Chapter 3 - Xavier Pierce II

Roughly four or five hours had passed since Xavier and his siblings had witnessed their mother's life end on their kitchen floor. Night had long since fallen over Maide, the blood red sky still covered in black-red clouds. The rain began to slow, and the chaos outside the Pierce home was slowly dissipating.

The lifeless body of Xavier's mother lay on the kitchen floor, and smell of her now released bowels traveled through his house. While he deliberated on what should be done with her body, Xavier sent his siblings to their rooms, giving Bonnie, their guest he'd saved earlier from the red rain, his own room. Before long, his siblings had cried themselves to sleep, leaving him alone in silence in the kitchen with his mother's body.

I can't just burn her in the back yard, he thought to himself. And, I can't leave the kids to look for help. While contemplating his situation, Xavier stood from his chair at the kitchen table, and went into the cabinet above the stove. It was here that his mother hid a cache of quality liquors from around the world.

Xavier discovered it years before but had never mentioned it to his mother or siblings. This was because he didn't want his mother to change the location of her stash, in case he ever decided he wanted a taste. With his circumstances as they were, Xavier was sure a drink would help him to relax and think.

They won't stay asleep much longer, Xavier thought about his siblings. I don't want her body to be here when they come from their rooms. As he mulled over his options, Xavier opened a bottle of Abian Cognac and filled a glass with it. He found early on that he did not like the taste of liquor but did enjoy the feeling it gave after finishing a glass, so he fought through the rich, strong burn of the liquor, hoping to alleviate some of his stress.

My options are limited, Xavier complained internally while sipping from his glass. It should be a few days before her body starts to decay. Still, it's best if I can hide her body somewhere until order is restored to the city and I can give her a proper burning. He surveyed the kitchen, as if an option would suddenly make itself known if he checked his environment repetitively. He ultimately decided that until he could find a better option, he would place the body of his mother in the basement they'd hidden in when the Empire's sirens began to ring.

First, he cleaned her body, removing her clothes and bathing her, then found new clothes for her in her room, and redressed her. With much struggle, Xavier then picked his mother's body up onto his shoulders and proceeded in carrying her down into the basement.

He'd heard somewhere that the weight of a dead body was greater than the weight of a living person. Still, he was shocked when he attempted to move his mother's body and nearly fell under her mass. As it was his mother, he took his time, sure to avoid hitting her on the stairs or walls. It took Xavier nearly twenty minutes to move her downstairs. Once he had her body in the basement, he covered her with a linen sheet, and knelt next to her.

He'd known his mother to pray to the gods often. It was customary in the Ku Yongi religion to burn their dead on a pyre and pray for the souls of the departed, that they would make it to the heavens. Though he did not believe in gods himself, he could not neglect his mother passage into the heavens her soul would be lifted in to if her beliefs proved real. So, Xavier knelt there beside her, and began to pray.

"Gods in heaven, I ask that you guide my mother's soul safely into the afterlife. Take her to a land without suffering and pain, without heartache and tears," he paused briefly, his own tears threatening to fall once again from his eyes. "Please, allow me to walk as she did, and shine a light on those in need. She was a kind and gentle soul, and I know she'll be permitted within your gates. I pray to thee, amen."

With his short prayer ended, Xavier stood to his feet, and left the basement, quietly closing the door behind him, fighting his tears all the while.

I gotta be strong, he thought. For them. In his mind, he saw the faces of his siblings. They're too young to understand what's happening. Hell, I don't fully understand what's happening. Vigorously, he shook his head. Ma was fine earlier. What made her suddenly turn sick? Was it the rain? Was she already sick? No, I would've known. Even if she kept it from them she would've at least told me. Right?

No matter how hard he pushed his mind to come to a conclusion, Xavier found himself lost, which only infuriated him. He angrily tossed the remainder of the cognac in his glass into the back of his throat, swallowed, and exhaled in a strenuous fashion as the liquor burned the insides of his chest. It was difficult to imagine himself doing anything other than sit in the kitchen and fret over the state of his situation. His mother gone, the world outside in chaos, and he alone, left to assume responsibility of his four younger siblings and another child he'd saved from the streets.

