"Excuse me for being rude, sir, but what do you mean he's not getting banished. Isn't fighting rogues without a license a crime, especially for minors?" Doctor Sandbloom scrunched her eyes at the old man.
He moved closer to the bed, passing by the Doctor as he made his way to the boy lying stiffly on it. "That law applies to Gibbits only."
"But the boy is a Gibbit if I'm correct, otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to use the Gem of Memento Mori since it'd have killed him on the spot?"
Damien glanced at the doctor from the corner of his eye, trying to decipher the meaning of her sudden revelation.
'I'm not human, too?' He wondered, just when the old man's voice cut his thoughts, sounding closer than it was a minute ago.
"He is a Gibbit indeed, but not one that was raised in Gibbous. You see, the law only works on Gibbous' citizens, but this boy isn't even registered as one of us since he grew up with the humans. Therefore, he isn't subject to being punished by it since we don't even have a pact with the humans at all."
The source of the voice finally showed himself above Damien's face—a beefy old man with long white hair and a beard that was grown enough to reach his chest.
He was dressed in white clad amour and boots that had gold designs attached to the fabric here and there, a gentle smile on his face that made Damien relax even though the man himself didn't look the part.
"So you're saying we don't need to worry about the boy being banished?"
"Yes," Twiller turned his head to face Sandbloom. "Instead, you should be worried about him being made to stay in Gibbous by the council."
At this, Ahara's eyes widened. She snapped her head to face the old man, her braid flipping around with enough velocity to coil around her neck once she made a full turn.
"But the gem was the source of his monstrous aura during the fight two weeks ago. How do you suppose he can survive the magic-filled air of Gibbous without aura flowing naturally in his body?"
"Are you sure about that?" The old man asked, his eyes glued on Damien's still body. Without further ado, he extended his hand and touched the boy's chest.
Damien closed his eyes, feeling naive for the instant trust he had in the old man. They just met for goodness sake and yet, he felt like the man was safe to be around.
And he was right.
When Twiller touched his chest and lightly pressed on it, an uplifting sensation overtook Damien's lifeless body. Blood rushed to every corner inside it, making him numb in an instant. Then the old man removed his hand, and an itchy sensation spread throughout Damien's skin.
"Hmm," Twiller hummed just when Damien opened his eyes and began scratching himself under the blanket.
"So? Does he have enough aura that'll allow him to survive here?" Ahara tilted her head at the Principal.
Twiller shook his head, his eyes still glued on Damien's still body. "No, he doesn't have any, like you said. Not any that I could sense at least."
Ahara sighed in relief. "That's better."
"Oh, but take heed that I said I couldn't sense it. Not the aura detectors at the academy."
"Right, there's that too," Ahara scowled, wishing she could draw back her sigh.
Twiller chuckled at her, his eyes returning to Damien as he took the boy's hand.
"You can call me Principal Twiller of Gibforge Academy, or just Twiller once you become more powerful than me in the future," he said, pulling the boy up to sit.
"He can't move yet…" Doctor Sandbloom's voice faded when she noticed Damien's leg twitch in the blankets as he moved his lower torso up the bed. At once, she glared at the Principal.
"Came here to show off your healing magic, didn't you, old man?" She spat out in a not-so-pleased voice.
"Is that a compliment I hear from you, my dear?" Twiller mocked her, winking as the Doctor turned on her heel and left, her cheeks a little too red for someone mad.
Smiling to himself, Damien accepted the Principal's help and sat up the bed, the itch on his skin immediately vanishing once he moved.
"Pleased to meet you too, sir. I'm Damien," the boy replied, not bothering to introduce Ahara since the two seemed to already know each other.
"Hmm, isn't he a chivalrous young man?" Twiller beamed at Ahara, who matched his enthusiasm with a matching smile of her own.
"Though I must say, I already knew who you were when I arrived."
"So I noticed," Damien replied, wriggling his numb leg. "But how did you come to know my name, if I may ask?"
Another chuckle came from the old man. "Judging by your confusion, I assume it's safe to say that your sister didn't tell you anything about herself or her past life?"
Damien glanced in Ahara's direction, and she immediately looked away from him, scratching the back of her neck.
'She's avoiding me again,' he thought bitterly, nodding at the Principal.
"No, she didn't. And I don't think she ever will." Then to spite Ahara, he added, "She was even planning to have the nurses here remove my memory once the council or whatever was done with me before we returned home."
