Garth's Monologue
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Scene 1: When the Sparks First Came
I remember the smell of smoke before I saw the fire. Not the warm kind that means dinner is ready or the soft hum of a fireplace. No, this smoke choked the lungs — thick and black and angry.
I was eight. Just a boy.
We lived in a narrow street in old Brooklyn. A place where dreams went to die slowly and quietly. My parents worked hard — too hard — and I was a quiet kid, always drawing sparks with my fingers when I was alone. I never thought much of it. I thought everyone saw little lights dance when they got excited. I thought it was normal.
It wasn't.
One afternoon, I got into a fight with my older cousin. He was always cruel — made fun of me, knocked over my toys, shoved me when no one was looking. That day, he called me a mistake. Said my dad didn't want me. I snapped.
I screamed.
And lightning — real, blue-white lightning — shot from my hands and struck the old lamp by the wall. It exploded. The wallpaper lit up like paper, the couch went up in flames. The fire spread in seconds.
I didn't know what I'd done. I only remember my mother screaming. My baby sister crying in her crib. The whole world going orange and black.
By the time they pulled me out, my house was gone. So were they.
They never made it.
The news called it a gas explosion. The neighbors whispered it was me. My relatives did more than whisper — they accused, shouted, blamed. They told me I wasn't welcome anymore.
So I ran. From guilt. From grief. From what I was becoming.
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Scene 2: The Hand That Reached Me
Days blurred. Hunger became a constant. I slept under bridges. Ate scraps. Once, I stole a sandwich and got beaten until I couldn't see out of my right eye. People passed me like I didn't exist.
And then… he showed up.
Sentinel Vex.
I didn't know who he was back then. He wore a dark coat, simple clothes. Not the armor. Not the badge. Just a tall man with tired eyes. He stopped in front of me — a dirty, shaking twelve-year-old boy sitting against a dumpster.
He knelt. I flinched, ready to run.
But he offered me food instead.
No lecture. No judgment. Just a question: "Do you want a second chance?"
I didn't speak. I just nodded, eyes blurry from cold.
He carried me — literally carried me — to his car and took me to the Guild.
That night, for the first time in years, I slept on a bed. I woke up crying.
He never asked me to explain what happened to my family. He already knew.
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Scene 3: Years in the Shadow of a Giant
Training under Sentinel Vex was hell. But it was the kind of hell that builds you.
He didn't coddle me. Didn't sugarcoat the truth. But every time I faltered, he was there. When my lightning spiraled out of control, he grounded it — and me.
He taught me about restraint, about purpose. Told me power without control is just destruction waiting to happen.
Sometimes, I hated him.
Other times, I just wanted him to say he was proud. And he did, in his own way. He'd nod when I got a move right. He'd grunt when I took down three dummies with one charged dash. One time, after a sparring match, he put a hand on my shoulder and said: "You've come far, Garth. Keep going."
It meant everything.
He wasn't just my mentor. He became… family.
I never told him I loved him. I wish I had.
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Scene 4: He Died… And I Couldn't Save Him
When Veronica killed him — when that cursed spear pierced his back —
—I screamed so loud it fractured the air around me.
I saw the blood. Saw him fall.
Jeremiah tried to heal him, but we knew. We all knew.
He looked at each of us. Spoke to us, one by one. His voice cracked, but his eyes… his eyes never wavered.
To me, he said: "Live, Garth. Burn bright — not out."
Then he was gone.
At the burial, I didn't cry. I couldn't. I sat there like stone, watching them lower him into the ground. Katherine held my hand. Lyra placed a flower. Marcus stood silent, his eyes unreadable.
And me?
I made a vow.
To kill Veronica.
Not out of hate — though I had plenty — but because justice demands it. Because Vex wouldn't want us to run from this war.
I will honor him. Even if it kills me.
The boy who destroyed his family… …was saved by a man who gave him a new one.
And now… I carry the storm for both of us.