chapter 10 [A long and happy month's walk, right?]

Tommy began to awaken, his eyes unclear, his mind beggining to think where he was(I know it seems illogical, but he has to have some form of a brain right?)

"So- any...-no?-WHAT DO YOU MEAN WE JUST SENT THE CORK KINGDOM INTO A CIVIL WAR?! AND HE'S JUST CAPTURED OVER HALF THE AREA?! WHAT THE HELL! I DON'T WANT MORE ON MY PLATE!" Michael, or his clones(Tommy still didn't know how to differentiate between them) yelled out, not caring to whisper like he did before

Then it hit him

Michael had tried to escape from the arena with him, but something had stopped them, what? He didn't know

He could say he was lucky to be alive even, as before getting knocked out he had seen the attack that the dragon was sending the for the two and it would definitely kill him, maybe not Michael but in Tommy's mind, Michael was so untouchable, he'd be willing to believe he was one of those anime protagonists, just not the harem ones though, Michael didn't seem lucky enough to Tommy to have one of them-

"Were you just thinking of me being an anime protagonist right now!?" Michael yelled out

"How?! I knew he was overpowered but to be able to read minds too?! Michael, I call hax! Hax I tell you!"

Michael's clones which ranged from the two that had carried and escorted Tommy's unconscious body and the original, alongside two other clones that were probably sent there by the clone at the cork kingdom

And if Tommy believed what Michael yelled out was true, the clones he'd left behind were probably securing the kingdom or something

"What the hell man?! You literally just said all of that crap! And what's this about me not being a harem protagonist!" Michael yelled out, trying not to be outdone by Tommy

So what if Tommy was the best student in the academy? So what if every girl wanted a piece of Tommy? So what if even his crus- FORMER crush liked Tommy in a-not-so-subtle way?

He looked to his clones

"Did you just think about.. taking us.. as your harem?.." one clone from the group of four asked the original, disgust evident on his face

They obviously didn't want any part in the originals harem

"God no!... wait.. EVEN I REJECTED MYSELF!" was all the original said before

Sulking down in a corner

Now that Tommy had a better chance to take in his enviroment, it seemed they weren't in the cork kingdom, or atleast they weren't near the official area

Just a lone campfire and surrounding trees to give them some company, and maybe even a fallen down log where he was sitting at

"Does this have ants in it?" Tommy asked worried about ants getting in his pants

"Man, I really need to stop getting irked at your words, Tommy.. but can you please not talk about harems and all, I think one more jab will inarguably break the originals safety shield.. you know he's not confident about all of that relationship jazz right?" A clone said while coming towards Tommy, while the other three just tried consoling the original's mood

"Oh yeah, there's totally ants in there.. you might want to-" the same clone tried to say but not before Tommy started to yell out in pain

But luckily for him, these weren't the magic ant variety (spawned from the depths of hell in nearly everyone who had been bitten by them's opinion)

Aftee calming down and burning the wood to exact his revenge while laughing, Tommy just sat down on the burnt log, after it was safe to sit on it

Safe didn't mean stable though as he fell off it nearly immediately, breking the log in splinters via the process

And

After sulking for a bit, Michael stood up and activated his code:0

"Will you ever tell me why you even use that?" Tommy asked while staring into the emotion less eyes of Michael

"No.. fine, I might if you give up on Maria though" Michael said.. while smirking? Even though it was insanely faint, does that mean Michael was smirking so much, even Code:0 couldn't completely hold still?

"No" Tommy just said, after all, how can he give up being her best friend? Or did he mean romantically? If so why even bother? He already knew his answer would be that he was in love with-

"Meh, it was worth a shot.. anyways, do you feel like anything is... off about me?" Michael asked, weirding Tommy out

"N-no? Do you mean that by your blue eyes or.. something?" Tommy asked, a little frightened as Michael came closer, his expression less face rivaling that of the calmness a serial killer would have

But knowing Michael, he might as well be a serial killer

"My.. blue eyes, gift me immeasurable perception... yet they take it away at the same time" Michael said while closing his eyes for a bit

"Code:0... it's a curse in itself aswell.. I might be able to think faster, see faster and never forget anything.. but it comes at a price.. my humanity" he opened his eyes to reveal his deep black eyes once again, full of sadness

"I can't feel anything in that state of mind.. it's almost like it's not even me"

"Then, why do you even use it?" Tommy asked with a confused look on his face, why would Michael be using it then if he didn't want to?

