423 Past Memories
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Kyle was born in one of the poorest families in the Village. And since he was born that he was sickly and weaker than other children as well.
Born with pale white skin as pale as candlewax, white hair, and red eyes, he was strange compared to everybody else. Many thought of the child as the bringer of pestilence, mostly because the very day that he was born, the farms of many people began to dry out and die one after the other.
Farm animals began falling dead out of nowhere, and many of the elderly fell ill and died only a week after. Since that day that people immediately saw the children as something of a bad presage… a bringer of death.
Kyle’s parents desperately tried to protect their son from the abuse, guarding him inside their home. The two of them still loved him even if he was strange, and even if many people believed the problems were attributed to him.
In the past, where Demons ran rampart everywhere even more than nowadays, superstitions and the manipulation of the church were commonplace. Priests were corrupt and used these rumors and superstitions to concentrate the attention and hatred of the population not into the unjust government, but into certain unlucky individuals.
Many people died because of this discrimination, and such age was called the Dark Age for this very reason. The danger of demons was the greatest so far, and this created desperation and despair in the minds of many people, living thinking that at any moment, they would get killed by invading demons.
“Mama, why am I different?”
He was only four years of age when Kyle began to wonder why he was different compared to everyone else. Looking at his reflection in the water every day, he quickly realized he was very strange and different. His hair was white, his skin was very pale, almost as pale as someone that has died, and his eyes were red. Whenever he walked into the sunlight, his skin burn a lot and grew irritated, he often couldn’t eat most food and felt sick, and sometimes he would get fever for several days, barely making it out.
“You’re… you might be different Kyle, but you’re my son, and we love you as you are. Don’t… listen to people.” Her mother always told her.
Kyle knew why he was different already, his appearance and everything else. Many called him the Cursed Child. It felt as if his very birth was a mistake, and everyone wanted him dead because he brought famine and death when he was born.
However, his parents always told him about the Talent and Spirit Awakening Ceremony, once held when someone reached the age of five. The boy always thought that whenever he could awaken a new power, a new Talent that might be useful and help others, he would clean his name as a Cursed Child, and help everyone, while making them understand that he was someone good hearted.
Each day, a boy named Ellergest would come to visit him. He was someone he meet once when he was brought to visit the church for healing his burnt wounds. Ellergest was incredibly talented at magic even before awakening a Talent, and therefore he was being taught the basics in the church at his young age.
The two children were very different, but the young Ellergest was friendly even against the Cursed Child and decided to become his friend. Perhaps at first out of pity for his fate, but later on, the young Kyle grew on him, the two became inseparable.
Many looked down on Ellergest, someone was promising as him getting involved with Kyle was something wrong. Ellergest parents didn’t really mind it even when Kyle was referred as a Cursed Child and wanted their son to have a good time with his new friend anyways. However, the discrimination slowly began to affect Kyle even with the support of a friend, every day he grew more nervous despite his young age, and his father was growing rather restless as well, incapable of being able to bear with the discrimination, and channeling his frustration into his wife and son.
“Ugh…”
One day, Kyle suddenly felt sick after eating their meal, and threw up afterwards. This was a rather common thing now, due to his weak health.
“Kyle, are you okay? Maybe I should give you some warm water first?” His mother was always willing to help him, but his father grew restless.
“You damn brat, you throw up the food I worked so hard to bring to the table?!” It was almost every day, his father constantly screamed at him.
“Dear, please calm down, he’s just sickly. Little Kyle has always been like this…” Kyle’s mother defended her son, but her father was growing sick of her pity for him.
“Shut up you bitch! I am sick of you too!”
Even after never raising his hand against his own wife, Kyle’s father slapped the woman’s face and threw her into the ground.
“Moom!” Kyle cried, running towards his mother.
“You better get a good spirit and a talent once the awakening ceremony comes, or I am not going to maintain this failure of a child! You’re only bringing his to our ruins!” His father angrily barked like a mad dog, always blaming everyone else for his life choices.
That day, Kyle meet up with Ellergest as usual, in the backyard where the trees shade protected Kyle from most of the sunlight.
“What’s gotten into you out of the sudden, Kyle?” Wondered Ellergest, already being six years of age when Kyle was about to be five. He had awakened a Talent as a one-star Priest, and was accepted as a disciple of the church, his future looked bright.
“Am I a failure, Ellergest? Am I really a Cursed Child?” Wondered Kyle.
“Eh? Again with that?” Sighed Ellergest. “You’re not a Cursed Child, Kyle… Just ignore these people that treat you like this. Eventually, they’ll move on…”
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