Shadow Slave: Warrior of Will

"In the heart of humans many things exist. 

In the downtrodden slum, where despair seemed to seep through the very air, there lived a small boy. He was just five years old, but life had already cast a heavy shadow upon his tiny shoulders.

His days began before the sun willed to rise, as he trudged through the narrow, muddy alleys of the slum, his tattered clothes hanging loosely on his frail frame. He carried a bundle of old, scrapped newspapers almost as big as he was. Each morning, his mission was the same: to sell these discarded relics of yesterday's news to scrape together a few coins to help his struggling self. 

It wasn't the best idea in making money, it wasn't the most effective way to earn credits but it was the only way the boy knew how to make money.

His small, determined eyes betrayed the weight of his circumstances, forgetting the simple joys of childhood children should have.

His voice, though feeble, rang out through the slum as he approached anyone who passed by, his little hand holding out a crumpled newspaper. He would utter the words, "Please" But in the slums, spare change was a luxury, and few had a spare.

The sun beat down relentlessly on him as he made his rounds, his small feet leaving faint imprints in the dusty streets. His hunger gnawed at his belly, but he persevered, refusing to give in to despair. His tiny shoulders may have been burdened by the cruel reality of life in the slums, but his spirit remained unbroken.

There were days when he would sit in a quiet corner, tears mixing with the dust on his cheeks, wondering why life had to be so harsh. But in those moments of despair, he'd remember his non-existent family's smiles and dreams of a better life hypnotizing himself in a hungry delusion. With renewed determination, he'd get up, wipe his tears, and continue his quest to sell newspapers.

As the evening sun painted the sky in hues of orange and pink, he would count the meager coins he'd collected, his fingers fumbling over each one. It was often not enough to fill his empty stomachs, but it was something—a small glimmer of hope in the vast darkness of their existence.

The little boy's story was one of resilience in the face of overwhelming adversity. He was just a five-year-old child, but he was a symbol of unyielding determination, a reminder that even in the harshest of circumstances, the human spirit could endure and continue to fight for a better tomorrow." 

".... " Hearing the narration, a middle aged man softly asked with hesitation.. 

"Boss, What the fuck, I go to buy ice cream for few minutes and you're narrating?" He questioned the narrator while holding 2 soft serves of vanilla sold by a shop nearby, secretly owned by them. 

The narrator's eyes switched from the child and moved toward the man "You took too long Julius" shrugging his arms and leaning his back into the public seat near the park "I needed to do something while you were gone or else this drowsiness is going to be the death of me." answered the narrator with a sly little smile, chuckling a bit he added. " quite literally, i think i m starting to lose brainpower, whatever that could mean, hehe." 

Looking at the boy who was being narrated Julius tried to make sense of his "boss's" story. 

Failing to make any sort of resemblance, his face scrunched up with worry. The boy in question looked joyful, in fact too joyful to resemble anything in the narration, surrounded by family, if Julies didn't count the missing teeth right at the front, the boy would fit into a commercial detailing happy family right in.

"Why are you narrating that boy's life and why did you make it so sad " Julies asked while handing one of the ice creams to the teenager.

"Well…. " Instead of taking one of the ice creams, the teenager took them both. 

Looking towards the sky the teenager spoke with a serious tone. 

" I've been working too hard, people under us have begun to forget what life was like back then. " 

Not immediately eating the ice cream he looked back towards Julius. " I think our newbies should remember the times before we forced it to reform, the times when people would resort to murder for synthetic paste, when inside was just as lethal as the outside..... *sigh* I just us to do well, you know. "

Looking back at the sky.

" I have a dream, Julius . I want our people to be free of worry, at least partially, we can never be worry free, in fact i think its impossible to live without worry, its a part of life you know. " the teenager chuckled at his delirious blabbering as he continued. " what i want is, when one of us startles awake at 3am, they shouldn't need to check every corner of the room before trying to sleep again.

Julius looked at the teenager indifferently, feeling nothing against the teenager's speech.

" Boss, stop spouting nonsense, I know why you're doing this, you think I would forget about the ice cream whilst trying to comprehend your so called dream." without a delay he swiftly jabbed one of the soft serves back. Not letting a drop escape, Julius scrumptiously engulfed it in a single bite, enjoying it like a cartoon character. 

Ignoring the onlookers Julius smiled with satisfaction after finishing his piece, not minding how people would perceive a 2 meter tall bald guy eat ice cream like a child he curiously eyed the remaining piece in the teenager's hand.

The teenager snarled at Julius as he hid the ice cream " You're no fun to ramble with, but my point still stands I will make the slums great again." Smiling a little while gazing to the sky, the young teenager swore to the sky taking a pose. 

Nearly palming himself Julies grunted a response. " Boss I know you mean what you said but when you take a pose while saying it I can't take it seriously. " 

" Whadduyumean? " the teenager said while adopting another ridiculous pose. 

Julius gave up with a shrug and sat down beside the teenager. Beginning to reminisce about their beginning.

Couple of minutes had passed as the teenager finished the soft serve, before they could get up and move. Hand gripped their skull like a vice, locking them in place. 

