The 2nd Memory: The Upbringing I Never Had

Despite the boy's detestable disposition, saving him turned out to be the right decision. Although nobody to him, he welcomed me to “his city” with open arms. Taking my anemia into consideration, he ushered me into an elevator. As we descended the City became alive. While the landscape above had been reduced to ruin, the underworld agents had revived a new one underground. Figures, as villains prefer to live in an underworld, a place far from the light and far out of sight. But to the Outside, this was unfathomable. After much consideration, I thanked him for inviting me to the “Understory” of his city.

He shrugged: “Why are you so surprised? I’m nice…just not friendly.”

Despite my anemia, my heart pounded as we exited the elevator fifty feet beneath the surface. Rather than a colony of scattered ants, the Understory was a colony of teeming termites. It became apparent that the boy held a position of power in this colony, as he exchanged tacit acknowledgement with two passing gargantuan rhinoceros beetles. Then, he turned and gestured to me, only to conceal his surprise when he realized I had maintained close proximity the entire time. Did the boy see me akin to a bodyguard? Was this why he had been so welcoming all this time?

I asked him whether he felt safe.

"Not anymore." As he turned his gaze away I could not figure him out. I inquired as to where his parents were.

"My parents are gone…I wasn't strong enough, so they didn't deserve me."

"Don't tell yourself that. No one deserves that."

"Actually, Dad did tell me that. 'You don't deserve us,' he said so after he did what you just did--got hurt intervening in my personal affairs!"

I had to look away. I could not bring myself to look him straight in the face. As we arrived at the boarding strip for the train, I tried committing everything to memory, only to realize the periphery was darkness. As a permeating sense of vulnerability began to pound in my ears, the ambient surrounding became muted out. It wasn't until the boy grabbed my wrist to pull me onto the train that I realized he had been speaking.

"…If only they had trusted me and realized how strong I really am…If only Mom had known how well I knew my way… then she wouldn't have gotten lost looking for me… and if only Dad knew my secret plan--how I always have something hidden in my back pocket… then he wouldn't have tried to pick my fights and win them for me!"

At that moment I could only stare at him, trying to figure out what I might need to know later. He was talking more to himself than to me.

"…They're wrong! Just because I'm young doesn’t mean I'm weak! Being young means I can only get stronger and wiser, which is why I was made the heir to this city in Dad's stead!"

The situation was more dangerous than I anticipated it to be. The Understory was an organized society. But why choose to be lead by someone so naiive as this young boy? Without maturity and wisdom wouldn't he come to rely too much on the advice of others? Did they really hold him responsible for his decisions?

For the rest of the ride, the boy couldn't stop thinking out loud, and so it went without saying that my questions would be answered in time.