The clash of bullets and steel roared on the battlefield. A thousand cry echoed across the barricades while the vicious troops advanced further beyond the human borders. Soldiers' eyes were sealed with desperation as their comrades fell one by one, the absence of Andrew wounded the strategy division inevitably harming the legions as a whole. It seemed that the human population was in a disastrous decrease, alerting the mooncallers to an imminent future where their lust is never fulfilled and so, they were keen on catching as many alive humans as they can for the means of reproduction. This was very visible in that battle, the attack techniques were different but bloodshed still occurred as the mindless ghouls recruited in the army of the dead had no restraint over their hunger.

A scene that left the minds of the survivors forever unsteady. Battle after battle, the deafening wails of agony never lost their petrifying effects on them. On that night, where the full moon was ashamed to share its stolen light, plots were brewing in the shadows of the battle. It seemed that those who surrendered to their despair never knew the knowledge others had gained. There were new developments in the hidden plot that sparked hope in the hearts of Ivanka and Carvo. As the sharp claws of the enemy closed in on the city, a force pushed it further back in hope of delaying the final fall of the grand city of Boneclad.

I. Resurrection.

Tied down to Carvo's bloody experimentation table and humiliated by the failure he underwent, Brando wouldn't rest. He fought with all of his might to break through the restraints as the full moon cursed him with an agonizing craving.

His words were suppressed inside his beaten mouth. His eyes were glaring red, and through them, the soul that once inhabited that body left no trace behind. Those windows only showed the nature of an artificial beast. Carvo was smitten by his sheer presence. He was processing all of the possibilities involving his sister's disappearance, and he hoped that once he tamed this demon, he would use him to find her before the full moon ended.

"Marcela, you stay with me. Ben and Ali, you go watch the front door." Carvo ordered the league of soldiers he gathered. Marcela had always been a good acquaintance of Carvo. She was his former wife's niece who he had seen grow into a fine lady and a tough soldier. He knew she would be trustworthy to go through with this plan, and she proved his choices to be correct.

The two soldiers exited the basement as Carvo began to hook up the fake Brando into a monitor while he resisted and whimpered underneath the muffle. Marcela was horrified yet she kept her cool. She was intrigued enough to glance at the anatomy of this creature, one that was so close to being a human. Carvo wouldn't let her just look. "Help me here, turn on the monitors." He asked her as she darted across the room and obeyed his orders. As soon as she had heard the monitors being turned on, she watched Carvo take a deep breath as he held a scalpel and patiently cut through Brando's abdomen.

"Watch this... Magnificent!" Carvo gasped while Marcela gagged. "It replicated the organs entirely, all of this is created by consuming the original ones!" Carvo looked around Brando's exposed internals, mesmerized by the strange maze of bionic organs still entrapped in the flesh. Carvo could see that the original ones were not completely engulfed, there were remains of them in each newly generated artificial one, like a seed. Perhaps a blueprint for the artificial duplicate.

"I would have never imagined it to be this beautiful!" Carvo touched the glowing blue lungs. He understood what that body was, a temporary generated vessel that would only work when supplied by organic material. Once he considered the nature of Brando and his minions, he understood that if he isn't done before the full moon is over, the fake Brando's body would disintegrate and the remaining flesh of the stolen body will continue its decaying. There will be nothing left but a brain in stasis, awaiting revival.

"Hand me this device on the counter, quick!" Carvo ordered Marcela as he stuck his ear on the exposed heart that was identical to the one he showed him in prison. He was amazed by the very slow heartbeats and chest movements. That heart worked efficiently yet it seemed that its job wasn't as vital as it was in a human body. Carvo's quick assessment drove him to believe that on the Mooncaller deformation spectrum, those who approached the human-like form were most likely to possess similar organs to the fake Brando but with the exception of these organs being much stronger, unable to be affected by human viruses that could be passed through the flesh they still carried. It was the explanation for the fact Mooncallers were immortals, as these organs never aged one bit.

"Look at me." Carvo removed his bloody face off him and looked the fake Brando in the eyes as he was handed the device. "See this? I am sure it's familiar." He waved the strange tiny device with only three buttons on it and a small screen showing signal strength, he connected it to the monitors Brando was hooked on. "I'll be skipping the science behind it for the sake of your pain, but I got from your friends. I don't know if it will work or not...But if it does, your brain and gut and connection to the full moon will be severed. I will be doing you a lifelong favor." Carvo thrillingly spoke to Brando as he set up the device.

"I like to call it the severer." Carvo turned to Marcela. "The signals it produced were originally transferred information between two mooncallers, but I rewrote certain lines of codes using the language stored in Gabriel's transcripts that would make these codes be received as command lines, not simple information," Carvo explained to Marcela who was amazed by Carvo's skill. This man could not only memorize the anatomy of a mooncaller, but he also could manipulate the intelligence functioning it. This work hadn't been established in a day or two, that device was two decades old. The transcripts were way older, Carvo's long-life research that cost him a lot was finally being judged.

