Otoru slid down the stairs and caught up to Pablo. "What's going on, and who is this dude?" he asked.
"His name is Imito. He can copy sorceries. I don't know how, but he can. He already copied mine and several others. You can sense mana, right? If he uses the shadow clones, close your eyes to sense the real ones." Pablo looked at the burning bookshelves once more, realizing the fire was now out of hand. He desperately wanted to protect the books, even if he couldn't read them.
But it was impossible. Hit with this fact, he felt almost as if he had lost the fight.
"That hurt…" Imito stood up and got the door off him. "That hurt, you asshole!" he yelled.
"He isn't like any other Magiborn. He can heal a lot. You need to hit him with your Treasure." Despite the inevitable loss of the library, he still intended to win this fight and secure some information from Imito, if he even could.
"Got it." The two began approaching Imito with caution.
"You…" As Imito's eyes met Otoru's, the sadistic grin on his face disappeared, replaced by a solemn, guilty look. "…Otoru?!" His voice shook.
Within just a blink, Imito appeared in front of Otoru and hugged him. His grip was strong enough to nearly break Otoru's ribs. "AGH! OTORU! UNCLE MISSED YOU!" Imito began weeping.
"What the hell?!" Otoru tried to break free, but it felt like he was trapped between two pistons. This kind of power couldn't belong to a person, could it?
Pablo didn't hesitate. He wouldn't hesitate in this fight, not anymore. Using this moment to his advantage, Pablo swung his blade and decapitated Imito again.
The rest of Imito's body lost its grip on Otoru and fell to the floor.
Then the body connected with the head once again. "What do you mean, 'Uncle'? How do you know my name?" Otoru yelled.
"Don't worry about it, he says that to everyone!" Pablo didn't stop attacking. He followed up with a flying knee strike, completely messing up Imito's face.
"DO NOT INTERRUPT MY REUNION WITH MY NEPHEW!" Imito braced against the impact and moved forward, dragging Pablo alongside him.
Imito slammed Pablo through several burning bookshelves. Right as he was about to unleash a barrage of deadly attacks on Pablo's face, Otoru grabbed Imito's arm and suplexed him to the ground. "I don't know who you are!" Otoru yelled once more.
"Ah, Otoru… What did Uncle do to you? No– you're right. I deserve this. I'm a terrible uncle, aren't I?" Instead of attacking Otoru, Imito began weeping.
"…" Otoru paused, his curiosity getting the better of him. "Uncle. How do you know me?"
Pablo groaned in pain and couldn't even get up. "Do not fall for his tricks, Otoru!"
"Shut up!" Otoru protested, then looked back at Imito.
"Ah, my nephew…" Imito gently caressed Otoru's hand. "…I'm sorry for not being there for you."
Even though Imito kept talking nonsense instead of just elaborating, Otoru didn't give up. "I don't know who you are!"
"Can't you see? He is talking out of his ass!" Pablo pushed through the pain and finally stood up, almost falling to the floor in the process.
Pablo removed his leather glove, intending to finally use his prosthetic arm. "Let's just get this over with!"
At the sight of the newly revealed relic, Imito stopped weeping. Once again, with speed that felt like teleportation, he appeared in front of Pablo and grabbed his arm. "Where did you get this?" he said coldly, the sheer presence freezing both of them. "Why did you steal from me?" he added.
"Steal from you…?" Pablo repeated. "I didn't steal this from anyone–" Pablo couldn't break free of his grip, and Imito finally grabbed him by the throat and lifted him into the air. "Where did you get this?" he repeated.
"Uncle!" Otoru pleaded, hoping the name would stop him.
"Just who–" Upon closer inspection, at this range… Pablo noticed something on Imito's neck. Something hidden by his clothes and hair, finally visible now.
A spiral, matching the one on his Relic.
"Were you the Magiborn who forged this?" Pablo gasped.
"I gifted it to my buddy. It's not yours. I'll kill you for stealing it from him," Imito growled.
"No, he didn't steal it!" Otoru placed a hand on Imito's shoulder. "Cap' gifted it to him!"
Imito's grip on Pablo's throat weakened just slightly, but Pablo was on the verge of losing consciousness. "Why would he do such a thing? You wouldn't lie to uncle, right, Otoru?"
