"W-what?" he stammered.
The female doctor simply rolled her eyes and repeated herself condescendingly.
"Yeah. She's dead. Is that so hard to understand?"
Caelan refused to believe that his mother's death could be explained so simply.
Yet deep down, it would be a lie to say he hadn't noticed something was wrong with her condition. Not only had she been asleep far longer than normal, but her injuries had also been far too severe to leave untreated for so long.
Suddenly, his legs gave way beneath him and he collapsed back into his seat. He kept his head lowered for several long minutes before another doctor emerged from the room and spoke in a flat, mechanical tone.
"It appears that she died approximately seven hours ago. The cause of death has been confirmed as severe head trauma accompanied by multiple instances of internal bleeding."
He paused briefly to adjust his glasses before continuing to read from the clipboard in his hand.
"It also appears that these injuries had accumulated over a long period of time. Furthermore, she seems to have pushed herself well beyond her physical limits, possibly due to prolonged heavy labor without adequate rest."
He was right.
Caelan knew that his mother barely rested. In fact, she had been away for two whole days before finally returning home yesterday.
Before he realized it, tears were streaming down his face. They soaked his cheeks, bitter and cold, as though his grief had taken on physical form.
He bit down on his lower lip until it bled, desperately trying to suppress the scream threatening to tear its way out of him.
Even so, it did nothing to quell the storm raging inside him. Rage churned through his veins. Hatred burned through his very being while grief clawed at his heart. Each emotion fought for dominance, colliding violently within the hollow space his mother had left behind.
"...Kid."
"...Kid."
Slap!
Caelan's head snapped violently to the side as a resounding slap landed exactly where the giant's blow had landed before.
He barely grunted. Much less screamed.
He snapped his gaze directly to the female doctor's eyes. The anger in them was intense enough to make the doctor in glasses flinch. The female doctor, however, maintained her overbearing demeanor and grabbed Caelan by the collar, hauling him to his feet.
"Oi. You deaf?"
Caelan gritted his teeth and said nothing. His silence seemed to irritate her further.
"We're asking for compensation for wasting our time and having to explain things to you."
"...Let go."
"Tch. Just give us the damn money."
Caelan knew that retaliating was useless. But did that mean he would let himself be stripped of everything just because she was stronger?
Hell no.
But even so, not everything could be solved by will and stubbornness alone. If that were the case, he wouldn't have been beaten half dead by that gang, and certainly not by his own father. His mother would still be alive if the world worked that way.
He was too weak to do anything other than comply with the demands of those stronger than him. Same case applied in the current situation.
So...
He did.
He slipped his hand into his pocket and took out everything inside it.
He balled his fist and threw the contents toward the male doctor, who caught it flawlessly.
When he opened his hand, there was only a single coin with 50 Cents engraved on its face.
Caelan's expression twisted into a humourless grin as he spoke through gritted teeth.
"Take my money, bitch."
Her face contorted in anger almost instantly. She pulled her fist back and drove it straight into his nose.
"Rude bastard!"
She roared before grabbing him and hurling him into the cracked wall, adding a fresh scar to the old ones already there. Just as she was about to continue, the male doctor placed a hand on her shoulder and said something about a new patient. She clicked her tongue, lost interest, and walked off.
'Ah, shit. I think I broke my nose,' he thought.
His whole body was in agony. The last throw in particular had been vicious enough to nearly fracture his spine if not for his endurance. Just as he was about to get up, the male doctor approached and extended a hand toward him.
Caelan raised an eyebrow at the gesture but ignored it before getting up on his own. The doctor didn't seem bothered and spoke in the same flat tone as before.
"We have a package to cremate the body, and a special package to bury it in a cemetery. Which would you like?"
The doctor's use of the word 'package' to handle the dead left a bitter taste in Caelan's mouth. Nevertheless, he remained silent and carefully weighed the two choices.
However, the answer was obvious. They both knew it. The fact that the doctor hadn't bothered mentioning the price was itself a statement about which one was actually within reach.
Honestly, Caelan would have liked nothing more than to bring his mother somewhere she could rest in peace. Somewhere that was obviously not his home — or his house, rather, since that place belonged to his father, and there wasn't a single patch of dirt in it suitable for a grave.
That left him with one seemingly better option: take on more debt and give his mother a proper burial in a cemetery.
Or at least, that was what someone who didn't know better might have thought. Fortunately, Caelan was not among them. He knew that a body left in a place like this would find its way to some sort of people for worse than burial. Ritual offerings at best. Something worse at worst.
The only real choice was to have her cremated.
"...How much?" he asked, keeping his head down.
The doctor seemed to already know his answer without him stating it.
"It will be a mere 150 Credits per body."
However, as though it wasn't enough, Caelan spat through gritted teeth.
"And?"
"Of course, you'll have to wait your turn, which is about two more months..." he said with a cruel smirk. "Unless, of course, you'd like to make an additional payment of 3,999.99 Credits to have it done immediately."
Caelan inhaled slowly and deeply.
"Fine."
***
It was raining.
Or rather, it was acid rain. The poisoned environment had turned even the rain toxic. Plants had long since died because of it, and the soil had become too contaminated to be of use to anyone. The metal surfaces covering the floors and buildings did nothing to help, corroding steadily into a deep, flaking rust red.
Even so, Caelan walked through it, sheltered only by an old walkway whose roof leaked in so many places it barely qualified as cover. Around him, people in haggard, hollow states huddled beneath the same structure, as it was the only shelter available. Suspicious figures in dark hoods also lurked among them, eyes drifting over anyone who might be carrying something worth taking. A few of them glanced at Caelan before quickly losing interest as he moved slowly through the crowd, carrying a cylindrical object in his hand.
It was none other than his mother's ashes.
After a few more minutes of walking, he arrived in front of his father's house. Strangely, the place felt much emptier than it ever had before.
Maybe it really did.
"Did he finally go back to his post?"
If there was any saving grace to be found that evening, it was that the man had apparently returned to his duty as a gate guard on the main gate of the city. Which meant he wouldn't be back for at least a few days.
That return was what Caelan dreaded most. That was always when the man came back in the foulest of moods, with a fresh supply of alcohol to sustain it.
"You know," the voice in his head finally said. "You should be ready for tonight."
"I know," he replied, to no one in particular.
What the voice meant was the awakening. The process that every child underwent at the exact moment they turned twelve years old. It typically occurred at the same time as the hour of their birth, which made knowing that time important for anyone who wanted to be properly prepared.
Coincidentally, Caelan had been born at exactly midnight. Meaning he would go through his awakening while the rest of the city slept. Granted, he hadn't slept once since yesterday.
"Whatever. What could go wrong anyway?"
He set about his preparations. First, a bath. Then he tended to the wounds that could still be treated. After that, he allowed himself a few hours of rest, which was not optional — the awakening demanded a clear head and sufficient mental stability to achieve the best possible result.
Seeking guidance from an expert was also strongly advised. Unfortunately, he couldn't afford one. And even if he could, he wouldn't have known where to find one.
So, with nothing but sheer willpower and himself — or rather, the two of them actually, including the voice inside his head — he would endure the process for however long it took.
Whether he succeeded or not was entirely up to him. And maybe a sprinkle of luck if he deserve it.