CHAPTER 2: LOST LIGHT (2)

Claude closed his eyes gently, preparing himself to take on the finishing blow that, surprisingly, never came.

One breath, two breaths. That was all that he needed to realize that he was still alive, somehow.

Slowly, his eyelids fluttered open, and in front of him was a familiar black hoodie that he knew all too well.

"...Lucius?" His trembling voice called out.

He immediately reached out to touch the black hoodie that was the exact same model as his little brother's favourite hoodie. How could he possibly forget the hoodie that he personally handpicked for his little brother's birthday? Seeing the same hoodie again, he couldn't help but think that perhaps he was finally in the afterlife, reunited with his light again.

"Move aside, you fool!"

'BAM!'

"Ugh--!" Claude grimaced as an unfamiliar voice yelled at him and shoved him aside hard enough for him to be sent flying a few meters to his right.

"Why the hell were you just standing there!? I swear, I'm going to quit this job one day--" The new voice said with an obviously annoyed tone.

"You... Who are you? You're not Lucius..." Claude asked as he felt his heart sank.

The man in front of him was indeed wearing the same black hoodie his brother used to wear. But, everything else about him was different.

Instead of the same coffee-coloured hair that tied him to his brother, the man's hair was as dark as the sky above them. And the eyes that were glaring daggers at him shone like the yellow morning sun, instead of his brother's red eyes that had always reminded him of fire, of hell. His brother really was his heaven and hell on earth.

"Lucius? You know him?" The man raised an eyebrow upon hearing Claude's words.

"What? I should be the one asking that question..." Claude said as his eyes started to widen and his mind raced. In a matter of seconds, countless faces and names flashed through his mind as he tried to remember who the man in front of him was.

'ROARR!'

"Tch. Let's take care of this one first before we talk." The man clicked his tongue and pulled out a... Butter knife?

"What--" Claude gasped.

"Awakened Pact: Glutton's Instruments." He slid his palm over the blunt edge of the butter knife, and in a flash, it went from a mere 20 cm-ish butter knife to a long, 70 cm sword that resembled the ones that samurais often used in movies.

Claude observed the scene that was unfolding in front of him with a mix of awe and confusion. He had been familiar with the 'lurker' news that had been going around ever since he was a crawling baby, but this was his first direct encounter with one.

'SLASH!'

With one swift strike, the lurker was split into two, with a perfectly clean cut going from the top of its head to its nether region.

'THUD!'

Not even having the chance to scream, the body plopped on the ground before slowly disintegrating into a cloud of black smoke, leaving only a small, shiny black crystal laying on the floor, surrounded by the victim's torn clothing around it.

"May you rest in peace." The man said as he swung his sword sideways and in a blink of an eye, the long and slender weapon was reduced to a plain butter knife yet again.

"...How did you do that?" Claude muttered in disbelief as he eyed the strange man in front of him from head to toe.

"I'm surprised you didn't know how, seeing that you know Lucius." The man frowned at him and tucked his butter knife into his sweater pocket.

"What does Lucius have to do with all of this? Are you talking about a different Lucius?" Claude questioned. Even though the name Lucius was pretty rare around here to the point that he had never met anyone else with that name, but it still was a possibility, right?

"Lucius Moran. That's the man I'm looking for. Do you know him?" The man approached Claude and glared intently at him.

"Yeah, that's my little brother... But I didn't know he had a friend, much less involved in this whole mess. He was always a sickly child, he couldn't even leave his bed for long." Claude explained, looking sadder with each word that escaped his mouth. For some reason, talking about Lucius only made his death feels more 'real'.

"Your little--!" The man flinched, and his eyes grew wide in shock. He immediately took out his smartphone and browsed through his gallery until he found a picture of a smiling red-eyed boy.

He glanced back and forth between the picture and Claude, as his mind started to check Claude's whole appearance, starting from the same coffee-colored hair, same fair glossy skin, same nose, same plump lips, just with a different eye shape and eye color. Claude was basically the carbon copy of the boy in his phone, just with different eyes and more chiseled jaw and body, basically more mature. And also, Claude's hair was definitely messier.

"What are you looking at?" Claude raised a brow in confusion. He didn't expect the man's reaction to be that strong. Who was he, anyway?

After clearing his throat, the man calmed himself down and said, "I see. You must be the big brother he told us about. You're a spitting image of him, and yet..." The man leaned closer on Claude as his lips parted slowly, "...you know nothing about your little brother, don't you?"

His words came out as cold as ice, prickling the young doctor's already broken heart.

Claude's brow knitted into a frown when he was accused of not knowing his brother well, "I've been looking after him for as long as I could remember. Don't act like you know us."

"For as long as you could remember? What, since like 10 years old?" The man snickered.

"What-- how did you know about my memory loss?" Claude held his breath and took a single step backwards in shock.

"Lucius told us about you... Well, only a little bit, I guess. He didn't mention that you're literally blind to pacts." The man scratched his head in frustration.

"He told you? But he rarely got out of his bed, much less the hospital... Are you his friend? But he didn't have a friend, too. A hospital staff, maybe? But I've never seen you for the entire 5 years I've worked here." Claude said as he barraged the man with questions.

The man let out a long, deep sigh, "honestly, I doubted you at first because how could someone ask weak as you, without a pact, be Lucius' brother? But after seeing your nonexistent knowledge of your brother, and your spitting image of him, I suppose I have no other choice than to accept the fact that you're his real brother..."

Claude tightened his fists, and felt his anger started to swell up inside him, but he refrained from letting his emotions get the best of him.

"Who even are you to Lucius? And what do you mean by pact?" Claude asked with a little hint of anger in his voice, but also a little crack. This time, sadness started to peek when he realized that someone knew a side of Lucius that he, Lucius' big brother, didn't know.

"I'm Ajax, his co-worker, I guess. Or was, now that he's dead." The man replied him, finally giving a bit of clarity towards the situation.

Claude bit his lip upon hearing the words 'he's dead'. He knew, but he still didn't want to know.

"Lucius didn't have a job." He muttered the only thing his brain could think of at the moment.

"He did. He was our comrade and a member of The Lurker Executioner."