Chapter 4 - So It begins

The next morning, Seijuro is up before the sun. He ties his long dark hair back into a small ponytail. He washes his face, the water cleansing his light brown skin. He grabs his sword and leaves a note on the desk reading, "I'll be back before sun down mother, take care of yourself." He walks outside, but stops in his tracks and realises something,

Does he just expect me to wonder in the woods in hopes I'll find him?

Seijuro looks in the distance and can see a building, reflecting the rising the sun into Seijuros brown eyes,

Solar Town, quite a distance away. Best get going now. Frank said something about meeting in the woods next to it.

He gently touches Rens toy attached to the edge of the grip and frowns, determination and pure anger flows through him. Seijuro begins his journey towards Solar Town.

A while later, Seijuro approaches the entry point of the town being in even more awe at the beauty of it, the buildings stretching towards the sky, children running around playing, the trees full of leaves and thick trunks, and the people laughing and talking about their everyday lives.

Seijuro glances to his left and sees the woodland area Frank was referring too, and begins walking in that direction. He takes a deep breath, the air was sweet smelling and he exhales. He continues walking for the next few minutes and keeps looking around, dense forest surrounds him and all that can be heard are the birds chirping and branches snapping beneath his feet. Seijuro looks to the sky and can see the sun has completely risen. He can't help but feel slightly frustrated on how vague Frank was, however at the same time, annoyed with himself for not asking.

Finally, Seijuro emerges into a clearing, a clear stream runs through the path in front of him, on his right, tall rocks tower over him and water flows down them, creating a small waterfall, and to his left, more woodland continues to stretch to further,

"Young Seijuro." A voice causes Seijuro to turn back to his right and sees Frank pushing himself into view in his wheelchair,

"You could have been more specific on where to meet." Seijuro scowls slightly,

"I guess so, yet you found it nonetheless, no?" Frank chuckles slightly and Seijuros frowns more,

"So are we going to start?" He asks impatiently,

"We will, but first, I'm assuming you want to know why we are here, yes?" Frank lowers his shades a bit to glance at Seijuro, his dark blue eyes meet Seijuros, who nods,

"In order to utilise dark matter, one must have complete control of his emotions, they must be "at one" with themselves. What better place to do that than with mother nature herself." Frank looks back at Seijuro,

"So once I do... control my emotions... I can levitate objects and other things, right?" Frank begins to chuckle at this remark, which only makes Seijuro feel more annoyed,

"Mages have three types, physical, sense and element. Physical amplifies the users physical characteristics such as physical strength, speed, etc. A sense type amplifies one of the five senses, which most likely answers your question as to why Captain Koji has perfect accuracy despite having a blindfold over his eyes. He may not have sight, but his ears certainly make up for it. Finally, an element type, this simply grants the user control of a specific part of the environment." Frank pushes his shades up, while Seijuro opens his mouth to speak,

"So... what type are you?"

"I am a physical type, young Seijuro."

"But you're..."

"In a wheelchair?" Frank looks at Seijuro who hesitantly nods.

Frank chuckles yet again at Seijuros sudden remark, but suddenly speaks,

"A word of advice, young Seijuro..."

To the young mans shock, a dark purple aura begins to cover Franks legs and he slowly pushes himself up to stand, his left arm turning black, a single spike emerging from his shoulder and elbow, and his wheelchair slowly reassembles itself into a large sword, which Frank picks up and rests on his right shoulder. Frank now towers over Seijuro, causing him to step back slightly in shock and he speaks in his usual kind demeanour,

"Forget all your assumptions." Seijuro is speechless and simply nods in response,

"Good. Let's begin." Frank slams his sword into ground causing the ground to crack and the earth below them to shake. Seijuro stumbles to the floor, due to earth's sudden tremor. After doing this, he sits down, crossing his legs and gestures for Seijuro to do the same, which he does without questioning.

"Once you are able to remove the sword from the ground, your combat training will begin. Remember, take control of your own emotions, relax, and be at peace with yourself." Frank says with a supportive smile on his face,

"So, you basically want me to be King Arthur? Is that the test here?" He scoffs.

