Leave The Monster Alone

Why was he brought here? For what purpose? And why Mark? These questions circled his mind at all times now. 

"Don't be that nervous. You are in no danger till you do not allow your foolishness to take your senses over. Now take a seat, we have much to discuss" the guardian waved his hands and the nearby debris rose up to form two seats right in front of them. Mark gulped and considered his options now. 

Mark felt his energy leave him after the excitement he had just had. The near-death had been a given at this point and Keito did not even feel anything with his brush of death this time.

What he did find interesting was the body behind his back. Or was it around him? He had so many questions and he did not know where he should start. How much was the guardian willing to answer? And how much could he ask anyway?

"This body, it is a deal, right? I was under the impression that he was very dead at this point in time" Keito instantly regretted his world once they were out of his mouth and he saw the frown take over the other's face for a brief second before his usual expression was back on his face.

"He is very much dead and he did have a name as well when he was alive. As you can see, I took the liberty of preserving his body" which was obvious but Mark did not understand why he had been brought here to be told this.

There was no reason to get Mark here because he was not someone who had agreed to these circumstances and he still had no role to play in everything. He was just stuck in this loop of things he did not want to be a part of and it seemed like the others understood it as well.

When the other did not say anything more on the topic, it was clear to Mark that he had to be the one to breach the topic between them.

"So, what does it all have to do with me?" Mark chose to keep his words neutral, not wanting to give anything away while he still had a semblance of control left inside his brain. He could already feel his control beginning to slip away from him and it scared him a bit. 

To be honest, he had expected to find himself inside a dead body or around a dead body long before now. So it wasn't that big of a shock for him to digest his current position and situation. Still, it was a little worrying how at home he felt here near this dead body of the monster. 

"Please don't mind the mess we have lying around here. The previous owner of your core was not that big on cleaning up but he did leave his body behind you as a parting gift. I am just the delivery guy here" Mark felt his brain stop working. 

What exactly did the other say? The previous owner of the core Mark had? Mark did not have a core, he was very much a human. If he had a core then he should have known about it. 

Mark felt his breath picking up in a panic and he knew he was not alright. 

His vision was blurry at those words, his brain short on oxygen and he knew he had to bad. He was not getting proper breath after all and he felt his lungs tighten due to the lack of oxygen they were receiving as a result. 

"Hey, what's wrong? Are you alright? There is no need to panic" No need to panic? There was very much a need to panic for Mark. His whole world had been turned upside-down at those words and then this person he did not even know told him not to panic? Mark had every reason to do so. 

"I don't think I can stop panicking even if I try. The words you said went kinda over my head" Mark saw the other trying to hold his temper in and he felt his temper rise as well. What right, did the other have to feel annoyed? 

But before he could say anything, the other spoke up in a calm and collective voice, the tone flat but caring. 

"You might have his core but you are you. Nothing will bring my friend back to me and I have accepted it long ago. I won't treat you like him but you need to learn how to use his parting gifts to you. I will not allow you to sully his legacy" and all the anger, the hate and the disappointment that had gathered inside Mark drained away at those words.

He was not the only one who felt lost right now, the other seemed to be having a hard time as well and Mark could not add to it. If he had been in the other's position if it had been En's body and his essence that had been inherited by someone else, then Mark might have behaved like this as well.

He could not be the one to call the other out in this situation so he held himself and his temper back with visible effort. He should not snap at the other for reasons he could not control and he should be thankful he was getting an explanation at least.

"When could I have gotten this core? I do not think I know certainly to establish a timeline for the events'' looking back at everything that happened, Mark could not think of a single point in time that could have led to this outcome. 

No, that was not entirely true now, was it? There was one time in his life where he could point it all out and say for a fact that was the definite culprit. The time when they had searched the doms and found the unidentified object. 

"Oh god, it was the bomb beneath the base floor of Luna's room. It was meant for him to find and absorb, wasn't it?" There was no other explanation that made sense. Luna was the protagonist, it was his destiny to absorb that core and then progress to win, not Mark's. 

But then he had come along and messed up everything and now he had the core in place of Luna and it was going to mess everything up badly. He did not even know he had it till now and he had been in possession of it for so long. 

Why did no one say anything about it? Why did Fidi not tell him? Or Vodi? Or even Yun when he had been trying to fool them? No one had taken the liberty to inform him of this shocking revelation and his knees lost their power to hold him up. 

"Are you alright? You look a little pale" The Guardian moved to help him but Mark waved him off. He was not ready to accept that concern from the other just yet. He wanted to gather his thoughts for a little bit before he had to go back and analyze the situation. He was not willing to look at anything else for now. 

"Take your time to absorb this shock. It is one thing we have in abundance but can you absorb my friend's body first? We might have all the time in this world but this body does not'' He had to what? And how? 

Just what had he gotten himself into? 

" I have to do what? And how? I'm a human here, I cannot do all that" Mark was human, 100, no, 1000% human and he did not have the fancy powers the others had. 

He could not absorb a body just like that or on command. Not even if he had been instructed to do so. This was not just anything he could do at will, successor or not. He was not made for it all and he wanted to run away from everything.

"Just put your hand on top of the head, the one behind you and your system should take care of the rest" Mark gave the other a horrified look at those words, not being able to believe what he had heard and the other remained motionless as if he did not know.

But Mark finally put his hands where he had been instructed and waited for something to happen. Nothing did which was not odd but it was disappointing to Mark who had been waiting.

'Hey, so I don't think it is working" and of course his system chose the most inconvenient timing to remind him of its existence as it buzzed up and filled his vision with various screens.

_____________________

Initiating merging protocol….

Installing new driver….

The system is rebooting and rerunning…..

Congratulations to the user on unlocking the core usage….

Shifting space and time for the first time protocol….

_____________________

Everything shifted from around Mark and he was no longer in the place he had been in before.