Xavier however, was not the type to linger too long on problems he could not solve. He had put his mother's body away, insuring his siblings would not see her upon their return downstairs, and decided that once the city had come to order, that he would find a way to have her body moved, and burned. He had locked every door in his home, insuring that the chaos outside would not make its way into the Pierce home. And lastly, for the sake of his siblings, he had composed himself. Though this was mainly thanks to the liquor that now coursed through his body.

In his opinion, there was little more he could do, other than wait for his siblings to wake. Xavier stood, got himself some ice from the kitchen freezer box, filled his glass once again, and sat back into his chair, cozying himself as best he could.

The first rays of the morning sun began to shine through the kitchen window. They were not the rays he was accustomed to. Where golden orange light usually accompanied the chirps of morning birds, the sunlight had taken on a red tint, darker than the bright colorful hue that shone through his window only the day before. The birds did not sing.

It doesn't seem like morning. It felt instead to him like a dreary afternoon. Still, it was morning nonetheless. His siblings were bound to be waking soon. They would be hungry. He started thinking about what he would do for breakfast when a thought occurred to him.

I can't cook for shit. Though it was a minor dilemma, it was something to distract Xavier from the less manageable parts of his predicament.

He first thought about his siblings. Mostly due to his own efforts, he wasn't exactly close to any of them. Though Neko, the youngest seemed to adore him almost as much as he feared him, the rest of his siblings had taken to their own lives, and often went as far as avoiding Xavier.

His siblings were two boys and two girls. The girls, Diamond and Ruby, were twins, four years younger than himself. He knew neither of them could cook, as they had never taken any initiative to learn about cooking from their mother. Diamond spent most of her time wrapped around some idiot boy from her school, while Ruby stayed wrapped around her books, even more so than Xavier.

His brothers, Mikel, younger than Xavier by ten years, was more interested in The Games. And Neko younger than Mikel by three, could not see over the kitchen countertop to even attempt learning to cook.

The chances of any diners being open are slim to none, Xavier thought. And what's worse? I have a guest. What am I gonna feed the kid? Then, an idea dawned on him. She's old enough, and taller than my brothers. Maybe she knows how to cook?

His body moved faster than his mind, he jumped up from his chair and started for his bedroom, where Bonnie, the girl he'd saved from the chaos outside would be. It had been several hours since he'd sent the kid and his siblings upstairs to deal with his mother's remains. He figured they'd have rested and woken up by now.

Partly due to his drunkenness, and the other part to his haste, he tripped on the edge of a stair, forcing him to lose his balance, and topple to the bottom of the staircase. He made a lot of -bang- -boom- noises on his way down, causing each of his siblings and Bonnie to come out of their rooms to find out what had happened.

Though his body was in an unusual position, he felt very little pain. He gently unfolded his body, then stood, moving as if nothing had happened. He felt fine, though he wondered how was unhurt after such a fall. He was sure he should've broken a limb or two. His arms had bent behind his back and neck. His legs were crooked. Yet somehow, he'd gotten up, and any pain he felt, small as it was, quickly subsided.

Though he felt it strange, he was relieved. I'm pretty sure I should be dead right now. But I'm good. He thought while he surveyed his body, Actually, now that I think about it, I feel great. Physically, at least. He looked up the stairs at his siblings and guest. Their worried faces reminded him of his objective. Moreover, his newfound responsibilities. I can get through this. We all can.

"Are you okay, X?" Neko asked him. Though they all seemed worried, Neko was the only one among them with the courage to ask.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Xavier responded. There was a newfound respect for his aggravating little brother in his eyes. Despite how hard Xavier had tried to push them away, Neko always tried to pull closer to him. It was perhaps what made him so annoying to Xavier. Still, he was glad that at least one of his siblings wished to bridge the gap between them. Even if it was the runt.

"Bonnie," Xavier said, aiming his gaze at her. "Can you cook?"

His question caused a blush to cover her face. Xavier assumed it was because she was being put into an unwanted spotlight.

"Sorry," Xavier said quickly. "I should've asked in private."

"No, it's fine." She said, smiling while she said the first words since she'd given her name in the Pierce house.

"I'm a great cook!" she announced. Smiles lit across the faces of Xavier's siblings. They had all but forgotten the scene they'd witnessed earlier, and Xavier was glad of it. He knew eventually they would ask where their mother was. But until that moment came he would do what he could to let them live in the bliss of ignorance.