"I temporarily left his crew to join his!" He pointed at Pablo. "We're allies with the Infamy Pirates. Cap' gave him supplies himself. He is his friend!"
Imito stared into Otoru's eyes as if he were lost in them. Memories he had run from, memories he had wanted to avoid for a decade, flooded his mind.
Guilt, shame and regret… all of it hit him at the same time, like a punch.
His face crawled into ugly, relentless sobbing as he let go of Pablo. Pablo gasped for breath the moment he did, coughing violently and struggling to breathe.
"I never do anything right, do I…" It was hard to make out what he was saying, as the tears just wouldn't stop. "…I almost killed my buddy's friend. I tortured him… I'm such a bad friend!"
His cries echoed throughout the burning room as the two watched him cry, not knowing what to do. Pablo was still on edge, while Otoru was confused beyond belief. "You're not a bad friend, Uncle…"
Suddenly, his cries increased in severity and he started hitting himself in the head. "Oh shit!" Otoru grabbed his arms, but right after that… Imito's eyes went white, and a soft smile replaced his cries. He was unable to move and lay in Otoru's arms.
"What the fuck just happened? Did he die?!"
"So he wasn't faking it, geez." Pablo laughed to himself in disbelief, though it was hard to call it a 'laugh'.
"What do we do?" Otoru checked his pulse and confirmed Imito was still alive.
He then got Imito on his back, strong enough to carry him with ease. "We throw him in the fire, obviously." Pablo looked at the exit.
"I'm not letting him die, man! We need to get him help!" Otoru protested, intending to get Imito the help he needed.
"That guy tortured me for three nights straight! And he's a nutcase. How do we know he won't go berserk on us again?"
"I have a feeling. How can you trust people if you just keep seeing the worst in them?" They headed for the door to escape the fire in time and started up the stairs.
Pablo sighed in defeat. "Just don't get him on the ship. We need to get the fuck out of this castle and out of this island."
As they opened the door, their worst fears came true.
A woman of average height was right in front of them. Her outfit consisted of a white ruffled undershirt with a black bowtie, covered by a maroon jacket with golden buttons. She wore a long maroon skirt and white gloves. She looked to be in her fifties, and the mana signature didn't lie.
It was the woman in the family portraits he kept seeing. It was her, Crudelis.
What shocked Pablo the most was that her eyes were glowing in a violet color, similar to, yet distinct from, his own.
"You two aren't going anywhere."
The flames in Pablo's eyes were snuffed out instantly. The two suddenly lost the ability to stand and fell to one knee, their bodies betraying them. "My body is moving on its own!" Pablo thought in distress.
"Understood, your majesty," they both said. Their lips moved on their own. Their bodies didn't belong to them anymore. They belonged to her. "Follow me," she said. The two then slowly stood up and began walking behind her. Otoru dropped Imito without meaning to.
"We need to run! We shouldn't follow her. But then why… why can't I do anything other than follow her orders?!" Otoru said to himself.
"Mother!" Tempus confronted the three in the hallway. "What is the meaning of this? What is going on?!" Behind him were Lumen and Bulla, hiding in fear.
"Tempus Caedis. You and your mother have made a terrible mistake." She spoke. "You've betrayed the commands of the United Government. Pablo Drake was assigned Jewelry Protection by Erik Eishelm, and yet you allowed him to be experimented on, fully knowing what happened."
The mysterious way their own mother began talking confused Lumen. It was as if she wasn't their mother anymore, but something else… a much more terrible being.
Tempus, however, fully knew what this meant.
He fell onto one knee too and began sweating profusely, shaking in fear. "I am sorry, your highness. Punish me however you will."
"Tempus…?" Lumen said, her voice shaking.
"Go. Go to your rooms. Now." Tempus was about to piss himself in fear.
Lumen and Bulla ran away without hesitation, trusting their brother's instincts.
"I will let Eishelm decide your later punishment. But for now, your current punishment is fast approaching." A sly smile appeared on her face. "Even though it's… inappropriate, even unprofessional, to let my commanders meddle in inner politics… I trust Eishelm's intuition." She turned to face Pablo, her gaze filled with curiosity and interest.
"You are not allowed to die yet, Pablo Drake."