81 Ebony Crystal

Damien slowly opened his eyes. He found that he was in the fetal position. He could also feel that his eyes and cheeks were wet. He wiped his face as he stood up slowly. Things were a little hazy as he tried his best to concentrate. Where was he? How did he get here? As he looked around, he saw that he was in a pitch black room. As he looked around his head began to hurt. He saw flashes of a battle. Seth and Lucian. Hyosuke. Ryouma. Arata. He then remembered feeling an overwhelming rage consuming him. His Demonic power running rampant. His eyes went wide, fearing the damage he may have caused.

"Master Hyosuke!? Young Master Arata?! Ryouma?!"

As the fear of what he had done and where he is began to overwhelm him, he heard a voice speak to him.

"Calm down, Damien."

Damien recognised the voice as he spun around, trying to find where it came from.

"Arata? W-where are you? Where are w-we?"

Damien felt a warmth come from his hand. Damien felt that Arata was smiling. It was a strange sensation.

"Just stay calm. Tell me, what is the last thing you remember?"

Damien was still a little panicky as he didn't know what was going on, but he trusted Arata and tried to calm down. He closed his eyes and tried to concentrate. He remembered that he was overwhelmed by the Demonic Spirits. His Energy was running wild as the Energy around him and within him were resonating powerfully. He remembered fighting with Hyosuke, Ryouma and Arata.

"I-I remember that we fought. Master Hyosuke tried to restrain me. And then you charged at me. I remember a piercing pain in my arm and then everything went blank. You were yelling something though. Something about a Shadow Tri...."

Damien gasped. Hyosuke had explained the Shadow Trials to him. What they involved and what they meant to the Clan. Was this his Shadow Trial? He began to panic as he opened his eyes. He was still in a room full of darkness, but now he had a guess of where he was and he began to freak out. Damien began hyperventilating as he looked around. Although it was just a dark room, he knew exactly where he was.

"No no no no no no no....not here..."

Arata could feel the panic and the fear within Damien rising.

"Damien! Calm down. Talk to me. Where are we?"

Damien began stuttering and mumbling uncontrollably, Arata couldn't understand what he was saying. Before Arata could get anything out of Damien, they heard a small whimper from the side of them. Damien went silent, his face went pale. He slowly turned his head to face the direction the noise came from. Although it was still pitch black, Damien, and Arata within him, could make out a small toddler on the ground in the corner of the room. He was curled up in the fetal position and quietly sobbing. Damien didn't want to look at him, yet he couldn't look away. He felt sick to his stomach looking at the crying toddler before him. Arata sighed softly.

"How old are you?"

Damien blinked, water gathering in his eyes.

"I s-still I have t-tears to cry, so this was probably when I-I-I was 3 and a half. I'm not crying as loudly, so this wasn't the first time. I learned that I would have to stay longer if I cried....."

Damien slowly gained a rhythm as he spoke. He seemed to be getting pulled into the past as he looked over the young version of himself. Arata spoke in his head.

"What is this place?"

Damien twitched. He tried to swallow his spit, but found that his mouth was dry. His eyes locked on to the crying toddler, he explained.

"Since I was born, my Demonic Energy would explode out of me, attacking and hurting anyone around me. At first my Clan tried to help me control it, they tried to teach me to control it. But I was a baby. I couldn't. Yet the amount of damage I was causing was too much for the Clan to handle. So they made this room. When I would act up, they would throw me in here. When they thought I was going to act up, they would throw me in here. Until I was completely silent or, to their preference, unconscious, they would leave me in here. My power would be restricted to the room. It would occasionally lash out, rebound off of the barriers in the room and slam into myself. There were times where I would leave bloodied and torn up. Many times I thought it would just be easier if I weren't....."

Damien fell silent. The sobbing echoed quietly in the room. Damien was doing his best to hold himself together, but his arms were visibly shaking. His fists were clenched so tightly that his fingernails were digging into his skin. Damien closed eyes, not wanting to look anymore. Tears falling through his grasp as they rolled down his cheeks. He breathed in and out shakily.

"But the Elders in the Clan saw me as a powerful asset to trade when I was older. They understood my power and were waiting to sell me off as a weapon. However, they never got the chance to do so."

"Why?"

Before Damien could answer Arata's question, they could here voices outside of the door.

"I don't give a damn what you assholes think. He is not a thing. He is a baby. MY baby. Now get off me."

Sounds of a struggle could be heard outside of the room. The door was thrown open and a small woman walked inside. She had pale skin and was incredibly skinny. She looked delicate and frail, and slightly unwell yet still beautiful. But her eyes were full of life and fire. She exuded an extremely charismatic and alluring aura despite her weak body. She glanced over to Damien, her eyes softening for a moment, before burning furiously at the men behind her.

