Now I knew. Everything that led up to this point was a message for me. White hair and Oraphim ears, it'll only take a few years for the other features to develop. Karangan Kingdom is in a desert, so it won't be hard to tan. As for the freckles, it would be through a recessive gene, since no one in my family has freckles, and Gwendolyn doesn't have them. She was adopted at a young age, though, so her parents could have had them. Everything hit me all at the same time. The boy in my dreams was my child, Tsuki Twendlen.
"Can I hold him?" I asked Gwendolyn. I think keeping my cool calmed her down, because her crying ceased, and once hers did, my daughters stopped as well. She looked up at me with tearful eyes and sniffled. I kissed her forehead and stroked her hair. "You did an amazing job. I'm sorry I couldn't be here sooner."
"It's okay. He's been so quiet. He only cried for a little bit after he was born, but stopped after he was all cleaned up." Gwendolyn handed Tsuki to me and I took my newborn son in my arms.
He was heavy. Well, not heavy. He weighed more than Adeline and Eudora did when they were newborns. He awoke when he felt the change in who was holding him. I saw his bright red eyes which only confirmed that he was the boy in my dreams. My son is absolutely adorable nonetheless. He held out his hand to me and I responded by giving him my finger to hold. However, when Tsuki held my finger, an insane amount of pressure was exerted onto my finger. Pain shot throughout that entire section of my hand, causing me to yank it away as fast as I could. Unfortunately, that made Tsuki wail as loud as his tiny body would let him. His chubby face turned red and I saw his toothless mouth as he basically scream-cried at me.
"Oh, give him here." Gwendolyn said as she took Tsuki from me and began consoling him. I grasped my finger in pain and held it close to me. It was on the verge of breaking, for sure. The pain was brief, but shocking. Still, something was on my mind. That black horn on Tsuki's head.
"Hey, Gwen. You said he was cursed. What's that about?"
"He's cursed." Altris cut in as she began walking towards me. "Over the past two months, me and the research staff at the academy started studying the habits of the red moon which kept reappearing. We found out that children being born under the blood moon came into the world with black horns, usually one, but some had two. Almost all of those babies possessed white hair as well. Something like this can only be done by a Black-Rank mage, or, even higher, a deity."
"A curse...alright then."
"What do you mean 'alright then'?! Gou, your son is cursed! Why are you so calm about this?!" Altris yelled at me as Tsuki finally stopped wailing.
"Don't you worry your pretty little head. First thing in the morning, I'll take Tsuki to see Taz and he should give us some valuable knowledge about this potential 'deity' that's cursed Tsuki."
Tazmanias Sulfur, or Taz for short (only for close friends) is the priest of the Karangan Church. He's the most talented magician in the world due to his close connection with his god and not only is extremely smart, but knowledgeable in topics referring to curses, Magic, and the so-called "higher powers." I have nothing but respect for that man, as a friend and a combatant. He's the strongest human in the world, no doubt.
"Gou," Gwen called me. "Is it okay if I join you?"
"Gwen, you just gave birth. I don't think you should be up and walking through a kingdom the day after." I knew how badly Gwen wanted to go. She was attached to Tsuki, which is understandable. Her newly born son is cursed by something or someone she doesn't even know. However, her body needed time to recover after giving birth, so she needed to rest.
"Oh...what if the curse is fatal?" Gwendolyn asked as her ears twitched. Her voice became shaky as she began to worry. She held Tsuki close to her chest and hugged him. "Will he ever be able to live a normal life?"
Altris gave Gwendolyn a hug and rubbed her back, whispering something along the lines of "Everything is going to be okay." I felt my nose sting as my eyes began to water, but I stopped myself. I wiped my tears away and began speaking to my wives.
"I promise, Tsuki will live a long and fulfilling life. I'll cure him of this curse, and one day, we'll look back on this day and laugh about how silly we were for worrying. I promise."
"Gou." Altris spoke up. "Please, don't say such reckless things."
"It's not reckless. I know I'm not the most talented in Magic, or even curses, but I have the materials, intelligence, and people that one would need for something like this. If I can't help, then at the very least, Tsuki would know that I tried my very best for him. I have to try, even if it'll be pointless in the future."
