A whole day passed just like that, Ferrin didn't budge an inch from his place, sitting silently next to Aria's unconscious body.
Only when she woke up did he finally move from his location and ask her about how she was feeling.
Aria seeing her beloved son the first thing after waking up felt her heart warm up, without saying much she reached out for hand weakly and tried to hold his face but her hand lost strength, causing Ferrin to swiftly move and hold her hand.
Aria smiled gently, her hand moved again under Ferrin's firm grip, she reached his face and caressed it gently.
Though the irony was... Ferrin was still coated in blood.
But this time, Aria had a clearer state of mind, she didn't allow herself to cry in guilt nor curse her incompetence, '๐ต๐๐๐๐... ๐๐ก'๐ ๐๐๐๐, ๐ผ ๐ค๐๐๐ ๐๐ข๐ ๐ฆ โ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ก๐ ๐๐๐๐ก๐๐๐ก โ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐กโ๐๐ โ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ค ๐๐. ๐ผ ๐ค๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐โ โ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐... ๐ก๐ ๐คโ๐ โ๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐คโ๐... โ๐ ๐ โ๐๐ข๐๐ ๐๐.'
A warm smile bloomed on Aria's face, as she imagined herself and her son going back to the way... things were and should've been.
The thought pleased her a lot and she dragged his face down to plant a gentle and loving kiss on his forehead.
The two cuddled together, unbothered by how the other looked. As if in their magical arms, everything was alright.
Paul kept waiting silently for a while before deciding to shatter this beautiful scene.
"Ahem! Can I also just cuddle in or should I just examine her out-right?" A teasing smile formed on his face.
Ferrin glanced straight into his mother's eyes before planting his lips on her forehead and getting up.
Paul chuckled seeing Ferrin's unresponsive expression and walked towards Aria. He did everything he could and injected inside her a drip.
"She just lost blood, nothing too major. Don't fret on it and think off what you are going to do now. I honestly don't know what's up between you and her and neither am I too bothered by it.
But... listen kid, mothers are most-of-the-time correct and just don't want their idiot children to suffer. So, do pay her side of the deal some thought as well." Paul patted Ferrin's shoulder as he walked past him.
As he was walking, he suddenly paused and turned around, "Oh! By the way, those chicken flavour noddles are no more in our stack, can ya go and just grab a few. I really like them! Hehehe!" He scratched his head with a sheepish smile.
Ferrin stood there in silence, busy interlocking his eyes with Aria's. Even Paul didn't notice it till now. He raised his brow in curiosity while whistling away.
'๐ด๐๐ ๐กโ๐๐ฆ ๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ก๐๐๐๐๐๐กโ๐ ? ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐กโ๐๐๐ข๐โ ๐กโ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ?' Paul shook his head at the son and mother's antics.
"Phew!" Ferrin hid his face behind his hands before using them to push back his brown hair. His eyes danced with a resolute gaze. He settled his internal dispute and strode towards the bathroom.
Planning to clean himself from the stench of blood. Sadly, his size in his human form wasn't the highest. He was only 15 and with a height over 5.4 feet. So... he had to make do with his own clothes since the various staff's clothing wouldn't fit him... probably.
Ferrin spun the knob, the water started falling upon him, akin to his thoughts. Appearing, brushing him, then vanishing.
'๐ผ๐ก'๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐น๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ผ๐ก'๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐น๐๐ ๐ฆ๐๐ข๐ ๐๐๐กโ๐๐ ๐๐๐ โ๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ฆ๐๐ข ๐๐ข๐ ๐ก ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ค๐ฃ๐ ๐ฌ๐๐ฉ๐ ๐๐ก๐ค๐ค๐
๐๐๐ข ๐๐ข๐ ๐ก ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ ๐ก๐๐๐๐ ๐ธ๐๐๐ข๐โ ๐ ๐ ๐กโ๐๐ก ๐ โ๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐'๐ก โ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ก๐ ๐ค๐๐๐๐ฆ ๐๐๐๐ข๐ก ๐๐ ๐๐ โ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐_' Ferrin sighed heavily. His eyes turned dim and dark... he truly didn't look like... Ferrin. It wasn't him, those eyes, they didn't belong to Ferrin, '๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ ๐๐ผ๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ฟ๐ ๐๐! ๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ฟ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐ผ๐พ๐พ๐๐๐๐๐ฟ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ผ๐๐!'
His erect fingers twitched, as he imagined himself crushing this world into oblivion. His mouth opened wide, spreading wide the gates of transformation as he turned into a 6 feet plus monkey. His larger than himself tail swung behind him energetically.
The moment he morphed, the floor started turning bloody from the amount of blood soaked in his fur.
Ferrin's state of mind became more rational as he stared at the blood, '๐ป๐! ๐โ๐๐ก ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ค๐๐ฆ ๐๐ ๐ก๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐คโ๐๐ก ๐ผ โ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐ข๐ ๐๐ฆ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ข๐ก!'
