Chapter 5 - 5 - Change

The woman scanned the horizon, her beautiful azure blue eyes resting at a particular run-down large building at the Slums District. She sighed, shaking her head as a wry smile emerged, replacing the hopeful glint in her eyes.

"No, not yet. His trial is just starting…" She sighed once again, as she looked up at the sky. "Oh, Master… Watching what is going to come next will be incredibly difficult… Knowing that… that… this boy is…" She couldn't her thoughts, her mind was already racing with the power of a tumultuous storm.

She heaved a deep, long sigh, keeping it in her diaphragm before slowly letting it out, calming her mind in the process. Tucking back the racing emotions she felt, she forced her usual cold, expressionless look back to her face, turned away from the windowsill, and sat back down on her leather chair.

The time was not right, she had to be patient and wait for the time for the awakening. Only then were she allowed to finally get in contact with him. This first signal she felt, had merely marked the beginning…

---

Lucien did not respond to the obvious taunts from Billy nor to the snorts and chuckles of his two mates. He stood still, trying his best to remain calm and not escalate the situation further. Today was very special to him, he only wanted to enjoy it in peace and quiet. He wanted to be left alone with his thoughts and with the animals. Sadly, as it seemed so far, today wasn't fated to be a peaceful day.

"What is it, Wretched One? Why aren't you groveling beneath my feet and ask for forgiveness? You know your behavior is quite rude! You are wasting not just our time, but now, everyone else's! Have you no shame? We tolerate you, we accepted you despite your obvious, horrendous faults and misgivings, yet you can't even be appreciated for the friendship we so graciously share?" Billy spoke loudly, adding a bit more power to his tone, he gesticulated with such splendor that one could mistake him for an actor in the local theater.

Listening to the garbage this obese, blonde-haired boy was spewing from his mouth, Lucien's anger began to rise once again. Despite doing his best to contain this strange, new rebellious sensation, he was finding it harder and harder, as time continued. The dam he built around his heart began to crack, his decade-long pent-up emotions threatened to break out.

He was never afraid of them, the pain was something he was used to, and they weren't capable of doing any real harm. He wasn't sure what was different with him, only that no matter how hard he was kicked, how hard he was punched or trashed, other than feeling the hellish pain, he was always fine. None of his bones ever broke, his organs never bleed, never suffered any fault. Other than feeling the constant, torturous pain he was always fine. He never even got ill either.

So, no, he wasn't afraid, there was no real reason to. Fear was quickly beaten out of him in his early years, after all. He was merely annoyed most of the time. He knew that whenever this blonde pig and his goons showed up, he would be in for some nightmare before they would eventually get tired and leave him. Sometimes they tied him up, or just simply threw him into the chicken coop.

The black miasma at the outer recesses of his sclera, just slightly, barely visible to the scanning gazes continued to venture to further depths. Small, tiny spider web tendrils appeared as they crept closer and closer to his dark brown irises.

However, as he kept his gaze plastered to the ground, nobody was aware of the subtle, unnatural changes he was going through.

Lucien's lips slowly parted, making everyone around wait with bated breaths what would he do now. The audience, Billy, his goons, even the nearby adults were watching with keen interest how the scene would play out. They were all already expecting Lucien's meager resistance to crumble, and fall on his knees, apologizing to his bully. What was truly sad, that even the adults were hoping for this outcome, they didn't seem to have even a shred of mercy, compassion towards this unlucky sod.

"I am going to ask you one last time. Move away and let me be alone."

His words surprised everyone, it wasn't what they were expecting at all. This boy still dared to go against the script, and defiantly stand his ground against the obviously much stronger boy in front of him. Unafraid, uncaring about the already obvious outcome.

Lucien's answer was only fuel to the fire. Billy slowly stepped closer, his hands clenched into a pair of meaty balls of fists. Making the first step, getting closer to Lucien, he glanced at his two goons on the sides, giving slight nods at them.

The two, understanding their boss's command, reacted similarly, and slowly began to surround and creep closer to the meager, flimsy-looking Lucien. Their faces were contorted to the same cruel, menacing grin, the same that could be seen on Billy as he eyed his target.

"Brave words Lucien. Tell me, what will you do, in case, we do not want to… leave? How will you react if we demand some compensation for the insult we suffered today?!"

There was no response coming from the boy, not even a sniff. Lucien stood still, his eyes plastered on the floor.

Feeling he was being ignored and because of that, humiliated in front of such a large crowd, Billy's anger rose once again.

Without further ado, he cocked his right arm back and launched a fast and ferocious punch, aimed at the top of the boy's lowered head. He wanted Lucien to fall to the ground, where they could kick and punch him to their hearts' content. He could already imagine Lucien's face hitting the floor. He could already hear the reverberating loud thud as the boy's annoyingly unbreakable skull crashed against the marble tileset. This wasn't a fight, no, far from it. Just like every other time, this was a simple beating, a morning exercise he and his friends were privileged to enjoy.

