Fan Fiction ❯ Destroyed By Doom's Day ❯ Martakenza Sutherburg ( Chapter 2 )

Chapter 2: Martakenza Sutherburg

The young boy had collected 13 food capsules and 7 potions from the unconscious muggers and found 5 more food capsules and 2 more potions dropped by the woman with the purse. Potions were special medication drinks that healed you instantly. They were somewhat rare, and took a long time to make (without technology), so it was exhilarating to find that many. Then again, if you didn't find a potion, you could always make Herb Tea, which was easier to make, but didn't heal you as much as a potion. The boy smiled a large grin as he counted the capsules and potions, seeing that he had found enough to last him and his mother for over 2 and a half months. Yes, he knew it was wrong to steal the capsules and potions from the men, but in his eyes, the muggers did not deserve the provisions for all they've done. And it's not like he's going to search around and chase down that woman. She dropped them. Her loss. Welcome to the harsh reality, bucko. Besides, didn't she owe him that or helping her?

The boy stuffed his pockets with the capsules and ran off through the maze of rubble. He jumped over rocks and even went through a few underground passages. It was a couple minutes before the boy got to the outskirts of his lifetown. Lifetowns are at like small communities where some of the survivors of Doom's Day come to live and help each other through this tough time. The boy's lifetown-which was called Seperna-was built around the square of the original city that used to stand there decades ago. The square-like houses with flattened roofs were built from pieces of debris left over from the destruction, almost like miniature apartments. Each house wasn't very big, and sometimes had to accommodate more than one family. The most families that can live in an average size house are about 3. In the center of most lifetowns is a circular area called a "Squr." The Squr was made out of anything people could find; concrete, rock, grass, sometimes even dirt. Seperna's Squr was made of stone placed together in a circular pattern. The lifetown had even worked together to get an old cracked fountain from somewhere, repair it, and place it in the middle of the Squr. You could say Seperna was a very united lifetown, well, most of it was.

In the center of Seperna's Squr, though, was a frantic looking woman shouting at the top of her lungs, looking as though she were about to cry. Many people who had come out of their shelter from the rain tried to get her to come under their shelter they were offering to share, but she would writhe out of their grasp, crying something about her lost son. Lightning streaked the sky and anyone who was out there next to the woman instantly fled; lightning meant rain. All their courage could not stand up to the fear of being burnt by cold acidic water. It began to rain, and those gasped when they heard that the woman was still outside, shouting for her missing kin. Many bowed their head in sorrow to the woman; she was a friend of many, and they thought she would be burned badly if she stayed out any longer. But the woman didn't seem phased by the rain, as even though it plastered her dark auburn hair to her face.

"MARTAKENZA!! MARTAKENZA SUTHERBURG!! OH MY MARTAKENZA WHERE ARE YOU?!" The woman screamed above the storm. Strong winds began to blow in as tears streaked her face and the air ruffled her skirt. She brushed a stray auburn lock out of her eyes.

"MOM!" A young but bold shout rang out from the darkness.

"MARTAKENZA!" The woman shouted, turning to the direction the shout came from. The boy materialized from a black alleyway and jumped into his mother's outstretched arms. The embraced each other and dark blue, stinging rain soaked them.

"Oh my Martakenza, what am I going to do with you?" The boy's mother whispered, hugging her son harder. As the boy looked up at his mother with wet, deep blue eyes, she released him and looked down at him with her own blue-green eyes.

"What have I told you, Martakenza? You knew the storm was coming, and still you run off! And this storm has a high acidity rate! I can tell by your wincing a bit. Come on, we're going home and talking about this." She said. Lethra Sutherburg took her son's hand and dragged him to their house, which happened to be on the outskirts of the lifetown. They got to their home, and Lethra held the door closed and locked it against the wind and rain. She walked over to the table, which had been repaired many times, and lit the MFL. MFL stand for "Magic Flame Lamp" which is a type of lamp that uses flame magic to burn and create light. It creates an amazing amount of light that no single candle or oil lamp could compare to. You could even say it was as good electricity back before Doom's Day.

"Sometimes I think your D-Gift is more like a D-Curse, Martakenza." Lethra mused, shaking her head and turning to face her son. She gasped as soon as she saw him.

"I'm sorry Mom. I just-I just had to get away from Cornaroy. He was going to make me lead the Mourn-Recite Ceremony again!" The boy cried. "And don't call me Martakenza." He added in a lower tone. Lethra smiled inwardly at her son, as she ran over to him and started about his wounds. Even though the boy was in pain and on the verge of tears, he still managed to complain about his full name.

