The Laughing Swordsman

After realizing that all of his previous \'tour guides\' were gone, Apollo felt a little aimless. He landed back down on the ground and began walking back to the city. Panic ran fairly rampant among the people.

After all, several houses were pulled from the ground before being sent crashing down once more. Thankfully, relative to the overall size of the city, the destruction caused by those houses were fairly small.

Nonetheless, people were getting out of their houses in a panic, in case their house would be lifted up next. Others were just running aimlessly, almost like that could somehow increase their chances of surviving.

However, the strange thing was that nobody died. Some people injured themselves by tripping over things in a hurry, but the actual destruction by the houses from Mark did not harm anybody.

Well, at least not physically.

There were a few people in grief either because their house was taken away, or heavily damaged by another house colliding with it. As Apollo walked through the streets, nobody paid attention to him.

They were all off doing their own thing.

As he continued to walk through, his mind began feeling a little fuzzy. Everyone was ignoring him.

It reminded Apollo of something.

The time when he walked through the streets of his own hometown. Nobody attempted to find trouble with him unless he wanted to find trouble first.

Apollo walked up to one of the passersby and tugged on their sleeve.

"Hey, hey!"

The person in question was an old man that had bloodshot eyes. He was distressed, having just lost his home. As such, when Apollo attempted to ask for help from him, he just flicked his sleeve, before leaving to somewhere else.

Apollo pouted.

His vision got a little blurry.

He then saw himself at the village again, walking through the streets. Apollo reached out with his pudgy hands to grab onto the hem of the shift of some random person walking by.

"Mm..."

This person was a fairly young woman who was carrying a bunch of potatoes in her hand. Upon noticing Apollo\'s tug, she looked over and lowered her head slightly.

"Hello, child. If I recall, your name is Apollo. Is something wrong?"

Apollo pressed his lips tightly together.

"I-I... I\'m sad. I\'m really, really sad."

The woman had a sympathetic expression. She got down on one knee and brushed Apollo\'s hair.

"Oh poor boy, what is the problem?"

Apollo bit his lip.

"M-My mother is making me do things I don\'t want to do."

The woman raised an eyebrow.

"Eh? What is she making you do?"

Apollo rubbed his eyelids.

"She is making me write words. M-My wrists hurt, but she won\'t let me stop!"

The woman blinked a few times. A few moments later, a bitter smile formed on her face.

"Oh child, your mother is just looking out for you! She just wants you to learn a few more skills, don\'t disappoint your mother."

Tears began forming at the sides of Apollo\'s face. He tightened his grip.

"But it hurts! It hurts really, really bad! I don\'t want to do it anymore!"

The woman let out a soft sigh.

"Just go through with it ok? It will hurt a little, but you will learn so much in the end."

Apollo\'s hands began to tremble.

"It doesn\'t hurt a little! I just want to take a break! I\'m so tired."

The woman clicked her tongue.

"Child. Your mother has put in so much effort for you. Don\'t you know that? How could you just abandon her wishes like that? Do you think she is doing all that to help herself? It\'s to help you!"

Apollo slowly let go, trembling.

"But-"

The woman took a deep breath.

"Don\'t be ungrateful."

And with that, she left Apollo to himself. He watched her go with a bit of a lost expression.

But that wasn\'t enough for Apollo to give up. He continued to search among the people walking across the streets. He was looking.

Looking for someone that would listen.

Someone that would consider his opinion.

But...

"Do you know how much your mother does for you? Where would you be without her?"

"What? You just want to be a child with no talent that depends on their parents forever?"

"Your mother is trying so hard for you. Can\'t you see that?"

"Don\'t be such an unfilial kid! What is wrong with you?"

"Your mother just wants the best for you."

"Your mother just wants the best for you."

"Your mother just wants the best for you."

Apollo began walking through the streets. The sun was setting and nighttime was close.

There were several people walking past him, but he didn\'t seem to notice. Apollo\'s eyes had already glazed over. He was mumbling to himself, like repeating a mantra.

"My mother has done so much for me."

"Without her, I would be nothing."

"She just wants the best for me."

Apollo eventually reached the front door to his house.

"I must listen to my mother."

He pushed open the door.

"Because she is right."

Apollo looked up, to see her mother fuming and with a hand raised.

"Because she is always right."

The entire city seemed to be in a panic, with people running about like headless chickens.

"What just happened?"

"The angels were fighting!"

"I remember! One of them was a fallen angel, he was captured by the council but was able to escape!"

Unlike the others, Apollo slowly walked through the city. He did so slowly, which looked quite strange among the panic.

Several guards appeared to be rushing out on the streets, but they weren\'t concerned about checking up on people and if they were safe.

Instead, they were yelling out various remarks.

"The fallen angel is the person responsible for this destruction!"

"Beware, anybody that wears a rabbit mask, they are supporting the fallen angel!"

"The council is working hard with their own angel to defend the city!"

They repeated this like a broken record.