"Gah, fuck!" Cale woke up to the sound of someone cursing and a sharp pain in his abdomen.
When he opened his eyes, he found his sight blurry and reached up to rub his eyes.
But he couldn't even move his hand.
"My Lord?" The same voice was heard. Cale's head lolled to the side as he tried to get a better view on the speaker. After blinking a few times to clear his eyes he was greeted by the face of a 14 year-old boy with silver locks. His appearance was oddly & ominously familiar to Cale, but that fact didn't stay on his mind for long.
The silver haired boy began to shake Cale violently, saying "You can't die my Lord! Not yet! Don't let your legend end here my Lord! Please stay alive!!" After, the boy began to know-tow to him.
"Euughbhguu." We're the noises that came out of Cale's mouth after the boy had finished shaking him. It honestly felt to Cale like he didn't even have enough energy to move his mouth, let alone speak,
However, his noises immediately caught the attention of the boy besides him, who perked up and began to speak to him. "My Lord! I'm glad to see your okay! I don't know much about medical treatment but if your alive you'll be fine!"
Cale closed his eyes again, and mustering all his energy, he squeezed out; "fOoooOood."
"Food my Lord? You need food?" The white boy asked.
"Alcoooooool." Cale moaned out.
"Of course my Lord! Since you've woken up I'll go and find something for you to eat!" The kid next to him stood up and ran off, leaving the bloody Cale to pass out again.
~~~~~~~~~who knows how long later
The next time Cale opened up his eyes, he was greeted by a white ceiling. He looked to the side, and was greeted with white walls.
Where was he?
He lifted his head slightly, and looked down to see him in what he recognized to be a hospital room.
But how was that possible? What the hell?
"My Lord? You're awake?" A voice came from near his ear.
Cale's face instinctively distorted into a frown and he turned his head to be greeted by the same kid with white hair. He was standing up straight next to Cale with his hands behind his back, his appearance and demeanor was that of a butler watching over his ward.
From the looks of it, he had been standing there for a while. His hair was messy and his eyes were sunken. And was that a bruise on his arm?
"My Lord?" Cale looked up to meet the boy's vibrant green eyes. Recognition & confusion filled his face as he blurted out;
"Clopeh? Clopeh Sekka?"
The now named Clopeh grinned and nodded. "You recognized me my Lord! I thought you wouldn't since we haven't met when we were this young!"
Cale reached up to rub his temple, he could feel a headache coming on. "What the hell? Where are we? Why do you look like that?" He motioned to Clopeh.
Clopeh kept grinning while he exclaimed "I have no idea! When we got here I tried to get some food but everyone kept speaking in this weird-ass language. So I got frustrated and decided to steal some food for you." Clopeh stopped grinning and his expression darkened. "But then some weird guys started following me around. I tried to fight them but I was weakened from overuse of my abilities. Then they took you hostage and used this weird electricity artifact to paralyze me. I'm so sorry I couldn't protect you my Lord." Clopeh lowered his head in shame.
Cale, on the other hand couldn't have cared less. He propped himself up on his hospital pillows, and heaved a massive sigh. "We're in a situation with many unknown variables so it's probably best that you don't reveal your strength just yet. Plus, it seems I was brought here for medical treatment so it's fine."
Clopeh nodded before turning around, "these things were also on me when I woke up, my Lord. I want to break them, but since they're keeping you hostage I couldn't put you at risk." Around Clopeh's wrists was a pair of silver handcuffs.
Cale sighed. Looking up he wondered, just what happened after the White Star grabbed me? Did I shake him off? Am I in the seal? Why is Clopeh here of all people?
Cale had no idea what the answers to his questions were. But, Super Rock? He might.
No response.
Super Rock?
...
Cheapskate?
...
Thief?
Cale frowned again, looking down at his palm, attempting to summon a small whirlwind.
Nothing.
"Clopeh."
"Yes my Lord?" Clopeh immediately responded.
"Don't call me that. Is your aura working?" Cale asked.
"My aura?" Clopeh repeated, "well, it should." He turned around again and tried to summon some aura on his palm. {It was a bit awkward due to the handcuffs}
Nothing.
