MLII C1, P2- "The Fool"

"The Fool" is the second Part of "Miracula Luxia II" 's second Chapter. It was released on 01.10.2020.
== Plot ==
Heartbroken by all the losses he just experienced, Jared hides into his own world and begins to train much harder than before, vowing not to make the same mistakes ever again.
Meanwhile, his father loses his mind over the loss of Lily and confronts Jared about it. Their conversation does not go well at all.
== Story ==
Jared enters the training hall, takes his boots off and enters the training room.
There, he looks at the training sword hung on the wall and sighs.
"There is no other way."- He says to himself- "I must punish myself for all the people I let down. For... letting Lily risk her own life to save mine... and die."
He takes the sword, unsheathes it and begins to hit his own abdomen with it, as if it were a real blade.
"Weakling! Weakling! Weakling!"- He repeats while doing so.
Soon, he starts to feel pain. However, he does not shy away from it. Instead, he welcomes it, considering it a punishment over all the things that happened to the people of Paris just an hour ago.
Eventually, he stops beating himself with the sword and unleashes his fury on the sturdy training dummy next to him.
"I will never back down anymore! Never!"- He yells.
After training for at least three hours without stopping to take a break, he decides to finally take one and sits on the ground.
Meanwhile, his grandfather and Annie enter the room. When Jared stands up, Annie hugs him.
"I'm so sorry about Lily, Jared."- She says to him- "I know how valuable she really was to you. It's a great loss for all of us."
Jared nods.
"Are you recovering, child?"- His grandfather asks him- "We've been really worried about you."
Then he sees the signs of beating on his abdomen and gasps.
Jared shakes his head.
"Do not worry grandpa. You do not need to punish me for my mistakes."- He says stoically- "I already did it myself."
Lethal shakes his head.
"I see."- He says- "Well, I hope that you learned your lesson."
Jared raises his eyebrow.
"A lesson?"
Lethal nods.
"Yes. The lesson that you shouldn't blame yourself for every death that you experience."
"Lily sacrificed her own life to save yours. However, she was beyond saving. And you should know that."
Something in Lethal's words makes Jared cry again for a few seconds.
However, he stops. He knows that the world needs him to be strong, no matter what happens.
He touches the blade of his sword and sighs.
"Lily was a good person and I am glad that I knew her when she was alive."- He says- "That is all."
Lethal and Annie help Jared train for a few hours. While they are taking a break, the door opens and Aleks- Jared's father angrily steps through.
Jared stand up and greets his father.
"Dad! I'm so glad to-- "
Aleks smirks and grabs Jared by the neck.
"You foolish child!"- He yells at him- "You got Lily killed back there! Do you know how furious her mother is going to be?!"
Jared shakes his head sadly.
"I am so sorry, dad! It was a mistake!"- He says- "It all h-happened so s-suddenly."
Aleks shakes his head.
"Liar!"- He yells- "You could have told her to hide! You could have escaped together! You had every opportunity to do so! But no! You just tried to be a hero and fight those enemies yourself, like the biggest fool ever to have existed on this planet! Well done, Jared! Well done!"
Annie steps in his way.
"That's not right, Mr. Kaos!"- She says- "Lily may have died, but Jared helped save the lives of numerous people! His magic helped us take down every Vahnatai in the school! All of them are dead!"
"The people are safe, don't you understand it?!"
Aleks shakes his head again.
"That's just foolish!"- He says- "And you helped him back there? You're just as much of a bunch of troublemakers as he is! You're nothing better!"
Annie looks down and steps back.
"Son, understand that Jared did not want this to happen. He tried to save her, even when she was dead. Isn't this enough evidence for how much he cares about her? Are you that much of a fool to not realize that you've gone too far off the line? Or should I repeat myself so you can hear the truth better than you already have?"
Aleks stares at his father angrily, his eyes filled with loathing.
"Who are you to tell me how to talk to my own son?!"- He yells- "Step back, old man! Or I will... or I will make you!"
Lethal sees that there is no reason to talk to a madman like his son. He steps back and hopes that he will calm down.
Sadly, this does not happen. Instead, Aleks grabs his son by the neck again and yells at him:
"You're lucky that I'm not beating you up right now. I have more important things to do!"
Jared raises his eyebrow.
"Like what? Trying to revive a person who is already dead?"- He says quietly.
Aleks gasps. His grip tightens.
"What did you say just now?!"- He yells.
Jared shakes his head.
"Face it, dad. There is no way for us to revive a person, no matter how much we wish to make it true. Yes, I also want to revive mom, uncle and Lily, but they are dead! Once a person dies and leaves this world, all that is truly left of them are the memories of the times that we used to spend with them."
