"It's alright…" the boy finally managed to hiccup, continuously wiping away tears. "I think… I think my power was causing it… It hurt like this before, right at the very start…"
As he pushed the words out, sniffling and voice shaking, Damien slowly pulled away the other hand as well, moving it slow like he was holding something small he didnt want falling off. On his skin rested what appeared to be tiny porcelain shards of a white coloring, some of them rolling off to the ground when the hand parted from the face. The hair that usually covered the boy's right side of the face was now ruffled and partially moved, revealing the source of the weird shards of porcelain like material - the skin on that side of the face looked like a doll whose face had been smashed in, except in this case Damien's head wasnt hollow, instead showing what had to be his skull. Unlike normal bones, his seemed to be a charred black, either natural or the result of whatever was causing this strange condition. The crack itself was large enough to cover all of Damien's former eye and the top half of his cheek, with the skin at the very edges bearing the exact same ghostly white tint as the shards he was holding, with visible cracks in as it transitioned back into regular soft skin.
She nodded, accepting his answer. It made sense that his power triggered that reaction… but it didn't necessarily ease much of her guilt. “Damien… If your power was hurting you when we started, you could have said something and stopped. I would have understood. It would have been alright.” she told him, wishing she had thought of that possibility and told him that before they started.
Mari’s eyes widened as she took in… everything. The actual literal hole in her friends face, the paleness of his skin around it, the little shards in his hand, the strange dark color of his skull, the fact that she could see his skull… She took a deep slow breath to stop from spiraling into a near panic. Now was not the time to freak out. He needed her. “Do… Do you think you can stand up?” she asked gently though her voice still trembled.
"I… i didnt know either… i just thought the pain was gone forever when i got better and it didnt hurt when we started…" Damien's tears began rolling again, as the boy clung to her clothes, shaking again. Had he known it would have caused such a problem he would have definitely said something about it.
He took a second to try out his legs, looking down at them before nodding affirmatively. His body felt very weak as if it had been drained of all its energy, but right now he felt the need to go sit on something softer, like a bed just to rest.
“Then what did you mean when you said it hurt at the start?” she asked, a little confused and concerned. When he started crying again, she gently pulled him closer. “It’ll be ok. You don't have to do that again. I don't want you to be hurt like that.” she assured him. Normally, he was right. When something healed, it usually stopped hurting… But she started to wondering if he actually healed. The size of the hole… and how long he'd had that… It didn't seem like it was actually getting better.
Seeing how unsteady he was, Mari quickly wrapped an arm around his waist and stood up with him. “Here. Let on me. I’ll get you inside.” she said softly as she lifted his arm that was closest to her over her shoulders.
The boy rubbed away a few more tears left on his face before replying.
"I meant it back then when i first got hurt and Mom found me and took care of me. It kept hurting like this for a few weeks until i got a little better, but the eye on that side just turned to ash when i took the bandage off…" he clarified, pointing towards the empty socket, with a drop of sadness in his voice, like he was more upset about his eye being gone rather than the way it did. At least this detail helped put some things in the timeline, making that hole in his face nearly as old as he - yeah, definitely not a fun thing to live with.
He allowed her to lift him up, stumbling a little as his knees buckled when he attempted to put weight on his legs, but eventually managed to stabilize himself enough to start taking steps.
"Thank you…" he murmured, trying to keep his shaking under control.
“Oh, ok.” she nodded, though she was more than a little surprised by the fact that his eye turned to ash. “What… What happened back then?” she asked softly. Maybe if she knew what caused it she could understand why his injury looked so bad and why it reacted that way.
“Anytime, mi amigo.” she assured him, taking most of his weight onto herself. “You want to just go up to your room? I think I mentioned showing you some of the stuff in the Atlas.” she smiled a little encouragingly.
