Some days earlier.
Percy walked into Miss Havishma's pad with his heart pounding continuously. It wasn't the first time he was summoned there but for some reason, his heart beat excessively at the moment. He scanned the room quickly, sparing Sox a glance before stopping on Havishma. "You called for me ma'am."
Miss Havishma stared at him for a moment before nodding. "Yes, I did." She turned to look at Sox standing next to her. "Could you give us a minute?"
Sox nodded and quietly made her way out of the room. As she reached close to Percy, she averted her eyes away from him and a cold chill ran up her spine, perhaps her guilty conscious for betraying her partners and friend was getting to her.
The fifth Storm agent took a deep breath to calm his breathing before looking up at Havishma.
"Take a seat," she said, gesturing to the couch in the middle of the room. Percy reluctantly sat on the empty couch. It was obvious he wasn't comfortable as he kept on fidgeting.
Miss Havishma who sat behind her desk got up and walked to the refrigerator. She pulled it open and took out a bottle that contained a green liquid in it. "Do you know why we always serve 'lines' to our agent?" She said while looking at the drink.
"N--No… ma'am."
She took two cups from a cupboard before striding to where Percy was seated. The dark-haired lady poured the drink into the cups and pushed one to Percy. "Because it gives more energy and reduces the amount of blood that a person would lose when injured."
"Oh…" he stuttered.
"It also heightens the consumer's senses, giving them a clear view of whatever is in front of them. So drink."
Percy picked up the cup and gulped half of the drink before setting it back on the table.
Havishma smiled. "Good. You'll need a high clearance to understand what I'm about to throw your way." She leaned back on her chair and crossed her legs.
"Percy Diamond Blue, you are the first and only male child of your parents who had three females before they got you. And one more female after you, not your dad's," she started. "Your family lived a tough life in the Underground for a couple of years before YOU took matters into your hands."
-----
The ginger-haired boy stood next to his parents as he stared at his little sister. He looked into her blue eyes with joy all over his face. The child smiled and giggled cheerfully before extending her hand forward.
Young Percy also extended his hands to her and she grabbed it. He couldn't help but smile even wider as he watched his younger sister hold onto his hands.
While holding the baby, his mother smiled and ran her hand through his hair. "Her name is Abe," she revealed.
The ginger-haired boy glanced at his father before resting his eyes on the newborn child who held on to his thumb tightly. "Abe," he repeated with a smile.
They lived in the Underground and things were hard even when it was just six of them in the family, Now they've gotten a new addition to the family.
Percy was happy to have gotten a younger sister, but though young he was, part of him didn't like how his family was living.
He and his siblings get everything they need and whatever they ask for. Their parents struggled to make sure the family needs were met, no matter how difficult it was.
Percy secretly watched his father get beaten to a pulp just to secure a single Angle that could barely feed the mouth of the newborn child. (Angle is the currency of Winter Weir).
He's seen his mother give away more than she had to be able to help the family, and Abe was a constant reminder of that. He hears his parents argue almost if not every day for different reasons, and the most recent one was about Abe.
No matter how hard things were, his parents always put a smile on their faces and made sure he and his siblings also had a smile on their faces. It was hurting, the young Percy carried a sour feeling that hurt him every second of his life.
His parents try to make sure the kids never see the bad side of the world no matter how hard it is to ensure that happens. They never let them know the struggles it takes to put out a single plate on the table. And it worked, at least for Percy's siblings.
The young boy knew everything that happened in the family, from the argument his parents had every morning, to the reconciliation at night.
Percy wanted to change this, and 'change this' he did.
The ginger-haired boy rushed into the pit of the underground. The pit is the only place solid Angles could be earned, though through difficult ways.
He walked up to a brown-haired tall elderly man who smiled as Percy approached him. "Hey kid, you back again?"
Percy nods strongly. "Umm, I just need five hundred more Angles then I'll be able to move us to Zoda," The kid said with confidence.
The brown-haired man knelt in front of the child and rubbed his hand on his head. He pitied the boy but couldn't do anything about it. He too had a family he needed to take care of, and five hundred Angles was a difficult amount to raise.
The only way he could help the boy was to let him do the work and pay him for his time. The man smiled and caressed Percy's cheek. "Not bad kid, not bad. You are even better and do more work than the grown-ups here."
"Um!"
The young boy takes a helmet from the man. He slipped it over his head and dashed through an energy door and into a large hall which was red and filled with smoke from the burning flames around.
