8 years later

Once again, Omega found himself in front of the dart board spinning in circles. He got all the way to 158 before he threw the dart and plopped down into a chair. He gave himself a pat on the back for finally breaching his 150 spin mark. It was such a silly thing but he was proud of himself anyway. After he came back to himself and could see properly, he strolled over to the map and saw the dart landed on the lower middle part leaning more towards the left side on a planet called, Damia.

Just like the many planets before Damia, he had never heard of it and he was just too lazy to look it up. Also, he preferred not to get his spirits down by the possibility of the planet having a bad reputation. He had learned that he would rather go in blind with good hopes than go in not looking forward to the next year. They always say you should go into a challenge with a positive attitude. Because if you don't, then there isn't any chance of having the best time possible.

Omega was happy he didn't have to travel very far since Damia was only about a week's travel away from Vinesta. So he set out on his journey with a smile on his face looking forward to a new adventure ... one that was hopefully a good one. When he arrived on the planet, he was initially surprised to land in an alleyway. He looked around to make sure no one saw him and was relieved to go by unnoticed. He also wondered why he would have landed in this spot but wasn't surprised with how much water was in the alley. There were many leaking pipes dripping water around him which would have added a lot of moisture into the air thus attracting him to this spot.

He walked out of the alley and grimaced at the state of the people. Most of them were in filthy rags with very few in clean rags. Many were slumped against the edges of buildings looking depressed and completely helpless. They were severely underfed and he could see their bones against the loose rags! Even the children were in that condition. He really felt sorry for them and decided he would help them out a little before he started his journey.

He walked through the area some more to make sure it wasn't just in that area. He knew he couldn't help everybody since there had to be at least a couple thousand people in one area but he would at least help out a few hundred. One thing he noticed was that everybody looked at Omega warily or in barely concealed fear. Omega conceded that he didn't really look friendly but he didn't think he deserved fear. He searched through the city until he found someone with clean rags who was actually giving a child a small ... very small ... piece of stale bread that looked like all he had. Omega nodded to himself and went up to him.

"Hey," Omega said in his older voice. The man warily looked up and Omega watched at how he tensed up like he expected to be hit or reprimanded. This, however, confused Omega. Why would he hit someone who was giving out food? Omega decided to just ignore it for now and pressed forward. "Come with me." The man let out a silent sigh of defeat and followed Omega through the town into an abandoned building. Omega was actually quite surprised the man would just follow a complete stranger into an abandoned building and wondered why that was the case.

Omega strode to the center of the room and turned around to see the man on his knees about 5 feet from him in a resigned gesture like someone who was about to be killed. To satisfy his curiosity, Omega asked in an emotionless tone as to not give away his true intentions, "What do you expect me to do?" The guy flinched again and let out a breath. He said, "I expect you to kill me, sir." Omega was once again surprised by the strength in the man's voice and the little fear of death in the man even though he believed he was about to be killed. Omega smiled under his mask and knew he chose right.

Since his curiosity still wasn't sated, he asked in the same voice, "And why would I kill you?" The man looked a little perplexed but still answered the question in his unwavering voice, "Because I shared my rations with another, sir." Omega didn't like how he worded it like it was a written law and grew a sour look on his face. The child the man fed was just skin and bones and looked to be all alone in the crowded streets. Omega was already growing to dislike this planet and he just arrived an hour ago. He inwardly groaned, not liking the look of the coming year.

"And what is your name?" Omega asked, still in his emotionless voice. The man openly showed his confusion and even looked up into Omega's eyes. He let out a small gasp of surprise looking into Omega's eyes which didn't show any hatred or disgust, just simple curiosity. Omega knew his cover was blown so he re-asked his question with curiosity in his voice. "And what is your name, good sir?" The man still took a second to recover from the fact that he wasn't about to be killed before answering.

"Jeruk, sir," he said a little more confidently but still stayed on his knees out of respect. Omega smiled a little and said, "Well, Jeruk, I just arrived on this planet and decided to have a look around. I didn't particularly like looking around the slums so I decided I would like to help out a little. However, I would prefer not being the one known to help out and would like to stay as a silent donator. So, I decided to look around for someone to be my distributer of my gift and I saw you handing out some of your rations to a little girl who looked like she desperately needed it. This concluded my search and I asked you to come with me."

Jeruk took a little time to process that instead of being killed, he was actually being given a gift to spread out to the people. After recovering from his shock once again, he asked, "And what is your gift, kind sir." Omega didn't really like the submissive gesture he was getting along with the sir but he guessed it was ingrained into their minds to make themselves as little as possible to not get any punishment. So, he decided he could live with it for a couple more minutes.

