Chapter 39: The Disappearance

Kiro's words left his mind in disarray, he couldn't figure out their meaning, even if he wanted to their arrival at the Sphinx didn't give him much time to consider.

The aura around the Sphinx didn't help much either, it was as though it didn't allow anybody to think anything else.

As they stood in front of the Sphinx, others kept their distance to Kiro. Hiro stood closer, he didn't doubt his answer, but he was ready with his shield anyway. Ready to protect his friend should anything go wrong.

When the riddle changed however, it froze the atmosphere. He stood there, with baited breath. He was ready to die.

Kiro however gave an answer, luckily the Sphinx cackled and mocked them, while sliding to the side to let them in.

He sighed feeling the air push his lung, he heisted taking a step forward, he didn't trust his legs to carry him inside.

"Careful of what you're afraid of."

Is the last thing Hiro heard, which rang throughout his mind, before he was zapped into a very familiar house. He looked around, it was the same old house with a terrible smell but it felt like home to him.

When he saw his father sitting opposite him at the dinner table, his young body couldn't comprehend the complex emotions he was feeling, so he just wailed.

His parents quickly attended to him, asking him all sorts of questions. He cried so much while holding onto his father, speaking was impossible. Even though his mind didn't know this was a game, his subconscious did.

There was just a warm feeling his father's embrace exuded that made him feel vulnerable. His dog, Max, couldn't stop wagging her tail. He had forgotten that he had a dog, in real life it had to be put down because of rabies.

Every single day he'd stand outside, waiting for his father to come home. Waiting under a crescent moon playing fetch with Max. When his father did come back, he'd spend every waking moment with him. They'd do all sorts of things, building bird houses, dog houses to sell.

As the time went by the simple houses turned into actual robots that could do a bit of chores, but they were limited because they couldn't very well waste money on parts. Hiro loved buildings things with his father. He admired his father, he wanted to be just like him.

Just like that, days turned into weeks, weeks into months, months into years. Hiro's subconscious had forgotten that this wasn't reality, though the fear that he'll lose his father didn't quite leave him.

When he turned 16 the feeling got worse and worse. He couldn't ignore it, he couldn't shake it. It interrupted his thoughts unannounced, it didn't even have the etiquette of knocking first.

"Dad, you aren't gonna leave, are you?"

"Where do you reckon I'll go?"

"I don't know, disappear?"

"I won't. I have a family which I love very much. I've worked hard to get you into that school, just focus on that and make me proud."

"Please be careful."

For the first time in his life, he was glad he was poor, the fall from the window didn't hurt him at all. As the house was a single storey building.

The creature didn't follow him, it was as though it was bound to that house. As he left his familiar neighbourhood, Hiro vowed to look for his father first.

He was 17 and still investigating the whereabouts of his father, Misaki Jin. There were zero clues, it was as if Jin had disappeared off the face of the earth. Maybe somewhere out there, somebody snapped him out of existence it couldn't be known.

Hiro slept from back alley to back alley, he didn't have enough money to rent a house. So he had no choice. He didn't look any different from homeless people now. You'd smell him before you saw him.

One cold night, he had started a fire and tried to keep warm. When suddenly, something resembling a portal gate opened, it didn't look like those gates that took you to fantasy worlds.

This gate was dark and red not in colour but in feeling, the energy it let out wasn't one of happiness and excitement. It exuded despair and calamity, the feeling was ominous. Which is why Hiro took a step back, and then several more.

A figure stepped out, looked at him and scoffed. "You're supposed to be my son? Pathetic." The voice came out cold and thunderous.

"D-dad?" Hiro could barely mask the many emotions in his voice.

"You're a disappointment. Get out of my face."

"But, I spent all this time, looking for you." Hiro was taken aback, he couldn't understand what was happening.

"You're the reason I left, you weak, pathetic weasel. You're no son of mine." The man said, stepping out of the shadows and into the light.

Their eyes met, Hiro saw that, there exists nothing in those pearly eyes. They were dead, this was not his father regardless of this thing wearing his father's skin.

"You're not my father." Hiro said in a shaky voice, he was smiling but he was crying.

He slowly took out the gun and pointed it at the man who won't claim him as his son, the man wearing his father's skin.

"You? Shoot me?" The laughter that came after those words, almost caused Hiro to drop to his knees.

They became Jell-O but he stilled himself, he strengthened his resolve. He couldn't explain how pure evil the laughter sounded. 'This thing couldn't possibly be human can it?'

"Dad, if you can hear me in there. I'm sorry I couldn't save you in time. I tried."

Then, 3, 4, 8, 10 shots reverberated throughout the alley. He never let go of the trigger, fearing that his finger would freeze after the first shot. The gun had a total of 10 rounds. He fired them all at the thing.

The thing in front of him, formed into black smoke with a face. It turned to him and zoomed straight for him, he ran in zigzag frantically. Hoping against all hope he could beat it, but it was smoke, it was carried by the very wind that casually brushed his skin one minute and toppled mountains in another.

The black smoke went through him, and at that exact moment, he was enveloped in bright whiteness.