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It was a cloudy day, that day. That cursed day.
Most people would say that they didn’t see it coming, but… I had a feeling. I just didn’t think it’d be that bad.
The Massacre of 2000. It lasted from July 2000 to October 2001. Looking back, the warning signs were there: the numerous attempted missile strikes at Rozae Island, for one. And for two, Emperor Ultis telling the at-the-time Royal Guard (now the Rozaen Army… that I lead, heh) to be on high alert.
I’m convinced that the bastard knew what was coming. Why else would he run away instead of sticking around and fighting for his country? If someone dared to do the same thing today, twenty-two years later… they wouldn’t even get the chance.
But anyways, I’ve never told anyone this, but I never recovered from what happened that day. I thought I’d never be able to see Ryoko or Koki again.
It was around noon, and Ryoko was making tea to go along with our lunch. We were on the poorer side back then, but not poor enough so that we couldn’t feed ourselves. Koki was asleep in his crib, being about two weeks old at the time.
…He was a miracle baby, you know. My wife has endometriosis, and while there’s treatment for the pain, there isn’t for her infertility. Her excuse of a mother always got mad at her for being infertile… until Ryoko had enough and decided to stay with me. We tried to conceive for about twenty years, with no luck… until Koki was born. He was born a little earlier than he was supposed to be (his due date was originally in early September, yet he was born in June), and I remember the doctor telling Ryoko and me that there’s no way Koki would survive in the NICU. But he did. He’s nearly twenty-two now, and even though he isn’t as muscular or tall as I am, I know that he’s strong. My resilient little boy…
Damn it! I keep getting sidetracked!
Anyways, just as we were having lunch, Ryoko and I smelled smoke from outside. It turns out that the subrural area of the city was burning. At first, we thought it was a wildfire, since the climate of Rozae is notorious for those in the summer. But no, it was an act of genocide.
Three men about my size barged into the house and immediately tried to attack my wife. Obviously, I didn’t let them, but I told her to take Koki and run.
Now, Ryoko blames herself for what happened to the house we built and lived in back then, given that she used her fire powers as an attempt to defend herself from those barbarians, but I refuse to believe that it was her that set the place ablaze. She was at least seven meters away from the house when it caught on fire.
…After successfully murdering that guy, I witnessed the love of my life get knocked unconscious, tied up, and taken to who knows where. They did the same to Koki.
Now, at the time, I had water powers. Knowing there was a river nearby, I started to use it to do… anything, to be honest. Trip them up, drown them, anything. Anything to stop them from taking my wife and only son.
…But as soon as I did, I felt cold envelop my body, and before I knew it, I couldn’t move.
It turns out that Former King Iceblood - yes, that’s his name - mistook me as one of the intruders; which I think is, as my adoptive middle child would put it, a whole fuckload of bullshit. That guy practically raised me; I was one of his best soldiers! Heck, HE FORCED ME TO GO TO WAR WHEN I WAS FOURTEEN! HOW COULD HE NOT KNOW ME!?
It was probably payback for that civil rights movement I accidentally started, which defamed him. I don’t like to think about it too much.
I stayed frozen for ten years… and that’s about all I know. I would drift in and out of consciousness from time to time, just barely enough to know I’m awake but not have a coherent thought.
Finally, in 2011, I was unfrozen. Obviously, I had the worst case of frostbite imaginable. My skin was so hard it cracked open and bled with any and every movement I made, to the point where blood spilled onto the floor.
I was immediately admitted into the hospital… and then an assisted living facility. Once my skin returned to normal, I had to get several stitches. By the grace of Kaeri, no amputations.
While at the ALF, my wife had apparently made her way back into the country somehow… given that I woke up one afternoon with her sitting next to me, holding my hand.
Apparently they tried to sex traffic her, and she retaliated by half-accidentally burning down a village (don’t ask me how you “half-accidentally” burn a village). From then on, she was a wanted criminal, to the point where the Saudi Arabia government offered a reward for capturing her, earning her the name of “Pyrite.” She wears that name like a badge of honor.
As for my son, he didn’t come back to Rozae until 2016. And he brought a girl with her, who’s now my youngest child. We were originally going to find her biological mother, but once we got on the phone with her, we knew that girl was better off with us.
…I worry about her, but like Koki, I believe she’s strong, despite having a terminal neurological illness.
Anyways, apparently the two of them were subject to human experiments in a secret lab based in Japan. It’s not associated with the Japanese government. In fact, as far as I know, the Japanese government is trying to arrest every last one of the scientists from that lab. I digress.
Apparently Koki was a serial killer for two years before he snapped out of it and decided to turn over a new leaf. It’s… quite an experience to learn your son was a murderer, and frankly, I’ve never forgiven him for that. But Koki has proven that he wanted to change; he admitted himself into the mental hospital not long after we met, where he stayed for months before his psychiatrist felt comfortable enough to let him out. My son then started nursing school, decided against it, and became a paramedic.
And I have to admit… that’s amazing of him. To go from ending lives to saving them… I’m proud of him for that. That’s his strongest strength: being able to change as a person, and helping others change for the better as well.
…But despite all this… I can’t shake that feeling from my body. Feeling my hardened flesh being split open like that, almost bleeding to death because of it, being unable to move for ten years, my mind being foggy…
I should be dead, by all means. Some days, I’m not sure if I should be grateful for my life or not.
My body may have been frozen, but my heart wasn’t.