"Tch, I have to! Do you know how many I've even killed?! Even I lost count at some point! And guess what?! Every single time I used code:0!... as a crutch.. see that, I want to feel angry, but if I even dare to activate it, I'm not myself at that time; it's almost like I'm a robot" he said beginning to shout, but instantly neutralising at the activation of code:0

Tommy still didn't know what Michael meant

Why would it relate to him?

"I don't feel empathy during this moment, and guess what.. if you were injured right now and the best course of action would be to leave you behind...what do you think I would do?" He asked, his eyes peering at him

"You wouldn't leave me! I'm...sure.." Tommy started with absolute trust in his voice, but it slowly faltered slowly down to unsurity

"You see? Thats why I don't think you should be around me anymore... after this mission, I'll be requesting a transfer, and they'll have to answer it" Michael said, with a sad... no... no look on his face, absolutely no emotion

It felt like looking at a portrait rather than looking at a living breathing thing

"B-but.. how would you even do that?!" Tommy yelled, his voice full of anger as he looked around to see where the clones had gone

They had disappeared

"B-but with your clones! You're practically a one man army right!?" Tommy asked, once again questioning nit Michael.. but questioning himself

"True, that might be the case, but even I might have a limit, and it'd be best for you to accept that transfer.. I don't want you to get messed up with the S.E.D.. I know what they're after and they wont hesitate to take you along to bait me out.. just.. just look at it this way, I'm a monster and would you really stay with someone that would leave you behind, to die at without a single thought, almost...instinctively you could say"

Michael tried to emulate a soft smile, but the coldness of his eyes contradicted that act

"But you can still think right? It's not like someone else is controlling your body.. right?" Tommy asked, even unsure about that

"No, I would be in control, but the rationale for leaving you behind to die would outweigh the emotional attachment I'd build up.. here, let me show you something-" Michael said, bringing forth his dagger, as his sword was still unusable at the moment due to his own stupidity

Suddenly, Michael cut off his own finger, his pinky to be exact

Tommy had a horrified look on his face

He paled as realisation came to mind

He wasn't scared about the fact that Michael just cut his finger off, no, he was sure he could regrow it, he'd seen it in action too( even if it was mostly a smaller portion of Michael's finger that had been cut iff by accident at that time, this time it had been his whole finger)

"Strange.. I dont feel even a tinge of sadness over losing a body part; yet I'm sure if I were to turn my eyes off, I would be rolling in pain and the sadness of loss- oh look, its beginning to heal already" Michael said, and if someone else were to see him now, they'd say that he's surely insane

"Not even a bit of pain nor fear.. if I can do that to myself.. what can I do to others than?" He said, moving his injured hand closer to his face to observe the healing process, and after a couple of seconds and the black goo sliding across his hand to the injured section; his whole pinky was back and it almost looked like nothing had happened

One would assume nothing was wrong, if only baring the fact that his hand was filled with dripping blood, flowing to the ground drop by drop until it was healed, and if not for the spare pinky on the ground near the blood

"W-why.." Tommy asked, he couldn't believe what he was saying, he couldn't believe his eyes, he couldn't believe the smell, the smell of fresh blood

Even if he didn't believe it, it was still the truth; and the truth is the most bitter when least expected

Tommy believed Michael wasn't a monster

Michael knew better to believe bullcrap like that though

He knew who he was

"And now, you're probably thinking; why is he telling me that? It's not like he's required to use his code-...blue eyes right?" Michael said, almost undoing code:0, almost

"Y-y-yeah! It's not like it affects you.. outside.. oh god.." Tommy said, coming to realise, looking down.. before vomiting, remembering Michael had just cut his finger off

"Tell me, Tommy, since when had I started to be like this? Since when did I discover my blue eyes?" Michael said, taking careful consideration into not saying code:0 again

"It was  just before a month, before leaving for ST. Marie with Alan" Tommy said coming to a realisation

"Not exactly, but where I started using it more was at that time; you see, I had this ever since I arrived at Retere, how else do you think I lost my memory? How else do you think I'd be able to get there through all of those mutant beasts?" Michael questioned before saying the next few words

"Code:0.. god this hurt like a brick.. anyways, that's why I've been so distant all these years, and it'll be the same if I continue to use it " Michael said and then smiled, a real smile

"It'd be the best for everyone to stay away from me, it might look like me when I'm using those eyes, but it lacks any peer to peer interaction skills, and the more I use it, the more I slip in, the more I lose myself as a whole; turning into it itself"

That night, they moved forward without a bit of sleep, for Tommy because he was thinking all night while walking

For Michael it was just hope, hope that Tommy would leave him alone

He couldn't let Tommy stay with him, and he'd use lies, however black or white they may be to do that