It sounded a little harsh, yeah, but you can't sugarcoat things like this. Curses are often fatal, and if not, they have a long-lasting effect on the person who was cursed. It's even scarier when you don't know what exactly the curse does, or when it'll go into full affect. In short, there's no time to wait, especially when a baby's life is on the line.
Altris paused. "Well, it is better than nothing. Very well. Once you finish with Father Tazmanias, come back immediately and tell me everything, okay?"
"You got it."
"Someone's coming. Fast." Gwendolyn jumped in as her ears perked up. As an Oraphim, Gwendolyn could hear far better than any other race. Still, with all the trust I had in my wife, that statement made me feel uneasy.
Just then, a door downstairs slammed open and heavy footsteps came rushing up the stairs. I jumped and readied myself. I held out my hand and began charging up an attack as the footsteps approached.
"Gou, dude! You can't just take off like that. I'm telling you, running through a desert in armor is not fun at all." It was Luca, sweating and panting as he stopped by the door. I stopped my attack and let out a sigh.
"Oh, it's just you."
"Just me?! The disrespect."
"That's not what I meant."
Adeline and Eudora rushed to greet their uncle Luca while Altris and Gwendolyn welcomed him. Luca looked over at Gwendolyn and Altris and his eyes widened.
"Oh, baby's here." Luca said as he walked over to them. "Woah! What's with the horn?"
Gwendolyn started sobbing once again.
"Luca!" Altris yelled.
"What? Did Gwen cheat on Gou with a Fiend or something?"
Gwendolyn then started sobbing violently.
"Oh my God..." Altris muttered.
"I'll tell you about it later. For now, just wait downstairs for now."
Jeez. Luca is always the type to jump to conclusions, but that was more of a bounce than a jump...well, at least I'll have a funny story to tell Tsuki when he's older.
□ □ □
I woke up early with Altris on my left. Usually, Gwendolyn would be on my right, but she decided to sleep in the guest room with Tsuki. Luca had gone home a little after I explained the situation to him, but not before apologizing to Gwendolyn profusely for the misunderstanding. The nurse also left a bit after Luca. Her name was Maybelle and was apparently from the North Continent and a good friend of Gwen, so she'd probably be at our house a lot. Adeline and Eudora slept like babies that night, and obviously, so did Tsuki. He's definitely the calmest of his siblings.
I got dressed in some casual clothing, just a white shirt and dark trousers that made me look like I didn't make a buttload of cash, but that's fine with me. I didn't have much money growing up, so dressing like this wasn't a new experience. I went to the guest room and found Tsuki sleeping with his mother peacefully. But when I carefully picked Tsuki up from the bed, I noticed that his horn was gone. I looked under the bed, thinking that it broke off, but I came to the conclusion that it if broke off, there would at least be something left, but no, it was like it disappeared.
"That's weird..." I whispered. "Whatever." I was about to settle this with Father Tazmanias. He'd give me the information that I'd need to know. I left my home with Tsuki in my arms. The Karangan Church wasn't that far, about a mile from our abode. It was early in the morning, the sun was barely up, but Taz would be there. That church is his life, he's always there in the morning making sure everything is in place.
After about fifteen minutes of walking, I made it to the Karangan Church. It acts as a church and is a church, but its appearance was that of a cathedral. It was a white building with many stained glass windows with their god in them. It has rooves the color of a grizzly bears fur and honestly was one of the biggest structures I've seen in my life. I walked up the stairs of the church and let myself in through the front entrance. When I entered, blue light from morning sky outside seeped into the church, giving it an azure tint. The red carpet under my feet led to a man of average height and short, white hair and a white robe with blue accents that ran along the bottom. He was adjusting the candles on an altar near the stage where he would do his preaching.
"Taz? That's you, isn't it?" It was still a bit dark, so I couldn't make out his face entirely.
"Ah, I know that voice anywhere." The man grabbed a candle and walked to me, showing me his face. "Why, hello there, Gou." The man had sky-blue eyes and black facial hair on his upper lip. He wore round, gold rimmed glasses and a kind smile on his face. Around his neck were jewels, and he wore three rings with one gem in each of them, ruby, sapphire, and emerald.
There he was, the priest of the Karangan Church and the strongest man in the world, Tazmanias Sulfur.