Chapter Fifty One - Affinity

Chapter Song Suggestion "Chimera by ASSALM"

*note : all dialogues like so {example} are spoken from the predator's perspective

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THE PAST | Regis

He heard laughter coming down the hallway and halted in his tracks.

Hesitation was a rare feeling, although he wasn't immune to it, not when making friends. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't bring himself to feel comfortable around the motley peculiars Father collected during their years of amassing allies.

While he knew his place as Father's right-hand was secure, he didn't know how to befriend the individuals who came to live with them. They were all wary of him.

There was Matahari whom Father found a few years after Regis. She was a washed-out whore riddled with disease when Father took her in. He didn't believe it was for any altruistic reasons, but it turned out for the best when Matahari swore her loyalty to Father and awoken her hidden ability.

Then, there was the brash and arrogant Kadmiel. Regis didn't like the young man who enjoyed showing off too much. That one didn't think before he spoke — a complete idiot.

Although, he did feel calmer around the twins — Dragon and Mikana — who were often quiet and kept to themselves. In some way, Regis saw a reflection of himself in those two. He wondered if he was broken inside. When he looked at his allies, Regis felt nothing. In fact, he wouldn't even be upset if any of them died on their missions. He would only be tasked to find a replacement and move on — like he always did.

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PRESENT DAY

Damn it! Was he too late?

Lars surveyed the damage of the lower-level lab, outraged, and nauseated by what he was seeing. Everything inside of him came to a standstill when he discovered Levente's corpse, or at least parts of him. A flood of emotions bombarded him, mainly pity. And it surprised him because he absolutely despised this man who ruined his life and killed so many innocent people. While he did want to kill Levente with his bare hands, he supposed it was pointless now. The villain that hounded his past and present was gone.

He felt bereft...but at the same time, the years of persistent tightness in his chest loosened. Lars filled his lungs to the point of bursting. Finally, the chains of his past were broken despite having no satisfaction — he was close to freedom. There was only one thing left to do and that was to clear his father's name.

His private moment was disturbed by the sounds of garbled, beastly growls alerting him of danger. Pivoting on his heels, he was surrounded by little monsters — the word 'Frankenstein' floated through his head. There was no hesitation when he pulled the trigger, aiming for their heads in a series of synchronized shots. He nearly missed one when it came too close, forcing Lars to cut off its head or brain was a more apt description of the splattered mess on the floor.

He couldn't believe the depravity going on underneath Ataxia all these years. And he had slept right above it. God. His ignorance plagued him with guilt. For all his power, he couldn't save these poor children. It jarred him that this could have been his fate if Mickael had never taken him under his wing.

"Captain, we have a situation." His earpiece buzzed.

"What is it?"

"Veres Falconer has Eira and he's storming Ataxia with the Thrydran," Anaelle reported. "We couldn't contain the apex. It busted a hole through the hub and escaped us."

"That fucker has no weakness! It keeps growing back no matter how much we cut it down, Captain!" He heard Koga shouting in the background.

Lars was fucking tired. How much longer did he have to play this stupid cat and mouse game? He just wanted Eira in his arms again – safe and sound. "I'm on my way."

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She groaned, lids fluttering as she regained consciousness.

"I knew that wouldn't be enough to knock you out," Veres's words floated beside her ear. "I was right about you. You're strong, not like the others."

Immediately, she jack-knifed into a sitting position, palming her swollen nape. "Where am I? What have you done to me?" And why were they swaying?

"I apologize for knocking you out, but you left me no choice."

Her teeth clenched in anger. "I've fulfilled my part of the bargain. You have to let me go."

"I'm afraid I can't do that." Veres bent to her eye-level, gripping her chin between his thumb and forefinger. "You don't even know how precious you are, Eira. The blood that flows through your veins — it is the future of predation."

She frowned. "What are you talking about?"

"I'm going to annihilate every single human being on this earth and create a new world where predators are free to roam, and we will be the apex at the top of the food chain. With our powers to control and communicate with these beasts, there is no reason for us to fear them. We are the superior beings, Eira."

She did a double take, blinking hard. "Have you lost your mind?"

His face was statue stiff, not a trace of humour present. Veres straightened to his full height, staring down his nose at her. "No, Eira. I'm honestly sane. This was the cause I have been dedicated to ever since I became a scientist."

"Did Venetia know about this?" Doubt and accusation in her tone.

"Of course. That look in your eyes calls me a monster. I assure you; I am not. My wife understood my dedication and she encouraged me to chase my dreams. Venetia was my exception. She was my soul mate — the only one who understood me."

Eira couldn't believe it. Venetia Rubart didn't strike her as the kind of woman who would condone to massive killing. "She wouldn't have wanted you to destroy mankind."

"On the contrary, she believed in purging the bad out of the good."

Eira felt a twinge of disappointment. Had Venetia been…criminally insane too? Was her experience of Venetia's memories that shallow?

