"My friends, the only one who can rule and live free, are those with money. And I am the lord of money." A laugh echoed from the people placed within the banquet hall, all dressed in expensive gowns and suits, gazing at the man upon the large podium who made the speech and held a glass of wine in his right, raising it in the air with a smile on his pale and slightly wrinkled face—age had affected the face yet the looks weren't dampened, the handsome man was still handsome just with a tint of wisdom added to him, and a bit of silver bangs that cascaded down till his broad shoulders that seemed to resemble chain of mountains.
The man standing upon the podium looked at the laughing associates with narrowed eyes, amusement running through his veins, yet his face remained still with just a bit of a small smile. Wearing a navy-blue tailored suit accompanied with navy-blue pants, he seemed quite sophisticated and majestic, almost as if a lion. But unknown to many, the suit didn't just hide his hard muscles, it also hid the lines of corruption that clinged to him like a vice.
The things he had to do to establish himself on the pedestal, it was all hidden by the sophisticated nature that he showed to the public, and he would carry this persona even after his demise.
His legacy must never be tarnished and should stay immortal, that was one of his dreams after achieving his longtime ambitions which corrupted his heart initially.
But how did he reach such a position? How did he build such an empire? How did the greedy man soar?
To understand, we must go backwards in time, years before. When he was just a boy seeing a dream, while suffering from the perils of his poverty and life.
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"SAMARA! SAMARA! SAMARA!"
Cheers erupted from the small crowd gathered around two young boys fighting with each other in the park, wearing disheveled uniforms because their academy had arranged for a peaceful picnic, yet the peace was unfortunately ruined by the argument that sparked between the two boys.
Which explained the fighting going on and all. The boy on top of the other boy, was pounding the face of the one underneath with a barrage of punches almost as if he was nothing but an object to be used to relieve stress, and the boy underneath could only block or suffer the ferocious blows.
The one on top was none other than Samara Banare, and the boy underneath him was one of his classmates who was sort of a bully to many, Robin Matthews.
The eyes of Samara which resembled dark coffee was steaming with wrath, as a growl rumbled in his throat, and his brown bangs fell over his forehead disheveled from the sweat and the adrenaline pumping inside. The knuckles had turned a hot crimson and finally after a few more hits, he stopped.
More like forcefully stopped.
As someone pulled him off Robin, and Samara breathed in, stopping himself from hitting the one who pulled him back. Sometimes he had to control his anger from hurting his close ones.
The head turned over his shoulders, his wrath still present yet dampened by the touch of someone he knows, and growled out. "What are you doing here, Srian? Why did you stop me?" It was none other than his best friend, Srian Rahane, who had wrapped his arms underneath his armpits and held him tightly. Straining to keep Samara under control even though the wrathful boy was not using his full strength, due to him not wanting to hurt his friend.
Srian was tall and possessed a lithe figure, with dark bangs that was cut properly speaking of his obsession about keeping himself proper looking, and diamond-like eyes which seemed to glint with worry, at the actions that he just viewed was happening.
He was handsome, possessing an olive complexion, with a slight stubble covering his chin unlike Samara, who had a clean shaved face. Srian had a round obsidian necklace around his neck, placed within the round piece was a photo of his mother and father.
He was a family man, similar to Samara, and maybe that's why they were both best friends. They had many things in similar except for strength, anger, and intelligence. Maybe capability too.
"What do you mean?" Srian said with a grunt, releasing the calm Samara from his grasp and Robin could only groan as he was lifted to his feet by some of his classmates, yet with his bruised eyes gave a glare towards Samara who returned the look almost immediately, and this made the bully really quiet, causing him to avert his gaze almost immediately.
"Of course if I hadn't stopped you, you would have killed him, bro! You are always thinking about the current moment not about the future consequences that your actions will make.....
This is why you need someone like me, a cautious person, to fill in, whenever your wrath takes hold of your conscience. You need someone like me—someone who can pull the reigns when everything goes out of hands."
Srian told Samara with a huff and roll of his eyes, causing Samara to just release a chuckle in response as he stood on his two feet, and patted the knees of his dark pants. To get rid of some of the dust gathered there while brawling.
"Yeah, yeah. Don't give stolen lines. I know you copied some of those from the stories you read and the movies you watch." Samara joked with his best bud who gave him a slight glare and suddenly the crowd parted akin to the red sea, causing a girl to enter.
The monitor and topper of their class. Suhania Joshin. She was informed of the fight by one of the girls gazing from the crowd. Thank god, none of the teachers were informed, still too busy in their flirtings and gossiping, underneath a tree that gave them protection from the heat.
The tree was large and thick, with branches erupting outwards in every direction and green large leaves covered the dark hands of the tree, located at a place which was quite far away. In the right outermost corner of the large park, it was a park traditionally booked by renowned academies for picnic or by some people who wanted to enjoy the purity of nature.....Or wanted to enjoy the purity of intimacy between themselves. Yeah, this park was also renowned for being a hot couple spot.
Suhania had flowing black locks tied up in a bun accentuating her round, slightly plump face, which was adorned with obsidian eyes that seemed to glimmer with irritation at the scene happening in front of her.
She was of average height, wearing a white shirt with the emblem of their academy, and a black skirt that reached till her knees which was of a sun-like hue. Her curvaceous figure accentuated by her uniform, drew attention from the boys in the crowd, yet she paid no heed.
Her attention was fixed on Samara, and Srian who was holding the arm of Samara tightly, not wanting him to go and leap at Robin again.
Samara was highly unpredictable, no one knew this fact better than Srian, which explained the grip.
"WHAT IN GOD'S NAME HAPPENED?" She said in a low tone, yet it felt as if she yelled, and Samara inwardly groaned.
