Losing Humanity, Slipping Sanity

Cielo watched the retreating figures of Levon Satova and Amyr Ruen from the room.

Sighing, he finally looked at the silent Velicia Aberon. To crack the gnawing silence between them, he spoke the moment he stood. “I can’t believe that the longest series of words I ever heard from you is because you are defending me.” He scooped Velicia’s petite body swiftly before he stopped midway to the wheelchair. Looking down at her, he gave her a smile. “I never know that Aberon’s heir held me in such high regard.”

Instead of shying away from his teasing, Velicia Aberon placed her palm atop his shoulder, making him flinch visibly, earning him a giggle from the latter. “You have a question.”

“You know of the God’s Eyes,” Cielo answered back her statement with another. For him, there were too many coincidental meetings with Velicia Aberon—in this lifetime and the other. He did not know why she was sticking for him when every clan of the four great hidden families regarded the Regalia Clan as nothing with family with a big territory.

“I am not your enemy,” said Velicia the moment Cielo had placed her in the wheelchair. Her eyes flickered from her natural black color to red as she looked up at him, hands holding his right arm.

On instinct, Cielo remembered the back of a grown woman who protected him in the past. A knowing smile was painted on his face. “I know.”

‘Of course, I know. Velicia Aberon, I will never forget your kindness to me and my sister and in our first life. This time, I will surely return the favor.’

“…THAT CONCLUDES OUR MEETING IN THE ROUND table, Grandfather.”

Ren Regalia stroked his white beard, eyes now looking at the empty night sky. His back was against his heir—Cielo Regalia. He poured tea into his clay-made teacup. “I am not worried about the clans from the free cities. I am more concerned with the rising clans of the tribal lands.”

‘As you should. The tribes—even the free cities—will rise for the prize in this generation’s Trials of Eights. In my last lifetime, around this time, I should be confined after being subjected to the bullying of the second-generation young masters of the Regalia Clan after failing to join the Claiming. But things will be different. After all, I have barely begun.’

Cielo cleared his throat as he balanced the weight of his body while kneeling on the wooden floor. The moonlit sheen illuminated half of the pavilion; its ethereal glow highlighted the pond surrounding the pavilion. Ripples produced by the koi fish disturbed the harmonious silence from time to time. “The tribes and the free cities are lying low for this moment.”

Ren Regalia nodded, barely looking back as he said. “I believe it is important to keep an eye on them. As of now, the rivalry between the current four hidden families must be the second priority.”

“Grandfather, I plea for your consideration.” He bowed his head, palms on the wooden floor, elbows bent, and forehead almost kissing the cold ground.

“What is there to consider? The four hidden families must unite to keep the millennia-year-old balance between the Regalia, Aberon, Ruen, and Satova Clan.”

Cielo bit back his sinister grin before he continued with a tone filled with an empty enticement for the power-hungry patriarch of the very clan he wished to take as a stronghold. “Think of it, Grandfather. If we use this chance to bring down a clan from the four hidden families, we can monopolize half of the strength that originally belongs to two families—that is as strong as the Aberon Clan!”

Ren Regalia caressed his white beard as he hummed in contemplation. “Then what do you suggest we do next?”

The old patriarch failed to notice the glint of malice in the young heir’s eyes.

Cielo raised his head and met his grandfather’s gaze, no trace of depravity in his clear black eyes.

There were no words needed between the two. For the patriarch who had witnessed many kinds of bizarre and cruel things, he knew what his ambitious heir was thinking. Waving his hand, Ren Regalia said. “Speak of nothing. The walls have ears and the secrets have wings, we must be vigilant. For now, I will let you hold the reins of this matter. In the name of the Regalia Clan, bring back the glory of our family.”

The old patriarch stood up. His every movement was followed by Cielo who was now standing as well.

Ren Regalia inched himself to the wall with the hanging painting of the world’s map on it. The clicking sound of the cane hitting the wooden floor resonated, disturbing the serene stale air around the pavilion. “The glorious century of the Regalia Clan had long passed ever since the Black Serpent refused to answer any heir’s call. We were once atop the food chain. No Aberon Clan hanging above us, it was the Regalia Clan who stood at the pinnacle of power long ago. Through the years, our great borders were slowly eaten by the Satova Clan and the Ruen Clan, leaving nothing but an empty shell of what it used to be.” The old patriarch sighed as he traced the original borders of the Regalia Clan painted clearly on the old map painting. “Now, we are reduced to a clan with the most history and the biggest territory next to Aberon Clan. Our ancestors are probably sighing at us in disappointment.” He shifted his attention to Cielo, pointing the tip of his cane toward his heir’s direction. “With you as an exception, the Regalia Clan will be reborn from the ashes.”

Cielo nodded solemnly. He bowed his head and uttered the words his grandfather would like to hear. “I promise you, Grandfather. I will bring back the glorious days of the Regalia Clan…”

‘…Under my leadership. I will turn the Hidden Families upside down and I will start from this rotten family,’ Cielo continued his words at the back of his mind.

“Good! Good! Here.” The old patriarch tossed a golden pocket watch to Cielo. On it was the engraved sigil of the Regalia Clan that only the highest ranks of the clan could have—the official seal of the Regalia Clan’s patriarch. This represented most of the power and control over the Regalia Clan’s resources. “Use this and bring me the results. I want the Regalia Clan as the top family when the Trials of Eights happen. Can you do it?”

Cielo bowed again, completely hiding the gleaming sinister eyes. “I will bring honor to the clan, Grandfather.”

“NOT BAD FOR YOUR first move, boy.” Rito, who was back to his gigantic black serpent form, swirled around Cielo. Merging into the darkness as the dimly lit room lost its last flickering light, the guardian beast hissed around the young heir.

“This is hardly my first move. The real deal begins when the Trials of Eights arrive.” Cielo, who was sitting on the floor with his back leaning against his bed, tinkered with the Regalia Clan’s golden seal. “I want to try again tomorrow, Rito.”

The large head of the black serpent inched closer toward Cielo, eyeing the latter like a piece of a puzzle. “Say it. What do you really want, boy?”

“The merged core. Velicia explained it to me. Only when one can attain the merged core that the true potential of our connection can be shown. So what do I want? I want your power, Rito. I want it all.”

The black serpent cackled.

“You know the risks of merged core, right? I am sure that dragon heir told you about it.”

Cielo nodded; the image of the dead serious Velicia came into his mind for a split second. “I might lose my humanity. I might be devoured by your power. And… you might take my body from me if I lose control.”

“There is more to that. You have seen the dragon heir’s heart, right, boy? Hers and the dragon’s heart merged into one—that is the final merging phase. The guardian beast and the heir can be called one, in terms of power and body, even in thoughts when the balance has been breached.” Rito paused. “With merging our cores, you are surrendering your humanity. Are you sure you have thought this through and you are not only blinded by the need for revenge?”

“I have long lost my humanity, Rito. Chained like a useless animal in bed with a crippled body, my sanity and humanity slipped past me through the years—and you know it. That is the reason why you brought me back, am I right? We share the same hate for this world. Neither of us can go on without settling the scores that are long overdue.”

Rito scoffed. “How can you compare your mortal body to my sacred one? Impudent brat!”

Cielo grinned at the colossal serpent before him. “Survival of the fittest, Rito. Survival of the fittest.”