“A-Aurum?” Kimi stuttered in a shocked tone. “W-what are you doing here?”
“Lord Caedis,” Meraki said with a bow. “I wasn’t expecting your arrival until tomorrow.”
“I guess my transport arrived earlier than intended.” Aurum had his gaze stuck on Kimi’s face. He raised a hand and said, “Kimi please follow me. We need to discuss about this issue.”
“Issue?” Kimi squinted in anger, his fingernails digging into his palms. “You called my father’s death an issue?” he snapped quietly.
Aurum slowly shook his head, his eyebrows drooping in sadness. “No Kimi. I was talking about what Orpheus had said.” He stared at Orpheus and muttered, “he’s not lying.”
Meraki’s shoulders tightened in response to Aurum’s words. He sideglanced at his son, the glow in his eyes cooling. “If not for Lord Caedis you would have eaten the fruit of my wrath,” he said slowly, his voice dark, his frown weakening. “I’m highly disappointed in you.” Without looking back, he strode out of the room.
“Mer!” Haruna said, rushing after her husband.
Aurum exhaled slowly and pulled off his hat. Holding the hat to his chest, he looked at Kimi’s angry face and said. “Please... let’s go.”
Kimi heaved loudly, his feet stuck on the floor. He pursed his lips, the anger in his eyes slowly melting. He hesitated for a while before he took a stiff step forward, his gait firm. He walked forward with fists by his side. When he got closer to Aurum, he sneered at him and loosened his fists.
“I’m going. And I need all the answers. I need everything.”
Aurum nodded and made way for him. Kimi avoided body contact as he stepped out of the room. This made Aurum sigh tiredly, his eyes sad.
“Orpheus!” Qharis said, she and Illiad rushing their wounded brother. She crouched and held his shoulder.
“I’m fine,” he said, looking into Aurum’s eyes that were stuck on him. “I’m fine,” he repeated, moving his eyes to Illiad who was trying to wipe off his blood.
“Take him to your mother. Tell her to heal him and all of you should come to the dinning room.” He held onto the door, pulling it with him as he walked out.
It’s high time that we talked about the truth, he thought, his eyes following Kimi as he stomped through the hallway.
*
Watching everyone with a glare, Kimi stood by the open door, his already tight fists tightening beside himself. His heart was palpitating so hard that he felt like vomiting it to give himself rest. The room was filled to the brim by equally glaring cadavers.
Aurum coughed lightly at the intense atmosphere. “Well come in.” He held out a hand for Kimi to walk in but the boy only stood his ground and hardened his clenched jaw. “Um...”
“If they bite me and I die I’m going to freaking haunt you for eternity. Cadaver or not cadaver,” Kimi said through his teeth.
“Uh-huh.” Aurum made way for him and he walked slowly into the room.
“Well, well, well. We meet again young human,” the redheaded female cadaver mused with a blank face.
The red-eyed one from before growled at Kimi and turned to look at Aurum. “Lord Caedis I don’t know why this human is still standing after he had nearly burnt my Level Os alive.”
“Actually... borrowed Level Os,” Tobe said from his sat position and the cadavers that were stood behind him snickered lightly.
The red-eyed hissed felinely at him and his eyes glowed a little. “You backward idiot.”
“You stumped whiny big baby.”
“Guys...” Aurum looked at their positions that were on either side of the wide dining room. “Drop it.”
They snapped their mouths shut and dropped their gazes. Aurum nodded at that and peered at Kimi who was silently seething beside him. He quirked a brow and followed Kimi’s gaze to Orpheus’ face.
“Oh that’s right,” he said under his breath. He rubbed his nape and sighed shallowly. “How do I—”
“Never in my life did I ever think that there’d be a day that I’d come face to face with the group of monsters that had killed my father,” Kimi growled lowly, his voice rumbling in his chest.
“The who what now?” the redhead asked, lifting a brow.
“The group of monsters that had killed his father,” Aurum repeated solemnly. His gaze shifted to Orpheus and he cracked his neck. He pointed at Kimi and said, “this boy right here is Kimi Mikaelis, son of Michael Mikaelis.”
