Rift between realms

The old man was silent again, for seconds that Nathan felt like hours. He was facing a man who had killed him twice and broken his leg horribly.

Nothing assured him that the man would not kill him for real this time, Nathan was playing on the old man's good faith, hoping to help him overcome his trauma.

For a few seconds the old man was completely still, and if it wasn't for his breathing Nathan would have thought he was dead.

Then the old man retracted his cane and began to walk home without saying a word. Nathan was stunned by the old man's actions and after a few seconds of thought, he started to follow him.

But just as Nathan was about to catch up with him, the old man turned and raised his cane, pointing it at his chest.

"What do you think you're doing?"

Nathan shuddered as the cane touched his chest, forcing him to stop. Not knowing what to say, Nathan swallowed hard and repeated what he had said before.

"I-I need he..."

"I heard that, but I don't remember giving you permission to follow me" the old man cut him off, preventing him from finishing his sentence.

Nathan closed his mouth and gritted his teeth in fear. He really felt that he was trying the old man's patience and that if he continued to insist, he could really die this time.

Seeing that Nathan was not speaking, the old man retracted his cane and turned to walk on.

Nathan dared not follow him, not even to speak. He was afraid that his actions would be too much, so he decided to stand still without moving. He watched as the old man entered his house, closed the door behind him and everything fell silent again.

A minute passed and Nathan relaxed his tense muscles and sighed lightly.

'What am I going to do...?'

Just being there made his skin crawl, and now that he could see the house in detail, he realized that it looked abandoned. The outside walls were dilapidated, and the grass looked as if it hadn't been cut in years.

It seemed that the old man did not pay much attention to his home, but from the clothes he was wearing, Nathan assumed that the old man had no financial problems.

He was also curious as to why one of the heroes he had heard about in the stories his parents had told him years ago had ended up in a village as far away as this one.

To the naked eye, the old man was no different from any other elderly man, but his movements were so fast and powerful that it was hard to think of the man as a normal person.

As part of the Aeterna, Nathan had grown up watching powerful people, including his parents. He was aware of the difference between people with powers and those without.

Nearly 20 minutes passed without Nathan moving until nightfall. Afraid of alarming the others, he had no choice but to leave, but Nathan would not give up so easily.

The next day he returned to the old man's house.

This time he did not look for him, but simply stood outside his house and watched in silence for several hours until he saw him leave. The old man seemed to ignore him, and Nathan did not say a word to him.

The old man left his house and walked towards the village. A few hours later he returned and went into his house without even looking at Nathan, so Nathan had no choice but to go back.

The next day Nathan stood outside the old man's house without moving. Hours went by and the old man showed no interest in Nathan, just continued to ignore him.

This went on for almost two weeks, until one night when the old man returned home, Nathan was sitting on the floor playing boredly with a stick. When he realized the old man had arrived, he quickly got up and was silent again.

This time his attitude seemed to have an effect, for the old man's eye twitched unconsciously. Nathan didn't notice, but when he saw that the old man was coming towards him instead of entering his house, his heart began to beat fast.

'Was that too much?!'

Nathan began to worry for his safety, not knowing if the old man had had enough of him, but the moment the old man raised his cane and stabbed him in the chest, leaving a hole where his heart should have been, he realized that he had indeed pushed the old man's patience to the limit.

A second later, with the old man still slowly approaching, Nathan slipped backwards and fell to the ground on his tail.

When the old man saw Nathan go back, he didn't attack, but studied him for a few seconds before speaking.

"Are you afraid?"

Nathan didn't hesitate for a second to answer, his heart beating excessively and his limbs trembling.

He felt a temporary emptiness in the place where the old man had stabbed him, so he was slow to answer truthfully.

"...Y-yes" Nathan whispered.

The old man scoffed.

"You fear death but live with it... how ironic"

Nathan did not know what the old man was talking about, but when he saw that the old man did not seem to have any intention of trying to kill him again, he calmed down a little.

The atmosphere became quiet again, until the old man turned around and started to walk home.

