"The Dead Stay Dead"

A few minutes before in the forest…

"How much farther till we reach the cave??" Jack spoke fast and ran even faster. Carrying one of the kids who had altered jack on his back to lead the way with his wife running not too far behind.

"Sir, it's right here, and it's in tunnel number 2 up ahead!" The kid could barely speak as the wind had been hitting straight into the child's face.

Jack had picked up the pace, wasting no time. He had to save his children and everyone in the fight to save his child.

"*Hang in there, Azrael, I am on my way to you right now!*" Jack had to grit his teeth.

Finally, they had arrived at the place where the fight had been, and that's when Jack saw it. His son was left powerless against the bandits, lying on the ground with blood everywhere.

Azrael, full of blood, was about to get hit again. At that exact moment, the bat was going downwards; Jack came with a rushing fist straight into the bandit's face cracking his skull and spilling blood everywhere.

"AZRAEL!" Alana rushed towards Azrael and started a healing spell immediately. Tears fell down Alana's face as she saw all cuts and bruises heal up. Her son was getting better, yet the tears would not stop falling.

"Baby, we are so sorry. Please forgive us; if only we were not gone from the house for so long, none of this would have happened" Alana carried on crying and sniffing to try to hold back the mucus from falling.

"Those Bastards! Do they think it would be a hit and run with our family, and we would do nothing?! No one hurts my family, and I mean no one!" Jack shouted in anger. The mana started to envelop his body; his killing intent almost filled the whole cave. The killing intent had been so thick some bandits collapsed on the ground, unable to bear it.

"Honey, calm down!" Alana shouted at Jack, who was about to go berserk. Jack Regained sense and looked down at his wife, who had been crying,

"You can't do it alone, So let's save our children together, okay?" Alana said those words while still sniffing a bit. Alana raven was angrier than Jack; she had wanted to rip all of them apart and make sure that none of them left alive.

The fight with the bandits was still on, but Azrael's parents had acted as if nothing was happening for a small amount of time, and time had stopped only for them.

Alana spoke slowly, her voice speaking bitter words at the end."Can one of the guards and maids take care of our son from here? We don't want him close because we are going to fight at full power!" Her last words were not just spoken bitterly, but she grunted them in frustration.

Some guards had taken Azrael away. Alana started chanting for a large-scale attack while Jack rushed towards the bandits with his sword. Cutting down every bandit that had come his way, while Alana and Jack started to fight, Azrael opened up his eyes. What he saw was his father's true strength, speed, and abilities. Lighting hand ran across Jack's sword and was flung towards the bandits. Azrael's father flew across the battlefield wielding the lighting; it was a sight to behold.

"Daaad….?" Azrael said with a very soft voice. He could barely lift his hand up, but what he saw was beyond anything his dad had initially been shown him.

Jack was an angel of lighting that had come to save the day, well in Azrael's eyes at least.

The blade had cut straight into the bandits, blood flew everywhere, everything was sliced clean. No struggle was shown as he ripped the flesh and bones apart. This was the strength of his father!

"whereas…?" "*....mom?*" Azrael finished the last of his sentence in his head as he was too tired to speak. He could barely move his head, so he scanned left and right with his eyes.

There it was, his mother, casting a tremendously large; pell, it was the most extensive spell he ever saw! The guard's magic could never compare to what he is seeing.

"Son, we are going to avenge you and your sister!" Alana spoke to herself, she unleashed the spell, any bandit that was still alive or barely alive was absolutely dead now. She had wiped out the enemy forces. As this immense power was sent flying towards the bandits, Jack signaled some guards to rush to where the kids were being held!

Jack's priority was his own daughter; every other child was secondary.

Faster than the bandits could react, the guards and Jack swooped in, leaving nothing other than the wind behind them. Finally, the children were taken away to safety.

The power that had killed almost all of the remaining bandits exploded and slew those that might have made it out alive. At that point, Azrael realized what power or strength he thought he had was nothing compared to his parents' strengths.

