chapter 23 : Sleeping Beauty

After having expended so much energy and effort to kill his opponent, Mark, noticing that he was no longer moving, dropped him on the ground while drained of his energy, he fell too.

 He had squeezed his opponent's horribly hard neck with so much force that he had broken his arm in three different places.

 Under Mark's strangulation, in his agitation the Viltrumite had also broken 9 ribs, a collarbone and his left fibula.

 He looked at his father in the distance who ended up putting his opponent on the verge of death but as he wanted to rush towards Mark, Lucan who they thought was dead came down violently from the sky, crushing Mark's back with his foot. Nolan while grabbing his own intestines to prevent them from falling through the large wound Nolan had caused to his stomach.

 "Before leaving an opponent for dead, (gasps) make sure he is…(gasps)…" Lucan said before falling into unconsciousness due to fatigue and his injury just like Nolan and Mark.

 While everyone else was unconscious, the seriously injured Viltrumite who was confronting Nolan earlier very poorly used his communicator.

 "It's...done..." he said before passing out.

 Later, Mark woke up on the ground where he saw in time his father being taken away by Viltrumites in futuristic stretchers just like Lucan and the other seriously injured Viltrumite.

 He looked at his father who had regained consciousness and their eyes met.

 Nolan: Mark...

 Mark:…

 "I'm sorry for everything, son. Take care of your…brother and ESPECIALLY read my books…be better than me son…be better than me…" he said giving a meaningful look to Mark who nodded slightly seeing him being taken away.

 As he was about to close his eyes to fall asleep, a man's voice was heard.

 "We bandaged your wounds." Mark looked towards the voice to see an adult Viltrumite with a red bionic eye. It was General Kregg, the leader of the empire's army .

 Mark: Why did you do that?!

 Kregg: kid, you have proven that you are an excellent warrior and valiant member of our race with very great potential, very rare have been the cases where a Viltrumite less than two decades old has been able to defeat an adult over a millennium old , much less a very young hybrid killing a pureblood adult. From now on, you will be your father's replacement on Earth in order to prepare it to join the empire voluntarily or as slaves.

 Mark:…

 Kregg: We know everything about your conflict with your father and we also know that your hostility towards Viltrum is his fault so we're going to let you think and do things for exactly 1000 years on your own because killing you would be a waste of talent. If when we arrive on your planet, nothing is done then you will be captured just like your father and executed.

 He left without waiting for Mark's reaction who looked at him before laughing lightly at the situation before falling back into a deep sleep.

 …

 Exactly three days after his transfer to the GDA in intensive care, Lucas woke up in a bed and a completely white ceiling was his only view because his head had been stabilized with restraints to prevent him from moving it and disturbing the angle of the tube he had in his throat used to give him nutrients.

 As he tried to figure out where he was, he felt some embarrassment on his face. He could see but his vision was not at all complete besides the strange discomfort he had in his right eye, he had not yet realized that he had become one-eyed.

 Feeling something on his right thigh, Lucas gently with his hands removed the tube in his mouth and effortlessly raised his head which broke its bonds to very gently remove the tube in his mouth then sat up a little.

 When he looked ahead, he saw a woman sleeping with her head resting on her lap.

 He recognized Amber sleeping soundly there probably from exhaustion and that was the case since she stayed there watching over him the whole time.

 Lucas looked at her for a while without saying anything, he knew what happened and the memories of his fight with B. Beast were still fresh in his mind.

 "I thought it was for sick people to sleep here and not girls who can't behave in a movie theater" he said calmly and that very second, Amber sat up to look at him as her eyes grew wet, she had prayed to hear that voice again.

 "I...I was really...hungry these days and...Undisputed 4...is a poorly written film" she tried to answer him with a trembling voice, she was on the verge of tears.

 Lucas: (Sighs) Sorry for abandoning you and the others like that.

 "You idiot...you really are a moron...fighting such a monster with your fragile health...IDIOT!" She said rushing towards him to hold him, to touch him, to feel the life in him as she finally burst into tears.

 Lucas: Sorry Amber.

 Amber: We're the ones who are sorry for abandoning you like that Lucas. You were literally buried alive for an entire year alone, hungry and thirsty. We failed you Lucas, we...I feel so bad (crying)

 While he was comforting her, something totally unusual happened, Lucas came into a strong, very strong erection that Amber felt beneath her.