"You remember i told you that after mom and i got separated, i arrived here all alone and wondered around places for a while? I think i accidentally scared some villagers once and they started trying to catch me…. It was scary, but not like the man with the gun, he was way creepier… He had this large hat with metal coins on it and this really weird gun that spit out fiery projectiles. I remember him following me through the forest as i ran, followed by the other angry people, until he had me cornered at the top of a waterfall. I know i looked back once to see if he had caught up with me but when i did, i got hit in the face with whatever he shot at me. After that i think i must have fallen into the water because i remember struggling to stay afloat and later mom said she'd found me next to the stream." he explained, leaning more against her as if seeking protection from the memory of that undoubtebly horrifying day. The event had left him with serious nightmares and bursts of panic for a very long time, and judging by how he had reacted the first time they met, he was still severely affected by it.
"Thats also where i lost the bunny from my dad, it probably got swept up by the water." he added, his voice dropping to a murmur as he recounted the emotionally painful loss.
Damien nodded, panting slightly as he made an effort to continue walking and not stumble anymore.
"Yes, that would be very nice… Thank you again" he tried smiling as well, though his was a little more painful.
She hummed and nodded occasionally as she listened to his story. She wanted to ask him how that gun was strange but wasn't sure if he'd be able to explain it or if she'd be able to tell the difference because of how different guns were back then. “I… I'm no expert, Damien, but it almost sounds like that man who shot you was a Vampire hunter. The gun he had could have been modified specifically for… that kind of thing.” she rationalized softly, thoughtfully. That could explain why his eye and skull reacted the way they did to being shot. “I’m sorry.” she nearly whispered, hugging him for a moment.
Mari frowned a little when she saw how he was struggling and stopped for a moment. “Hold on.” she warned before scooping him up into her arms, carrying him as she started walking towards his room again.
"A… vampire hunter?" he repeated slowly, looking up at her as if wanting to know why such a thing existed in this world or processing the reason he'd been targeted in the first place. Just because he had a vampire heritage, despite not ever doing anything to harm anyone else, a vampire hunter tried to kill him, just because he was different. It hit in his emotions like a knee to the guts. The boy raised a hand to gently brush his fingers on the edge of the cracks in his face, while his remaining eye wandered somewhere else, probably processing his situation. An in that moment, he was grateful for the hug, he really was.
"Ah, you… dont need to carry me…" Damien lightly protested, although he didnt do much against it physically. He was a very light boy for his age, thankfully not making it a hard task for Mari to carry him
She nodded a little remorsefully and gave a soft sigh. “Yeah. I've only ever heard of them in stories, mostly fiction, but since you and your dad are real… I guess it makes sense that they would be too. Though I've also heard about other hunters who don't just specialize in Vampires.” she told him, though she still wasn't entirely sure whether or not creatures like werewolves and ghosts existed too. But how exactly did Damien manage to survive getting shot by a special gun from a hunter?
“I may not need to, but you didn't really look like you could walk very well yet.” she smiled, softly teasing. “I’d rather carry you than let you wear yourself out. You need to recover from… that and that means not overdoing it, relaxing, and getting your strength back.” she reminded him, feeling a little embarrassed for bringing up his attack.
"But… why would they need to be real? Are vampires… really that bad…?" his voice trembled, sinking further into her embrace, as if someone took the hope out of his entire being. He'd gotten used to the idea that vampires were generally feared and not liked by the population, but to go to the extent that someone was actively hunting them down like animals? It hurt to think about, it really did and he wanted to cry over it, but right now he was all out of tears. All he could do was hide his face in her clothes and sob quietly.
"Oh… okay then…" he gave in reluctantly, choosing to just relax his head against her shoulder, closing his eye for a moment as they walked up the flight of stairs and arrived to his room.
Mari bit her lip for a moment and shook her head as she held him close. “I… I don't know. I… I think it's like with people. There are good ones and bad ones. Maybe the hunters just started as a way to keep the balance or keep the bad ones in line… But there are always a few zealots in any group who go overboard.” she tried to reason, hating how upset he seemed. Obviously, he had every right to be upset about this but she hadn't intended to scare him like this.
She hummed a little as she entered his bedroom and gently set him down on his bed, taking a seat herself near him. “Is there anything I can do for you?”
