Chapter 12

Luis ordered the changelings under his control to attack the changelings in front of him. The brown scaled dug its claws into an ape changeling with two upper bodies, the nails of the reptilian creature slicing both of its bodies from the waist up off like an ax cleanly splitting wood. The avian changeling under his control began violently pecking out the eyes of a dinosaur-like monster, the creature now blinded from the gouging of its pupils.

As the dinosaur changeling began stumbling around while screeching in pain, the bony, skeletal changeling's arms began morphing into lance-like objects that he willed to drive into the dinosaur changeling's chest. The white spear came out the other side of its body, causing purple blood and even greater screeches to elicit from the monster. After removing the weapon from it, the changeling fell over dead.

As the brown reptile began wrestling with another changeling and the avian changeling under his control attacked a bull-like changeling, he then willed the skeletal changeling to walk over to one of the capture crates. He willed the skeletal creature to change its arm into a sword blade before slashing at the metal box. At first, he only made a shallow cut on the box's surface, but Luis began hacking away at the box's exterior. Finally, the box opened up after being slashed enough times.

Once opened from the wide gash, many Remnant Village inhabitants tumbled onto the ground. They looked up at the skeletal changeling in fear before recognizing the blue cloth wrapped around its neck. They smiled and cheered in relief.

"Luiz!" one man said.

"Thank you!" a young woman screamed. "You're our hero!"

"Yes," he said through the skeletal changeling's voice. "But I hope you know that these changelings have been led here by the new inhabitant, Aaron. Thomas was the one who accepted him, and now look at what happened."

A sudden realization dawned on them that Luiz was right. As the newly freed members of the Remnant Village began standing up, they looked at him with renewed hope and optimism. Luis smiled at the sight.

Just what I needed. Luis thought.

"That's right," a young man said. "That new Armor wielder came here yesterday, and now Fulir's forces found us."

"Thomas has made a grievous error in accepting him," Luis said. "You can't trust him anymore. However, I knew he was in trouble and would have never allowed this to happen."

"Then you should have been our chief instead!" someone said.

He smiled through the changeling's skull-like face.

"Of course."

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Thomas's strength was enough that one punch killed the armadillo changeling immediately. Even with its back turned to him and only its shell facing him, the blow from his fist shattered half of its outer surface before the monster crumbled to the ground. From the corner of his eye, he saw a skeletal changeling rush at him after morphing its hand into a spear made of bones.

Thomas immediately turned around and held his palm open at the charging creature. A cavity in his palm appeared from which a yellow mass of flesh and fur appeared. A lion twice the size of a normal one jettisoned from the opening in his arm before charging forward. It opened its maw wide and bit down hard on the newly constructed weapon before ripping the changeling's entire limb off. After doing so, it jumped atop the monster and began tearing into it with razor teeth.

He turned back to where he was walking, quickly closing the distance between himself and the capture crate. As he drew back his fist to punch it, he felt something sink into his wrist. Thomas cried out in pain before finding a silver, eyeless dragon head had chomped its teeth into the base of his hand. Just as he tried wrestling against it, the long, rope-like neck behind it jerked him off his feet and threw him to the ground.

Thomas jettisoned across a bed of suppression needles before standing up, noticing his right wrist bleeding profusely. Taking the head with his free left hand, he pried the dragon head off before punching it away. Thomas was impressed with the sharpness of the teeth as they had dug nearly to the bone. He looked at his attacker to face a familiar, pale-faced man with dark hair. At Thomas's will, the lion he had conjured rushed to his side as the head of the dragon that Kyle had was eliciting growls as it hovered in the air.

"You fugitives prove to be resilient," Kyle said. "Like cockroaches."

"Why?" Thomas asked. "Why, Kyle? You know we're poor and destitute...barely struggling to survive. You know this... you've lived with us. We're not a threat to anyone in this state… so why?"

"Because as long as you remain alive as fugitives, there is always the chance you will rebel and cause trouble for us," Kyle said. "I know this because I have lived with you. Some of the Remnant Village leaders suggested all-out war with Fulir."

"And no one acted on those promptings because we knew we would lose!" Thomas yelled. "Is freedom too much to demand, especially for all the trouble we've been through?!"

The other dragon head that Kyle had for a hand stretched forward, forming a worm-like body as the head growled at Thomas.

"Come with me," Kyle offered. "If you surrender now and prove your loyalty to Fulir you will live. Who knows, you might even be a general like me."

"I would sooner die," Thomas seethed. "After all the people they've taken from us, my wife and child...do you think I would ever do such a thing?"

"Well," Thomas said. "The way I see it...you have no chance of winning. My Dragon Armor is a Successive Advancement Armor, so it's inherently more powerful than most Armors."

