The Time God Slayer

Chapter 7

Hikari is in the middle of nowhere. There is a dirt road in front of her, worn down by numerous people traveling on the road and Mother Nature. From what Hikari can tell from the position of the sun, it's the afternoon, probably 2 or 3pm.

"Mommy, daddy, where are we going?"

Hikari snapped her head in he direction of a child's voice. She can make out about 4 sets of feet traveling on the road.

"How long will it take? I'm tired. Why couldn't we stay home?" Another voice piped up.

A family of four slowly made their way into Hikari's sight. They look tired, the parents especially. The parents are carrying 2 book bags each. Hikari supposed that the parents are carrying their boys' book bag. The two boys between them have blond hair and are currently dragging their feet on the ground which is creating small plumes of dust. One of the boys has neck length hair and bangs that cover his eyes that Hikari is surprised he can even see. The other is wearing sunglasses, has short spiky hair, and is a little taller than his brother. Hikari would think he's a rock artist with the story he's wearing. It reminds Hikari of Juvia's transformation from Vidaldus.

"We're going to a small town. I know you're all tired but we're almost there. Just an hour or two of walking." The mother then claps her hands once and smiles at her family. It hurts to see her sons go through this. She did ask for the passerby that was driving his cart further down the road if they can hitch a ride on his cart for a while. They were heading in the same direction and they could just walk the rest of the way. The passerby took one look at them and refused. It's at times like these that she hated being a world noble. World nobles already established their reputation as cruel, supercilious humans long before she was born. Being married to a world noble or being connected to them in any way guarantees the scorn and hate from non world nobles. They do well in hiding their hatred of them behind smiling masks but when they're out of their range, their masks are dropped. News of the Donquixote family's leaving the world noble world behind clearly spread far across the oceans. People have no need to treat them with respect after all the celestial dragons have done to them. She just apologized and walked away. Doflamingo, her son, glared at him and insisted on giving us a ride. It took awhile to get Doflamingo moving. She chalks her son's anger as being in the receiving end of scorn. She's sure he'll grow up fine and learn that anger and violence won't solve problems.

The mother looks at her husband. "We can take a short break right? Just for 15 minutes?"

The husband smiles wearily and agrees. The children let's out sighs of relief and plopped on the ground. They looked around and noticed Hikari coming towards them.

"Mommy, daddy, there's a lady willing towards us." Rosinante said.

"She has white hair." Doflamingo pointed out. "Is she old?"

"Even this world's kids think I look old with this hair." Hikari thought with a sweat drop. She didn't show any change in her neutral expression though.

"Doflamingo! You shouldn't say that!" His mother scolded. "Apologize to her!"

"It's fine. I get that from kids." Hikari assures the scolding mother. Up close Hikari can see the mother's warm, brown eyes and stress lines on her face. The father has copious amounts of blond hair and an impressive mustache. His eyes look kind.

"But still. I apologize for him." Doflamingo turns his head and crosses his arms.

Rosinante is stuck between assuring his brother and asking more questions. He wants to diffuse the awkward, somewhat tense air. "Hey lady! What's your name? My name is Rosinante..." He stopped himself in time to not say his last name. His mother told him not to use his last name although he doesn't understand why. She said people won't treat them nicely so it's better to not say their last names. He doesn't understand. Is their last name not a part of who they are? Shouldn't they be proud?