With a smug look on his face, Seijuro stands up and walks towards the sword, he avoids the cracks in the ground below and as he touches the grip, flashes of images run through his head of Ren calling him for help. These traumatising thoughts cause Seijuro to immediately let go and his breath quickens,

"Dark matter is our emotions, young Seijuro. Without control of that, it seeps out of you. A powerful man who is a slave to his own emotions, has no power at all." Franks says in a more stern tone, but he maintains his reassuring smile.

Seijuro takes a deep breath and continues trying. Many moons pass, however each time, Rens cries for help, the terror in his eyes, the hopelessness that Seijuro felt that day, flood his mind.

At the edge of defeat, he is sitting on his balcony when his mother approaches him,

"Everything ok, son?" His mother asks warmly and with a slight smile on her face,

"Yes, mom…" while answering, his mother touches his cheek,

"No, you're not. I know when my son is troubled. Now tell me what's wrong?" Seijuro finally snaps,

"I haven't made any progress! Each day, I've been going there to lift that damn sword outta the ground! Yet it just doesn't budge! I've had control! I've kept control!This doesn't make any sense." Seijuro hadn't realised it, but his voice was raising with each sentence,

"Captain Frank said, I gotta keep my emotions in check, and that's what I'm doing! By this rate, those things are going to get away with what they did…" his mother puts a hand over his mouth and his eyes widen in confusion, she gives him a loving smile and says,

"You don't seem like you have control of your emotions right now, do you?"

Seijuro didn't want to admit it but she was right.,

"My little Ren was everything to me and to you too. I know his death and whatever it was that took him from us may anger you, but rather than using that memory to fuel your anger… why not use this to control yourself? Meaning, rather than letting your anger grip you, you grip your anger."

"You want me to… let go of Rens death?"

"Of course not my boy, I'm saying use this..." she taps his head,

"Instead of this." She then taps his chest,

"In order to progress, you have to think clearly don't you? I know you can do this…" Seijuros eyes tear up slightly and he nods,

"Also, you should thank that Captain Frank. He gave me enough gold to last through the year and pay off our debts." Seijuro's eyes widen and his mouth is left agape,

"He did…?" His mother nods in response, still smiling warmly.

He didn't need to say it, as his reaction shows how thankful he is, not only to Captain Frank, but his mothers wisdom.

The following day, Seijuro stands in front of the sword, he closes his eyes as his hands tighten around the grip, taking a deep breath, his muscles begin to relax. His ears are filled with the soft sound of the wind, the stream of water passing and animals. Frank observes this,

The boy seems more relaxed, his aura is… peaceful.

Seijuro begins to gently pull, those memories begin to slowly enter his mind, however, he remembers the sole purpose of why he was doing this… not to get stronger… but for Ren. Suddenly, he snaps out of his trance when he hears Frank clapping. To his amazement, Seijuro looks down to see the sword removed from the ground, and a smile begins to form on his face,

"Well done, young Seijuro." Frank puts a hand on Seijuros shoulder and gives him a proud smile, which Seijuro returns,

"A month to do this isn't bad, faster than most."

"Than… most?"

"Remember what I said young Seijuro, forget your assumptions, and I would stand back a bit." In a swift motion, Frank picks up his sword and swings, the mere shockwave of it decimating an area of the woodland.

Almost instantly, Kenji arrives through the same dark purple portal that Seijuro left through to go back home a month ago,

"Walk through here kid." Kenji gestures to him, and he follows,

"Frank, can't you try to be a little more subtle in your signals?" Kenji sighs.

Upon entering, Seijuros eyes widen, what he is seeing confuses him completely. He thinks he sees… students?

Is this a school?!

Teenagers walk around, holding books and are lost in conversation. He observes what looks to be a training ground of the sort, students sparring and have that same dark purple aura around them.

He looks back at Kenji and Frank, who is now back in his wheelchair,

"This is the Fear Foundation, you'll learn, train and grow here." Kenji says, his cold demeanour hasn't changed since the last time Seijuro had seen him,

"Head towards the main building, Captain Frank will meet you there." Seijuro obeys Kenjis orders and moves away,

"A month. Not bad." Kenji looks at Frank,

"He has potential… however his anger… hopefully it will motivate him, reminds me of you a bit."

"Well... if you have faith in him… that's more than enough for me." Kenji replies sounding more friendly.

Frank looks away from Kenji and towards Seijuro as he walks away and smirks,

You will grow stronger, young Seijuro. I am confident you will.