'...Torrez...' The name sounded right. It sounded like a fresh start. Before all this started, I was a Draven but now, I guess I had the chance to change my future and live my own life. But then again, I didn't even know what that name even meant. I looked it up on Google and found that it means towers. God I wish I said something else. Now my damn name was Andrea Towers? My life couldn't get any worse.
"You said you're a Hunter? What's that?" I asked curiously and stepped forward but Stella flinched and stumbled back. She was... scared of me?
"Y-yes," she stuttered and looked away from me. "We kill abominations..." This wasn't how it was supposed to go! She wasn't supposed to be scared of me! I looked back at the house. It was on the verge of collapse. Her husband's burnt corpse still lay on the ground.
"We should probably get out before the house comes down," I suggested. Stella nodded and shuffled past me without even giving me a single glance. I stepped out with her and a moment later, the building collapsed. Once we were outside, I finally saw how much damage I had actually done.
"I should report this to AXE," Stella muttered and started walking away from me.
"Wait!" I yelled and caught up to her. "What's AXE?" She trembled when I spoke but eventually replied and that's when my new life really began.
I learnt all about earth and this universe. Abominations, the great kings and all the other stuff that's not relevant for most of this story. Stella took me to the AXE HQ. I met up with some of their higher-ups, specifically a human named Connor Daxton.
When I told them about who I really was and about the little curse growing inside me, I became royalty. I got my own penthouse, maids, doctors and everything I could want was always a call away. All I did in return was take care of abominations and other problems the association struggled with.
The first two months were filled with casual missions but on the third month, my pregnancy wasn't something I could avoid anymore. I took a break from all the hunting and enjoyed a laid-back life... until six months later. Y'know, people always remember giving birth so vividly but when I had Diego, I was out cold for most of it. You can't blame me though. That little fucker's head was massive.
I woke up feeling lighter than I had been for months and something warm was pressed on my chest. I looked down and there he was... my baby... Diego... He was so small and vulnerable and I never really saw myself as a doting mother but yeah, I didn't let go of him for days.
When he was about three months old, Connor and some scientists did some tests on him to find out what his traits were. I expected something similar to my existence erasure but surprisingly enough, he had more than nine different traits. Traits like 'Life Line', a power that helps his body stay alive and find loopholes in external damage like poison or even a ripped-off limb. 'Orchestrator' which helped him read situations or battles and make him spot every flaw and advantage he could get in a fight. There were other traits but two of them seemed to be the original ones.
'Trail Blazer' was by far the most powerful of his original traits and it also explained why he had so many. Trail Blazer was a trait that stole the traits of angels and demons who died around him. He must have been stealing these traits since he was inside me in Hell. The next big part of Trail Blazer was the power to upgrade stolen traits to a level way above the old user's power.
Then there was the second one... 'Relentless Fury'. Jesus Christ! What kind of name was that? Couldn't he name it something better? The ability to keep fighting past his physical limit for hours on end. Paired with Diego's durability and stubbornness, it could make him keep fighting until his opponent was tired out before him.
The more I learnt about Relentless Fury, the more familiar it seemed but then, it clicked. It was Fors's trait! But that meant Fors died even before I left Hell. That didn't even make sense! It didn't hurt to think about it now because Fors's legacy lived inside Diego now.
The next few years passed before I knew it. Diego grew bigger and bigger but I didn't. I reached my age limit when I hit twenty. Diego grew but by the time he was six, he still didn't have any powers. He had traits that were definitely working but other than that, he was a normal child. Maybe having an angel father and a demon mother messed with his powers or something.
I never stopped being a Hunter but year after year, Diego became more of a burden. Don't get me wrong here, he was my kid but that was also the problem... he was my kid... AXE had an arch enemy, an organisation named Night Axiom. They were the same people that sent Mercer and Mora after Diego.
They didn't know about Diego yet and Connor Daxton wanted to keep it that way. He told me about a Hunter named Rusev Namatsura. Rusev was a retired Hunter and also the father of two sons. A young Hunter named Ivankov Namatsura and a child named Nickolas Namatsura. Connor told me Rusev could protect and take care of Diego while I kept helping the association. All I had to do was tell Diego he would have to stay with Rusev for a while.
It seemed easy enough to do and besides, it was for his own good. A few weeks after he turned eight, I made up my mind once and for all. I met Rusev a few weeks before and he was clearly a better parent than I ever could be. On that fateful night, I read Diego his favourite bedtime story one last time.
"And they all lived happily ever after... the end," I said, ending the bedtime story I was reading to Diego.
"Mom, why's your hair so red?" he asked.
"It's because I ate too many tomatoes," I joked.
"Mom, I have another question," Diego said.
"And what would that be?"
"Why did you name me Diego?"
I flinched at the question. I named him after everything that I had gone through but he didn't deserve to know about my terrible past. I smiled at him.
"A long time ago... I had to make a decision..." I started. "To die or leave... to go away from home. I chose to go and when I had you, I thought to myself, 'What the hell. Why don't I just name you Diego so I remember my choice.' Is that a good enough answer for you?"
"That's dumb..." Diego muttered and stuck his tongue out at me playfully. I ruffled his hair and stuck my tongue out at him defiantly as well.
Just like that, I lost all my nerve. He was my baby and I couldn't just tell him I was handing him off like some chore. I couldn't tell him straight to his face so instead, I decided to do what my dad did to me. And no, I don't mean banishing and killing his loved ones.
"Just go to sleep Diego. I've already read you a bedtime story," I said.
Diego huffed and reluctantly closed his eyes but then I tapped his shoulder. "You remember my red jacket right?" I asked.