Those who didn’t know him erupted into sharp whispers. As soon as Aurum raised a hand, the noise died down.
“Oh you have got to be kidding me,” a woman said in a Japanese accent. She placed her hand on the man beside her and asked, “isn’t he the man that was—”
“—killed long ago by some animal.” The man eyed Kimi’s harsh expression. “Obviously, it was us who had done the killing.”
“I would have to cut you there Yūgen,” Aurum said from his position.
Yūgen stood up at once and dipped his head. “I apologize for my assumption Lord Caedis.”
Aurum waved his hand nonchalantly. “Don’t apologize because you’re right.” He looked at Orpheus and said, “the one who had killed him was Orpheus Vdélla, son of Meraki and Haruna Vdélla.”
Meraki shut his eyes and winced at the words that started spewing from their mouths. His wife calmed him down with a soothing pat on his shoulder and he folded his arms to hold himself back.
“Now don’t go jumping to conclusions yet.” Aurum turned to Kimi. “Kimi you might want to sit down for this.”
“Fuck you. If you fucking talk to me right now I’ll burn you.” Kimi palmed his pockets and his expression mellowed down at his empty pockets. “Where—”
“Looking for this?”
He snapped his head up and spotted one of the cadavers he had burnt holding up the burner. His fair skin was badly burnt and it had been wrapped up.
“That’s mine—”
“Talk again and I’ll fucking destroy it now,” he growled loudly, holding the burner in a vice grip. “You almost killed me.”
Kimi scoffed and hissed, “and thank you for experiencing a bit of my father’s pain you fucking, insolent worm.”
The cadaver’s nose flared and he growled, “why you—”
“Jabulani calm down. The both of you will only hurt yourselves as a consequence,” Aurum said in a calm voice.
Jabulani tched loudly and threw the burner to the long table in the middle of the room. It skidded down the table; Aurum sped to it, picked it up and returned it to Kimi. Kimi eyed it bitterly before taking it out of Aurum’s hand. His heart skipped at the feel of Aurum’s skin against his.
“Right.” Aurum turned to the room and clasped his hands behind his back. “Well, to start... Twelve years ago the news had come up that one Mr. Michael Mikaelis had been killed in an abandoned warehouse by some unknown person or animal as they’d put it.” He watched Orpheus flinch at his words and he let out a breath before he continued. “But that hadn’t been the only death that had occurred that year. Mr. and Mrs. Mikaela’s corpse had been found in the remains of their burnt home. And—”
“What did you just say?” Kimi whispered with wide eyes. “You... just said... that... my...” He dropped his eyes.
Aurum gazed softly at him and then searched for Silver in the room. He was sat close to the Vdéllas and Illiad was whispering into his ears, trying to calm him; his face had blanched in shock. Aurum cleared his throat and continued.
“I wouldn’t want to go into details but the main point is that they were killed. And they were Hunters. And they weren’t mere Hunters. And so were the other eight people that were killed: Mr. and Mrs. Quinn Mikaelan, Quinn’s parents, his siblings, and a few other extended family members.” He raised his hand and placed the other in his pocket. “You can also remember that same year I had been poisoned and incapacitated. And I’d nearly died.”
Kimi slightly raised his head at Aurum’s words. His fists shook before they slackened and he loosened his hands from their fists. I should stop acting like I’m the only person that had lost someone.
“But... Lord Caedis what are you trying to get at?” the redhead asked.
“The whole story. That particular year I had been away in Egypt for my healing when I had got a call from Mrs. Mikaelis. And—”
“You know my mother?!” Kimi screamed in shock.
Aurum nodded. “I’m an old family friend.”
Kimi’s breath hitched and he held his chest. He blinked rapidly and whispered, “continue... please...”
Aurum smiled warmly and thought, I am the master at handling situations like these. Kudos to me.
“Anyway I had been in Egypt when I had got the call. Mrs. Mikaelis had called to beg for my assistance, unaware that I had been away. She’d called crying that her husband was trying to kill her son.” He stopped, sideglancing at Kimi to get a reaction.
