"The sacrifice must be made!!"
Berry jolted up from the bed in cold sweat, his heart pounding against his chest, he closed his eyes tightly, trying to recollect himself, "It's just a dream", he muttered, his breathing slowly calming down.
He opened his eyes, looking around the dark room, as usual Caelum wasn't there, the room was empty and cold, making him feel…lonely.
His sighed in exhaustion and laid back down on the bed. His mind wandered back to the dream, it was the same as the previous ones. The black figures all talking about a sacrifice. It frightened him, even then he still felt afraid of going back to sleep.
He was still in his bed trying to calm his nerves when he heard the sound of scratching on the door.
He froze, eyes widening in fear. It sounded like claws going down the steel door on the other side and he knew it was not Caelum.
The sounds became louder and more aggressive, making his heart rate spike. H e sat up slowly, contemplating whether to open the door, or just leave it.
But where are the dragon guards?, he thought, gripping the blankets in fear. He decided to wait for a few more moments, hoping they would show up but unfortunately, the sounds lasted for a while, growing more aggressive, seemingly never ending.
He steeled himself and decided to open the door to see what was making the noise.
He slowly peeled the blankets away, stepping down and walking to the door slowly.
His breath was shaky as he placed his finger on the pad hesitantly, Well goodbye everyone, nice knowing you.
The doors opened, revealing the snake like Rune, eyes bulging and black veins popping from it's body.
"Feral" he said in barely a whisper, he had no time to think before the Rune lunged at him, taking him by surprise and making him tumble to the floor.
He let out a scream, the creature on top of him, snarling and growling in his face. He felt the fear grip him as he tried to pry it off, but he couldn't, this creature was too strong.
He kept screaming, crying out for help, "Caelum! Help!! ah!!", his voice was growing hoarse from all the screaming, but in that moment, he could not feel anything, just the fear.
The hallway was empty, everywhere was empty, the sounds of Berry's screams bouncing off the steel walls and in that moment, he realized…that he was alone.
The Rune was pushing down on him, threatening to crush him with the weight. He looked around, turning his head to the side, trying to find anything to hit the Rune with, but this goddamn room was empty.
He let out another scream, calling for help but no one came, he tried his hardest to push the Rune away but then before Berry could realize what was happening, the Rune had caught hold of his hand, biting down on it hard.
He let out a deafening scream, his eyes stinging with tears, the Rune's mouth clamped shut around on his arm, the bite stinging, burning like hell.
He tried to push the Rune off again but with it's mouth on him, it was hard to do so. He felt his consciousness slipping but before everywhere darkened, he felt a burst of energy.
Coming from him.
His chest glowing and glistening, making the Rune stop biting down on him and scurrying away.
The light kept getting brighter, the energy consuming the entire room, including the Feral Rune, who didn't get very far before he was caught up in it.
Berry felt his vision becoming blurry and his mind hazy, he went limp on the floor but the light continued to grow, the energies it was releasing only got stronger. He felt like the magic was coming out of him without control, leaving him drained.
The feral Rune had curled up on the floor, it's body engulfed in the energy coming out of Berry, as he laid there on the floor it was as though his body was absorbing all the energy, changing him.
Reverting him.
The last bits emerged from Berry and the lights began to die down, he laid there, bleeding and drained. The darkness began to creep in and he did nothing to resist it, just closing his eyes and accepting it.
"Trial Complete"
.
.
.
Caelum stayed next to Berry, his eyes never leaving the Rune on the bed, he felt a sense of guilt wash over him once more and he sighed in frustration.
I shouldn't have done that.
He felt remorseful, although the test was hard for him, he knew he had to do it to make some sort of advancement and thankfully they got good results. But at what cost?
He was still deep in thought when he felt a hand on his shoulder, he turned back to see Sepehr giving him a reassuring smile. "You did the right thing" he muttered, his eyes trailing from Caelum's face to Berry's unconscious body on the bed.
"Is he going to be alright?" Caelum asked.
"Yes, he will be fine, he might still be shaken up when he wakes up but he will be okay"
"I see…"
Sepehr noticed the solemn and guilty look on Caelum's face and he spoke up softly, "you don't have to beat up yourself about this".
"I put him in harms way, I was supposed to protect him"
"And you are. By authorizing the test, you protected him, making him learn more about himself and helping him progress before anything bad happens"
Caelum shook his head, unconvinced, "he has nightmares Sepehr, he gets scared easily, he is still recovering from everything, I-" he placed his hand on his head in frustration.
"Thanks to that we discovered that strong emotions trigger his powers. Knowing this takes us forward, we can help him master his powers with this information".
"This is not just about the experiment or the powers!" Caelum blurted out.
Sepehr dropped his hand from his shoulder and looked at him in disbelief and confusion, "so what is it about?".
Caelum spoke with a scoff, "you don't get it do you? He is still a person, a person we deliberately just put in danger for the good of the experiment".
"But he didn't get hurt Caelum"
"He could have"
"But it would be for our benefit"
Caelum was taken aback, "I-I don't understand, what? He is still a person, he shouldn't be hurt for our benefit! That's just sick".
"That is what sacrifice is about, for years we have been trying to end this madness with the Runes, but all our study and experiments have been useless! Now we have finally found a breakthrough, do not ruin it with your emotions Caelum" Sepehr said firmly.
"Emotions? There are no emotions, I am just telling you that this is wrong"
"This is the lesser evil for the greater good! And there are emotions, you let him sleep in your room, you keep him close, too close, you might not feel anything now but keep this up and you will find yourself in a deep hole that you dug yourself"
He moved closer to Caelum, his voice barely above a whisper. "We are so close Caelum, so close to changing everything, so close to the true goal, don't let this Rune get in the way.".
"You authorized the experiment and you did the right thing".
"Did I…"
Sepehr sighed and turned to leave, "I'm going back to meet Asher to discuss some things, when he wakes up, please let me know".
Caelum watched as he left the room, the weight of his words hung heavy on his shoulders.
He looked back at Berry on the bed, torn between his duty and the strange protectiveness he had over the Rune.
'I did the right thing…but it doesn't feel like it"
His eyes went over Berry's delicate form before his hands went to gently touch the Rune's pink hair. So soft and beautiful.
He recollected himself and withdrew his hand, he looked over Berry once more and was about to turn to leave when the Rune on the bed stirred.
"Berry?" He leaned down the side of the bed, watching as the Rune slowly opened his eyes and winced, trying to adjust to the bright lights in the room.
"C-Caelum?"