Lucy Of The Silver Hammer.

"Mother, why can't you just take your own life?"

A cold, detached voice echoed through the dirty alley, cluttered with human and beast corpses.

A pair of mother and son sat on opposite sides of the alley, their backs against the wall.

The son stared lifelessly at the silver hammer in his hand, its surface reflecting the eerie pink moon hanging high above the ancient Japanese buildings, adorned with paper lanterns.

Meanwhile, the mother, wore a pained smile on her heart-shaped face. "Lucy, my son, I'm sorry for treating you the way I did. I didn't mean to hurt you."

She gazed at the group of samurai corpses on the ground and sighed. "We tried to ask for help from the ones we thought could achieve anything in this world, but look at what happened. I killed them, Lucy! I killed them!"

Tears streamed down Lucy's face as he looked at his mother, his words barely above a whisper: "Mother... I won't do it! Why can't we just find this 'father' of mine and force him to save you? You said I have a twin sister, right? Why not ask her to put in a good word for us?"

Akane stood up, her kimono soaked in samurai blood from head to toe. Her gaze directed up at the empty night sky.

"Lucy, I've committed the greatest sin – killing Tama Artists. If you don't kill me, the people after me will kill you too, without reason. The world is like that, my son. Everyone is a friend and an enemy at the same time. Am I not the best example of that?"

Lucy looked at the ground, confirming his mother's sin. Tama Artists were extraordinary beings who could cover their bodies with fire at their weakest, and sink islands with just a snap of their fingers at their prime.

For mortals like them, who failed to become Tama-Artist, killing one was an invitation to death.

But he didn't care. His gaze pierced through his mother's facial features, hidden by her long red hair, as he yelled, "Mother... can I just stay with you for one more day?"

At his words, Akane began to sob uncontrollably. To her, Lucy was still just a baby, despite being 18 and abnormally tall. She wished for him to grow up and find happiness, perhaps with the girl he secretly liked, not the wicked girl he had slept with a couple of months ago.

However, she could only wish, for her life had been a series of unfulfilled wishes.

Born into a family of Tama Artists, Akane never awakened as one and was banished from the inner city. On the mortal regions of Kurenai City, she wished to find love but instead met a monster who left her pregnant.

After giving birth, the man disappeared, leaving only the name Lucien for the child. Akane wished to be a loving mother, but the kyuketsuki left in her by that monster took over her body, forcing her to feed on human flesh.

Her son survived only because Akane's will fought to stop the kyuketsuki from killing him, resulting in him getting physically abused.

Now, she feared she couldn't control the monster within her.

"Lucy, you've been asking for the same thing for the past month, and look where it's led us. I've killed over a thousand people, and you've become the child of a monster!"

Lucy's face continued to twist in pain, roaring, "I don't care about that! I just want to be with you! Who cares about what anyone thinks?"

Akane sighed at his words, then walked over to him. "You've always been like that, Lucy. When other children called you a ghost due to your pale skin, you didn't care. When they called you a jade monkey because of your red hair and ember eyes, you didn't care. When your cousins laughed at you for being illiterate, you didn't care. I like that about you."

Akane showed a small smile, then gently wiped the tears from Lucy's face with the back of her thumb. Lucy's tears erupted again.

However, their moment was short-lived, as Akane's expression suddenly twisted into a gruesome grin.

"I like everything about you, Lucy, except that ugly face of yours. Why does it have to look just like his? Tell me why you must resemble that bastard who ruined my life?"

Lucy's eyes widened in terror as Akane's grip on his neck tightened. He tried to use his frail hands to release her grip, but her long red fingernails dug deeper into his skin.

'It can't be... just when did mother lose control?'

"Just now!" Akane hissed, as if she had read his thoughts.

"She won't be able to take over this body again, and I'll finally be free!"

She made a wicked laughter that echoed through the ancient Japanese buildings.

However, her joy made her oblivious to the silver hammer in Lucy's hand.

With a surge of adrenaline, Lucy brought the hammer down on Akane's head.

Bang! Bang!

He struck her repeatedly until she fell to the ground. Lucy continued to hit her, ensuring she was dead. When he finally stopped, his expression crumbled, and he hugged his mother's bloodied body.

"I'm sorry... I'm sorry..."

Before he could mourn her further, a samurai clad in black steel armor approached the alley, accompanied by a group of male eighteen-year-olds.

The samurai's scowl deepened at the sight of Lucy and the vile woman Akane Katsuragi.

"Normally, we should give you a round of applause for killing that horrible woman, but thinking about it, that was the right thing to do. Mortals like you should learn to solve your own problems instead of relying on us Tama Artists."

The samurai took a deep breath before yelling, "What I mean is, get over here this instant!"

Lucy felt enraged, but he swallowed his anger and tears and stood up, with his silver hammer in hand. Without glancing at his mother, he walked over to the samurai.

'Mother, I am sorry... It looks like fate has denied you a proper burial.'

The samurai raised an eyebrow at Lucy's unusual composure.

"What's your name, kid?"

"Lucien."

The samurai struggled with the name in his mind, but not wanting to make a fool of himself, he called Lucy by the closest thing he saw.

"Silver Hammer."

Lucy's eyes trailed to the item in his hands, and he tagged along with the man and his group.

Trying to keep himself composed and push away the bitter-sweet images of his mother in his mind, Lucy thought about his current situation.

'To think that time where we got sent to war has arrived.'

...

Tama: Sacred jewels or beads that contain spiritual power and can be used for healing, protection, or divination.

kyuketsuki: In ancient Japan, kyuketsuki is the term they use to call vampires, but here I made it a spirit vampire - a creature which possess your mind and body for it feed on flesh.