Omega said, "In two hours, I want you to come back to this building to retrieve your gift and do with it as you see fit. I expect you to share with others but that is up to you to decide." Of course, if Omega saw him coveting his gift he would definitely kill him, however, he didn't see that happening. Omega continued, "During the two hours, you can invite any of your hungry friends or family to partake in your gift and choose who to share the leftovers with once you're done." Omega purposefully added hungry in there to make sure the man knew the gift would be food. It would be pretty bad to prepare for an item gift instead of a food gift.

The man looked on in awe at Omega and even did a bow to Omega that left him almost flat on the ground, "Thank you!" Omega could tell he caught on to the hungry part too. "I will invite everybody I know to partake with your gift." He paused a second and had a hesitant look like he might have said too much. "Sorry, I am too presumptuous." Omega was a little confused as to what he meant about getting ahead of himself but it dawned on him. Omega chuckled and said, "I doubt you can invite enough people in two hours to partake in my gift unless you go shouting to the heavens about it." If he did that, Omega may be in a little trouble with how much of a gift he would give.

However, he also knew the man wouldn't do that in fear of being caught. The man looked astonished at how big the supposed gift he was getting. He did another bow to Omega who still didn't like it and said, "Oh thank you! I don't know what your gift shall be but any gift deserves thanks no matter what it is." Omega looked at Jeruk's full of gratitude face and a smile graced Omega's face. He really enjoyed helping people out and he fully embraced his promise to help the people of the galaxy. Not only indirectly by killing off the vile emperors, but also directly helping them by fulfilling their needs.

Omega said, "Also, you do not have to worry about being caught. I will make sure no guards find out about you being involved." Omega would prefer not to get such a kind man killed and he also had some questions for some very disgraceful guards who would kill a man for being generous. "Now go and come back in two hours. Your gift will be waiting in the backroom," Omega said with a gesture pointing behind him. Jeruk gave Omega another round of thanks and headed out the door with a light skip to his step. Omega let out a sigh and headed into the back room he mentioned earlier. The room's estimates were around 7X9X7 and he was actually quite surprised by the size of the room considering the small size of the house in general. However, that only helped out Omega's plans.

