2 Waking up

A man and a boy could be seen fighting on a large round stage covered by a fine layer of tatami. The stage is made from a very sturdy kind of rock and is elevated about 1 meter from the ground.

Swords, sabers, spears, morning stars, weapons of all kinds could be seen hanging on the walls.

*BAM*

The boy is sent flying by a kick from the man.

''Get up Michael, it's only been 15 minutes.''

''Again!'' the boy got up persistently.

The man had a pleased look on his face. He wore a dark blue robe resembling traditional chinese ones, except for the western seam. Even with the long robe on, a fair amount of muscles could be seen on his figure.

He had no wrinkles on his face and yet... the man had a pair of resolute and experienced eyes, as if he had fought countless life and death battles. Looking carefully one could tell he is on his middle 30's.

The boy has a lot childish features, such as a little bit of fat on his face. He coudn't be more than 5 years old, however he had big brown eyes that showed abnormal tenacity despite his age.

This boy is of course, Michael Nightingale.

Sweating profusely he runs towards the man and presents him with countless punches and feints coming from different angles, packed with all the strength he could muster.

All punches, without exception, are blocked by the man's right palm, almost effortlessly. Even when none of the punches landed, one could see Michael's speed and strength are clearly above what could be acquired at his age.

Unfortunately for Michael, the man is obviously holding back, the very definition of 'an adult bullying a kid'.

However Michael didn't give up and suddenly disappeared from the man's sight and reappeared below, ready for a sweep kick.

The man looked surprised but managed to evade with a light tap of his feet on the ground. With both os his hands behind his back, he kicks the boy once again and sends him flying downstage.

Spitting a mouthful of blood, Michael got up and said ''Again!!''

''That's enough for today, Michael. Go treat your wounds and finish your daily exercises. Tomorrow we spar again. ''

- But dad! If we don't fight how am i supposed to get strong and protect Cass ?

The man frowned for a second but soon the frown was replaced by a soft gaze.

''Slow and steady, boy. Rome wasn't built in a day. Today you must reflect on your mistakes.''

''If you want to get stronger, first you need a strong foundation. Go and finish your daily schedule.''

''Also, remember Michael, family comes first.'' The man said in a serious tone as he didn't mind Michael's naive thoughts.

Michael had a compex look on his face as if unwilling. But he couldn't argue, first: because that was his father speaking. Second: Michael knew who were they. Who were the Nightingale.

The pressure was overwhelming.

The man as if reading his mind, walked to the boy and crouched in front of him.

While patting his head, he said.

''Don't worry my boy, soon dad's gonna be able to lessen your pain.''

Grabbing the boy's shoulders, the man then proceeded:

''But you gotta be strong, Michael. You have to grow stronger. In this family, no... in this world, only the strong survive!''

***

Michael woke up slowly, in a dazed state, he was very tired but still felt the urgent need to wake up immediately.

His red eyes oppening gradually in order to get used to the white light.

''White... ?'' he said, a little groggy.

Waking up to see endless white, Michael then tried to recall how did he get here, however his face got extremely ugly once he noticed he could not remember a single thing.

A splitting headache suddenly assaulted his senses.

Clutching his head, Michael then shot up on his feet as he started looking around, worried.

His memory is extremely fragmented, all he has are some memory fragments of his childhood, of his mom, his dad and... the betrayal form his clan.

Unrestrained, Michael's killing intent leaked once more as the pure white room seemed to be tainted by a dirty wild beast.

Michael was in an extremely bad mood right now, somehow he had lost his memories and he was certain to have forgotten stuff that is very important to him. His chest throbbed for a second but was ignored by Michael, given the current circumstances.

--Worry not, human.-- a cold female voice suddenly resounded. A bright flash that made Michael close his eyes for a moment ocurred and then a female figure appeared before him.

Michael almost jumped in fright at this sudden appearance, but still managed to regain his calm.

The woman was around 2,5m tall and wore a big blue dress that touched the floor.

The dress perfectly accentued her curves. She had ample breats and hips that could reduce any man to animal instincts alone. If there was anything strange on this scene that didn't fit the mood, is the fact she is incredibly tall and wields an ancient halberd just as tall as her on her left hand.

His heart beating fast, he lifts his head slightly in order to look at this woman's face.

''Beautiful'' felt too insufficient to describe this woman's features.. even ''perfect'' would fall short of the mark. The light seemed to dance around her as if to express it's gratitude for being able to touch her face.

With dark blue hair and cherry red lips, she could only be described as out of this world.

She had beautiful deep golden eyes that entranced people and Michael felt like he was unable to extract his gaze from those eyes.

Eyes whose beauty were only proportional to the coldness emanated from them. She literally looked down to him. Her pale white figure, contrary to the rhetoric, brimming with health and said:

--This one who stands before you is Aurora.

--I've come in name of the Lord.

''The Lord who ?'' Michael finally managed to muster the courage to speak.

She frowned for a second and then answered, --The one you call God, Human--

''Hah ?'' Michael said, dismissively. His first impression of this beauty was incredibly good but the second impression could be read on his face: ''Do you have a few screws loose ?''

Michael never believed in God in first place, he was an assasin.. and a very good one at that. His only beliefs were in things he could actually see and touch.

Also, believing in God would be the same as believing in the Devil.. wouldn't that mean that hell exists as well ? wouldn't that mean that he and his peers would suffer eternal damnation by the end of their lives ?

Michael has always been a blatant skeptic when it came to religions.

All he wished at the moment was to 'get the fuck out of this place'.

Suddenly a massive sense of danger assalted his senses as Aurora frowned and looked at him as if disdaining his whole existance. The entire place was filled with an unbearable pressure, the white space began do distort, turning from a pure white into a raging black collour.

As if she could read his thoughts, she said:

--And where do you plan to go, human ?--

--You have nowhere to go, the world as you've known has come to an end and war approaches.--

--I have the power to send you away but first, you must listen carefully to what i have to say.--

It took nothing but a frown from that figure to fill Michael's back with cold sweat.

And who was Michael Nightingale? Once praised as an ''exalted assassin''. Yet he just felt dread from the bottom of his heart.

It took but a frown to make him fear.

Also, if he had to take a guess, he would say this woman would rather use the halberd to impale him alive than to talk to him, but she was doing so because she had to.

He took 2 steps back as if trying to minimize that pressure and then nodded his head slowly, assenting.