Dimension Weaver: My Wife Is The Dragon Empress!

Chapter 215: Chapter 215- Shattered (Part 1)

Talon's entire body froze in place as he saw the man who walked into the house. He felt his breath halt for a moment.

The man in front of him was rather tall, still slightly shorter than Talon with a lean body that seemed malnourished. He had noticeably long, messy blonde hair and green, baggy eyes that seemed like it didn't see sleep in weeks. He had a long, unkept beard and a shabby appearance.

Wearing a pair of glasses, Talon could see that one of them was chipped at the corner. Even with his completely different appearance, Talon didn't even need a second to recognize who it was.

The man quickly noticed Talon's presence and looked at him, only to have the same reaction. His eyes flickered with countless emotions as he blinked in shock.

"... T-Talon… Is that you?" He uttered in a deep, wavering voice as he started rubbing his eyes. "Are my eyes tricking me?"

"... Dad!!" Hearing that all-too-familiar voice, Talon's face lit up instantly as he stood up and pulled the man into a tight hug. "I knew it!! I knew that you were going to be fine! I'm glad… I'm really glad!!"

The man took a few seconds to realize what happened before it changed. Tears formed in his eyes as he carefully touched Talon's back. He almost seemed like he couldn't believe that he was seeing what he was seeing.

"Son… *Hick*... You're alive…?" He said between his sobs as he hugged Talon tightly.

"I am, dad! I didn't die!"

Hearing those words, all of his emotions finally spilled out as he started crying. Talon smiled softly as he tapped his back.

"I thought… I lost you… It's… a miracle… Thank you, god…"

"Haha, you're underestimating me. I wouldn't die that easily." He laughed. "Your son isn't weak."

Through his tears, Talon's father replied. "I have given up… I really have given up… I was ready to simply die…"

"I'm glad you didn't. I had done everything just so that I could come back here. I trusted that you and Mom would survive and wait for me. I was right."

"..." His father went completely silent as he instinctively grabbed Talon's shirt tighter. The two hugged each other for a while before Talon finally pulled away and smiled. "Where is mom by the way? Did you guys move somewhere else after what happened?"

"..." At that moment, Talon's father averted his eyes as his expression grew darker. The sudden shift in his reaction made Talon even more confused.

"Dad? Why are you silent?" He asked as his tone slowly changed. "Let's go, I wanna see her."

With light steps, Talon tried to move past his father. However, the latter lifted his hand and grabbed his shoulder.

"Hm? Why are you grabbing my shoulder? Let's go, she must be waiting." Talon spoke.

"Son… We are going nowhere…"

"Why? Is she waiting outside? Did she come with you?"

With each word his dad said, Talon kept asking questions. He didn't realize that at some point, his happy smile had turned into a lost one. He was trying so hard to understand what was happening as if the bad feeling that took over his heart at that moment wasn't there the entire time, glaring at him.

"She isn't… waiting for us…" Talon's father clenched his fists tightly till his knuckles witened. The tears in his eyes continued rolling down his face.

"... Dad… W-What the hell are you talking about? You're talking in puzzles." Talon's face slowly broke down as he grabbed his dad's arm.

However, the more he urged him to speak, the more the man's mouth froze, unable to utter those words. His eyes stared into his son's face, only to realize that he was still in denial. He knew that his son wasn't stupid enough not to understand those words. Instead, his mind was denying them all.

That fact alone tore his heart to pieces and made him feel like he was suffocating. In the end, he couldn't keep his son in denial, it simply was too much for him to see him like that.

"She's dead." He spoke as he stared directly into his eyes.

Talon: "..."

Talon didn't react to those words for a good 10 seconds. His mind got stuck on a loop as if it refused to think. But, eventually, those two words reached him and echoed in his head.

"... Huh…?" He whispered in an almost inaudible voice.

"*Sniff*... She's dead." He repeated.

With a completely frozen expression, Talon stared silently at his dad. No words could describe what he felt at that moment. It was completely inexplicable. Nothing he had lived through before felt like it and for some reason, Talon knew for certain that nothing would feel like it in the future too.

