To Subtle: Ugh, I finally remembered to write this, i've had a bit of a hard month so i apologize for the delay! And yes, once this story is over Zak and Kur are going to be completly merged as one being. The line will be very shaky within the future of this story so try to pick out what is Kur and what is Zak.
Thanks to my lovely Beta Reader SharpAsFlint who has their own Saturday's fic which (they have multiple) but ohmygod they are all amazing and you should check them out. Also! I've anyones interested please go check out my other fic! It's an AU where Zak is blind! It's told in story/drabbles with the first chapter long as hell and two small chapters so far.
It was a long, paranoid, flight. His mother's fingers twitching in time with her eyebrow. Ulraj, who had given his lungs a break, had sat slumped depressingly in his seat. Zak had been scared, and in shock, but it was given. Though compared to the expressions of his companions he should be much more defeated than he was.
In his defense, his memories of the event were blurry at best. He could remember what he did—though he had no idea how or why he did what he did. Well; that was a lie, but technically it wasn't? He had felt so angry, so desperate for justice and his power just surged —like the mystic hotspots! His power had curled into a ball and had roared to be released, and when he let it go, it flourished.
He had felt confident, whole, and healthy. After he had come to, even after the soreness faded to a dull throb, he still felt incomplete. He felt sickly. His chest was weighed down like he had the flu; his lungs filled with mucus and throat bloated, his ears felt clogged and he had an ever-growing sense of dread.
His very soul felt like it had been cleaved in two.
Despite the fact he was squished between two people he knew loved him; he felt unbearably lonely.
.
Ulraj bit his lip and stroked idly at the gill above his lip.
If he had compared the book to a fire that burned his chest earlier, then now it was a raging blizzard; he wanted to read it, just once. No, he needed to read it. The book froze his chest and its weight had begun to crack the thin sheen of ice. It was unnatural, not humanly possible for Zak, a mortal, to survive a scuffle with a god. Especially one as powerful as the Khyung.
Unthinkable.
He knew that Zak was a human, one with cryptid mutated genes, but still undeniably human and one that managed to survive the Khyung at that. Was Zak more contaminated with cryptid genes than they were aware of?
...How much of Zak was actually human?
He'd have to collect the council; spend hours pouring over the royal archives in search of the damned storybook he was once forced to read daily. A shot of guilt overcame him. He, the most self-assured Kumarian he knew, was having doubts. Doubts about Zak, his first, and closest friend. Ulraj couldn't help the chill that traveled through his bones as his eyes slid over the dazed boy.
How could something so deadly and malicious hide behind a child so happy-go-lucky?
Zak would understand his reasons — he couldn't let this go. Zak would forgive him for being an unfaithful friend. Afterall, Ulraj wasn't just Ulraj. He was King Ulraj, ruler of Kumari Kandam. He was the father and protector of over sixty-five thousand Kumari. He couldn't make selfish decisions anymore. Friendship had no place in politics.
He'd keep a closer eye on Zak from now on.
…..He could feel the weight of his conscience draped over his shoulders.
.
Drew slowly exhaled, the carbon dioxide curled in her lungs escaping in a rough hiss, meditation and prayers had failed her yet again. She was sure that whatever god that watched over her laughed at her torment. She had always remained faithful to her beliefs! Never once straying away from her path despite constantly being bested in her theories by her husband. She had little fruit to show for her labors.
It was exhausting. Constantly eating her words and trying to remain as optimistic as possible; which was a heavy burden in itself with the gloom that seemed to engulf her family.
Drew was a child of misfortune and ill-omen. Or so she was told. The monk's really never sugar coated their words.
And as luck would dictate, she had passed it to her only son, Zak, her darling baby-boy who adored the stars. Zak was cursed because of her. History had a horrible habit of repeating itself and well, it was only a matter of time for the next iteration to come around.
Not that it could get any worse, Zak was the jailer to an ancient Sumerian cryptid; honestly, what could be worse?
A million things, actually. But her point still remained.
Drew was already losing her son. He was slipping straight through her fingers and becoming someone she didn't know. Zak was fighting his own battles. And she wasn't there to pick him up, dust him off, and kiss his worries away. It had been that way for a while. She had been blind — rather she refused to look at the truth that had been handed to her; she wanted to believe because that's all she could hope for, that Zak would stay her little boy.
