"Sepehr!" Caelum yelled running into the Lab with Berry in his hand but he was met with chaos.
Sepehr was busy with another Rune…no…ten of them, even more than. "What the hell is happening?!" Caelum yelled, still holding Berry who was trying to pry the jacket off him.
"All the Runes just started burning up all of a sudden, we don't know why"
"Their vitals are all over the place"
"None of them are going feral at least, that's a relief"
"Is this the work of those damn ARS?" Asher asked, while his hands worked to stabilize some of the runes.
Caelum felt the weight coming down on him, Berry was still sick in his arms and all the chaos was annoying him to no end, "someone just take him from me" he groaned out.
One of the scientists made space near a bed and they were able to put Berry down on it, starting to check his vitals and see the cause of his problems.
Caelum leaned back on a wall, running his hands through his hair in frustration, "I'm damn tired!"
One of the guards came in, bowing his head to the king, "Your Majesty, you have been summoned by the council" he said respectfully.
"Tell them I'm busy"
"S…Sir they said it was urgent"
Caelum looked over at Berry, the small pink rune surrounded by scientists. "Okay then give me a minute".
"Sir they sai-"
"For the love of the cosmos, get out!!"
The guard bowed once more and ran outside immediately.
Caelum took a moment to recollect himself before stepping outside. At the end of the hallway there was a glowing portal and some whispers coming from it. He took a deep breath, already fearing what is to come but he knew he had no other choice, he walked into the portal and the first thing he was greeted with were the scowls on the faces of the dragons.
He appeared in a hall, with a round table and elder Star Dragons sitting down, looking at him with disapproval.
"We heard about the chaos" one of them said, a scrawny older man with light gray hair.
"I am working on it" Caelum stated plainly, looking as stoic as ever.
"Indeed you are" he said sarcastically.
"And who is this new Rune that we have been hearing about?" One of the ladies said, her voice sharp and firm.
Caelum winced internally, he didn't want them to know about Berry, at least not yet.
"They say he has a power, that can revert feral Runes" another of them said.
Caelum cleared his throat and nodded, "yes he does, but we are still trying to figure out how to control it or even…make it work".
The man scoffed, "so he can't even use his own powers, tch, how stupid, dispose of him"
"Excuse me?" Caelum said in disbelief.
"You heard me, dispose of him, an unstable rune will only cause problems for us later on, it is better to let them go early or maybe just put him in a room and wait for him to go feral"
"I can't believe you! For your information, that Rune could change everything, he is valuable and there will be no disposal, Sepehr and Asher are working on his case and soon he will be able to harness is power, all we ask for is time"
"Your heart is what kills you Caelum"
"That is King Caelum to you, you lot may be high powers but I am still the king and my word is final, now if you'll excuse me, there is trouble in the Rune Facility and I must go back and attend to it". He turned around without another word and left.
.
.
.
He went back to the lab and thankfully most of the runes had gained consciousness and they were more stable now, including Berry.
"Any explanation as to what happened?" He asked Sepehr, the scientists shook his head, "I am not sure but I do have a theory, let's talk outside for a bit".
They walked to the end of the hall, Sepehr leaning on the wall and sighing before speaking, "Berry might be the one who triggered this".
"Explain"
"They Runes all fainted all of a sudden, I was initially thinking that this might be another trick from the ARS but then one of the scientists noticed something"
"Although their vitals were unstable, their heart rate all matched, every single one of those runes had their hearts beating the same way, except for Berry"
"His heart was beating faster than theirs, if you listened carefully, it was like he was setting a tune for them, like a lead singer and a backup basically, his heart was beating the same way just sped up"
Caelum felt puzzled by this new revelation, he ran his hands down his face and grumbled under his breath, "that makes absolutely no sense".
"Yes it doesn't but it happened. One of the scientists suggested we treat Berry first and when he got him stable, one by one the Runes started stabilizing on their own"
"Wait so they basically followed Berry?"
"Yes"
"But what caused Berry to grow that hot in the first place?"
"Sugar, excessive sugar to be price"
"Damn…the cake" Caelum muttered, "no wonder he got sick while eating it".
"His body reacted from having too much sugar, we are not sure why but he suggest he stays away from sugary foods from now"
Caelum nodded, "so back to the connection thing, I thought Berry could only heal Feral Runes, so why is he also hurting them? Cause he is the reason they fell ill".
"They must be some kind of mind link but as usual, we aren't sure, Berry is a strange and complex Rune but I feel we are getting close to a breakthrough, we just need time"
"I hope so, cause the board is getting restless and annoying, they want to know what is going on and they were even pitching to me to dispose of Berry because he couldn't use his powers properly, if they hear about this, they might push the idea even more"
Sepehr was shocked to hear this, "dispose? Whoa isn't that a bit extreme?".
"They have always been extreme, we have to keep matters surrounding Berry away from them" Caelum said firmly and Sepehr nodded, matching his seriousness.
"Hm yes we do and we also have to find out the root of this problem ASAP, with the board and the ARS against us, I feel like the walls are closing in on us"
Caelum sighed, his eyes lowering to the ground, "maybe they are".