Enforcers

"Ha! I"m not scared!" Hero said as he played with his hands in his pocket. "Or am I..." He went quiet again as he paced back and forth at a fast speed. "What is being scared anyways?"

"I don"t know but I"m starting to get annoyed of watching you walk back and forth and talk to yourself..." The Gatekeep, who stopped people from entering past the golden gates, snapped as his eyes lazily watched Hero march past his gate several times. The boy had been walking around going, back and forth, muttering to himself, for nearly two hours.

"You aren"t a part of the equation!" Hero said simply pointing at the gate keeper.

The gatekeeper sighed shaking his head. "Look, kid. What"s wrong? What"s got you scared?"

"Screw you! I"m not scared!"

"Sure... That"s why your face is pale, and your body is shaking. Look. I heard about the mission-"

"Oh! Of course, you did! I guess everybody knows!"

"Oh shut up. As I was saying. I heard about the mission." The man said nodding. "You shouldn"t be so afraid. I don"t know what exactly went on fully but I heard it almost cost Vice-Captain Jackson his life. If that"s the case you have nothing to be afraid of. Jackson has been an Enforcer for almost three years and he hasn"t come that close to death in years... Whatever that mission was the chances of you ever facing something that strong again will likely never happen."

"It isn"t that." Hero said slowly. "It"s just... I"m not strong enough... I"m never strong enough." He muttered out as the image of the outline of a man in a lab coat came to his mind. The image faded and was replaced by the giant lab coat which Hero had named Labby. Finally the image of a young girl appeared in his head. "I never seem to be quite at that point... Besides. I"m worried about other things than just fighting a strong guy... We also had to fight an Earl which really sucked... And then there"s the fact that I"m apparently a Seraphin which I still have no idea how to act on?"

"You"re young and inexperienced. You don"t have a good reason to fight, and you don"t have a reason to get stronger."

"What. Yes, I do."

"No. You clearly don"t." The man retorted as he folded his arms. "You may say you do. But you don"t. If you"re hesitating like this, then whatever goal you had been pretending to have is breaking. You do not have a reason to go on, and keep pushing yourself so now you"re running away. Whatever it is that you are seeking is slipping away from you... Fading away into nothingness. You"ve gained a small inkling of fear and you"re hesitating now..."

"I"m telling you, I have a goal!"

"Are you prepared to die for that goal. And I don"t mean die, and complete the goal. I mean are you prepared to die, in an attempt to follow after this goal. Die knowing that it could have all been for nothing. Knowing you might fail. If you aren"t prepared to walk down this path which will lead to pain, agony, and loss, then you have no right to call yourself an Enforcer. And as an Enforcer, you have no right to die. You must be prepared to die chasing after your dream, but you must still go on. Being an Enforcer means you will die. There isn"t a question about it. No Enforcer has lived past the age of thirty. They either retire, or die on the battlefield. Not a single person save for Master Storm is above the age of thirty. If you don"t have any goal, that will push you to this certain death, then why are you walking down this road. The fact is. You Hero Otoko, will die, being an Enforcer if you continue to lack a goal. Or. You can die holding onto a goal, and maybe, when it happens, because it will happen, you won"t be afraid. Because you know it was what you wanted. Because you know you stuck true and followed that path. We all die as Enforcers. But at least if we have a goal to chase after we can say that we struck true to who we are..."

Hero didn"t say anything as he turned away from the man.

"Do you think you understand now?"
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"Not a clue..." Hero said giving a sheepish smile.

The gatekeeper let out a loud sigh. "Get the h.e.l.l out of my sight."

Hero smiled as he began to walk off. "Hey... Umm. Thanks for trying at least... A goal huh. Something that I can work towards dying for."

"Think of it as a promise. Even if it is something impossible, as long as you made it, and it means something you won"t have to worry about it. You said you have a goal already. If you really care about it you won"t let these small fears stop you."

"I"m still a little lost..."

"Oh my G.o.d!" The gatekeep took a deep breath as he let out another sigh. "Find. Something. You. Will. Die. For. Make. A. Goal. Than. Make. A. Promise. That. Will. Let. You. Follow. That. Goal."

"Okay!" Hero nodded as he gave a small wave. "I still don"t get it but I won"t bother you anymore about it! Later Mr. Gatekeeper."

The Gatekeeper let out another sigh as he turned away. "Later kid..." He muttered out before a small smirk came to his lips. "Just one... Just find one thing that will let you keep going forward." He said quietly.

Hero walked off as he let out another sigh. "So. I need to find something to combat the fear... My goal... Well..." The image of a young girl came to his mind again. "My goal is to save her... But... I can"t do that if I"m this weak. But I can"t get stronger if I"m this scared... Scared huh..."

"Don"t be afraid because Hero"s can"t feel fear..."

"I never was a very good hero..." Hero said letting out a small laugh as he looked up to the black sky. "But I took that name for my mother... I wanted to be what she described... And yet. I"m still surrounded by my constant failure..."

Age 1981

A small six-year-old boy sat curled up in a ball in the corner of the white room. He flinched as the sounds of combat echoed out in the background. His emerald eyes slowly glanced over to the bed in the corner.

There the girl he called mother rested. Her red eyes were opened and stared up at the ceiling. They were blank and gla.s.sy and held no emotion in them. Her skin was pale and her entire body was held perfectly still not moving.

The child flinched again as a loud bang echoed out on the other side of the large metal door. There was cracking sound, as a bright light filled the room. Then the metal door fell forward snapping off of its hinges as it smashed against the ground.

The child looked up as a figure slowly entered the room... An old man who was just now beginning to get some greys in his hair and mustache.

The man had almost pure blond hair, and golden eyes as he looked over at the frail and shaking boy. His eyes were cold, and harsh as he held a frown on his face staring at the child.

Then his eyes slowly glanced over at the body of the girl in the room.

And instantly it was like a switch was. .h.i.t...

His face dropped as his eyes widened with horror. "No..." He whispered out. He stepped forward slowly. "No... No... No... No... No..." Then he took another step. He slowly walked over to the body of the woman. He placed a hand on her and instantly jumped back from how cold she was. He glanced down at his hands which were now stained with a red liquid from her stomach. His face grew pale as he slowly reached out. "Oh, Joan... What did he do to you..." He said quietly. And he broke down. He grabbed the body of the woman and simply broke down into tears.

The boy slowly stood up not knowing what to do as he awkwardly took a step forward.

Instantly the man"s head jerked up as he turned to look at the boy. His golden eyes peered into the emerald ones of the boy.

"What happened."

"What?"

There was a golden flash as the man shot forward grabbing the boy by the neck and slamming him into the metal wall. "I said... What happened." He growled out.

The boy took several gasps of breath as he jerked around. "I-I don"t know!"

"Did the General do that to her..."

"Yes!"

"Why?"

The boy took out another gasp. "I-I don"t know! Mother never said-"

"Mother?"

"Mother... The girl on the table-"

The man dropped the child to the floor as he stared down at him. "That girl... She"s..." He glanced back at the body for a few moments. "No... It can"t be." He shook his head. He seemed to consider something as he glanced back down at the boy. "Tell me... What"s your name."

"I... I never got one. I was only ever called "my little hero" by Mother..."

The man was silent as he slowly reached out. "My name is Okami Otoko..." The man said as he placed his hand on the boys head. "Tell me... Hero. Do you want to leave this place?"