Freedom?

Two years had passed.

Rio was now eleven years old.

He stood behind the house, in front of a grave.

No tears fell as they usually did.

He had learned to stop crying.

It was a rule he had made for himself.

Since that day, whenever he felt tears trying to escape, he would wipe them away and hold them back.

He did not want to cry.

He believed that crying made a person weak.

But this time...

He broke his rule.

Tears poured down his face.

He tried to stop them.

He tried to wipe them away.

But they would not stop.

Until he collapsed onto the ground in front of his grandmother's grave.

His only grandmother.

The only person he could find whenever he needed someone.

He could find her at any time.

She protected him.

She taught him.

She helped him with everything his mother could not do because of her severe exhaustion.

His mother, who had become unable to even move because of her husband's violence.

But his grandmother could not stay forever.

And when she disappeared...

The only restraint that had stood between that monster and them disappeared with her.

His father became more aggressive.

Crueler.

As if there was nothing left to stop him.

Rio found himself standing before the monster he had always avoided.

But this time...

He looked at him.

And for the first time, Rio found himself thinking of only one thing.

He had to stop him.

Rio stood up after hearing the sound of his father entering the house drunk once again.

He had not even mourned his grandmother's death.

He had not even attended her funeral.

It was a funeral that Rio attended alone.

There was no one there.

Only Rio.

Her grave.

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And the sky above them.

Rio approached the house.

Then he entered.

He saw his father shouting at his mother.

"Take off your clothes, woman!"

"I can't anymore, my husband... please."

He grabbed her violently, then raised his hand to hit her.

But suddenly...

Rio grabbed his hand.

"Huh?"

His father turned and looked at him.

"What do you want?"

Rio looked at him.

That old look was no longer in his eyes.

He was no longer the child who hid behind his grandmother.

Rio said:

"Stop."

His father laughed loudly.

"Stop?"

Then he kicked him hard, sending Rio to the ground.

It hurt.

But he stood up.

His father picked up a wooden stick.

"I think I need to put you back on the right path, my dear son?"

Then he looked at him and said:

"Are you on her side? I am your father. I am the one who gave you life. I am the one you should stand beside, not her."

He raised the stick.

And before he could strike him, his mother screamed:

"Stop!"

He turned toward her.

"What now too? What do you want, you whore?"

His mother was trembling.

But she stood in front of Rio.

"Don't touch him... If you touch him, you won't touch me either."

He smiled.

"So you're joining forces against me now, huh?"

Then he looked at her.

"I think I'll start by beating you before him."

He raised his hand.

But suddenly...

Rio moved.

He pulled his father's dagger from his clothes.

And in a single moment, he attacked him.

He cut his throat, and the ground filled with blood.

His father fell to the ground.

Rio stood over him.

His father looked at him in shock.

"Y-You disobedient bastard... I am your father."

Rio did not answer.

Rio sat on top of his body and began stabbing his father violently.

He continued.

Once.

Then again.

He could no longer hear anything.

Not the sounds of the house.

Not the sound of the wind.

Not his mother's voice.

Only his own inner voice.

It's over.

The monster is gone.

His mother screamed:

"R-Rio!"

But he did not hear her.

She was staring into his eyes.

Then she saw something that made her freeze.

It was not the gaze of a sad child.

It was not the gaze of a frightened child.

There was something else.

Something she had never seen in her son's eyes before.

Rio...

was enjoying it.

She screamed loudly:

"RIO!"

Rio woke up.

He stopped.

He looked at his hands.

Then he looked at her.

For a few moments, he remained as if he did not know where he was.

Then he threw the dagger away.

He approached his mother and knelt in front of her, placing his hands on the bed.

"M-Mom..."

He swallowed his words.

"You are free now."

He looked at her with a small smile.

"He won't hit you anymore."

Rio waited.

He waited for her to smile.

He waited for her to tell him that he had done the right thing.

He thought she was free.

He thought everything was over.

But what he saw shattered something inside him forever.

He saw tears.

His mother was crying.

But she was not crying for him.

His mother got off the bed.

Then she approached her husband.

And hugged him.

She hugged the monster.

And continued crying.

Rio looked at her in shock.

He did not understand.

He could not understand.

He had killed him.

He had done what he was supposed to do.

He had stopped him.

So why?

Why was she crying for him?

His mother looked at Rio.

And in that moment, he understood.

His father had not been the monster in her eyes.

He had become the monster.

Rio stood before her.

Then he laughed.

He laughed loudly.

He laughed like a madman.

A laugh he had never laughed before.

And suddenly, tears poured from his eyes.

Countless tears.

But he kept laughing.

Then he stood up.

And ran away from the house.

He heard his mother screaming behind him.

But he did not turn around.

He kept running.

And running.

And running through the forest.

He ran until his legs could no longer run.

But he continued despite the pain.

He ran and laughed like a madman.

Despite everything that had happened.

But he felt free.

He felt that he had been liberated.

And at the same time...

He felt empty.

Rio did not notice anything in front of him.

He stumbled.

He fell to the ground.

And hit his head against a rock.

Then he lost consciousness.

When he woke up...

He saw a face in front of him.

It was a large creature shaped like a lion.

But it had wings.

And it was not a lion.

It was...

a Yami.

But Rio did not know what this creature was.

He opened his eyes fully.

Then he quickly got up and ran from it.

But the creature was faster.

It struck Rio with its claws, sending him crashing to the ground.

Rio looked at it.

Then he remembered his death.

He remembered his mother.

He remembered his father.

He remembered his grandmother.

Then he smiled in the face of death.

He had nothing left to lose.

"Kill me, creature..."

He paused for a moment.

Then said:

"There is no reason to live anymore."

He lowered his head.

And waited.

He waited for the Yami to tear into his body.

But suddenly...

He heard a voice.

"Don't you want to keep a promise you made to me, Rio?"

Rio opened his eyes.

That voice was familiar.

Very familiar.

He raised his head.

Then he saw her.

It was his mother.

She leaped into the monster's mouth before it could bite Rio.

He saw the monster bite her fragile body, covered in bruises.

Rio froze.

He did not understand what was happening.

Then he realized.

His mother had continued running and searching for him.

Despite her pain.

Despite everything that had happened.

She continued running through the forest, searching for him.

She called his name.

She searched for him.

She did not know where he had gone.

She did not know what had happened to him.

But she continued.

Until she found him.

His mother screamed:

"Rio... run, quickly, please!"

Rio continued staring at her.

She was smiling despite the pain.

"Please run, Rio..."

"Please live a better life, Rio."

Then she screamed:

"Please get up and run!"

Rio stood up.

And ran.

He left her behind.

And continued running.

He ran.

And ran.

And ran through the forest.

His tears mixed with that laughter on his face.

He did not know why he was laughing.

He did not know why he was crying.

He did not know whether he was running from the Yami...

Or from himself.

But he continued.

Laughing.

Running.

Running.

Until the house disappeared.

The grandmother disappeared.

The monster disappeared.

His mother disappeared behind him.

And nothing remained before Rio except the forest.

And a long road whose destination he did not know.

And the only thing he knew...

was that he had become free.

But the freedom he had gained was empty.