54 Chapter 54: Brangwen

Eon was fast asleep inside his chamber beneath a massive tree. A safe haven hidden among the rocks and roots that no monster could easily enter. A small room that Eon could enter using his Slug form.

The surroundings were peaceful at this time of night; no sounds of monsters could be heard, only the gentle waves of the leaves caused by the wind's blows.

Eon's head was hidden in the curl of his body, and the movement of his mouth revealed his breathing pattern.

This night was unlike the others.

"Brangwen..."

A girl's voice rang out inside Eon's head...

"Brangwen..."

When he heard a familiar voice calling a name he didn't recognize, Eon growled but remained imprisoned in his dream. A dream with no images, just pure darkness and sounds.

"Oy, Brangwen, are you listening to me? Why are you ignoring me?" inquired the girl's voice. Eon couldn't see anything because of the darkness in his vision, but he could clearly hear her soft voice.

A voice so full of mischief that he could clearly hear the girl's smirk without seeing her face.

"Oy, Brangw—"

"I heard you— and don't pinch my cheek like that," a boy's voice said.

Just like the location and the owner of the girl's voice, Eon couldn't tell who owned the boy's voice. Aside from the voices, the only clue he had was the soothing sound of waves coming from a nearby body of water.

The girl then let out a soft laugh. The sound of a gentle voice could make even the toughest person smile.

"What's funny?" inquired the boy's voice.

"Why weren't you answering back? I called you several times, but you were ignoring me even when I was walking next to you," the girl's voice inquired.

The boy's sigh was heard, followed by a few seconds of silence.

"Brangwen," the girl called again, teasingly.

"Why do you keep calling me that?" the boy asked, his voice irritated.

"Isn't that your last name? Why are you allowing everyone to call you that except me?"

The boy sighed once more. "Because I have a name, and we've been calling each other by our first names for years—plus, I prefer that people close to me call me by my first name."

"Ah... That's why, I finally understand; thanks for explaining, Brangwen," the girl replied.

"I'm starting to think you're calling me that just to annoy me," the boy said. "Even before we started dating a year ago, we'd known each other for years—since we were children, to be exact—so why did you suddenly decide to call me by my last name now?"

"You're right, I just love seeing your annoyed face every time I call you that," the girl replied, laughing.

"You really are strange; I came here to relax after the activities at school earlier, not to be the source of entertainment for my own girlfriend; go find someone to mess with other than me; where are our friends when I need them?" the boy commented.

The girl laughed. "But messing with our other friends isn't fun at all; they don't make the funny expressions you do." The girl then laughed louder. "Oh... Brangwen looking at me with his harmless eyes again; no one would be scared of those goody looking eyes you have! You look too kind to be scary, Brangwen!"

"You can laugh now, but someday people will address you with my surname."

There was complete silence for a few seconds. Then came the boy's thunderous laughter, which he seemed to exaggerate in order to annoy the person with him even more.

"Heh... As expected, you are easy. You really want to marry me someday, don't you?" the boy exclaimed, laughing again, as if celebrating his victory over the girl in an annoying contest. "I don't have a choice, you and our parents pushing this matter on me so... It can't be helped, so I have to settle with you now—"

"Don't say it like that, you silly!" screamed the girl.

The boy's laughter echoed with a more pretentious tone, as did the sound of his feet moving through the sand.

"Look at you, you look stupid— now you're hiding your face? Ha! You messed with the wrong person, you easy girl!"

"Come back here, Randall!" screamed the girl as the sound of her feet in the sand approached.

"Stop hitting me in the head every time you're angry, you little sadist! You started this! Now you're angry? Girls are so difficult to understand, aren't they?"

There was no response...

Then... A gentle laugh followed.

"Come here, you silly," Randall called, his voice soft and gentle.

"You should probably stop patting my head because I am no longer a child."

"You say that, but you still let me? Besides, I like touching your soft hair."

"Only you... are permitted to," the girl said softly.

"Yeah, I heard you beat the shit out of the last person who tried to touch your hair, and I'm almost certain you'll be a terrifying wife—you'd be kicking my ass every day," Randall laughed. "You should teach me Karate so that I can at least defend myself against you if you suddenly decide to turn me into your punching bag after years of living together."

"You have a choice, right?" the girl inquired.

"What exactly do you mean?"

"You chose me because you want to, not because everyone is pressuring you to, right?"

The sound of Randall's sigh echoed in Eon's mind.

"I didn't choose you... I never did."

There was silence...

"I was meant for you... and regardless of what decision I make in the past, present, or future—even if that decision implies leaving you... I'm confident that the universe will always find a way to bring me back to you. I didn't choose you... You chose me. I'm yours, and I'm fine with it."

"Oh, wow. That's a fancy way of saying you didn't have much of a choice because the entire world is always pushing you toward your inevitable doom, which is me. What a touching response... Thank you, I suppose? You just told your girlfriend that she is an unavoidable curse."

"That was way more romantic and cool inside my head," Randall said, his laughter echoing along with the fast sound of his feet on the sand, followed by the sound of shoes on the concrete floor.

"Randall, return here! Don't tell me you're going to hide from me again! What are you, a child?"

"You just gave me a good idea!" Randall exclaimed as his voice faded away. "Now, let's see if you can find me, Slowpoke."

"You can run, but you can't hide from me! I will always find you! Randall, do you hear me? I will always find you!"

***

As he pushed his eyes out of his head, Eon growled. His mouth was open as he looked around his dark chamber, seemingly chasing his own breath. He crawled forward, letting out a long growl as he approached the chamber's entrance.

He looked up at the sky and saw the full moon slowly descending. His gaze was drawn to the moon in the sky, but his thoughts were elsewhere... It was in a world where he no longer belonged.

Two voices he didn't recognize... Two voices that seemed strangely familiar to him for reasons he couldn't fathom. Memories that bound Eon to a past he could no longer recall.

His gray eyes fixed on the dimly lit forest in front of him, and he growled to ask a question that only he could understand. He did not receive a response... He inquired repeatedly... Eon, however, received nothing.

He hadn't slept since waking up, so he just stood there staring out the window, not moving a muscle, until the sun came out. He'd had a deep thought, trying to delve deeper into his mind—his memories—but the farthest memory he had was the day he was born as Eon, the seventh child of Vaas the conqueror. No matter how deeply he dug into his memories, he discovered nothing about a boy named Randall, but only about a cold and calculated monster named Eon.

He had no idea what Randall looked like or who Randall was... There was nothing but darkness.

However... All of Eon's questions vanished as the first rays of sunlight touched him... For the time being, he set it aside.

Eon crept out of his chamber, greeted by the morning song of the birds nearby. As he advanced, his body morphed into a massive image of a Lesser Bildabear with powerful wings.

[Deceitful Shapeshifter has been activated.]

Eon waved his wings and flew out of the area at breakneck speed. He tried to focus his mind once more on one thing—and one thing only—his mission to become stronger—strong enough to finally begin the mission, Vaas, his father had ordered him to do...

To begin the conquest to take control of Giera...

Eon's eyes narrowed as he growled as he flew through the sky. But, no matter how hard he tried, there was something in that dream that his mind couldn't shake...

"Randall, do you hear me? I will always find you!"