Before he could even realize it, Talon's entire world blacked out as he found himself on the ground, on both knees. He could hear echoes of noises in his ears but he couldn't see or hear anything. It was as if in a moment, he was transported to a different, far darker world than the one he was in before.

'Dead…? That can't be right. Did Dad make a mistake saying a different word? Maybe this is a small joke they made to get a reaction out of me. Yeah, that makes sense.' His mind spoke a thousand words for him to convince him of anything other than what he heard.

Yet, for some reason, the more he tried to convince himself, the more he felt that suffocating pain in his chest grows. He didn't shed a tear and didn't react, yet… He felt like nothing is the same anymore.

*BADUM* *BADUM*

His heart beat louder than ever, yet he couldn't feel it. His mouth opened to speak yet no words came out.

"Son!! Talon!!" Meanwhile, when he saw his son fall to the ground with a blank expression, Talon's dad rushed to him and grabbed his shoulders. Shaking him gently, he didn't get a reaction.

"... When?" At that moment, he heard his son's emotionless voice speak. It sounded calm… Awfully calm. However, it was far from assuring. In such a situation, that calm voice was the worst thing his dad could've heard.

Even Acrypha who was watching the entire reaction was completely shell-shocked. Lifting her hand gently, she put it over her mouth.

"... Two weeks…" With no other choice, Talon's dad replied as he sobbed silently.

'Two weeks… Two weeks… The 15th of september… I wasn't even close…'

"It's all my mistake! I couldn't protect her! She died because of me!" Talon's dad yelled as he tried to hold his son's face, only for the latter to suddenly stop him. The entire time, his expression didn't change at all.

Then, he silently stood up and turned around as he walked out of the house silently, ignoring his dad's cries.

The cloudy weather turned even gloomier as droplets of rain started falling to the ground. Walking a little bit away from the house, he stood silently as he looked up at the sky. The entire time, his world looked completely dark. He didn't understand nor think… Hell, he couldn't even feel.

He was a shell... An empty, hollow shell. Not even the water falling on his face reached his senses.

*Drip* *Drip* *Drip*

As he stood there, Acrypha followed him outside. Her expression was the worst it had ever been. She wanted to say something, do something… Anything that might help… Or change things…

But, there was nothing she could do. Then, her eyes were drawn to Talon who had moved again. Lifting his hand slowly, he tightened his grip into a fist before…

*Swish* *BANG*

He punched his face with all his strength. The hit was so powerful that it made him sway. But, he regained his balance as he lifted his other hand and punched himself again. Then, he repeated that again with no hesitation. Blood splattered out of his mouth with each punch. He kept increasing the strength he put in every punch as if he was trying to kill himself.

"Talon!! Stop!!" Seeing that, Acrypha quickly flew toward him and grabbed his arms. The latter tried to yank them off, only for her to tighten her grip. Talon kept resisting but was easily overpowered by her.

"Let me go…" He said as he glared at her strongly. His empty eyes carried nothing within them.

However, Acrypha ignored him as she moved his hands away and hugged him. "Please… Stop…" She said in a begging tone.

Luckily, those words seemed to reach his numb mind and made him halt his resistance. He didn't realize that only Acrypha's voice would've reached him at that moment. Pursing his lips shakingly, he spoke.

"... Why can't I feel anything…? Hey, Acrypha… Tell me… I want to feel something… Why does it not hurt? I have punched myself… Why is it not working?"

"Talon…" Acrypah's grip on his back tightened as she closed her eyes. She couldn't describe what she felt at that moment. Even as she hugged him as hard as she could, it still didn't feel enough.

"I'm sorry. I'm really sorry."

All she could do was to apologize. She knew that it was nothing, but that was all she could say.

"Am I not supposed to cry right now? That's the normal reaction, right? Tell me, Acrypha. You always know better, just tell me something."

But, the girl had no response. She could never find a response to these words. Talon was completely lost and hopeless.

Something inside him had just shattered.

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