And that was the end of the longest day of Azrael's life!

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DEar dIaRy,

WhaT haD hapPenD YeSterDaY? IS eVerYone Safe?

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The morning of the next day came by; Azrael had been in bed covered up in bandages straining every movement.

As the sun rose and the light invaded Azrael's room, his eyes started to flutter as they opened up. *yawn* "*Where am I? Wait, was I not in a cave fighting bandits? Wait, the bandits, Lucy, and everyone!!!*" Azrael tried to jump out of bed but was barely able to move; other than the bandages holding him down, his body was still fatigued from the previous day.

"Ouch!" Azrael Shouted out in pain. Alana and Jack heard and rushed straight to their son's room with no time being wasted.

*bang* the door had been flung open by Jack. "Son, you alright, calm down, don't move too much.'' Jack went straight to his son's bedside.

Azrael looked at his dad with a worried face, biting his bottom lip as a tear fell, "Dad, where's Lucy? Is she safe? What about everyone else?" another tear fell from Azrael's eyes.

Jack looked straight into Azrael's eyes and said: "Son, we were able to save your sister and most of the kids, both the ones kidnapped and those who decided to go look for the bandits."

Jack smiled slightly but then bit his teeth again and said, "But there were casualties, and some of the kids had died and are seriously injured. Your mother and I were not able to save everyone." Jack came and hugged his son

"Dad, I am so sorry; I didn't mean for everyone to get hurt." Azrael grit his teeth in frustration. "If I could have protected my friends and my sister, no one would have gotten hurt." Azrael hated feeling weak; he had led everyone into danger, he had gotten them hurt and some even killed.

"*I am so weak*" Azrael started crying as his father lightly hugged him.

"When you get better and some more rest, the right thing as a man is to go and apologize and thank those who have voyaged with you into danger. Never forget those who have helped you, no matter what you have done wrong, never feel embarrassed to apologize." Azrael's father, Jack, had pushed Azrael slightly back and locked straight into the crying boy's eyes.

*sniff* Azrael had wailed his eyes out and whimpered from time to time, trying to stop the tears. Azrael replied with a trembling voice, "I.. I will."

A few hours had passed…

"Dad, I think I am going to head down to go say sorry to my friends and their families" Azrael put on his shoes while looking down and then grunted.

He wore a hoodie and pants with slip-on shoes. He walked out of his house slowly, thinking back to the fight.

"*I need to be faster, stronger, smart, and more powerful. When I awaken as a User, I will protect my family, won't let anything happen to them, and protect my friends.*" He kicked a stone as he walked, grunting at every kick.

"Hay Azrael, Azrael over here!" Mei called out to him as he walked down into the village, mopping.

Ignoring Mei unintentionally as he walked further down. He walked further down still as slowly as before.

"Azrael!! It's Me, Mei!" She waved at Azrael, finally getting his attention. Azrael looked up, wondering for a slight second whether or not he should say hi or not.

"* Do I deserve to still have Mei as my friend?*", Although he felt unworthy, he also felt that it would be wrong to leave her hanging after she had greeted him. So he waved back at her and pulled a fake smile, and shouted.

"Hi, Mei, How you?" he smiled and waved back.

"Hey, how are you feeling? You looked really tired and hurt at the cave!" She ran up beside him.

"Ya, feeling better. I was going to walk down to the village and apologize to everyone." Azrael sighed and looked up.

"It is my fault everyone got hurt, so I have to at least apologize to everyone," He said while breathing out heavily.

Mei looked at him; she felt sorry for the burden of regret and responsibility he feels towards everyone for the situation. "It is alright; please don't be sad." Mei was replied.

Azrael spoke softly to himself, "Well, there's nothing more I can do but apologize and get stronger. Life won't stop for me, and this incident I can't be shoved under a rug either." he sighed and walked on.

"*Everyone, I am sorry….*."