Chapter Text
There was something wrong.
He was not sure as to what it particularly is, but perhaps it is the change in temperature. The man, Kim Rok Soo, was sure enough that his room had a cold temperature with its contents feeling empty.
The second that his back hit the mattress, he felt the air shift into a much warmer one, a warm temperature that could make a person calm and at peace. It was the type of warmth that you would feel when you felt your parents or siblings embrace you, it's... comforting.
Though, as much as he likes this foreign feeling, he was alert. Why did the temperature and over all atmosphere suddenly change?
Was he subjected to experimentation from humans that are 'playing God' again? He heard a few reports here and there that are all circulating into one particular topic. Scientists experimenting on humans with multiple abilities, it was a wide scale research as to how these multiple ability users gained more than one ability as well as a research if the ability can be passed down. There were also some rumors of some scientists trying to figure out if the human DNA would help passing an ability down to an animal.
It was a hilarious and stupid experimentation in his opinion. These humans have been given the taste as to how it would be like if their... hybrid monsters were to go on a rampage, a cataclysm. Yet they still somehow had the confidence to do yet another experimentation? an experimentation that could result into another cataclysm at that. Humans really are greedy beings that would chew more than they could swallow.
And... one of the worst parts of this experiment was the fact that these scientists aim for randomized ability users, without their consent. Funny yet expectable enough, these scientists hired ten of the strongest ability users they could find, which is why the 'lab rat' that they set their eyes on would have no choice but to hand themselves in.
It also did not help the fact that what they are doing can be considered a major crime before the cataclysm. Now, almost nobody cares about it if they could not stop them.
Thump...Thump...Thump...
His ear twitched slightly at the sound of the 'silent footsteps', it wasn't completely silent, rather it is something that you would not hear if your hearing is not trained. Furthermore, who was the owner of those footsteps? As a team leader, he had grown accustomed into memorizing his teammate's footsteps, even the newbies, and he was sure that none of them knows how to 'silence' their footsteps.
His eyes shot open in slight panic and his eyes met a monochrome blur; the only thing he could see was the nearest thing, which is a baby. It was a damned baby who had their eyes wide open too and looking at him with a curious and disturbed expression.
“Gabagga?” the baby besides him made mumbled inaudibly, the baby’s tiny and definitely fat hand stretching towards his direction as if reaching for him.
Kim Rok Soo blinked owlishly as he himself raised his own hand and was met with a white blur of a baby’s hand… a fat baby’s hand, which looked… whiter than the other baby’s hand…? He was not sure.
Kim Rok Soo became… a chubby baby.
Kim Rok Soo looked towards the other baby again, the baby’s hand mere inches aware from him which caused him to practically roll away to avoid it. Kim Rok Soo knew that a baby’s hand had a vice-like grip once it reaches something, he surely does not want to get caught by those type of hands.
And adding to the theory that he did indeed become a baby… he was quite sure that he heard something about babies only seeing those near them in gray scale in the first few months since their birth. They also tend to see things way bigger than normal, since after all, they’re small compared to the everyday things. There was also some research that the first color that a baby would be able to see would be red, and the last ones would be blue and purple.
Great thing this useless knowledge about babies came in handy…?
Thump..Thump...Thump.
The baby besides Kim Rok Soo whimpered upon not being able to reach the latter, the baby opened its mouth and cried right in front of Kim Rok Soo who looked shock.
‘???’ Kim Rok Soo was confused – he did not do anything to scare off the child or anything threatening of the matter for such a reaction to come from the child. Was it because he avoided the baby’s hand? It’s probable/ Baby’s tend to cry about stupid things, that’s what he heard at least.
Click. Creaakkk…
The door of the room they were in opened and there came the person who owned the ‘silent foot steps’. The man, or woman placed it’s hands around the crying baby and hoisted it up, carrying the baby in their arms. Rocking gently the person let out a deep chuckle, indicating that he was a male, as he began to gently rock the baby.
“Shhhh… Cale…? What’s wrong? Are you hungry?”
Kim Rok Soo did not understand anything that was said by the man, though he did understand one thing, ‘Cale’, was it the name of the other baby? There’s a high probability that it is.
He also did not know why parents or adults like to talk with babies, it’s not like they will respond to you nor understand what you are even saying. Maybe it is because it signals closeness, to evoke positive emotions, and fosters secure attachment with one another, but that’s for baby talk. He is quite sure that the man is talking normally…?
“Aigoo… my little star… you’ve soiled your diapers again.” The man cooed and chuckled towards the baby, Cale, before looking down towards Kim Rok Soo and smiling worriedly. It is quite understandable since; wouldn’t you find it odd for your baby to look at you the same way a person looks at an idiot? It’s a bit concerning to say the least.
“Brother Nyx, would you mind looking after Ares whilst I clean up Cale?”
“I wouldn’t mind.”
“Thank you. And brother, please do not smile nor frown, I fear that my little sun would be scarred for life.”