Damien just sighed, tired of the topic and how bad it made him feel. Sure he could understand people wanting to protect themselves, but then again vampires were people too, weren't they? It just felt so unfair and weird and complicated he didnt even have words to finish expressing what he felt.
"I suppose you're right… i saw that guy after people started screaming 'vampire' everywhere…" he murmured while looking away, clearly hurt by the memory.
The boy struggled a little to find a comfortable place to sit, before just laying on his side to presumably try and help with his incoming headache.
"Not really, thanks for bringing me up here. Now, where's that atlas you spoke of?"
Mari hummed at his comment before gently running her fingers through his hair. It was very likely that the man just reacted to the panicking crowd… but that didn't justify his actions. “Hey, it's alright. Chances are there aren't any hunters around anymore, since most people don't believe Vampires exist. Or if they do, they’d be more willing to give you a chance and treat you better. Not everyone is as scared as they used to be.” she assured him. Though she knew mob mentally was still a thing and it probably wouldn't be too hard to get a riot going.
“De nada.” she smiled softly before sitting on the floor beside his bed so he could look at the book. “Right here.” she said, having spotted where he put the book earlier. “Let’s see… I think we were talking about Europe and Italy before.”
"You've never seen a hunter before?" he asked, lightly turning his head to look at her with his good eye. Surely, if they were real they did exist somewhere out there in the world most likely under a new look or something. But then again, it was very possible they were just hidden like the creatures they hunted down unless… they had already done their job.
"Hmm, really?" a hopeful glimmer ignited in this green iris, possibly hanging on to the idea that the modern world wouldnt reject him the way his did.
Damien rolled slightly on his stomach to be able to see better wherever she pointed on the book in her lap.
"Mhm, those are the ones" he confirmed, waiting for her to continue the explication she'd interrupted earlier.
"No. At least, not one I could recognize as a hunter…" she admitted, shaking her head. It was very possible that hunters were still around and just blended in better, just like vampires, or other beings like them were harder spot it made sense that hunters would do the same. Considering her lack of definitive knowledge on the topic, she wasn't really the best person to ask. All her information came from movies and books and the occasional mythology website.
"Really." she nodded with a small smile. She was sure that her family would accept him, and maybe a couple of her friends would too. But she wasn't going to introduce him to any of them until Damien was ready to meet them.
"Alright then." Mari smiled up at him and opened the large book to a double-page map of Europe that included a bit of west Asia. "So, this big continent is Europe, where countries like Spain, France, and Germany are. This funny-shaped island to the North is divided between England and Ireland… But Italy is this one here just to the South, the one that looks like a boot kicking a ball." she explained as she pointed out the different landmasses.
"Ah,,, i see… Well, at least im glad you didnt… He seemed very scary to me back then… Just the overall aura was… so heavy" he murmured slowly into the bed sheet, his fingers gripping the fabric like he wanted it to protect him. Damien didnt know what hunters were portrayed like in the modern day, but to him it had always a very real and scary reality that still haunted him somehow. He didnt live too far away from where he'd encountered the man, so the fear he might one day reappear in his life scared him half to death.
The boy laid on the bed, watching her hand as it moved on the map, pointing at the various countries.
"Have you ever been to any of these countries?" he asked, grabbing a pillow to hug as he continued to listen to her speaking. He could agree that some countries looked funny on a map, but they had to have nice landscapes too right?
“His… aura? You can see… or feel those?” she asked curiously, changing the subject for his sake. It was obvious that talking about the hunter made him uncomfortable, to put it mildly. She’d heard about aura's before but wasn't sure how much of it she believed. She’d always thought of them as something similar to horoscopes, so maybe there was something to them but the information may not be very accurate.
Mari shook her head, looking up at him. “No. Unfortunately, I haven't been to any of those countries. But I wouldn't mind visiting some of them one day.” she admitted. “I mean, I know enough Spanish to probably make my way through a trip to Spain. England and Ireland both speak English, so I’d be good there too.” she said with a shrug, though there were a few other reasons why she was hesitant to visit Germany or mention those reasons to Damien.