"Don't look so sad, Eira. You should rejoice for being alive and given a chance to expand my dreams." Veres draped a coat over her body. "You must take care of yourself; you are pregnant after all."

She didn't like the wicked glint in his eye. "Why is my blood so important to you?"

"Because you're just like me," he declared as a matter-of-factly. "Our powers weren't a by-product of Cell. We were born this way, Eira. The entire kill hunter force is made, not born. We are the true original hunters. And so will your child."

Eira didn't feel comfortable discussing her unborn child with him. "Then what about Regis? Where does his powers come from?"

"Cell III is only successful to the host that holds a large amount of our blood."

"But Regis isn't your real son."

"That's true but, I've been transfusing my blood with Cell II into his body since he was a boy. His body has adapted but since he cannot reproduce the same platelets, he will need a dose of my blood every month to sustain his life."

What a horrible way to live, she thought bleakly. "Have you always known?" she demanded. "That I was my father's daughter?"

"Not at first." He was so shameless; he wasn't even going to deny it.

She closed her eyes sickly. "Why did you kill him?"

"Technically, I didn't. It was the clawtail I sent to hunt him down."

"You bastard! And I've been carrying the guilt for years when you are the one responsible for their deaths!"

Veres stared at her – cold and indifferent. "Your father had the power to change the world, but he refused. I couldn't risk him changing his mind one day and challenging my authority."

She gave a bitter laugh. "You killed him based on your senseless insecurity!"

"One always has to be prepared," he countered.

Veres's casual indifference grated on her nerves. He accused Levente of playing God and being depraved but, the Lieutenant General had been the lesser of two evils.

"My God!" she gasped. "And I believed I was doing you a favour, that I sympathized with you, and I felt for you. I must have lost my mind."

"Don't be too hard on yourself. You're a kind soul, and that's the beauty of you."

She blinked in wary disbelief. "You're insane."

"It seems your choice of vocabulary is very narrow." Sarcasm dripped from every syllable.

Eira didn't have the chance to retort when something hit whatever it was they were riding on.

"Eira!" Lars's voice boomed across the distance.

She whirled around, face splitting with relief. "Lars!" He looked magnificently furious on Aeolus's back as he came for her. Who needed a white knight when you had a blood-thirsty warrior?

"Tsk. It seems Kadmiel failed to kill your lover."

An incandescent anger, richer, deeper, more deadly than anything she had ever felt before, fired through her nerve endings. "What did you say? How dare you!"

{Shut up and sit still.}

Horror overwhelmed her as her body obeyed his command. She allowed her eyes to convey her rage and disgust at him. Veres only chuckled with amusement. "You're young, Eira. You will learn obedience. There are many things you still don't understand about predation. Everything related to Cell is within my domain of control. I am indomitable."

She hoped Lars would kill this bastard – painfully and slowly.

"Oh, I do love the bloodlust in your eyes. I think this is the first time I've ever seen you like this."

She couldn't even swear at him.

"Eira!" Lars called out again.

"Your lover is a very tenacious man," Veres brooded unhappily. "Let's see how well he holds up against Naga." To his Thrydran, he ordered. "Naga, kill the hunter."

No! Eira screamed wildly inside.

The Thrydran turned and she watched in horror as the apex deliberately split itself into three. Its original torso consisted of three heads and now each one had its own serpentine body. Eira had never seen a Thrydran in real life, and it was massive, most likely one of the largest apexes ever discovered. Looking at the height they were at, she assumed Naga was twelve meters tall.

Lars fired repeatedly at the serpent, frustration flaring when the Thrydran kept regenerating, each wound faster than the next. What was its weakness? "Anaelle, if you have any information about a Thrydran's weakness, now would be the time to share it."

"I'm working on it, Captain!" she yelled from the other end. "Thrydrans are even rarer than a clawtail. There's almost no record of it at all."

He spotted Koga and Florian pursuing the second torso, their hits were to no avail as well. All of a sudden, Aeolus squawked and banked to a sharp right, avoiding a shower of crystalline liquid. Lars grabbed onto the saddle with his might, or risk falling out of the sky. He noticed some of the liquid had eaten through Aeolus's armour. "Acidic venom."

Before long, the Thrydran melded back into one, its long tongue striking out to sense the air. Lars relied on Aeolus's aerodynamics to avoid getting smacked out of the sky, although he noticed the giant apex was unusually slow and clumsy compared to its individual torsos. The battle prolonged until blood flowed scarlet against the gold of Lars's skin. Getting hit by acid venom was excruciating but the pain paled in comparison with his desperation to safely retrieve Eira.

Patiently, he observed a regular pattern with the Thrydran's timely attack. Every time it separated into three bodies; it would merge back in less than five minutes. That was the only consistent ritual about it.

"Captain, I'm afraid to say this monster is indestructible," Florian's wariness resonated from his earpiece. "Even after bombarding it with grenades it simply regenerates before our eyes."

