"Mommy! Look over there!"
A small child. Barely introduced to life. So innocent. So frail. Her skin was paler than snow, and she looked like she would grow up to be a beauty. Her life was a blank slate. She could've been anything she wanted.
Her mother approached her. They began to giggle together.
"I could have been a teacher. A doctor. I could've been anything. But you killed me. Can you really live with yourself?"
They looked down at Kenji. He sat there on his knees. Tears streamed down his face. His eyes were broken. His soul, shattered.
"Please, stop. I don't want to keep thinking about this. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."
But still, they continued to laugh. Louder and louder. More and more people joined them. They all looked down at Kenji.
"GET OUT OF MY HEAD!!!!" He screamed at the top of his lungs.
He began to scratch at his ears. He couldn't take it anymore. He grabbed the sides of his head. He began to crush-.
"HEY, KENJI!!!"
His eyes opened. He was still in his cell. The laughter stopped. A bright light was shone on his face.
"Jeez kid, do you always drift off like that when people are talking. Also, I just want to let you know, you look like shit. They don't give you showers in this place?"
Kenji took in a deep breath. His heartbeat returned to normal.
"Get that light out of my face, asshole."
Kenji grabbed the phone the man held and threw it against the wall. It shattered into hundreds of pieces. The wall had a small crack in it after the impact.
The man sighed.
"That's no way to treat a new friend. I'm here to get you out of jail, and this is what you do? Honestly, don't you feel bad at all? That was expensive."
This guy was getting on Kenji's nerves. Actually, who was this guy? He didn't look like he worked there.
"You're not very good at making friends, hm? You have to at least tell me your name, and why you're here."
The man had a confused look on his face. He grabbed his chin and thought for a moment with his eyes closed.
"But, I did tell you that stuff. You must've drifted off when I did. Fine, I'll sum it up for you."
He held out his hand.
"My name is Kiryu. You are coming with me to work for the king."
Kiryu gestured for Kenji to shake his hand. Kenji had a blank expression on his face.
"Uh, more details on the king part, please."
Kiryu was clearly getting exhausted with this conversation.
"Okay fine. We saw the damage you did on the news. It was pretty impressive! But, the news was clearly wrong. That wasn't the work of bombs. That was Zenu."
"Zenu? What's that?"
Kiryu pulled a whiteboard into the room.
"Why would you drag an entire whiteboard here?"
Kiryu shrugged.
"Come's in handy sometimes."
He began to draw on the board. He drew a human with some kind of ball in their stomach.
"This is a human. This ball in the middle is Zenu. To keep things simple, it's basically that power you're feeling right now. What makes you different, though, is your ability to use it. Everyone has Zenu, but only a few can actually use it."
Kenji nodded.
"Okay, I'm starting to understand."
~"Wait a minute. Other people have this power?"
Kenji had a dissapointed look on his face.
Kiryu smiled.
"Don't worry Kenji. You're still very unique. Most people's Zenu is useless. It gives them about as much power as an energy drink. Yours is clearly superior to an average humans. But there are still people strong enough to do what you did. For example..."
Kiryu cracked his knuckles. He looked at the wall to Kenji's right.
"Cover your eyes, kid."
He pulled his arm back, and then punched the wall with all of his force.
Kenji opened his eyes. There were hundreds and thousands of stars in his view. He could see the night sky.
~"No wait... I'm still in the cell."~
The entire prison was destroyed.
Kiryu looked at Kenji. Kenji had a worried expression on his face.
"Don't worry. I evacuated the place earlier."
Kenji was relieved. He took a long hard look at the moon. It was so bright. It had been a week since he got to see it's beauty.
Kiryu cleared his throat.
"I'm going to continue now. You are even more special than me. You are the second person in our history to unlock Zenu naturally. Most of us have to use an extraction device. But you're different. Somehow, you were able to unlock it without any device."
Kenji felt a little bit of happiness after hearing that. He had always dreamed of being special. It turns out he really was unique.
"So, now I think you understand why the King wants you to come meet with him. You would be a powerful ally."
The King. He had been in power for a while. A few years before Kenji was born, he was inaugurated as the King.
Kiryu put his mouth by Kenji's ear.
"But we also have a lot of other information on you. We understand your views on the government. You will be under constant surveillance."
That was probably a good idea. Kenji didn't exactly have feelings of love towards the King. He was the man who made laws. He made most of the decisions. That meant he had the power to end slavery. But he chose not to. He was Kenji's enemy.
"Listen, I'm gonns be honest. I don't trust you, Kenji. But the King ordered me to grab you and your siblings. That's what I'm gonna do. So are you gonna come peacefully?"
Kenji thought for a moment. But it was an easy decision. Getting to work for the King would be a great opportunity. If he played his cards right, he could take control. After all, his Zenu should be more powerful than the Kings, if he's one of the only people to gain it this way.
Kenji nodded his head.
"Fine. Let's go."