Kimi snapped his head to the side and glared at Aurum. “What the fuck are you saying?” he asked quietly. “That my father had tried to kill me?”
“Kimi what sort of father takes his son to an abandoned warehouse for... I guess you get the thing now,” he said, watching as Kimi’s face paled. “We’re not the enemies Kimi. Hunters and cadavers have been together since the beginning. You can say that our creator is one and the same.
“To cut the long story short, since I wasn’t around I had called Orpheus for help since he was closer that time. Orpheus had secretly followed Michael to the warehouse and hid in the shadows. Michael had poisoned his son and Orpheus had tried to help him. Things had got out of hand and Orpheus had taken in the same poison and went rabid.” Aurum stopped talking to let his words sink in.
“Lord Caedis correct me if I’m wrong. But... what poison can affect a Hunter and—oh my goodness a claret!” the young woman who was beside the red-eyed man said. All the cadavers started whispering rapidly in shock at her revelation. She held her hands to her mouth. “But how did he get it? I thought that it was scarce? Unreal even?”
Aurum shook his head. “It is, but somehow he had found it.” He held his chin in thought and thought, now I know where these people are getting the claret. He looked at Orpheus. When he had killed Michael.
Meraki swiftly stood up, his fists tight. “You had used my son.” He looked at Aurum and hissed, “I beg your pardon Lord Caedis but my son isn’t some sort of disposable cup that you use anyhow.” He sharply placed his palms together. “Please... I beg of you never do that to my children ever again. Orpheus has carried enough burden.”
Aurum dipped his head. “I apologize for my mistake. We all make mistakes every time.” He raised his head. “Orpheus?”
“Yes Lord Caedis,” he answered lightly.
“I’m sorry.” He turned to Kimi and leaned his face closer to his. He ignored the shocked mutterings as he said, “Kimi. I’m sorry. I apologize for whatever that had happened to your father. I admit that it was foolish of me to—”
Kimi silenced him with a harsh slap, crying madly. “This is just the prologue of all the punishment you’ll receive as payback,” he muttered through his teeth, his eyes red with plenty tears.
Everyone gasped in shock.
Homer smirked in amusement, climbed onto his chair. “Uncle Aurum if you’re not marrying him I’ll gladly sign your divorce papers and marry him for you.” Everyone turned to loom at him and he slowly crouched on the chair and whispered, “just saying.”
Aurum’s face had whipped to the side, his eyes wide in shock. He cupped his cheek and peered at Kimi. “Amica mea”
Kimi breathed heavily, his shoulders shaking. “I hate you.” He brought his fists to his face and wiped off his never-ending tears. “But I still am grateful for all your help Aurum. It... I... You can’t bring my father back. Even if he had tried to kill me he’s still my father and now my mother’s gone. I don’t know what to do. I don’t want to be an orphan. I’ve already lost a whole extended family. I can’t lose my mother. I just can’t.”
His shoulders shook as more and more of his tears came out. He cried noisily for a few more minutes, everyone silently watching him. When Aurum felt that it was enough, he pulled Kimi himself and froze as Kimi didn’t object and clung onto him. He slowly patted his back and let him cry into his shirt. Kimi cried for a while before his tears slowly changed into sniffles.
“I promise you... I’ll bring your mother back.” Aurum cupped his hand on Kimi’s face and used his thumbs to wipe off his tears. “I can’t bring your father back but I can promise you that your mother won’t die. It’s an oath from me to you. Okay?”
Kimi nodded slowly, looking to the side. He raised his head, but he averted his gaze at the sight of Aurum’s boyish smile.
“I call dibs on the name of your first child! Qharis can be your surrogate!” Homer hollered, still crouching on his chair.
“Homer! You fool! How are we related?!” Qharis yelled, her face flushed in embarrassment as she slapped her brother in anger.
The room erupted into a light chuckle at their antiques.