Lots of people, mostly men walked around the place, carrying out their required activities. The young Percy picked a small bucket nearby and ran further into the hall until he reached a well. He attached a rope to it and threw it into the well.
He pulled it out with a black sticky liquid dripping out of the bucket. He dragged the bucket and ran across the hall. Before he could turn the bucket into a large container, a man whose body was completely covered in black liquid kicked Percy to the ground.
"Get out of here kid!? He yelled.
Percy dragged himself up and reached for the bucket, but before he could grab it, the man stroked a kick in the boy's abdomen, throwing him into the ground again.
"Hey! Leave the kid alone." The elderly man's voice came in from behind. He rushed up to the scene and pushed the man away. "That's from your pay asshole. And I've seen your face, consider yourself out--- for good!"
He turned back to Percy and helped him out of the hall. "Are you okay?"
"I still have forty-five more minutes before my work is done, let me complete it…" the man used his index to cover the boy's lips.
"Shh. It's okay Diamond, it's okay. You don't need to worry about working in the pit, I'll work it for you."
"But…"
"No buts." He opened Percy's palm and dropped five card s of angles on it. "Here, take Mom and Dad out of the Underground."
The ginger-haired boy looked at the money and then at the man in front of him. "Take it. Don't waste any more second here, go, quick."
------
"You endured and worked in the pit of the underground to raise enough so you could move your family to Zoda. It worked, but you had no idea that you were moving to an even tougher situation.
"You were young, but you continued to struggle to provide for your family too. Your mom and dad didn't produce much, it helped, but not as much as yours did."
Percy's fist tightened. His back arched up as she continued to speak on more sensitive topics.
"Your parents, dad specifically started to suspect that you had involved yourself in illegal activities and got scared that something might happen and the STATE would get involved."
-----
The ginger-haired boy grunts as his father smacks him across the face. He fell to the ground, gripping his face as it burned from the hit.
"Don't let me ask you again Percy," the brown-haired man threatened. He grabbed the boy by his collar and pulled him up, clenching his other fist.
"I swear Dad, I didn't do anything wrong, you have to believe me."
The young boy felt as if a rock had been dropped on his head as his father laid a heavy punch on his right face.
Percy's eyes widened and he drew a heavy breath as his father stoned him with another punch. "I'll keep hitting you till you spill the truth."
His father hurled him across the room, causing him to crash into a mirror. "Do you have any idea where we are now? This is not the Underground," the older Blue said while forcefully ripping out a metal rod from a wall nearby. "We are in Zoda boy, a single word you say could put this whole family in jeopardy! …And I won't let you ruin this family."
"Dad I swear I'm doing nothing wrong, I swear Dad," he pleaded but his father wasn't listening. He smashed the rod on the boy continuously till he was barely moving.
------
"Your dad locked you up in a room and beat you up, insisting that you tell him the truth… and despite revealing that you worked as a 'spy kid' for the STATE, he didn't listen. If not for your mom who came to your rescue, you probably wouldn't be here today."
She continued. "A few months later, an agent of the STATE appeared on your doorstep and offered the invitation to train and become a full-time agent--- it was then your father realized the truth in your earlier words and he apologized extensively."
Havishma leaned forward. "You went through a lot Percy, I know it. Whatever you do, you do it for your family. That's why now they live a luxurious life in the Realm."
"What did you do to my father?" He was furious, but the ginger-haired man kept his cool.
Miss Havishma sighed. "I haven't done anything to them, at least not yet," she stated. "We all have something we love, something we've spent years to build, something we could give up the world to protect-- for you it is your home, but for me, it is Department H and the whole of Winter Weir."
"Which leads me to this question: What are you willing to do to protect your family?" She queried and went quiet, waiting for his reply.
"What do you want me to do?" He said, reluctantly.
[Present day] *Winter Weir*
DEPARTMENT H
The ginger-haired man walked into the Storm Agent's section with pain and regret written all over his face. He looked around the empty hall and inhaled deeply, trying hard to suppress the ill feeling in his chest.
Sox exited one of the pads, she stopped in her tracks as she caught sight of Percy standing some feet away from her. She held his stare for a couple of seconds before striding past him. "What have we done, Sox?" Percy mumbled, causing the dark-haired girl to stop.
"This place used to be lively, even after difficult times, the jokes and smiles never stop giving and receiving… now it's dead," he paused. "It's so quiet you can hear the screams from the wall."
Sox slightly turned such that her side was facing Percy's back. "I did nothing wrong." Was all she said before walking away.
The ginger-haired man pinched the bridge of the nose and sobbed.
…
ns 15.158.61.12da2