"I think so, im not certain… Its hard to describe them. But i think i used to sense them better before i had this" he gestured towards his missing eye and hole in his face. "Now its very vague compared to then, also maybe because i havent met anyone else since. That man's was like, heavy and dark, like no one else's before, almost metallic in a way, i cant explain it too well."
Damien hugged the pillow he was holding, presumably for comfort.
"Yours on the other hand is different. I cant feel it too well, but i dont feel anything bad either." he attempted to lighten up the mood, smiling softly.
He rolled a little, looking at the book continuously like he was picturing the location.
"Well… if you ever go there, could you tell me how it was like? When you come back, of course." the boy asked coyly, like he was telling her that it was perfectly fine if she didnt want to. He was just curious.
She nodded a little, listening closely to his explanation. "I guess that makes sense. I've heard that practice makes perfect so… Yeah." she hummed. With his injury, it was likely that his ability was… impaired but she would be surprised if his isolation also played a part. "Well, I'm glad that you don't feel anything bad from me." she chuckled, understanding not being able to explain it very well. She imagined it was like trying to explain colors to a blind… No, she'd heard of cases where that was possible, maybe more like describing sound to someone who was deaf was a better analogy.
"If I go, I would be happy to tell you about it." she smiled up at him before turning back to the books and flipping through the pages to find a specific map for him. "You might like this one. This is a map of the Island of Japan… where I think your father lived when he mentioned the Cherry blossom festival."
"I dont remember ever practicing it, it just came naturally to me whenever someone a little unusual walked in. Not everyone triggered it though, just people who had something to hide i guess. I remember both my mothers gave off this nice soft feeling." he continued, rolling over. He smiled, burying his cheek in his pillow while glancing away.
"Well, you're very nice, and have nothing to hide so i suppose thats why i dont feel anything"
Damien nodded happily at the prospect, glad his friend was willing to share any potential journey with him.
"So many islands… That's the one?" he raised an eyebrow, not moving his gaze. Figuring out which exactly of the islands he was talking about in the letter was probably impossible, but it was at least nice to know the rough region.
“It’s just a figure of speech. It means that the more you do something, the better you get at it.” she explained, smiling a little as he told her about the feelings he remembered. “Yeah, I guess I'm a pretty open person. I can keep secrets pretty well but I don't usually have much to hide. Especially from you.” she added with a laugh. “So basically you could just tell if someone was a dangerous or bad person.” she said to clarify, though she wouldn't be surprised if there was more to that ability.
Mari smiled back, reaching up to ruffle his hair playfully.
“Honestly, this isn't the biggest chain of islands out there but it is one of the most influential.” she told him. “I didn't think about which one of these he might have been on… I guess I just immediately thought he’d be on this one because it's the biggest and most well-known part of Japan.” she explained as she pointed out, what many people considered, the “mainland” of Japan.
"Ohh, i see. But i didnt practice at all, thats the thing" he explained, sinking the bottom of his face in the pillow he was holding tightly in his arms. The boy smiled shyly in it when Mari admitted she did not have anything to hide from him - he considered it a good thing, and was also very grateful for it. He wanted to trust her with all his heart.
"I guess so, like i said i havent met that many people to know for sure. But i can tell you what a mob of angry people feels like." he added in the end, raising a brow while looking away from her.
Damien sank his cheek in the pillow as his hair was ruffled gently, small strands making it on to his face or revealing parts of the previously obscured hole in his face, though he seemed to enjoy it. Despite being away from the world and not having access to any modern cleaning supplies, his hair was fairly smooth, if only just roughly chopped with scissors - most likely the boy's own handywork.
