The ruins of the orphanage lay silent, the chill of Null's devastating power slowly dissipating into the cool night air. Null knelt amidst the debris, his body trembling, not from cold, but from the raw, unadulterated terror of the single, fragmented "echo" that had surfaced. Horuto. N-nii-san. The whisper, choked with dust and fear, resonated within the deepest, most untouched parts of his lost memory, a wound ripped open in the void of his mind.
As he struggled to breathe, overwhelmed by the surge of unidentified grief, a strange phenomenon began. Small, almost imperceptible streaks of stark white began to appear in his golden yellow hair, trailing like ghostly ribbons from his temples down the long, golden yellow-esque flow. It was as if the shock, the profound connection to his forgotten trauma, was physically marking him, etching itself onto his very being. He didn't see it, but a subtle awareness, a prickle of knowing about his own existence, began to stir beneath the amnesia. He still didn't know who he was, but he was becoming intensely aware of the profound, terrifying being he was becoming.
At the same moment, the Prime Stone fragment clutched in his hand flared with an blinding, internal light. The echo of Horuto's plea, the immense sorrow and terror Null had just experienced, didn't vanish. Instead, it seemed to plunge into the fragment itself, merging with its warmth, its guiding essence. A strange, resonant hum emanated from the stone, vibrating through Null's trembling hand and up his arm, settling deep within his core.
Then, everything around him twisted.
The crumbling walls of the orphanage, the debris, the very night sky above—it all warped, stretched, and began to tear, not with physical force, but as if reality itself were a fragile piece of cloth being ripped apart. With a silent, agonizing mental scream, Null felt an unprecedented power surge. His golden-yellow eyes flared, the cross-shaped pupils spinning with dizzying speed. He had just unlocked Reality Slayer.
A gaping, jagged tear appeared in the air before him, a swirling vortex of shimmering, distorted light and shadow. It was a window, no, a doorway, into a dimension that Null had just, inadvertently, created. He felt the sickening pull of it, the distinct sensation of time slowing down, stretching, becoming elastic. Every moment outside this rift was an eternity within. He could feel the power, the immense, terrifying power to manipulate the very fabric of existence, to carve out his own pocket of time and space.
But the echo of Horuto's terror, the phantom of his past, was still reverberating through him, amplified by this new, reality-bending ability. The power was too much, too raw, too intimately tied to the trauma he couldn't grasp. The distorted images of Horuto, still pleading, still suffering, flashed behind his eyes, tormenting him.
Null let out a strangled cry, burying his face in his hands. "Stop! Please, stop!" he begged, his voice hoarse, tears finally, agonizingly, breaking free from his golden-yellow eyes and tracing paths down his emotionless face. He had never cried since his memory loss, never felt such despair. The overwhelming power, coupled with the unremembered grief, was shattering his composure. He thrashed, desperately trying to shut down the torrent of emotions and the terrifying new ability that threatened to unravel his sanity along with reality.
The effort was too great. The world spun faster and faster, the pocket dimension he had torn into existence collapsing inward with a silent implosion. A wave of crushing darkness enveloped him, and Null knew no more.
He awoke to the sterile scent of antiseptic and the soft hum of medical equipment. The cold, hard surface beneath him was a hospital bed. For a long moment, Null simply stared at the bland ceiling, the strange memory of tears and desperate pleas feeling distant, almost unreal. His golden-yellow eyes slowly scanned the room.
And then he saw them.
Kai sat hunched in a chair beside his bed, fast asleep, his head resting on his folded arms. Ashley was curled up on a small cot in the corner, a blanket pulled up to her chin, her face pale with exhaustion. Beyond them, other familiar faces, classmates, even some teachers, occupied chairs or stood by the window, their expressions a mixture of relief and lingering concern. They were all there, a silent vigil.
A wave of something akin to warmth, a feeling he hadn't fully recognized since his amnesia, washed over Null. He had felt their concern, their care, their tireless efforts. The raw, primal pain from the orphanage was still a gaping hole, but the sight of his friends, his family, filled a part of the void with a different kind of sensation.
Ashley stirred, her eyes fluttering open. She saw Null watching them. Her eyes widened, and a gasp escaped her lips. "Null! You're awake!"
Kai startled, nearly falling off his chair. "Null? You serious, Ash?" He rubbed his eyes, then looked, his face breaking into a wide, relieved grin. "Oh my god, Null! You're okay!"
Before Null could even respond, Kai had wrapped him in a surprisingly fierce hug, followed instantly by Ashley. The others in the room stirred, a wave of excited chatter and murmurs of relief washing over them. Null, for the first time, didn't feel completely stiff or detached. He felt the warmth of their bodies, the genuine concern in their voices. He even felt a subtle urge to return the embrace, a faint, unfamiliar warmth spreading through his chest.
