Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ Curse of Memory ❯ Shadows of the Past ( Chapter 1 )

[ P - Pre-Teen ]

One day I was sitting in my room doing my homework, and listening to the rain pound on the roof outside. Someone knocked on the door, and my parents were still eating dinner, so I went and answered it. There was a man outside wearing a black raincoat. He walked in, took off his raincoat, and closed his umbrella. He set them on the coat rack, and then I noticed that it was Mr. Thompson, the neighbor from across the street. He was carrying something under his jacket, but I couldn’t tell what it was, because he immediately walked into the kitchen where my parents were eating. I walked forward, and waited outside the door, and tried to hear what they were saying, but they were speaking too quietly. I walked back upstairs, and into the storage closet next to my room. I walked to the back, and removed a small piece of the wall, and walked into the small crawlspace behind it, which I had made myself three years ago. I pulled a small cork, about the size of a quarter, out of the floor, and I could see the kitchen. On the table, there were four swords with holding belts attached to them, and four small suits of armor. I had only seen anything like these in museums, and I knew they were old because of a few books I had read, and essays I had written for school. I still couldn’t hear them, but I made out a few words. I heard swords, shields, kidnaping, and battle which were all words I normally wouldn’t hear at home. My parents didn’t like to discuss fighting or anything like that. They looked around them, and then leaned in closer to talk. My mother stood up, and walked toward the door. I put the wooden cork back in and replaced the piece of the wall at the back of the closet, and ran back to my room. I heard my father walk up the stairs, and then he knocked on the door to my room. I walked over and opened the door, and I saw he had two of the swords in his hand.
“Come down to the kitchen please,” he told me.
“Can’t it wait?” “I’m doing my homework?” I asked him trying to see what this was about.
“No, now hurry,” he said. I followed him downstairs, and saw my mom had locked the door. He handed me a sword and then took me to the kitchen. He and my mom went to the hallway outside with a sword and armor each. Mr. Thompson put on a suit of armor, and instructed me to do the same. I did, and I tied the sword belt around my waist.
“Good, you’re into this stuff right?” he asked.
“Yeah, why, are we putting on a play or something?” I asked him, trying to get information out of him too.
“No, this is no picnic either, this is going to require hard work,” he told me.
“Well, I’m a hard worker,” I told him.
“Good, now, unsheathe your sword,” he said to me. He did, and then I did the same exact thing. “You do learn quickly,” he said.
“Thanks,” I told him. He slowly slashed down at my shoulder, I moved my sword up to block him, and said, “Hey.” He pulled his sword back, and swung a little harder, and faster at my stomach. I blocked it, and then as slowly as he had the first time, tried to stab him in the chest.
“Good, you look like you’ve done this before,” he said to me.
“Well I try to fake a few attacks when mom and dad aren’t looking, but nothing with an actual sword or enemy,” I said.
“Well here, try to block, roll over by the table, and try to trip me,” he told me. He swung his sword at my neck, I blocked it, rolled over next to the table, came up to a crouching position, and swung my sword at his feet. He jumped, and stepped back. “Good, that will do for now, I’ll resume your training once we get away,” he told me.
“What’s going on?” I asked him, tired of evading the point.
“We have to get you away, bounty hunters are searching for you, we’ll have to fight our way out of town, and join up with your parents and my old friends in a city not far from here,” he replied. Then he walked into the hall where my parents were, and I followed him. My parents were looking out the front window. When Mr. Thompson and I walked in, they turned around to look at us.
“Wait, why are bounty hunters looking for me?” I asked.
“We’ll explain that later,” my father told me. After that, we walked over to the stairs, and my dad opened a small door, that I thought was another storage room. It opened to a hallway so small that I could barely fit into it. Somehow, my mother, father, and Mr. Thompson climbed in, and with great difficulty, I followed them. Once I was in, I crawled in further. “Close the door,” my father told me, and I shut it.
“Be absolutely silent,” my father whispered. After a few seconds, I heard what sounded like our door break down I could hear people running around the house, and heard crashing and cracking. I heard someone run right above my head, so it sounded like we were right under the stairs. We slowly moved to our left, but one of the swords hit the wall, and made a clattering sound. Everything stopped, the house was silent. Suddenly, from the door we had entered through, we heard a pounding. We quickly moved, not caring about making noise, and then we saw the door shatter, and three men with swords in their hands enter. We continued moving to the left, until we reached another door. We exited through the other door, and we were in a small room with a door behind us, and nothing on the walls. Then drew our swords. My parents pushed me back, and then Mr. Thompson walked behind them too. The three men exited the tunnel, and prepared for battle. My parents fought against them, stabbing, blocking, ducking, rolling, and slashing away at these men. They fought each other for about ten minutes, neither even getting a cut. I was amazed, I never thought my parents would even be able to use a sword, let alone fight like this.