Thomas opened his palm for another lion to appear from the cavity he had created. He ordered them to attack Kyle, charging headfirst at him. Their roars were strong enough even to scare Thomas.

"So is mine!" Thomas cried. "And a human's fighting spirit can triumph over tyranny!"

The dragon heads clamped down onto the yellow-furred beasts' midsection, tearing them half as easily as a blade cutting twine. Thomas shook in fear at the sight of his two attack animals bisected on the ground in front of him, blood coloring the purple inside Seren red. He stepped back in fear as Thomas walked toward him.

"A human's spirit," Kyle said. "Is as small and worthless as a worm under a giant's foot."

Aaron beat the exterior of the capture crate with everything he had. His fist pounded into the metal surface with his fists as hard as he could before the people inside came flooding out. Dozens of frightened people plunged at his feet, moaning in fear. He bent down to help up one elderly woman, scared for her safety. Aaron was about to escort them back to their homes before hearing a roar behind him.

He turned around to see a changeling charging at him from the side. Aaron jumped up before kicking the changeling to the side of its neck without even looking at its form. He found it was almost perfectly humanoid, its only strange features being its long green hair and fanged teeth. It slumped against the metal crate after the single kick and went unconscious.

Aaron looked around to find his world in chaos. The manus houses were either ripped to shreds or burned. The invading forces had uprooted the garden, and the corpses of changelings littered in between. The village members fled deeper into the bowels of Seren, taking the suppression spikes and armloads of food with them. Luiz led those who escaped while Akemi was fighting the Armor wielder coated in yellow blades.

The villagers who could transform into changelings formed a wall against the enemy, either killing their pursuers or dying to them. The line of changelings prevented any further Fulir attackers from getting close to the Remnant Villagers. While this protected their group, it also meant most changelings living in Seren were dead.

It was another clear sign the Remnant Village was on the losing side. If Aaron had to give an estimate, he'd say the Fulir forces had taken half the Village. The changelings still alive far outnumbered the changelings of the Remnant Village. Kaitlyn was in her human form, accompanying the rest of the village members.

But the worst was how Kyle defeated Thomas. His arms had been ripped off and lay near him as he bled from his shoulders. Every lion Thomas conjured from his body was either eviscerated or snapped in half. Kyle bit flesh from Thomas's torso and legs as he struggled to stand.

Kyle stood over him, the silver scales of his Armor undaunted from the battle with Thomas. Eyeless, reptilian mouths covered his hands and were dyed red with Kyle's blood. With each second, Aaron couldn't stand the sight any longer, anger and guilt boiling in him.

I have caused harm to innocent people. He thought. Just as I did when Gale pushed me out of the car's way to save me. My presence…it harms people.

His self-control was slipping away. His guilt was becoming strong enough that Aaron wished to lash out. His hands balled into fists as a strange sensation rose within Aaron: the wish to kill.

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"Do not interfere!" Owen shouted. "You cannot win against-!"

Aaron rushed forward as he detached the leaf scarf from around his neck. While grasping the stem, the palm frond stiffened like metal as he slashed at Kyle. The enemy Armor wielder was too focused on Thomas to see Aaron as the young man attacked from the corner of his vision.

Kyle attempted to jump back, but it was too late. The leaf sword carved through the reptilian scales and sliced into his flesh. Blood reddened his silver Armor after the stiffened leaf emerged from his body.

The enemy Armor wielder plummeted to the ground while shrieking. Kyle attempted to get to his feet before Aaron drove the frond scarf through his left shoulder. His shouts of pain were loud enough to give Aaron a headache as the leaf sword stabbed into the bowels of Seren. Kyle wriggled in pain as he was helplessly stuck to the ground while losing a great deal of blood.

Aaron glared at Owen within his Soul Chamber. The former Armor wielder shot him a disgusting glare that broke into panic as he faced Aaron. The young man glared back.

"You told me I couldn't beat Kyle because I could kill him," Aaron said. "You're such a patsy for the kingdom of Fulir you'd be willing to lie. You don't want me to fight Kyle…"

The wielder of the Absorption Armor smacked Kyle in the face to elicit another grunt of agony.

"Because I can defeat him," he said.

Owen could not say anything more. The grinding of metal behind him began to cease until it almost stopped. His brass face stopped shining like metal and began to dull. Aaron knew for sure this confirmed his suspicion.

"Coward," Aaron said. "You're no knight of justice. Just a lapdog for an evil government."

The young man turned for a second to find Thomas's Armor withdrawing back into his body. He was now an average human, his limbs regrown and his robe now cloaking most of his body. Thomas gave Aaron a grateful nod before running toward the rest of the Remnant Village.

"He won't be able to use his Armor for a while," Helena said. "Once a wielder successfully reverts their Access Armor, their body fully regenerates. However, the more the Armor itself is damaged, the longer it takes for the suit to repair itself. Thomas will be vulnerable at that time."

