Chapter 22 22. Are You Still My Family?

When the abilities started appearing after the [First light] event, humanity fell into chaos. You can imagine how it all went down.

People started abusing their supposedly ‘God-gifted’ powers for personal gain. The crime rate went up. Murders, ****, and thievery became the norm.

That era is known as The Great Chaos. 300 years of total havoc, death, and destruction.

Sounds bad right? Not half as bad as what came after.

In the great chaos, emerged a single person, a person who ruled the world for the next 200 years to come, a person who was dubbed as the Demon.

The Demon had the power to manipulate biology. That gave him the authority over all living creatures. No matter what ability his opponents held, no matter what sacrifices people made to put an end to his reign, everything was rendered meaningless against his God-like power.

Those 200 years were the darkest years of humanity. That period is now named ‘The Dark Ages’.

Just when all hope was lost, a light appeared from the darkness, restoring humanity’s faith in survival. That light was a man who called himself Starsuper.

According to the general history provided by the government, the reason why Starsuper was special than the rest of the people who tried resisting the Demon was that the Starsuper was immune to his ability.

However, that doesn’t make the Demon just give up and surrender, no. He altered thousands of humans and animals. Because he couldn’t hurt Starsuper himself, he made an army. Legions of altered humans and beats to strike down a single man.

If they got hurt, they were healed. If they fell, they were resurrected to fight again. His army was invincible! That was the army of Demons, and he was their King. The man then earned himself another title, the title of “Demon King”.

And currently, a young man was claiming to be him, the Demon King. How could someone in their right mind be foolish enough to declare something so ludicrous?

“What… What is this…?”

“This is my proof, Kia. You asked me whether I was joking or not, so this is my verification. I am the Progenitor. Actually, that was misleading, I have the power of Progenitor. The real one is long dead. I have the power to manipulate all life forms that I can comprehend.”

“No… I mean what is she doing here?!”

“Hmm? Her? Why are you worrying about her? I’m talking about something much more important here.”

“Sam, you don’t get it! She’s a Willburn! Heroes and bounty hunters alike are out there to search for her! On second thought, how did she not got found here?!”

“Relax Kiara, this house belongs to one of the governing authorities of Academy City, no one has the power to inspect this place unless the 12 Hero Council orders an issue to do so.”

“Then… How did you get this house? You killed him?”

“What? Pfft! Of course not silly, I’m not a psycho! I don’t kill people without a reason, you should know that. I mind-controlled him.” A pause followed that statement before he spoke again, “You believe me yet?”

Kiara didn’t answer that and remained silent. Currently, the pair was in the house’s basement.

The odor of moist old carpets was in the air. Blood that has long dried could be seen under the florescent lights that flickered with a low hum-buzz.

In that dimly lit yellow room, a flaxen-haired girl of age no more than 18-19 years could be seen tied to the front wall like an animal being showcased as a hunt prize.

Her clothes were torn and her eyes, although open, but has lost focus long ago. Like a lifeless doll, she was hung on the wall. One could only tell the kind of torture she had to suffer up until now.

“Do you pity her?” Sam asked, looking at the way she was scanning Rebekah. He may be a bit sadistic but even he could tell, Rebekah wasn’t in a good condition.

Still, it’s not like he had many choices to begin with. No matter what sort of torment he infected on her the girl always managed to push through it. It was almost like she was… adapting or adjusting! Not only to the pain but also to the methods he used on her.

“Kiara are you scared? Of me?” Sam has already seen the panic striking her eyes when he spoke of being the Progenitor.

“No, why would I be scared?” Kiara murmured, her eyes averting his gaze.

“You know that I can just mind control you into speaking the truth right? Or do you still not believe me?” Sam placed a hand on Kiara’s shoulder.

“Sam, it’s not too late, we can just return her and my father will sort out the rest of the situation! Committing a crime against the Willburn family is the highest level of offense a person could commit! We will be hunted down like rabbits!” Kiara tried to talk some sense into Sam but the latter just stared at her without any expressions on his face.

“I have always loved you,” He spoke while cutting her off.

“Huh…?”

“My father, as you know, was bipolar. On one hand, he always said that he loved me, and on the other hand, he made my life miserable. My mother was a liar, she said she would do anything for me but when the time came for her to testify her vows, she chose her husband and child over me.” Sam took a deep breath and his usually deep eyes turned soft as he spoke again.

“My world was a dark and cruel place Kia, but you made it bearable for me. You were like the contrast to my blue, the warm sun to my winter morning, the North Star to my lost ship. You were my guiding light.” Sam said in a delicate voice, but soon his eyes turned sharp again.

“However you too are cruel Kiara, you’re not always warm, you’re not always guiding and sometimes you are the reason for my blue. I’ll ask of you just this once, are you still my family?”

“Wha… Sam, it’s true that I’ve never loved you the way you wanted me to, and I know I’m sometimes cruel to you, but you are and always will be my family! As you always say, it’s just us against the world!” Kiara retorted in an assured tone.

Sam however easily saw through it. It was a lie. Every last bit of it. She was afraid of him, she was afraid if he really was the Progenitor as he was claiming to be. She was afraid that he will plunge the world into something akin to The Dark Ages again.

Of course, she was right in her suspicions. Every single thing she was skeptical about was indeed correct right to the horrifying end. But knowing all that didn’t help Sam, he felt a wrenching feeling in his heart.

But it wasn’t like that came out of the blue, Sam had already expected this to happen. Actually, he had played this scenario numerous times in his head, this was just one of the many inevitable conclusions.

“So it’s like that huh?” Sam dropped his head and a bittersweet smile crept upon his face.

Kiara who saw Sam dropping his guard quickly initiated her ability. Her eyes glowed with a light green hue in that dimly lit room, her pupils changed to vertical and started resembling a reptilian.

Kiara had known Sam since the young age of 8 and they were with each other in ups and downs, they really were like a family.

But regardless of how close two people may be, no one would be able to keep their calm if the person they knew their whole life suddenly announces that they are The Progenitor!

Kiara had two theories laid out in her head. One, Sam has gone nuts, and honestly, she was kind of hoping that this would be the case. Second, he really does have the Progenitor’s ability. And if that is the case then she has to kill her best friend.

Just as she was in her thoughts, Sam maniacally started laughing. Kiara sensed that the air was getting heavy and by the looks of it, her second theory was more likely to be coming true.

“I’m sorry Sam.” She whispered in a soft crying voice before steeling her resolve.

(I told you so!) The voice in his head yelled.

“Basilisk!” She hopped back and created a distance between them before screaming.

Instantly a whirlpool of cyan-colored energy started forming around her. The cyan-colored energy then started taking the shape of a snake. A giant snake by the looks of it.

Within the span of a single second, a body translucent cyan-colored snake was constructed around her, glaring towards Sam as if waiting for him to move.

“Just to be clear, you’re attacking me with the intent to kill right?” Sam inquired while tilting his head a little, the smile still on his face with his deep black eyes staring right into her soul.

When no reply came after a few seconds of silence, Sam scoffed and his eyes turned bright scarlet. “So be it!”

What the duo didn’t notice right then was that the weak-looking flaxen-haired girl that was hanged on the wall was now regaining the focus in her eyes.