The autumn sunshine was an omen of new beginnings. The shedding of the leaves and their eventual regrowth reflected the human cycle of regression to finally resurgence.
He thought, that if this legend was really true, then his new beginning had been marked by playing a baseball game with two other kids. Literal kids.
"Bro! Don't hit it too hard! Those kids were yelling at us before for playing here.."
Ethan patted Anis on the head and laid the bat in his hands, "Use this." He grinned.
"W-what?!"
"To play of course. What were you thinking?"
"Bro!" Ethan laughed as Anis sheepishly rushed to the other end of the cricket ground. They had marked the border of the ground using sticks and stones, it had worked surprisingly well which came as a shock to Ethan who was sure they needed more realistic equipment to even begin the match.
"Remi, I'll teach you a trick that'll work every time." He whispered something into the girl's ear.
After his mouth retreated from her ear, she grinned malicious and waddled back her small steps, she then sprinted at her top speed and threw the ball with all her might. A might that was too small to make a change but apparently for Anis it had been a disaster, who failed in hitting the ball.
And up she jumped, completely ecstatic of her achievements of having a working arm. At about half of Ethan's height, Remi bounced on her feet repeatedly. The jubilance made her look so much like a healthy girl. From a distance it'd be impossible to make out her pallid skin and a figure no parent would want for their children.
In her next attempt, she faltered and the ball dropped out of her hands. She tried to catch it, failed then fell backwards.
Without a second thought, Anis dropped the bat and came running towards his sister and crouched down to see what was wrong.
"Remi! Hey..! Breathe! Are you alright?!"
"Calm down Anis, it's probably just because of a bit of exhaustion." Ethan crouched down. "Remi? Do you want some candy?" The girl smiled feverishly, "The red sweet one pleasee!"
"H-Hey! You can't be so greedy! You remember right! Mommy told us not to spend brother's money!"
"It's fine, it's fine." He smiled at Anis, "You're a really obedient child Anis."
"Um..thank you."
"But ya know." He closed his left eye, "Sometimes you gotta be a little out of line to be happy, and that's fine alright? Also don't tell your mom I said that, she'll have a real bad perception of me after I acted so prim and proper in front of her."
The girl held tightly onto his hand, "Watch the bat Anis, we'll be back in a few minutes."
As they walked, Remi jumped up and down, trying to catch the butterflies in her hands. When she failed, she pouted and closed her eyes counting to five then opened them again with the hope that new ones would magically appear.
This was happening in the middle of the park, so he had to stop numerous times just to keep an eye on her but he didn't mind it at all.
He felt a strange sense of comfort here, one he never quite felt around the people he had been calling his 'friends' for almost an year now. They were exceptionally adept at berating the life out of an individual, whenever they did the world a massive disservice by opening their mouths, nothing of value ever came out.
They considered the study material from their campus a presidential joke, their gossip about the university girls was never fruitful. In fact, the one time a woman was unfortunate enough to stumble into a conversation with one of them, she had reported it to the chancellor and he was punished by being put under surveillance at all times. He was even tracked inside the restroom.
"The volatility of the students in our campus must not be underestimated!" Was their excuse.
The irony was, according to the boy, that the girl he had asked promptly took the arm of someone who looked even worse than him. Of course trusting his words with him being the only source of them was the zenith of gullibility.
Maybe he had just been lonely, thought Ethan, that might also explain why he jumped off the building's roof a few days later.
"OooooOh! What's this?"
"That's the ice cream we aren't getting. You're already coughing aren't you?"
"....please?"
Ethan would bet all of the money left in his pocket that no man or woman in this world, no matter how good of a parent they were could've denied Remi that ice cream.
Ethan sighed.
"Fine. Only one though, and carry another for Anis."
Her eyes lit up with sheer excitement after holding a cone in both hands, "Two! The red one for Remi and the blue one for Anis!" All of her intention was poured at the pink ice cream from which she waved at the man preparing the waffle cones. He must've been having a bad day because he didn't even bother to smile at Remi and just handed her the ice cream.
"Aren't you getting one?"
"Nah. I'm not in the mood and besides" He gave her a thumbs up, "You simply asking me is the same as buying me the ice cream so rest assured!"
"Wait really?"
"Definitely."
"But whenever my aunt gives me some money and I take it, she becomes this tomato and gets all red and angry!"
Ethan wasn't interested in the her family tales, but hearing one won't hurt him.
"She came over and then hit me and called me a bad girl. How was I supposed to know to not tell mommy that she was putting her hand in daddy's jacket because he was cold?"
"Putting her hand in..?" He had to admit, his jaw dropped a little, "Oh.."
"Oh? What! What! You really wanted ice cream didn't you! It's fine! Remi will give you a part of Anis's ice cream!" She shushed him, "Don't tell Anis!"
Both of them chuckled amidst the crowd of people gathered at the Hampstermorgan park.
There were vendors and freeloaders setting up tent and selling beef jerky for exorbitant prices. The ground was packed with multicolored dahlias along with small piles of discarded wrappers near the portable shops. There weren't many people around, though this would change rapidly in the approaching days.
