At some point, the glimpses Damian received from the outside world ended, and his comatose state became far less restless. Not that it became entirely restful. Rather, this was when the realistic fever dreams started. They were strange, distorted dreams that made little sense to him.
At one time, he believed himself to be a Moonkin, then a Bloodkin, before suddenly dreaming of great battles fought as a Sunkin, an Amberkin, and even as one of the illusive Dragonkin.
Confusion filled his mind, but he had no way to stop these dreams, control them, or even find any real meaning behind them. Each time, he viewed events through the eyes of all these different types of Eldkin, and the only connection he saw was their extreme power and the leadership role among their kind.
Usually, the dreams involved large-scale battles between the Eldkin on one side, and one of two alien races on the other. "The Xelthari… and the Zhra'Karn…" he muttered in his mind, remembering their names from his studies.
As a relatively remote planet in the Eldkin Collective, he'd never had the supposed displeasure of meeting one of their kind, and knowledge of them was limited. The most likely way someone from Eryndor would meet one of them, was if they joined the legion and were sent to serve on one of the major worlds.
Of course, as a scion and heir of a powerful family, Damian never had a reason to do such a thing.
So, all he knew about them was that their relations with the Eldkin were… strained, to put it mildly. Apparently, there'd been massive wars in the past, but that was hundreds of years before Damian's birth.
He could only imagine these dreams were supposed to depict that time, but why he was seeing them and whether those literal scenes had ever taken place was anyone's guess.
Whatever the case, the dreams eventually ended, and with them, his comatose state. Groaning, he slowly blinked open his eyes and felt his mind catch up to reality again. The first thing he saw was a ceiling he was intimately familiar with: his own.
As one of the undisputed wealthiest in the city, his family naturally lived in a massive estate that included several opulent, luxurious buildings. And, as the Matriarch's only son, he naturally lived in the main one.
Thus, he looked up at an intricately decorated, dark-coloured ceiling meant to ease the sleeper awake with a beautiful sight. He blinked slowly. Memories of his turbulent awakening trickled back into his mind, and he felt perplexed. "I'm… alive?" he muttered softly.
Unfortunately, an easy wake-up was not in the cards for him today.
"Damian!" cried a girl's voice, full of shock and joy. Immediately, a small, fleshy rocket impacted his body, and his naked chest started soaking in tears of joy. Damian couldn't help smiling slightly as he recognized that voice. For a moment, he shoved aside his feelings of confusion and focused on the girl in his arms.
"Hello, little Lili," he chuckled, warmly wrapping his arms around his little sister. But Lilith immediately started groaning and squirming, "Uuugh, not so tight, big brother!"
Surprised, Damian immediately loosened his grip and looked at his hands behind Lilith's back. 'I've grown stronger…!' he muttered in his thoughts, a small, satisfied grin started spreading on his lips.
Filing that information away for later, he started caressing Lilith's back and kissing her on her soft, onyx-coloured hair. "I'm sorry, little Lili. It seems I still need to learn to control my strength."
His little sister was dressed in the latest trends of Eryndor, which currently meant a halter top and one-legged pants, with the fitting knee-high boots standing by the door. Eye-offending colours blended together on them, but Damian chose not to comment on that for once.
Lilith snorted defiantly, even if she continued pressing her tear-stained face into his chest. "I'm not little!"
Damian, his smile unchanged, nodded from his horizontal position. "Of course not, little Lili."
Some muffled protests came out of his chest, but he also felt her arms wrapping themselves around and under his body before squeezing tightly.
They stayed like that for several minutes until Lilith finally started squirming in his grip, and he released her. Immediately, she sat up on top of him and showed Damian her rosy, tear-stained cheeks and swollen crimson eyes.
"You scared me!" she complained in a whiny voice, her right fist impotently smacking against his sturdy flesh, her accusing gaze staring down at him. "Mom would only let me in here a few days ago; before that, I didn't even know what was going on with you! In fact, I still don't! Mom just said something had gone wrong with your awakening!"
Damian smirked up at his sixteen-year-old sister, his eyes twinkling playfully. "Come now, little Lili. What else have you deduced?" Though relatively young, Lilith was extremely intelligent, which was what first drew Lavinia's attention in the past, and eventually caused her to adopt the orphaned girl.
Immediately, a grieved Lilith pouted and stuck out her tongue at him. She was a little deviant who loved pretending to be clueless.
"Obviously, house Lykos was involved…" she started, glaring at him for unmasking her. "There's practically a war in the streets right now, with low-tier Blood- and Moonkin killing each other left and right."
Shrugging, she continued her narration. "Then, there's our little guest, which suggests Elias' involvement, and also creates a direct link to you. I'm guessing Elias tried to kill you through forced awakening into a Moonkin."
Quizically, she raised an eyebrow. "But… what I still don't understand is why. I doubt simply discovering you had a relationship with his daughter would have caused such a reaction."
She fell into silent thought for a moment. Yet, as her thoughts wandered, her curious and mature expression started crumbling. Suddenly, she looked scared and sad. "And… a— also… if everything else is true, then… I have no idea how you survived a Moonkin awakening as a born Bloodkin."
Tears started appearing in her pretty eyes again before her lips curled up into a bright, joyful smile. "But… that's a mystery I don't need solved if it keeps you with us…"
Damian grinned proudly at his lovable, genius little sister. Smart as she may be, her youth still prevented her from thinking too far outside the box.
Meanwhile, Lilith's tears shimmered briefly before she wiped them away with trembling fingers. But when her gaze met Damian's again, something sharp and cold glinted behind her crimson eyes
He was about to open his mouth and respond, but then Lilith leaned closer, fury burning in her intense eyes. Her sharp nails almost created grooves in Damian's naked chest.
"I can see in your eyes I'm right, big brother…" she growled softly. "So that means Elias will die, right? He will pay for almost killing you? I want to watch it happen…" Her voice had become a little strained, and she was even panting slightly from rage and bloodlust.
Damian smiled at the obsessive love burning in her eyes. This one, he'd actually had very little to do with. Manipulating family or loved ones was taboo, or so his mother taught him. No, Lilith was simply built like this.
After Lavinia had plucked her from the streets, Lilith latched on to the both of them like a love-starved koala and quickly bought into the deep love that existed between Damian and his mother, wanting nothing more than to join them. And so, she did. By sheer force of will, she made herself fall deeply and irretrievably in love with her new family.
Fortunately, Lavinia and Damian's feelings quickly matched her own.
He extended his hand to tuck some dark locks behind her ear. "Of course he will, little Lili," Damian whispered softly. "And I'll make sure you're there for it."