"There's something I want to test," Lars told the group. "Once the bodies separate, keep the other two busy. I'm going straight for the main body. This apex is deliberately keeping our attention away from its main torso." And he was going to find out why.

"Fuck, I think the Captain's right," Koga responded. "I've been so engrossed with the other torsos, I forgot about the main body. Crafty bastard."

Lars circled the Thrydran while the team split up to distract it. The minute it divided, Lars barked, "Dive, Aeolus! Dive!"

The Gryphon clutched its wings close to its body and dove at the speed of light, giving Lars the momentum he needed to enhance his attack. Maximizing his reaper pressure, Lars didn't hold back and blew out large chunks of the Thrydran's main body, eliciting a vicious roar of pain. Immediately, it melded back into one. Right as the apex's wound knitted before his eyes, Lars saw a vulnerable portion of its beating heart.

Before he could command Aeolus to take him forward, the Gryphon threw him off and he was falling, down…down…down…with his heart in his throat.

"Lars!!!!" He heard Eira's scream of terror.

He experienced a rush of air before he smashed into a warm, supple body with a jolting thud, grunting from the impact. A rumbling purr vibrated against his chest, exuding from Xue Long's back to him. His fingers sank into the predator's feathery neck. "Thank you, Xue Long."

Eira wept. She couldn't help it. Xue Long! How did the dragon make it here? And she saved Lars's life. "Thank God!"

{Master, I'm here.}

Her gaze flickered to Veres whose mouth bracketed with displeasure. Now that Xue Long was here, he couldn't manipulate the dragon like he did with Aeolus. Her spirit regained as Lars steered her trusty predator straight at the Thrydran's heart. Did Lars figure out a way to destroy the apex?

"Regis!" Veres roared ferociously.

Materializing before them on the edge of the Thrydran's head, Regis wielded his reaper for the first time. It was a dual headed lance sword, black as midnight, favouring its master's colouring. She watched in horror as he drew back his arm, attempting to skewer Lars and Xue Long.

"No! Stop it!" Eira shot to her feet and rammed into Regis's side, knocking them both over.

Regis was so stunned; it took him a minute to realize they were freefalling.

"Eira!" Lars cried out, faltering in his ambush.

"Kill the Thrydran!" she screamed, leaving no room for his hesitance. "Do it!"

Cursing loudly, Lars grabbed his pocket blade. "Xue Long, save your master." And then he jumped, digging his knife into the Thrydran's torso to break his fall as gravity dragged him down.

The dragon plummeted and easily caught Eira whose attention riveted to Regis. "Xue Long, save him!"

A complaining rumble greeted her. {Do we have to?}

"Yes, now hurry!"

The dragon released an exaggerated huff and seized Regis by the collar before clumsily tossing him onto her back.

"Are you alright, Regis?" Eira demanded anxiously.

"Why did you save me?" he groaned.

She threw him a harassed glance. "You're seriously asking me this?"

"I tried to kill your lover."

How could she explain her affinity to him? "Shut up and just be grateful you're alive."

From above, Lars attacked the Thrydran's heart, causing the predator to thrash and retaliate in pain. Opening its mouth, it released a shower of acid venom, corroding everything in its path.

"Eira, watch out!" Regis shielded her within the circle of his arms, yelling hoarsely when the acid ate into his flesh, burning off his back and half his torso and face.

"Regis!" she cried in alarm, unable to pull away from his death grip.

As the Thrydran collapsed, Lars whistled for Aeolus, but the predator refused to listen. Left without a choice, he allowed himself to fall a certain distance before sticking his blade back into the predator's flesh, skidding all the way down.

"Captain! Are you alright?" Florian raced towards him.

"I'm fine –"

Thud!

Their heads turned to find the dead body of Regis Ciel, his arms and legs twisted at an odd angle, and his face deformed.

"What the fuck!" Florian swore.

"Regis! No!" Eira landed beside the corpse and fell to her knees, drawing his head into her lap. "You mustn't die!"

"Eira, that's enough." Lars attempted to pull her aside. "He's dead."

"No, he didn't deserve to die," she insisted frantically, her eyes searching wildly for something. They landed on Lars's bloody knife, and she wrestled it from him. "There's still time. I can save him."

"Eira, stop it." Lars knew what she was going to do.

"He saved my life, Lars. I have to try," she pleaded, slicing the veins on her wrist. The blade went a little too deep, causing her to cry out. But she bit back the rest of the pain, forcing Regis to drink her blood. If Veres's blood worked on him, then hers with the added clawtail's regeneration ability would too.

One minute…

Three minutes…

"Eira, I don't think he's going to make it," Florian remarked grievously.

A sharp gasp broke from Regis's lips and fathomless, dark eyes split wide open. His body contorted from the pain of regenerating cells, fire raced under his skin as the injuries closed up and his bones righted themselves.

"Oh, Regis!" Eira exclaimed through a blur of tears. "Thank God, you're alive!"