"Huff…Huff…"
"Huff…Huffff"
Theo breathed heavily, trying to make sense of what just happened.
"Am I… Am I dead?" His head moved around, looking with trembling eyes.
Realizing that he was in his room, he tried to calm down before sorting out his messed-up thoughts about what I had just seen.
"Huff… huff…"
He dragged in the air like a man who was about to drown in the sea of pure suffocation.
His body rattled like a broken engine, convulsing beyond my control. No matter how hard he willed it to stop, it still shivered and spasmed hard.
And for some fucking unknown reason, his face didn't show any fear of experiencing death, but his body is a different case.
His emotions and his body are tragically out of sync.
His sweat-soaked dress reminded him of the sensation of the blood clinging to him,
The metallic rotting smell assaulted him, twisting his insides.
But why?
Why do I feel happy and Joyful?
Why am I excited?
Sure, he had learned the greatest techniques he could.
He doesn't even know whether the whole experience is real or not, so why was he feeling happy beyond reason?
Have I become someone who enjoys being in this state?
No… No, No, No, I'm not a wired guy.
He might be a madman, but this, this sure as hell isn't normal. Theo wouldn't behave this way without reason.
But his body says otherwise.
Tears streamed down his cheeks in an endless stream.
His lips twitched in a wide arc of a smile, which felt wrong and grotesque.
He clenched his hands together, trying to control his shivering body.
Nails dug into palms, and hot blood trickled down.
Theo could feel his nails had become longer and stronger than what it was supposed to be.
"Huff…Huff"
He took breaths trying to calm my body, but as seconds passed, his body began to shake more violently than before.
Why am I feeling this way?
Just Why?
And what was that dream?
A war between humans and beasts?
Alien invasion, right after the war?
Planet destruction?
"Hahaha.."
And I'm an awakener? I became strong enough to be called The Sovereign of lightning?
"Hahahaa"
"Hahahaa, The Sovereign of lightning?"
"Hahahaa, Me? Hahahaa"
"Hahahaa…What is...Happening to me?"
"Hahaha…"
"I…I…feel terrible"
"No…I'm happy."
"Hahahaa"
"Hahahaa... I'm going crazy."
"Happy smiles"
"Hahahaha," I smiled weirdly,
"Hahahaha,"
"Hahahaha,"
"Hahahaha,"
"Arghhh…" Theo screamed out loud, trying to stop himself from laughing like a maniac, and let my body relax, but it was a futile attempt.
Slamming his fists against the skull, yanking at hair that suddenly felt longer, heavier. Blood and tears poured faster, racing each other down the face.
Servants burst through the door. For a heartbeat, they froze, struck silent by the sight of their young master clawing at his chest like a rabid beast.
Then, hands gripped him down to stop him from harming himself any further.
Even with all this madness, Theo was strangely happy.
Why am I happy? Why?
"Ahh, what a good and devastating dream that was, hahaha.." He muttered, ignoring the servants who pinned him down while showing no emotions.
The servants never cared for Theo, not because they are inhuman. They are just following the orders given to them.
That's how things work in the Varkheil house.
No place for emotions.
Anyway, just yesterday at the summit, Theo had gained some clarity about what he should be doing and how he should live his life going forth, but now what is going to happen to him? What awaits him?
His body struggled, trying to break out of their grip.
But, he couldn't.
They are all awakeners, and against their strength, Theo is weak.
Pitifully so,
He was easily subdued.
The door opened again. Cain entered, sweat dripping from his grey training suit. He stopped, gaze fixed on Theo, his expression a wall of stone.
"Did he lose it?" he asked flatly.
"Sir Cain, we don't know!" a servant answered. "We came when we heard him screaming!"
Even when Theo is in this strange state, he is not showing an ounce of emotion.
'Cold bastard,' Theo thought. He didn't want to believe the strange dream or ordeal he had gone through.
He didn't want to see Cain as a stranger.
Then the healer arrived. Orange-haired, dressed lazily in his green uniform, yawning as if this were nothing more than an inconvenient chore.
The healer approached Him, and Theo felt the healer's hand press firmly on his chest.
He felt something warm enter inside- Nexus energy?
Then he brought a small tube containing red liquid and brought it near Theo's mouth and shoved the red liquid inside his mouth.
Why is he doing that?
A regular human can't handle a potion.
So when the healer dropped the healing potion in his mouth, Theo felt danger, a warm sensation overwhelming him.
This bastard!
Does he not know that I'm a non-awakener?
That shouldn't be possible. I'm a famous person after all,
Did I truly awaken?
And,
What is that bastard doing?
Theo looked at Cain, wondering why he hadn't stopped the healer.
"…Cain.." He muttered weakly, but before the word entirely left his lips, the warmth turned heavy, crushing. My vision blurred. My laughter died into silence as darkness dragged me under.
***
Cain's POV.
"What's going on with Thalen?" I demanded later, voice sharp but steady. "He was unconscious for eleven days, and now this?"
The healer, David, frowned, though lazily, as if the expression took effort.
Seeing that, I asked," Is this serious?"
"Well…, I'm not sure how serious it can be, but…"David paused a bit and continued.
"I believe he is suffering from 'Somatic contradiction.'" He settled those words, and I waited for him to finish, but he didn't say anything anymore.
David Lazily stretched his hands and yawned, "hoooohaaa"
I narrowed my eyes. "Explain."
"Is it some kind of a disease?"
"..." he stared at me for seconds, and then.
"hahaha" He laughed,
David laughed out at my question, as if it were the joke of the year.
Seeing me serious, he stopped laughing and explained.
"It's a type of disorder."
"It's when the body and the mind split from each other. His body reacted like it was drowning in terror, shaking, crying, screaming. But his mind felt joy. Overwhelming joy. So he laughed like a lunatic."
"Do you know why this might have happened to him?" I asked
"Well, Stress!"
"Too much stress," David shifted his head toward Thalen, " and… the young master's life was…"David didn't finish his sentence cause he didn't have to; everyone here knows what kinda life he lived, and honestly, no one here feels a thing about it.
"After all that, he barely awakened, but that left him in this state, sigh," I sighed, listening to what David said.
"I think after his sudden awakening, his mental defense took a toll, and he might've seen something scary in his sleep."
David took a moment as if contemplating his own reasoning before laying them out.
"When I sent my nexus energy into him, I felt his body resisting nexus energy."
"Not violently, but enough to notice."
"I didn't risk more, as I wanted to avoid injuring the young master. I couldn't conduct a full-body check-up for now."
"I found out what was happening to him, but I couldn't find the exact cause."
"So to heal him, I placed him in a sleeping spell and gave him a mind healing potion, which has calming and strengthening effects. It should help him overcome his somatic contradiction."
My gaze landed on Thalen for a brief moment before gazing back at David.
I thanked him and told him to stay near Thalen's room, and I let the servants arrange a room for him to stay nearby.
I instructed the servants to check on Thalen every hour and to let two people stay outside 24 hours.
It isn't clear when Thalen might wake up and what state he will be in.
I don't know what's happening to him, but I hope he won't die.
If he dies, I don't know what my future will be,
Would Varkheil house leave me alone, and I get my freedom, or would they assign me a new master to serve?
They said, if Thalen dies, I would die with him.
The seal on me would kill me instantly.
Is that true?
'Would I die if you die?' I stared at Thalen longer than I intended to and left the room to train.
"Don't die until I find a way to break this ridiculous seal on me."