Beastforged Bond

B4 Chapter 24

It was still hard to believe how my talk with the Zerogs had turned out. I had expected my parents to be overwhelmed, and they were. They hadn’t said much, but the look in their eyes weighed more than a thousand words: everything that had been happening was too much for them.All my parents had ever wanted was for me to be healthy. To get rid of my cursed body by bonding a small Wild beast. It wouldn’t have mattered if the Wild beast had a low potential either. All I’d needed was a way to access ether to feed my body. That I ended up working myself to the bone, or that the Zerogs would be interested in sponsoring me to join the Grand Camp, hadn’t been on their minds. Neither had everything that followed.

Now that I was the first Blessed bonded to a beast with the potential to reach the Emperor rank, that still hadn’t changed. Mom and Dad wanted me to live a happy life – to be healthy. But that was hard. Not the first part, because I was happy with my life, but the healthy part.

I was fairly certain my parents regretted helping me awaken after they saw me return home drenched in blood and covered in injuries. However, that wasn’t going to change anything. The past couldn’t be altered. The only thing we could change was the future, by preparing appropriately in the present.

And that was exactly what we did.

Merlin was on my side. That had been the biggest surprise of my talk with the Zerogs. Although maybe it shouldn’t have surprised me that much. He had known about the Elemental Phoenix and had never exposed me. He also had his reasons for wanting to kill the Ruler of Fire.

Kill him. That was going to be our plan.

Thinking about it, I couldn’t help but feel like we were crazy.

I wondered, which pulled me back to yet another matter.

“Can you tell me more about Sera? I have some guesses, but–”

Daniel interrupted me with a smile. “But you thought asking me would be easier? You wanted to know the truth rather than keep guessing?”

I nodded. My parents had been the first to leave the room. They excused themselves and retreated to their rooms with their Blackbellied Gibbon Soulkins, their expressions ghastly pale. I should have followed them to talk in a more private setting, but I stayed behind, feeling…odd. Unsure of what to say to them. What was there to say in the first place? It wasn’t like I had wanted to bind the Elemental Phoenix. I was used to Volix now and would never surrender him to anyone, let alone Raffael Torch, but still…what was I supposed to tell my parents?

Daniel’s parents were easier to handle. They promised to keep quiet about the Elemental Phoenix and left to attend to other matters with Merlin.

Their reaction had been the most pleasant. They took the news in stride and moved forward, their willingness to sacrifice everything for their family’s well-being as clear as day. After my revelation, I had expected them to hate me for endangering their lives, and their children’s, but that wasn’t the case. If anything, Peter seemed to respect me more, while Chloe Zerog treated me with the same kindness as ever.

In their eyes, nothing had changed.

Lea was not quite the same. She, too, had a lot to think about after my revelation–and Merlin’s earnest wish to kill the Ruler of Fire, of course.

“Sera…” Lea sat back down after standing up. “She was a kind woman. Very beautiful, yet all the more dangerous. Sera was strong. I wanted to be like her.” She sighed and ignored Daniel’s glare as she continued. “Sera was my uncle’s lover. He loved her dearly. Enough to break his childhood engagement with the Varyn family and propose to her. If I remember correctly, it was quite dramatic…yet it was all for nothing.”

Lea barely had time to take a breath before Daniel interrupted and continued where his sister had left off.

“Sera was strong. One of the greatest Seekers, despite being only half their age. She was amazing, but she was killed a decade ago. An ‘incident,’ the officials said.”

“Why are you interrupting me, Daniel? You were only five when all that happened!” Lea snapped at him, snapping her fingers. “Shut up and let me finish!”

She cleared her throat, seemingly oblivious to how much I enjoyed their little banter.

“The Council pronounced Sera’s death an accident. Uncle Merlin doesn’t believe them. He never did. He’s adamant it wasn’t an incident, and that the Ruler of Fire killed her. Why? I don’t know. I was only seven and lost someone I held dear.” Her expression changed, her gaze dropping as old pain surfaced.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

She had loved Sera dearly.

“I know why!” Daniel said smugly, seemingly oblivious to his sister’s mood. He was just happy to know something she didn’t. “Sera had to complete a mission for the Ruler of Fire. She must have failed, and the Ruler, in his quick temper, must have killed her.”

“That’s not ,” Lea snapped. “That’s just guessing.”