As the small crowd gathered around his bed, a shimmer of distortion appeared in the corner of the room, far too subtle for anyone but Null to immediately perceive. From the shimmering air, a small, sleek figure began to materialize. It was lean and powerfully built, with dark, almost iridescent scales and bright, mischievous eyes that sparkled with ancient mirth. It was clearly draconic, yet its size was no larger than a house cat. It landed softly on the edge of Null's bed, its presence unnoticed by the excited humans.
It looked at Null, its mischievous eyes holding a profound depth of knowledge and a hint of playful exasperation. Its voice, though unheard by the others, resonated directly within Null's mind, a lighthearted, almost student-like tone that belied its form.
"Alright, Soren, my Liege," it chirped telepathically, the name a strange echo of his forgotten self. "Took you long enough to wake up! You really know how to make an entrance, don't you? Explosions, reality-bending tears... very dramatic. Name's Fang." The tiny dragon gave a performative sigh, then winked at Null. "Consider me your personal fan club president, chief problem-solver, and occasional reality-checker. I'm your sworn Guardian, here to protect and serve you, even if you insist on making my job this exciting."
As Fang finished, his scales seemed to ripple, and with a soft pop of displaced air, he transformed. In the tiny dragon's place was a ridiculously cute, miniature black dragon, no bigger than Null's palm, with large, innocent black eyes that seemed to sparkle with a permanent twinkle. It immediately began to perform a comical little dance on the bedsheet, wiggling its tiny tail.
Ashley, who had just pulled back from her hug, finally noticed the adorable creature. "Oh my goodness! Null, what is that? Is it a... a baby lizard? It's so cute!" She instinctively reached out a hand, and the tiny black dragon, Fang, immediately stopped its dance, striking a pose before playfully nuzzling into her fingers, letting out an exaggeratedly happy chirp.
Null, surrounded by his relieved friends, their warmth a strange, new comfort, found himself looking at the small, adorable creature now nestled in Ashley's hand. A faint, almost imperceptible smile touched his lips, the first genuine expression of joy he had shown since his return to Kaelyn. He didn't remember Fang, not yet. But something about the small dragon's presence, its unwavering loyalty delivered with such playful antics, felt like coming home.
The warmth of his friends' presence, and the playful antics of Fang, began to thaw the edges of Null's chilling detachment. He remained in the hospital for a day, under vague pretenses about "exhaustion," giving Kai and Ashley time to come up with a believable story for the destroyed orphanage. But even amidst the care, the underlying hum of shadowy energy, the faint presence that had led him to the ruins, was still there, now accompanied by a new, unsettling awareness of the fragile reality he could tear. His new white streaks in his golden hair shimmered faintly under the hospital lights, a silent testament to the night's terrifying awakening. Fang, in his tiny black dragon form, nestled comfortably on Null's chest, often napping, occasionally twitching his nose as if sensing something Null couldn't yet.
Far above the bustling streets of Kaelyn, nestled within the cold, precise machinery of a hidden, high-tech surveillance room, a single figure sat hunched before a bank of screens. This was 'Cipher,' a shadowy operative of the very organization Smile Carson had served, a group known only to its members as the Oculus Syndicate. Cipher's face was obscured by the low light, but the steady, rhythmic clicking of their keyboard suggested an unwavering focus.
On the main monitor, zoomed in with unsettling clarity, was a live feed of Kaelyn Hospital. Specifically, a window on the third floor. Through the glass, Null could be seen, sitting upright in bed, his golden hair now distinctly streaked with white. And perched on his chest, a small, black, impossibly cute creature that occasionally twitched an ear.
Cipher's fingers flew across the keys, composing a terse report.
TO: UNKNOWN SUBJECT: Asset "Null" - Hospital Observation STATUS: Awake. Stable, physically. PRIMARY OBSERVATION 1: Hair pigmentation alteration confirmed. New white streaks evident. Suggests significant power integration/manifestation related to recent incident (Orphanage Event). PRIMARY OBSERVATION 2: Unidentified familiar confirmed. Small black draconic entity. Seems inert/harmless. Currently resting on Asset's person. Displays unusual loyalty.
CONCLUSION: Asset "Null" power levels significantly elevated post-event. "Reality Slayer" anomaly detected within Orphanage Event footprint. Bounty increase in Stone Kingdom justified. Threat level escalated. Recommend immediate reassessment of extraction strategy.
Cipher paused, rereading the report, then added a final, chilling line:
NOTE: The "unmatchable rage" from previous reports appears to be tied to unknown emotional triggers. This variable is highly problematic. Smile Carson's failure was predicted. His methods were… unsophisticated.
With a final click, the message was sent into the digital ether. Cipher leaned back, the faint hum of the servers filling the room. "The Unwritten King's lineage truly stirs," they whispered into the silence, their voice a dry rasp. "And he now tears at the very fabric we seek to control. Fascinating. And highly dangerous."
The end of chapter 26
See you next time