'So dizzy… Just what is happening to me?'
Having been plunged into darkness for so long, Marcus had gotten used to the feeling of sinking endlessly.
However, things had changed a couple of hours ago.
'I'm pretty I heard shouts, shouts and screams… Plus, it's like I'm moving… A body? Did I get Reborn somehow…?'
Despite the intense dizziness, Marcus tried to focus on the sounds that were being periodically emitted.
'Footsteps…' With the way he could feel his body swaying, it quickly became obvious. 'I'm being carried somewhere. Wait…' Marcus tried moving around a bit. 'I can't move much. Feels like some kind of blanket is over me. My back is resting against something soft… So what happened earlier was my birth. Good thing I'm still having trouble opening my eyes.' He sighed internally. 'Wouldn't want to see that live.' The thought of watching a woman give birth wasn't that troublesome to him, but witnessing that happen from the inside out was enough to make Marcus shudder, shake his head, and attempt to slap his forehead so as to keep his mind from picturing the scene any further.
He shook his head again.
To stop his mind from attempting to picture the scene, the darkness surrounding him needed to be dealt with.
'Come on… Open up!' Marcus urged, trying to open his eyes.
Before he could succeed,
"Right here."
It was a man's voice. Despite the coolness of his tone, Marcus felt himself and the baby basket he was lying in be placed down on something that he assumed to be a table or desk.
"Yes, your Highness!"
The tone of the answer wasn't as cool as that of the order.
"You may leave."
"Yes, your Highness!"
Hurried steps were taken, and a door was closed.
Meanwhile, Marcus was close to finally opening his eyes. Seeing the world around him felt more important now than before. After all,
'His Highness… His Highness… In other words…!'
He rose up to sit on his bottom, and fought against his lazy eyelids!
The baby finally managed to open his eyes!
Left, right, below, above! His gaze moved in every direction!
The golden hues, the architecture, the luxury of it all!
Yes, there was no doubt!
'Jackpot!" The baby rejoiced, raising his arms up towards the ceiling.'Fucking royalty! Let's goooo! His Highness, this room, the vast gardens that I can see through the window… This must be a castle! The son of a King? No, a Prince since he was called Highness. Hell, yes! I'll take it! Even if I'm his bastard son, I'll take it!'
"Aren't you an energetic little bugger?" The tall man chuckled as he knelt in front of the baby basket that rested on the marble table. "The way you look, one might think you're just…"
'Just…?'
The man sighed and rose back to his feet. He stared through the window, and Marcus studied him a bit.
He was tall, but also very frail. His tired eyes as he gazed through the window seemed like they would close at any moment. His clothes, as expected, seemed to support the idea that he was a noble or a royal. Because his clothes were so clean, the few fresh tarnishes stood out.
'Blood… Drops of blood kind of everywhere… Water spots as well… If those screams and shouts were my mother giving birth to me some time ago, then the blood on his clothes is from that… Unlike him, I'm clean… So he cleaned me, hence the water spots on his clothes? I'm starting to think he might have been my doctor, and not my father…' Marcus sighed internally.
The man turned back towards him, stared for a moment, and poked the baby's forehead, which caused the baby to fall backwards.
"The family grows, huh?" The man whispered with a chuckle. "The Royal Family expands."
'Let's gooo!!!'
The internal reaction had an external reaction.
Noticing the baby's reaction, which was, of course, random, he knelt in front of the baby, sighed, and showed a sorrowful smile.
"You're going to have a horrible life, little guy."
'Why so negative?' Marcus sighed back.
A moment later, the basket in which he lay was grabbed.
"Anyways, let's get to it, huh?"
'To what?'
"Ugh… I'm really awkward with babies. You would think that after having spent time with so many of my brother's kids I would get used to it but…"
'Which one am I then? Your brother's kid? Yours?'
The basket was placed on a velvet chair and the man walked back in the opposite direction.