Aurum laughed lightly before he gasped lol he remembered something. “Before I forget.” He carefully placed his hands on Kimi’s shoulders. “Should I remove them?” he asked as Kimi eyed his hands.
Kimi shook his head and his breath hiked up as Aurum pulled him to stand in front of him.
“I would like to introduce the cadavers to you so that you will truly know that we aren’t monsters.” He turned Kimi so that he could face the group. Aurum pointed at the Vdéllas. “I’m sure that you’ve already met them. Meraki and Haruna Vdélla. Meraki is the Pristine that is in charge of all the cadavers in Europe. Their son Illiad, daughter Qharis and the twins Homer and Orpheus. The cadavers standing around them are their Level Os and the list is long. ”
“Nice to officially meet you. I’m the older twin,” Homer said with a happy wave, climbing off the chair as his parents glared at him.
Aurum pointed at the redhead. “She’s Miss Elvira Verdad and she’s the Pristine that’s in charge of North America.”
“Nice to meet you Kimi. Let’s have tea sometime,” she said in an icy tone, a calm smile on her face.
“The man with red eyes and a weird accent is Anxo Seiva and the young lady beside him is his daughter Heiress Maria Seiva. He’s in charge of South America.” He pointed at the cadaver that had been holding Kimi’s burner. “He’s Jabulani or Jabu Igazi, Anxo’s right-hand man”—Jabu puffer his chest in pride and Aurum smirked—“and his personal lapdog.”
The room chuckled as Jabu’s face turned red.
Anxo cleared his throat haughtily and stood. “I beg your pardon Lord Caedis but my name is Anxo da Seiva.”
Aurum shrugged a shoulder. “You don’t see people calling me Aurum von Caedis now do you?”
Anxo tried to say another word but dropped his head and sat. Kimi stuck out his tongue at him but he bit into it as Aurum flattened his hand on his shoulders.
“I’m sure you’ve met Miss Yin Fen Jiaozi. She’s in charge of Asia and your homeroom teacher, courtesy of me.”
Kimi raised a brow. “How long have you been disrupting the natural flow of my life?”
“Longer than you can know Amica mea.”
Kimi frowned and raised the burner. “I will burn you.”
Aurum raised his hand and moved away from him. “Uh... Tobe Ọbafi. He’s in charge of Africa.” He pointed at Yūgen and the woman beside him. “And that’s Yūgen Ketsueki and his wife Hanami Ketsueki. He’s in charge of Australia. You’ve met their son Rin”—he gestured to him—“and their daughter Eien is asleep at the moment.”
Kimi snorted loudly. “And you’re the Pristine that’s what? In charge of Artantica?”
“Yes... I am.”
Kimi snorted again, this time in amusement. “And what do you do? Teach penguins how to speak Latin and whales to sing?”
“When I’m bored.” The others looked at him in shock and he shrugged. As he looked at everyone, he snapped his fingers. “That reminds me. My bandmates are also staying here... somewhere. Couko, Sibyl and Claren are also cadavers.”
Kimi’s eyes widened and he gasped in shock. ‘More shit that’s bigger than the last.’ “Wait... What about Ren? He’s still human?”
“Yes.”
“Is he the only human that stays here?”
“No. It’s him, Silver, Ravenna”—he pointed at the maid by the door and Kimi recognized her from earlier—“and Eien, Rin’s sister.”
“But I thought that she’s a cadaver?” He frowned lightly. “A Level A at that, if I’m freaking correct.”
Aurum looked to the ceiling. “Cadaverism is not genetically passed on. But one who had a cadaver as a parent can easily change when the time comes.”
As they talked, some of the cadavers smiled at them. A few of them glared in jealousy at the easiness that Kimi used to talk with Aurum.
“Hold on. You know the Ren?” Homer asked, his eyebrows lifted high up.
“Yes he does. They had met in Egypt and were roommates at a hospital,” Aurum replied lightly.
“And the plot thickens,” Homer whispered, leaning back in his chair. “When I say you guys shit me hundred times a day please believe me. And be warned... I smell.”
“Homer!” almost everyone said, shaking their head or rolling their eyes at him.