"It's fine if we dont know which one it is, at least we have a faint idea of where he could be, if he's still there." he tried to sound reassuring, although his gaze was fixed on the map. "It's still very far away anyway"
“Maybe not. But it's still something that you could do, so even if you didn't actively practice you still got experience.” she tried to explain, hoping that he understood a little better. She smiled back at his cute little smile. She really did want him to trust her since she wasn't going to hurt him or do anything to hurt him. Plus, she already trusted him so much too. He was so sweet, kind, innocent, and seemed to be very reluctant to hurt her or anyone else especially when she considered his reluctance to drink blood when she had offered. ”I know. It's ok, Damien. You don't have to tell me if you don't want to. I’ll understand.” she comforted. Even though she didn't have his ability, she could imagine what it felt like.
Mari chuckled a little at his reaction to having his hair ruffled and gave him one more little fluff before pulling her hand away. She had to admit that he was more comfortable and relaxed around her to not worry about his injury… Though she was still a little shocked by the sight. But she was determined not to let him worry about it. “Yeah. He could still be there.” she agreed a little softly with a nod. “I mean chances are that he may have moved a couple of times but he could have ended up back over there. And I guess it is a long journey but it is still possible to go there if we need to.” she assured him.
"I suppose thats true…" he hummed, thinking about the possibility of what she said. He wouldnt call it exactly experience, because he had done it so few times, but in the end perhaps it counted as well.
The boy nodded with a peaceful hum, appreciating that Mari didnt push him for more information like he expected her to. It was a very old and distant memory that still shook him from time to time, but he had considered the way he saw it all as useful to the conversation. He surely didnt want to go through it again but it was far away enough he could talk about it without breaking down.
Damien opened his eye again once she was done ruffling it, looking back at the map of the islands.
"You could go there? Wouldnt it be expensive and/or dangerous?" he asked, seeming concerned by the length of the sea between the islands and the main land, recalling his own little boat trip from so long ago. Besides, if his mother was right, people in other countries spoke other languages, and Japad had to be no exception. "And how would we even find him? We're talking about several islands, each with its own population. It could take forever to find one person there"
“And hey, maybe you can still read or see aura’s when you're around certain people without it hurting you. It might just be a little weaker or harder to get a clear feeling.” she said, smiling a little at the possibility. She obviously didn't know for sure if he could still use even that power without triggering the pain from his injury. And what if he kept falling apart whenever he tried? She bit her lip at the thought. This was all new territory and she felt woefully unprepared for it.
Mari had seen enough tv and movies, as well as read enough books to have a general idea of what an angry mob looked like, and could imagine the suffocating fear-filled rage emanating from the crowd like a toxic cloud. The fact that her friend had been through that was traumatic enough, he didn't need to relive it by telling her about it.
“It’s possible… but, yes, it would be expensive.” she admitted, nodding. When she had been looking up information about Japan to look for his father, she had Google’d the cost of a roundtrip ticket to Japan… Yikes, it was way more than she could afford. Especially any time soon. “Well, I guess going anywhere can be dangerous but I doubt it would be too bad if you're careful. Besides, traveling has changed since you came here.“ she told him. She was sure that she had told him about planes before but she wouldn't mind telling him about them again if she needed to. “It would be difficult to find him but if he's still there then it wouldn't be impossible.” she assured him.
"Perhaps. It could be like that. But i wont know until i see someone else" he shrugged, trying to sound reassuring to both her and himself. He was very unsure he had any working abilities left working after his injury, as he had learned to let go and distance himself from them in order to dull the pain. It hadnt been obvious to him until now that he had done so, but it explained away why all of his senses had seemingly dulled over the years following his injury. This aura reading ability could have been part of his now locked vampiric arsenal, but with the threat of his face falling off every time he tried to get close to it, he most definitely didnt want to try and find out. Guess he would have to just sit and wait to see if it was something he could still do naturally, without the use of whatever source of power he had.
"I really dont want to push you to spend anything for me, if its that hard of a mission. Trying also counts right?" he jumped to reassure her, genuinely not wanting to cause her any trouble for an at best probable mission. Best case scenario, he would indeed be there and all they would have to do is wander around until they found him, somehow, while worst case, he didnt live there anymore which meant Mari's money and time would have been all wasted for nothing - and Damien dreaded this option.
"Oh right, you did tell me about the new travelling ways. But still, its a very big task… I dont know if we could make it, really…."
