(Guard pov)
It happened so fast, too fast for my mind to even catch up. One moment, Young Master Kaiser and the hooded man stood there, frozen, staring at each other like two beasts in a silent standoff. The next moment, the hooded man crumpled to the ground, lifeless.
What? What just happened?
I blinked, confused, but my eyes locked on Young Master Kaiser as he dropped to his knees, gasping. His eyes were wide open, but the expression on his face… it was empty, distant.
He wasn't even looking at me. My heart hammered in my chest as I saw the blood spilling from his mouth, pooling like a river. And then, I saw it, the metal pipe that had pierced his chest, emerging from his back, right where his heart should be. Blood poured from the wound, soaking him, his body shaking with each ragged breath.
"Y-Young Master!" I screamed, panic rising in my throat.
But my legs- my legs were broken. I couldn't even move. I couldn't crawl toward him. My body felt like it was made of stone, too heavy to shift.
And then, as if the world had forgotten time, that kid Julian collapsed. He fell like a puppet with its strings cut, landing with a soft thud.
I could barely process it when a figure stepped into my view. A short, slender silhouette in black, the stranger was cloaked in a body-fit black coat with glowing purple lining, black trousers, and purple waistband, wearing a hoodie, his movements deliberate, as though he had all the time in the world.
His face was hidden, a masquerade mask, looking like something from a royal ball, black and purple, almost elegant in the way it gleamed under the dim light, with dark glass covering eye sockets. I couldn't see his eyes under them.
"Good grief," he sighed, like he had all the time in the world. His voice was smooth, deep, almost like a calm before the storm. But the way he spoke made my stomach churn, tightening with fear.
The man leaned over the fallen figure of the hooded bastard, inspecting it with an odd disinterest.
"Wasn't he supposed to burn this thing down?" he murmured to himself, leaning toward the fallen metal skin bastard, his tone almost... bored.
His gaze shifted then, slowly, almost lazily, toward Young Master Kaiser. "What an abrupt situation you're in," he mused, his voice a strange mix of amusement and curiosity.
I shivered, terror crawling up my spine. What was going on? I wanted to scream at him, to tell him to stay away from the young master, but something… something held me back. This man... he was far worse than the first.
And then, like a slow creeping darkness, he knelt before the young master. His gloved hand reached out, brushing against young master Kaiser's blood-slicked cheek, almost tenderly, as if wiping away the blood that had stained his lips. I could hardly breathe.
Was he... not an enemy?
Young Master's eyes were barely open, barely alive, yet they locked onto the stranger's face, unbroken. His gray eyes, though dimmed by the blood loss and that fatal wound, still glowed faintly. He was hanging on.
The stranger sighed, his voice softer now, like he was talking to himself. "Well, since it's come to this, I suppose I have no choice."
He looked at me then, and his lips curved into a slow, mocking smirk. "But first," he said, drawing the words out like a dangerous secret. "I want our audience to leave us alone."
And before I could even register the words, darkness swallowed my world whole. It wrapped around me like a cold blanket, choking the air out of my lungs. The last thing I saw was his gaze, calm and lethal, before everything vanished into black.
_________________________________
(Kaiser Pov)
Am I... dead?
The darkness wrapped around me like a heavy blanket, suffocating and endless. I wasn't expecting to get my chest split open by that bald man.
The pain was quick but brutal. I remembered it, then nothing. My body was weightless, drifting in this void. It felt like I was floating, but there was no up, no down. Just dark, heavy, and cold.
I barely remembered something, or someone, approaching me, wiping blood from my lips. Was it... a dream?
I feel like I'm fading, slipping away. I'm here. In a place darker than pitch. No stars, no light. Just emptiness. First, a white room, now this?
I really do have the worst luck.
"Isn't it nice?" someone said.
Eh?
I blinked, confused, and turned my head.
A figure stood before me, glowing with golden light. Golden eyes, golden hair, a perfect reflection of me. I mean, of Xavier's.
And I was back in my five-year-old body.
But he was... different. He was me, but not me. He smiled, and there was something wrong with it. His smile wasn't warm; it was distant, like he wasn't quite there. I felt like I was staring at myself from a place I didn't belong.
"We can finally talk," Xavier murmured, but his voice was empty, as if he were saying words that had no meaning.
I could barely process it, my mind sluggish, my thoughts tangled in a haze.
I looked up at the dark ceiling. It stretched on endlessly, twisting into an infinite void.
"Did you- I... die?" I asked, my voice calm, but the words felt hollow coming from my mouth.