‘Nyx’, who was actually behind the crib that Kim Rok Soo or well… ‘Ares’, is on, frowned slightly in displeasure at his brother’s words. His smile is not scary nor is his frown. It’s the people who have something wrong in their minds for believing that his smiles and frowns are scary.
“Oh Brother Ambrose, how could say such harsh words to your dear dongsaeng? Get the fuck away now and stop Cale from crying his lungs out. I’ll take care of this other child.”
Ares perked up at the mention of a familiar word, ‘dongsaeng’, he did not expect a Korean word to exist in this world. Or maybe it has a different meaning…?
The man, Ambrose, whom Kim Rok Soo would presume as his new ‘father’, chuckled before promptly leaving the room, leaving his other child, Ares, in the care of his dear brother.
Silence enveloped the nephew uncle duo with the nephew looking up at his uncle with an unreadable gaze, and the uncle looking down at his nephew with lazy and tired eyes. The eyes were much similar to Kim Rok Soo’s whenever he skims through the paperwork assigned for him.
The man, Nyx, has a face that did not match any kind of Asian. His eyes were sharp and narrowed yet it was not small or slightly tilted like what you would see to a pure Asian, Since his view of the world is still in gray scale, he has a guess that the man has light colored eyes and hair considering that he could see it in two different shades of light gray. His hair was styled into those wolf cuts that male k-pop idols used to have, and he has sharp features.
Over all, in gray scale or not, this uncle of his is quite a handsome man if he were to compare his features to those of the ‘real world’ or in other words the face of everyday people.
But those sharp eyes… scare him a little.
“Judging from how you look at me, I think we’ll go along just fine my dear nephew.”
“Goohh….”
“…How cute.” The man cooed as he wrapped his hands around the small body of the baby and carried him in his arms. He must admit, he has a soft spot for children this cute and behaved. This little nephew of his is very cute, much cuter than the other kids he sees.
His nephew had albinism, meaning he had little to none pigment on his skin, hair and or his eyes. In his nephew’s case, he had a soft mop of white hair on his head as well as long white eye lashes and rosy pink cheeks which made him cute, his dark reddish brown eyes a bit white at the edges. His skin so white and thin-looking it made it look like it was made with fine paper.
He had the perfect look of an angel.
Whilst the other twin, which is Cale, did not have such a disorder yet he still looks as cute as Ares. They are twins after all. Cale had a nice mop of dark brown hair that looked like cedar brown when hit by the light. His eye color, much like his twin, was a lighter shade of reddish-brown with dark edges. His skin was light but not as light as Ares’s. But unlike the frail looking Ares, Cale was the opposite; he looked like he has tough yet soft skin that cannot be wounded by a simple slash of a knife.
He had the perfect qualities for a Guardian of this Village.
Truthfully said, he did not want any of his nephews to be a guardian of the Village, which is a protector or also otherwise known as a ‘Dragon Slayer’. They should have no burden that could restrict them from having a happy and peaceful life; they should not get tied down to the village. They should live the way they want, and travel the world if they wish to.
They should have the freedom that they rightfully deserve.
Heaving a sigh, Ambrose gently rocked his nephew in his arms whom looked like he was about to fall asleep at any moment. Such a cute little baby, the guy was just like him. Sleeping when bored. Or maybe it’s just him? After all it’s kind of normal for a baby to sleep at any given time when nobody is playing with them.
Internally, the baby Ares, formerly known as Kim Rok Soo was actually thinking. Why was he a baby again? Did he really die and somehow reincarnate in a state that uses a language he is not familiar of? It is likely but at the same time it is not. This is too surreal for him.
Perhaps he was hit by a hallucination ability that made him believe that what is happening now is real. No. It’s not possible. After all, hallucination abilities can only make someone hallucinate of things that would be gone once they try to touch or interact with it - it is very different from what he is experiencing now. Because, no matter how much he thinks of it, this is too real for it to be assumed as the work of an ability user.
He was hit by that kind of ability once and he is quite sure that something as realistic like this would drain the user’s life form or life span, who would even use their ability and die horribly just to prank him? It’s too unlikely and just borderline a stupid and horrible idea.
And with that idea in mind, his mind immediately went towards the idea of his team mates reactions when seeing his probably soulless body in his room. Are they okay right now? Did a monster arrived and the team did not know what to do? He was the team leader as well as the strategist; you could say that he is quite important when going into missions of exterminating a certain ranked monster.
Thankfully enough he had a backup plan for this kind of scenario. He had effectively written five books, the first four books were lists of all the Grade 3, Grade 2, Grade 1 and even unranked monsters, it described their appearance in detail and even have notes on how to defeat them. There are also strategies written there if ever there was something unexpected happened which made the tide of the battle tilt to the latter’s advantage. There are some side notes here and there that contain some ways to flee off the battlefield in case they are certain that they would lose. He made sure to make it simple and not use too heavy words in order for his team mates to understand clearly, he’s not calling them dumb, he’s just uncertain if they’ll understand every detail written on it considering that they could misunderstand something.