Clopeh frowned and tried harder.
Still nothing
Even after a few tries, Clopeh's aura still didn't appear.
"Stop, it's no use." Cale shook his head. "Even I can't access any of my abilities here. "
"What?!" Clopeh exclaimed loudly, receiving a fierce glare from Cale, that made him immediately pipe down. "I-I mean, I'm shocked that something could block all of our abilities at once exists."
"Hmmmm." Cale hummed, deep in thought. "I don't think there's anything blocking our abilities Clopeh. I think that they simply no longer exist."
Clopeh frowned in confusion. "What? I'm sorry my Lord but-"
"It's fine." Cale waved his hand. "What I mean, is that we're probably in a dimension where our powers aren't supported by the laws of Physics. It's a manaless, powerless dimension. By coming here, the price was to relinquish our abilities." In his head, Cale wondered, is this the doing of the God of Despair? Would the God of Despair even exist in this dimension?
*Snap!*
Cale's thoughts were broken by a loud noise, coming from Clopeh's direction. When he looked over, he saw the remains of Clopeh's handcuffs hanging from his wrists.
"It looks like my strength is still here." Clopeh looked relieved and happy, a gleeful look in his eye.
Cale sighed. "Theres probably not going to be anyone for you to fight here, even with your strength."
"Huh?" Clopeh looked confused and disappointed. "But our lege-."
*Click*
The door to the room, and a nurse let herself in. She walked while looking down at the clipboard she held, so she didn't notice Cale and Clopeh until the door was fully closed behind her.
Then she looked up and saw them.
"Oh." She was speechless for a split second, before she dropped the clipboard and rushed over to Cale.
"Sir! Please stay lying down!" She exclaimed while checking his pulse, temperature, and the IV in his wrist.
Clopeh was about to intervene, but Cale shook his head and allowed the nurse to work.
After a short minute, the nurse stepped back, looking relieved. "You seem to be fine for now sir. But, please don't sit up again. Allow me to call for a doctor to double-check your condition."
Cale sighed again, but allowed the pillows underneath him to be adjusted by the nurse. After that, the nurse pressed the blue call button by his bedside and began speaking into it.
Meanwhile, Clopeh had watched their interaction with confusion. After the nurse had left, he asked "Can you understand what she's saying?"
Cale closed his eyes and responded, "Yes. For the God's test I spent some time in a world like this one, except I had my abilities there as well."
It was a half-truth. He hadn't just "spent some time" in another world, he had lived an entire life there before becoming Cale Henituse. However, this was irrelevant, and frankly not something he deemed worth sharing.
In addition, he didn't exactly trust Clopeh. He was an extremely unstable individual with vicious tendencies like Ron or Beacrox. On top of that, Cale had no idea how he had even gotten here.
"If this world is anything like the one I was in before, the people here should be peaceful and quite technologically advanced. They adhere to a strict justice system and have a society structured around value." Cale spoke. "That's why you can't fight. You'll be prosecuted if you kill someone, steal something, or break anything. Even if you're as strong as before, you'll have to hold yourself back. They've already proven capable enough to capture you once."
Cale didn't see it, but Clopeh was pouting. He shouted "but my Lord! We must continue to write the next page to your legend! My Lord-"
"How many times do I have to tell you not to call me that." Cale cut in. He opened his eyes and fixed Clopeh within a cold glare. "If you want to go around fighting like a crazy manic then go do so. But, so long as you follow me, that is unacceptable. I'll kill you myself if I have to." It was a bluff (because Cale probably couldn't even leave a mark on Clopeh if he tried), but it worked.
Clopeh bowed low and began to profusely apologize. "I'm so sorry my God I didn't mean to anger you."
Cale's nose wrinkled in disgust and shivers went down his spine. "That's even worse than before you batshit crazy bastard. Just call me Cale. C-A-L-E. Cale. Not that 'my Lord' or 'my God' bullshit. Understood?"
