Chapter 0 -THE FIRST YEAR-

Just got out of work a couple of hours ago and made a quick sketch of The Cook, just because I feel like this needed a cover, (maybe I'll do this for every chapter, tell me what you think).

Now I present you the appetizer for this writings, enjoy!.

Chapter 0: THE FIRST YEAR

For the first year or… more like for the first 364 days, I spent my time exercising, cooking, eating, reading, learning and then resting, to wake up the next day and repeat this process again. This routine was all I had, all I wanted and for that year... all I needed. The company I kept was not a physical one but a spiritual one, I was constantly able to feel Terra's prescence, she was dormant, but there. 

I also had the recordings that my creators left for me, for 364 days it was enough. The 365th day was a marked one, I knew I was finally allowed to open the big black case that was there the whole time, it had a note, ‘Do not open until 365th day’, and it never bothered me, I actually didn’t feel curiosity and didn’t even care that much about what was inside because the date seemed so far away, but as the date grew closer, I started to wonder, and the closer the date was, the more I wanted to know.

But it wasn’t just because the day was arriving, no… it was because with each recording I listened to, I started to notice things… the one thing that caught most of my attention, was the strong bond that my creators shared, their relationship was fascinating to me, because when I woke up Terra came to me, held me close to her, made me drink from her breast and  provided me with years of knowledge that allowed me later to quickly identify my creators relationship as “union”, “marriage”. They were a couple and it was clear they "loved" each other, but one thing is knowing and another thing is understanding it. I knew they had the bond of "love" yet I didn’t understand the real meaning of "love", the knowledge Terra provided me with, made me know by definition, but as I said, knowing is not understanding. I think by that time, of all the things I knew, I didn’t understand even half of them, they were just there, like a huge pile of data on a computer that can't process it correctly... and I realized the hardest things for me to understand, always had to do with human feelings.

By the 364th day it was clear that I somewhat knew what I was feeling, I managed to more or less understand my own curiosity and where it came from. I didn’t know what was there and I wanted to, why?, because I was going to be able to know in just a few hours, so a new feeling came up, excitement, I was excited to know what was in there, because it was the last gift my creators left for me. 

Then, another feeling came up, in the last twenty one hours I grew restless, I was anxious, not a good feeling, but a feeling nonetheless and this mix of good, bad and intense feelings made me do something completely out of my routine, which is… nothing, nothing at all, I didn’t want to exercise, I didn’t want to cook, I wasn’t hungry, I didn’t want to read and the only thing I really wanted to learn was about what was inside the case, what was their last gift?

On that last day before the 365th, I spent my time with these thoughts, I stood still, just looking at the big black case and when thirteen hours were left of waiting, I sat down in front of it, by then I was just there with my arms crossed looking at it and thinking, I started to connect the dots. 

The recordings my creators left for me had one objective and that was, to teach me how I was supposed to do my job, my duty, well, at least most of the recordings, some others were about them, telling me about how they lived, what they did when the world ended, how they survived, how they found Terra and about how they spent their lives together. I started to realize that these recordings that weren’t about my mission, were meant to show me something else.

They knew I would be alone, they knew I was going to be the last and no one else would be around to talk, to share or to be with, but, they dedicated their last efforts to teach me “love”, the kind of love you have for your “mate”, your “couple”, were they trying to tell me to find one?, or were they trying to show me those things because they left a mate for me?, And if so, where?. The black case was big indeed, but not enough to fit a human being in it, maybe a weapon?.

As I was lost in my thoughts, the hours had passed and then the final hour came… on that last hour I didn’t even know what to think anymore, I was confused, confused about human nature and “feelings”... but only one thought remained unaltered, my mission, so, even when everything was spinning around in my head, I decided to close my eyes and keep my grip firm on that only thing that I had clear, that helped me to soothe my thoughts, calm my mind and from there, I started to organize them, then on the last minute the confusion was slowly but surely going away, having feelings was hard but... human, and if I was thinking and feeling that way, I was sure that even If I was created in an unnatural way, I was as human as those before me. 

Finally the time came and I opened the case, what I found was not different from what I had imagined, I found a weapon, an hexagonal sharpening stone and a small notebook of just a few pages, only three objects, but at the same time they weren’t just simple objects, they were much more. 

So, I found a weapon of course, it was kind of obvious, it was a weapon imbued with the essence of Terra’s Core, supposed to be almost indestructible and with a curious property, it could change sizes, big was its original size, but it could go as small as a normal kitchen knife, which by all means was very practical, I liked that. 

Watching the recordings during all that time, I was sure my creators were quite intelligent and resourceful, but observing this gift, I could conclude they were also very practical.  

