Chapter 17: Decisions... Decisions

"What was that back there?" Sebastian asked, face to face once more with his reflection in the dark void he's now accepted as his mental zone.

"It wasn't anything special, I simply activated the black blood cells that were lying dormant in your body," he responded, his eyes disrespectfully shifting over to the right as he constantly shifted his weight from foot to foot, "I would really appreciate a 'thank you' though... If you're capable of saying such things that is."

"Yeah, thanks for making me win the fight, but I don't want this!" Sebastian yelled, his hands responding with the tone of his voice, showing his discomfort with the situation he was currently facing.

He took a deep breath, attempting to calm the incoming mental breakdown as the images of him killing his own parents flashed continuously in his head as if they were reeled up in a rapid slideshow. He held his head and stooped down to a fetal position, trying his best to suppress the incoming tears.

"I... can't become a monster," he whimpered.

The alternate version of himself stooped before him, gently flicking his index finger against the temple of Sebastian's head. "You're freaking out for no reason. You're not a monster, so stop crying to yourself as if you are."

"What am I then?" Sebastian asked, looking up from the hands that covered his face before brushing his hair back and taking in another deep breath.

"You're you, and nothing but you," he responded, resting his hand against Sebastian's head, "If you want to call anyone a monster, call me that, and keep living as you."

"But... the vampiric cells-"

"Are yours to borrow," he smiled, "Okay? Think of it as you borrowing my powers and traits, simple as that."

Sebastian got up from his crouched position, rubbing his left arm as he stared over at himself, "And what of you?... What exactly are you and why are you here?... Why does this place exist?"

"Woah there," he chuckled, "You got a lot of questions, and I don't blame you for that, but one thing at a time please."

He gently pushed against Sebastian's chest, somehow increasing the distance between them despite there being no movement from either party.

"I'll be sure to answer all your questions and more, once you've mastered the gift I left you okay?"

With that, suddenly Sebastian was no longer in the dark space of his head and was now in the blurred mess that he'd assume was his room. He sat up in his bed, rubbing his eyes slowly as he waited for his sight to fix itself and allow for his surroundings to be seen. He blinked a few times, which got the job done just fine, placing him face to face with his reflection in the mirror the moment he looked up.

"What... happened?" he asked himself, expecting an answer from his reflection, but received none.

He held the temple of his head, which stung ever so slightly for some reason as he attempted to recall anything that took place in his mental zone. He remembered speaking to himself, but what were they talking about? That question lingered in his head, confusing as snippets of imagery flashed in his head. He remembered that they spoke, he remembered being on the floor, he remembered drifting away... But nothing else.

"That's... strange," he whispered to himself just before a strange sound disturbed his thought process.

To others, having someone knock on your door would be considered normal, but to Sebastian, that was a rare occurrence, thus making it a strange sound from his point of view. He got up and wearily approached the door, his posture and movement confirming that he was on guard, preparing himself for the worst.

"Come on Sebastian, open the door, I don't have all day!" Nana Moe's voice barked from the other side of the door.

Upon hearing who it was, Sebastian stumbled as he quickly made his way to the door, pulling it open to greet Moe with a nervous smile.

"What are you doing here? Is there a problem?" he asked, leaning against the door frame as he scanned around, taking notice of both Dr, Ai and Uriel who stood directly behind Moe.

"I just want to see something boy, so it's best you don't waste my time," she responded, looking up at him through her thin eyelashes.

There was a moment of silence as they stared at each other, a tension formed in the air forcing Uriel to shift his weight to his left foot in pure discomfort just before he cleared his throat to break the eery silence.

"So are you going to let me in?" Moe asked, thrusting her hand forward to signal her intent of stepping past him.

"Oh, yeah, that," he responded, stumbling once more as he moved away from the door, allowing all three of them inside his room.

Despite the room having more than enough space to house them all at once, Sebastian felt as though he was being suffocated being forced to accommodate three people at a time due to him only having one person at a time, with two being the max that's only occurred once. Ai and Uriel shifted to the sides, giving sufficient space for Sebastian and Moe to move around as they please.

"Did you really have to bring the guards with you?" Sebastian asked in a playful manner.

Moe rolled her eyes as she folded her arms underneath her breasts.

"I only asked Ai to accompany me, Uriel is here for other reasons that I am clueless about," she said rather quickly, stepping closer to Sebastian.

"So what are you here for?" he asked, attempting to step back, but ended up bumping into the dresser that was beside his bed.

Moe gave no answer but only stared deeply into his eyes, narrowing her own as if she was peering into his soul and staring at all his misdeeds.

"That's... strange..." she muttered, glancing over to Ai.

"What's strange?" Sebastian asked, utterly confused.

"During the fight, when your chaos, er... your abilities... made themselves known, it had a speed type nature which can be found under the main Chronos branch of chaotic natures. Usually, after a vampire's or witch's powers show themselves, it would be impossible to hide their natures unless you gained years of experience in doing so. That being the case, knowing how much you failed to use the Chaos Cores in training, I doubt you'd had such an ability, so please tell me, why is it I can no longer see the nature of your ability?"

"How should I know? I'm just as lost as you are!" Sebastian shrugged, glancing over at Ai and Uriel who were simply listening in the background up until this point.

"You wouldn't mind coming to the lab every now and then for us to run some tests on you, would you?" he asked, his fingers resting on his chin as if he was deep in thought.

"Uh, s-"

Before he was capable of answering, Uriel's booming voice interrupted him, seemingly announcing his presence and answering Ai's question at the same time, "Unfortunately, he won't be allowed to take part in such actions."

"And why not?" all three of them asked in unison, all of their gazes now turned toward Uriel who stood the closes to the door, his arms folded as he smiled brightly as though he was proud of himself.

"Unfortunately I can't disclose such private information in such a... Compromising place... So if you'd kindly follow me," he said, gesturing to the door with his arms.

"And where are we going exactly?" Sebastian asked, somewhat skeptical of what Uriel is asking for.

"Don't worry, you can trust me, kid. I'm just taking you to the supervisor's office... We should be able to speak freely there."

<Chapter 17: End>