Aaron looked down at Kyle to see the wielder grabbing the leaf sword with a dragon head. He tried wrestling the botanical blade out of his body before Aaron drew from the experience of the former wielders. Within his Soul Chamber, he rushed toward Helena and pressed his hand against her face. Aron was looking for the weapon on his Armor that would hurt the most.

Found it! He thought.

He opened his right hand wide as the white bark became permeable. Aaron transferred growth energy from his body into an object that rested within his arm. A green cone-shaped seed emerged from his palm, and he tightened his fingers around it. The unopened pine cone was almost arrow-shaped and almost twice the length of Aaron's hand.

"Aaron," Helena said. "You need to flee with the rest of the Village. Get out of her and-"

Kyle had almost wrenched the leaf sword from his body before Aaron threw the seed into his face. He rammed the tip of the pinecone into Kyle's right eye, chipping his silver scales to reveal his skin and dark irises. After it was jammed into his face the pinecone's spines opened and exploded.

"Gahh!" he shouted.

The explosion had revealed more of his face, and the resulting burst of blood reddened Aaron's white hand. Half of Kyle's helmet was gone, and every bit of the exposed flesh was wounded. Wedge-shaped seeds had jammed into his flesh and right eye. Half of his face was full of gashes that reddened the remainder of his helmet with blood. What part of Kyle's mouth Aaron could see was ajar with screams.

"Aaron that's enough!" Helena shouted.

"Stop hurting Kyle!" Owen cried. "He's too good to deserve this!"

Aaron was punching Kyle's revealed jaw while they shouted for him to stop. Without protection from the Dragon Armor, his cheekbones shattered and molded into large dents. His human skin was as malleable as clay beneath Aaron's fists. His face bent backward from the blows.

Every shout of pain was cathartic to Aaron. The amount of rage he had was alien to him, and there was nothing he could do to hold it back. The idea that he was the one who led the army of changelings here hurt him. Pain coursed through Aaron's body, his heart pumping pain into his blood.

They would have been safe…Aaron thought. Secure and untouched if I hadn't shown up. I put their lives in danger just like Gale's was. I can't…I can't forgive him. Once again, other people are suffering for my sake.

"What about you wanting to become a doctor?!" Owen shouted. "Didn't you want to save lives because you had a debt to repay?! You knew you shouldn't have survived and owed a sacrifice to the world! Gale could have died, and you made a promise because of it!"

"What of it?!" Aaron shouted. "What promise did I make?!"

"The promise to save lives and never let anyone die!" Owen shouted.

Aaron stopped beating Kyle. His anger ceased flowing for a moment. The world suddenly slowed down. Aaron couldn't move, but it looked like no one else was moving either.

He looked down at Kyle to realize he required medical attention. His facial wounds were deep, and the wedge-like seeds were sticking into him like thorns. Kyle had stopped screaming. His face was so disfigured. His mouth had swollen to twice its normal size. He was barely breathing, and his body was shaking with pain.

I've seen pictures of this before. Aaron thought. After car crashes of passengers who wore no seat belts or a trainwreck. He looks like a patient who'd be rushed to the ER…a place I swore I'd never leave. Because…because the ambulance rushed Gale there after he saved me. And now I'm acting as Gregor would want me to.

He became disgusted at the thought of making Gregor happy. Aaron stood up and looked down at his hands. It was like he dipped them in pools of red paint. He'd seen something like that in mock surgery sessions. Their instructors ordered the students to dip their hands in fake blood to desensitize them to gore. They'd have to have a strong stomach to be a surgeon.

But my hands are covered in blood, trying to kill someone rather than heal them. Aaron thought. I'm evil. Just as I imagined murderers who gave me patients would be.

Within his Soul Chamber, Aaron looked up at Owen. Even as manipulative as the former wielder was, Owen was right to call him a hypocrite. His life was no longer his own. It would be another sin if Aaron abandoned his resolve never to kill.

I promised I'd never let another person die for my sake. He thought. Never.

He stood up from Kyle and took the stem of the hardened leaf protruding from the ground. He ripped it out of the floor of Seren before attaching it back to his neck. He winced at the harsh sight before looking around.

Changelings stood behind him with hesitant glances. Some were on the side of Remnant Village, while others served Kyle. The changelings fighting for Fulir had the capture crates behind them. The changelings of the Remnant Village looked particularly wounded, most of them having twice as many scars as their enemy. It made sense, as there were twice as many changelings on Fulir's side.

And they stood still and stared at Aaron. They hadn't attacked him while Aaron was pummeling Kyle. At first, Aaron was confused as to why but now he understood.

Kyle commands that much presence. He realized. He's not just a general. He carries an aura of intimidation and authority around him. The Dragon Armor…how powerful is it?