I read carefully the instructions they left for me explaining how to activate the weapon so I would be able to command it to change sizes, how to take care of it, how to sharpen it and how to create another one… why would I want to create another one?. 

Almost indestructible means its durable but still can be broken, maybe this was in case that happened? Then… my mind started to drift away again, maybe it was in case I had to create one for someone else? was I correct?, am I not going on this mission alone?, I stopped myself from thinking anymore and kept reading, and as I kept turning the few pages in the notebook and read as fast as my eyes could go, I reached the last part and read the last sentence: “Use the sharpening stone as a key where you took your first breath”, lost in thought for a few seconds after that, I whispered to myself mindlessly.

"A companion for me?".

I didn't think twice, I ran with the sharpening stone in hand to the old crystal chamber and I used the stone as a key in an hexagonal indentation, I had seen it before, but had never given it any importance, just then in front of me the floor opened up and I heard a loud mechanical noise as lights started turning on in succession, showing me a path of stairs. 

These stairs led me down to another crystal chamber very similar to the one I had awakened in, and when I got close to it, I found a young woman with long black hair and pale skin, her eyes were closed. I looked around for a way to open it and found a metal plate on one of the sides, it only said one thing, her name, I read it and I uttered her name for the first time.

"Noira…"

Then I remembered what the instructions said: “If you’re willing to sacrifice part of your own power for company, then you can bring her to life”, all I had to do was share my power, giving her a fragment of the heart of Terra inside of me, but… I needed to be as powerful as I could to complete my mission, the individuals from the other worlds I need to collect help from, are supposed to be among the most powerful beings of their own worlds.

Dividing my power would only make my mission harder to accomplish… but…

Then I remembered everything I learned since I woke up… in that moment I finished connecting the dots… the images of all those recordings just came to my head one after another, the same recordings that I thought had nothing to do with my mission, the recordings of my creators smiling and laughing, talking and telling me their own story, their faces enjoying each other's company and the word they said so often… “together”, all those recordings were meant to teach me one thing… the one thing that was worth everything.

Dividing my power would only make my mission harder to accomplish… but… my creators mission was also a titanic one... and they were successful, not because they were powerful, no… but because they were together.

The old humanity failed because they were divided, powerful indeed, but divided, my creators Vincent and Velia were together and succeeded, this is their legacy, and I will carry it with me… with us.

They left me a choice to make and I chose, I chose to be like them, so I reached for the metal plate with Noira's name and I ripped it from the capsule, there I found the safe and I ripped it too along with the crystal cover, then I used my left hand to gently grab her from behind her waist, I slid my right hand behind her head and I brought her face close to mine, and when I pressed my lips against hers I remembered the feeling Terra had shared with me when I woke up, I felt my chest pulsing, inside it, my heart raced and I felt how the energy flowed from me to her, then everything went white, everything was so bright that it was almost impossible to see, I could barely see her face and her body, then my vision started fading to black, I was losing consciousness, but just before it happened, I caught one last glimpse before I passed out, I saw her opening her eyes of a brilliant beautiful purple color and when she looked at me in between all that brightness, I saw her jet black hair turning the same color of her eyes on the ends. Then I fell.

I woke up to the nice feeling of something soft caressing my cheeks, my forehead and my hair, and as I regained my full senses I could feel my head was positioned over a soft but firm surface, I opened my eyes blinking a few times to shake off the feeling of heaviness in them and when I finally could see clear, I found myself face to face with Noira, the woman that was to be my companion with her mesmerizing purple eyes staring gently at me. 

She seemed to be caught off guard when she noticed I was staring at her and her cheeks went red in an instant. She was blushing… I knew this happened when someone was embarrassed, angry or also when a person became infatuated with another… am I provoking this kind of feeling in her?.

Then suddenly she recomposed herself, smiled down at me and said. 

"I’m glad you are awake, mother Terra came to me and fed me with her milk and suddenly, I knew many things, she said you and me were her last hope, and that you gave a lot of yourself to bring me to life".

She did seem full of life, life that I had just infused in her, it felt... good seeing her moving and talking because of my choice... it made me happy.

As she resumed her ministrations I lifted my left hand and softly caught her wrist, touching her  skin, my breath caught on my throat, her skin was so soft and warm, I didn't know what to do, this was all too new for me, but I knew, I wanted to do something to make her feel as good as I was feeling, so I tried imitating my creators behaviour, I led her hand to my lips and kissed her open palm, then, releasing the air I had been holding I felt relieve in more than one way, I was finally starting to understand the meaning of that special word...love.  

I looked at her eyes returning the gentle gaze she was directing at me and finally told her. 

"Welcome, Noira."