Mom (1)
Finally, Zeon chose two artifacts with gauntlet transformation from his grandpa, a rare one for frequent battle and an epic artifact for life and death battle. His grandpa has many of those with different initial shapes. Zeon chose a white glove usually worn by a butler and a white cape with large 'holy' inscriptions on it.
Grandpa Auguste hesitated a little but decided to try the last item on his list for Zeon.
"Little Zeon, grandpa actually has one last artifact that has not been tried by you."
Taking out an ordinary looking stone from his dimensional pocket, grandpa Auguste looked at the stone on his hand weirdly like he wasn't sure about the thing.
"This ordinary looking stone was found beside the stone tablet branded with the holy crest in the basement of this palace. It's a thing from a long time ago. The scientist from the old days and the current scientist from the federation has been trying to analyze the stone and found that it was actually an artifact from the condition of the inner structure in the stone. Many people have tried to activate it from the first Zahakkan family head until my generation, even our current president of the federation has also tried to activate the stone artifact, but to no avail, until today none has been successful."
Zeon takes the ordinary looking stone from his grandfather's hand and observes it more closely from all sides. He doesn't feel anything from it. The stone has been found since a long time ago and no one seems to be able to understand it. If the stone comes from near the holy crest location, then maybe it is also being left behind by the holy one or some other gods.
"Grandpa, I don't want to be rude, but I think this stone is being thrown away by the holy one near the holy crest location because he also thinks of it as an ordinary stone or trash. I bet the holy one also can't find a use for it and gets irritated when looking at this piece of ordinary looking stone."
"Haha.. Maybe you are right, little Zeon. Even a godly artifact will feel no different than trash if you cannot use it. Why don't I give this stone to you for safekeeping, maybe one day you can activate the power hidden in this stone. Who knows.. Maybe it's actually a godly artifact that has special power within it. From the look of it, maybe only you in the humanities domain had the chance to awaken its power. I've been alive for so long and seen many weird things happening around the world but I've never seen someone as special as you, little Zeon."
"Hehe.. no way I'm just an ordinary grandson of one of the strongest people in the humanities domain, grandpa."
"Hahaha.. I cannot stop laughing when talking with you, little Zeon. But it's never happened before. Someone who can use and be compatible with almost all the artifacts in the world. You don't need to hide this special power, little Zeon. Be bold and grow stronger faster, use all the necessary resources to have a feel of different power in this world. If you ever feel confused or lost, your grandpa will always stand in front of you to open the way ahead. We'll always be standing beside you, little Zeon. As long as grandpa was still alive and the church was still standing strong, no one would have the courage to kidnap you or even experiment with your special power. Don't worry, little Zeon, this old bone still has a lot of time left in it, at least until you are strong enough. If I'm lucky maybe I'll still be able to see my great grandchildren one day."
Grandpa Auguste got a little bit emotional and remembered his little old flame that had left the world earlier than him.
"So please grow healthy and find a beautiful person to be with, little Zeon."
Hearing his grandpa's encouragement, Zeon doesn't know how to feel anymore. Looking at his frail frame, sunken eyes, and a bit of wrinkles on his face, Zeon realized that his grandpa is getting older. But there's something else that makes his heart tremble and resonate with a fragment of memories from his old life.
=== A little flashback
A middle aged woman can be seen in the kitchen cooking something for her family. Zeon stood not far away from the kitchen looking at the strong back of the middle aged woman that he would always call mother from his last life. But looking at it now, he realized that this is not the case. Zeon wants to call her one more time, but sound doesn't seem to be able to come out in these memories and he can only look as the memory continues to play out.
He's born in a not so normal family. He has a father, but never saw him. His father is a horrible person that would get violent easily and finally one day his mother decided to divorced him. His mother has been working hard since young to provide for her family. Never bought anything fancy or waste money for her own happiness, that's what he knows about his mother since a long time ago.
It's been a long time since he has seen her. That strong back will always stand in front of him to take care of her children. It's always been his mother, him, and his sister for a long time that he can remember. The sound of the door opening can be heard from a room not far away from the kitchen.
Two little children can be seen walking slowly to the kitchen. From their appearance they were a young little boy and a young cute little girl.
"Mom, mom, what do we have for dinner today?" asked the little girl while walking to his mother trying to see what she's making for tonight's dinner.
'Hehe.. sister is always like that, very cheerful and energetic.' though Zeon when looking at his sister.
Unlike the little girl, the little boy didn't say anything and sat at the table waiting for his mother to finish her cooking. The little boy and the little girl can only see their mother when she comes home from work at night. A good aroma can be smelled from the kitchen. It seems that his mother finished cooking and was ready to serve the dish on the dining table. A little girl running to the dining room and sitting beside the little boy.
His mother brought the little boy's favorite dish, egg fried rice and the little girl's favorite dish, fried chicken. The little girl took one part of the fried chicken in her hand and took a little bite from it, a smile bloomed on her little face. With an oily mouth she seems to be enjoying her favorite food.
"My lovely son, eat a lot and grow health, okay?"
Zeon standing not far away looking at the family of three in the dining room. From the family expression, normal people would think that they appreciate the delicious food on the dining table. At least that's what he thought when he's looking at his mother every time they have dinner everyday. But now he understands that it's not the delicious food that his mother enjoys every dinner, it's the time that she had with her little children.
A little time later the scenery changed into a hospital room. An old and frail woman lying in a hospital bed. Beside the bed, a middle aged woman can be seen putting a flower in the vase on the table. Zeon sees a familiar flower on the desk, azalea flower. Walking slowly he's trying to touch the flower but his hand cannot seem to reach it. Sighing a little, he walked to the position of the bed where his mother was lying.
Beside the bed a middle aged man can be seen looking at the frail old woman. Like every old person, his mother's eyesight was not as good as before.
"Son, have you found a suitable match? You are already old enough to marry someone, please don't be like me who has no one to be with."
His mother seems to talk to his old self who sits beside the bed. That's what he always thought until today. Standing beside the bed, Zeon notices that his mother isn't looking at the person beside her but at himself now who's standing here. It seems weird but this is his memories, so it must be what really happened that day.
Even until he died in his last life, he never had the courage to find a partner to marry. A fruit doesn't fall far from the tree, that's what he always keeps in his heart every time he has the tendency to find happiness. What if he's actually a violent and useless person like his father? What if he makes the beautiful woman that loves him cry or sad? What if they get divorced later and can't be responsible for his children?