Un-Chain

Uteu felt as if he were under water. Although he didn't feel cold, his hearing felt muted and his arms and legs put up a resistance as he moved them.

He was surprised when he found that he was able to breathe. The only immediate problem that cropped up was that he could not see. Darkness surrounded him, everywhere he looked was nothing but darkness. He couldn't even go deep into his mind to feel for his chains. His mind felt muddled and heavy.

Uteu tried to 'swim' in the direction he believed Uti was in, but after a while, he only felt more exhausted. He wasn't even sure if he was moving any closer. Stuck in the darkness, Uteu slowly felt himself lose hope.

Just then, a warm fluttering butterfly glowed and landed on his cheek. He was bewildered when he saw the small golden glow.

Gently, he cupped the butterfly. It wasn't an actual butterfly, rather it looked cartoon-ish as if it were drawn with a crayon. It reminded Uteu of the way Uti used to draw them.

The butterfly nuzzled into his hand, sending out small pulses of warmth periodically when he felt he couldn't drag out even an ounce of hope. It stayed in his hand and he held it out as a light.

Uti sent this for him.

For a moment, his nose stung and tears gathered in his eyes. He was here to save her, but he felt as if she was the one constantly helping him.

He cupped the butterfly once more with both hands and prayed to it.

Please allow him to reach Uti.

Please let her be alright.

Please let them return safely and be together once more.

Unbidden, a memory of the three of them together entered his mind. He could see the three of them eating together and laughing. He watched as he tucked them into bed and kissed them goodnight. He watched as he read them a story until they fell asleep. The next day he woke up to them jumping onto his bed. They both had matching pictures of the three of them holding hands.

Uteu removed his left hand from the butterfly and clenched it into a fist. He wanted nothing more than to be with his family once more.

"Family?"

Uteu heard an unsettling voice question him. He could not tell if the voice was female, male or animal. Perhaps it was a blend of all three.

He spun around trying to find the source of the voice but was unable to find one.

"Your family is cursed."

"Your blood is foul."

"You, yourself should not exist."

Uteu furrowed his eyebrows at the accusations.

"Who are you to say I shouldn't have existed?" Hearing the sound of his own voice left Uteu bewildered, he didn't know that he could talk in such a state.

"Your blood, for so many generations have plagued this Earth."

"It poisons the Earth like a cancer."

"And now it even seeks to destroy all of the Chains."

Uteu listened to the voice but felt disconnected. What did any of this have to do with HIM?

As if hearing his question the voice replied.

"Your birth was what enabled your family to force the Forging of the Chain early, throwing off the natural balance and order of the Earth."

"I still don't see how that's actually MY problem."

Uteu started to feel irritated with the voice. He didn't need to listen to this shit. He only wanted to finally get his sister out of this place and away from all of this.

"Let us show you some of the things your blood has done."

Uteu wanted to retort that there was no way his actual blood could have done anything when a bright light flashed before his eyes. The butterfly trembled in his hand and he tightened his hold on it, afraid it would disappear.

Uteu was forced to watch as many slips of memories flashed before him at a rapid pace.

It stopped on one particular scene and he felt as if his eyes were glued to it.

It was a hospital room. Tykol, his father, held onto the hand of a pale woman. She had short black hair that was plastered around her neck by the sweat pouring from her skin. Her eyes were shut tight and there was a grimace on her lips. She looked like she was in a lot of pain and her face was red from the exertion.

"You can do it, -----!" Uteu could not hear the name of the woman uttered from Tykol's lips.

The male doctor announced that the baby was crowning and moved in to catch the baby.

"You hear that? Uteu is crowning, soon we'll have a beautiful baby boy, don't give up, my love!"

This... this was his birth! Uteu could not turn his eyes away at all, forced to watch the gruesome scene play out before him.

"Push!"

The woman let out a relieved cry as her contraction hit and she pushed with all her strength. The baby slipped from her and the doctor caught the baby boy safely.

With red fluffs of hair, the baby had let out a loud cry while it slipped from the mother's w.o.m.b. The blood from the birth splashed onto the doctor's gloved hands and even hit his cheek, missing the mask by a mere millimeter.

At first nothing seemed wrong, the doctor laid the newborn baby on top of the mother's c.h.e.s.t for her to see while he let Tykol cut the umbilical cord and removed the placenta from her.

One of the nurses announced the time and date of the birth. It was midnight exactly on January 1st. It was a brand new year. The nurses celebrated the successful birth and the new year with cheers.

Just when the doctor was about to hand over the baby to a nurse to properly clean, he suddenly pulled the baby away from her. He cradled the baby to his c.h.e.s.t, the blood and fluid smeared onto his blue scrubs but he didn't seem to care.

He yelled out profanities and backed away from everyone. He seized a scalpel from a tray beside a bewildered nurse. Holding out the scalpel, the doctor swung it to and fro, threatening anyone that got near him or the baby. Three nurses, two female and one male, all gathered around him and said soothing things in an attempt to calm the doctor down.

The man's eyes grew bloodshot as he looked down from the baby to the nurses. He appeared confused, as if he were finally realizing where he was. The baby continued to scream and cry in his arms and he adjusted his hold, cradling the baby more carefully.

The new mother cried and sobbed from having her son taken away. Hearing her sobs, the doctor, while still holding onto the scalpel, approached her in a daze.

This seemed to have snapped Tykol out of his shock. His dark red hair swayed as he got up and he slowly held out his hands, begging the doctor to return his son. However suddenly seeing Tykol stand and hearing the man's voice, this seemed to have startled the doctor instead.

The doctor jolted away with a flinch. When he felt the baby being pulled from him by the new mother, he lashed out unknowingly.

Tykol stared, dumbfounded at the man's hand. The scalpel looked clean. What had the doctor just cut?

Tykol's green eyes trembled as he darted them up to check on his beloved. Tears begrudgingly came to his eyes, clouding his vision as he saw her gurgle. A trail of blood fell from her lips, the long thin cut to her throat slowly pebbled with traces of blood.

Tykol gawked on in horror as the cut caught up to her and blood sprayed from her neck. He hollered in agony as he caught her limp body.