Well tough, because he grew up. He took flight and left the nest before he grew his wings.
Her heart wept. The internal scale in her chest continued to sway. She was losing the passion for her work. It only brought bad things. It was an obstacle! God only knows how much she's sacrificed for her work.
Still, she just couldn't give it up, not yet.
She could do this. For Doc and Zak who loved their job with a passion she was envious of. For Doyle, whom she'd never be reunited with if not for her profession. She could keep going. She refused to be left behind. It was still her dream; to be normal one day but really— they were Saturdays. Their normal was an organized chaos. Snorting in amusement she wiped away the oddly domesticated dream of her family smiling she urged the airship to go faster.
Nine hours time, she'd be home.
"Do you ever take a break mini-man?" Doyle finally asked after his jaw finally rose from the floor.
"I don't exactly look for trouble." After meeting one unimpressed look he conceded, "well... At least not all the time." His fingers flexed from their position around the steaming mug. Grinning sheepishly he looked up at his role model, "It just kinda finds me."
The red-head lightly rested his hand on Zak's shoulder in understanding. What he didn't expect was Zak flopping over and resting in his lap, "Zak-man?" He questioned idly just slightly put off at the physical contact.
"Long day… er... Days." Zak moaned and buried his head in Doyle's lap.
Waiting for his dad to return was boring; his mother insisted that they had to treat their injuries before they revealed how their trip went and he was going to wait but he had needed to vent. Besides, he figured his mother had followed his lead and gave his dad a run-down.
Outside, from his bay-window view, it looked like Fisk and Ulraj were having fun. Like normal, Komodo had taken Ulraj's necklace, but instead of eating it he made a game out of it. It was funny — who wouldn't laugh at a fish and a monkey chasing a lizard? Normally he would have joined, but he just couldn't bring himself to stand. It was getting increasingly hard to focus.
It must have had something to do with the Khyung he concluded. Ever since he was forced out of the mirror he had felt sickly. Maybe his dad would find something, annnnd speak of the devil; the door slid open to reveal his slightly wary dad, which confirmed his hypothesis, and his mom.
"Tired honey?" His mom asked as she sat on the left of Doyle while Doc kneeled in front of him.
Giving a small shrug he watched with blank eyes as his father set out what must have been half of the med-bay. His checkup had become a lot longer and more taxing after discovering his mutated DNA. Though it was sort of mortifying, and unintentional, his health had essentially become an experiment to his parents. He didn't want Doyle to see all the steps he had to go through.
His mom coaxed his shirt over his head and in his drowsiness, he didn't even think to fight her. A swab was scraped against his tongue and a sharp prick bit into his finger. Solomon's large fingers pressed into the crook of Zak's elbow as the tired boy leaned further onto his uncle. He clenched his fist as a needle was inserted into his arm.
"Uh, I'm all for being thorough and all but don't you think this is a little much for a 'check-up'?" Doyle winced as he watched the needle disappear beneath Zak's skin. Solomon murmured to Drew and she hastily scribbled it down on the clipboard.
"Actually, not thorough enough." Drew frowned as she pressed on Zaks another arm, "His skin seems to have thickened? It's rougher… His cryptid DNA is unpredictable, we have to watch for any mutations, haven't you noticed Zak's 'new additions'?" She questioned.
"The eyes? Not that big of a deal," Doyle shrugged, "They're kinda cool."
"Pigmentation shift," Doc interjected.
"That's not all, his teeth too, all of his senses have rapidly improved. Sight, smell, and hearing. All of them have undergone a transformation, it's truly astonishing. A human with the perks of a cryptid its-" Drew began to gush before Doc shot her a glance, "Oh.. sorry sweetie.'
Zak only groaned and tried to burrow deeper into his uncle's chest.
"Anyway," Doc continued after placing a band-aid on Zak's arm, "his skin is definitely harder to pierce; it feels almost like scales or maybe an exoskeleton, though considering Kur's original form I think we can cross out the exoskeleton." Solomon mused as he stroked his son's soft skin. Drew hummed at the possibility of her son developing such wacky features as she retrieved a stethoscope and otoscope. Holding the stethoscope out to her husband she frowned as it was not taken from her hand. Looking down she caught her husband eyeing his son's' stomach.