A popular Aaergalian festival was taking place here the next month, it was the new year's according to the Aarancos Calendar of the Goddess. The entire area would be booming with people and he really wanted to come with his friends but as they had better things to do, like trying to take a shit in privacy, he shot the thought down before it could resurface.
But if Anis's family was coming then he would take up the offer. And they would come, like they have been doing for the past many years. Their family was extremely orthodox—if you set aside their father's drinking problem that is.
"big bro! What's thatt?" She pointed towards the blockades at the two entrances of the park. The stairs were being rebuilt from scratch and had been ripped apart which complimented the ancient aura that had persisted in its place since the beginning. The park itself looked like three craters had dropped on another.
From the outside the park was beautiful, it was green all throughout the year and filled with rainwater during the monsoon, yet inside it was a different story of trudging through the wet marshes, it was only during the summers and early august that he could walk through the park without being subjected to the worst feeling of suffocation a man could suffer.
His focus fell back on the destroyed stairs and he wondered why its completion was taking so long. They weren't planning on installing guardrails either, it was like they were too lazy to finish its work and were so brazen that they didn't even attempt to hide it.
"Are the rocks going to wooooosh! And Fall down!"
"I'd rather not ya know? Being stuck here would be a pain in the a-"
"A what?"
Shit.
"Ehm. A pain in the butt yes, my butt hurts from sitting on all those rough benches!"
"But big bro, all the benches are freshly painted!"
Ethan gulped at Remi's sharp observations.
Choosing silence as the only answer, he ran back with the excuse that Anis must be "Waiting oh so patiently for us!"
When they made it near the main grounds once again, Ethan spotted Anis's small figure in the distance and upon seeing it he dashed forward, still clutching Remi's hand in his.
Anis was being cornered by a group of kids that looked older than him, he ran without stopping, even so, someone else reached there before him.
A man glanced at the kids which was enough to make them run away, then he crouched to Anis's level. When Ethan finally reached the spot, he saw the look of relief on Anis's face and turned to the man and thanked him.
He was slightly taller than Ethan, with black hair and brown eyes that a height only a few inches taller his own. He was probably the same age as Ethan as well.
The man looked at him with an unconcerned face,
"What's your name?" Was the only thing he asked.
"It's Ethan Victor Everett, what about yours, Park Messiah?"
In response, the man calmly turned his head to the side and thought for a minute before turning back to Ethan.
"Robin."
"No way that's your name." He replied instantly, "What parents name their kid Robin? I mean, the comics are very popular and all but seriously?"
"Mine did. Now, hand this to your father." He took out a ___ from his pocket and beckoned for Ethan to take it.
"What? Why? Taking random objects from a stranger isn't my forte ya know." he grew suspicious of 'Robin'.
"Ethan Victor Everett. Give this to your father, I cannot explain to you why but you must not ignore this."
His face twitched in confusion, "Oh really? Listen 'Robin', I'm not confident in taking a random ___ from a stranger. What if I get ____ AIDS or something?"
"Ethan." His eyes were staring intently into his, a gaze he only held for a few seconds before looking away, "Fine! Fine! Just..hand me it, geez. Talk about persistence- Hey! Where are you going!?"
'Robin' had already taken off for the exit.
"Dammit! I knew it wasn't safe....but, just in case." He put the ____ in his pocket.
"Alright, where were we! Are both of you.....oh. That's why I didn't get interrupted when I was speaking."
What he witnessed was a red eyed Remi crying with Anis patting her on the back trying to console her "It's okay! It's okay! Please don't cry!"
Gosh this kid, he was about to burst into tears himself, yet he was still trying to console his sister.
It was reminded him so much of his childhood with Reina.
Even though him and Reina only had a one year age gap, one third of Anis and Remi's, their dynamic was so vibrant that it was difficult to differentiate who was the older out of them. It was of course Ethan but with how often Reina stood up for him, it was only a given many people made this mistake.
Ethan came down to her eye level and shook her hand, "Peep! Peep! This is the ice cream man! I heard a precious girl named Remi dropped her brother's ice cream!" Still sobbing, she nodded, "Aww! But wasn't she going to eat herself? So naughty! Alright! Alright! If she stops crying I'll buy her another one and her brother one as well! Alright? In 3, 2, 1 and oop! She's smiling now!"
Anis, on the other hand was staring dumbfoundedly at Ethan like he had just witnessed the best magic trick of the century. "It's simple really, I call it the toddler fallacy. Basically, nothing is sound as long as you're louder than what they're crying about. Try it some day...or maybe not, you'll run a hole through your pocket."
Anis attentively nodded to all of Ethan's words, taking in all of his old teen wisdom.
Watching this, Ethan smiled at him. Anis smiled back timidly before turning his head away.
"Geez, do I look that bad? Wait, don't answer that. Not gonna change my relationship status anyway!" He said angrily.
They stomped their way out of the park and onto the busy streets of Hampstermorgan. The climb was exhausting for all three of them.
"The construction is really needed...these steps are too large.."
