Finding Contentus

Chapter 32: The R&R Tale (1)

"The one you see before you is the one you have seen before you." Renero lifted his gaze back up to Ramsis, feeling himself getting old in letting his eyes linger on both the exclusive and shared history that they both had.

"The only missing part is the stories behind each separate 'one' that combine and make up the 'one.' In my case, and in yours."

Silence befell them the likes of which stretched into eternity with the eternal suffering that they were about to embark on. In the past, the past leading to the present, and the present that would dictate the future.

Ramsis calmly motioned with his hand for crafted chains around Renero to tie him up against two pillars. Renero saw this coming a mile away and did nothing to prevent his actions, nor did he struggle from his shackled position as he felt chains tightening so that he couldn't move. If anything, it reminded him of the exact state he used to be in for five whole years during his torture.

Helpless, chained up and unable to do anything except receive and experience unheard of pain the likes of which could stretch around the Milky Way galaxy in nonsensical spirals.

With Ramsis however there was no peril or sense of danger to be felt. There was only voluntary surrender. For once again, he could easily break out of these restraints, but chose to indulge in whatever type of atmosphere Ramsis wanted to create.

This would continue from his end when he conjured chains around himself so that he could be bound up against the wall behind him in the same position as Renero.

Without saying a word about why he was doing what he was doing or what he was trying to prove, another long look at the irreversible scars of Ramsis told Renero one thing. That he had undergone the same kind of torture as punishment for letting the Chief of the Racaan race go.

Perhaps not the "same" exact type since he was human after all, but along the same lines given how their scars looked like mirror images of one another. Ramsis was now carefully examining Renero's body in front of him. His eyes, oddly enough, started to appear more lively than before.

"To know your enemy, you must understand your enemy. And in extreme cases, become your enemy from the inside," he said dimly, and to Renero's surprise, he detected the faintest sounds of a chuckle from Ramsis. A chuckle that sounded difficult to make like grated stones in his vocal cords.

Renero could only stare at him with a saddened look. Even his laughter sounds like it hurts.

Ramsis closed his eyes briefly with a twisted smile forming on his face, more so the handsome side as the slashed side quite frankly looked repulsive.

"Well, forced enemy of mine." He opened his eyes again and the atmosphere of the room shifted drastically to that cold truth that seemed to dull the burning lights in the room.

"Tell me your story, so that I may know you, having already heard about you before and having already become a little bit of you."

Renero didn't say anything for a while after that. Not because Ramsis left him at a loss for words, but more so because he was taking a long walk inside his mind across the lifespan of archived memories that he could remember.

From when he was a small eager and naughty boy, to a young rebellious young man that became the youngest Chief of the Racaan race, to a hopeful father and husband. To a monster of—

Well, safe to say how he didn't intend on spending too much time there, but would do his best to summarize certain stages of his life up until now for Ramsis.

The stage was now Renero's to begin the crossed journeys and paths that led the current Prince of Metro and the last Chief of the Racaans to the present day. Drawing a deep breath, he began his tale with a question.