Chapter 4: The Journey Begins

At night, Jayce had a difficult time trying to sleep. He was tossing and turning a lot in his bed. After an hour or so, he fell asleep. In his dream, Jayce visited his mother's grave. He knelt down in front of it. Suddenly, a hand rose from the ground. He screamed as he saw his mom's zombified body crawling out of the grave. She spat out a worm from her mouth. Jayce fell backward in shock. "Some son you turn out to be, all that training waste. Why did you think I trained you, but yet you never use it" she said to him as she crept forward to him. "You will never carry on my legacy because you are weak." Jayce tried to back away but couldn't move much. "Mom, please" he screamed. "I am ashamed of you, I expected better from you," she said as she crept faster towards him. Jayce could not get up and run. "Maybe I will still be alive if you would have helped me take down Pyranical" she yelled. Jayce screamed when his mom grabbed him by the leg.

That's when he woke up from the nightmare. He was sweating and his leg was entangled by the covers. He decided he would go through with the plan. He would wake up early, unlock the storage closet to retrieve the weapons, leave notes for both of his loved ones, and hopefully they didn't wake up. For now, Jayce tried to go back to sleep as it was midnight. He planned to leave at dawn. 

It was four-thirty in the morning. Jayce already got up and changed. He wore a jacket, a white shirt, dark jeans, and boots. None of his clothes were new, they were all used before by other people and they were dirty since he did a lot of training and work. These were his best-fitting clothes. He slowly opened the door and tiptoed his way to the storage closet. He slowly unlocked the door with the key and opened it. He tiptoed towards the sword and chakrams. The sword glowed as he walked closer to it. The glowing sword may pose a problem for him. He grabbed the weapons and looked for something to carry them in. He remembered his mother having a belt that could hold her chakrams but he guessed that the backpack that he found would do for now. He dusted it off and placed the three chakrams inside the backpack. The sword was unable to fit in the backpack so he had to carry it. He went back to the main room and closed the door slowly behind him. Now, he had to write goodbye letters to his dad and Hiva. 

He put the keys on the table and tried to find a paper and a pencil in the dark. He figured that the items were on the counter. He felt around for them making sure that he was careful not to topple anything over. He felt a stack of papers and a pencil near the corner of the counter. He tore the paper as quietly as he could so it wouldn't wake his dad. He didn't know what to write. He spent a good minute thinking of what to write to them. Using the glowing sword as a light source, he began to write the letter for his dad.  

Dear dad, I have gone off to pursue GhostStrike and Pyranical. I bet you are wondering why and I'm not sure myself. I feel guilty training with Hiva, her mom, and my mom and letting it go to waste by not using what I learned. I feel like someone has to take a stand against this terrible being. I'm very sorry that I'm going to leave you. I just have to make mom proud and remove this guilt. Let's think positively and keep hope alive in this country. I love you dad and I'll see you soon. 

He tried not to cry as he placed the note at the edge of the table. Now he had to think of what to say to Hiva. He tapped the pencil on his chin trying to think. 

Hey Hiva, I decided to go with my plan... please don't get mad I can't handle the weight of the guilt of not using the skills I learned in training. I want you to know that you are the most amazing friend I could ever ask for. I hope I return victorious. Please take care of yourself. I'll miss you and I am sorry. Your friend Jayce. 

Once he was done, he grabbed a few snacks and a water canteen for the journey and placed them in his backpack. He walked towards the door and took one last look at his house before he opened the door slowly and exited. After he closed the door, he headed towards Hiva's house to drop off her letter. 

It was still too early for Hiva to do her morning patrols. Jayce looked for a spot to place the letter but he decided to just slide the letter under the door as the wind would probably blow it away. He was sad as he walked to the entrance of the town. He looked back at the town one last time before he started to head towards Cespion Village.