Clopeh frowned, looking like he was going to insist. "My Lo- uh, C-ca- no I mean!" He hesitated. Before bowing to Cale. "I could never, ever disrespect a legend by calling him by his name. I am an unworthy bastard compared to even the dirt of the ground you walk-"
"Shuuuut uuup." Cale groaned, wanting to smack this idiot across the face. He's even worse than what I do to his highness!
"But my Lord! Not even you can understand the magnifi-" Clopeh protested.
"Cale-nim. Just call me Cale-nim, okay?" Cale had given up on this incorrigible blockhead. He left out a sigh for the umpteenth time in the past 20 minutes and closed his eyes again, trying to ward off a headache.
"Cale...nim? Isn't that what Choi Han calls you?" Clopeh wondered out loud.
"Yes." Cale responded. "Choi Han was originally from the world I travelled to during the God's test. In this language -nim is a suffix that you can add onto a name to show respect to someone in a higher position."
........"Ok then Cale-nim!" Clopeh exclaimed happily.
"Euuugh." Cale let out a noise of exasperation and distress. He wanted to cover his face with his hands, but he wasn't even allowed to move.
They stayed like this for a few minutes. With Cale trying to figure out what to do after they left the hospital, and Clopeh standing guard over him.
The silence was broken by a knock on the door, before it opened to reveal two men. One was in a white doctor's coat, he had slicked-back hair and a strong physique. The other one was shorter and more wiry, and he was wearing glasses with a navy business suit & briefcase.
However, one thing was for sure, like the nurse previously, both men were obviously of Asian descent. Trademark black hair, dark eyes, slightly tanned skin, flat face, and slanted, mono-lidded eyes.
The doctor closed the door behind him and approached Cale, bowing slightly in greeting.
Cale, who had opened his eyes when he had heard the knocking, gave a slight nod in return.
Clopeh, who still stayed in his position watching over Cale, pinned the doctor with his gaze.
The doctor grabbed a stool from one corner of the room, and sat down next to Cale's bedside with a clip board.
"Hello, it's nice to meet you. I'm your assigned physician for your stay in the hospital. You can call me Dr. Lee." Dr. Lee gave a gentle smile to the wary Cale. "Unfortunately, I didn't quite catch your name young sir. With your friend over here speaking a different language and all... haah wait, do you also not speak Korean?"
Cale shook his head. "No sir, I do speak Korean. I apologize on my brother's behalf, he can be a bit of a handful sometimes." The doctor had a sympathetic look in his eyes as he looked at Cale.
"If it's alright, I'm going to need you to let me check your vitals. Can you move?" Cale nodded, and with the doctor's assistance he sat up in the bed and removed the shirt of his hospital garbs. Both Cale and the doctor had looks of concern on their faces as they observed his wiry frame. The doctor was worried because this boy was obviously malnourished.
Cale was worried because his chest was far less developed that what he remembered. What the hell? His pecs were barely poking out?! Cale glanced over at the de-aged Clopeh and absentmindedly brought his hand to his face. He... he needed a mirror.
"Ah, please stop moving. I have to retake your pulse." The doctor cut into Cale's thoughts, and Cale nodded apologetically, bringing his hand down from his face and sitting up straighter to let the doctor finish his check up.
Once the doctor was done, he began writing down stuff on his clipboard. While this was happening, the man in the suit behind him stepped up. Unlike the doctor, he didn't bow or show any respect to them. He was straightforwards and blunt.
"Hello. My name is Mr. Ho from the Child Protection Services(CPS). I was assigned to your case as a temporary guardian until you woke up and were able to provide us with your emergency contact's information. We were unable to find your records or family registry in the Public Files with our lack of information." Mr. Ho adjusted glasses and stared at Cale expectantly.
...... "So what do you need?" Cale asked, a bit confused.
The man pulled out a document from his briefcase. On it was an image of Cale's face, and information like height, weight, age, blood type, etc. The man pointed to the numerous blank spaces on the file and repeated. "Name, ethnicity, address, emergency contact information, allergies, education, previous medical history-"
"Woah there." The doctor, who had finished writing, cut in. "How can you expect this kid to know all that stuff? Just ask him for his name and emergency contact. Get his parents to handle this."
