The Prophecy; Another Dinner Without Father

Eternal Cleansing Region, somewhere in the Aries Kingdom, midnight

"Ohmmm~~~!" The sound of chanting was heard as pebbles jumped, buildings vibrated, and the ground shook.

In a huge church, many figures in dark red robes were on their knees surrounding an altar, seemingly praying to a god. There were thousands upon thousands of figures, all chanting the same thing.

The gargantuan church had very tall windows, with which housed stained glass. The church was very caliginous, only having the soft light of the moon to illuminate things through those windows. If one gazed up, a mural could be discerned within a cupola. It illustrated a devil lingering above the land, with which figures with red eyes stood; then, a huge sun encroaching upon the territory of that devil, and burning all that was. Afterward, the mural showed a few survivors, on their knees, worshiping what appeared to be a god floating in the air as the surrounding lands burned to ash.

The robed figures surrounded an altar upon which stood an imposing golden statue of a muscular man, in nothing but a toga, holding out his hand. In his hand, burned a powerful flame. If one were to observe this statue, they would immediately notice the beautiful orange sapphire eyes the size of one's hand. This statue was six stories tall, reaching just below the cupola.

"Ohmmm~~~!" everything shook once again due to the sheer power of those figures' unified voices.

All of the figures began to glow a soft reddish-orange holy light, reminiscent of the sun. The light began to get brighter, gradually overtaking the gentle light of the moon. On the altar, in the center, directly below the cupola, was another silhouette.

This silhouette stood with its hands held out, radiating an even greater light than those below.

"Ohmmm~~~!" the statue's eyes began to shine a similar light.

Moments later, the light from the robed figures began to wane, as if the statue was absorbing it. The silhouette below the statue, however, started glowing even brighter.

Seconds passed. Seconds turned into minutes, and minutes, into hours. As every second ticked by, robed figures collapsed one after the other, their state unknown. The statue's eyes were getting brighter as each fell. After seemingly an eternity, the silhouette's light began to flicker out of existence.

Just before it blinked out of the world, the statue's eyes flared up, and the world seemingly stopped.

The silhouette's eyes began to match those of the statue.

Suddenly, a deep, monotone voice escaped from the shadowy figure, "The boy with the Shadow Dragon Bloodline. Find him. Kill him. Wipe his whole lineage from the face of this region!" it boomed throughout the church, escaping through the walls as if they were illusory. People all throughout the region began to look in the direction of the church in response to some profound power.

As the figure on the altar was speaking, cracks ,glowing the same color as the statue, began to appear around its body.

As soon as the silhouette stopped speaking, it collapsed and the statue's radiant glow began to fade.

"Ohmmm~~~!" echoed out once more.

…

…

…

"Son! Dinner is ready! Hurry and come down!" a feminine voice, gentle and melodious, called from a kitchen.

A few minutes after the voice was heard, footsteps were heard coming down a flight of stairs. The footsteps continued until a boy, no younger than nine could be seen. He had hair as black as shadows, and eyes reminiscent of a black abyss. This boy was 138 centimeters tall with very pale white skin. His name was Daniel Rishaw.

Daniel wore a black shirt, black pants, and black shoes; his favorite color was black. The only thing that stood out about Daniel was the bracelet around his right wrist. It was made of a thin, string-like metal that was silver with 5 small seashells spread evenly around it. Between each seashell, there was a blue gem: sapphires as deep a blue as an endless ocean; each one looking as if they came from the deepest reaches of the sea. If one looked closely at a sapphire, one could swear there was something swimming within it, as the dark blue color moved ever so slightly, like a vast ocean. It was a bracelet gifted to him by his mother on his 7th birthday. He was now 9.

When Daniel made it to the foot of the stairs, he began walking towards the kitchen, from which the voice originated from. Once he got to the doorway and peered inside, he could see a beautiful woman standing near a square table, seemingly preparing it for dinner.

She was 161 centimeters tall, with gorgeous blonde hair, and aqua blue eyes. The aura around her befitted that of a loving mother: kind and caring. She was his mother, Madison Rishaw.

Madison was wearing a blue colored dress, one that matched and accentuated her eyes, with white colored shoes on.

Looking further around, Daniel observed the kitchen as if it was the first time he set foot in the room. The kitchen's size was around 23 square meters; it wasn't very big. The only source of light was the fireplace below the chimney, flickering shadows dancing upon the wall. Taking refuge on the wall, were photos of a family, which appeared to be a younger version of Daniel, alongside his mother, and a mysterious man. On the table, there were three plates, with their respective silverware, as well as candles used to illuminate the table. Around the table were three chairs, one belonging to Daniel, and the other belonging to Madison; the third chair's owner was unknown.

"What are you just standing there for, son? Take a seat. I made your favorite tonight," his mother said before going toward the oven, opening it, and pulling something out.

As the oven opened, a delicious aroma struck Daniel's nose, making his mouth water; he already knew what it was. Hurriedly taking a seat, he prepared himself to eat as if it was the last night he would be alive; or at least, like the last night his mother would be alive.

His mother began making her way toward the table to set tonight's dinner on it. As she reached the table, and placed the food on it, she began to sing, "Dun dun dunnnn!"

"Five Meat Casserole! Complete with steak, beef, chicken, duck, and pork! Your favorite! " she burst into laughter and smiled lovingly.

For the first time in a while, Daniel began to show some semblance of emotion. He smiled.

Daniel was not a very emotional person. He was very quiet and kept to himself. Sometimes, he would appear and disappear out of nowhere as if he was a shadow. There were plenty of times when he terrified his mother as she had no idea he was even around.

Suddenly, the smile disappeared, and once again, for the first time in forever, he spoke, "Dad's not coming, is he?"

His voice sounded like that of a child, yet cold and emotionless.

Madison's expression became downcast. "No, sorry son. He had some business with the church. They called all of the important members to the main church for something."

Suddenly, Daniel had no desire to eat, but he still decided to eat because he didn't want to ruin his mother's effort.

"Come on, son. If it wasn't very important, he would be here. I'll make sure he's here next time."

"You always say that," Daniel thought.

Trying to lift the atmosphere, Madison sat down and began placing food on both of their plates. She gave Daniel an extra big portion as despite his small build, he had a monstrous appetite.

They began to spend dinner in silence, the only sound was the sound of eating.