CHAPTER 2-A BURDEN

That night, Damian lay on his berth, forehead creased in thought as he stared through the large rectangular porthole on his left. The blue-black sky adorned with cotton-white clouds and little dots of twinkling stars stared back at him. Eldenheim gleamed gaily as its moons illuminates it. But he didn't marvel at its beauty but instead contemplated on how he must be a burden to captain and the others. How they could still keep him was utterly beyond him. Perhaps they had sinister plans with him in their heads. Were they going to use him as a sacrifice or something? Cultivate his soul for more power? No something was not right, he hadn't broken through his ability seal yet, and wasn't sure if he had abilities.

He had heard of various types of cultivations, ranks, abilities and mitra long enough to know that captain and his crew weren't normal. What's up with them all being powerful variants, even ten-year-old Amy was a plant variant.

After what seemed hours of thinking he cried himself to sleep- not after damning his useless body and eyes. If only he had stayed up a little longer, he would have seen the enormous reptilian eye looking intently at him through the porthole or the silent thud of wings beating in tandem.

The intense light jabbed at his eyelids until he forcefully pried them open- it was morning, great, another day to be a burden to the people who either cared for him or plotted to sacrifice him. Maybe if he didn't get he might be of good use to them-not getting in their way will surely make them happy he thought. With his mind made up, he stared at the confines of his room looking for something that might just keep him busy for a while- a long while.

Damian sighed in frustration as he rummaged through his belongings. Maybe he didn't have to stay confined in his room, just out of the sight and way of the others. He quickly changed his clothes- a patched-up brown pair of trousers and a faded blue shirt and walked towards the door, opened it a crack, and peeked outside-all clear- he observed. Stole his way past the door and made his way toward the training room they had named 'The White Room', WR for short. Thankfully, the sealed door opened silently just like it had done the previous day. Once in, he searched for a switch. A click sounded and the chandelier along with the revolving light orbs came to life. Instead of being empty, like the last time, the walls were lined with shelves of books- perfect- just what he needed. Without further ado, he picked a dog-eared leather book entitled 'Swordsmanship' underneath was added 'Volume 1', and returned to his room. Damian laid back on his bed and opened the book. His eyes widened as he took in the expertly drawn diagrams and information about how to perform the skills the figures in the diagrams exhibited. So engrossed was he in the book that he didn't notice the sun going behind the horizon, unconsciously his hand switched on the bedside lamp.

Days passed, and Captain and the others began to worry about Damian despite Jake's protests. They occasionally made excuses just to pass his door and strained to hear any noise that might be unusual- every time they got disappointed hearing only the ruffling of pages, soon they gave up. If he didn't want to come out of his room then that was fine as long as he was content with whatever he was doing. Just as Damian finished reading the book he heard a knock. Reluctantly, he forced himself out of bed and opened the door. It was Amy.

"It's been ages since I last saw you, Damian", she said. Damian stared dumbly at the little girl in front of him. How could he have forgotten little Amy, the only person who convinced him that the others just cared for him.

"I'm sorry Amy, you have my word that I will make it up to you" assures Damian.

The little girl nodded enthusiastically and ran out of the aisle towards the door that led to the deck of the Starlight. Damian bathed, threw on some clothes, and finally left his room- his domain of self-exile. He shielded his eyes as he stepped out unto the deck. Seconds of jabbing by the light rays again got his eyes to adjust to the intensity of the rising sun.

"Hi Damian", they chorused. Amy had tricked him into getting out of his room, clever girl, the thought made him smile. Everyone was outside doing their own thing. On the spinnaker, two distinct figures worked in perfect unison. Down with whatever they were doing, they leaped and landed in front of Damian and unfazed grinned at him, mischievously. Damian carefully looked at the twins, Layla was ethereal as ever but Leonard who liked to be called Leo had unruly spikey dirty- blonde hair matched with a chiseled face and deep-blue intelligent eyes lined with a slender nose and a thin mouth.

"Why were you bolted up in your room?", asked Leo. Before he could answer this question he had anticipated would be asked of him sooner or later, an affectionate thump landed on his forehead.

"Don't scare us like that again Damian!". It was Layla. Her enchanting grin had turned into a worried scowl- a cute one at that. This made Damian ask himself again, how could these people not loathe him, that or they were very good actors, further perplexed was he as another person rushed over to him and checked him for bruises and any other thing that shouldn't be on him; it was Lutz- Flavio's little sister. In contrast to Flavio, she had red straight hair, a freckled face, and brown eyes followed closely by a button nose and rosy pink lips. Her height matched Flavio's. She always had to be the big sister thought Damian and a slap ensued behind his head. Satisfied he was in good health, Lutz left him and returned to her resplendent forgery. It was hard to believe a pretty woman like her, a master craftsman. Most of her work earned them more than enough to maintain the airship and look after themselves.

"Where's Jake?", asked Damian when Lutz was out of sight and earshot.

"He's checking out the core, below deck", said Layla.

"I suggest you leave him alone", said Leo, "You know how he is, studying stuff that interests him".

Damian certainly knew what Leo was talking about, they nicknamed it 'The Zone'. When Jake was engrossed in something he found interesting, he was like a dead person, never noticing anyone and anything around him. A brief silence ensued after Damian's inquiry about Jake.

"Well, I guess I should go now", said Damian. He was intending to return the book he borrowed back to WR's library. He was dying to try out the skills he had just learned. For the first time, he was looking forward to training on his own.

"See ya!", chorused the twins. Damian turned around to leave when he felt a soft warmth on his left wrist. It was Layla carefully holding his left wrist peering at the orb.

"Did you notice this? she asked pointing at the little golden runes that had appeared on the lustrous surface of the black orb. But of course, Damian saw only white glints.

"No", answered Damian. He was as flabbergasted just as Layla was. Leo suddenly appeared by them startling Layla and Damian.

"Just because you have space affinity doesn't mean you have to be teleporting all the time, you idiot!", Layla said with a wicked smack on Leo's forehead.

"Sure sis", he said painfully.

Damian was so interested in the glowing orb that he didn't notice them bickering. He started to feel strange impulses all over his body. He opened his mouth trying to say something but no words came- instead he started to shake violently- it was like his whole body was on fire. He wanted to scream, scream in torment as the fire intensified but it seemed to have no intention of ending. Finally, darkness appeared unto him, and Damian embraced it like an old friend.