Cale sat up drenched in sweat and sucking in a gasp. He had just died. He was certain that he had just broken all his bones and his plate had shattered. He held up his shaking hands and flexed his fingers. He was trembling all over and his skin was a little flushed. He was in tattered garments that had obviously been through an ordeal. However, there was not a single rip or mar in his skin.
This was not something Vitality of the Heart could do on its own.
He knew that without anyone saying anything.
Cale put a hand to his hair and pushed his forelocks back. He pulled the bloody cover off of him and swung his feet off the cot he was on. It was not a bed. It was a cot. The room was small and he had been left there alone even with grievous injuries. There were loud noises coming from the far distance: he knew what they were. He did not need to think about what was happening 'out there' beyond the walls around him.
A vicious battle was taking place.
"What happened to me?" Cale asked as he flexed his hands and tried to cope. "I definitely used 'that power'." He was certain that his plate had shattered yet his plate was whole and he had no scars. He patted at his body again to make sure. He even peeked under his clothes.
The only marks on his body were the symbols of his respective powers.
Letting out a breath, Cale felt like he was starting to calm down. He needed to go join the battle but he was honestly exhausted and afraid. It was too much for him at this point. He had run forward again. It was gut clenching. He had felt desperate to the point of insanely running right at what he had known, deep down, would be fatal. With Cale Henituse's body, it was so unlikely he would live after using that power.
But, he had.
Another series of explosions came from outside and he shut his eyes. He put his other hand to his head. He did not want to go out there! He did not want to see that! He wanted to curl up in bed and sleep! He felt extremely tired and weak and he absently tugged the filthy, bloody blanket around his shoulders.
He was also missing his bed warmer.
"Raon." He mumbled, recalling what the four years old Raon had said to him.
– Human! If you die, I will destroy everything! I will kill everyone, and then, I will kill myself!
He had said those kinds of things over and over. However, Raon had never actually killed anyone or broken anything without cause. His rumblings had always been empty so Cale had begun to dismiss them. Now, he thought about what it must have been like for the six years old Raon, who had had to teleport his lifeless body to a different battlefield and…
And what?
What had happened?
Raon was not here.
"Raon!" Panic infused his limbs and he stood up.
His legs were weak and he was shaking all over but he pushed himself.
He rushed to the door and pulled it open.
He needed to find Raon.
He had to find the children before they did something reckless.
He struggled to get the door open in his haste. He could not run at full speed and was really just walking very fast. He held onto the walls with one hand, breathing heavily for the minimal amount of exertion.
Sweat built up on his back as his heart hammered.
"What the hell is going on?!" He demanded, pausing just for a few seconds to rest.
He had come to a place where he could see daylight and blinked at the scene before him. There was a mostly ruined Puzzle City spreading out around. Small barriers had been erected with mana stones to protect buildings used as command centres. He counted five of them, equal-distant from the centre. Smoke was rising in various spots. Soldiers were running around. Some were going to join the battle and others were off-loading from the field. Their injuries were nothing to sneer at but they were all caused by debris rather than weapons. Some looked to have been burned in spots, though.
He could smell death on the air as well.
Just how long the battle had been going, just how many casualties there had been, just what had been unleashed, he did not know. He did not know anything about this battle. He was a complete outsider to this battle despite everything that had come before.
It was dangerous for an outsider to suddenly intrude upon an established chain of command. Unless there was no other choice, it was better for him to put his abilities to use somewhere else.
But before that, he had to find Raon.
– Cale?!
The Glutton spoke to him and he put a hand to his ear. "You're there!" He gasped. "You were all so quiet I thought you were dead!"
– Cale, we are dead.
The Cobblestone put in, in a concerned tone.
– Did you hit your head?
"Never mind, you can not bother talking." Cale muttered. "I need to find Raon."
– He's confused.
The Glutton said, sadly.
– It's not surprising! I'm Fxxking confused!
The Sky Eating Water was her usual self.