"And here comes, Mrs Perfect." He rolled his eyes and was about to answer her, but just as his lips parted to form a harsh-response, Srian explained quickly with a awkward smile.
"N-n-nothing that would need your attention. It's just a playful brawl.....Yeah." Samara quickly passed him a side glance, hearing him stammer, wondering why Srian was behaving in such a scared manner.
"Oh right, she is also the bloody class monitor." The thought suddenly struck Samara, but he simply shrugged, he didn't fear anyone in his life. Not even those with high authority. Some may call it immaturity, but he would never change this aspect of his, for according to him it was a strength that he would need in the future for his ambitions. In order to fulfill those desired wishes, he would need this fearless attitude.
Suhania took a glance at the busted knuckles of Samara and then looked at the bloodied state of Robin. This was definitely not a friendly brawl. She wasn't stupid enough to believe the words of Srian.
But she didn't say anything, keeping her silence and instead focusing on the friends of Robin, who supported his stand. "Wash his face and reduce the flow of the blood, by holding the handkerchief tightly on his nose." She told the group and all of them quickly nodded, following her command.
"One who dreams to be a medical specialist should behave as such, and she follows the quote to the mark." Samara thought with narrowed eyes and a brief smirk appeared on his countenance at her commanding behaviour. He found it amusing.
While Srian let out a sigh of relief, seeing her easy acceptance, and thanking whichever god had graced him with such great persuasion today. Such a sight made Samara chuckle slightly, then he winced silently as the adrenaline wore off, and his knuckles and some other parts of his muscles started to feel sore.
"Fucking hell." He groaned as he narrowed his eyes and turned his attention towards his knuckles, feeling pain at the slightest movements of his fingers, but he didn't allow the pain to come to his face.
He was too prideful to admit weakness in front of any other than his own mind. But his slight grimace didn't escape the observation of Suhania, and her gaze flickered to his red-warm knuckles.
"You. Ask your friend to apply some cold water and it seems like your blood dripping has stopped, so just the water will be enough to help you get free from the slightest pain." Suhania told him with a narrowed gaze, and Samara froze just a bit, then he gave her a brief nod returning her narrowed gaze with a stoic gaze.
Then she left along with the gathered crowd, leaving Srian and Samara near the park pond, as they sat on the public bench near the waters. Enjoying the fresh air going through the fine strands of their hair, and Samara leaned forward a bit.
"So..... Are you not interested to know about the reason behind my fight with Robin?" Samara suddenly spoke out with a soft smile, looking at fishes moving here and there, and Srian turned to him with an arched brow.
"You should know." Srian paused as he chugged some water from his metal bottle and then continued his words. "Your anger never comes out without a reason. Surely he must have done something to recieve your beatings."
Samara blinked in surprise and a bit of amusement at the words he heard from Srian, then he released a breath he didn't know he was holding, and spoke out with a bit of a pause. "Thanks for the trust." He chuckled at his own soft words, before he continued. "Anyways..... Yep. He was being a douche, but I didn't hurt him for a long-long time, yet when he spoke something about you.... Something I don't remember well. Everything snapped for me."
Samara went completely silent, as he continued gazing at the small fishes, and vivid images of the sudden leap he took to punch Robin, flashed as if he was watching a footage instead of his own memories. They were so clear and so precise.
"Fuck. It still hurts." Samara thought with a slight frown, as he took the metal bottle from Srian and poured the remaining cold-water on his knuckles to alleviate the pain.
Srian hearing the words just simply shook his head, as he pinched his forehead and spoke out with a frown. "Look. People will always spout nonsense. Curses of giving idiots free will. If we try to stop all of them, only we will be suffering. Sometimes it's better to ignore. Their insults will guide our path."
"Wisdom. I find it quite infuriating.....It matches the pacifism of my parents. I hate it." Samara thought as he bit the inside of his cheek, the eyes never left the fishes, yet he opted to keep himself completely silent instead of arguing with his own friend about his thoughts.
Silence stayed for a few minutes between the two friends, and then Srian got up, stretching out his long arms. "Let's go." He told Samara who gave him a nod in return. Samara stood up and patted the back of his jeans.
Samara started to follow Srian, with his left hand in the pocket and his right swinging in tandem with his opposite leg, going towards where the rest of the students were present. The teachers would be suspicious if they were not present, and both of them didn't want further problems.
More like Srian didn't.
Samara was an advocate for chaos, he was silent most of the time, but he was easy to provoke if it concerned his loved one, for example his friend Srian or his parents.
The teachers and the students were all under the shade of the large tree, as the students were served junk food and some of them even had brought some snacks too like chips and all, even the teachers had joined them in sharing.
Such a sight was usually quite rare, and it was clear the school picnic really brought the two opposite factions closer to each other.
Srian gestured Samara to follow closely, and he did so, sitting near the trunk of the tree where they found enough shade and also there were a few students present near the trunk as the other sat at the very edge, so no unnecessary small tasks could occur.
It was a perfect place for the two, who loved their own company, more than the company of others unless absolutely necessary.
But the silent peace that was present between them was about to disturbed soon, as Suhania walked up to them, her usual entourage of admirers nowhere to be seen. Samara's eyes flashed towards her and questions ran through his mind, about her intentions, while Srian narrowed his gaze in confusion.
"What now? Has she came to reprimand my behaviour? I swear to the divine...." Samara bit the inside of his cheek yet kept his outer-self passive, first he wanted to see what she would do and then act, all because he knew that his thinking could be wrong, and maybe she was here for some other reason rather than to reprimand them?
"Suhania, what brings you here?" Srian asked suddenly as she came closer to them, and Samara just gave him a side glance, but ultimately kept silent. Suhania scratched the back of her wrist and chewed on her bottom lips, speaking out finally.