As the sun got ready to set, Kai’s eyes finally opened. Adjusting to the darkness, he slowly stood up, rubbing his head while looking around. Much to his surprise, he found himself in a dark, small room, surrounded by Aina, Elizabeth, and Euphridia, who looked at him with complex expressions. Elly’s pupils trembled, tears forming in the corner of her eye. Disbelief, confusion, and fear manifested on her face, but above all, worry. She felt her anxious heart calm down, however the anger burning within couldn’t disappear just as easily. Her mother let out a long and heavy sigh as her head shook disapprovingly. Euphridia on the other hand, stared at Kai with visible shock, and even a hint of fear.
“What’s going on…?” He asked in a faint unsure voice, which barely left his body as he stood straight. His heart raced with anxiety, and a pit formed in his stomach as his lips parted. “I can ex-”
“Shut up.” Elizabeth’s condescending tone sent shivers down his spine. A tear formed in the corner of his eyes as he looked at her with an expression of disbelief.
“Elly I-”
However, the sound of a sharp slap quickly interrupted him. Finding himself looking toward the wall, his body shivered as sobbing sounds echoed in his ears. The room of earth around them opened slightly, and Elizabeth quickly left as she sealed it back again.
Kai remained flabbergasted, his cheek flashing red as Elly’s handprint manifested on his face. Turning toward Aina, whatever words he had remained stuck in his throat as their eyes locked. Her disapproving expression sent a sharp pain through his heart, as if a sword pierced it and then pulled it out while crushing his chest.
“Kai… why did you do this?” Aina’s current tone didn’t resemble any of her previous mannerisms, and it didn’t sound this broken even when she fought with Elizabeth. “You’re smarter than this…”
“Aina… I- I wanted to hurry things up. I couldn’t stand being so weak anymore and… thinking of Haniard and my parents… Something came over me… I’m… I’m sorry.”
She sighed and placed her hand over his shoulder as her lips parted. “Kai, I don’t think sorry will fix it this time…” She lowered her head before saying, “Come on, go rest, we need to have a conversation later.” His heart skipped a beat as her words landed in his ears, however he could do nothing but watch as Aina dispelled the magic around them. She slowly walked to the manor, rubbing her temples as she disappeared into the darkness.
An awkward silence descended upon Kai and Euphridia, who jumped in place as he turned toward her. They looked in silence at each other, however, Kai could tell she didn’t feel entirely safe around him at the moment. Euphy’s mind raced with thoughts, images of the boy she trained during the last six months flashing before her eyes. However, they quickly mixed with the form he took earlier, and it almost seemed like another person. She stood up, her blood-covered hands trembling slightly as she hid them behind her back. “I’ll go home now, take care of yourself…” Her armor rattled as she hurried away toward the gate, similarly disappearing into the distance, leaving Kai all alone.
He stood in the middle of the training ground, at his feet a pool of blood and sweat. Scattered moon rays crashed against his skin, revealing the wounds created by the sun. Although his transformation healed some of them, most of them already began scarring. Despite his inability to see them, he felt them cover his back and arms. Sighing, he picked up the empty bag that previously held the pills and dragged his feet toward the manor, leaving the mess he made behind.
…
The door to his room slowly creaked open, however its usual emptiness was instead filled with Onyx’s faint silhouette. He jumped up from his corner and rushed toward Kai, who flopped on the bed and let out a heavy sigh as he pat Onyx’s fur. “Ah, boy… I fucked up…” The Obborik turned his head sideways in response as if asking Kai to elaborate.
“Don’t worry about it…” He said, turning on his back, and staring at the chandelier hanging above him. “It’s just… I did something reckless, worried a lot of people, and… scared them. Maybe even drove them away…” His voice quivered as he recalled the last moments before transforming.
I couldn’t think straight… I had to do something. That was the best thing I could do but… wow. He thought as he inspected his mana veins. 96.3 percent of his veins had completely healed, leaving only some smaller gaps that would need a little bit more time to repair. However, the thing that Kai was the most worried about was his core. Circular, rope-like marks covered its surface, some parts of it corrupted by something.
A shiver ran down Kai’s spine as he pictured the only method he had found of activating his dragon form. So I was right in the end, if it detects I’m in danger, it activates automatically… However had I not been careful I would have died right then and there. Thankfully, my idea worked, otherwise…” Thinking about it, Kai began to fully understand the three’s frustrations, and his stomach dropped as he realized just how truly reckless what he had done was. I could have died… I- Aargh! Yelling internally, he turned and punched a pillow before throwing it toward the door, which creaked open at that exact same moment. The pillow hit Aina right in the face, but she paid it no mind while kicking it away.
