As soon as their father was mentioned, the little boy with dark hair and grey eyes, murmured under his voice.
"Of course he isn't coming...".
"Come on sweetie, it's not like that. Your dad had something very important to do".
"Mom, even you know that's not true... It's not true", Drent replied, full of resentment in his tone.
Their mother was a beautiful petite woman with long blonde hair and grey eyes. She had always been there to take care of her kids.
Although she had a slightly short temper, she would never be truly mad at any of them. Their father on the other hand, didn't build a strong and close bond with them, as he was hardly ever around.
"That's enough Drent, we all want him to come back..
There's no need to be disheartened". As those words were uttered, everyone seated instinctively turned to the speaker. Mazou sighed with a wistful expression.
"That's new, usually you would be like --I Hate him, never mention him again-- or something like that". Zenix chipped in.
Mazou paused for a moment and then replied in a neutral tone;
"You could say that... I have come to accept the fact that he can't always be around"
Zenix was left puzzled as he sank into his memories of the not so distant past.
"I hate him, why does he always have to do this to us".
"I'm done being hopeful, it's obvious he won't come back".
"That name makes me sick to my stomach, don't mention it again". He could clearly remember the words of his sister.
'I probably just remember wrongly, I guess'.
Zenix thought to himself, as he was left stunned by the fundamental change in his elder sister's reaction.
Arie simply observed, not wanting to be pulled into their discussion.
"It's not that much of a surprise, I was bound to change", Mazou said, idly twirling a strand of her hair around her fingers, a luminous warmth dancing in her eyes.
Later on that day, a girl lay sprawled across her bed, her messy dark hair fanned out in disarray.
Arie's dark grey eyes were filled with a distant expression, like she was looking beyond the ceiling.
As the silence settled in, vague memories of a man began to flood her mind.
She could recall her father's presence, but his face remained indistinct.
"Dad, I overheard your discussion with Mom earlier. You're going away, aren't you?".
"Well....yes, something came up and I'll be required to travel away for a short time".
"Will you come back to us?".
"Of course I will, I'll always be here for you, your siblings, and your mom... Someone has to keep Zenix in check".
He paused... Taking in a deep breathe, he spun towards his daughter and added with a comforting smile, "There is no other place I'd rather be".
Remembering her father's last words, she clutched a pillow beside her and tightly embraced it. "You lied Dad", she muttered". "I don't even remember what you looked like".
The following morning, Zenix hazily surfaced from sleep to the persistent ringing of his alarm.
"I'm up... I'm up...".The piercing shrieks escalated until he knocked the alarm from the table, sending it crashing to the floor.
Within minutes, he was fully dressed and on the verge of departure. "Don't forget your break... fast". At that point, Zenix had already made his way through the door, leaving his mother expressionless.
The streets of Lore were flooded with people, either going to work, school or moving out for something entirely different.
Zenix stood at a cross section, unperturbed by the cacophony. He could hear the sounds of vehicle engines, thousands of foot steps sounding together in a inharmonic rhythm.
"Just another normal morning", or so he wanted to think. It was impossible to not notice the underling tension in the eyes of the masses. "People are so fragile these days".
He observed the distant passerbys and sighed in slight disdain, then went his way.
MEANWHILE
"Dude, I have the craziest thing to tell you"
"You're aware we are on our shifts, right?".
"Yeah? What does that have to do with anything?".
The grumpy bartender who seemed to be in his late thirties facepalmed himself and retorted with composure.
"No one has time to listen to your meaningless stories".
The younger man -who was a waiter- let out an exaggerated gasp.
"I feel offended". He squinted his eyes and added, "This is definitely going on your paycheck".
The main door then swung open, revealing a tall young man, with grey eyes and blonde hair.