And a misunderstanding can be a very lethal mistake when in battle with those monsters.
For the fifth book, it contained ability matches and training ideas. It contained which ability is weaker to a certain ability or vice versa. There were some information that includes on how to strengthen the ability of certain people, he mostly wrote how to improve offense abilities, and even so he also wrote how to improve defense abilities. Offense abilities are a bit useless if there’s no defense ability to protect their backs when they’re not looking. It also includes how to win over certain types of ability users, after all, not only literal monsters are the cruel beings that befell Earth. There were also humans.
Tsk. He find those type of monster-like humans to be disgusting. Then again, it is the nature of a human to be envious and greedy, but only a few do not let their minds get swallowed by it.
“Papa is back Ares, did your uncle Nyx scare you?”
And as if knowing what the male said, the albino baby shook its little head. In reality, Kim Rok Soo, no, Ares was actually just trying to shake away the sleepiness in his head.
The male, Amrbrose, grinned broadly when he practically received a ‘response’ from the younger of the twins. “Hah! I knew he wouldn’t. He’s as soft as a petal when it comes to kids as cute and behaved as you!”
“???” Ares was confused, why did his ‘father’ suddenly started rambling?
“Now Nyx! Give me my little sun-”
“No.”
Nyx frowned and held his nephew closer to him in which Ambrose just chuckled at. His dongsaeng is acting very cute to say the least.
“It hasn’t even been five minutes and you’re already attached to my little sun?”
“So what? I’ve known and watched this guy for approximately three minutes and I’m willing to kill everyone in this village and then me if something ever happens to this little guy.”
“…Even Cale?”
“Probably. Wouldn’t it be better to kill the twin too than to leave the twin without his other half? It’s much crueler if one half was taken away while the other gets left behind.”
“…um, don’t kill my little star, please?” Ambrose chuckled nervously.
“I won’t.”
Ares Barrow; that was apparently what Kim Rok Soo’s full new name now while his twin is named Cale Barrow. His uncle was Nyx Barrow and his father is Ambrose Barrow, mother still unknown. Maybe she died when birthing them? It wasn’t a common occurrence but in this world that lacked the technology to ensure a pregnant woman’s survival it might just be a normal occurrence.
And since one year has passed now, his vision is now a bit better yet still slightly blurry, it was kind of because of his Albinism which caused his eye sight to be a bit bad. But, he can see colors now, and truth be told, his twin, uncle and father all had the same hair color and eye color – just different shades.
He could crawl and walk now, though he needed a bit of support it was still a great achievement for the baby Kim Rok- Ares. As much as he likes being carried around by his father or uncle, he did not like their energy or creepy aura. His uncle was too scary while his father is too enthusiastic.
“Ares…Ares…Aresss…”
He heard the bubbly voice of his twin, Cale Barrow, who was approaching him with grabby hands. He had grown accustomed to his twin muttering his name over and over again and clinging by his side, his twin isn’t really too fuzzy or annoying which made it okay. Also, funny enough, the only word that his twin knows how to say clearly is his name, ‘Ares’.
His twin promptly sat down beside him and began to cling on him like a koala clinging to a tree, the baby’s face rubbing on his simple white t-shirt he is wearing. That too, his twin also liked to snuggle.
“Mhh… Ca… ikes… Ares…” Cale mumbled incoherently.
Ares only closed his eyes and ruffled his twin’s hair earning a delighted giggle from the older of the two. It was a pleasant sound for Ares whose previous life only revolved of eerie whispers and ear splitting shouts. It was a very soft noise, a calming and peaceful melody to his ears.
Ares, no, Kim Rok Soo has never experienced of having an actual biological sibling, which is why he felt odd whenever such thought crosses his mind, even his hyungs’ voice and laughter did not bring him peace like his twin’s giggle, maybe it’s some kind of connection that twins’ have? He is not sure, he had never read of something like this before. He wasn’t even sure if there’s a book that has those kinds of contents written on it.
“*Sniff* Ughh… Nyx- sooner or later my little star would merge with my little sun.” Ambrose dramatically said as he wiped an imaginary tear off of the corner of his eyes.
Nyx, whose mind immediately went into images of Cale and Ares fusing with each other, shuddered and looked at the two adorable babies in horror. The first type of image that crossed his mind was of a mix of Cale and Ares but only one body… the other… well… it’s Ares and Cale stitched with each other. His mind really is a dark place.
“Hahaha… I hope that doesn’t happen.”
“Shush!” Cale shushed his father and uncle with puffed up cheeks as he continued to snuggle to his brother who became frozen.
“D-Did he just…”
“Shushed us…?”
The two brothers and one baby was frozen in place upon hearing the little star practically ‘shush’ Ambrose.