The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
“Did you finally realize just how fucking stupid you were?”
Kai stared at her in silence, lowering his head while clenching his fists. “You nearly died, you were within an inch… if it weren’t for Euphridia waking us up you would have died before the sun even rose! And if it weren’t for that bizarre form of yours even I would have been unable to do anything… Kai, is revenge that important?!” Aina’s voice rose higher and higher, however never turning into a full yell. Instead, her tone became more stoic, although some hint of worry and anxiety occasionally slipped through her voice cracks. Kai nodded and dug his nails into deeper into his fists as he parted his lips.
“Revenge… Yes. I’m… I don’t know. I just don’t want to be weak… I don’t want my parent’s death to have been…” Kai bit his lower as he swallowed the words he was about to say. “I want to fix myself, I want to repair my body… that is all.”
Aina’s eyebrow raised, however, she only sighed and sat down next to the boy. Grabbing him in a tight hand, she caressed his silver locks and said in a voice barely above a whisper. “It’s alright boy… you can tell me when you’re ready. Take your time, what matters is that you came out alive and well…” Kai froze for a moment, however, unclenching his fists, he hugged Aina as well and took in a deep breath. “I forgive you,” she said softly “However I’m not sure if Elizabeth can do that just yet… and Euphridia… I don’t know what happened with her.”
“She seemed scared…”
“Yeah, I was… I was too. I know you told me about your form but I could have never imagined it would be so… terrifying.”
“Terrifying?”
“The presence coming out of it… I- I felt so little, so powerless… Like an ant standing on a blade of grass watching the deer walk by. I almost wanted to kneel and worship you… and Euphridia nearly bowed. I put up a barrier around her to isolate your aura but even that was barely enough. Kai, I’ve never heard of that before, how did you manage to summon it?”
Hearing that, a knot formed in Kai’s heart, knowing he was going to get scolded as soon as he told the truth. However, despite all that, he gulped and explained the process to Aina. “I knew… it would be too late and that was the only solution I could come up with. However, the last time it came out by itself when I got… angry, and mad, I was broken and devastated and Haniard’s aura almost crushed me. The only thing that came to mind was… if something threatened to kill me, it would come out. I thought that the wounds from the sun and the rampant energies inside me could be enough so I waited… and waited… and… nothing. In the end, I- I wrapped mana around my core and started tightening it, tighter, tighter. The pain almost made me pass out, however, I held strong until… Until I felt my blood boil, the feral energies calmed down instantly, and… I lost consciousness shortly after.”
Aina’s expression turned to shock and horror as soon as Kai’s words landed in her ears, and her arms trembled as they stopped carrying his hair. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, sighing. “You’re… insane.”
“Yeah, I may be… but I had to take action. I do… know I was in the wrong. I overestimated myself, or rather, I didn’t think about my actions at all. It-”
“Shh…” Aina interrupted him. “I understand… but you were way too reckless.” She looked down at him and rested her on his head. “What am I going to do with you? Even your father wasn’t this stupid.”
Kai chuckled and escaped Aina’s grasp, as he looked up at her. “It seems like my father was also a troublemaker…”
“Haha, yeah.” Aina laughed. “You’ve still got a few hundred years before you can catch up to the amount of headaches he’s given me. Although Elizabeth never quite got used to the amount of times he nearly lost his head.”
“Elizabeth…” Kai’s smile died down as he thought about her expression. Rubbing his face, he inhaled deeply before letting out a sigh. “I don’t know how to make up to her… I should have thought this through…”
“Just give her some time… after losing her father… Ray and Elena… you’re their last living relative. You’re… the only image left of them…”
Kai lowered his head upon hearing Aina’s words, his hands trembling as they clenched into a fist. “I was too inconsiderate… I thought that if I just did it everything would end well. If I just became stronger… I- I didn’t think about any of your feelings.”
Aina smiled softly and patted his shoulder. “Just remember to think more than once next time. For now, just leave Elizabeth alone, for now, she’ll come around.”
Nodding, Kai exhaled sharply and relaxed his body. His anxious heart kept beating, and the hole in his stomach grew bigger as Elizabeth’s crying footsteps echoed in his mind. Ruffling his hair one last time, Aina left the room, gently closing the door behind her, leaving Kai in complete darkness, safe for the chandelier. Onyx scooted closer and rested his head on Kai’s lap, letting out a low yelp while licking his hand.
“Hehe… good boy…” Kai mumbled as he flopped on the bed, staring at the ceiling as he slowly fell asleep.