"I'm sorry Kenza, but, oh honey what did you do to yourself? And, oh honey, I shouldn't have had you out there for so long! I know your healing D-Gift isn't as developed as mine, so you're not as immune to the rain as I am." Lethra babbled, using her son's preferred name. She could control her D-Gift of Healing very well, so Lethra was able to stand out in high-acidity rain storms.

"I'm fine Mom. I just saw a band of muggers attacking this lady, and I decided to stop them. Look! I even got all these capsules and potions out of it!" Kenza shouted happily at his mom, even though he winced from pain from his wounds, and that the acid rain had begun to burn them.

"Oh goodness Kenza, you have to stop being so noble. You get that from your father. He was always so noble. And though he did great things, it did get him in trouble sometimes and… darling why are you crying?" Lethra cooed to her son as she chanted healing spells for his wounds. Kenza had let tears fall down his face after Lethra mentioned her husband.

"Be-because that's what Cornaroy was making me Mourn-Recite on! And he made me say it over and over… and-and he kept telling me I was failing because I wouldn't do it right and… and… and Mom I miss Dad!" Kenza blurted out, falling to his knees and beginning to cry fully. Mourn-Reciting was a hard-core way to express grief over a missing or deceased loved one. It is usually a ceremony held right after news is brought in, but can be held for those who can't let go. Cornaroy-the scholar in charge of Kenza and his class-on other the hand, was an evil man, even though he was quite young, hated Kenza and everything about him. He would make Kenza lead the Mourn-Recitals even though Kenza's dad had been gone for a good 2 years. Cornaroy had always displayed his loathing of Kenza for a very long time, even before Kenza's father left, and had gotten away with it for some reason. The people of Seperna tried to be united as they could, but Cornaroy had bent the rules to torture Kenza somehow. It had gotten worse when Kenza's father left.

Lethra blinked in surprise but held her son close and healed him some more. She too missed Rasinarr; things had been a lot easier when he was there.

"Mom… it hurts…." Kenza winced as he doubled over.

"Yes, my heart aches as well, Son." Lethra sniffed.

"No… my mark… it… hurts…." Kenza growled through clenched teeth. Kenza's mark was in the shape of a sun; a blue eye for the ball and red triangles for the rays. It throbbed and glowed lightly, making Kenza cry out and weep in pain. Lethra gasped, but pulled her son closer in a tight motherly embrace, making his hands fold over themselves on his chest as he nuzzled his head into her lower shoulder, not yet tall enough to reach the top.

They sat there for an unknown amount of time, until Kenza's crying stopped and he became very drowsy, just realizing how tired he really was. Lethra released her son and pulled his hands away from his chest and touched the place where the mark glowed beneath his shirt. Kenza winced in pain, but that didn't mean much, he was only sore.

"C'mon Kenza, time for your sleepwear." Lethra cooed softly, getting up from his grasp and walking into the small hallway that just separated her room from her son's which lead to the back door. She walked into his room and gathered his sleepwear from a small box and placed them on the mattress on the floor, covered by a thin sheet. She walked back out and gave her son a look that said `you need to get to bed now' and walked into her own room.

Kenza grasped at the air where his mother used to be, his eyes completely vulnerable, and whispered, "Mom.." weakly before he suddenly broke out of his trance. He stood up and shook the water from his hair like a dog while walking into his room. He peeled the clothes that were sticking to his skin off and slipped on his sleeping shirt and pants. Kenza fell onto the saggy mattress, groaning after 3 generations of repair and use and pulled the thin sheet up as far as it could go without his feet poking out. Lethra came in a moment later wearing her sleeping dress and sat down next to her son on his mattress.

"Sleep with dreams, my Martakenza." She cooed softly, smiling sweetly.

"Mom, don't call me that." Kenza yawned sleepily, smiling at his mother. She was going to sing him to sleep. He liked when she did that, even though he didn't dare tell anyone.

"Shh, sleep with dreams, my Martakenza. My little son of the sun. Sleep with dreams, my Martakenza." Lethra sang softly, using the lullaby she used many times before when Kenza was an infant and young boy. She stroked her son's cheek lovingly as his eyes drooped. She stroked his eyes closed and sang until his breathing became rhythmic. Lethra smiled inwardly; glad that she had received the D-Gift of Sleep though she had only told Rasinarr she had it. She giggled as she knew that Kenza thought it was just the song that soothed him to sleep. She kissed his forehead and got up and left to her own room. She stopped in the doorway, holding the sheet that she used for a door, open so she could stare at the empty mattress of hers. She missed her husband, Rasinarr, deeply, and felt that he may never come back. She sighed and crawled into her bed and stroked the side Rasinarr usually used to sleep. A tear fell down her cheek as she silently cried. This was just as hard for her as it was for Kenza, for Lethra began to see more and more of Rasinarr in her son. And it was difficult to raise the replica if the original was not there to help her.