"Come back tomorrow, it's already late"

Nathan sat on the floor for a few minutes, not understanding whether he had really touched the old man's heart or whether it was out of pity that he was going to help him.

Either way, after two weeks he had achieved his goal. With that in mind, Nathan returned to the factory somewhat happy after all the tension he had felt.

As he walked, he touched the part of his chest where the old man had stabbed him and then clenched his hand into a fist.

'...I live with death?'

Even thinking about the old man's words, Nathan still didn't understand them. He thought the old man was referring to his ability, but no matter how much he thought about it, he couldn't understand it.

All the way to the factory Nathan continued to think about the old man's words, and it wasn't until an hour later that he arrived. When he entered, the first person to greet him was Lira, who approached him and hugged him, burying her face in his chest.

Nathan was surprised by the girl's attitude, although Lira was quite affectionate with all the children in the factory, she wasn't really used to be so direct.

"Lira?"

Nathan looked at the other children behind her and noticed that the atmosphere was heavy, adding it to Lira's attitude, he realized that something had happened.

Lira raised her head and Nathan saw how her eyes were irritated by her crying. The girl sipped her snot and without holding it in, she started crying again.

"...N-Norton... He d-died"

Nathan frowned at Lira's statement.

'What...?'

Norton was one of the oldest children among them, being one of the most trusted pillars of the group. He was also the one who brought the most food to the factory, so Nathan knew that his death would be detrimental to them.

Nathan did not ask about Norton's death, he did not want the other children to explain it. Maybe Lira would tell them later, but for now they were in mourning. It was not a good idea to open the wound any further.

That night was possibly the worst night Nathan had experienced since he started being homeless. He had never suffered the loss of someone close to him, and the knowledge that he would never see Norton again made him think again of the old man's words.

"Live with it..."

The next day, although everyone was in mourning, Nathan looked for an excuse to go out. He had finally managed to get the old man's attention, and although he was sad and depressed about Norton's death, he could not let this opportunity go to waste.

When he arrived at the old man's house, he found the door open. With some hesitation, Nathan slowly approached the entrance and looked at the inside of the house from the outside.

Suddenly, a voice came from inside the house.

"Come in"

Nathan swallowed as he heard the old man's voice and did not hesitate before taking the first step inside.

His first impression was one of surprise, the inside of the house was very different from the outside. Everything was clean and tidy, the furniture, though old, was immaculate.

The last time Nathan had seen something so neat, and tidy was in his family's main house and it was clear that the number of people responsible for cleaning it was too many to count on the fingers of one hand.

The old man sat in a rocking chair in front of a fireplace with an unlit television on the wall.

Nathan stood in silence, not knowing what to say or do, until the old man spoke.

"I'm not going to help you, if you can't solve your problem for yourself, then you're useless"

The old man's words were harsh, especially for a 10-year-old boy. The hope that the old man would help him began to fade, until the old man spoke again.

"But I will give you some tools"

Nathan did not quite understand the old man, he had never told him what he needed help with, he did not even know himself. But now he was saying that he would give him some tools to help him succeed.

The old man saw Nathan's confused expression and got up from his chair to approach him.

Nathan swallowed hard, he still didn't fully trust the old man, not after he had killed him three times in his premonitions. Still, he stood still and waited for the old man to come before him.

The next thing that happened was something Nathan did not understand.

The old man lifted his cane and swung it down quickly, cutting through the air. The old man's senseless action caused Nathan's mouth to open in surprise, for the cut in the air had opened a crack in front of him that was growing with each passing second.

"Nathan was your name, was it? What do you know of this world?"

Nathan gaped as he watched the rift open wider and wider.

"Th-this is a realm…"

The old man nodded weakly.

"You're better informed than you look... that's good"

Nathan blinked and the old man was gone, only to hear his voice behind him.

"Saves me a lot of explaining"

Nathan was about to turn around when he felt something nudge him. The last thing he saw was the old man extending his cane and the rift closing, leaving him in an endless void.