"You don't say? And here I thought we were a step ahead of all the unnecessary explanations about how our world works." Twiller said, slowly turning his head to face the now pale Ahara, who couldn't even bring herself to revoke Damien's accusations.
"Did she at least tell you about your parents?"
"What about them?" Damien snapped, but Twiller was already in front of Ahara by the moment his words reached him.
"I don't suppose you plan on making the boy stay in the dark, do you?"
Ahara raised her head and looked directly into the old man's neptunite eyes. "Then how do you propose I tell him that? By spewing everything out blandly as if it's some fairytale?"
"Precisely," Twiller nodded.
"Don't you find that cruel at all?" Her brows rose a little. "He is a child. Yes, I know he deserves to know the truth, but can't we wait until he's a bit grown up?"
"I thought we talked about this, Ahara. I'm not a freaking child!" Damien shot from behind the old man, who snapped his head to look at him.
"So the chivalrous young man curses when angry?" He joked, turning back to the young woman before him. "Although I must say, he's right. He's not a child anymore. Besides, I find it better for him to hear the truth from you, of all people, than from strangers once he starts roaming about. He is, after all, quite the hot topic in town these days."
Ahara glanced behind the Principal at her brother who was watching them exchange words, her heart cracking at the prospect of having to tell him the truth.
Surely the old man didn't find this an easy conversation for her to have with Damien. Or did he?
"Well, that's settled then. I expect the boy to know everything about his parents and his past once I'm back when the council arrives. Make sure you leave no stone unturned and tell him everything, understood?"
Ahara's brows rose to her forehead. "You're dumping the explanations on me?"
"I don't suppose you expect me to explain it to him whilst you stand idly in the room now, do you?"
Without waiting for her reply, Twiller turned his head back to Damien and nodded in the boy's direction. "Everything will start making sense once she's done with you, so sit back and listen to every word she's about to tell you, okay."
"But…"
"Make sure you answer all his questions, unless you want to repeat this entire conversation in my office," Twiller warned, a foxy smile on his lips as he stared at Ahara.
Not saying any goodbyes, he immediately turned on his heel, glancing behind the other side of the curtain once before disappearing.
With a sigh, Ahara sat on the edge of Damien's bed and rubbed her nose bridge. Then she looked her brother directly in the eyes with a serious expression on her face.
"I'll only say this once because I hate thinking about it, so please listen to me carefully, Damien."
"Understood," the boy replied, happy that his sister was finally telling him the truth about her and himself.
*****
By the time Ahara was done, Damien was full of perplexing emotions and thoughts. Anger, pain, sorrow, and pity, they were all mixed in his head.
To think his parents hadn't died in a car accident but had been killed by a Rogue lord named Thanatos, all whilst Ahara watched?
His love and respect for her deepened even more.
"Are you sure Dad killed this Thanatos guy?" Damien's voice came out muffled from the lump in his throat.
"I'd like to assume uncle did kill him since his remains were said to be found on the battle scene, but I later heard rumors that his body had disappeared even though uncle and aunt's bodies were found on the crime scene."
Damien groaned inwardly. He didn't like the sound of that at all, but he didn't like Ahara calling his parents uncle and aunt more.
"Do you really have to call them aunt and uncle now that you told me we're cousins?"
"Sorry, I just grew up calling them that," Ahara chuckled, stroking his head that was resting on her lap. "I'll try calling them mom and dad if it bothers you."
Damien groaned yet again. To think the same man was the one responsible for killing Ahara's parents as well.
"Man, I hate this Thanatos guy."
"Me too," Ahara cooed.
The two remained seated on the bed in comfortable silence, with Ahara stroking her brother's hair whilst he tried to collect his mind on what Ahara had told him.
His father was the strongest Vampire Numen in Gibbous' history, and his mother was a witch, which made him not human like he thought he was. To explain how he didn't have any aura, Ahara told him Thanatos had attacked him during the ambush and when his parents had tried to save him, that's when the attack that led to the siblings losing everything happened.
'It was uncle who attacked using the gem,' Ahara reminisced bitterly, on the verge of tears.
Damien didn't ask her any further questions for fear she might cry before him. Thanks to that, he had missed his only opportunity of knowing exactly how his parents died, but if it meant never seeing Ahara cry, then it was all worth it.
Just then, heavy air filled the room, and Ahara flinched at the same time Damien held his breath.
"They're here," Ahara announced, rising from the bed and placing Damien aside.
"Who?" The boy asked, trying his best to breathe.
'What's happening to my body?' He wondered just when the door creaked open.
'Brace yourself, Damien. The council is here."