Ferrin had already noticed this that whenever he changed into his other forms, he will find himself exactly the way he last was, the exception being that sometime he would've recovered from the injuries he sustained.
'๐๐๐ค ๐กโ๐๐ก ๐ผ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐ก๐ ๐๐ฆ ๐๐๐๐ฃ๐๐๐ข๐ ๐๐๐โ๐ก๐ , ๐ผ ๐กโ๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ก๐๐๐ ๐ก๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐ก๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ก๐ ๐กโ๐ ๐กโ๐๐๐๐ ๐ผ ๐๐๐๐, ๐ผ ๐๐๐ ๐ โ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐กโ๐ ๐๐๐ค๐๐ ๐ก๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ฃ๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐ ๐กโ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ก๐๐ ๐ก๐ ๐๐กโ๐๐๐ . ๐โ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐ก๐ ๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ก๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ก ๐๐๐ก๐ ๐คโ๐๐ก ๐ผ ๐๐๐ ๐ก๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ก๐.' As Ferrin was deep in thought while wiping the blood off of him, his stomach made a strange sound.
Grrr!
"Huh?" Ferrin looked down at his body in surprise. '๐ผ โ๐๐ฃ๐๐'๐ก ๐๐๐ก๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ ๐คโ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ฆ!'
He scratched his head with an abashed smile. He ignored it and continued cleaning himself. '๐โ๐๐ข๐โ ๐ผ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ก๐ก๐ฆ ๐๐๐๐ง๐๐. ๐๐๐๐ฆ ๐กโ๐๐ ๐๐ข๐โ โ๐ข๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ก๐๐ ๐ ๐ก๐๐๐ฃ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ ๐คโ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ฆ?'
After Ferrin was done, he stood there silently, having a weird feeling as he wondered if he should change back into his other monkey form or not.
After pondering over it for a while, he nodded his head and decided to change.
His body grew larger in contrast to his tail. Feeling something strange, he started cleaning his body. Literally not even a single strand of his fur was not spared from blood. It was the form he used while fighting back-by-back with the Guardian. That fight had gone in for... a long time.
Grr!
Ferrin rubbed his stomach, ignoring the suffocating feeling coming from no where, '๐ป๐โ๐โ๐! ๐ผ๐ ๐กโ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐กโ๐๐ , ๐ผ ๐ค๐๐๐ โ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ก๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐ค๐๐๐๐ ๐ก๐๐ฆ๐๐๐ ๐ก๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ฆ๐ ๐๐๐... ๐กโ๐๐๐๐ข๐โ๐๐ฆ ๐ผ ๐๐๐๐!'
Suddenly, darkness creeped across his eyes, causing him to stumble backwards and fall on his butt.
GRRR!
His stomach howled like a venomous beast, '๐โ๐๐ก! ๐ผ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ก, ๐กโ๐๐ ๐ ๐ข๐๐๐๐๐๐ก๐๐๐, ๐กโ๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐ข๐ ๐๐๐ก๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ค๐ ๐๐๐๐๐โ๐๐๐ ๐๐ฆ ๐กโ๐๐๐๐ก... ๐ ๐ฌ๐ค๐ช๐ก๐'๐ซ๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ฉ๐๐๐จ ๐ ๐๐ฅ๐ฉ ๐ค๐ฃ!'
This realisation struck him like a heavy hammer, knocking new sense into him.
He reached out his hands, he felt them touch something. He couldn't realise what it was but he still used it to lift his heavy body, his weight tore the things down, making his butt feel his weight once more.
"Kek!" He reached out his hand and held his head, '๐ท๐๐ ๐ผ โ๐๐ก ๐ ๐๐๐๐กโ๐๐๐?'
His heart rate kept slowing down, the only comfort being the water pouring straight onto his face. He opened his mouth wide and started gulping it down without hesitation.
Only after swallowing down a horrendous amount did he find some strength to lift himself up and leave the bathroom.
Even in this state of his, he avoided his mother while dashing out of the staff room. Fearing that she would begin worrying if she saw him like this. Though he still couldn't avoid Seilo who immediately ran behind him silently.
Ferrin's body guided him, his pathetic sense of smell promising him a feast worth remembering if he followed along.
Without realising it, he found himself in front of the counter, 'I should take some bags.' Ferrin's eyes betrayed him. Despite his hardest attempts, his eyes didn't budge from the corpse behind the counter.
'๐โ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ข๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐, โ๐โ๐!' Ferrin's darkened vision slowly begun to glorify the corpse, his mind started playing tricks. Making him giggle while climbing atop the counter. He reached out his tail and took hold of the half chewed corpse.
He reached out his hand, admiring how beautifully and finely it had been cooked.
He moved his head closer and sniffed the delicious smell.
"Lord?"
"Kek?!" Ferrin swiftly moved his head. His eyes eerily pierced the owner of the voice, "Kekeke?"
