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Chapter 9: Lion Sin of Pride.

Author: Arya

Meanwhile in the Osprey, James was seated in the cockpit and Lucifer was beside him. It seemed that they were having a conversation enroute to the base.

“Mr. James you said you have been the butler of Jackson group’s founder since his childhood, but what about your past. I am very interested in what you did before that. Although I would also like to know about the captain and his history, I know you won’t reveal anything so it’s just hopeless. So, would you mind sharing yours?” Lucifer seated in the copilot seat beside James asked.

“Mr. Lucifer you are right, I cannot reveal anything related to Young Master’s past, but since we are to be a team and you are interested in knowing my past, I don’t mind sharing.” James replied.

***************

“My life, well I was left in front of an orphanage when I was a kid. The orphanage lady was very kind and sweet, she took care of me and 4 other kids as well. We bonded together and treated her like our mother. Everything was fine until one day-

***************

-BANG-

In some remote area was a church. Suddenly the door of the church was slammed open and a muscular guy wearing black suit barged inside. Inside the church were a group of four children along with a nun.

The children who were playing and laughing a minute ago were shocked and stood agape. The intruder took notice of the situation and immediately grabbed the nun, took out a mitsubishi knife and stabbed her.

The nun coughed blood and fell dead on the intruder’s arms. The children’s faces all turned green, two of them passed out and the rest wet their pants. One could see a look of horror on their cute little faces.

The intruder threw the now dead body of the nun on the floor and moved towards the children. He hit the remaining conscious children on the back and had them pass out. The intruder moved all the children in a van and left.

The church turned silent and dark.

***************

“Mr. James ….Mr. James. Are you alright ?” Lucifer shouted.

“Ah…Sorry Mr. Lucifer I just zoned out for a bit.” James shook his head and sighed. He was clearly reminiscing about his past. One could also feel the sadness in his voice.
“So, where was I ?” James questioned himself.

“You were talking about your childhood days.” Lucifer clarified.

“Ahh Yes….!”

“The intruder murdered our mother in front of us and kidnapped us. We were sold to some organization as lab rats to be experimented on. They tormented us daily by making us do various things which one cannot even imagine.” James’ face alternated between fear, anger and then despair.

“They injected us with many serums. There were many kids like us indulged in the same experiments. There were times when some of these children never returned. We could hear the screams of everyone from the location of the experiment echoing in that dark room. Even though they made us do stuff, we were still fed and had a nice bed to sleep. Although we never complained, the majority of the reason was because of fear. The fear which was etched in my and all my other fellow friend’s souls. Then one day they took us to this dark room and again started injecting something. We never knew what they were injecting us with while we were there. I watched my three friends die one by one right beside me by their veins exploding one by one in that experiment room.

“One could see the look of horror on the faces of my friends even after they died. I can still remember their faces and to be honest that is what has kept me alive. Yet, the researchers there had no shred of pity. For them we were just like some lab rat. Our sole purpose of existence was justified to be experimented on. Those ugly white coated bastards just noted the tag which was also our names and moved on to the next kid. I still remember that day and it still makes my heart shudder. The same procedure continued for weeks. I watched as my friends died one by one, until suddenly I was the only one left alive.

“Till now I could also sense some sadness in the researchers. But until one day I overheard them speaking. It turned out to be the reason for their sadness was the lack of lab rats.”

-SIGH-

After saying till here James took a deep breath and sighed. A hint of rage could be felt from him.

Lucifer listened to everything in a calm and collected manner. As if what happened to James was supposed to happen. But James didn’t mind him as he continued on.

“Seeing that only one subject was alive I was taken back and the same torment continued on for days. Till now I was numb to everything that was happening with me. I lost all my hope and just waited calmly for my death as I could feel it approaching closer and closer to me. After a week I guess, I was again forcefully being taken to that dark room, but this time I protested with all my might. Not because I wanted to fight but just because I was tired and exhausted. I thought if I protested a bit, they would kill me and set me free.”

“Well, it’s like how we say it. Man proposes and God disposes. I don’t know if it was my luck or my fate, due to my protest the experiment was postponed for a few hours. In these few hours suddenly everything went dark and silent. Then all of a sudden the men who were supposed to be dragging me were shot one by one and I heard a deep voice echo in my ears. It was the voice of salvation. The voice of my freedom. That was the day when I cried, not because of the fear but because of the death of my friends, because I couldn’t save them. I mean, come on who in their right mind as a kid thinks of fighting those guys with guns and saving someone, I guess even I would have shit myself, but their death made me strong. And their wills live in my heart and strengthen me. It helped me learn a very deep lesson. I made a resolve to myself, to my heart and to my dead brothers and sisters, to be strong and help people like me.” After speaking James took a deep breath and had a disdainful look in his eyes. Disdain for no other, but for himself.

“But who was I kidding, even though I had the resolve I couldn’t do anything. After that incident I was adopted by the person leading the operation. It was then I realized the lab was built by the United Federation and they were conducting experiments on some genetic serum. There were many such labs scattered throughout the globe. That person was my savior and grandfather of Master Percy. He taught me everything and prepared me for the world. Since you have worked for them, no one would know better than you what those bloody bastards are. But because of naivety I lost something more precious than anything in the world. Even though I had the resolve I did not have that strength to fight the world. As one single man cannot fight the world. The world as it is was never meant to be nice. As each and every person, has their own ambition and desire. Human greed has always been the source of all demons in the world. Greed has always been the most dangerous sin of all. But looking at Young master Percy, I take Pride in him. Even though he couldn’t change the world as I wanted. He did erase that dark side of it to some extent. Young Master is my Pride and my Strength.”

James had a prideful look in his face whenever he thought about Percy, but Lucifer sitting on the copilot seat twitched his face. He thought he would know some secrets of this mysterious family of Jackson by James story, but alas the old man was smarter than he looked.

Maybe it was because of the experiences

Lucifer thought.

“Mr. James since the Jackson’s are aware of the darkness behind the United Federation, why do you guys still work with them ?” Lucifer asked a question
James went silent for a moment and spoke.

“Mr. Lucifer, etch the following words into your mind. I know you are a shrewd and calculating person, but do remember it.” James replied with a serious tone.
The aura radiating from James made Lucifer shiver.

-Gulp-

“Please enlighten me, Mr. James.” Lucifer said with some nervousness in his voice.

“Light and Dark- two worlds apart, still each other’s part.”

As Lucifer heard the sentence, he was shocked as the sentence itself seemed simple but spoke volumes.

“Thank you Mr. James. I will remember this teaching till my death.” Lucifer replied in a serious tone.