“That’s probably true…” she nodded gently, giving him an assuring smile. She had told him several times that she wouldn't pressure him into seeing any other people until he was ready but she didn't want to sound like a broken record even though it was just as true now as when she first promised him that. “Well, I guess we won't be testing any active abilities until we figure out how to fix your eye, if we can. And I can't think of any more passive ones right now.” she admitted, though she would completely respect his choice if he didn't want to test any abilities again. Considering how shaken up they both were and the potential consequences, she wouldn't blame him at all.
“No, it's ok. I… You're not pushing. It's not that it's hard. I know how important this is and I want to help but… I'm afraid I just can't help in that way for you yet.” she explained. Mari still hoped that there was a way she could either contact Damien’s father or bring the two back together. The boy needed his father… No one should be on their own for so long like this. “If we knew more, I could probably look into hiring a private detective to find him but I hear that they're expensive too.” she added softly, also dreading the possibility that his dad may have moved though she would agree that it was likely. When you live in one place for too long and you don't age like everyone else, that seemed too risky an option and a good way to attract unwanted attention.
“If we had the money, we could make it.” she assured him. “Traveling to different countries isn't as big a deal as it used to be. Some people travel like that just for short business trips all the time as well as taking family vacations there to see the sights.” she explained.
"I guess we wont…" he reinforced, slightly less convinced - on one side he was glad he didnt have to anymore but on the other, it sort of bothered him. Damien's perceptions of his vampiric heritage were still a little doubtful, but with Mari's trust he had become a little curious to at the very least try them out and see what he could do, because in truth, he had never fully tested them out. His mother had never made him try them out, most she did was explain some of the things he found out he could do or the ones that his father could, but in rest, he had grown up mostly hiding whatever unusual traits he had from the world.
And now when he finally had been given the tiniest grain of confidence to face the things he had grown to fear, he was in danger of his face falling off in the most excruciating way possible.
"Passive ones?" he asked, brushing a bit of his hair away from his good eye.
Despite the different age they were in, Damien didnt expect her to have any considerable amount of money or resources to help him in any way he needed to, plus the time.
"Private investigator? I dont know if they can help much though… I dont even have his name or know what he looks like… He might have the last name Oletus like me, but i cant guarantee much…" he interviened, kneading the pillow with his clenched hands. Thinking back, he had never asked his mother about the origin of his surname, if it had belonged to her or to his father.
"It must be so cool to be able to travel around the world in a short amount of time… Have you ever traveled anywhere for vacation?" When it came to money, Damien had no clue where to get them, given he had never worked a day in his life. But It did sound lovely to be able to go see places at will.
She nodded a little, understanding the situation. Though she had to admit, to herself, she was a little disappointed. Not with Damien, of course. He hadn't done anything wrong. It was more just that neither of them would get any answers on what he was fully capable of doing because of his injuries. It was probably a good thing that that vampire hunter was dead, otherwise, she most likely would have gotten into a fight with them over what they did to her friend. Her fists clenched subconsciously for a moment at that train of thought before she pushed it away and forced herself to relax, perking up a little at his question. “Yeah. Passive abilities are things you can do without even needing to think about it. Like, your strength earlier or hearing my heartbeat. I know they required a little more concentration but they didn't need you to reach for your… power to use them.” she explained. “Abilities like shapeshifting or flight, however, are “active” and would need you to do that.”
Mari quickly committed that name to memory and nodded. “I honestly don't know either. Especially if your dad is an expert at hiding. But even if he didn't use that last name, it's still helpful to have. There's usually a record of people, called a census, so countries or even states and cities can keep track of the people who live there… Though I wouldn't be surprised if your dad avoided those.” she admitted thoughtfully. There had to be something…
“Well, nowhere as exotic as Spain or Japan, unfortunately. But I have been to Hawaii before.” she said, quickly flipping through the atlas to a map of the U.S. “I forget which Island it was though but this here is Hawaii and it's absolutely beautiful from what I remember.” she smiled as she pointed out the island chain to him.