Mr. Ho looked slightly miffed by Mr. Lee's intervention, but he just sighed and adjusted his glasses again. "Okay kid," Cale's brow twitched slightly at being called 'kid.' Mr. Ho, not even noticing, continued. "What's your name, and do you know the phone number of your parents? I need to call them to pick you up."
Cale had been thinking about this prior to the two men entering. What excuse should I come up with? With tech as advanced as it is, there's no way they wouldn't be able to pinpoint his lies if they decided to investigate further.
Cale's solution to this? He straightened up, "my name is Cale Henituse. My brother over here, his name is Clopeh Sekka. As for our parents, we ran away from them a few years ago and have been living on the streets. I don't remember their names or phone numbers anymore," Cale shrugged. "Sorry."
Cale wasn't sorry. But with this excuse there really wasn't anything 'provable.' CPS couldn't prove that they hadn't run away unless they found his parents(who don't exist.) And if they didn't believe him for 'not remembering' his parents it's not like they could torture him for information.
The CPS agent looked annoyed. "Why did you run away from your parents?" He asked.
Cale responded mildly, "we didn't like them."
The agent's eyebrow twitched. "And why didn't you like them?"
Cale turned his face away from Mr. Ho and crossed his arms. "Cuz."
Mr. Ho took a deep breath and looked between the expressionless & intimidating Clopeh, and the childish Cale.
He let the breath out as a sigh. "Kid, you know it's illegal to be a runaway, right?"
Cale nodded timidly, and for the first time since Mr. Ho had seen him, he looked a bit nervous. Clopeh frowned at Mr. Ho, who avoided his gaze.
Mr. Ho placed his hand on Cale's head. "Here's the deal, kid. I won't make you tell me anything. But you have to agree to getting off the streets. I'll have you guys sent to an orphanage and they'll take care of your housing and send you to school. Ok?"
There was a pause, before a teary Cale threw his arms around Mr. Ho. "Oh thank you Mr. Ho! Thank you so much. I was so worried, *sniffle* I never wanted to go back home! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! *sob.*" Mr. Ho was confused at first by Cale's sudden change in behavior, but soon he was gently smiling and patting Cale's back while thinking, yeah, this what I became an agent for. Cale sniffled and sobbed a few more times, before turning to the doctor.
"Mr. Lee?" Cale's wobbly voice called to him.
"Yeah?" Mr. Lee looked up from the file he was writing in. He wondered what Cale wanted.
"Could you leave the room for a minute?" Cale asked.
Huh? "Oh, um, sure?" The slightly taken aback doctor got off his stool and left the room. He really couldn't say no to the teary child....
The last thing he heard before closing the door was "Mr. Ho! You have to promise to keep me and Clopeh together okay? Okay?!" It caused him to smile.
-----inside-------
"Mr. Ho! You have to promise to keep me and Clopeh together okay? Okay?!" Cale had his face buried in Mr. Ho's chest to prevent him from spotting Cale's sinister 'scamming smile.'
Mr. Ho patted Cale's head again. "Okay, sure I can make that happen." He said with a smile.
Cale looked up at him with a glowing face. "Really!? You're the best Mr. Ho! Can you also make it so me and Clopeh get our own rooms right next each other at the best orphanage around here? And make it so none of the care takers will bother us and we can't be adopted because we don't want a family? And make it so we'll be sent to the nicest public school with free food and a nice campus?"
Huh? "Oh, um, sure?" Mr. Ho didn't really want to ruin the adorable Cale's happiness, so he hesitantly agreed. He was decently high up at CPS so he technically could make these things happen at a mid-level orphanage. But why should he? Mr. Ho just planned to send them to a low-level orphanage and let them take care of the rest.
But there was just something irresistible about this young red-headed child's happy face....
Cale had picked up on Mr. Ho's hesitation. "Wait! It's not fair if you do all these things for me for nothing! I'll give you something to make you rich! Hold on!"
Mr. Ho knew that Cale probably didn't have anything of value to offer him. But still it was cute to watch Cale.
"Clopeh!" Cale exclaimed joyfully, keeping his childlike persona.