"What are you doing... Lord?" Seilo asked, gazing at the corpse Ferrin just grabbed.
Ferrin turned to stare at what she was talking about and his head became somewhat... blank. Without doing anything, he placed the corpse back to where it should've been.
He jumped away from the counter and morphed back into his human state, "Seilo... I am very hungry! Have you eaten yet?" Ferrin replied to her question while pushing one of his hands into his pocket.
"You should be hungry... after not eating anything for the whole day. I wanted to disturb you and ask you to eat something but... the other's said it was best to leave the Lord alone for now." Seilo started walking behind Ferrin as he went to the stands and started gulping down some snacks while browsing for more.
"Hmm... Lord," Ferrin paused suddenly before turning around and gazing at Seilo, "Tell me, Seilo, why do you call me Lord? I ๐ฑ๐ผ have a name and its pretty good, given by my mother and all!"
Seilo blinked her bewildered eyes, she glanced around before returning to stare straight into Ferrin's eyes, "Well, I for one believe that call you by your name will be offensive to the Lord."
"Lord again!" Ferrin rubbed his chin while tilting his head, his eyes scrutinising her face, "Tell me why am
I 'Lord' then?"
Seilo blinked her eyes, unbeknownst to her, her heart started beating slightly faster, "Well, I... I... You..." A confused and conflicted look flashed in Seilo's eyes, her words just got stuck in her throat. Not knowing what to say, she just stared at Ferrin with a frown.
"Hmm!" Ferrin nodded his head while swallowing his snack, "So, you yourself don't know why you call me that, correct?"
"Aw! No, no! Its not that! I just... back when you appeared, when I was just pretending to sleep and wondering if I should just kill myself or kill that man as well. Then you appeared. Honestly, I felt scared due to you and pitied the woman who was with you...
Then... when that beast attacked your mother, I felt scared and I decided to just kill myself but then... There were you!" Seilo's face lit up with a sweet smile, her eyes flickering dangerously.
"You were there, as that disgusting roach destroyed me, I kept begging, that if there existed a God, I hoped He could kill him. And... like my wish had been granted, you appeared! Like a Messiah! Like the judgement of my God! You came! Seilo's eyes turned frantic and ecstatic, her joy inexplicable through words alone.
"๐ฌ๐ผ๐ ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐บ๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ผ๐ ๐ธ๐ถ๐น๐น๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ต๐ถ๐บ!
"I felt that as repayment I should kill myself but I was saved by the others and I believed that it was also through God's will, that he needed me to live for now and sacrifice myself for you, the Lord! He who carries the will of the Supreme!" Seilo smiled sweetly, as if she didn't in the slightest realise just how... messed how her words were.
Ferrin who had kept eating his snack in silence nodded his head, "I see, that's a very solid reason for a misunderstanding and that you are slightly loose in the processing department!"
Seilo tilted her head, "What dod you say, Lord?"
"Hmm! I meant to say that you have misunderstood things. True that I killed him and in a way fulfilled your wish but it wasn't because I am some kind of a Messiah, it's because I am a human and I gave into rage. I killed that man because I couldn't see my mother get harmed and now, if I had the chance to go back and do things over again__" Ferrin glanced above, falling silent for a while, the image of the monkey who was currently, in a way, inside him flashed in his mind, the blood he spilled that day, the blood he spilled the following day, it was fresh, enough that he could still smell it, "Lets just day my actions would be questionable." He looked towards her and smiled.
Without doing anything else, he started chowing down in big bites.
He ate tons, till he felt he was filled enough that he couldn't stuff anything else. Seilo just kept following him silently.
As he was aimlessly wandering around while throwing some chips in his mouth, he came across the meat section.
A weary smile formed on his lips, without thinking, he threw the packet of ships into the air, all of a sudden a tail grew from behind him and took hold of the packet.
Seilo just blinked seeing this 7 feet tall monkey sprout in front of him.
Ferrin walked towards the refrigerator and opened its door, '๐ผ ๐ค๐๐๐๐๐ โ๐๐ค ๐๐๐๐ ๐กโ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ก๐๐๐๐๐ก๐ฆ ๐ค๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ก๐๐๐ข๐ ๐ก๐ ๐๐ข๐?'
He glanced at the meat all around and fell into a daze, his heart started beating slightly louder.
. . .
It was then, that it appeared. That, whose shadow left only ruins.
That which, whose each step was trailed by horror.
The one who wandered around aimlessly like a behemoth granting destruction in its benevolence.
The one who was gifting misery with each step that it took.
And this time, it wasn't far away like all the previous times... it was near.
So near, that if one were to stumble backwards and fall, he might just land in the feet of that behemoth.
And presenting its unchanging desire for upholding chaos, it announced its presence like it always did and each time... left all to hear in dread of its wake.
...By a roar!
. . .
. .
.
"๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐!"