Author's notes: Hello. This is the fifth chapter.
'I shall check on Chiro and see if he has recovered,' the Antauri in the image said before the picture dispersed right before Chiro's eyes.
The boy's eyes were stinging with unshed tears, thinking 'This could be the last time I see my family.'
"Well, Chiro? Nothing to say?" Skeleton King mocked with a diabolic smirk on his face.
"My family will find me! This is not over, Skeleton King!" Chiro yelled, holding onto the last silver whisps of hope, fighting against his own negative thoughts.
"Ohhohoho, no, boy. From now on, I am your family," Skeleton King murmured, taking a step towards Chiro who, feeling scared and confused, took several steps back.
Chiro's back hit a wall, and Skeleton King's figure towered over him, imposingly, menacingly.
Fast as a viper, the bag of bones took Chiro's chin in his hands, almost contemplating cutting the soft, baby-like flesh.
Yet he refrained. He concentrated on looking the young man in the eyes and said, softly "For too long have you been a thorn in my side, little boy. Now your power dances to my whim, only manifesting when I so desire it too. You belong to me now, boy."
"Never!" Chiro yelled with spirit and conviction in his voice. Then he began struggling, trying to get Skeleton King's hands off of him, yet it proved useless, for no matter how much he tried to move away, he seemed to be pulled in even closer, until he was eye level.
"After the fight has left your eyes, and after you'll find yourself doing anything for a second of my attention, Chiro, know that I have won." Then he let go of Chiro's chin and started walking around him in a circle, like a ravenous shark.
Each step was soft like a panther's yet hard like an elephant's.
"You are completely dependent on me. You eat when I tell you, you drink when I tell you, you sleep when I so desire..."
"I shit when the mood hits you?!" Chiro asked, pissed off.
"Not so crudely spoken, boy, but yes, you could say so," he responded annoyed yet slightly amused.
'Skeleton King, everybody. Tyrannical overlord of hundreds of planets, powerful evil sorcerer, gets irked by common expletives. What's next, he plays fair at poker?' Chiro thought.
"Now, as a beginning of our new, relationship, how about we toast to it?" Skeleton King asked before snapping his fingers. An enslaved formless appeared, caring two glasses of wine.
"You must be insane if you think I'm drinking anything you're giving me!" Chiro replied, defiantly.
"Foolish boy, I could have destroyed you every second now. I assure you if I wanted to do it, I would use something far more satisfying than mere poison."
Chiro clicked his tongue, then took the glass nearest to Skeleton King, just in case. The evil overlord threw him a satisfied look, almost saying "I knew you would do that."
The child took a cautious sip, the cherry red wine glistening on his full lips.
"Last time I checked, giving wine to children was a bad thing to do as a parent," Chiro said snidely.
"Why Chiro? Have you forgotten to whom you're speaking to? I am pure darkness, little boy, the likes you could never imagine."
Chiro glared, rolled his eyes, and said "Your parents must be so proud."
"Is that sarcasm I detect, young hero? You can't hide behind impertinent words forever. And speaking of parents, how would you like if I reunited you with the family who abandoned you, Chiro?"
The boy choked on the wine then coughed and coughed. After finally being able to breathe properly he fixed Skeleton King with his best impression of an incredulous and unimpressed look.
"I don't know what you're talking about. I'm an orphan. My parents are dead."
"Little liar. Is that the excuse you give everyone else, even yourself, I wonder? To hide the scars and the trauma. Very well, if you say they are dead, then it would not bother you if I worked them to death in one of my hidden mines."
"No!" Chiro yelled then whispered, "Why?"
"Call it, a gift. You could finally make peace with the past, Chiro. They would have no choice but to answer you, and every revenge plot hatched inside your little mind, no matter how deep and obscured by purity it is, could come to life. I wouldn't judge you, and no one would know..."
Chiro was at a loss of words, the poor boy almost trembling. And like a hypnotizing snake laying forth a trap so enticing, so was Skeleton King's 'gift'.
He could still vaguely remember, sleeping on dirty streets, huddling among other bodies at night to feel warmth, sleeping on an empty stomach. Stealing to survive.
But he was good, he valued kindness, justice, morality. He refused to let himself sink that low. Besides, their disregard for his safety and well-being did not matter, he had a new family now, the robot monkeys. They were all Chiro needed.
His eyes hardened, as he heard Skeleton King say, in an almost soothing tone "Think about it."
That night Chiro slept fretfully, escorted by Mandarin to a room right next to Skeleton King. However, while he was in deep slumber, a hooded figure appeared in his dreams. It had a red and a blue eye, a crooked nose, and pale skin.
"Who-who are you?"
"I am called, the Alchemist, my young friend. Perilous and perfidious snares lay ahead of you. However, you must not lose hope."
"Perilous snares?" Chiro repeated then joked "Worse than Otto leaving his plate of chocolate cookies unsupervised?"
"Much worse, Chiro. Much worse, I'm afraid. I will be here, every night, to guide you, nurturing your actions in the realm of the waking world."
"Umm, thanks," Chiro responded, then filled with loneliness and a longing for love, he embraced the hooded figure, imagining it was Antauri. The man embraced him back, tightly.
"When will it be over, Alchemist?"
"When the golden sun has risen in the east but no sooner than when the ochre star sets in the west," he answered in a sage voice.
'He talks like Antauri too,' Chiro noticed, a bit baffled.
End of fifth chapter.