Before any of the two could respond, a head popped out between them wearing cheap black shades, small pompadour hat donning a homegrown and made mustache. The face equipment blocked the assailant's true expression yet the teenager and Julius could feel the fury behind the cheap black shade.

"Boss, Julius for the love of God, WHERE THE FUCK WERE YOU!!! i looking for you all over the place. We almost started another war because you guys went radio silent. Do you even know how worried i was, One day i was told you got infected with the nightmare Spell and the next u just disappear like that, U want me to send you 6 feet below before the Spell ?" Cursed the man while his grip tightened.

While Julies waved his hand to apologize and explain the situation to Ronald the teenager raised one arm and gripped Ronald's hand back, freeing himself and getting up.

"Calm down Ronald, Boss just needed some ice cream. " looking at the teenager yet again. "And some time to calm down."

After a brief exchange of information three of them boarded the public vehicle towards a specifically chosen police station.

Barely anyone owned a personalized vehicle these days, not because of the disparity in wealth or anything too political, the answer was way simpler than that. With the advancement of public transport, improved variety of traveling method, ever presenting threat of nightmare creatures destroying you hard earned property were compelling enough. 

As for the three of them, owning a dream was a pipe dream. Money could be arranged in a week, staff was ready at the flick of a finger, yet the daunting mountain of paperwork, permission slips made them give up. No matter how wealthy someone was in the current world, without proper authority the wealth felt meaningless sometimes. 

Between their small chats the teenager noticed his left hand shaking. Raising his hand observing the unnatural motion, the teenager took a deep breath muttering 'No Fear' repeatedly. Slowly but surely the shaking stopped. 

No matter how much he played around, goofing with his family/friends and executives, putting on a carefree mask to stop them from worrying about him and deluding himself the fear couldn't be erased, the thought of entering his first nightmare deeply unsettled his logical mind. 

Year after year the teenager training his mind to ignore fear, to ignore pain. Yet he still feared the future. No matter how much he wished fear, anxiety, pain still lingered as they were part of life itself. 

All he could do was endure and push forward. To reach his ideals.

Finally reaching the destination The teenager looked at the two *sigh* " I guess this is it, I think I should say some final words you know. " 

Holding his hand up before the two could answer back. 

" Julius as the head of Yamazaki, I hereby declare you as the new temporary head of the syndicate, Ronald you shall be the witness." Pointing three fingers at Julius the teenager continued.

"You know my ideals, Julius and I trust you to keep them. From the information I have gathered in order to awaken properly and with a decent ability, I need to become a sleeper first conquering my first nightmare. After that I should have 2 weeks before I need to enter winter solstice going somewhere in the Dream realm.

Clapping both hands together " If all goes well gentlemen, I will see you in 2 to 3 days in Soma's restaurant as a successful sleeper. So any questions? " 

Ronald raised his hand. 

"Yes Ronald, anything to make clear?" 

Coughing once Ronald asked sincerely. "Why cant we follow you to the station boss, i m sure the police captain wont mind if i explain our reason well enough." 

The teenager looked back with confusion. Pointing at Julius with one finger. "What a silly question Ronald, i mean look at us, arent we too intimidating?. Julius is an active criminal, you look like a drug addict with your accessories, only i can pass through that door thanks to my handsome look with a blend of wilderness. If any of you attempt to enter, i m afraid the officers would call for government awakened for help."

Begrudgingly Ronald nodded with agreement. 

Seeing that Julius had no question the teenager wrapped up the meeting and shooed them to leave. As the two had their perspective duties to follow.

Waving and exchanging goodbyes the teenager left the two and started walking towards the police station.

Turning his back the teenager let out a breath, pondering and remembering the chaos that was the last few days, Because of his logic followed lifestyle and less than optimal sleep schedule he wasn't able to discover the infection early, so when he realized, it was a hellhole, all the plans went out the window.

Exhaling deeply the teenager fixed his posture, since he was no longer acting like a fool there was no reason to walk like one.

Thinking about the great Spell the teenager smiled, as much as it was called a curse it was a blessing as well. Only thing he needed to accomplish was to survive. Quite simple really.

Finishing his thought, the teenager walked into the police station. At least he tried to, until a patrol officer outside the station stopped him. 

"Can I help you?" fixing the cap hat on top of his head the officer asked.

The teenager scratched his chin. "Yes, in fact, I am here to turn myself in. " 

"Excuse me?" the officer asked to clarify the situation. 

" Oh. "coughing to get a straight voice, the teenager said, "As demanded by the Third Special Directive, I am here to surrender myself as a carrier of the Nightmare Spell." 

The officer's expression instantly changed from confusion to wary. He looked at the young man once more, this time with piercing intensity. 

"Are you sure you are infected? When did you start showing symptoms?" 

The teenager shrugged. 

" 3-4 days, maybe 5 days? " 

The officer grew pale. 

"Shit" 

Then. with a hurried motion, he pressed a button on his radio terminal and bellowed: 

" Attention! Code Black outside the lobby! I repeat CODE BLACK" 

 ***