"Don't worry Anis." Ethan smiled brightly, "You're gonna carry Remi next time, not me. Alright?"
"Yayyy! A ride from Anis!" she added fuel to the fire.
"Yes Yes! A ride from Anis, he's been practicing to carry you ya know?"
They continued on from the busy streets of Hampstermorgan and turned to the region behind the Goldford district. It was much shabbier than the Goldford District, the houses were much shorter and many of them were also falling apart. Their doors were on their last hinges and windows had to be taped to prevent racoon attacks.
They stopped afoot of a small house that was in distinguishable from the rest, Ethan stepped forward and knocked harshly on the door hoping it couldn't collapse from the energy.
After a minute of waiting, the door creaked open and a low grimy voice greeted them.
"Oh? If it isn't you! Look how much you've grown!"
"You always say that Mrs. Amorette, I just came here like..wait has it been over 4 months?"
The woman laughed at his introspection, "See? I told you young folk was worse at keeping a track of time than us."
Remi had already ran inside the house while Anis was still by Ethan's side.
"Well then, I'm gonna go Mrs. Amorette, it was a pleasure meeting you but-"
"Ah! You and your excuses! Stay, stay! You go partying anyways with excuse of work."
Anis was also tugging at his sleeve, "Will you..stay for just a bit longer big bro?"
Ethan looked at the young boy begging for him to stay and then back at the woman with a crooked yet the most welcoming smile that could even rival that of his own mother's.
"Alright. But not for long. Mom would be pretty mad."
"Ah! Stop making excuses, Ann doesn't get angry at such things."
Ethan eye's widened in disbelief, "What? Mrs. Amorette, you CLEARLY have not seen enough of mom if you say that."
She reprimanded him for treating Anastasia with such caution and danger as if she'd rip him apart for being even a minute late. Ethan agreed that she'd do no such thing but in his mind he was repeating the same instance of Anastasia's watchful eyes observing him much more than usual lately.
Shrugging it off, he took a seat at the dining table. It was a single bedroom apartment with the dark paint of its walls peeling off. The small kitchen had pots and pan that were in a disarray, visible even from the table.
Amorette handed him tea in a brown ceramic cup.
"How is your family, Ethan?" She asked. Her tone made it clear that is wasn't just formalities that she was getting out of the way. The warmth with which she asked the question made him keen to answer it properly.
"I would say it's fine but" He paused for a moment, circling his thumb on the table, "father's a bit injured. Got in a small accident a month ago."
She gasped, "Oh! That is horrible! What happened?"
"It was just a small accident, maybe he tried going through a shortcut and was met with a wall or.." He shrugged, "You know, a bit under the influence."
She was quick to defend his father, pointing how he had never indulged in such reckless actions before, to which Ethan had to agree. His father was a bit strict, but above all he was the quintessence of overthinking.
Either he had a really, really horrendous night and got wasted under some yet to be discovered reasons, or something else had happened that none of them were aware.
Leaving aside his conspiracy theories, he subdued Ammorette's rampant questioning by feigning ignorance and saying that he was at home currently and taking a well deserved rest.
"It is always you and your family who scare me so much" her cranky voice remarked, "It always makes me feel bad that if your family went away than it'd be so much less lively for us." She was shaking hands and playing pretend doctor with Remi who was running around with the new doctor's kit Anastasia had gotten her for her birthday.
"My 9 and 12 year olds so lively and full of energy. Anis especially, he was speaking wonders about you, how 'big bro saved him from a bad guy' and how you scared away his bullies that one time."
"H-Hey! Mommy! You promised not to say that!"
Ethan laughed heartily for the first time in a while, "Really! Ahh! Good lord, it's just coincidence I stumbled into your bullies ya know? Well I'm glad I did, they don't bother you anymore do they?" Anis looked away in embarrassment and nodded.
"So you better come more often!" She scolded, "You young boys meandering here and there doing inappropriate things! Better come here and spend some time drinking tea and talk to an old woman life rather than making out with some girl at the back of the store, you listening to me?"
"Yes, yes, I promise to never make out with my future girlfriend in front of you."
"Oh you jest!"
All three of them laughed, and seeing them laugh, Remi also joined in and her laughs became the loudest in the room pretty quickly.
"Hey! Remi! Calm down will you? These walls have ears my girl."
With one final gulp, Ethan bowed his head slight to Mrs. Amorette to which she clicked her tongues remarking, "Get some new ways to butter us old people." and smiled at Ethan, telling him to come back again.
He just needed to get up and run home now. He'd have to make a call on the way back to inform his mom of his whereabouts or she'd really be pissed.
When he was about to get up and leave, heavy footsteps stormed into the living room and a fat man with a large circles under his eyes upturned eyes and a large hooked nose that Ethan was sure could even smell the jolly environment that was created.
He was large, really large with broad shoulders that could easily decimate any of them.
All three of them fell silent at his arrival and Amorette's face twisted in annoyance.
He plopped a large empty bottle on the table and stared at Ethan for what felt like an eternity.
"You that Victor guy's son right?"