Aiden

A static noise came from the living room, where a young man and a little kid fought to gain space on the only sofa in the living room. When Draven was done narrating all the historical events, he almost dozed off and soon fell asleep on his rugged sofa.

Meanwhile, Selena, who appeared to be a child could not erase her sparkling eyes and thus finding hard to fall asleep, so she made an adventure to Draven's rundown apartment room. It was a mess, and she could not even explore when everything was in sight since it only consisted of a living room, which eventually became a dining room and a sleeping room.

Thankfully, she remembered when she spotted a remote lying on the uneven floor, picked it up hastily, and played the TV. Once she was beginning to drowse off, she sat at the arm of the supposed sofa chair, which Draven currently slept. She did not hesitate to snuggle herself into some space for her to sleep.

Hence, this led to the current situation. Draven groaned as he felt heavy on his chest, as though a huge rock was placed above him. He opened his eyes, and it took him a minute to realize what was going on. It dawned on him what happened last night, which changed his fate.

Draven sighed. "I should buy a cheap sleeping mattress enough for Selena to sleep. The problem is…" Draven smiled bitterly. "Do I even have the money to afford it?"

Draven's situation could be understood if scrutinized the quality of his apartment. It seemed like he lived in an area where a hurricane happened, and just when the apartment building survived, but since it was abandoned, he decided to live here.

Draven shook his head and decided to stop thinking about it. He needed to go to school first, and thus decided to take a bath for who knows if even the water was still available in his area.

"Fizz… Report on today's news… Fizz… A dimensional portal…. Fizz… It was taken down…. Fizz… Twenty thousand civilians of casualties…. Fizz… Infrastructure worth damage of Three million Federal dollars… Fizz."

The TV static noise continued to echo in the living room. Draven moved Selena's body and pushed her so she would not fall once he left the sofa. Draven heard what the TV news reported, and despite the immense low quality of the image, he treated the TV as a radio and thus learned the news.

"So many civilians were implicated and such a huge loss of money," muttered Draven as he stretched his body while feeling disheartened.

He knew what the TV news reported, and he did not need to strike the TV to work better to stop it from stopping between each sentence. Every left word was a piece of crucial information, and since Draven already knew what happened, so he did not let his mind gloss over it.

However, the information about the casualties and the worth of damage still made him feel depressed and feel he should strengthen himself, so when the same thing happened. He would not be as powerless similar to what happened last night.

***

In a different place, an apartment room contrasted totally with Draven's room, for it was clean, the furniture was new, and a broad TV hung on the wall facing the man aged similar to Draven.

He was Aiden, the popular student in Dreka High school. Not once a student was unaware of him, for he was well known for his background and talent. Although his father was only the leader of their Family branch, and not even recognized as a direct descendant of the Leo Family.

His Father still holds control of the country he managed, the Zeka Country. Aiden, his son, thus became his pride after he knew the talent his son hid. Aiden's compatibility with the breathing technique in the Leo Family could only be considered Low, but the fact Aiden could use the breathing technique, which his Father could not amaze him.

Hence, Aiden's Father had been increasing his standards and even compared him to some prominent, talented descendants of his age in the Leo Family. Aiden, as a sensible child, did not get frustrated or pressured given by his Father's teachings and rules. He knew his Father only wanted one thing for him, to take back the disgrace his Father received despite something he did not commit.

His Father's expectation was beyond his reach, but his thoughts differed from his peers. He knew the expectations were almost impossible to reach, but he was aware of he took one step at a time. To consider the failure he had to face, even if he needed thousands of years to reach it. He could not care about it as long as he grabbed hold and gave those expectations to his father, his pride.

As he was lost in thought, Aiden was awakened by the sounds of the TV, as the person in the image appeared and held a microphone with a trademark of their commercial broadcast network printed in the middle. Behind the person was a background of numerous collapsed buildings and some people that appeared to be soldiers, blocking others from trespassing. There was to investigation happening right in the middle of the collapsed building, with their black, plain uniform with their black hat and white gloves on.

Aiden raised his eyebrow as he read the text highlighted below the person, as it reported all the damage and casualties that happened in a single night. Although he could not care less about the civilians who died, he was afraid his Father would be blamed for his incapability to react immediately as soon as a Dimensional Portal happened.

It also indicated that the alarm was slightly late for a minute, even though it was only for a minute. Hundreds of civilians must have been involved unaware and got killed in the process.

"The mayor has yet to give his response, for he was busy dealing with the family of the deceased. However, he promised them to give justice and explanation of what occurred while offering them some compensation…"

Aiden's attention on the TV was interrupted as the door opened, and a man with a humble and kind face entered the apartment room. Aiden did not give him a glance, so he asked him directly.

"How's the investigation, Elliot?"

Elliot's face turned solemn, as he walked for seconds and sit on the near sofa.

"What do you wanna know first? About Isabella's rumor or about Draven's possible life and death situation?"

"Both."

Aiden closed his eyes, ready to listen to what Elliot had to report. Elliot sighed in response and processed his thoughts about how to tell the story without breaking the sequence of the event and wasting a lot of words and time.

"Regarding Isabella's rumor of how she got sexual abuse by Draven. I did not confirm it from the subject herself, but it was affirmed by her best friends. It was even publicized how she could not stop crying when they came to comfort her."

Elliot paused after reporting the first investigation he carry out. After hearing no response, even though he did not hesitate to say Aiden's love interest getting sexual abuse. Aiden only listened and did not react. He was amazed at how Aiden could remain calm and collected.

"As for Draven's life and death situation. It was confirmed the time he left and took the direction where the Dimensional Portal appeared was exactly the time he entered, and thus might possibly die inside. However, we can't confirm it since the list of the decrease was still not released."