Omega first covered the entire room in ice to hold in the delicious smells that his homemade food was sure to create. Next, he created ice shelves with many rows along the walls and any other open space to hold as much of his gift possible. He looked around the room and gave it a nod of approval. Then, he stepped in front of the door where all he had to do was step back to get out of the room. He needed to quickly encase the room in ice so the smell wouldn't attract any bystanders. After concentrated and letting his blessing do the work, he quickly stepped back and froze a thin layer of ice over the door. He made sure the ice was thin enough to only require a tap to break before stepping out of the house back into the depressing streets that wouldn't look so depressed in two hours.

~~~

A few minutes earlier

Another day passed like every other. Everybody in the village wondered around aimlessly, searching for any scrap of food they could muster or even the worst types of jobs to have at least a little money. Jeruk was one of the few lucky ones to obtain a job on the upper side of the lower levels. He was a lowly craft assistant who basically was a mule, organizer, and cleaner. He didn't have any special skills to contribute since he was raised on the street.

However, as time passed by, he was learning more and more about the skills required to be a craftsmen. He believed he only needed a few more years to be able to actually help his master and contribute more to the shop. And if the shop's proceeds increase, then he may be rewarded for his hard work. Which in turn would mean a pay raise and more food so he wouldn't starve every day!

He walked down the street towards his small home he shared with 5 other people eating a small, stale piece of bread. He spent a good bit of money on this luxury because he really didn't want to eat the sludge the guards handed out once a day. He was pretty sure they sometimes put poison in it to cut down the growing poor population. That thought sickened him but he knew it was most likely true. Every month, an area of the suburbs would become ill and die in a few days. It was pretty obvious that they were poisoned but no one could do anything about it unless they wanted to starve. It was a necessary risk they all had to take.

He looked at some of the people on the side of the streets and really took into account how lucky he was. Anybody could really do his job so he was grateful to have it. It provided him with clean clothes and occasional bread unlike the people looking half-starved sitting with their backs up against the wall. He waved to some of his friends to make sure they knew that they weren't alone and to never give up hope. Anything could happen in life since it was full of surprises, even after 80 years of this treatment.

Jeruk was about five minutes from his home when he came across a child on her own cradling her knees to her chest with a downcast expression. Jeruk's heart beated against his chest remembering when he used to have that same look on his face at her age. He knew how being alone on the streets felt and could relate to her. Every day he wished someone would come and help him get on his feet but no one ever came. He wanted someone to motivate him to do his best and to never give up hope, not have to figure that lesson on his own. If someone would have given advice to him back then, he may have already been an apprentice in his shop.

He slowly walked up to the girl with a smile as to not startle her. Once she noticed he was not a guard, she lifted her head for Jeruk to see her striking lavender eyes. There were very few people with those genes anymore and knew she would become quite a looker as she grew older. She may even be able to find her way out of this part of town. Who knew? The only thing Jeruk knew was that he wanted to help her in any way he could.

He looked down into his hands to see he still had a small piece of bread left and decided he didn't need it. Of course, he was still hungry but clearly not as much as the little girl since she was pretty much skin and bones. He held out his hand and offered the bread with a closed eyed smile before watching the girl hesitantly take the food from him like he was tricking her and was about to take it away. Once the girl had the food in her hand and stared at it in wonder, he gave her an encouraging nod and wondered if she ever had bread before.

She looked at Jeruk again before she warily plopped it into her mouth. She moaned at the taste because anything was better than the sludge they were usually fed. Grey, lumpy soup should not be anywhere near located in the food category. He watched in delight as she enjoyed her food and was about to give her a speech to inspire her to work hard in life before he was interrupted by a manly and strong voice behind him. "Hey."

He instantly worried about who it might be since he had never heard that voice before and slowly turned around to face the speaker. He tensed on sight when he saw an assassin just standing there looking down on him. He gulped when he saw the black cloak and mask with colorful swirls hiding the man's figure and two swords peeking over his shoulder. He tried to search his memory as to what an assassin would be doing this far in the village but couldn't come up with anything. The guards shouldn't be patrolling for another thirty minutes so he thought he wouldn't have to worry about being caught. However, he was caught by surprise with the apparently new assassin division in the army.

They only stared at each other for a second before the man said, "Come with me" in an emotionless tone before spinning around and walking through the nervous crowd. He thought about running and trying to escape but he could tell this guy was a professional judging by his walk. He sighed in defeat already accepting his fate before following him. He didn't necessarily want to die but he wasn't really living either. He was at least placated by dying helping others less fortunate than him. He really hated that law that basically demanded people be selfish.

He watched the people skirt around the assassin like the plague with their heads lowered as to not draw attention to themselves. The assassin was either oblivious to this or didn't care in the slightest while he looked at the buildings. He went with the latter. He followed the man for a while until he walked into one of the abandoned buildings that was actually one of the bigger buildings in the suburbs. Jeruk was sufficiently surprised no one had taken residence in it but that thought quickly left his mind when he crossed the threshold and thoughts of his impending death came upon him. He quickly slumped to his knees hoping for a quick and painless death even though the guards were known for the opposite. Jeruk heard the footsteps stop in the middle of the room and turn around. However, he didn't see any of this since he kept his head downcast waiting for the oncoming torture.

