Awaken

In Leah's consciousness. Leah sat on her mother's lap. She was holding a blade of ethereal blue colored grass as she talked about her life and Leo's. She talked about her father, how he's been. She talked about her friends at the Village, what her favorite snack is and her favorite animals… She talked so much, every memory she could remember and think of. She didn't even manage to finish some stories before jumping onto another one.

In that place, where there seemed to be no concept of time. A mother and a daughter were letting their heart out. It was pure and unmasked.

They were smiling and laughing… 

Bonding like it was their last…

Leah was only five years old yet her instinct was strong, especially now that she was in the process of awakening her Primal Instinct. Even before, her instinct had saved her life countless times and she managed to avoid disasters because of it. 

And now, the whole time she spoke and spent time with her mother her instinct was telling her something unfortunate was about to happen. Instinct, pre-recognizance, intuition, or just simply a feeling. Call it whatever you want, deep down she knew it… but she was too happy and content at the moment to make sense of it. And even if she does, she won't accept it. Only God knows how long she longed to share such a moment with her mother. 

But in the end Leah was inquisitive and sharp by nature. She couldn't run from the truth or what was destined to happen… 

"Mom?" Asked Leah as she looked up at her mother's face. 

"What is it?" Asked her mother, smiling, but her pupils were shaking and her eyes moistening.

"N-Nothing" Said Leah as she observed the emotion in her mother's eyes. The eyes are the window to the soul… but it's also the entrance to the heart.

The little girl then hugged her mother, afraid she might go and disappear. She buried her face, hiding the pain that's present in her welling eyes. And in no time her cry echoed.

"Nooo! Don't go! Don't leave me again…"

Leah stubbornly said as she hugged her mother tighter and stronger but her figure was becoming ethereal. Much like the grass surrounding them… 

"Mama is always watching you. All of you." Said her mother as she hugged Leah back. She then held Leah's face that showed how fragile the little girl really is. Gone was the smile she wore earlier, replaced by the pain and heart wrenching sadness that she felt. Her mother broke down seeing that image as she also teared up. But she was stronger than Leah… at least that's how she wanted to look in front of daughter. She wiped Leah's tears and kissed her on the forehead. 

Leah never felt the touch and care of a mother figure all her life. She used to envy Little Lu because he had a mother but that envy faded when Calir treated her and the other children no differently from how she treated Little Lu. Well Calir mostly dotted on Lu but that was understandable. Leah had asked Lionell before why she and Leo didn't have a Mother, only to be answered by silence and a hug. She saw the sadness in her father's eyes whenever the topic about their mother was brought up so she never inquired about it again. Leo was different though as he still sometimes asked if their Mother was beautiful and what she was like. Lionell smiles whenever he answers Leo's questions but Leah could see the suffering behind that smile. So she would scold Leo everytime they were alone. Eventually Leo observed it too and stopped inquiring about their mother.

And now she knew and felt how her father felt everyday. She knew that her father strongly missed her mother… Lionell would stare at the window every night while talking to the stars… 

"Please… don-don't go *hick please…"

"I wish I could stay my darling… but I don't have the strength right now. But I promise… One day, one day we'll see and be with each other again and there will be no more goodbyes. But until then, always stay safe and look out for your brother. And your father… tell him I missed him dearly." She uttered with heavy emotions.

Leah's mother then started fading along with the grassy plains… everything seemed to be returning to where it came from…

"Noo! Noo! MOM! WAHHH" Leah's helpless and pain strickend cry echoed. She desperately grabbed and clasped but her mother she could only hold empty space and eventually everything turned dark. She was left alone sobbing her heart out. 

In the darkness a faint golden color glowed on her chest… It surprised her and made her stop for a bit. There was a gold tattoo engraved on her chest. It was the emblem of a lion. She touched it… It felt warm like her mother's embrace. A deep lion roar then reverberated followed by a voice whispering… her mother's voice.

"Your father… he knows… tell him… and we- soon…"

The voice was almost cryptic and made no sense but Leah memorized it wholeheartedly. Her eyes then suddenly blurred and she felt her consciousness fade… like her whole body was attacked  by something so strong it knocked her out… 

-----

In the present outside world, as Leah lost complete consciousness, her body in the real world also lost its strength and collapsed after the berserk Mana that Gin released hit her at close proximity.

"Wha?! WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS?!!" Shouted the Demon dumbfounded as chains came out of the Magic Circle beneath him! 

The chains weren't your normal looking chains… It was made from complex ancient language that was interwoven delicately and intricately together to form chains that danced around in a spiral formation. It was glowing in azure blue light which made the chins look profound. It danced around the Demon for a short while before snapping…

It snapped and wrapped around Gin's body from his neck to his torso to his hands and feet…

It then tightened like snakes that coiled around its prey. It pulsed like a heartbeat and slowly descended back into the magic circle!

