After half an hour passed, I was finally able to recover and get up. I picked all the bigger shards then took a brush and started cleaning the bathroom from all the smaller shards that went flying around. While I was cleaning the bathroom, my insides were completely empty. Let alone my heart and mind, even my stomach was completely empty, growling like crazy.
Hmm… Eat. I’ll eat something.
I went to open the door, but after I looked at my bloodied hand I decided to first wash my hands as to not dirty the handle.
I sat down in the kitchen on my own and ate a piece of bread with some cheese and tomatoes, a light dinner for tonight.
After that, I walked outside and went to the furnace, my uncle hammering a piece of armguard. After glancing once at me, he simply snorted amused,
“You look worse than when you were before. Did you break up?”
“… Her father is Darius Kurosaki.”
“…”
His hammer stopped then he glanced at me for a bit. Thinking for a while, he simply sighed and continued hammering like before,
“And what will you do?”
“…”
“Will you kill him and his family? Your girlfriend included?”
“…”
“Or will you just let it go and start to think for a future? Maybe even have a family?”
“…”
“Either way, will you stop being a blacksmith?”
“No.”
“You sure can answer fast when it comes to your hobbies, you nasty bastard.”
My uncle then placed the hammer down and inserted the armor piece in the furnace.
“Listen here, brat.”
He then took the iron plate out while it was burning red and showed it to me,
“See this metal? Right now is burning from rage and fury. It’s so mad, it would burn anything it touches.”
“…”
After saying this, uncle continued on hammering the metal until it turned back to normal, cooling down enough to actually be touched by the hand.
“See now? Now it calmed down. It no longer hurts me no matter how much I touch it yet at the same time it became sturdier, but not enough as it will turn red again soon enough.”
“What are you trying to tell me with that?”
“What I’m trying to say, is…”
He then placed the plate back inside the furnace, taking it out bright red shortly after.
“If the work is not done, neither are our burdens and feelings. You might have cooled down now after thrashing around and crying your heart out, but you’re not yet hardened. This means, your stuff it’s yet to be finished. And the only way to deal with it is to reach a conclusion… by yourself, brat.”
“…”
I looked surprised at him then he waved at me indifferently, continuing his work satisfied.
“And I know the exact way of how to do that. Make me a knife. I want that knife to contain all your feelings and help you reach a conclusion.”
“… What kind of knife?”
“The one you feel like would help you reach the best conclusion of who you are and what your role is. The future you choose depends on you. And you better chose early, life waits for nobody.”
“…”
I said nothing and simply took a bar of metal from inside a bucket near my anvil.
-CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!-
My arms were weak and each hit was barely taking the impurities off the red bar, sparks barely forming while the shock was felt each time in my elbow. Ten minutes, half an hour, then 40 minutes passed and my grip was firmer, my strikes harder and my mind calmer. I was slowly entering into a trance yet deep within my heart, hidden feelings now wildly resurfacing like a volcano.
The bastard that was initially so far away and seemingly unreachable is now a few bus stations away. I can go and- and!
-CLANG!… CLING, CLUNG!-
The rhythm started to change as the sound was no longer linear. My eyes were wide open as I was deep in thoughts, my arms working on their own while I was trapped inside my mind.
And what… will I kill him?
-CLANG!-
A strong drop of the hammer shook a large piece of impurities off the bar, letting for the burning yellow glow from behind it to be visible.
Will I kill the bastard? Or tell my father? Either way, he’s dead if I do so. And I’ll only ruin another family.
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!-
My arm became steady once again and impurities fell off the bar as large sparks flew around. I placed the bar back inside the furnace and when I took it out, my arm fell weakly on top of the bar once again.
-CLING!-
A-and what! He destroyed my family already! He deserves to die by the sword he tried to bury!
-CLING… CLANG! CLONG, CLENG!-
The rhythm, the sound, the hits, my breathing, everything was chaotic and uneven, the metal taking a disturbing form as if it was buried under boulders, dark from the impurities that revealed themselves.
