Chapter 214 — Drinking II

Ariana was crying too now, her hand covering her mouth. She would have been in the same place as Zavier if Damian had not arrived on time to save her parents.

Silence filled the room, broken only by quiet sobs.

Then Damian spoke, his voice carrying something that made both of them look up.

It sounded old, tired and like someone who’d lived far longer than sixteen years.

His crimson eyes showed a weariness that didn’t match his young face.

"You know... you’re both probably too young to understand this fully. But there comes a point in every person’s life where they feel like they have nothing to live for. Where dying seems easier – like it would provide the best escape from the pain."

Zavier and Ariana listened, even Kuro going still despite his drunkenness.

"They sit in silence every day with their demons. Inside their own minds. And everything they’re thinking – all the dark thoughts, all the emptiness – it feels completely real and true."

Damian refilled his glass but didn’t drink it yet.

"And here’s the thing: those feelings are real. The pain is legitimate. Nobody can tell you it’s not. But..."

He paused, choosing words carefully.

"There’s this funny thing called time. People say ’time heals all wounds,’ but that’s not quite accurate. Time doesn’t heal anything...

What time does is force you to adapt. Humans are incredibly adaptable creatures. We experience things worse than death, and somehow... we survive."

His voice became quieter.

"A few years pass. And when you look back at who you were during the worst moment, you realize how much you’ve changed.

That version of you – the one drowning in pain – eventually finds new meaning. New reasons to keep going. Not because the pain disappeared, but because you learned to carry it while still living."

He looked directly at Zavier.

"I believe you’ll find your meaning. Your life will get better. You’ll live so fully that when the day finally comes that you meet your parents again – however many decades from now – you’ll have thousands of stories to share with them. Stories about the life you built despite everything."

Zavier broke completely, sobbing without restraint, his shoulders shaking.

Damian reached over and patted his back, saying nothing more, just offering physical presence.

Finally, Zavier’s voice came out choked and desperate.

"But what do I do right now, Boss? How do I survive until that future you’re talking about?"

Damian looked him in the eyes.

"...Your mind is powerful. On good days, it’s the best friend you’ll ever have. On bad days, it becomes your worst enemy. You need to understand that these thoughts telling you to give up, to end things – they’re not the truth. They’re not who you are. They’re just... thoughts."

He leaned closer.

"So here’s the realest answer I can give you: get busy... Train until you collapse from exhaustion. Learn new skills. Push your body so hard that you don’t have energy left to think. Don’t give your mind time to process the darkness. Just keep moving forward."

His voice became firmer.

"Become the version of yourself your parents would be proud of. Discard the old Zavier who was weak and afraid. Discard the fears and doubts.

Replace them with action, with purpose and with relentless forward motion until one day you wake up and realize the pain isn’t consuming you anymore."

"..."

Zavier was quiet for a long time, processing.

Then: "Thank you... Damian."

Not Boss or sir... Just his name.

They drank more, the alcohol making everything feel slightly less sharp.

Seeing Zavier opening up in front of them, Ariana also spoke up, her voice hesitant.

"Damian... when I was almost... when those students tried to rape me–"

"You were WHAT?!"

Zavier’s shout was immediate and furious.

Ariana explained quickly – the assault, her spatial skill evolving out of desperation, escaping to Damian and the five men dying horrible deaths at his hands.

"Don’t tell the others though. It’s... it’s private."

Zavier nodded, his face showing a mixture of pity and protective rage.

He looked at Damian with new understanding.

"So the serial killer named ’the Collector’ who tortured those students to death... that was you, Boss?"

Damian just shrugged, neither confirming nor denying.

Ariana continued, looking at Damian.

"Ever since that moment, I have nightmares too. Every time a guy looks at me, I feel like they’re predators. Wolves who want to tear me apart. My perception of the world changed that day."

Her voice became quieter.

"I only feel safe when I’m around you. That’s why I stick so close. That’s why I act like your secretary even though you never asked for it."

Damian’s expression softened.

"You’re both doing far better than you realize. You’re just teenagers who went through traumatic experiences most adults couldn’t handle. Having mental troubles is normal given what you’ve survived."

He looked at both of them.

"But know this: the Mafia is family. That’s the whole point. Everyone in it is family. And as the Boss, I’m like... I don’t know, the head of the family? You can come to me whenever you’re troubled. I’ll help however I can."

Ariana and Zavier’s eyes showed tears again, but gratitude mixed with the pain now.

Ariana studied Damian’s face for several seconds.

"You know... I’ve been paying close attention to you from the start. The way you behave, the way you carry yourself – it’s not like someone our age. You’re sixteen, same as us, but there’s this feeling I get when I look at you."

She struggled to articulate it.

"...Like you’re far older than you seem. Like you’ve lived through things we can’t understand."

Zavier nodded vigorously.

"Exactly! I feel it too. We’ve all talked about it. There’s this weight you carry that doesn’t match your age."

Damian chugged his drink and groaned.

"Shut up, both of you. I’m already having a headache with everyone addressing me as Godfather.

Don’t treat me like an old man on top of that. Seriously... now that I think about it, how cringe is a sixteen-year-old posing as a Godfather and adopting thousands of kids?!"

"Bwahahaha!"

Laughter erupted, tension breaking.

Even Kuro nodded seriously despite being completely drunk, his head bobbing in agreement.

But Zavier’s face became serious again.

"If it was someone else, then yes, it would be cringe. But nothing about you is ordinary, Boss. The Godfather title feels like it was made specifically for you."

They continued drinking, bonding deepening and walls coming down between them.

Friends rather than just leader and subordinates.

Equals sharing pain and hope together.