which the guards had an interest in certain people, be they male or female), this is a clear example of the type of people that Woga brought with him. Alluding to what the lion clans do when they forcefully conquered another clan to show superiority and take advantage. It is something very detestable, but hence the name of the chapter.
Thanks everyone for reading it, and for the people who were waiting for this part; I'm sorry but it was very long to write because of what you are seeing , it have like 8K of words (especially in a language different fom my native one). In deviantart I will be uploading the art and you have it in the prologue of this story, bye :)