"Yes Cale-" {Cale cuts off the 'nim' because he doesn't want Mr. Ho to recognize his higher position or the Korean}
"Clopeh! Do you have my clothes?!" He asked excitedly.
Clopeh's face lit up and he nodded. Clopeh was still wearing the same clothes as when they had arrived in this world, so his satchel bag was still slung over his shoulder. Clopeh unzipped it and brought out Cale's blood-stained commander garb. Luckily you couldn't see the blood since its black, but if you got close enough, you could smell it.
Luckily, Mr. Ho wasn't close enough to smell it.
But he was pretty curious. Who's garb is that? He wondered. It's too big to belong to Cale. Perhaps it's Clopeh's? He's pretty tall. But weren't they living on the streets? Did they come from a rich family? D-did they steal that?
"H-hey. Who's jacket is that?" Mr. Ho asked Cale.
Cale turned around and smiled brilliantly at Mr. Ho, melting his poor heart. "It's my jacket when I grow up! Isn't it super awesome!" Cale grinned before opening the the jacket, revealing some rips and tears. Cale sadly added to his previous statement. "It's a little beat up I guess... But whatever! I have some spare jewels and stuff I can give to you! Hold on!"
Cale reached into one of the uniform's inner pockets and began sifting around. "Nope... that's not it." Cale threw a pouch onto the bed, and pure gold coins began to spill out.
Mr. Ho stared at these coins in bewilderment, before reaching over to pick up a few. The coins lay heavily in his hand, as he brought them closer to inspect for any damage that might indicate that they were fake.
Meanwhile, Cale was pretending to ruffle through his jacket pockets. Clopeh spoke to him quietly. "Cale-nim, how are the 'negotiations' going?"
Cale gave a soft smile, sending chills down Clopeh's spine. The former noble reached up to pat Clopeh's shoulder and his smile got deeper. "They're going quite splendidly." They glanced over to where Mr. Ho had begun to inspect a few of the coins on the bed. "You're doing great. Just stay where you are and I'll take care of it." Cale went back to ruffling through the jacket pockets.
Clopeh just stood there in a daze.
Across the bed, Mr. Ho bit into one of the gold coins he was holding. He truly wasn't expecting much. Can you imagine his shock when the coin came out of his mouth boasting apparent teeth marks?
"W-what the hell? It's real?" He muttered out loud. Does that mean that all of the coins that had come out of that bag were real?
"Hey! What are you doing to my money?!" Little Cale shouted furiously at Mr. Ho.
Immediately Mr. Ho dropped the coins he was holding. "I-I'm so soryy, I didn't know-"
"Huh? Didn't know? How will breaking my money help you know if it's real or not?!" Cale held the bit into coin in front of Mr. Ho's face. Before he pouted, looking like he was about to sob again.
"I really wanted to give you something nice, but then I see you trying to steal and eat my money. M-Mr, were you going to try and scam me?" Tears gathered in the corner of Cale's eyes and Clopeh's absolutely furious gaze turned on Mr. Ho.
Mr. Ho didn't know what to do, but he felt awful, because not only did he make Cale cry again, but he actually was planning to scam them, and because now, he's desperate to get on Cale's good side again to see what he was going to give him.
So he bowed and begged for forgiveness. To a 14 year-old who was small and fragile enough to be an 8 year-old.
*sniffle, sniffle.* It had taken a minute or two for Cale to accept his apology. And now, he was just sitting there, sniffling pitifully. Clopeh's glare burned hotter than Mr. Ho's shame, as he waited on his knees for Cale to speak to him again.
Sigh. Cale wiped the snot from under his nose one last time and took a deep breath. "M-Mr, thank you for apologizing." Cale reached down and patted the top of Mr. Ho's head, similar to what Mr. Ho had done to Cale earlier.
"Mr. Ho, do you want to make a deal with me?" Cale asked. And Mr. Ho nodded.
"Thanks Mr. Ho!" Cale exclaimed. "For this deal, what I want you to do is support me and Clopeh in the orphanage. We want to best of the best treatment and we won't accept anything else." Cale wagged a finger in front of the kneeling Mr. Ho's face.
Mr. Ho, who was red with shame, responded. "I'm sorry, I can only do that for you at mid-tier orphanages."