-CLANG!-
Another strong hammer and another large piece fell, the burning glow from behind it showing once again.
I feel like I went through all this crap for nothing… Why do I still think like this? Revenge… I do hate that bastard… I despise him!… But I can’t do to Alice what he did to me… She doesn’t deserve this…
-CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!-
Indeed… At least… let’s not let Alice go through this… Not to the only person that showed me a smile after going through all this s***!
Hammer after hammer, the bar thinned down and I then bent the bar, hammering the bent bar, uniting the two parts by hammering them together.
For this girl, my fire shall not destroy… For her, my fire will only create, build, and mold the future she desires… Everything was taken from me, yet she’s the only one that offered something to me. For this, I’m indebted to her!
-CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!-
After thinning the bar again, I bent it again, uniting the third part with the one already thinned down.
I don’t care anymore what will become of me. I don’t care about Darius or about my father’s vendetta. I only care for Alice to live a happy and fulfilling life. Will it be by my side, will it be by another man’s side, I don’t care anymore. I’m a blacksmith, and the blacksmith shall only shape what it’s within his reach, not outside of it. And as a blacksmith, I have the duty to only create and repair, not to destroy. The fire is my spirit, and the metal is my soul. My mind is my hammer, and I shall shape myself into the right tool for those who need it.
-CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!-
The hammer fell strongly and burning flames were flashing out of the forming blade, together with many sparks and pieces of impurities that were flying off of it.
Revenge is the fool’s tool, and as a blacksmith, I would only shame myself by using such a nasty thing.
My eyes turned sharp, the initial dead eyes were now burning with yellow fire, while my trembling hands are now strongly gripping onto the hammer and the clips, veins popping out on both of them.
“Uncle…”
“Hm?”
Hearing me call for him, my uncle turned my way and observed how flames were continuously evading through the blade I was forging, the metal glowing with an intense red, while its shape appeared subtle yet sharp, like the knife of a noble, curved toward the tip and base, but not changing the width, just like a flaming tongue.
“Quite the complicated blade you made there.”
“I made sure to make it to the best of my abilities.”
I smirked confidently and after every hammer, the blade’s form would accentuate better.
“However, it might take a while.”
I smiled amused then continued on hammering, the feeling of fun and excitement from hammering something returning to me, now being in full control of my hands, turning into a master of my own body and mind.
I won’t care about revenge, but I won’t forget Darius for what he did. I won’t say to father anything, even if that means he’ll remain in prison forever. He has to pay for his crimes while Darius has to pay by living with the fear forever. On the other hand, Alice it’s innocent. She has no sin to pay for, neither does she deserves to lose everything. This type of pain, she shall not experience it. This truth, she shall not find it. Past remains in past and makes way for a new future.
With this, my hammer struck the metal for the last time. I placed the blade in the oil to harden it and cool it down, then stare at the silvery shine it had under the fire’s light.
To my surprise, here and there the blade had vines of different colors, looking like tongues of flames going towards the tip and the handle, giving it a more beautiful aspect. They were formed most probably because of the layers of the bar and because of how the few times my arm was hammering it chaotically.
To think that from a mistake, I would be able to create such a beauty…
I looked at it intently then decided to give it a name.
“Burning Heart… This shall be the name.”
“… Pretty lame, huh.”
“Can I test it on you?”
“No, f*** off.”
Seeing my annoyed smile, uncle felt a shudder down his spine and went to shower, only to scream out shortly after,
“My mirror! You f****** brat!”
“I’ll pay for that! Chill out you rabid dog!”
“Now is the mirror, tomorrow might me my whole f****** house!”
“It’s already a s***-hole anyway! It wouldn’t make a difference!”
“Woah-?! Kid, I’ll kick you out!”
“And I’ll take my dad’s money back!”
“Yo, chill. No need to be so angry now?”
Hearing about the money, uncle instantly backed off with a face as if saying calm down jeez~ so sensible, this only annoying me further.