It's confusing! It's confusing!
What power is that?!
Not good, not good!
I say, must you repeat everything, good sir?
I can't help it, I can't help it!
Oh, whatever. Cale's confused. It's because he doesn't remember. Cale, can you hear us? I think you can finally hear us. You've been…
Chaos! Chaos, destruction! HA HA HA!
I'm worried, I'm worried!
What the hell is that power?!
Will you all shut up long enough for me to tell Cale what's happening?!
Cale grabbed his head in both hands and bent forward. It hurt when they were all talking to him at the same time. He felt like he was going crazy. His stomach rolled and his joints creaked. Sweat dripped from his hair.
– The wind elementals seem to be pretty worked up.
The Glutton said, consolingly.
– You've basically died once, Cale. The Vitality of the Heart can only do so much. It's hard to say this, but even we don't fully understand what happened to you. Some intense power came from that side. It's confusing for us, too. But we all ate as much as we could to help keep you alive. I protected your heart!
– I protected your bones. My bones were crushed. I don't want that to happen again!
The Cobblestone put in.
– I protected your lungs and oxygen levels.
The Sound of the Wind sounded proud of herself.
– I protected your blood and blood vessels. I ate the most!
The Sky Eating Water said.
The Cheapskate was next.
– I purified all the contaminants and protected your organs.
Starting to put the pieces together, Cale let go of his head. He bit his lower lip as he looked at his bony fingers. The reason he was in this state despite everything they had done was because he was emaciated. He was not unhealthy but he was just too thin. It was taxing his body and his plate just to move around.
– There is a limit to what we can do. That power is too awesome, Cale. You burned through three months of food and should have died when your plate broke. We cannot fortify or alter or protect a person's plate.
The Glutton sounded sad.
"I know." Cale replied to them. "I understand. Thank you all." He was worried about what that power had been. "I still need to find Raon…" He felt sick in his stomach thinking about that baby dragon who had imprinted on him.
– Cale, Cale. You're just like a mother hen.
The Sound of the Wind sounded amused.
We know! Don't ignore us! You can hear us right, CAAAAALE
Ow! What are you screaming in my ears for?! You damn lunatic!
I'm so worried, I'm so worried!
That power came from the other side! That was the other side, I report!
Why am I stuck with these idiots? Just why…?
Cale almost laughed despite himself. "I can hear you." He said. "I can actually hear all of you. I'm not holding the Top's Whip, though. Thief, why is that? Is it because of my plate?"
– I don't think so?
She did not sound very confident.
– It's because you ate more of my power, Cale. I think it's because you ate my Top's Whip's power. That object held a large amount of my power. It could be considered a piece of my soul. Well,
There was a pause.
– It's not my Top's Whip now. Now, that power is your power. You can give it a cool name if you'd like. I…I'm okay with that!
He felt shocked at that piece of information.
– You were starving, Cale. Your body is like this because your soul is hungry. You need to eat more. Eat more powers, more talents! It might be your own ability or it might just be a side effect. Whatever it is, you have a unique skill to keep on eating just about anything you pick up off the ground! It's amazing!
The Glutton said something very scary there.
Cale could also not deny that he had gone around absorbing a lot of strange things.
"Km." Clearing his throat, Cale thought he did need to eat regular food as well but if it was a matter of the soul and talents or skills being absorbed…that was very dangerous. He might have accidentally absorbed something that he did not want to take, from someone he did not want to harm. There were a lot of scary people around him who had more than enough to share, when he thought it over, but what if this 'awesome' power went too far?
How he had revived, even if he was not in great shape, was reliant upon there being something nearby to 'eat'.
In order to prevent accidents, in order to protect those whom he absolutely could not harm, he needed to find someone or something else.
