Chapter 1: Seed of the Beast within

"Are you sure?" Player asked him.

"Yeah," Ephemer told him. But Player could tell that the boy was also embarrassed that this was the method he decided to frame his explanations around. Still, this was an opportunity for him to take in the cute, slender frame of his beloved crush while getting answers from him at the same time. A sweet sweet opportunity that would be savoured as much as he could.

"Everywhere appropriate?"

"Everywhere that's appropriate. Yes, you may stroke my hair too if you want to," Ephemer nodded.

"Alright, I'll take you up on that offer." With that, Player slowly nudged up to begin his inspection of Ephemer's body. Sure, he was given explicit permission to do so, but Player still remained uneasy. It might have mostly healed up by now, but what kind of damage or reason could have kept Ephemer from meeting up with him at the main Fountain Square that time? Well, if Ephemer was so confident that a strip down to just his briefs for an inspection & later, giving of answers was the best way to come as clean as he can be given his current position as Union Leader, who was Player to deny him his offer of inspection?

With a swallow, Player began: He was as slender as Player expected him to be, with the kind of speed-based techniques he noticed Ephemer unleashed in the battles he managed to catch up to the boy for. But his chest area… scars everywhere like they're made from claw marks... Player wanted to ask him about the scars right there & then, but Player decided that he needed to ask them all in one shot. Deliberately steering his eyes from the chest scars, Player turned his eyes to Ephemer's neck and face. Sadly, they turned out no better, with a pair of bite marks on Ephemer's neck & claw marks down the side of Ephemer's left cheek; marks that he swore he saw in that dream? Of the graveyard of Keyblades where Ephemer & Skuld came to bring him through a ray of light? He honestly couldn't remember any details after that moment. Only of him in bed & a mention from Chirithy about some nightmares… Worriedly, Player hastened his scan of the rest of Ephemer, breathing easily once he found nothing wrong with the rest of his friend's body.

After giving his friend a thorough massage, Player steeled himself to ask his friend about the scars on his body.

"T-Those scars on your chest, face & scars… P-Please, tell me where you got those," Player managed to stammer out.

Ephemer looked away at those words.

"I'm sorry. I'm so so sorry. The story would be quite painful to hear…" Ephemer told Player, his voice grim.

"But you asked, so I'll tell you."

With that, Ephemer took his seat on the sofa opposite Player.

"Aren't you going to put on some clothes first?" Player asked, worried for his friend's health.

"No, Player. I'm sorry. I have to do this. There are certain secrets that aren't ready to be released yet & some things that should not be kept a secret amongst friends. This is one of those things that a friend should know as soon as possible. I'm ready, & I'm not putting on any more clothes till I see it through to the end." Ephemer told him firmly.

Seeing that Ephemer is serious, Player nodded, straightening himself to listen to his friend's tale.

"Remember the day we went into the Daybreak Town Sewers?"

Player nodded.

"After that, I did meet up with Master Ava at the Fountain Square. Told her all about you & how I had planned to meet you the next day. I planned to meet you the next day as promised! Really!" Ephemer told him, waving his arms frantically at Player's skeptical look.

"But then, that incident happened…"

Night time, Daybreak Town Sewers, Gears gateway…

Ephemer ran to the Gear Gateway, slowing to a walk as he approached the gear.

"Sorry Player…" he whispered as he looked back at the Daybreak Sewers entrance several hallways back. It wasn't easy making that decision to explore the place first without Player by his side. But it had to be done. Venturing into the Foreteller Tower itself was forbidden, much less poking into the secrets that it held within. What would be the punishment dealt to him, that Player would also have to bore, if they both got caught? That was something Ephemer wasn't willing to let happen to Player, strong feelings notwithstanding despite meeting Player a few hours ago, so he pressed on.

His assessment of the situation was justified not long after when he heard footsteps coming up from behind him.

"Who... "

Ephemer turned around to see what seemed like a hooded figure behind him.

"You?"

The hooded figure stood there for a long time, like it was considering something or someone…

Then it nodded at something off-screen.

Ephemer barely dodged the blow that followed.

The creature that swung that blow was a Werewolf heartless. But there was something off about it. Some scars were on it's body & near it's right eye. The shackles near it's paws were damaged & rusted in some areas. Any other details that could be caught were skimmed over by the attacks that came soon after.

Ephemer tried to strike back with his usual arsenal, but the Werewolf felt so much more powerful than any other of it's kind that he's fought before. For one thing, it was blocking his keyblade swings, if not outright dodging them. And when it's not dodging or blocking his attacks, it's attacking with either swift strikes or attempting to hit him with the force of a sledgehammer. Ephemer managed to evade them, but even as refined a keyblade wielder as Ephemer could be in his circumstances, even Dandelion boy can't dodge them all forever.

Ephemer had just managed to dodge a swing from the werewolf. But the heartless, in a surprising showcase of it's intellect, followed up with a slash that connected with Ephemer's left cheek.

The pain from the blow was unlike anything Ephemer had ever felt before, even with Second Chance (IV) on his person. Ephemer was launched into the air and landed harshly on the Gear Hallway floor. The boy tried to maintain his wits around him to stall his powerful foe long enough to heal himself, but what was left of his stamina quickly left him, and the boy collapsed on the ground.

The werewolf howled, launching itself into a barrage of slashes on his chest. The agony came as expected, a fresh flash of pain came with each slash that Ephemer was surprised he's still conscious for. By the end, Ephemer was barely able to move, much less open his eyes. He felt the breaths of the wolf, heard it's pantings. Then came the voice;

"That should show you what happens when you poke into this area as much as you had," the figure told him, it's deep voice feeling like it was said in the water in his current state.

"Dinner time."

That was it… Ephemer told himself, his search for the truth ending with him as werewolf dinner. The boy turned his thoughts to Skuld & Player, the boy from his rival union with whom he'll never really get to know…

The final chomp or slash never came.

Instead was a howl of pain, some slashes later, and a soothing sensation that can only come from a cure of a certain tier.

"Hold on! I'll try to get you out!" a voice called out to him from somewhere.

Ephemer tried to sit up, but the damage done was such that he could not even do that.

"Oh no! T-That didn't work?"

*Silence*

"S-So… I'll… I'll have to do that?" Even under the fog of darkness from the pain, Ephemer could sense the boy's distress.

"Please… Please stay with me," the boy pleaded, now holding his left hand.

He had to tell him. He had to tell the mysterious helper that he's still hanging on.

Ephemer weakly squeezed the boy's hand.

"You're still there? Alright. Stay with me. I'm gonna give you something that should keep you alive long enough to get us both out to see a doctor to heal you up."

A piercing sensation soon followed, followed by a soothing one.

"It's alright. That something is just a temporary measure to keep you alive. After you're stable, we'll see about getting you back to normal if that something isn't something you want. I promise…"

A howl soon told them both that that's not gonna happen anytime soon.

"Oh no! Again?"

Ephemer tried to keep some semblance of consciousness, but the strain was too much for him and he blacked out.