CHAPTER 3: LOST LIGHT (3)
"The Lurker... Executioner...?" Claude stuttered. During all the times he had spent with his dear brother, not even once did he mention something like that.
"Yeah. Let's save the introduction for later. I need to retrieve Lucius' body, now." Ajax said as he shoved Claude aside and headed towards the rooftop door.
"Wait," Claude stepped between Ajax and the door, "Lucius' legal guardian is me. Therefore, you need my permission if you want to take him away."
"Then I'll steal him."
"Don't even try."
Claude and Ajax glared at each other for a bit, neither one of them planned to back away. Ajax tried to reach into his pocket to intimidate the blue-eyed man, but Claude didn't even move a muscle.
Finally, Ajax let out a long sigh, "fine. At least let me see his body."
"No. You'll just snatch him." Claude retaliated. He wasn't ready to lose his brother for the second time.
"Fine, if you want to be that stubborn." Ajax took out his butter knife and flicked it until it became a sword once again.
"Kkh--!" Claude tensed up, but he stood his ground. After all, he wasn't afraid of dying anymore. But, he needed to protect his brother's body. He had scheduled a proper funeral for his brother, which he had already paid in full. He couldn't bear to attend his own brother's funeral though, that was why he planned his suicide ahead of time.
Claude's eyes were fixated on the shiny blade in Ajax's hand, following its movements. When Ajax raised his sword, Claude bit his lip, bracing himself to take the cut.
'Slash!'
"Heed my words, O blood of mine, blood of universe, and know that what I'm about to say is true." Ajax chanted as fresh red blood dripped from his palm onto the ground.
"… What are you doing?" Claude was stunned. He didn't expect that the blade would injure its owner instead of him.
"I will not steal or forcefully take Lucius Moran's body from his brother." And with that, Ajax concluded his chant. Right after finishing, he swiftly took Claude's hand and slashed it until drops of blood formed around the slit.
"Wait--"
"Just shut up and see." Ajax positioned his hand above Claude's palm, and let his blood drip onto Claude's wound.
As soon as their blood mixed, Claude felt a surge of heat enveloping his entire body, starting from his hand, to his arm, to his chest, and finally, everywhere his heart pumped his blood to.
"Oh, so you really are his brother," Ajax said with a little bit of confusion, "I still don't understand how you could be this weak. I mean, Lucius did tell us a bit, but still..."
"What was that thing?" Claude asked, shifting the topic towards the 'thing' Ajax did. It was better than getting dissed, anyway.
"That was a Sworn Pact, a type of Blood Pact. Simply put, I have vowed that I won't steal or force you to give me Lucius' body," Ajax explained, "and if I were to break that vow, every blood in my body will burn and I'll die."
"Blood Pact? I've never heard of it... These all sound so ominous and unreal to me." Claude gripped his wounded hand to apply pressure on his wound. Even though he said that these felt unreal to him, he could still clearly remember the sudden burst of heat in every corner of his blood vessels, and the fight that he had witnessed earlier.
"Haa... Of course you don't know. You're a commoner... Half, I guess. Either way, commoners don't know a thing about pacts, it's normal," the dark-haired man sighed, "it's up to you if you want to believe me or not, but at least let me see Lucius."
Claude was about to decline, but seeing the man's eyes, he recognized a particular emotion that he, too, was feeling.
Desperation.
How could a stranger who he had never met before know so much about his brother when he was the one by Lucius' side all these times? And how could that stranger feel the same emotion as him when Lucius' name was mentioned?
He gulped. Right now, a part of him wanted to know more about Lucius before he fully acted on his suicide plan. He had failed to protect Lucius, and he had failed to be a safe place for Lucius to share his secrets. But now, if he could find out about his brother's secrets, would he have a chance to be a slightly better brother?
Or was it too late already?
A deep sigh escaped his lips as their eyes met.
"...Okay. Follow me, but don't you dare try anything funny or I won't hesitate to stab you." Claude said as he turned around and opened the rooftop door.
"You won't be able to stab me anyway, but okay." Ajax also sighed and followed Claude inside the hospital.
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They both walked down the stairs and through the long hallways without talking to each other. Claude wanted to ask numerous questions, but he refrained from doing so because of what Ajax said earlier about 'commoners'.
Without being explained, he instantly understood what that meant. In this world, lurkers roam around freely, undetected. Although not much was known about lurkers, everyone knew that they feast on human blood.
However, during his days as a doctor, most of his patients who were victims of lurkers, rarely describe the same lurker. That either meant lurkers feast very rarely, move often, or there are something, or someone, out there killing them.
Claude figured that the first and second options were unlikely, simply because these lurkers disguise themselves as humans. Normal humans with friends and family, career, background, and so on, so they wouldn't be able to move out so easily and so often. And although there weren't many researches that were made public, one of the most known fact was that most lurkers needed to drink blood as often as once per week, although not all of them were like that.
That only meant one thing. That guy wasn't lying when he said that he was a part of 'Lurker Exterminator' or something. Which meant that Lucius was also...
"Hey, where do you even keep him?" Ajax's sudden question snapped him out of his trance.
"Oh, I kept his body in the morgue." Claude answered concisely.
"Tch. This hospital is too big." Ajax grumbled as they kept walking. Even though it was midnight and on new year's eve, the hospital was still pretty packed, and a lot of people greeted Claude, which made Ajax uncomfortable.
"Be patient. We're almost there." Claude told him in a flat tone and with a flat expression, contrary to his usual fake smile he used to offer to people around him.
"Why do people like to exchange pleasantries so much, anyway? It's disgusting." The yellow-eyed man huffed.
"Yeah, it is. I'm also guilty of doing so, though." Claude replied, still with his unreadable expression.
"Then why do you keep doing it?" Ajax questioned.
"Because that's how this world works for people like me."
"People like you?"
'Clink!'
A high-pitched sound was heard as Claude's hand turned the handle of a door labeled 'morgue' and 'authorized personnel only'.
"We're here." He slowly pushed the door open, revealing a fairly dimly lit room filled with a lot of unmoving bodies covered with clothes, laid on top of some kind of stiff beds.
"Great. Now, which one is Lucius?" Ajax's head went from left to right, searching for a particular boy's body.
Claude observed the man for a while, noticing that he didn't show any signs of shock or horror upon seeing dead bodies. Well, he guessed that it was to be expected from a man in that line of work, after all.
"Follow me." Claude motioned for Ajax to come, and they both walked towards one end of the morgue, where there was a lone bed covered with a white cloth, hiding the lifeless body underneath.
"So he really is dead..." Ajax's face scrunched up when he saw the tag on the body's feet saying 'Lucius Moran', alongside details about time of death and whatnot.
Claude's face wasn't better, his facial muscles crumpled, his brows furrowed upwards, and he could barely hold his lips and hands from trembling, but after clenching his fists tight in determination, he managed to pull off the cover, regardless of the turmoil inside himself.
"...What?" Ajax's eyes widened upon seeing the body unveiled.
"What!?" Claude's eyes followed suit as he felt his heart sank upon seeing the sight in front of him.
"The body... Is missing!?"