Shadow Slave | School Days

Cold air collided with a young, gaunt boy's body as he took slow steps toward a large hospital building. The boy was surrounded by three men, his father and the golden flowing locks of Gilead as his arm was grasped firmly by his fathers as they walked.

Mordret didn't know exactly why he was there, but a faint idea lingered within his mind. He was to be a weapon; Valor was currently losing out in power in comparison to the rest of the great families and had no real way of evening the odds. And so extreme methods were taken.

Although Mordret was their greatest prodigy, absorbing combat skills in ways that gained him looks of disconnect from the rest of his family, his strength alone still wasn't enough to even the odds. And yet, his father pushed him to lengths that regular humans wouldn't even dream of surviving.

He worked until his bones groaned, he fought until blood poured from his eyes and even then, he kept moving. And yet, despite the monumental amounts of effort his growth only allowed him to receive mixed signals from his family. He could see it perfectly; they were afraid of how much he could grow and yet expectant for him to grow further.

And yet oddly, inexplicably, astoundingly... Morgan received utterly different treatment. Although she too would be privy to private training, she was showered with praises, smiles and far more warmth than he could hope to receive so much so that it intrigued Mordret more than infuriated him.

He wanted to understand, if spending more time with Morgan allowed him to understand why she received the genuine love he yearned for he would do so in a heartbeat. After all, the world is fair is it not?

"Dad, when are we going to see Morgan?" Mordret asked, his voice meek and low in the overwhelming presence of his father. A sharp slap to the face was all he received as he swallowed the blood that threatened to escape from his lips. "I didn't tell you to speak. Focus Mordret."

He always hated when his father did that. Abuse masked under a guise of showing him the way and guiding him towards a better life. He was sure that Anvil was doing it more to convince himself more than him, and yet he too allowed himself to entertain those thoughts for the sake of his humanity.

After a few hours, Mordret found himself laying on a hospital bed glaring up at the bright lights of the glaring machinery as three men surrounded him. One of them was the male member of the immortal flame family's two geniuses, and the other two was his father and Asterion.

"We can talk developments in this proxy war later, do you not want to see humanities potential evolution occurring right in front of your very eyes!?" Anvil exclaimed, Asterion could only look at him indifferently before glancing down at Mordret. "You're playing into my interests to consolidate your own strength. If not for the fact I think this will be a resounding failure I'd have killed your kid on the spot."

Anvil merely shrugged indifferently. "I can have more children, make more prodigies."

Disposable.

Replaceable.

Replicable.

Yet wasn't that to be expected? Mordret was lacking something in comparison to his younger sister and it was only a matter of discovering what it was. Comments like these only helped reinforce his conviction to discover all there was to know about Morgan, to fill in the gaps in his own existence.

Suddenly, a new voice rang out through the room. White, short locks flowing gently through the air as Mordret strained his eyes to see the nametag that was held firmly across his latex suit. 'Kyle.'

A unique name, but for someone called Mordret he couldn't quite complain. The man's voice was soothing yet firm, trickling with barely veiled anticipation. "We will begin the experiment now." With that comment alone, Asterion and Anvil backed away from the hospital bed as Kyle turned around and reached behind him. "You two are to exit the room for an hour while the experiment occurs, and there will be no disagreements."

With those words alone, Anvil and Asterion walked impassively out of the room as Kyle shut the door behind them, a wide array of locks coming together to seal the two in a room together. Looking down at Mordret's dishevelled features Kyle smiled gently before cutting open his shirt with a scalpel.

"It'll only hurt for a brief moment." Turning around, Mordret turned on a small camera as he stared at it enthusiastically. "Today this marks our first experiment in creating a super soldier, this will be the prototype named Mordret of Valor. If all goes well, he shall be granted enhanced regeneration and physical capabilities as well as perfecting his current fighting style. Or as close to perfect as he can be."

Suddenly, he reached behind him, picking up a vial of liquid before injecting it into Mordret's arm suddenly. Blinding pain shot out through his body as a guttural roar escaped his lips, he felt his body writhe under the bindings that Kyle had tied him in as he attempted to flee from the seemingly omnipresent pain.

"I have just injected a combination of multiple pieces of DNA into the subject. Including but not limited to that of a crocodile, Starfish and Axolotl. These will allow the subject increased regeneration and vitality, hopefully being able to heal limbs."

After what felt like days, the pain finally subsided as he watched Kyle place on latex gloves over his hands as he wore a mask. His distorted voice echoed throughout the blinding headache that collided with his head. Mordret didn't quite know what exactly what he said, but he had a vague idea once the incisions began.

First it was a thin cut on his chest, then after a thousand it became his fingers, then after a thousand more it became his toes. It continued until Mordret's screams were no longer heard, until he could feel pain no longer. In fact, he could even hear himself laughing at the ten thousandth cut, watching his entire palm fall to the floor as Kyle stared at him with satisfaction.