He was mentally prepared for the oncoming pain and he wouldn't give any satisfaction to his capture by screaming. He knew they enjoyed the screams of others and he passed by a few buildings with chuckling men inside after a scream tore through the village. He was at least going to die with his pride and hoped to high heavens that the man wouldn't torture him for too long before getting bored and ending his life.

He was actually quite surprised that the man asked a question before beginning his torture but the tone he used didn't quell his nerves. "What do you expect me to do?" It made sense to Jeruk now. Assassins were not meant for full on physical abuse. They were sly and either quickly killed their prey or drove them into insanity without them being any the wiser. However, this torture wouldn't work any better than the one he originally thought he was about to get.

He sighed, once again coming to terms that he was about to die before stating in a determined voice, "I expect you to kill me, sir." He really just wished the man would just get it over with. But he knew this was part of the torture so he didn't let it affect him. He would allow the man to question him all day if the assassin liked and he would even start yelling at him to end it when he grew tired of the mind games.

"And why would I kill you?" Jeruk was perplexed and slightly raised his head, only enough to see the man's feet. He should already know this but once again put it down to assassin mind games. His memory of the law that was ingrained into everybody's minds came out of his mouth. "Because I shared my rations with another, sir." He really hated that law and if by some chance he ever got high enough to change laws, it would be his first one. He would then help the poor people in the suburbs by giving them better food that didn't have occasional poison samples in it.

He was brought back to his current, almost about to die, situation. "And what is your name?" Jeruk really didn't understand this type of torture. It seemed like the guy had no clue about anything and wanted information but needed Jeruk to think he was an evil person to get it. He didn't exactly know where that thought came from but his suspicion gave him the courage to raise his head and look the man in the eyes.

He gave a small gasp at the beautiful display of floating lights in his sea green irises. He had never seen those types of eyes before and his earlier suspicion was looking to be more true than false. He also didn't see any hatred in his eyes, just simple curiosity. That pretty much solidified his earlier assumption. However, he still wondered why the man played the bad guy.

He was once again broken out of his thoughts when the man repeated his earlier question. "And what is your name, good sir." Jeruk took a minute to recover from the 'good sir' comment and thought, 'Maybe I won't be killed today.' "Jeruk, sir," he said in a stunned voice but still with confidence that he wasn't about to be killed. However, he still didn't want to show any disrespect to the clearly higher up man so he stayed on his knees. He wondered why someone would visit the suburb area when he obviously had enough money to at least stay in the middle region. However, his earlier thought was soon answered.

"Well, Jeruk, I just arrived on this planet and decided to have a look around. I didn't particularly like looking around the slums so I decided I would like to help out a little. However, I would prefer not being the one known to help out and stay as a silent donator. So, I decided to look around for someone to be my distributer of my gift and I saw you handing out some of your rations to a little girl who looked like she desperately needed it. This concluded my search and I asked you to come with me." Jeruk was stunned speechless. Anyone arriving on the planet landed in the middle zone, not the lower zone. So that meant the man purposefully walked into the slums to give them a gift, which he was pretty sure was made illegal by those vile guards. However, the thought of a gift filled him with excitement. He knew he would share it with others because that was just who he was. However, even if he wasn't that kind of person, he probably would still do it in fear of the assassin watching him.

Now, he just wondered what the gift was. He didn't see any bulges in his cloak so it wasn't anything big. He highly doubted the man would give up his weapons so that was out of the question. So, what was it? He lowered his head out of respect and hoped he wasn't pushing his boundaries by asking, "And what is your gift, sir." The man didn't speak for a second and it worried him. He waited for the outburst or thrashing that he was so accustomed to when he got punished but was pleasantly surprised when the man spoke. "In two hours, I want you to come back to this building to retrieve your gift and do with it as you see fit. I expect you to share with others but that is up to you to decide." That proved his point that the guy would be watching him. "During the two hours, you can invite any of your hungry friends or family to partake in your gift and choose who to share the leftovers with once you're done."

Jeruk's brain paused at the hungry part of the sentence. His gift was food. The most prized possession on the lower level. The three basic needs were scarce and were the most expensive item on the market. It took everything anybody had to just get a meal a day. If their gift was food, then the man deserved to be bowed down to like a god. What made Jeruk look up to the man in an even better light was that he wanted to remain anonymous. If he showed his face to the people, the people would worship him and would do anything for him.

However, the man probably just didn't want to face the guards ... wait ... the man asked Jeruk about why he thought he was going to be killed. That meant the man didn't know about the guards killing people for sharing. And since Jeruk was picked out for sharing before Jeruk told the man it was against the law, that meant the man had plans to share food anyway. Anyway, even if the guards caught up to the man, he would probably slaughter the guards judging by his looks.

Jeruk beamed up at the man and did a bow of thanks. "Thank you!" The man was so happy he almost screamed out to the world his thanks. "I will invite everybody I know to partake with your gift." Right when the words came out of his mouth, he hesitated. That was very presumptuous of him to think the man was getting him that big of a gift. He was probably only going to give him enough to feed his family like he said. "Sorry, I am too presumptuous." It was silent for a second while he kept his head down in apology, hoping that he wouldn't get punished. He clearly crossed his boundaries and even a kind man could punish him for it. However, he hesitantly looked up when he heard mirth filled chuckling.