He was wary of how they would respond to once again entering the kitchen, but his worries proved needless, as his younger siblings neatly filed into it, and sat, waiting, watching as Bonnie, the young girl Xavier had brought in during the dangerous storm, went to work making a breakfast for the Pierce family.

In fifteen minutes they had a meal of eggs, sausage, bacon, biscuits with gravy and many fruits and syrups before them. After they said a prayer, both for the food and their mother, the Pierce siblings, and Bonnie dove into their morning meal.

Xavier was glad that they had quickly accepted their mother's passing. He was sure it was perhaps because they believed in her gods and believed her to be in the heavens. Whatever their reasoning, he was relieved that he at least would not have to do much consoling on the matter. He had enough to deal with as it was.

While he sat in thought, his siblings had been engaged in conversation with their guest, asking her questions about herself, while letting her do the same to them. Xavier abandoned his thoughts and tuned into their conversation.

"Normally I'd be with Andreas or Jameson right now." Diamond said.

"When aren't you?" Mikel muttered, much to the amusement of Ruby and Bonnie. Ruby's face turned red and put her hands on the table threatening to jump over it and strangle her younger brother.

This only resulted in an outburst of laughter from nearly everyone at the table. Diamond sat back and dramatically folded her arms while poking her bottom lip out.

Quietly chuckling at her sister's expense, Ruby looked off, focusing her gaze through the window to the outside.

"Do you think the sky will ever go back to being blue?" she asked to no one in particular. The laughter came to an abrupt halt and all eyes turned towards her.

No one in the room had an answer for her. While she drearily stared at the red sky, mired by black clouds, an uncomfortable silence filled the room. It took her a while, but Ruby eventually grew self conscious, noticed the eyes on her and lowered her head to the table in embarrassment.

"I'm sorry!" she said. "I was thinking out loud." The Pierce siblings and Bonnie looked at one another, then back to her and once again the kitchen was roaring with laughter.

"You're such a dork," Diamond jested, glad that she was no longer the center of attention.

Bonnie's laughter echoed through the kitchen, as she enjoyed the dynamic the Pierce siblings displayed. The children were content. They'd eaten a hearty meal and managed to laugh through the morning despite the absence of their mother. Xavier was glad that Bonnie after only one night had managed to fit in with his family.

I wonder, he thought to himself. Where are her parents? Did they die like the others outside?

He did not want to ruin the peace and joy the kids had found in each other. Still, he continued internally, if the girl has family, it'd be best to make sure she gets back to them.

"Bonnie." Xavier called to her across the table. The Pierce siblings quieted their laughter and focused their attention on Xavier. It was not something he'd wanted. But it was, he felt, necessary to ask his question.

"Why were you out there alone?" he asked. He tried to act as his mother would were she in his position. He wanted this girl to feel as if she could trust him. So, he asked a question that wasn't rude, or hostile. Her response however, was not something he was prepared for. He'd expected her to say something simple, such as; "I got lost," or, "I ran away from home at a bad time."

Instead, she lowered her head, and began to quietly sob.

"My dad," she said, wiping tears from her eyes with the palms of her hands. "When the rain started, he looked l-like he kn-knew what was happening." She began to falter over her words, her tears now a constant stream on her face.

"He told me to stay in the house, then he ran outside. I tried to follow him." Her sobs became a wail. The Pierces, with the exception of Xavier got up from their chairs to comfort her.

"He left you?" Xavier said, pity saturating his voice.

No longer capable of words, she nodded, her face covered in a waterfall of sorrow.

I know our mom just died, but damn. That's fucked up. Why would her parent purposely leave her in the middle of that craziness? She could've died out there. Xavier racked his brain once again, for an answer he had no hope of finding, but gave up quickly. Instead, he decided to try to cheer her up.

"Well, you're a fantastic cook," Xavier said calmly. His siblings gave nods and approvals. Xavier continued. "If you'd like to stay with us, we'd welcome you."

Bonnie's face lit up, a smile returning through her watery eyes. Her expression changed from one of sadness to one of joy, and in that moment, she was accepted into the Pierce family.