Either way, it was a reasonable guess. If Sera had been given a mission by the Ruler of Fire and failed… it wasn’t hard to imagine how he would have reacted.

I wondered, but discarded the thought. Only the Ruler of Fire knew what had truly happened.

After all, Sera never officially returned from the mission.

Maybe she was not dead. She could have left the Bastion and never returned. I didn’t think so, yet it was a possibility. One I kept to myself before changing the subject.

“What are we doing now?” I asked with a wry smile.

Lea rolled her eyes at me, giving me a look like I was an idiot. “Now you go to your parents’ room to talk to them.”

A groan escaped my lips. It only worsened the look on her face.

“What?!” she snapped. “You saw the look on their faces. They’re scared shitless. And that’s certainly not because your parents are scared for their own lives. Your mother and father are scared because of you. Because you keep ignoring your physical and mental health.” She pointed her finger wildly at me. “Do you even know how worried they are when you return looking more dead than alive? Everyone was worried about you!”

My lips parted, but they sealed shut just as quickly. There was no excuse. I had made my parents worry.

Unable to come up with a good rebuke, I tried something new. “ was worried about me? Does that include you?”

It sounded weird coming out of my mouth, but it worked quite well.

A pink tinge rose to her cheeks. Then Lea threw her arms into the air and hurled a series of curses at me.

“Denial is a strong affirmation. Didn’t you know that, sister?” Daniel chuckled from the side. “And whoa, you are sprinting!”

Ether poured into the room a moment later, and Lea attacked. Not me, but her brother–her fist coming in hot. Daniel’s smile widened, lightning currents crackled along his skin, and he turned into a blur.

I watched the siblings fight in the Room of Silence.

“What a weird family.”

***

I didn’t get to tell anyone about the sproutling. Or the Spirits. Or about the Voices, and that Aureus was a sacred beast. Only Daniel knew about the sproutling before the revelation, but he didn’t seem to care all that much about it. Neither did the others when Daniel pointed out the human-eating tree’s sapling I’d bound.

That went over their heads.

Aureus said.

That was probably it. In the first place, it wasn’t like they had to know everything. If they were really curious, they could ask.

Then again, it wasn’t like many Blessed talked in detail about their Soulkins and their traits. It was a private matter for most Blessed.

One way or another, I was happy. Relieved that my parents and the Zerogs finally knew the truth. A heavy weight had been lifted off my shoulders. Now all that was left was a talk with my parents.

Uncertainty gripped my heart, but my Soulkins reassured me. There was nothing to worry about. My parents had always been supportive. It was just that they were overly protective as well, and that was the crux of the problem.

Three years ago, I was helpless. Too weak to do most sports, let alone fight ferocious beasts in the wilderness. That was no longer the case. Times had changed quickly..

My parents hadn’t seen me often. They hadn’t seen me fight before. Then came the Grand Camp, and I returned stronger than ever. Strong enough to spar with Lea, which was the first real fight they’d seen me in. The shock in their eyes was still etched in my mind.

Countless thoughts flashed through my mind as I approached my parents’ room, but none wanted to stay. They disappeared as quickly as they came.

I was just about to knock when my mother’s sobs made me freeze. My mind went blank, and my senses sharpened.

“What are we supposed to do, dear? What can we do?” Mom’s voice quivered. “He almost died a few days ago! He…H-He’s been getting more and more injured, and now they want to fight the Ruler of Fire? I… I don’t want that. I don’t want to lose another child. I can’t lose him!”

Her voice grew more frantic, increasingly difficult to understand. She continued to sob while my father’s calm, soothing voice followed, consoling Mom as best as he could.

I stayed frozen, my head throbbing.

I had a sibling? That… that couldn’t be. There had never been another child in our flat. We were always a family of three. Right?

My instincts told me to charge into the room to question my parents–to learn more about the sibling I never met, or did I meet him… or her(?)–but the pain in Mom’s voice broke my heart. Even Dad sounded like he was in anguish as he consoled her.

So I did the only thing I could think of.

I stormed into the room, startling my parents, and embraced them tightly.

“Everything is fine,” I said, my voice cracking. “Sorry for making you worry so much about me.”

Mom broke into tears again, and so did Dad as he pulled us into an even tighter hug.

Growing stronger was important, but so was family. Always had been. Always would be.

Sometimes it was hard to balance everything. That only meant I had to work even harder to make more time for the people I love dearly.