As Billy's fist sailed across the air, approaching the target destination, the top of Lucien's head, something unexpected happened. Lucien suddenly jerked his head to the left, and slightly leaned back, evading the strike by a hair's breadth.

Shocked, Billy took a moment to pull his arm back and realize the fact he was once again, made fun of by this little brat in front of him.

"How dare you?!" He was enraged. He was never humiliated like this. His happy mood, his fun was destroyed by this wretched bastard!

"Get him, boys! Hold him tight!" He ordered the two on the side. He will make an example out of this and reclaim his reputation by giving an incredibly vicious beating today! There is no more fun time, no more playful tone. He was mad.

How dare this weak, flimsy Wretched One humiliate him so much! His mere existence was an affront to nature!

The two goons immediately reached ahead, trying to grab Lucien's arms. However, just like what happened with Billy's punch, Lucien evaded once again by abruptly taking a single step to the back.

Although the movement seemed simple, in both cases the way Lucien reacted was strange. He didn't even bother to look at the incoming attacks, nobody could see his eyes moving away from the floor. He never muttered a word, he just agilely evaded the incoming attacks.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! GRAB HIM!" Billy roared with rage, punching and by now, kicking relentlessly at Lucien. However, no matter how hard he tried, how fast he struck, none of his blows could connect. Even when all three of them attacked simultaneously, Lucien could somehow dodge and evade each and every blow.

"AAAARGH STAND STILL YOU BASTARD!" He roared almost going crazy by what was happening.

Eventually, due to the lack of stamina and fitness, they tired themselves out. The speed, the intensity of their punches slowed down to a halt, they were heaving heavily.

At the same time, Lucien was still unresponsive, he continued to stand silently, his eyes fixated on the ground. He seemed unresponsive, silent, almost eerily. By now, everyone in the canteen was shocked at his state, he didn't even seem aware of what was happening anymore. He didn't seem conscious at all. It was like… as if someone or something was controlling him, and he was just merely a puppet…

"JUST WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?! SAY SOMETHING YOU ASSHOLE!!!" Billy roared once again, throwing another punch.

Suddenly, a change occurred.

Billy's fist was caught in mid-air, by Lucien's small hand. It was quite a sight, a small little hand trying to hold a much bigger, meatier fist. Still, despite the anomalous situation, Billy felt as if his hand fell into a vice. He couldn't pull it back, nor could he jerk it free. He felt an increasing pressure descending on his fingers, the pain slowly, but gradually increasing.

Pain. The cracking of his bones and joints. This was a new sensation to him. He usually wasn't on the receiving end, he had no willpower to withstand the smallest amount of such pressure.

Grabbing his wrist with his other hand, he tried desperately to tug it free, only to be met with failure. He cried out, yelling at his goons in desperation.

"AAAAAAA! DON'T JUST STAND THERE! HELP ME! IT HURTS LIKE HELL!!"

The goons, who were stunned just like the audience, were pulled back from their trance with their boss's yell. Without hesitation they both throw out a kick aiming at the back of Lucien's head, hoping to hit him strong enough to faint.

Before their attacks could connect, however, they were suddenly blown away by an invisible force. They came crashing down violently on some nearby tables, breaking to pieces and subsequently falling unconscious almost instantly.

Seeing both of his lackeys suddenly being flung back by some mysterious, most likely supernatural power, the last bits of Billy's willpower crumbled. He turned to look at this boy, this demon with fear. He opened his mouth and was about to speak.

Before he could do so...

"You vile, disgusting, fat pig." A low-toned growling sound could be heard from Lucien. He slowly raised his head, elevating it from the ground level, reaching higher and higher altitudes.

When their eyes finally met, the canteen could only hear a desperate, high-pitched squeal coming from Billy, before he was flung back, crashing against their own table and falling unconscious.

A small stain could be seen on his pants around his crotch. Whatever he witnessed caused his bladder to react and release its contents.

At the next moment, as the audience was still trying to make sense of what could have happened or raise any questions at the still-standing boy, he suddenly crumbled, falling to the ground, unconscious just like the defeated trio.

Despite that, there was a faint smile on his face.

Just before his mind fell into the void, the transparent, dark window with the blood-red letters appeared once again. However, unlike all the times before, this time they didn't sit still. They began to change… The previously unreadable, cryptic symbols have begun to spin, and shift, transforming into something he could finally understand.

Unfortunately, he could only read the first few letters before his mind fainted…

[…:::The Pﻮєฬгɭรภאɭ๔ ђภคɭ ภเ קฬєן קเ. ๓๓ςɭן รгєเɭן єןɭ!:::…]