"You sons of bitches! I'll kill every one of you bastards!"

"Calm down, Lady Valeria. Please think of your health."

The woman turned with a powerful glare, the soldier seemed to shrink in size at her fierce look.

"My health? You should be worrying about your own damn health. With my son in this state, I'm looking to have someone take his place to vent my anger. Now help him up before I beat the shit out of all of you!"

The guards cowered before the woman as the scurried inside. They hesitated momentarily when the approached the young toddler on the floor. He was covered in scratches and cuts, his clothes were in tatters and he was covered in dried blood. Damien looked down at himself with a mixture of emotions. As the men helped toddler Damien up, Damien turned away to look at his mother. But as he did, the room around them changed and they were now in a large bedroom. The walls had beautiful patterns etched into it, which contrasted with the mess within the room. There were clothes here and there and a broken table that seemed to have been recently crushed by a large object or person. On the large queen size bed, toddler Damien was lying down with Lady Valeria sitting beside him, using a wet cloth to clean his wounds. Her eyes full of both anger and worry. But mostly care as she gazed lovingly at her son.

"Those shady, old fogeys are always scheming and treating my baby like an animal. A piece of property! They forget their place and who they're messing with. They...."

Lady Valeria's face was turning slightly red as she was trying to think of words but was too angry to speak properly. After a while, her features softened and she sighed, stroking the cheek of her sleeping son.

"I'm sorry, my son. You were cursed to be born into this Clan because of me. I promise, if it is the last thing I do, I'll get you out of the awful place."

Damien's eyes began to water as he walked towards his mother. He reached out and was stopped by a barrier of some kind. They were so close, and yet so far. Damien felt the distance torturing himself. Arata felt the waves of Damien's emotions and sighed.

"She loved you. Immensely."

Damien nodded silently.

"She had a gentle Energy that would calm the Energy within me. As long as she was around, my power was under control. Even though it wasn't always the case, and my power would sometimes lash out at her, she brushed it off and said it was fine. She did everything she could to make me feel normal. She loved me. She was the only one that ever did."

As Arata silently listened, he sensed Damien remembering something. Arata then felt a hatred burning within Damien, instinctively he turned to the door, his gaze filled with rage now. Footsteps could be heard approaching the door before it burst open. A man wearing a military uniform entered. He was a large and muscular man, he short hair and scruff on his face. He had brown eyes filled with disdain as he walked towards Valeria and Damien.

"Woman! You have interfered for the last time!"

Valeria faced with a look of anger.

"Interfered? I call this raising my child. Something that you should try sometime, you pathetic excuse of a man. If you weren't such a pushover, our son wouldn't be treated like an experiment by those old bastards!"

The man frowned angrily as he approached her. Damien trued to block the way but was repelled by the barrier again. He grabbed her by the arm and pulled her close.

"Watch your tongue! It is property of the Clan. The Elders can use their property however they see fit for the benefit and future of the Clan."

Valeria pulled her arm out of his grasp, yelling at the man aggressively.

"He is not an it! He has a name! He is not the property of you or this sick Clan. He is a child that deserves more than this. And if you were a real man, you would want the same for your son."

A loud slapping sound was heard as Valeria landed on the bed, her hand on her cheek. The man stared angrily over her.

"He is not my son! He is not a child! He is a monster! A Demon that the Clan must either control or vanquish. Frankly, I think we should just hurry up and rid the world of this filth."

Valeria slowly sat up, a mixture of anger and sadness swirled in her slightly watery eyes. The man flinched for a moment, before harrumphing and turning around, flicking his cape around him. He walked out of the room quickly, slamming the door behind him. The instant he left, Valeria came and lay with Damien, curling around him like she was trying to protect him. Tears slowly flowed down her cheeks as she whispered to Damien.

"I'll get you out of here if it's the last thing I do."

Damien's hands were shaking as rage consumed him. Every fibre of his being was screaming for blood. The blood of that man. Arata felt anger swelling within him, also, as he watched everything play out. Damien growled as the world around them pulsed, reacting from Damien's emotions.

"He refused to see me as his son, which is fine. I refused to see that person as a father. I refuse to see him as human. He's the real beast."

Arata silently agreed as he felt Damien's emotions permeating through him. Arata spoke within Damien.

"So what happened next? How were you exiled from the Clan? How did your mother get you out?"

Damien calmed down slowly as he turned back to his mother crying, cuddling the younger him.

"My mother and I killed the Clan Elders."