"Come on.." Carvo pushed the very first button, observing the glow pattern of the exposed organs. There was nothing.

Carvo's face begun to look blue, but this wasn't the end. "Is that..it?" Marcela questioned him, Carvo breathed heavily as he turned around to the monitors, pressing few buttons here and there while the howling soared in the ongoing battle outside the house. "Answer me, Carvo, is this thing working or not?" Marcela began to look worried, gulping at the sound of approaching marching. "I am not done yet. I have more ways to do this." Carvo nervously worked his way through his strange tangled machinery. He was invested in solving this matter right there, at that moment.

"The borders have been crossed! We must retreat to the north!" Ali broke through the basement door. "H-how did this happen?" Marcela gasped in fear. "They're winning." Carvo muttered. He observed the fear-stricken faces f the young soldiers then looked back at the suffering fake Brando unable to decide what to do, yet knowing that it's either the honor of saving this city or nothing.

"Go." Carvo ordered them. "I don't need your help anymore, Marcela. Take them and go, you should be able to make it." Carvo ordered them as he heard the retreating troops and the dragging of their machinery scrap the molten snow. The landing of the flying monsters shook the rooftops across the street. "Leave it here or just kill it!" Marcela asked him. "It's not worth it!" She cried. "No kid. It's more than worthy. Go!"He shouted at her and the soldiers, asking them to leave as he understood the risk he was taking.

II. A man's determination.

A young boy amazed by everything surrounding him, curious about all that's peculiar to his eyes, that was Carvo. His eyes were windows to the mysteries underneath the surface of what he could perceive. His teachers were embarrassed by their silence when his unsolvable questions echoed in the empty classrooms, and his parents avoided his continuous investigations about the tiniest creatures. The only way he could interact with the outside world was through Abigail. She would drag him with her anywhere she went, and he would gladly enjoy what she had to show him. She wouldn't know how to answer his questions, but she knew how to ignite his will to search for an answer on his own. Years passed and tragedy after tragedy turned this smart brain into a battlefield, only using that knowledge to have revenge.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

At a moment, he confronted himself. His will had never been this strong, even if death was imminent. He believed he wouldn't be able to look into his parents' eyes in the afterlife if he couldn't avenge Abigail by saving her. It was either try or die trying.

The battle roared high, approaching his old house yet his hands stayed stable. Carvo exhaled as he glued his eyes to the monitors, pushing the buttons and rewriting parts of his script based on the knowledge he had gained. "They evolve, then I evolve too." He spoke as his fingers were typing faster than his mind worked. The fake Brando's power was fading, his food deprivation was shutting off his body which was a bad sign for Carvo.

"Come on!" He nervously pressed the operating button as he observed Brando's glowing organs, once again awaiting the change in the glowing pattern, but there was nothing. "God damn it!" Carvo muttered as distress almost overtook his concentration. He wandered off to the monitors where he struggled to reach for the error.

The cries were getting louder, and he panicked as he felt the beasts closing in on his tiny crumbling house, devouring him before his research is fulfilled and his sister is saved.

"I can only think of one way to do this." Carvo fixed his monocular as he realized his code was perfectly written. "My work has always been based on assumptions." Carvo sighed as he walked towards the powerless Brando, whimpering in faint consciousness. "My disregard for your will is my mistake." Carvo admitted. "It seems that your human side is apparent, even if there's nothing human left about you." Carvo spoke close to Brandon's ears as gunshots resounded on his front door.

"Listen to me, whoever you are. You have free will to decide what goes on from here." Carvo firmly captured the dissolving attention Brando had. "Break free from your curse and pick a future where you're not a mindless clone." Carvo presented his first option. "Or die while trying to maintain the honor of a dishonored man." Carvo said.

There was blunt truth in Carvo's words, and there was an honesty to the choices he presented. For so long, he viewed Mooncallers as the enemy, the beast that must be treated as cruel as possible and exterminated once available. But after the awakening of his sister, Carvo began to see the truth of this dark matter. There was humanity to be seen through these cold bodies, and there was consciousness lingering in these dead cells. Perhaps the life they were deprived of was a motive to lead another, violently giving everything to protect the twisted shot at existence they were given once again. Carvo had to repress his hatred for a moment and see through this creature in anguish, what motives would lead a mind blindly through a scorching hell? Only a human would have such a will.

Carvo saw the humanity in this machine.