"Yes," Owen said. "You recognized you were being a hypocrite. Now withdraw your forces, so you don't break your promise and do not kill."

Aaron could feel Owen's influence spreading through him. The wide metal tendrils behind his face began clashing together with intense speed again. His will was growing stronger. Like how Gregor tempted Aaron to abandon his morals, Owen was doing the same thing. Both were sending their emotions into the host of the Absorption Armor. But the difference between them was Aaron was allowing Owen to influence him.

"Yes," Helena agreed. "The Remnant Village changelings are on the losing side of this battle. Flee now and call the rest off."

Aaron waved to the changelings and gestured for them to flee.

"Enough!" he shouted. "Let them get their general. You've fought well enough."

The Village changelings withdrew from their entanglement with the enemy before scurrying forward. They headed in the direction the Remnant Villagers had gone in. Aaron followed along after them, looking back as they raced into the bowels of Seren.

The changelings raced toward Kyle, picking him up and urging him to demorph. Aaron watched the Dragon Armor Wielder as long as he could. He saw the scales retreat into his body. Kyle's face quickly healed, and flesh grew over the gashes Aaron had made. It was a relief to see.

I'm glad no one had to suffer for my survival. Aaron thought. Even if I kill in self-defense, it means I sacrificed another person for my existence. And that'd be selfish on my part.

"You did the honorable thing," Owen said.

Aaron hung his head at the brass-faced wielder in his Soul Chamber. This time, he felt Owen was evil for being complicit in Fulir's underhanded tactics. Now Aaron understood Owen had a strong sense of morality in his own way. It had not been the first time the other wielder exposed the chink in Aaron's definition of good and evil.

Am I selfish for wanting to protect my loved ones? He thought. Or is it a better question, am I selfish in general? I've tried doing the right thing ever since I gained this Armor. Can't I call myself a good person?

"You are a good person," Helena said, sensing his thoughts. "I knew that ever since you gained the Absorption Armor."

He turned to the woman's face atop the dark water.

"Why did you want me to spare Kyle?" Aaron asked. "You have no loyalty to Fulir. You encouraged me to rebel against them. So why should I have spared their general?"

Helena's expression became more somber than usual. The water behind her took on a strange current. The surface remained still, but beneath, Kyle could see darker liquid flowing at an even more rapid pace. Aaron understood the reason for this change through the emotional permeation of the Soul Chamber.

A reason she doesn't want to reveal. Aaron thought. Something secretive and…complex.

"Because I could see what it was doing to you," Helena said. "The self-hatred from guilt was causing you to act unnaturally. Seeing someone go from sparing their enemies to brutalizing someone was…was horrifying."

"Don't give me that," Aaron said. "There's something else…some deeper reason you wanted Kyle spared."

The dark current beneath the surface of the water was increasing in strength.

"Aaron," Helena said. "The world…no, the universe is so complicated it's beyond understanding. There are so many reasons for so many different people doing what they must in a cruel existence that…that sometimes you can't help but pity them. Even if they oppose you."

"What?" Aaron asked.

"She's saying she recognizes Kyle's nobility despite fighting him," Owen said. "Helena is soft…soft enough to sympathize with someone trying to kill her. And as laughable as that trait is…she knows Kyle fights for no other reason than he believes what he's doing is right."

"So you can't bring yourself to kill someone like that?" Aaron asked.

"I have a tenderness for anyone who does their best in this cruel universe," Helena said. "Anyone who puts others before themselves in every situation… I'll always secretly admire. Even if they work for Fulir."

"See," Owen said. "Even a traitor like her acknowledges the character of Fulir's warriors."

"Kyle has defended the kingdom of Fulir many times before," she said. "And saved untold millions of innocents. I…I would regret if someone like that ever died, and I could have saved them."

She smiled at him.

"It is why I've taken such a liking to you," Helena said. "Aaron…no matter what choice you make… I'll stand by you. Because I know you will always put others before yourself."

He hung his head in shame. Her words didn't make him feel better. All it did was place a burden on Aaron's shoulders. The obligation to live up to another person's expectations of good and evil. As if he didn't have enough duties already.

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Kyle stood up after having taken the Dragon Armor off. The surviving changelings surrounded him under his command. They had eight remaining capture crates, but they'd lost more than a third of their changelings and seasoned Armor Wielders. Kyle felt he had failed as he was responsible for the campaign to capture the Absorption Armor Wielder.

"I have failed you," Kyle said.

"No, you have not," Lord Terrak.

They spoke through the communicator implanted in Kyle's body.

"Everything that has transpired has fallen in line with expectations," Terrak said. "You have done well to fulfill our plans."

"Wait!" Kyle said. "So-! So you expected this to happen?!"

"Yes," his king said. "Every step you and the Absorption Armor Wielder have made. Now…time to wait for their next move."