Chương 36: Parental Figure

Even though the fight between Mortimer and June lasted long and was exceedingly violent even by Dreamer standards, the two seemingly never hated each other. Well, Mortimer was an exception; June had a theory as to why, but even though Mortimer was dead set on making June's funeral a closed-casket one, he eventually lost that ire as it turned into excitement. June enjoyed the challenge, and Mortimer was starved for one. People with a body manipulation affinity weren't rare; in fact, they were fairly common.

Though despite the common affinity, the number of people who have actually thoroughly explored it could be counted on one hand. It was an exceedingly dangerous endeavor that came with a bundle of risks. Unlike regular magic or other abilities, there was a risk of losing oneself; one could become a cannibalistic zombie or a mass of flesh. There have been cases of people simply exploding when exploring the possibilities.

June, of course, didn't know that, but to Mortimer, the fact that there was another like himself was a more covetable thing than June's two gemlike eyes; of course, he at first had his own worries, as previously stated, most people who not only chose but actually succeeded in this type of evolution were not the most stable types, and sometimes they tended to be real freaks of nature, so much so that there's even a children's tale in the nightrealm of a monster who hunted down and assimilated little kids who disobeyed their parents.

Mortimer, of course, knows the truth of the story was greatly exaggerated, but the possibility of a person like that out there was not nonexistent. To become a flesh shaper like himself, a person needed to be crazy, and then to survive as a human, they would need to become a walking contradiction. One mind would have to fathom hundreds of bodies while maintaining one at a time; it often turned out to be an innate affinity based on one's environment they were raised in rather than simply a learned skill.

But to Mortimer's pleasant surprise, the young boy was a flesh-shaper like himself, and he had managed to keep himself in check. He was a boy genius, if anything.

Mortimer had lived for an exceedingly long time, almost three generations of the royal family's reign, and he was born only a couple days after the country itself was founded; in that time, he wandered far and wide running from his mother and only found one person like himself and, in fact, the only person who had accepted him and effectively raised him into who he was now.

'My old lord' The old lord had died almost fifteen years ago, and Mortimer found another who shared the same ability and maintained their sanity? You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

'It's a gift, a gift from God, from our old lord in the heavens.'

June didn't hate the old coot. They were fighting to the death a few seconds ago, and now they were lying next to each other in the cold weather, laughing their hearts out as Lilia stared at them strangely while wearing his lost letterman jacket. He barely knew the old man, but the way he looked at Lilia made his chest feel warm; someone who was able to display such affection couldn't be such a bad person in June's eyes.

'How nice....' Of course June was jealous; he didn't show it, but he definitely felt jealous of Lilia. As warm as the feeling was in his chest, there was a tightening feeling to accompany it. His parents never looked at him that way? His sibling never looked at him that way? But looking at it in the old butler's eyes, it was clear, pure affection. The only looks he got from his family were somber looks or anger. He couldn't tell if his hand was trembling from exertion or an overdose of warmth.

How had a man who had just tried to kill him make him feel an emotion that his own family hadn't during his twenty years on this planet?

'He didn't want to cry in front of Lilia or Mortimer for some reason, so he willed his tear ducts to not open.' June really just had his dog, and his affection was enough for him. But he knew dogs didn't live long, not to mention his also seemed to be afflicted with the family curse; his dog would have seizures, and almost every year, like his mother, they would both develop a new medical problem. As ready as he was for his mom to keel over, he had been preparing himself for his dog to follow too.

And then after that he would have been alone. Truly alone. Despite the physical trauma the nightrealm brought him, it also brought him purpose. Instead of living chapter to chapter, episode to episode, waiting for the day that his own hand or someone else's ended him, the nightrealm gave him purpose; it gave him powers to fight back against and even protect himself from the cruelty life crammed on him; it reformed him; it made him beautiful; he even got to meet Lilia.

He was prepared to die today; he was prepared every day, but today of all days he was able to find a feeling that evaded him all his life; he would truly be able to die satisfied. He loved his friends deeply, but at the same time he felt like his relationships were built of thin mesh; they felt deeply flawed, like the type that would collapse with the slightest wind. People seemed to trust him, but he just always felt like he was missing something.

But the people he met in the nightrealm for some reason felt like they had that something.

'The throes of battle really do make people become close.'

'Maybe I should have joined the military when I was mundane.' He joked to himself in his mind, but he felt he would have died a pointless death if he joined; at least in the nightrealm people fought for a common goal.

'Survival, instead of greed.' Julian was afraid of June, but even then he still made an effort to converse with June; they survived God together after all. Shade never said a single word, but her expressions elaborated on what she meant anyways. The boss, tinkerer, Eric, the time he spent with them was short in comparison to his life, but he had never felt closer to another group of people before. The nightrealm made June feel...

'Complete' He thought about what came after; he still layed with Mortimer on the cold jagged gravel ballast, their laughs becoming silent as they both fell into thought. It was a shame that June had to leave the company of the two; despite their differences and the altercation they just had, June enjoyed meeting them oddly enough. One showed him what parental affection looked like despite him not being the recipient. And the other showed him what love felt like.

'It's a shame I'll probably never see them again after this.'