Tattoo

TATTOO



by: lovelycrazy







CHAPTER 3 : The Slitherine King, the Missing Prince, and some mysteries





Jamie pulled away from Devin’s sweet embrace as he gazed through teary though loving eyes at his long lost cousin, well, as much as Devin’s appearance anyway.



“You’re real, aren’t you?” Jamie asked as he established eye contact with Devin. “I wasn’t dreaming that time, thirteen years ago, was I?” His voice was soft as he cupped Devin’s face between his hands.



Devin could only shake his head because he still felt as if his throat was constricting in on itself. Now that he had someone familiar from whom he could anchor himself to, his tears just wouldn’t stop coming. He was beyond ecstatic to see his cousin up and about, but things he’d previously set aside from his mind – that, almost fourteen years ago, he was really once a boy named Devin and those crazy things happened as well as the fact that those slit-eyed, hissing guys had once again hurt them - were coming back and lashing out at him.



He placed his right hand over Jamie’s left while his left was tightly clutching Jamie’s shirt like a lifeline.



“Hey.” Jamie wiped a tear with his thumb. “It’s alright now. Don’t cry anymore.



Devin sniffed and tried to smile. He managed, but the tears still fall like two never-ending underground rivers.



“I-I...c-can’t seem to m-make it s-stop.” He said between hiccups and sniffs. He was like a kid again but he still managed to look pretty through it all even without conscious effort.



Jamie smiled kindly at the clearly distraught Devin. It’s been years since he saw him this vulnerable. It was the day after Devin found some differences in his body, that he has become a girl, the day after that meeting at the lake. Part of him didn’t like seeing his cousin this way, but another part also loved being able to give the comfort his younger cousin needed at these very infrequent moments.



He smoothed Devin’s dark hair away from his face before speaking.



“Let it all out then. I’ll just be here.”



With that, Devin buried his face at Jamie’s chest and seemed to cry even harder. Jamie continued to stroke Devin’s hair or ran soothing circles on Devin’s back, the two prominente, who had distanced themselves somewhere in the process to give the two some privacy, were completely forgotten.



Eventually, Devin quieted down and quite expectedly, he felt drowsy. Jamie smiled kindly once again.



“C’mon, let’s tuck you in.” He said as he slowly led Devin to the bed.



Immediately, alertness cleared Devin’s eyes. “No,” he said stubbornly as he hugged his cousin tight. Jamie chuckled lightly though he did understand Devin’s motive behind the action. Devin was afraid, afraid to lose his cousin again once he’d let go. It was as if he was facing the sweet, young Devin again.



“It’s alright. I won’t go away. I’ll stay with you and when you wake up, I’ll still be here beside you. Okay?”



Devin hugged him tighter if any more possible. He almost lost his cousin twice, and he was afraid he would lose him if he either let go or close his eyes. After all, it’ll only take but a moment to take a life, and as much as human bodies go, killing or harming someone is as easy as a walk in the park. He learned that the hard way at the tender age of five.



“It’s a promise, Dev. I’ll always be here for you.”



Gently, he coaxed Devin to let go and lie down on the bed. Reluctantly, Devin did. He was almost asleep by the time Jamie has covered him fully with the silky blanket. Jamie sat beside him and began gently stroking his hair. Devin’s eyelids dipped lower and lower until his eyes were fully closed and his breathing evened out into a deep sleep, thankfully, with a peaceful face.



Jamie continued his ministrations, still reveling in the moment. He stared at Devin’s sleeping form, and a soft smile graced his lips.



“I wish we could always stay this way.” Jamie thought ruefully. “This face…it should only show this contentment or happiness.” Another gentle stroke to Devin’s flowing hair and the sleeping man breathed a happy sigh.



Seeing this, Jamie smiled further although inside, his insides were roiling most unpleasantly as a foreboding feeling that the serenity of the moment is like the calm before a storm, a storm that would leave their world upside down, begin to overwhelm his being.



He closed his eyes and lay beside Devin, holding his hand tenderly.



“I hope we’ll make it through whatever’s waiting for us out there.”





*****





“Useless imbeciles!”



A goblet filled with red wine was thrown harshly across the king’s throne room to a nearby wall, breaking an expensive ornate vase perched atop a podium when the chalice rebound after hitting the wall. Servants, guards, and councilmen alike tried hard not to flinch as the piercing sound of shattering glass echoed around the commodious hall. The silence that followed only made most of those present want to fidget in their seats. If not for the dignified image they have to uphold and their soaring pride, they might have already done so. Some might even have fled the room. After all, few, if anybody, want to be around the Slitherine King when the monarch’s infamous temper is at its thinnest, if any is left at all. And now was just one of those common instances.