"The one you're always wearing?" Diego asked.
"Yeah, that one. It's yours from now on," I said and Diego sat up instantly.
"Really?!" He asked, barely able to contain his excitement.
"Yep. You can have it on one condition... Take care of it with your life. Can you do that for me?" I asked him and he nodded frantically in agreement.
"Good... now go to sleep you little gremlin," I said and kissed him on the forehead before walking out of his bedroom.
My heart sank and I started crying before I knew it. I wiped my tears away and took off Lucifer's jacket. It was still too big for him but I knew he would eventually grow into it. I laid it down on the ground and left the house. Rusev would take care of Diego and that made me feel better about being such a shitty mom.
I never asked Connor about Diego or even talked to Rusev about it. I didn't want to hear what he'd have to say about me. I didn't want to hear how much he hated me. How much of a terrible mother I was to him. I deserved worse than that.
For the next two years, I managed to erase Diego from my memory. I got the title of Rank 1 but it didn't really matter to me that much. My dad had been taking me out to destroy entire realities when I was little and defending just one planet seemed too easy. I got richer, more power and all the respect I ever needed. My life was going great... until that fucker showed up again.
I got back to my penthouse after a mission and sitting at the edge of my window was MICHAEL?! The balls on this man!
"What the hell are you doing here?!" I yelled and stomped towards him.
"I came here because—" I shoved my foot right into his face before he could finish. He fell to the ground and looked up at me with that infuriatingly calm face.
"YOU RUINED MY LIFE! YOU DON'T GET TO ACT LIKE EVERYTHING'S SUNSHINE AND FUCKING RAINBOWS!" I snapped. Michael blinked at me like I was a kid having a tantrum. He still wasn't taking me seriously? "Diego..." I sighed. "That's our son's name... Diego." Michael got back to his feet with mild surprise. That was the first time he had shown he even had a heart.
"Where is he?" Michael asked.
"He died two years ago," I lied and waited for his reaction. Michael let out a shaky breath and stepped forward.
"I'm... sorry," he said and placed his palm on my cheek. There was compassion in his voice and for a moment, I thought about maybe forgiving him but then I felt a silver ring on his finger. I pulled back like his hands burnt me and shoved him back into a wall.
"You're married?!" I yelled. "I really didn't mean anything to you did I?!" I yelled.
"You did!" Michael yelled back and that caught me off guard. He pulled the ring off and placed it in my palm. Was he going to propose to me?! "When my mother found out about what we did, she forced me into a marriage with an angel. She conceived and brought me a daughter." Oh... so Diego had a stepsister now?
I studied the ring. It was as white as his hair but it didn't look like your typical wedding ring.
"That ring was a gift I got from the Poet. It has power strong enough to hurt God and the devil," Michael said. "I wanted to end Lucifer first. That's why I came to you all those years ago."
"Why are you here?" I finally asked and gave him back his ring.
"I wanted to see you," Michael answered. There was something about his voice that I couldn't put my finger on.
His gaze dropped to my face and he smiled. "You're blushing," he pointed out.
"Don't change the subject!" I huffed and looked away. "I lied to you... Diego's still alive. I can take you to him if that's what you want," I admitted.
"No. I came to see you and no one else," Michael said and kissed me.
God I'm an idiot. Looking back, everything could be avoided. The first time he knocked me up, I made up the excuse of being a hormonal teenager but I was twenty-five the second time I was with him. Was I still mad at him? Yes. Did I still love him though? That's also a painful yes and to be honest, if he came back, I'd still let him.
The next morning arrived and I woke up to an empty space beside me on my bed. He was gone again? I sat up and yawned but when I looked up, Michael was sitting at the edge of my window. He hadn't left after all.
"Morning," I yawned and got off the bed. "You're not gone yet. What changed your mind this time?" I asked and for a moment, I gave myself hope.
"I wanted to give you something," he said and came back to bed. He took my palm and put his on top of it. I felt a chill from his palm and from out of nowhere, a rose made of ice took shape in my palm. "My ice can't be broken or melted even by gods. It can break through anything that gets in its way... Just like you."
Damn this bastard was good at sweet talking.
"So what? You give me this and that makes it okay to just ditch me again?" I joked and he shut me up with a kiss. He left later that night and by that time, I had forgotten why I hated him so much to begin with... until I had Romeo.
Romeo wasn't as rowdy as Diego was. He was a sweet boy that always clung to my side like he was a part of me. I never really took him to find out which traits he had but if he was anything like Diego, he would have two original traits.
When Romeo was six, I left him in the hands of AXE just like I did with Diego. It wasn't as hard as with Diego. I left him a note and watched him look for me like his life depended on it. I met up with the family that was going to take care of him and it was nice to know a little girl would be able to be with him as he grew up. What was her name again? Ganyu or Zumi or something?
"Miss Torrez, her name was Zany Belle... she passed away."
She did? Damn, why didn't anyone tell me?
"We did. Your sons just came back from her funeral."
Ohh, I completely forgot about that.
So... this is the end of it all is it? We're going back to the terrible writing? I don't get to talk anymore?
"Yes, Miss Torrez. We're done with your backstory. Jeff, pack up. I heard Kevin Hart wants to give us an interview."
Kevin Hart— I knew this was an interview! Jeff! Don't you dare stop recording!
"Miss Torrez we—"
Don't give me that crap! We're not done with this—
END OF CHAPTER—
LIKE HELL THIS CHAPTER IS ENDING!
"Jeff! Quit recording right now or else you're fired!"
Jeff! Don't you stop recording 'cause if you do, I'll— What are you doing with that plug? Don't you dare—
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END OF CHAPTER 22
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