"There is no way to cheat death, dad. And I hope that you can believe it and finally move on."- He continues- "I just... I just want you to be the loving, caring father that you used to be, the man whom I have always relied on, the one who has given me so much love and support, ever in the darkest, most desperate times."
"Please, dad. This is no time to act like a hero for such things. The only way we must act as heroes... is by defeating the enemies that are threatening the balance of our world! We must fight back, dad!"
Aleks loses his composure.
"Rrrgh! That's it!"- He says and pushes his son towards a nearby wall- "This was your last mistake!"
He starts to punch his son without hesitation. Lethal and Annie try to stop him, but to no avail. The man has gone completely mad.
As they wonder how to get the mad father off his son, someone else steps into the room.
At first, Lethal and Annie think that he is another person who has come to beat Jared up. However, they soon realize that it is actually John.
Without thinking twice, John kicks Aleks in the left leg, forcing him to fall over.
As the man tries to fight back, John starts to punch and kick him.
"I warned you to stay away from him. I warned you to leave him alone. But you didn't listen!"- He yells- "Mr. Kaos, with all due respect, this is the last mistake that you will ever make!"
John continues to punch him, almost to death. Begged by Lethal and Annie to stop, he finally does and smirks.
"Trust me, this is not the worst that I can do to you."- He says- "But if you continue abusing your own son like that, I promise that I will do worse."
He points his sword at his chest.
"And believe me, this is more than a fair enough warning for someone like you."
John helps Jared stand up. Once he makes sure that he is not critically injured, he pats him on the left shoulder.
"I'm so sorry, Jared."- He says to him- "I'm so sorry that you have such a bad father. I'm so sorry for ever letting you live close to him. I... may not be a good guardian angel, after all."
Lethal smiles and pats John on the back.
"No, John. You are the perfect guardian angel."- He says- "Thanks to your constant care and support, Jared has become much more confident and reliable. He has become even more of a hero that he has already been. And it is all thanks to you, my boy."
John smiles and shakes his head.
"I appreciate your honesty, sir."- He responds- "But you can't just say that before I've brought Jared out of this mess."
He turns back to Jared.
"Your father is not in his right mind, my friend."- He says sadly- "We must get away from him before he tries to harm you again. Give him some space to recover from the madness that has taken over his body."
Jared nods.
"If you say so."- He responds- "But where should we go?"
John smiles and looks at the furious father, who is trying to get up and fight them.
"Oh, I would gladly say it. But we don't want Mr. Kaos to make a surprise visit the night after we leave, do we?"
Lethal and Annie nod.
"Lead the way, brave child."- Lethal says.
The four of them leave the training hall, leaving Aleks to writhe on the ground helplessly.
Hours later, the excruciating pain in his entire body finally stops. He stands up and looks around angrily.
"I will find you, Jared!"- He yells- "I will find you and make you suffer! And... and... "
He shakes his head.
"No! What am I talking about? What has gotten into me?!"- He says to himself- "I just... just tried to kill my own son! My son! My beloved, sweet child!"
He looks at nearby mirror. Then he looks down at his hand. They are still clenched into fists.
Tears start to fall from his eyes upon the realization that he has truly gone too far. And he doesn't even bother to wipe them off.
"Jared is right."- He says to himself- "Trying to revive his mother is impossible. And it has been impossible from the very start."
"In trying to do so for many months, I have become a hollow shell of my previous self. I am no longer the caring father that I used to be before. I'm just... just a big bully."
He looks at the door that leads out of this place sadly.
"I don't blame him. I know that he did what he could. And I am proud of him because of that. He's such a caring and brave hero and if it wasn't for him, well... no one in that school would have survived the attack."- He says to himself- "But Lily's death hit me very hard. And for a good reason. She was like a daughter to me. Such a sweetheart, such a gentle and loving girl.. And she was abused by her mother as a child, ever more so when she is an older girl. But now she... she's gone. She... is not among us anymore. That poor girl."
He sighs.
"I don't know what I will say to Lydia about her daughter. But I must lie to her! I won't tell her the truth, for the sake of my son's safety. She's too unstable to be told such a thing directly in her ear."
He approaches the door.
"Meanwhile, I should try to find Jared and apologize to him. My heart refuses to let me move on without apologizing for all the pain that I caused him, both physically and emotionally."
"And I will look for him everywhere around this city until I succeed. I want to be the father that he has always wanted me to be. I want to be by his side, give him support, love him like a true parent, tell him that I forgive him, that I'm still there for him."
"I just want to be a true father, at least for one more time. And I will even put my own life at stake to achieve it, if I have to."
He looks at the ceiling.
"Seiko, if you are really watching us from up there, don't be furious. I promise that I will fix this mistake of mine. Fear not, my love. I will do everything I can to make this boy happy again."
Without another word, he leaves the room and closes the door, determined to find his son and correct the huge mistake that he just made.