Epsilon lived a quiet life. His mother was always busy in the dream realm, organizing and ruling her citadel, so in the waking world, he had to figure out how to look after himself. On the rare occasions that he did get to see her outside of her pod, she would immediately go out and deal with all the Nightmare gates that she could. Even then, the two barely had anytime to spend as a family.
But despite all of that, he never resented her for it. Rather, he was fascinated and awe struck. She was capable, responsible, and upright. She was what all Awakened should've aspired to be, and so he hoped that one day he could be just like her.
He hoped that he could fight side by side with her, so that she wouldn't have to carry that burden on her own, because no matter how powerful or great one person was, without allies, they were nothing.
And that day would come soon, because he had already shown symptoms of being infected by the Nightmare spell. What should've been a horror for almost anyone else, was in fact blessing in disguise for him.
The property Epsilon lived on wasn't that large. His father had died shortly after the Nightmare spell fell, so it was just him and his mother who lived here. They could've gotten a bigger one, but what's the point if almost only one person was there.
While he spent his time diligently cleaning the place up, the ringing of the door bell echoed throughout the house.
'Strange?'
He wasn't aware of any incoming visitors. Were they his mothers associates perhaps? But if that was the case, then they should've known she was in the dream realm.
Slowly he made his way towards the front door, with a strange weight in his heart. He wasn't particularly superstitious, and yet he felt a strange premonition that if he opened that door, his world would collapse.
Regardless, he pushed those strange feelings aside as he twisted the door knob, and pulled it open. Standing before him was a single man wearing a black, simple suit and a matching fedora. He looked to be in his middle ages, and he had a particularly grim expression on his face.
"Hello?"
The man cleared his throat before asking,
"Are you Epsilon?"
His face turned stale. What kind of a question even was that?
"Yes I am. Why?"
The man raised his hands to take off his fedora, before placing its crown to his chest.
"I'm sorry for your loss."
He just started into space, eyes wide, body numb. At first he felt confusion, but after a short while of connecting the dots, the grief slowly, but surely came.
A single tear shed from his eye as he then asked,
"What?"
The man continued.
"There was a Fallen terror sleeping in that volcano. The mining crew that was digging nearby, accidentally woke it up once they dug into its nest. The disaster that creature caused was calamitic, but your mother... Ravenheart, fought it till the very end. It was because of her, that many awakened were able to survive, as well as their anchors to the citadel. The Jade palace is a safe place thanks to her noble sacrifice."
Time slowed. His mouth opened slightly, but nothing came out. The silence stretched. He blinked once, twice, as if trying to clear fog from his eyes. His chest rose sharply, like his body was preparing to cry, but the sound doesn't come. Instead, he asked only a simple question.
"Was she the only casualty?"
The mans face contorted.
"Excuse me?"
Still holding back a tide of emotions, Epsilon asked,
"She stayed back to fight the creature to defend her citadel. But what of everyone else? They were all awakened, why didn't they fight with her!??"
"I'm afraid I don't know the answers to that. I'm only a government agent-"
"WHY WAS MY MOTHER THE ONLY ONE WHO HAD TO DIE!?"
There was only silence. The man couldn't answer that either, and yet, it was obvious to the both of them. They were scared, and the only one brave enough to battle it, was Ravenheart herself.
Slamming the door shut on the man, Epsilon clutched his chest as he ran through the house. He knew his mothers strength well, there was no chance she would die that easily. She had to be alive, she simply had to.
But when he arrived at the doors to the basement, he hesitated to walk down. Afraid of what he might see.
"Yeah... she's looking for anyone who might be still hurt.. when I go downstairs, she'll still be asleep in her pod. She has to be."
Taking a deep breathe, she finally stepped into the dark, only for her heart to break. Right in front of her, was an open pod. However, the body inside of it was not moving, nor was it asleep.
Epsilon opened his mouth, but nothing came out. He took a few steps forwards, his hand reaching out towards the beautiful figure in front of him, but as his hands touched its cheek, all he could feel was how cold it was.
Just like a corpse.
"No..."
She really was dead.
And yet, instead of grief or sadness, the emotion that came out of him next was something he couldn't explain either.
"It's their fault.. It's all their fault! If they didn't leave you alone, then you wouldn't've died!"
It was anger. A righteous, self justified anger. The more he thought, the less human they became in his mind, and in the end, he saw them as just another problem in the world. Another Sickness.
"I'll kill them, I'll avenge you, I'll kill every single one of them and have them pay for what they did."