"Say," He stood very still as he thought it over. There was that bastard Lion King who had eaten a darkness elemental. That was crazy but it had not really bothered Cale all that much. This was because he had thought about it like eating an animal. "I need information." He made up his mind to play the villain this time. "I can hear all of you. Wind Elementals, please calm down so that I can think. One of you go to each of these people I name. If they can't hear you come back to me. They will be startled and respond if they hear you."
Oh, thank god. Oh, thank god.
Which god are you praying to?
Cale, finally! I'm so grateful to be heard by you. These idiots are noisy but they mean we…
CAAAALE!
I just fucking told you not to scream in my ears! ARRRGGE!
A gust of wind buffeted the street as the two wind elementals collided and swirled up into the sky.
Cale let out a sigh and lowered his head.
It was like trying to use kindergarteners on a battlefield. He could practically see them running around and tripping and fighting over juice cups.
"Cale?!" A voice, a real, human voice, sounded completely shocked and alarmed.
Cale's head whipped up and he looked toward that voice. "Rosalyn?!" He stared at her. She was supporting a heavily injured man on her shoulder with a tense expression. He could almost not believe his eyes seeing how badly injured this man was. "Ch-Choi Han?!" Cale ran over to help support him. "What the hell?!"
– Cale, be careful. Don't eat him!
The Glutton's warning came very loud and clear in his mind and he yanked his hands back.
"Eat that?" Cale asked. He really did feel unstable and almost grabbed at the injured man like he was a prime steak. He slapped his own face harshly to wake himself up. "Let's take him inside the barrier!"
Once they had laid him down, Cale shoved his sleeves up and brought over anything Rosalyn needed. He, himself, did not get within three feet of Choi Han, though.
Choi Han had a strong body and a large amount of stamina. He could fight for a weak straight. Even moderate injuries were not enough to bring him down. However, he was a human and he would eventually get worn down, exhausted, hurt too badly. He looked to have gone into a self-preservation mode and was sleeping extremely deeply. His life was not in danger once Rosalyn had used some highest grade potions on his larger wounds.
She turned around with her red eyes staring at him fixedly. Slowly, she reached out and put a hand on his chest. She was feeling for warmth and a heartbeat. Her relief was apparent and she let out a small breath. "I'm glad you are alive, Cale." She frowned. "Honestly, everyone thought you were dead. You were…your body was…" Her eyes ran over his body. "You don't even have any scars. Not even any bruises!"
"I'm even more disturbed by that than you are." Cale replied, putting a hand to his forehead. "Where is Roan?!" He could not stop thinking about it.
"Roan? Roan is with Eruhaben. He's inconsolable, basically." Rosalyn replied. "He won't talk to anyone but Eruhaben and, until now, Choi Han. Actually, to be completely honest, it was more like Eruhaben took him away before he just went crazy. Eruhaben said he would take the 'little kid' to see his mom." She let out an exhausted breath. "We've been fighting for three days straight. There has been no response from the White Star but we suspect he is nearby, if not inside Puzzle. The 'Eel Monster' was defeated by Choi Han on the first day. It took a few hours but that's really nothing comparatively." She shook her head. "All of that day you were suffering and Raon stayed with you. He took your role of central command and kept communications going. However, you stopped breathing and he blew up a large portion of the city next to the monster." She let out a breath as she unloaded it all. "Choi Han left the battlefield briefly and came back like a man possessed. During that absence, Alberu almost lost an arm. He recovered thanks to Mary. She somehow fed him some dead mana. Everything came out at that point since it happened right on the battlefield. As for Choi Han," She looked at him sadly and shook her head. "There's something wrong with him."
Cale felt weak as he heard the details of the battle but Choi Han's condition was extremely important. "Something wrong with him?" He asked, turning his eyes to the pale man. His black hair was tangled and he had dark smudges under his eyes even in sleep.
"Yes." Rosalyn nodded once. "When he came back from seeing your condition we all gave up. He probably knows death better than any of us. But, his aura…there's something wrong with his aura." She patted his hair cautiously, as if he was one of her younger brothers. "He underwent some kind of attack or fit and his aura became extremely dense. It's suffocating. Anyone that's hit by that aura can't breathe and experiences hallucinations. He doesn't seem to care much, either."