The Slitherine King growled. He wanted to snap at his men for another failure. It’s been years since the search for his wayward youngest son was on, and until now, not even a scale of the half-breed was found, whether in his kingdom, Korangar, or the in the Draconian’s Wielderia. Yes, the youngest Slitherine prince was a half-breed born out of a human kidnapped and raped by the Slitherine King.



Now that he’d thought of the accursed ‘H’ word again, the Slitherine King couldn’t help but growl louder. His brows furrowed, eyes narrowed dangerously, and lips curled up enough to reveal narrow fangs that had lengthened a little with his aggression.



Everyone in the throne room was struggling, in a way, to keep their composure. The king may be currently unhappy with the search party but it doesn’t mean the coast was clear. No. Far from that, actually. King Kaiol, the tyrant that he is, could easily choose to vent his anger onto anyone who was unlucky enough to catch his attention during one of his temper flares.



Unknown to everyone present, however, is that deep inside, King Kaiol was actually worried-sick of Reguza, his fourth child and the youngest of his sons. He may not admit it, let alone show it, but he, in fact, favored his youngest son of all his children, all seven of them. Not because of all the women who bore him his children, he loved Reguza’s mother. No, not really. In fact, he hadn’t loved any of those females. They were all just tools to him. Reguza’s mother was no different. It was all because Reguza, despite being a half-breed, is the strongest and wisest of all his children, perfect qualities for an heir to his throne. And since he’d witnessed his son’s prowess after a mere seven cycles old, he’d been hell-bent to name him his heir, much to the displeasure of most of the king’s subjects.



It really didn’t help things when fate seemed to also favor Reguza not just at the brain and ability department but also in his looks and character. He was very dominating as a male Serpent with fine-looking features. The delicateness of yet overwhelming presence put most Serpents and Draconians to a state of uncertainty and confusion that almost everyone to him was easy prey. With long silky deep violet locks, in which ends were attached precious stones of the same color, falling freely to the middle of his thigh, pale features decorated with purple, crimson, and black inborn tattoos indicating his high status in the Serpent hierarchy and the extremely deadly venom, and a pair of blood red eyes, Reguza easily stands out in a crowd of full-blooded Serpents and Draconians or Wielderians alike.



There was one major flaw in Reguza which King Kaiol couldn’t help but notice (and be frustrated with), though. And that is, Reguza showed no interest in the throne, the war between the two races, or power, money and fame, in general. Although a prankster in nature, he was by far the most gentle and kind-hearted of all Serpents and Wielderians King Kaiol knew in his lifetime, and that was saying something since Kaiol knew a lot of his own race and the other – what with existing for so long and being king and all. He’d tried many ways to make Reguza see things his way but the Halfling was nothing but stubborn – a quality he had begrudgingly recognized as one of his own traits. He had bribed him with many things – jewels, precious metals, estates, power, fame, glory, even females – but not a single thing worked! Heck, not even becoming the future king lured him!



And then the king’s impatience got the better of him and he resorted to threatening his favorite son. He casually made Reguza choose between the lives of his men – all seven elite Serpents, known as the Arcus, who were known to be loyal to the prince - and agreeing to the king’s terms. The action turned out to be nothing short of foolish as the normally stoic and benign prince became enraged and eventually vanished without a trace. Even the Arcus whom the prince trusted with his life had no clue of his whereabouts or what in the two kingdoms went through his pretty little head. They knew one thing for sure, though.



The prince was fed up.



Not that they ever voiced their thoughts aloud, of course. It would’ve been their heads, otherwise. But then again, it’s not as if they’re afraid of dying. They wouldn’t be soldiers if they were. It’s just that it’s something they thought was insignificant and not worth the effort of even uttering it. Besides, they’re a part of the elite militia not gossipmongers.



So of course, no one knew that little fact about their half-breed prince – among other things – especially King Kaiol, who, despite his normally keen perception and calculative psyche, failed, or rather, refused to take into consideration his heavy-handedness into the picture. Reguza’s a Slitherine prince with his proud royal blood flowing in his veins. He is a formidable warrior. Surely, he won’t leave for such a minor thing as can’t stand your king which happens to be your own father.



There has to be a good reason why Reguza disappeared all of a sudden and King Kaiol believed it has something to do with those blasted Wielderians, one way or another. And when that really was the case, heaven forbid, King Kaiol would gladly wipe the whole race out of the whole Wielderia. Well, not that he wasn’t working on that one. Heaven knows the two races had been at war for an exaggeratedly long time now that the conflict between the two races was almost like an everyday thing. It was only in this time – when Serpentine soldiers were sent to look for the missing prince instead of fighting or killing every Wielderian in sight or raiding towns and barracks – that the state of quasi-peace was achieved – and only because the Wielderians refused continue with the meaningless struggle for superiority and instead devoted themselves with much more productive tasks such as training or searching for their own king’s counterpart, among many other things.



