To Love A Villain

The Time That Made Him What He Is: The Beginning

>>Hael (Childhood)

I never wanted to remember my father. He was the man who left my mother after promising her he would come back to her but never did.

My mother and I lived in a pretty isolated place. It was a serene place, we lived in a furnished cottage by the river in the middle of a vast field. But as far as my memories go, I only remember my mother waiting for the human she fell for, but with each passing day in which he made no contact with her, she seemed to grow more absent-minded.

These are distant memories, it starts from her being angry, and then those feelings shifting to isolation.

As the golden hues of sunset paint the sky, I sat in the field making a flower garland. One my mother had taught me before my father left. I kept glancing at her while I made that garland while she sat with her back to me. The sun painted her with its colors while her eyes searched for someone who was never coming back.

his arms laden with wildflowers he picked in the meadow. "Mom, look at this crown! I made it for you!" I announced, my voice filled with pride as I stood there with the wreath in my hands.

She didn't respond to me at first, "MOM!" But when I called her while standing right next to her, she jumped and looked at me.

"Oh," She merely offered a distracted smile, "You made this?" Her mind was somewhere else but she still took the crown from me.

"You put it on your head." I said while fiddling with my small thumbs but she looked away again.

"Okay," She whispered, her eyes traveling away to some distant land again. I watched her. She held the wreath with one hand loosely but never wore it, almost as if she forgot she even had it in her hands.

"Mom?" I called out to her, but she didn't reply. My heart sank and I walked away.

Maybe I can talk to her later, maybe she's thinking about something important.

I had taken a few steps away when I heard her stand up. The sun was going down now and everything was turning orange.

That was the moment I remembered how my father used to address her sometimes.

"Ma~Ma," He would say, 'Hael's ma~ma~', but I skipped my name and just copied his way.

I don't know what I said wrong. I merely tried to copy my father and I remember it used to make my mother laugh. She enjoyed it then, but when I said it, she turned her head to glare at me.

I don't know what she hated about it so much that she picked up a rock and threw it at me.

The sharp thing hit my head, causing me to fall backwards.

???

It didn't make any sense to me. Was what I did wrong? Was I not supposed to do it?

The skin on my head burned and I felt liquid pouring out of it.

???

I wiped my hand on the place that hurt and then brought my hand in front of my eyes

It was red,

I sat up as my mother shrieked, "Hael!!!" The red liquid came dowards, trickling from my head down to my eye, forcing me to close it, as it traveled to my cheek, down to my chin, then jumped off and tainted my clothes.

I was bleeding.

"Oh God!" She came and skidded by my side, "I'm so sorry!!" She embraced me, hugging me tightly, "I don't know why I did that, I'm so sorry!" She placed her hand on my head and used magic to heal the wound.