“Sorry to say but I’m disappointed that we’re related by blood,” Orpheus said to his brother.
“Actually we’re not. We’re related by an egg and a sperm, period,” Homer said with a blank face.
Meraki sighed heavily. “If only Orpheus hadn’t made a mistake and shared his egg with Homer then maybe things would have been better. ” He shrugged and said, “mistakes can be made. So can they be forgiven.”
Orpheus looked at his father, knowing fully well that his father was referring to another thing. “Thank you,” he whispered lightly.
“Well that’s it for tonight. You can all... rest for today,” Aurum said, clasping his hands together.
Sounds of screeching chairs filled the air as everyone moved to the door. They eyed Kimi as they walked past him. And Kimi narrowed his eyes at them.
“Kimi?” Kimi looked at Aurum. Aurum was rubbing the back of his neck, avoiding his gaze. “Will you stay with us? Since... Since your mother’s not around.”
Kimi shook his head. “I... can’t. Even if I want to I just—”
A loud thunderclap sounded outside and Kimi snapped his head to the window. No more than a second more did the sky start crying heavily. Nature really knew that the times have changed. And it knew how to aid that change.
Aurum smirked at the large window. “I guess that’s a big yes.” He motioned for him to follow him. “Come, I’ll show you to your room.”
“No. I will,” Silver said, walking closer to them. He narrowed his eyes at Aurum and sharply said, “I will.”
Aurum quirked a brow and shrugged. “Suit yourself.” He looked at Kimi. “See you tomorrow Amica mea,” he muttered, a small smile on his face.
Kimi flinched at the nickname. “Will you stop... calling me that.”
Aurum shrugged and stepped away. “It’s the least I can do.”
*
Silver led Kimi to a spare room on the first floor. As soon as Ravenna unlocked it and pushed the large, wooden double doors open, Kimi’s brow rose extremely high at the sheer size of the bedroom.
“If you need me just speed dial number one and I’ll be right here in an instant,” Ravenna said softly. She smiled brightly and the wrinkles in her face folded even more.
“Thank you Aunt,” Silver said and returned the bow that she gave him. He watched her leave. Immediately after she left, he turned to face Kimi but froze as Kimi hugged him. “Kimi?”
“I’m an idiot. You lost both of your parents and I had lost just one,” he said into his shirt. “And the one that had tried to kill me.”
Silver shook his head, wrapping his arms around Kimi. “You’re not an idiot Kimi. You just took the pain a little harsher than me.” He held Kimi at arm’s length, a broad smile on his face. “At least I had Illiad and his family, so it doesn’t matter.” He dropped his hand and widened his smile.
“What had really happened?”
Silver shook his head. “There’s no need to know. Besides it’s best if it’s left in the past.”
“Are you sure?”
“Positive.” He nodded to add effect and Kimi scoffed at that.
“Chubby cheeks Argyr,” he said with a roll of his eyes.
Silver scoffed and cupped his cheeks with his hands. “I had a lot of sweets back then.” He sighed and dropped his hand. He peered at the shut window and watched the raindrops slide down it.
A soft silence fell upon the room. It was only the muffled sound of rain pattering against the windows. After a few seconds, Silver yawned into a fist.
“That’s bedtime for me.” He walked to the door. “I better go before Illiad starts complaining. Bye.” He waved at Kimi and walked out of the room.
Kimi only raised his hand in reply, studying the large bedroom. “I need a bath,” he whispered to himself.
On the other side of the door, Silver placed his head against the door, releasing a long breath. He raised his head at the sound of Aurum’s approaching footsteps.
“How is he?” Aurum said as he stepped closer to him.
Silver’s brows knitted immediately at the sound of his voice. He moved away from the door and glared at Aurum. “It’s best if you leave him alone Aurum, because all your presence does is bring him death and pain.”
Author’s Note: Hello. Please vote and comment. If there’s anything that’s confusing please ask. And I really wanna know who’s reading my story. I only know @red_rose_fire because she votes and comments. How about you?