Another year passed in Julian's memories, it was the young boy's sixth birthday. Hiroshi came home high that night and was happier than usual. He was funny, bringing a smile to the face of a young boy who finally thought his dad was going to be okay again. Unfortunately, such a thing was not in the cards for the dysfunctional family. The following day Hiroshi hit his wife for the first time, they were fighting as usual, and the bastard smacked her. At the time Hiroshi apologized to Julian's crying mom, and she quickly accepted. For about a week he was nicer to both of them, before becoming cruel again. The next two years after that Hiroshi became meaner, and his bursts of violence, while still rare, came more and more often. Trash pilled and money became tighter as Hiroshi became a brutal killer, cheating often, and losing the tiny bit of love he once felt for his family, kept only in check somewhat by his own ego and desire for power.
Hiroshi hungered for power and dominance and suffered from nostalgia. He thought if he could exert his will strongly enough he could return to the life he once knew, filled with money, freedom, and happiness. Hiroshi thought if he could just control everything, things would return to the way they were. Because despite his brutality in dealing with enemies, Hiroshi was not hardened criminal he masqueraded as, and his heart held tiny embers of warmth. Hiroshi was emotional and sad, capable of violence only when he was drunk or high. Then Hiroshi killed an innocent man, and his mind was shattered once more. The who and why were once again unknown, only tiny fragments of the incident remained in the drunk's mind. Drugs became prevalent and overpowering in his mind as he tried to deal with building guilt and paranoia over the next few years. Darkness consumed Hiroshi slowly over the course of a few years until one day Hiroshi came home a monster.
At the time young Julian was ten it was a dark winter night when Hiroshi stumbled in high again, a not uncommon occurrence at the time. Julian's indifference became horror as he saw the red crimson dripping from his dad's face and mouth. Blood covered the man as his drug-induced manic state drove him to start ripping apart their house. Granite was shattered and wood turned to splinters as the man went wild on anything in his sight. It was during this time that Julian's mom came home, and for the first time tried to stand up to Hiroshi. Her fear for the safety of her child and love she had for him had finally overpowered the fear and love she felt for her husband.
Julian's mom, Emily, stood up to the monster that was Hiroshi as she tried to fight him for the first time. Julian still remembered his mom's defiant form as she flew around the monster of a man, trying to get a strike in anywhere she could. Hiroshi's strength that day was unlike anything they had witnessed before as the apartment building they were living in was turned to rumble by Hiroshi using Emily's body as a hammer to try and hurt her by slamming her into anything he could with such force the impact could be felt the next building over.
Julian didn't see how his mom died and did not bear witness to the triumphant second wind she endured as she fought his monster of a father. Julian was hiding at the time, having slipped away when the battle began to hide in his room. Julian saw only glimpses of his dad wailing at his mom until the two left the building. Julian hid as the battle went on outside, the sounds of their collisions growing louder for over an hour.
Julian left his apartment shell-shocked, and the sight he was met with was burned into his mind. Bodies lay all over the street as fire consumed the surrounding buildings, several of which had turned to rubble. The stench of feces, urine, blood, and burning flesh overwhelmed him as he stared and a strange numbness overtook him. Julian Ryukazi felt detached as he wandered over to a particular body. Sirens wailed and orders were given but Julian ignored them all as he looked at the sight that befell him. On the floor lay Emily Anderson, a former pro-hero filled with potential, who left the profession in favor of being a housewife in Japan. Many didn't understand but those that did respected her, why become a hero if the calling wasn't for you? Why risk your life when you had a family to raise? An example to some, and a disappointment to others. However, to Julian she was his mom, a strong woman who protected him, in his eyes she was still a hero long after she hung up her cape. But she was human in his eyes, and just as he feared with her he feared for her, she was his symbol, his pillar, his everything.
The pain should have felt overwhelming, all-encompassing like a tsunami coming to devour him, and it was. For one brief second agony seared through his body more painful than breaking every bone in his body. For a moment he couldn't breathe, a hole formed in his soul, a void of emptiness so cold and painful it was inescapable. Then it was gone, and Julian felt nothing. Fear, happiness, sadness, anger, pain, vengeance, and relief were gone. A tear formed in Julian's eye, but it did not fall.
On that day Julian awoke a scared child, when he went to sleep that night he was a shell, an empty emotionless thing. Months passed by in a blur, legal this and that, reporters asked for stories and all manner of things. A trial for his dad occurred, he escaped and went on another rampage. Julian didn't care, he felt nothing and all he wanted was to fade away. Hiroshi was expectedly caught and sentenced to life in Tartarus. It changed nothing, justice felt just as hollow as sympathy. Darkness overtook him as he was sent to an orphanage and recommended for counseling services. He made progress but it changed nothing for him, only made it more painful. Hope was dead in his eyes, and one day he wandered into the wrong alley. He didn't resist, and his attackers mistook it for arrogance and brandished their knives and bats. Julian was mugged and killed that night, and his tragic story ended in a cold alleyway.
Life did not abandon him, and a new chance came in the form of Julian Rodriguez. The two souls merged and the hallow, lifeless shell Julian Ryukazi had become was quickly stripped away and it seemed he would simply disappear in the face of the overpowering smile that sat on the face of Julian Rodriguez.
His soul was almost gone when he saw the face of his mother, and power filled him. Fueled by pain and sadness he remembered her words Stay safe my angel, make me proud. Julian remembered her words, and the emotions he felt during her death returned in full force, but instead of a tsunami, they became a mountain, hardened and stable. Fueled, Julian Ryukazi fought to remain, to stay in control, to make his mother proud, as her smile empowered him.
In a deep cosmic void, further away than human minds could comprehend, existing in a realm that could melt the minds of eldritch entities sat a featureless cosmic being. "How unexpected" Lux commented with a sly smile forming on his face as he watched a soul that should have been utterly consumed fight back with a level of determination he could feel the waves of their willpower reach him even there. "Perhaps I chose the wrong Julian" he chuckled.
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Backstory is done, main story starts next chapters, please comment on the chapters/leave a review if you liked it so far.