'Cool…' Marcus thought to himself as he watched His Highness insert a key into one of the wall-mounted chandelier's light bulbs. 'A secret room! Wait… This is stressing me out…'
The stress quickly turned into creepiness.
His Highness spoiled the surprise before Marcus could see inside the secret room.
"Welcome, little guy. This is my laboratory. Not many get to…" Noticing the baby's facial expression. "Worried? Ha… Wicked timing you've got. Don't worry, I am your uncle after all. Nothing bad will happen to the King's son."
'So I am the King's son!' The revelation almost made him forget the worries that assaulted him a second earlier.
"Bastard son, but still the King's son."
'I'll take it!'
"Well…"
'Well?!"
"It's a bit more complicated than that."
The secret sliding door closed behind them with a thud, and the sound urged Marcus to look around the secret room.
It was even creepier than expected.
A dozen desks and tables filled the room, covered with dusty manuscripts, old yellowish scrolls that seemed about to disintegrate into dust, crystals of all shapes and colors, and large vials filled with liquid…
'W-W-W-What the hell is that? And that? And that?!'
"Ho-ho! You have a good eye! Like this one?" The man asked as he placed the basket directly in front of a large vial in which a strange and horrible-looking red-skinned creature was floating. "That's a Wicka."
'At least I now know that Monsters exist in this world…'
"It's a Demon. Pretty weak and common. They're greedy little gold-loving Goblins. Well, in many ways, they are similar to Goblins."
'Yeah, I guess that's how I would imagine a Goblin looking… Except that this one's red, and not green.'
"Anyways," The man nonchalantly took a seat on the desk so that he, the basket, and the vial formed a triangle. "It's a Demon."
'It sure is.'
"It's a Demon... Just like you are."
'...' The baby's eyes opened and closed, blinking repeatedly. 'Well, well.'
***
"Demons are terrible things, you know? A real plague."
'Yes, I assumed as much.'
"Some believe that all of our world's problems originate from Demons. Every single problem is because of the Demons that inhabit our world."
'I see…'
"And you are one of them."
Marcus closed his eyes and let out a sigh.
"Don't sigh at me, Demonspawn!" The man shouted as he pointed forward.
The baby froze in place and stared at him with bewildered eyes.
"Ugh…" He scratched his head. "I don't know if I'm awkward with babies or if you're just creepy. Well, you are a Demon so… It's a coin toss, I guess."
'I don't know about all that!'
"Anyways, my name is Kain. I'm your uncle…" His Highness looked away for a moment. "Kind of."
'What does kind of my uncle even mean?! Are we related or not?!'
"Argh…" Kain grunted as he stood up. "Well, awkwardness set aside, I'll talk to you for a bit, like I do with all my other test subjects."
'...'
"Well, you are a special test subject. Don't worry about it… I usually talk fine to the others, even when it's a Monster or Demon… But since you look the way you look, I'm having trouble moving past the awkwardness."
'Just hurry it along and tell me something useful!'
Kain slowly brought his hands together and stretched his arms forward, causing his back and knuckles to crack.
"Your birth was 100% orchestrated by me. I… Hm… It might be troublesome if you remember any of this when you're older. Still, it is unlikely. There's nothing that shows memory in Demons works any differently than in Humans…"
'So I'm a Demon despite looking like this?' Marcus asked himself, his eyes checking every square inch of skin he could. 'We don't look different really…'
"So… Raise your right hand if you can understand me."
'...'
"Hm. You didn't raise your hand. Trying to trick me? I know you can understand me."
'...!'
Kain slowly walked closer, his gaze stuck on Marcus.
"You really are creepy." Kain sighed.
'You're one to talk!'
"Talking with my test subjects usually makes things less awkward but right now… It's doing the opposite. Well, it is also a first for me. Having a test subject that looks like you do."
'Should I just lie down and act asleep or something?'
Kain turned away for the moment.
"Let's try this then."
The moment he turned back towards Marcus, the baby's eyes opened wide with fear.
"Let's start by cutting you a bit." Kain nodded, scalpel in hand.