And then, the pain ended. Turning to the camera, Kyle spoke with a tone of indifference laced with annoyance as his frown shined through his bloodied mask. "The prototype does not possess what is needed to absorb martial arts, only a singular fighting style has been raised till its hypothetical peak. Additionally, prototype is not suitable to inherit a perfect body. Thus... he is a failure."

Sighing indifferently, Kyle frowned before turning off the camera, slamming his fist into the wall before punching Mordret roughly across the face. Spitting out a tooth, Mordret felt it grow back in moments as he licked the blood off his lips. Staring up at Kyle's angry expression.

The man quickly calmed down. Turning to the door and pulling it open allowing for Anvil and Asterion to walk in. Two men of supreme power, yet they quickly reeled backward at the large amounts of blood that stained Mordret's body, only to be greeted by Mordret's bloody grin as he burst into laughter.

"The experiment was a success. Killing Mordret conventionally is essentially impossible, and his skills in combat have advanced supremely." Was all Kyle said as he brushed past the two men. Cutting Mordret loose from his restraints, Anvil watched slowly as Mordret raised himself from his bed, still sticky with blood as he handed him a sword.

"Swing it." Was the command, and Mordret did as he was told. Despite being completely out of range of the wall, Mordret felt a blade exit his sword, like a part of his very essence had extended outward as it cut through the steel walls of his hospital room with ease.

A large gash tore through the wall and before either Anvil or Asterion knew it Mordret had escaped. Neither knew where he was going, and frankly neither cared. Now knowing that these experiments could be a success meant that Mordret was truly replaceable.

Little did they know that hundreds of Clan Valor would die to his hand that very same day.

...

As Mordret finished recounting his tale, he watched as a wide frown settled itself across Sunny's face. Although he didn't remember exactly, a similar experience happening to him had definitely occurred. A level of sympathy and companionship had been built between the two, although neither could admit it.

Despite this, knowing more of what Nephis's parents had done for her sake made Sunny feel odd. He didn't quite know if Mordret would react as gently towards Nephis's relationship with her parents as he did, in fact, he was quite sure Mordret would kill Nephis on the spot.

Turning to the left, Sunny only then realised that Nephis had ran out the room. Glancing at Orion indicating him to keep an eye on Mordret, Sunny bolted where he expected her to be as he found her in their room, keeled over a paper bag as she emptied the contents of her stomach with a sick expression on her face.

Nephis was trembling, trembling far more than she thought she would be, tears cascaded from her eyes as her body quivered like a flower. Her face had turned a sickly red as she noticed Sunny enter the room. "No, stay away! I'm sick, I'm fucking sick! I should kill myself, yes, that'll fix it." Nephis mumbled as Sunny blitzed toward her and placed a hand over her mouth.

"Mordret is downstairs, if you let him know...he'll kill you." Before Nephis could complain further, Sunny pulled her into a deep hug as she wailed into his arms, seeing her like this deeply unsettled Sunny and yet there was nothing he could do except offer her the solace she had given him so many times.

"Look, you can't be blamed for what your parents have done. All you can do is help fix their mistakes, right the wrong's they've done through tearing down the underworld which they helped support." Nephis shook her head violently, unwilling to listen to such rationale as she pulled away from him.

"No! I was the one who encouraged you, allowed you to go after Mordret because he was the reason Morgan behaved like she did! Only for me to realise I'm the reason for all of this! I'm a hypocrite, a fucking hypocrite who can't be consistent because I'm a coward and I don't want to die!"

Instead of replying, Sunny pressed his lips against her own as he interlocked his fingers with hers, feeling her resistance melt away under his touch. After a while, he wiped the tears from her eyes as he traced kisses across her cheek.

"I don't really know what to say in situations like these, because I've always been taught to be rational, but I hope this helps. If you die, think about what would happen. What would happen to me? In fact, all you'd be doing is helping your parents spread their insidious influence because who knows when Anvil will start trying to replicate their experiments! Your death would only take one more good person from the world, one more good person we need. I need."

Staring at him with passion filled in her eyes, Nephis allowed a wide smile to cover her face as she pulled him into a deep hug. Sunny didn't quite know when exactly she had removed his shirt, but from the torn pieces of black clothing that lingered across the floor he could tell she didn't intend to waste time.

Suddenly, he found himself with his back pinned to the bed as Nephis stared at him, kissing him deeply as the two engaged in their unspoken competition of seeing who could hold their breathe for the longest. Eventually, Nephis pulled back first as Sunny's eyes widened.

"There are people downstairs." Nephis looked at him with a raised eyebrow in response, like his comment was entirely useless. "I don't care; the door's locked." Sunny could only allow a small smile to settle across his face as the two delved into their deepest desires, fuelled by the heightened emotions coursing through their body. Only a single coherent thought could go through Sunny's mind.

'Best birthday gift ever.'