@olcharlieboiAs Leon was hard at work in his... secret lair, a habitat concealed from everyone but his family and their most trusted companions, the boy probably did not even think about the possibility of anything going wrong - an attitude completely justified by his lifestyle and conditions. Yet, as it is often the case, every rule is bound to eventually have an exception, every system, a glitch, every fortification, a weak spot.
At a certain point throughout his day, Leon, as per usual busy with monitoring the faraway events through the eyes of his golem and toiling away for the good of his family, would have had an unexpected visitor. The first thing he felt was a little, barely perceivable pinprick on the back of his neck, an inconsequential, casual harbinger of the news to come. Later on, Leon would come to realise, that for the period of visitation he could not move a single inch - only to sit, or stand, or lie in the position it caught him in, incapable of as much as blinking or moving his eyes or, in fact, any sort of activity except for slow and steady breathing, not even perspiration or salivating. In the hindsight, if there was a single good thing about the visit, it was that it was extremely brief - no longer than a minute or so, in fact.
A voice emanated from somewhere around his left ear, slightly raspy yet somehow oddly pleasant to hear - while its source was unseen no matter how hard Leon might have tried to see it, the voice itself, lush, insinuating and silken, if such adjectives could even be applicable, poured into his ear like golden molasses, its tone and cadence so very obviously implying a great degree of care and affection for the listener it felt almost like Leon was about to be embraced by a kindly angel:
"Asteroth is an unusual name, 'Zero'." The voice warbled. "A name fit for a duke, sho. Some say... Astarte, and some say Ishtar and some say Inanna..."
There was a quiet tapping sound emanating from behind Leon's back - as if someone wearing old fashioned hobnailed boots lumbered around for a bit to change his footing or as if someone stood up from a chair to move it around a bit for added comfort. Then, the voice proceeded.
"Break off the lock, wrest open the gate, yes? Be strong, lest you allow love to perish. Go outside. You missed a lot. I've brought a souvenir so you won't feel left out, sho."
There was a slight pause after which Leon heard a quiet, almost inaudible sigh and another pinprick on his neck - and then, just like that, everything was back to normal. Turning around, he could see naught but his usual living space - with a single new addition.
On the floor, right beneath his feet, there was a lockbox made from ivory and redwood - carrying no fingerprints or any traces of organic matter on its surface, as the expertise would later show. On the lid, carved into the wood with great diligence, was a short message.
"Two rings, ringfingers and red lips,
A godly gift for thee.
A sinew rope - for your whole world
To hang upon a tree."No matter what Leon would have done after the visitation - eventually, at some point, he would open it and see what was inside.
The message on the lid was only partly true, and really quite misguiding. Whatever poet wrote it was obviously not very good at his job.
Inside, on a padding of black felt, were indeed situated two rings - engagement rings of Leon's parents, in fact, as he might have known or learned at a later date. Their ring fingers were also present, along with two pairs of lips, all neatly put onto a string of sinew, making for an oddly tasteful, if somewhat macabre necklace. However, in addition to those little trophies, the box also contained two tongues and two differently coloured eyeballs - one from each of his parents, as Leon could understand between the involuntary vomiting spasms as his considerable intellect raced, capable of working splendidly even in such a grave situation. Along with eyes, there was a smattering of teeth, glued tastefully to the bottom of the compartment to form a happy smiling face together, and many other, smaller and less consequential details, unified only by the right of having been human bodyparts at a certain point in time.
Eventually and obviously, Leon would be alerted to the fact that someone grievously assaulted his parents a little bit earlier that day - camera footage showed the recordings of a lean, beautiful if a little bit effeminate man with long, waist-length hair dyed green, in his early twenties, and clad in a casual jeans-and-white-shirt ensemble. Said man, without any attempts to hide his face or conceal himself, was doing horrible and unmentionable things to Leon's mother and father for about two to three minutes before gingerly collecting the grisly spoils into the aforementioned lockbox and calmly leaving the field of view, literal moments before the security guards barged in.
Leon would learn that the condition of his family is not critical nor life-threatening, even though as of now both were in a catatonic state due to the experience - but what was that worth with the degree of mutilation and psychological trauma suffered? Even more importantly, what was that worth with Leon's entire way of life being so easily compromised by a culprit he could not even see coming? Who in the world except for very few chosen ones could know of where he dwells and who he is and could commit such an atrocity? Who could bypass each and every devious, horrendously expensive and reliable defence and security measure his parents' household and his own habitat had installed?
Why would someone do this to him?
All those questions had no answers yet - and might not receive any at all...