Feeling satisfied that he'd taken care of everything he could, he announced to his siblings, "Alright guys, I'm kind of exhausted, so I'm going to go to my room and get some rest."

He thought quickly that maybe he should establish some rules before he left, to prevent anything happening whilst he slept. But fatigue from his tasks the night before made his body almost instinctually start moving towards the stairs.

"Come and wake me if anything happens. Like someone coming to the door, or one of you starts feeling sick. Okay?" he called over his shoulder, but without truly waiting for a response, he climbed the staircase, and went into his room, collapsing onto his bed and nearly instantly falling asleep.

***

Is this a dream? It feels like a dream. Xavier could not differentiate his surroundings from reality. To him, everything looked as clear as if he were awake. Still, he knew that he was dreaming. Before him stood a stone castle, high as the eye could see. Its windows, colorful glass depictures of warriors and gods.

Xavier beheld it as a magnificent sight. He had never seen it before but fell in love with the structure instantly. His moment of infatuation came to an end quickly however, when screams of agony and shouts of rage redirected his attention behind him. He turned his dream body to find a battlefield before him. Men and women, fighting with swords and spears. Arrows raining down in the distance. In the sky, Xavier could see what looked like a giant winged lizard, and a creature with an eagle's head and wings and a lion's body, fighting in the air.

The lizard, wings riddled with holes that should've rendered him incapable of flying, unleashed blue fire from its mouth while the eagle lion hybrid used its giant wings to summon wind powerful enough to extinguish the flames. Beneath them people tore through one another with their blades. The ground around their feet sank and bodies flew through the sky tearing in half as the winds rose to drastic speeds.

Xavier spotted a man in the madness. He was surrounded by at least ten enemies, and yet, he was smiling, as if he had the advantage. They came at him. None of them had taken three steps before they were suddenly engulfed in flames. The fire spread around him. Further and further it spread, burning through the field around him burning friend and foe alive. He could not see the man's face, but he could hear him laugh. It was a laugh that frightened him, even in this dream.

While the man laughed madly, clutching his chest, as if the laughter caused him pain, the field continued to burn brighter, and brighter, until it eventually reached Xavier. Surrounded by flames he turned his dream body to run, to find the large castle behind him had begun to crumble and fall.

Surrounded by fire, and with nowhere to run, Xavier began to panic. He felt the heat, as the flames licked his skin, instantly leaving clusters of blisters.

He wanted to scream, to shout for help. However, he had no power to speak in his dream. I can't breathe. So hot. So hot. So hot!

Xavier shot up from his sleep to face his room on fire. His clothes, his books, his treasures, all turning to ash in a fire that had inexplicably started in his room.

"Shit! No!!" Xavier screamed, and jumped out of his bed. Thinking to run to the hallway and grab the fire extinguisher there, he landed on his feet, and took one step, when the fire suddenly ceased. His belongings remained ash, as evidence of the fire's existence. But the fire itself was no longer present.

In confusion, Xavier sat down on his bed, which had somehow survived the fire, and, stared at the floor. In the middle of the floor, was The Nest, the book he had thrown away earlier.

"What the...?" The young man was not sure how much more he could take before his mind would implode. There was no explanation for what he'd just experienced. There were no words he could use to describe what he felt.

A deep rumble alerted Xavier to Neko and Bonnie who were running up the stairs. To prevent them from seeing his room, or at least the ashes and remains of the fire in his room, he met them at his door.

"What's wrong?" Neko shouted from the top of the staircase, still moving his feet towards Xavier.

"Is that smoke?" Bonnie murmured. She said this quietly, but Xavier somehow heard her, even with her being behind Neko on the stairs.

"Ah, yeah. Its nothing. Just had an accident up here, guys." Attempting to push them off, he gave a quick excuse and returned to his room, shutting his door.

He picked up The Nest, and observed it. It was somehow in perfect condition, as it had always been, despite the majority of his other belongings becoming little more than dust.

Xavier had questions. And he desperately wanted answers. It was little more than a feeling, but Xavier felt the place to find answers may have been in book he held in his hand.

Determined to know if there was any meaning to the events he'd experienced. With no where else to turn, he laid back down onto his bed, and began to read the book again from the beginning.