Concerto of the Sun

Prologue

I sat frozen in front of the television screen, feeling an enormous weight sink in my chest. A live feed was being broadcast on every news station, and I couldn't tear my eyes away for even a moment.

"Solar Flare and RadioHead are currently fighting a super villain just outside of Hosu City!" One of the reporters said, dust covering the entire area and obscuring the view of the cameras. Those two heroes are my parents, pros who are particularly high in ranking. Not necessarily top ten, but they should never be underestimated.

Solar Flare is my mother, the sun hero. She can pretty much use the power of the sun to shoot rays of light from her palms. RadioHead is my father, the echo hero. He's able to echo any sound and turn it into waves. Both of them are built for combat. 

Unlike me.

"The dust seems to be clearing! But... OH DEAR GOD!"

I watched in horror as the dust settled. The villain was gone... and my parents lied in pieces along the street. Their blood flooded the gutters and sidewalk. They were mauled as if a wild animal had torn them to shreds. The image engraved itself into my mind as I felt my heart stop completely.

I slowly managed to get myself to my feet, careful not to wake Ama who is still sound asleep in her bed. As soon as I closed the front door behind me, I started running. I ran and ran as fast as I could towards the outskirts of the city. We didn't live too far from where they were broadcasting, and the villain is probably still out there.

But I don't care.

The world went silent as I rushed past the police and civilians in my way. I couldn't hear the people calling out for me, I didn't stop until I saw them with my own eyes. I couldn't find my mother's body, I only saw her hand and scattered pieces of her costume. What I did notice is my father's hand extending from one of the alleys.

I hurried over to his side, tears burning behind my eyes just waiting to burst through. My father's face was almost unrecognizable, and I quickly fell to my knees beside him. I pulled him into my arms, trembling as the man who raised me and my sister alongside my mother grew colder by the second.

If only I had been here, I could have done something.

If only I hadn't begged them to go out on a job.

I can't say these things. There is nothing I could have done, nothing either of us could have done to prevent this. I can't change the past. I can't take back what I said. I can only live with what I've done. All of this is my fault.

A shrill ringing pierces the silence I had been trapped in. I slowly look up to meet the gaze of a man with icy blue eyes. No, that's not exactly right. He looked more like an abomination. He was made completely of metallic vines that bent just like wires. The ends of his arms glinted in the moonlight, showing off the razor sharp edges.

The pain came next. It was a burning sensation through my back, and I could feel the cool liquid of my own blood slowly drift down to my waist. It took a few moments to set in, and my body didn't even try to react. I was so worn out from running that I couldn't do anything at all.

I didn't even have the strength to scream.