King Kaiol was suddenly brought out of his musings when a messenger entered the throne room, bringing news of the search in the other world.



After waving impatiently for the messenger to immediately hand him whatever has the search party in the other world deemed worthy of his time, the slightly trembling serpent spoke as he handed him a sealed parchment.



“My King, a message from Lieutenant Enermum.”



The king immediately began reading. Although no one but the king may have read the contents of the letter, it was clear to anyone with eyes that it was hardly good news.



The permanent scowl on the king’s face deepened as the monarch delved further into the contents. His already sour mood darkened even more and rapidly with each passing second. Tension made the air thick and heavy it’s almost tangible. Then finally, he snapped and with a roar that made many present flinch by at least an inch in their seats he threw the rolled piece of paper to the wall – the others barely noticing as it also hit the same spot the goblet had earlier – and colorfully cursed every living Wielderian especially their king, King Vasska.



“How dare he!” Kaiol fumed after he’d dismissed – much to their delight - all the others in the throne room. With how things are going, he’d risk slaughtering everyone who had just left to abate his anger.



“Attacking my men even in the other world! I specifically refrained from any aggression in my part for the past few years and now this?”



Kaiol paced near the large ornamental French window and glared at his reflection.



“A whole squad of highly trained Slitherine army slaughtered quickly enough that none of them had the chance to warn the others.” Kaiol growled. “You will pay for this tenfold, you Draconian brat. Just you wait.”





*****





Back on Earth, one towering man stood over the bodies of freshly slaughtered Serpentine soldiers. Blood red hair swayed with the wind as it blew across the seemingly peaceful glade.



“K-huk…”



Cold silver eyes languidly looked back at the source of the sound – a soldier on his back, gurgling blood as he struggled for breath with a deeply slit throat.



Booted feet slowly stalked toward the stubborn creature that just refused to die easily, but it wasn’t from the man with the fiery hair as the said man hadn’t even moved an inch from where he stood and was just looking at him with an unreadable expression. He then looked up to the man approaching from a distance, presumably, his ally.



The soldier, Lieutenant Enermum, strained his eyes as he tried to see the person approaching from above his head. He could not recognize the first figure as he was too far away for his weakened senses to recognize. Maybe, this second one would give him a clue as to who the first stranger was.



He waited… and then…



A cloaked figure entered his line of sight but even when the man has removed the hood covering his features, he could not make out the face. The night was too dark, the man’s face shadowed and his eyesight had long gone blurry as life – his life – slowly slipped away from him along with his blood.



Enermum slowly closed his eyes. He knew it was his time and even if he used all of his energy and knowledge of a couple of centuries, he couldn’t save himself from a certain death like this.



A small smirk tugged at the corner of his mouth. He would at least devote the last of his energy to at least see who the other stranger, currently looming over him, was. Maybe then, he’d learn who had killed him and his trained men oh-so-easily.



Channeling what was left of his life’s mana to his eyes, Enermum wasted no time and stared directly at a face he knew surprisingly well.



This time, he did smirk despite the blood oozing from both his mouth and the horizontal slash in his throat. He may not have a single idea who the man with the red hair was, but at least, he knew someone with a similar hue for eyes.



“F-khou-nd k-oukh…”



And with that, Enermum closed his eyes for one last time, but at least, he died with a smile on his face. He’d done what was last asked of him by his king.





*****





Silence ensued as the two strangers paid proper respects to the fallen warriors of the Slitherine kingdom, arranging, cleaning, and mending the mangled bodies as much as limited magic can do in the ‘other world’ (Earth) and then incinerating the remains and erasing the traces indicating such a horrid thing happened in such a beautiful glade.



A sigh from the shorter male broke the pregnant silence.



“Did you catch the ones who slaughtered them?”



“No. I’m sorry. I came here a moment too late.”



Another sigh from the same man, meaning the same thing happened on his end. They were both a second too late to prevent whatever it was that slaughtered the whole Slitherine platoon which was a total of 31 serpents, including the lieutenant who must’ve thought they were their aggressors.



The same man frowned grimly. He hoped the thought didn’t cross the lieutenant’s mind. It would break his heart if so, and he had no way of correcting him as he knew no way of reaching a dead man without dying himself. He sighed again. He couldn’t die just yet. His babies need him and he’ll be damned if he had to lose them once again.



Straightening up, eyes lit with determination, he turned to his companion and a moment of silent conversation ensued. With a nod they’ve reached a decision.

---

A/N: So, there. The third chapter. Forgive me for such a delay. You know, things happen. Let me know what you think, though. If you can, I also need some constructive criticisms to improve the story. Seriously, please leave reviews, questions, etc.