A Dark Secret...
To most, Riku is known as a polite young-man who, sometimes, is too welcoming. Always equipped with a smile and a 'glass half full' mentality, he is often perceived as irritating - Too jolly! People envy him for his impossible 'luck'. Perfect home. Perfect family; Father, Mother, Sister. Large kennel with choice pets. He has always had everything he's ever wanted, and nothing bad has ever happened to him! It's unrealistic.
Actually, it isn't real at all.
Riku isn't even his real name! Rickoli Morale was born outside the labs to a Frederick and Olivia Morale, Prime Ministers of Aulador. Their estate was one of the largest and most bountiful in the region. Their gardens were tended to by prodigies, as well as their private mines, robotic workshop, gem workshop, and kitchen. As political figures and upper-class, economy-dictators, the Morale health and fortune have been threatened by many. Because of this, High-Magi were 'allowed the privilege' to guard the family at all times - and were paid a hefty sum to do so!
As the sole heir to the Morale fortune, Rickoli was supplied with anything and everything he had ever wanted. He had his own, personal Arch-Mage - Cephalo - who served as a sort of father-figure, nanny, and mentor, beyond his more obvious duties. At an early age it was discovered that Rickoli had a distinct talent for magic. A strong Magical Aptitude, clearly adept in the area, and notably lucky. He would secretly take his guardian's greater nodes that weren't kept on his person, and use them while - somehow - alone in the outer fields of their land. He would cast rather advanced spells, and in only a few months discovered that different elements could be combined to cast greater spells. The luck was evident in the fact that the boy never managed to blow anything up - or himself.
Until one day his luck couldn't save him. Cephalo tracked him down in down in the woods after discovering that five of his greater nodes were missing. His young protege’s magical fingerprints were all over the box he kept them in, and they led him to the spot where he practiced. The furious Arch-Mage bent the space around his body and immediately stood behind the boy and grabbed his shoulder and the bag of nodes that were stolen and threw them back into his private study.
Flashback...
"How dare you! You spoiled and ungrateful brat! Stealing from
me!?" He flicked his wrist and sent the boy flying into a chair behind him, locking his wrists and ankles to the magically-reinforced wood with an invisible force. "You should know better! I knew that you were careless, but I had no idea you were a
fool!"
The young boy grunted and struggled underneath the tie of his magically-superior teacher's spell. "Is this how you treat a
Morale!? You imbecilic wand-prancer!"
"
Tfft! You flash your parents name, and yet you know that with a single word I could send your whole dynasty crashing down!" He sifted through the bag of nodes he had retrieved. "Do you not yet realize that everything I've done all these years has been for...." He paused, and dug anxiously into the knapsack, letting go of the restraint he had on the child. "Oh no....." He groaned.
Being released, Rickoli bent over and pulled the greater fire node out of his shoe and clasped his hands furiously over it, then slowly released his grip and blew through the gaps between his fingers. The reinforced seat beneath him, and the wood interior of the room began to crackle and singe, as a roaring, hot breeze blew out in every direction -
from every direction. His hair began to glow, and his eyes turned bright red, and his skin peeled as he charged the spell he was about to launch at his only friend, in anger.
"What demon has possessed you, my boy...?" The Mage said in fear - not of the spell that was being cast at him, but at the caster he had raised, yet somehow did not know.
The house began to shake, and the walls, floors, and roof caught fire. The windows shattered, and outside Sun seemed dim compared to inside the house. The effects of the spell expanded throughout the entire castle, suffocating every room of oxygen. His Father and Mother lie collapsed in their room - along with their guardian Magi, who had never known such magical aptitude except for in their Arch-Mage, who seemed too loyal to the family to cast such a spell. Being caught off guard, they were unable to speedily counter the effects of the spell.
Cephalo looked at the boy who now lie, seizing on the ground with a Fire node raging in his left hand. How could it have come to this...? He had taken care of this boy since birth. He had guarded him with his life. He had given up
years of his life to the boy. He had loved him like his own...
Flashback..................
“Cephalo...!” shrieked a whispery voice in the back of his mind. He gasped, and threw his cloak over his back, bending the space around his mass and appearing by the young boy’s side.
“What is it, Rickoli!?” he worriedly inquired. “Are you hurt!?”
“No.” Rickoli said “This kitty won’t let me hold it!” He pointed to the feline in the corner of the stable, hiding behind a bail of hay.
Relieved, Cephalo picked the child up and sat him in his lap, as he sat on the bail of hay. “Riku,” he called him “Do you know why this creature fears you?”
“No...”
“It is because you chase it too fiercely. If you show it kindness...” He conjured half of a fish in his hand that wasn’t holding the boy, and threw it to the stable-pet behind the bail where they sat. “and leave it its free-will,
it will come to
you.” As he was saying this, the feline creature jumped up onto the bail, and climbed into the boy’s lap.
“Aha ha!” he exclaimed, clapping his hands - in doing so scaring the pet away again.
~’-~,:’~-,~ “C-Cephalo...!” cried the boy, losing even more control over the node he had ignited. “Help m-me!”
Heartbroken, Cephalo laid his hand on the boy, instilling a spell of sturdiness in his body. He’d need it to survive the full blast of the spell when it had satisfied its initial hunger. “Riku,” he called him “Do you know why your magic has failed you? It is because you chase it too fiercely. If you show it kindness...and leave it its free-will, it will come to you.” As he was saying this, the fire from the node flared out and attached itself to Riku's forearm.
“Ah! Ah-ah! Ah-ahhh...!!!” he screamed, throwing his already seizing body harder side to side - in doing so rubbing the flame on his arm out.
“My Rickoli...” Cephalo muttered with a broken face “I forgive you.”
“Cephalo...!”
“I hope that you can forgive yourself someday.” he began “Let this be a lesson to you. You were loved, but did not show love. You had much, but needed more. You had eyes, but did not see.” He stared in awe and pity at what was left of the mansion around him. “Such a cruel lesson to learn, and yet you are so young.” He paused, as though hearing a voice. “Your life will not be a simple one. You will travel far away and start anew there.” He looked down at the sphere in the boy’s hand. “Keep the node.”
The castle had begun to collapse in on itself, the scorching heat had engulfed the entire estate and property around it, and the area around Rickoli had begun to bend the light and twist its shape. The twelve year old boy watched as his best friend, father-figure, and mentor began to turn into ash, break up and blow away, stuck in a pose that stared into his soul. No longer could he scream his name. No longer could he shed a tear. No longer could he feel his own
numbness. Suddenly, all of the energy flowing through the area surged to it’s core - to him - and the light was brighter than anything he could ever have
imagined a light to be. It solidified around him for a few seconds, and then burst out in all directions, destroying everything in its path. Destroying his home, his fortune, and his family. Destroying his
life.
Rickoli woke up in a dark alley in the heart of a region next to his own. Hundreds of miles away. With a heart that was both hard and soft, he went into the city and found out where he was, and decided to sell the node that he had caused so much harm with. With the money, he bought transportation to the region his uncle had moved to only a few months before.
And so he moved in with his uncle, aunt, and female cousin, who understood his situation and adopted him as their own son. Yet again, he had a large house, with a large kennel and garden, and was well-off, financially - except this time he wouldn't make the same mistakes. Now, almost ten years later, he’s on a quest to create his own array of nodes to tap into his hibernating magical aptitude. Someday he
will be the greatest mage alive. Until then, he spends his days adventuring with his many magical creatures in search of something - perhaps
someone. He isn't sure what he is looking for, but it's out there.
Somewhere.