Cale paused for a second, before clasping his hands and exclaiming "that's okay Mr. Ho! As long as it's the best mid-tier orphanage and people leave us alone." Mr. Ho nodded, he could easily get that done for them.
Cale took another deep breath. And reached behind him, pulling out a colorful ladies brooch. It was encrusted in glittering gems of all shapes and sizes. In this world, it would be worth $10,000 at least.
Cale held the brooch out to Mr. Ho, who's shaking hand reached out to his, but at the last second, Cale retracted a bit and said to Mr. Ho; "do you promise to help us out from now on in the orphanages?"
Mr. Ho, practically salivating at getting to see the brooch up close, nodded vigorously. "I'll do whatever you want! Now and forever!" He didn't care about who was giving it to him, he just wanted that damn brooch.
All of his previous thoughts of Cale being an innocent young child had disappeared, but who gives a shit? Cale allowed Mr. Ho to take the brooch from him, and watched as he cuddled it up close.
Cale grinned, when it comes to money people always lose their senses. That's why it's great to have a lot of it.
Now, for the last thing to secure their partnership. "By the way," Cale began, "you better keep your promise and be there when we need you. Clopeh is one scary bastard, that's why I've kept him by my side. Don't betray us unless you want to watch your entire life torn apart."
Unbeknownst to him, Cale had begun to smile viciously, copying Ron without knowing. Mr. Ho has shivers down his spine and subconsciously hugged the brooch tighter.
"Well then," Cale leaned back on his bed, which had been cleared of the coins and pouch by Clopeh while he and Mr. Ho had been talking. "You may go." He waved off Mr. Ho as if he were shooing a fly. "You have three days to find and get us into the best mid-tier orphanage with the best treatment around. Come here then with the paperwork. I want you to take us there yourself."
By some sort of odd instinct, Mr. Ho had stopped to listen as soon as Cale had spoken to him, and by an even greater instinct, he made sure to bow respectfully before he left.
------
"Cale-nim! You're amazing! I don't know what you guys were talking about but when you made him bow to you I- I knew you were the legend I had dedicated my pitiful life to!" Clopeh exclaimed as soon as the door to the room closed again.
Cale shrugged, this was nothing new to him. "We weren't talking about much, he's the guy who's going to set up our stay in an orphanage. With him backing us I can make sure that we get the best treatment and the people there leave us alone so we can focus on our future."
"Our future?" Clopeh wondered out loud.
"Obviously." Cale snorted. "Just because we're in a different world doesn't change my dreams. We just have to make loads of money and live a slacker life. I'll make sure to do it this time...." Cale clenched his fist.
Clopeh... was surprisingly quiet. When Cale looked over he seemed to be deep in thought. "Clopeh?" Cale tried to draw his attention.
"Yes Cale-nim?" Clopeh responded.
"Is there something on your mind?" Cale asked bluntly.
Clopeh blushed and looked away embarrassed at being caught spaced out. "Well... I was just wondering if the great Cale-nim had any interest in returning to our home dimension?"
Ahh, yess. What was I planning to do about that again? Cale shook his head with a sigh. "It's practically impossible without our powers and with humans only at this level of technology. I really want to go home, I really do, and the best way to do that would be money. I'm telling you Clopeh, money is power and happiness. If we need people to research a way home we need to have money. If we want to live a slacker life we need money as well. If we want people to listen to us we need money again. Just look at what money did to that poor Mr. Ho?! Reduced to begging at the feet of my frail & powerless body just for some silly old brooch."
Clopeh's eyes widened and he bowed 90 degrees. "Cale-nim, you have taught me something very valuable today. I will make sure to engrave this lesson into my heart and promise to help you make as much money as possible."
"Yes, we will be making so much money that we will be able to buy out any god in our way." Cale smirked.
---------------------------------
why the fuck do i waste my time writing so much?
4800 words in a few hours.
48 fucking hundred
i have 2 science labs due yesterday and i cant write them for shit
fuck me for starting this
fuck school for existing
and fuck cale henituse is my only aspiration in life
anoodles~
anon