"Choose. It's all your decision. I can only watch, my job is done." Carvo's research concluded now that he understood the barrier wrapped around this creature's mind. The signals wouldn't penetrate this static fortress without the apparent will carried by the receiver. Those years he had misinterpreted his understanding of Gabriel's work, believing that he had reached the climax of analyzing Gabriel's mad triumph only to realize that whatever Gabriel had cooked beyond the steel doors of his prison, he was never close to solving it, and he felt no shame.

As Brando's whimpers died, and his breath faded, Carvo removed the muffle of his mouth. The front door had been knocked down, a bone-chilling scream burst through the wooden halls of the bizarre house. Carvo had accepted whatever came his way as he awaited the fake Brando's answer.

"A name. All you need is a name. You had one before, long before he stole it from you." Carvo spoke to Brando who was in unimaginable suffering with a body slashed open.

"Your silence isn't a choice." Carvo said while looking into the eyes flowing with emotions he would never believe he would see.

A battle ensued in the living room of the house. One whose fate could be determined through the grunting of the human soldier and alerted Carvo that his fate was closer than he believed.

"L-Lalo." Brando groaned. "I don't-" he coughed. "remember... I want to go back." His red eyes let a few tears. "To what, Lalo?" Carvo's enthusiasm kicked back as he asked him.

"Home."

Like magic, the blue-ish glow pattern danced across the revived body as the fake Brando, originally carrying the name Lalo. The body spasmed violently across the table as screams fled Lalo's injured mouth.

An attempt to open the basement's door was ongoing as Carvo ran to the monitors, observing the signals and the code being strangely rewritten as if Lalo's and Brando's codes rivaled for supremacy over this shapeshifter's brain. Carvo read carefully, letting his old eyes inspect the morbid beauty of that battle, a man's trapped consciousness, and an overlord wickedly suppressing it, submerging it underneath a thick layer of a replicated identity.

"Impressive.." Carvo watched the increasing and decreasing lines. Lalo's screams had led the beast battalions into the hideout yet all Carvo felt was a strange triumph. He had scribbled few notes and drafted them into the desk. He had finally swallowed what was coming his way.

The door broke.

All he could see is Lalo's blooming awareness followed by the nightmare cutting its way to destroy both of them. Carvo said his prayers as he watched the creature's claws swing by his neck, aiming to behead him.

But the master of this forbidden art wasn't meant to depart the world that day.

The air became hot as the creature groaned, unable to move. The hotter the air became, the more the creature lost its mobility. That nightmare was like a sawn toy. Carrying the body of a bear, it had sharp metal claws replacing its fingernails and a broken artificial jaw filled with loose wires that ruptured one by one. Oil mixed with blood dripped from its metal vest that wrapped its huge torso stabilizing its movement. The eyes were burning with hunger as its heavy breath became slower, succumbing to its demise in seconds.

"I can't believe it.." Carvo gulped as he heard the city's church bell ring twice, signaling hope of victory.

It was the Twilight Reverie.

It shook every single mooncaller that was a derivative of an animal, knocking down half of the army in seconds. The troops finally saw hope as they found themselves retreating further into the north of the city with no guarantee of saving citizens. The animal Mooncallers were a variety of vicious predators given more power to fulfill an acquired endless lust. They had always been the city's biggest threat due to their large numbers and how easy Gabriel bred them only to end up forming a mindless army of those poor animals.

Carvo snapped out of his amusement and ran towards Lalo, stitching his wounds up as he began to see his life fading away. "Stay strong, Lalo!" He ordered him as he operated on his stolen body, now realizing what Lalo was,

anything but a Mooncaller.

While Carvo's pride fluttered with the blooming of his research, some sought his help by the guiding of his own sister, Abigail. Hiding amidst the alleys, viciously defending themselves as their destination became clearer, the allies broke into the bloody house in search of their savior.

"Carvo!" Abigail cried. "Please be okay..." She hoped. Abigail's cry wouldn't reach Carvo as he was invested in saving Lalo, completely unaware of what's going around him, hoping that the Twilight Reverie's effect will last long enough for him to save Lalo.

Abigail accompanied by Luther and Eman searched the house in panic, terrified by the carcass of the horrifically killed soldier and the knocked down mooncaller, one that was a gigantic wolf with metal armor over it and unimaginable long fangs that extended all the way to its legs.

Abigail heard the ruckus erupting from the basement and Carvo's blabbering. She sighed in relief, signaling her allies to hide and protect the house while she broke through the half-closed basement door.

"Carvo! You're alive!" Abigail cried, yet stood still.

The fear had stricken her eyes once she had seen Carvo feeding Lalo off the meat stock she was told about. Her own brother helping a Mooncaller, one she wasn't aware of. Abigail's berserk state hadn't subsided completely, and inside her still was the lust to feed her hunger yet her resilience was one of a kind.

As the two siblings stared at each other, they realized that many explanations must be made.

But at last, the siblings were finally reunited.