 Lucas:…

 Amber:…

 Lucas: Amber, I swear-(interrupted)

 Amber: I know, maybe it's your body taking over its functions. A bit like your erections when you wake up in the morning.

 Lucas: Experience or documentation?!

 Amber: Both.

 Lucas: I like this frankness about you.

 The door to the room opened a few moments later, it was Deborah and Saeko who brought back some snacks, they had gone to get something to eat but the very second they saw Lucas awake, they dropped their bags to rush towards him.

 Immediately, as soon as he saw his mother, Lucas' involuntary erection went away and he gave Deborah and Saeko a sweet smile.

He didn't even need to move because they moved at superhuman speed to get to him and that surprised him a little, especially for his mother and he understood that Saeko had finally given her the pill .

 "ONII-CHAN(crying)...ONII-CHAN(sobbing)" Saeko screamed coming to him while Amber quickly moved aside to give them space.

 They hugged Lucas as they shook while doing so, while Saeko was screaming about how much she missed her brother, he noticed that Deborah wasn't saying anything, she was completely silent as she was only shaking for that tears were streaming from his eyes.

 Debbie was seeing everything again in that moment, she was seeing every moment of the period of her boy's death in that very moment.

 She remembered Cecil's call, her heart breaking into pieces, the sight of her child's mutilated and lifeless body, Saeko's condition, cleaning and taking care of her body as well as his burial.

 She was praying that this moment was anything but a dream to make these memories come to naught when she heard Lucas calmly tell her "I'm here mom, you never lost me" while his eyes were also in tears.

 She looked up to see him giving her a sad smile and she let go to scream, hugging him even tighter.

 Imagine being the parent of a child who has been sick since birth, seeing him grow up fighting his illness while giving you a lot of affection.

 One day, your child ends up dying and you see his body lifeless, there is no more life in him, no more struggle, he is no longer there.

 The pain, sadness and regrets hammer you for an entire year until he comes back to life and you are told that he was in a deep coma.

 Debbie : My baby, my Lucas…

 Lucas: I'm here mom, things will be better now.

 Debbie : We abandoned you (crying)…we abandoned you (crying)

 Lucas: It's over mom, no one could have predicted that...I don't even know how long I stayed like that.

 Amber: A whole year and a few weeks Lucas.

 "A year..." Lucas murmured quietly as he thought, compared to Clarion's millennia of memories, he had only been like this for a year in his body.

He himself didn't know where he was and had no idea what it was, he just had the impression of watching a film, a very long film that he no longer remembered perfectly.

 "Glad to see you back among us kid, you can't imagine what a relief it is with everything that happened after you left" he was interrupted by Cecil's voice who entered the room with Donald next to him.

 Lucas: Thank you very much Cecil, I know you certainly did your best…

 Cecil: Not enough apparently kid, in the end, you were declared dead too soon and because of that, you were buried alive.

 Donald: We're so sorry Lucas.

 Lucas: It doesn't matter, I'm still a little weak now but everything will be fine with rest, I'll have to count on you.

 Cecil: We will take care of your recovery with the utmost care.

 Saeko: It's okay, you won't need to do that, our family will take care of my big brother and it will be much safer for him.

 Cecil: (Sighs)

 Lucas: Saeko, just like you they couldn't have known about my condition.

 Saeko: That's not it onii-chan, these guys have-(interrupted)

 Deborah: Not now my angel, your brother will know everything in due time but not now.

 Lucas: What happened while I was gone? Where is Mark ? He got away with it, didn't he?

 Deborah : Your brother is alive and he is certainly fine, there are things you need to know, things that have happened behind you but for now, let's not waste this beautiful moment.

 Lucas: Mom, I-(interrupted)

 Amber: Your mother is right, Sleeping Beauty, you will know everything later.

 Lucas: Sleeping Beauty?! Seriously ?!

 He sighed and at that very moment, his stomach growled loudly to show its hunger. This noise made the three women in the room smile but also reassured them of his vitality, Saeko immediately took the food she and Debra brought back to feed him and Amber as Cecil walked out of the room had Donald smiling.