Un-Chain

The man dr.a.p.ed an arm around Uteu and ushered him into the office room.

Despite his slender build he was surprisingly strong. His bony fingers dug painfully into Uteu's shoulder. As soon as the door closed behind them, he threw the other man's arm off of him.

Pink eyes twinkled in amus.e.m.e.nt.

"You know, we're something like cousins, was it second cousins? Our family, the Drelden family is quite a mess. Its pretty hard to track all of the spawn."

Uteu was studying the room at the time, and had to do a double take when he heard his cousin's words. Cousin? Really?

"Call me Harkal." He said as he plopped down onto a black leather couch.

Harkal pat the seat next to him, wanting Uteu to sit down. Uteu did so, with a bit of hesitance and chose the seat furthest away from Harkal. He kept glancing around the room, there didn't seem to be any signs of Judith anywhere. Was Harkal keeping her somewhere else?

"Now, Uteu..." Harkal said with a curious tilt of his chin.

"How in the world, did you get here? From the mansion to here, it should take you at least two whole days by car. By plane, no forget it. You wouldn't have been cleared for flight so quickly. So, without the teleportation array of the Guild... this shouldn't be possible."

Harkal kept his eyes steady on Uteu as he leaned onto the armrest. One hand was tucked under his chin as he leaned his weight into it. He didn't look like he was actually asking Uteu. It seemed like he was just stating this oddity out loud.

The older man paused in thought. Something Uteu couldn't discern flickered into Harkal's eyes and he somehow felt incredibly on edge. Now that he was actually looking at him, and was close enough, this man felt exactly the same as Welton.

Darkness.

Something dark crawled under this man's skin and made Uteu feel incredibly discomforted and afraid.

Harkal didn't seem aware of his inner fear and suddenly adopted a kind look, "You need to understand, Uteu. We took in Uti to save her. The Forging of the Chain was a mess, everything went terribly wrong and Uti, who should have had a dormant Psyche gene, was awoken."

Harkal's was full of concern as he stared into Uteu's eyes. The hair at the back of Uteu's neck stood on end. It felt fake. It was all wrong.

"Do you know how dangerous it would be for a Drelden to run around unchecked? Our blood makes our magic incredibly powerful, she would have been a danger to herself and those around her. I only sent Jude to make sure she arrived here safely."

Uteu wanted to punch Harkal in the face. What a f.u.c.k.i.n.g liar.

He lowered his head and let his hair cover his eyes from view. He would listen a little bit longer, he needed to know what this guy was up to.

He nodded. Harkal's eyes lit up.

"Our family is just the worst you know? Once we're deemed as useless or unworthy in their eyes we're exiled from the family!"

He gave Uteu a look as if he were the most pitiful person in the world.

"We are separated from everything. Sent to live alone, unable to even contact any of our relatives."

These words made Uteu shift in his seat. They were ringing a little too close for comfort.

"Just like you, poor thing. Do you even know who your mother is?"

Uteu tensed. Harkal had a triumphant look on his face as he let his words sink in.

This man... this man was lying wasn't he? Just one look at him and he could tell he was leading him on.

Yet... why did he feel like there was a possibility... the tiniest possibility that he was saying something true?

Uteu felt his heart drop into his stomach. He truly didn't know who his mother was. The times he spent with his father were also rare and few in between. It was also true that he was sent into a house on a hill in the middle of no where when he was younger to live alone with a single caretaker to make sure he stayed alive.

Was he... was he one of those unworthy people in the family? Had they determined this right after his birth?

Uti and Ulo's faces flashed into his mind just then. As if a warm feeling blossomed inside of himself to dispel whatever dark roots Harkal had sunk into his heart, Uteu felt himself come to a realization.

His family consisted of himself and his two siblings. And one of them... one of them was taken from him under the orders of this piece of shit relative right here.

Harkal's pink eyes darkened when Uteu's mind cleared and he became determined once again to protect his siblings, his true family.

"Hah... you should have just listened to my words, this would have been so much easier."

Harkal flicked his wrist and a gale he could barely see let alone dodge cut into his c.h.e.s.t. He looked down in shock as Grello's healing fought desperately to keep his skin together and the blood from flowing.

"This is why I hate the entire family. Not a single one of you ever listen to me."

Another flick of his wrist and Uteu tried to throw himself onto the floor, another two gales cut into his leg and waist.

Blood flowed freely now, the heals unable to keep up with all the damage being done to his body. As if all his acc.u.mulated exhaustion had finally caught up to him, Uteu felt like his body just wouldn't listen to him. He couldn't move.

Staring down at the blood pooling at his feet. He had a sick feeling of deja vu.

"Ah, such a waste of Drelden blood. If only you were a Psyche. I would have taken such great care of you."

Uteu felt blood bubble up his throat and he coughed it out onto the floor. He glared up at Harkal as the man smirked down at him. His eyes began to feel heavy and his eyelids trembled as he tried to keep them open.

Something at the corner of his eye caught his attention. Somewhere by the wall was a door left ajar. At the time, from where he was on the couch he couldn't see what was inside. But down here, from where he was on the floor, he could see something move on the other side of that door.

His eyes widened when he realized what he had just seen.

He willed his body to move once more, pulling on Harvet's abilities to force his body up. Harkal laughed at his pathetic struggle. But Uteu didn't care.

He saw her.

It was brief and maybe it was just a hallucination, but he thought he saw Judith. Although it was for only a split second, the way she looked matched Jude's description from her hair down to her shoes.

This gave him a sense of hope. If she was still fine and alive, then Uti might be as well.