"I am not," Xavier answered, his voice firm. "But they want me- or should I say... you? They want you dead."
Who are they? I don't even know how Xavier died. How could I? My mind feels foggy, distant. But what Xavier said feels like a warning.
It's the same voice, the same body, but it's not me. Not the person I am now. I don't understand him, but somehow, I know that what he's saying matters.
And then, from above, a flicker of light. White, glowing faintly at first. It expanded, swirling like a wind picking up, spinning faster. My eyes locked on it, and I felt something pulling me toward it.
Xavier looked at the light, his gaze serious now. "We don't have much time."
So, that is it. We're really dying. Not just me. Him. Us.
I felt the pull of the white hole, the force of it, like it was reaching out to me, wrapping around me.
Xavier's eyes met mine, and there was a kindness there, but it wasn't comforting. It was too kind. It didn't fit. His smile, gentle, almost too soft, didn't belong in this place.
Who... is he?
"Remember, my child," he said, his voice quiet, almost tender, "Do not trust anyone. Be wary of the very foundation."
I don't understand. What is he saying? What foundation?
And excuse me? When did I become my own child?
The white hole pulled me in deeper and deeper, swallowing everything. My body didn't listen to me; it moved on its own. I tried to speak, to scream, to ask what was happening, but the words got stuck in my throat.
And just before I disappeared completely, I heard his voice.
"And please... be alive."
I snapped awake with a loud gasp, sucking in air like I'd been drowning. My chest heaved, sweat dripping down my forehead and neck. My lungs burned, but I was breathing. I was alive. I blinked at the sunlight pouring through the window, bright and calm like it was just any other morning.
But the room -my room- was chaos.
Shattered glass littered the floor, sharp like stars that exploded. My books were scattered everywhere, their pages fluttering like they'd just gotten caught in a storm. The bookshelf was tilted, the desk flipped over. My favorite glass statues? Broken. Furniture was knocked around like someone had lost their mind in here.
It was a complete mess.
My bed creaked beneath me as I tried to sit up, heart thudding. I was in my room... I could tell that much. But what the hell happened?
"Y-you…"
A voice. Weak. Shaky. I turned my head slowly toward the door.
There, standing in the doorway like he was seeing a ghost, was Adrien.
His eyes were wide, wet with tears that wouldn't stop falling. He looked like he'd been dragged through hell and back, hair messy, shirt too big, slipping off his bandaged shoulder. His chest rose and fell too fast, like he'd run all the way here.
"A-Adrien?" My voice was hoarse, but it came out. My body felt light and comforted for the moment, just like I was newly born.
I touched my chest. My arms. My legs.
No pain. No wounds. Not even a scar.
What is going on?
And then,
Adrien fell to his knees.
He actually fell, crying harder now, his body shaking as he lowered his head.
"I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!" he shouted, voice cracking. "I made promises I couldn't keep. I bluffed. I swore I'd protect you and failed! If you wanna hate me, kill me, whatever, won't fight it!"
What? No- wait- what's wrong with you?!
He kept talking, saying stuff I couldn't even process. His words blurred together, fast and messy like his tears. My mind was still catching up. I want to tell him to calm down, to shut up for a second, so I can think.
But before I got the chance-
Whack!
Someone smacked Adrien on the head.
"Stop your nonsense! You're gonna make his ears bleed!" a voice snapped.
I blinked.
"…Dad?!"
Dad rushed to me first, followed by Mom, her eyes red, and little Luca trailing behind them, clinging to Mom's leg.
In the next second, I was tackled into the warmest, tightest hug I'd ever gotten in my life. My chest was being squished. My lungs were being crushed. I couldn't even breathe.
Hey, wait, you're gonna kill me again! But I was muffled in their arms.
But honestly... it felt good. Their warmth, their scent, Luca's tiny arms hugging my waist, his head nuzzled into my shirt. Mom's fingers were running through my hair, Dad rubbing my back like he was trying to make sure I was really here.
I felt safe. I felt… home.
"What happened?!" Dad checked my arms. "I heard an explosion all the way from downstairs!"
"What happened in this room?"
"Kaiser, you're not in pain anymore, right? Thank God you are awake." Mom cupped my face, eyes scanning me with worry.
I paused.
I felt... light. Weightless. Like every bone, every nerve, every breath inside me was brand new.
And then it hit me.
The wrecked room. The energy still tingling in the air. My healed body. The surge I felt before it all went dark.
Did I just,
Did I really just… awaken my Mana Core?!