The temperature plummeted instantly. Bram turned a cold, calculating gaze onto Nuit, who stared back with the savage, bloodthirsty expression of a wraith from the galactic abyss.
"That was close.
Bram pinched the bridge of his nose in exhaustion.
"I almost assumed you'd gone brain-dead, with nothing but the vacuum of space occupying your head.
Bram glared at Nuit.
"At first, it was hard to see through his disguise despite the loopholes. We need to send a signal to the reinforcement team.
Bram had found out about Vadrian from the moment he woke up. At that moment he almost panicked; however, he seemed to realize… Vadrian wasn't aware he knew about his disguise.
"You know damn well that is not possible. With the Crokun causing chaos, they would hardly notice; even if they did, protecting the galaxy and the empire comes first.
Nuit retorted in frustration. With his thin, pale arms on his hips, he looked around the horizon.
"I wonder how he found us. The military was divided into factions; how he found out I was stationed in the medical department is perplexing in many ways.
"The Bratva clan might look secluded and out of touch, yet their roots are deep into the galaxy. Unlike you, who vanished the moment you didn't get what you wanted, I learned a lot from them.
Nuit sneered fuzzily.
"He looks… different from before.
Bram whispered, almost nostalgic.
The sun wasn't as hot as before. The air was getting a bit chilled as the animals started moving into the forest on the side.
"For now, let's play along. We don't have the resources to fight them off.
Nuit sighed. Turning away, muttering something about building a bed to rest on.
Bram walked towards Asier, who sat on a rock under an oak tree. He paused a bit in surprise.
Misha sat awake, grey- silver eyes searched around, unfocused. He looked more emaciated than before, his face as pale as a corpse.
"Papa?'
"…"
Bram stayed silent. To say he wasn't conflicted would be an understatement.
A weakness was forming. He really wanted to stop it, yet he just couldn't bring himself to.
He wondered who Misha really took after. It definitely wasn't him, nor was it Vadrian, whom he believed was more poisonous and dangerous.
"Papa?'
"What can I help you with, Misha?'
Misha trembled visibly at the harsh tone. Every part of his body ached badly, his memories a bit hazy.
Bram wondered if he should comfort the boy; however, he didn't have the time to process it before Nuit rushed past him, falling with a thud by the side.
"Uncle is here; are you okay?'
Misha clutches his white tunic in utter melancholy. He gave weak nods at Nuit's overwhelming questions. Yet, his misty eyes found their way to Bram, who had lost interest in him. The man had turned to Asier, who was most likely indifferent to everything happening around him.
'I'm not good enough.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Omen spiraled through the different stages of denial, looking down at the horror within his sight.
The book made of human skin with no title on it lay quietly at the side of the table.
Though he had gone through the contents, he couldn't reach the ending, and right now he was burning with curiosity.
It held contents so abominable they defied the very laws of existence. It was choked with relics of the first primordial celestial gods, which could be read in children's books.
What ate him from the inside was how Bram was born from the very shells of a celestial egg fertilized by their parents (DNA) fusing with his celestial genes.
'No wonder!!
However, it can be said that celestials once thought myths really did exist?
It seems Bram was his brother and at the same time he wasn't. His parents really messed up.
Yet, the fact that they loved Bram and still did was enough evidence that Bram was their son.
Omen tried changing his thoughts; the pain he felt for the neglect and abandonment he had experienced all his lifetime was like cancer.
He couldn't stop. Since he wanted to move on, to walk away, he didn't deny the fact that he still yearned for their love.
But all that love was served on a silver platter for Bram, who cared less about anyone's feelings.
Omen opened the book one more time to cross-check all the words, looking for a clue on why an unknown group of people attacked his father.
From the beginning, it was written that the celestials lay eggs and leave them in acidic volcanoes in the cosmic realm to hatch and survive on their own.
The celestials were known to have ethereal features, ranking from the lowest to the highest.
The lowest were beast-like creatures, having little to no intelligence. The middle were humanoid creatures, very intelligent and very aggressive, and the last were the highest celestials; though rare, they were said to be pure descendants of the primordial entities that created the cosmos and the entire galaxy.
A picture marked with red ink was an egg, small in size with intricate markings around it.
By the side was written in black ink: "Spotted on Milky planes.
There was other text that Omen couldn't make out. He pulled up the book to have a closer look, only for a note to slip out.
With a frown, he picked it up.
"It looks old.
He muttered curiously as he opened the note, with quite an awkward look as if he was going through private stuff he shouldn't know about. Which was undeniably true. He was snooping around where he shouldn't be.
Here he was doing something that might make his parents despise him more.
Anyway, he read through the note.
'An unexpected Ovum was found in the Milky planes. The shadows have their network up there looking for progress. Three moons from now, the Ovum shall be in our hands. Infused (DNA) will hatch this ancient Ovum, and a weapon so formidable shall rise against the fallen ones.
'I guess Ovum was the egg they're talking about.
Omen folded the note and placed it back into the book. Now he knew his parents might have messed up big time the moment they snatched the egg from whatever these Shadow people were.
And they had come to take back what they thought belonged to them. But how would they when the said egg in question had become a full-grown human with the mind of a machine?