"Despair." Cale muttered. "He lost his hope attribute."
"I'm sorry?" Rosalyn blinked at him. "Choi Han has two attributes?!"
"Hm. More like he was able to use both sides of the same coin?" Cale rephrased it. "Despair forces people to create hope. That, no matter how bad things are, you may overcome them tomorrow. Hope, when it dies, gives birth to despair, right? You feel like the entire world is ending and you might as well just give up. Choi Han spent tens of years, no, hundreds of years, in the Forest of Darkness. His attribute is despair. However, Choi Han himself can still feel happiness and hope, right?" He gestured. "When I first met him he was emanating dark aura and could easily take on all the monsters in the Forest of Darkness alone."
She stared and then looked at Choi Han sharply. "He's a bomb." She muttered. "And you're the fuse." She looked over at him again. "It's strange. Raon I understand but Alberu and Choi Han are strangely attached to you. It's like they can't think clearly anymore. Maybe Choi Han felt a sense of connection because you helped him with Harris Village but I don't think that would go to this extent…"
It was really because he was Choi Han's nephew's friend. He was, or had been, Kim Rok Su. He had chosen this world and so had Choi Han. He looked at Choi Han for a long moment. He strangely wanted to hold his hand but he dared not get any closer.
"It's because we're family." Cale said, simply.
It was far too simple of an explanation.
He could not really explain in detail and he did not think Rosalyn needed to hear his sob story.
Not that he got the chance to elaborate.
Pain built up in his abdomen and Cale leant heavily against the nearby table. "No, I'm just a little dizzy." He said, moving further back from Rosalyn. His vision was out of focus and he felt that he was not steady. He sensed her coming to support him and panicked. "Don't touch me!" He snapped, putting the table between them. "Until I figure out precisely what has happened to me, stay three feet from me!"
Rosalyn flinched but she stayed well back. "Okay. Then, I will return to Alberu. He's not fighting offensively now, we're just keeping things from spilling out of Puzzle." She frowned at him and set a dimensional bag on the table before him. "Eat something." She said. "And, when he wakes up, just tell him some power kicked in. There are so many bizarre things going on with your body he'll probably believe it."
Pursing his lips, finding it scary how close to the truth she was, Cale nodded. "Tell Alberu the same thing. Once I have a good understanding of it all, I will explain it to you three. It may sound cruel, but do not tell Roan that I am alive yet. I'm worried he will come flying to me and I don't know if that is dangerous."
She nodded and hurried out of the building.
– Cale, there is nothing to be ashamed of. All living things eat other living things. Picking and choosing is just human. And you are also human.
The Glutton said, consolingly.
– I want to eat money. I will purify everything because you fed me what I needed to feel at peace.
The Cheapskate had a surprisingly gentle tone.
– I'll eat the fucking sky if you want! I won't let anyone take your freedom away!
The Sky Eating Water said, cheerfully.
Swallowing, letting out a breath, Cale patted his chest. He did not want to drag a fundamentally good person like Choi Han into the villain role. So, he set to writing him a note. In Korean. Something only they were fluent in. He was not entirely sure what to say and hesitated. It gobbled up the seconds as he chewed his already raw lip. And this took too long. A hand thudded onto his shoulder and he was turned around. Black irises were staring at him, tears brimming on his lashes. "Ch-Choi Han!" Cale rasped. "No, don't touch me!" He frantically tried to move away from him.
Choi Han's frown was tragic. "Why?" He asked. "Why can't you at least let me hug you?! I thought…no, you were definitely dead! Am I also dead?! Are we both dead and beyond caring?!" He was obviously terribly confused.