"Doc?"
"It looks like I wasn't wrong in my observation." He smugly stated as he lifted Zak's arm. Now under speculation, Zak froze and tried to lower his arm. His father barely felt the struggle as Drew and Doyle both looked down, at his hip specifically.
"Are those-?!" Drew began suddenly not so amused at the thought of scales.
"Zak since when-" Solomon cut his wife off.
"Scales…" Doyle finished.
Lifting his head from Doyle's shoulder and looking at his family with murky eyes he shrugged, "'s been there since I woke up." He slurred as he struggled to keep his head upright.
"Why didn't you say anything?" Solomon questioned.
"There, uh, was kinda' a lot goin' on." He said.
"This changes things quite a bit… Doc? What are we going to do- his senses were one thing but with all of these physical shifts." Her unsaid question hung in the air.
"Don't." To everyone's surprise, it was Doyle who spoke out, "Remember what doubting got us last time? A group of 'kid friendly' scientist chasing us and the mini-man here losing his self-esteem." He really pulled no punches when he spoke…
"He's right. Zak will be just fine. Though his genes are mutated, the base is still human. We won't have another Honey Island situation." Doc confirmed.
"Honey Island?" The redhead asked.
"A bonding experience." Zak joked in his exhausted stupor.
"What?"
"Don't worry about it." He sighed.
His parents who took the brief interlude to complete their examination stood, "All done! Now I'll run this back to the lab, but honey? It looks like you've caught a cold." Drew spoke as she left the room.
"Jus' w'at I needed." Zak moaned and flopped back onto his uncle. For all extent and purposes, he appeared to be passed out.
Laughing at his nephews' antics Doyle nudged him softly, "Real funny," getting no response he shook the boy on his lap, "Zak?"
Ulraj sighed; now re-equipped with his necklace and tucked safely away in the Saturday's guest room, it was time to get down to business. Slipping the heavy tomb from under his shirt he placed it down on the bed. He had almost a desperate need to read it before, but now? He almost regretted taking it from the monks. Slipping out a silent prayer and an apology to his ill friend he flipped to the first page.
Gilgamesh, humanity's mortal God.
A knock at the door caused the book to tumble from his hands.
"Yes?" He stuttered slightly.
"Fish-man? I'm about to pwn Zak and Fuzzy at Mario Kart, you interested?" He taunted from the other side of the door.
Normally he would have turned down the offer, as more… pressing, he snorted at his pun, matters needed to be reviewed but…
One more night of fun wouldn't hurt.
"You think you can best a king at a challenge?! For a land-dweller you sure are slimy." He retorted as he opened the door and joined the older male. Matching grins lined their faces as they sprinted to the lounge where Zak was buried beneath several blankets and Fisk was attempting to untangle the controllers.
Claiming a seat on the left of Zak the King looked distastefully at the pile of tissues collecting on the blankets, "If you get me sick I swear-"
"Wha'? Yer fancy king body can't handle a lil' hueman gerums?" Zak croaked out as he blew his nose again. Due to the blockage in his nose, his words were skewed and sounded hilarious to the Kumarian's ears.
"Oh, you are going down!" He snorted.
"Nu'uh! Yer go'n' down!" Zak growled.
"Actually, you're both going down!" Doyle commented as he threw the untangled controllers to both bickering boys, "I'll show you two noobs how it's really done!" He gloated as Fiskerton booted up the console and sprung into the rafters to watch the game.
...They were all losers as road rage overtook them. Doyle's soda; which was placed at the very edge of the table after several shoves, was knocked over by Zak who was shoved by Ulraj, spilled all over the gaming system.
The four hurried to clean the mess; bad luck striking as Doc walked in as Fisk was scrubbing the stain from the newly imported carpet, inhaling heavily through his nose Doc pointed out the cleaning items and left. Zak left too, as he was given strict orders to go to bed and a small punishment.
Zak was banned from games for a week, Fisk once again had a curfew, Doyle had to replace the console and Ulraj walked off feeling more than slightly embarrassed.
He would, however, be lying if he said that 'gaming night' was his worst memory. If anything? It was his favorite.
Ulraj smiled dropped as he returned to the book slightly hidden under the bed.
His biggest regret.
That damned book.