It dragged through and passed through Gin's skin and actually only binded the Demon that possessed him. It's visage could be seen struggling as it flailed around as it separated from Gin and sank down back to the Circle.

"NOOO!!! FUCK!!! WHY?!! JUST FUCKING WHY?!!" It's aggrieved voice could send terror to any normal man. It didn't take long before it was completely gone.

-----

Inside Gin's inner world.

"AHHH!!!" 

The Demon screamed as it opened its eyes and realized that it was back to where it came from. The endless and desolate world… its prison.

"BRAT! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!" Shouted the Demon towards Gin who's eyes seemed lifeless. His body was in a kneeling position while his arms dangled by his side powerlessly. There was also hole in the center of his chest. 

The Demon was struggling as chains binded it on an ancient looking square pedestal. There were four small pillars on each corner which depicted the form of a wingless serpentine dragon, a tiger with wings, a prehistoric looking bird and an ancient snapping turtle with a snake tail that coils around its body. There was also a half circle ark in the middle of the pedestal with runes engraved on its surface. And inside or in the middle of that ark was the Demon. Its limbs were wrapped binded. 

Gin seemed to have been suddenly woken up by the Demons' enraged shout. His lifeless eyes begin to regain it's shine as his body jolted.

"Wha- What happened? Where- " Gin looked at his arms. Because power was surging through his very veins! A power that feels foreign yet at the same time feels so natural. It feels like he was meant to have this power. The hole in his chest also started to fade. It became smaller and smaller until it completely healed. It looked like it was never there in the first place.

Gin broke away from his trance as he seemed to have sensed something and looked up before his eyes widened. There, he saw the Demon suspended in mid air wrapped by chains that seemed to be alive as it moved around like a snake. He was flabbergasted and speechless! He opened his mouth but no words came out. 'What the hell happened? Last time- what happened last time?' He asked himself.

'I was fighting this Demon an- ugh!' He clutched his chest in a panic as he remembered how the Demon impaled him with its bare hands but 'Nothing?' He looked at his chest…  and there was no hole. Like everything was a bad dream, a nightmare.

He then focused on the chains. He subconsciously stretched out his hand like he was beckoning for the chains to come close. Which it did. It snaked around his tiny arms gently and Gin could feel a connection with it. It was mystifying and calming. 

"Return, Return, return, retur…" (like an echo effect)

An ancient voice then echoed around. He felt no malice in it as he looked around wondering where it came from. The Demon on the other hand felt primordial fear towards that voice! Its body shook as the chains once again wrapped around its body like a cocoon. 

"The time is near, near, ne…" 

"All shall be revealed." 

Gin's body then glowed after before he started fading from that world.

"THIS IS NOT THE END LITTLE GIN!!! YOU HEAR ME??!! I WILL BE BACK!!! AND I WILL KEEP COMING BACK!!!" The Demon of Greed's voice echoed inside Gin's head as he slowly opened his eyes in the real world. 

Gin was a little dazed after he returned. The first thing he did was stare at Mary's body and then scanned the area to look for Leah… once he saw her lying on the ground his heart skipped a bit but after finding that she was still breathing he breathed a sigh of relief...

*GROAAAR!!!

Gin was brought back to reality as the Beast roared once more! He looked at it but now there was only deep, deep hatred in his eyes but it didn't last long before it transformed into a cold calm gaze. He gently laid Mary down and wiped her tears with his abled arm. He stood up and picked up his sword. His once blue sharp aura had now turned red and sharper. He looked at his dangling arm. It was healing! But very slowly…

*Slash!

He severed it completely. His balance was off but it was better than having a nuisance dangling around and just slowing him down. It was healing for sure but it was very miniscule. He knew deep inside it would take weeks before it healed completely. And a week isn't what he had at the moment. At this moment, there's only life and death. Fight and survive! Or give up and die! He chose to fight and he chose to survive. His aura surged without a stop as a mana core developed inside his body at this very moment! But that's not the end, his red iris glowed and his white sclera became tainted with blackness and red veins popped around his eyes. He now has the characteristic of his Demon. The Demon he thought was the most disgusting creature. He could only accept now because that's what he wished for. Power! Through his bloodline awakens! 

-----

Kilometers away from Gin's position, a one armed middle aged man with a bandana stopped in his tracks.

His body trembled and his red eyes widened! 

"GIN!" He exclaimed as a ferocious and mad look appeared in his eyes! 

"Finally! Finally! My son! My hope! HAHAHA THE BLOODLINE CONTINUES!"

"I can already see it! Bodies will pile and blood will flow HAHAHAH!"

The man hysterically laughed to the sky! He managed to calm down only after a few moments but he still kept that mad smile.

After a while he turned towards a certain location and resumed running.