"We're both very much alive." Cale replied, crumping up the note he had been writing, badly, and shoved it into his pocket. "And I don't entirely mind hugging you but, um, not right now." He frowned as he debated on what to say. "Choi Han," He looked delicious for some reason and Cale turned away, slapping his face again. He curled up around his stomach and held a hand over his mouth. It was a miserable feeling, being so hungry he was insane.
"Cale!" Choi Han was frantic over him. "What is it?! Tell me what it is?!"
Leaning on the table beside him, feeling almost drunk, Cale swallowed thickly. "I'm hungry." He said. He had no energy left for lies or mind games. "I want to eat you." He shifted his eyes. "Not Roslyn or Alberu…those are 'people'. You understand me? You are a 'thing'. Some 'thing' that came 'here'. You are different. If it's you…" He frowned. "I'm running on empty. I'm starving. They said, I need to eat. It's not like eating food, I gather that much. Like that Dorf or Delf or Duff or whatever. He did not have 'that' so he ate an elemental."
Gasp!
Caaaale!
Are you going to eat us?!
If its Cale, I wouldn't mind being eaten
Go see a doctor, you can't be eaten!
You're barking mad, mate
Y'all need to get a grip!
Cale winced and put his hands to his ears. He was genuinely convinced that the Sound of Wind might have gone insane at some point just listening to this bullshit all the time. "I'm not going to eat any Elementals." He said, blandly. "But I have a feeling that if I don't eat something intentionally, I will end up eating something unintentionally. I'm running out of time." He looked at Choi Han levelly. "Do you understand what I'm telling you. I am not 'right'. I am 'wrong'. This is fundamentally 'wrong'. To most people, this is something the wrong side would do. Even if we know that it's not really about good and evil."
The black irises wavered and his brows pinched. "If you need to 'eat' some 'thing'," He looked to the side. "Something with great power," He licked his lips. "Then what if you ate that monster?"
"Huh?" Cale blinked at him.
"It doesn't have to be a human, is what you are saying. I am a human but I am also a 'thing'? Well, that is…that is just like an alien, Cale, and that is also what that monster is. Something brought over from another place." He frowned critically. "And, while it is a living thing, it is not like an animal. The monsters I fought in the Forest of Darkness were just animals, if I think about it. That thing might look like one but it does not have that kind of presence." He took a breath and let it out. "That is…that existence is…'fair game'…."
– It is, in a way. Clever boy!
The Glutton said.
– Although that is 'alive' it is also a 'thing'
– It's like the Top's Whip!
The Sound of the Wind was excited.
– Eat it, Cale. You really are running out of time!
The Cobblestone sounded worried.
– I will protect your bones for as long as I can.
"Cale?!" Choi Han asked, nervously. "I checked your body myself. You were dead. How did you come back? Did you 'eat' something?"
"I think I know." Cale muttered. "But I haven't verified it yet so I don't want to say. Honestly, you can probably figure it out if you think about it. This is all just one big play and we're just actors getting bitch slapped from the back." He gritted his teeth. "On the other hand, we do have free will, right? So the outcome of the play is undecided. It's pissing me off. That monster, its core or whatever, dig it out! I'll eat it!" He made up his mind. "It's better than anything else. Since I…do not want to be a villain."
Choi Han nodded once. "You couldn't do it." He said, with a soft smile. "In the end, you wouldn't do it."
Not sure about that, Cale ran a bony hand through his hand. His hands were thinner than when he had first woken up. He was paler, as well. He swallowed and nodded once. "In that case, I will need everyone's help!" He turned and lifted his hand. "And I mean 'everyone'."
He's talking about us.
Of course, of course,
Caaaale! Sob, sob!
Sigh. Of course, I'll even put up with these idiots. We love you.
We love you, we love you!
We're friends, Cale! That's what friends do!
Well, and obviously, we also hate that thing! It messed up our Puzzle!
Smiling, Cale put a hand to his chest and undid the top button of his shirt. "Huu." He took a breath and looked at Choi Han. "Then, my dear Dragon Catcher, let's go slay a monster."