Chapter Two: The Rejected Child
The hole opened once more.
The sky tore with a terrifying calm, like an old wound bleeding anew. The warplane emerged from it slowly, as if returning from a war that had not yet ended. Inside, Flick sat in the back seat, his face pale as the dead, his back slightly hunched forward. His eyes were fixed on an empty point in front of him, thoughts swirling in his head like a silent storm.
How will we find the child as quickly as possible?
How long will it take before the Leader notices our delay?
Then he suddenly relaxed, leaning his back against the seat, and whispered to himself:
"It's not important now. We'll think later. We'll find him... and return home."
After fifteen years of waiting, this was the only promise that kept him together.
The Awaited One was killed.
The news shook the entire world. A small child had died, and the Messengers confirmed: he was indeed the Awaited One.
The killer? A criminal well-known to the police. A man who had spent long years in prison, released just one year ago.
The strange thing was that he had never killed before. He kidnapped children, demanded ransom, then left them alive.
But this time...
There was no ransom.
No hesitation.
The murder was clean. Direct.
In the interrogation room, the criminal sat with unnatural calm. His eyes were rigid, as if they saw nothing. He said without blinking:
"Yes... I did it."
The investigator asked sharply:
"Why?"
The criminal raised his cold eyes, a faint smile passing over his lips:
"I won't tell you anything else."
The investigator left, his chest heavy as if carrying a stone. The confession closed the case... but it was empty. As if the man wasn't the one speaking. As if something—or someone—else was controlling him. But without evidence, there was nothing he could do.
The Messengers returned to the Leader.
They stood before him in heavy silence, the air in the cave cold and thick as lead. One of them asked hesitantly:
"Won't you send us home?"
The Leader replied in a voice devoid of any emotion, as if emerging from the walls themselves:
"I won't waste my power on failures like you."
One of the Messengers burst out with suppressed anger:
"But we tried!"
The Leader raised his gaze. His eyes—or what resembled eyes under the shadows—were hard as stone:
"Leave now... or I'll kill you.
Before you go, take this child... and leave him in any orphanage."
One of them carried the small infant. Placed him at night in front of a nearby orphanage door. Then disappeared, as if swallowed by the darkness.
A wealthy old man adopted the child in his vast palace, surrounded by gardens as quiet as graves.
He named him Enrio.
Enrio grew up in the palace unloved by the villagers. Everyone saw him as a great disappointment... because he came in place of the Awaited One.
The only exception was the grandfather.
He spent evenings with him in the spacious library, talking quietly while the mother brought coffee. Its aroma filled the room, warm, reassuring.
The mother—the grandfather's daughter—showed him tenderness.
The father had been dead for a long time.
There were three siblings:
Lina, the middle sister, kind-hearted, always smiling.
Rinko, the younger brother, mischievous, his eyes filled with jealousy.
The eldest brother... nothing was mentioned about him.
And Enrio was the youngest in the palace.
One day, when Enrio was five, Rinko invited him to play in the garden.
But jealousy overcame him.
He hurt him deliberately.
Blood flowed from Enrio's arm, hot, sticky. The pain spread like slow fire.
The mother treated him quickly, then punished Rinko after Lina revealed the truth.
The grandfather would tell Enrio about the human world, but he never revealed that Enrio was human. Whenever Enrio asked about themselves, the grandfather would say calmly:
"We are humans... but we differ.
Some of us possess abilities called Reza, others do not."
Enrio asked with childish curiosity:
"Will I possess the Reza ability?"
The grandfather tensed slightly, then smiled a sad smile:
"You may possess our power... thick threads.
I'll show you its form one day."
In another place, Flick and the remaining four Messengers spoke with tension.
Flick said in a dangerous calm:
"You know now... we have only one choice left."
They asked together anxiously:
"What is it?"
Flick paused for a moment. Then said in a low voice:
"..."
They recoiled in shock:
"Have you gone mad?! This is impossible!"
Flick smiled a faint, cold smile:
"Whoever doesn't want to obey me, let him go.
Don't fear... I've planned for everything."