"I doubt you can invite enough people in two hours to partake in my gift unless you go shouting to the heavens about it." Jeruk's mind almost broke. He could invite a lot of people in two hours, even if he had to do it discreetly because of the guards. A blinding smile found its way on to Jeruk's face again and he said. "Oh thank you! I don't know what your gift shall be but any gift deserves thanks no matter how bad it is." This was going to be the best day of his life and most likely anyone else's who partakes in the gift.

The deal got even better when the man said, "Also, you don't have to worry about being caught. I will make sure no guards find out about you being involved. Now go and come back in two hours. Your gift will be waiting in the backroom." Jeruk thanked him profusely before heading out the door. He walked out with a blinding smile on his face and headed towards his house. When he finally got there, which was only a twenty minute walk, he saw his mother, father, three sisters, and two brothers eating there small, disgusting looking porridge.

He watched as his somber family look up and grow a confused look at Jeruk's blinding smile. He went over and picked up his younger sister before twirling her around in the air, making her spill her porridge. While her family had a horrified expression that what little amount of food they had grew smaller, Jeruk still had smile that nothing could wipe off. He hugged his sister and gave her a few quick kisses making her giggle and forget about how hungry she was. He held his sister on his hip and looked at the rest of the family.

"Everyone, I want you put down the porridge and come with me. I have a great surprise to show you and I believe you shall really enjoy it!" Jeruk said filled with exuberance. Jeruk still saw his family look at him with confused looks but he didn't allow them to ask any questions before pressing forward. "Now I know you are confused but you need to follow me. Along the way, I want you tell people you pass to meet near Old Jones house in two hours for a surprise." With that, Jeruk walked towards the door with his sister still on his hip. He walked outside soon followed by his confused family. However, Jeruk could tell that they would still do as he said even if they didn't know what exactly was going on which was fine with Jeruk.

It took about 1½ hours to walk back to house where Jeruk met the assassin. As he stood in front of the door with his family behind him, he grew a little nervous. What if he was tricked? What if he invited all these people and ruined his family's meals with nothing to show for it? People would hate him for getting their hopes up with his cheerful attitude that promised something good was about to happen.

However, after taking a quick glance at his now excited family, he drew up all his courage and walked inside. At first, dread filled him at the sight of the empty room until he remembered the assassin said the back room. His family walked right behind them and they all froze when they saw the door leading to the back room.

Preventing them from entering was a light layer of cloudy ice that looked so brittle that it would break with a single touch. Unless, that was what he was supposed to do. Jeruk hesitantly walked up to the ice and took a quick glance at his family. They didn't really look afraid since they thought this was planned. Jeruk gave them a small smile and turned around. He had waited two hours to see what was behind the ice and he was damn sure he was going to find out.

With his new confidence, he tapped the ice and it instantly shattered with the sound of breaking glass clattering against the floor. The first sense that triggered was their smell. Their noses instantly smelled the sweet aroma of fresh baked goods and it left them immotile as they tried to adjust to the pleasant and especially foreign smell.

The next sense that kicked in was sight. They opened their eyes after closing them from the sensational smell and stood immobile at the amount of food on the ice shelves around room. Jeruk hesitantly walked in and tried to comprehend what he was seeing. He expected a decent size meal that he could split with his family and some people he invited. However, what he got was enough food to feed three times as many people he invited.

On the shelves were hundreds of fresh baked bread that were at least twelve inches long with a nice light brown texture to them that most likely meant they were baked to perfection. Judging by the smell he agreed that the light brown color meant it was baked expertly. The entire family walked in and browsed the shelves with awestruck faces with his mother crying her eyes out in joy. He smiled at the amount of food in the room and watched as his sister on his hip reach out and picked up a loaf of bread.

They all watched her to make sure the bread was real and saw her take a bit out of the soft and fluffy bread. Her face turned into one of shock which quickly followed with a moan of pleasure. That triggered everyone in the room to grab a loaf and take a bite. When Jeruk took his first bite, he paused just like his sister as his taste buds flared at the new, exquisite taste of baked bread. He too moaned in agreement that the bread was the best food he had ever had.

After finishing the loaf, his mind started working again and knew the smell would start to get around and he had a job to do. "Mother, Father, I need help handing out the bread. The first people we invited should show up any second and we need to be ready." His statement brought the parents back to reality and they nodded. Jeruk and his father helped move the ice shelves to the center room so they could quickly and easily grab the bread and pass them out to everyone.

Jeruk smiled when he saw the first guests arrive and saw the bread. He gave them a blinding smile and held out a loaf. He watched as they stretched out a hesitant hand to grab the dreamy bread thinking it must be a dream for food of that quality to be in the slums. As more people came, the more awestruck and grateful faces Jeruk saw and he knew would always, no matter where he went, share his food to whoever needed it more than him. He was also a little surprised to not be accosted by guards.

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Hey look! A chapter!! Yeah, sorry about the very slow update. I also sent a message to all my followers saying I was going to update last night but I literally fell asleep writing the story I was so tired. So, yeah, sorry about that. Anyway, this is really like half a chapter I have written and I haven't quite finished the other part. However, I wanted to show I haven't forgotten about my lovely readers and I am still writing, even if at a much slower pace. Feel free to send me a message because I will most likely respond within the day. Or, just comment on the story, whichever you prefer. I hope to post the rest of this chapter by the end of this week but I make no guarantees, given how the last one worked out.

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