Chp.18: Written memories

Rhaegal regained consciousness. As usual, he still kept his eyes closed. It was always like this: since he knew he'd be drugged again as soon as they realized he was awake, he tried to remain as motionless as possible.

He didn't have the ability to use his sight, but he still had all his other senses at his disposal. Even if the air in that room was very stale, it still underwent variations depending on the time that passed. Rhaegal had calculated that every time he was drugged he would be unconscious for a little more than six hours. Which was problematic, since anything could have happened at that time. He had tried to find out something more, even just the smallest details, as Haku had asked him, between one moment in which he was sleeping and the next, but unfortunately the time he could spend awake was very little. Strangely, however, his body seemed to have grown heavier, as if he were perpetually tired; Rhaegal assumed this was an effect of the drug, but wasn't quite sure. Even though he slept continuously, it seemed to him that he hadn't rested adequately for days.

However, when he woke up this time, he felt something was different. He felt a sharp pain in his jaw, as if something strong had hit him, and it also seemed to him that he had wounds in the roof of his mouth. He wanted to touch his mouth with a finger, but he couldn't since it would reveal that he was awake, so he used his tongue instead. When he moved it, however, he realized that it was very taut, as if it had been used a lot, but he didn't remember if he ate something.

He touched the spot that hurt, and found a hollow there. He was missing a tooth. Maybe Black Vulture had kicked him while he was passed out? But it was strange… the missing tooth was very close to the throat, in the inner part of the arch, and therefore it would have been very difficult to hit it from the outside. And furthermore the shape of the wound didn't fit this theory... from the fragments of the root it seemed that the blow had not come from the outside, but from the inside, and that something had grabbed the tooth and dragged it away. Something that, judging by the wound, must have been very strong and muscular, but at the same time lacking in bone support like the fingers were.

Realization wasn't long in coming; Rhaegal was somewhat disturbed when he realized that the tooth had been broken by his own tongue. But why? Why had he broken his own tooth? He couldn't remember…a doubt seized him. Why didn't he remember? Maybe he couldn't remember? Maybe he had broken a tooth because of…

His tongue touched the palate and crawled over the wounds. It took him a few minutes to put the pieces together, but in the end it was clear that those wounds were nothing more than letters. Rhaegal realized that the reason he had pulled a tooth was to write in his palate: using his tongue he moved the tooth and carved words. Surely it hadn't been a painless operation, since it still hurt now, so why had he done it? The answer wasn't difficult: because he didn't want Black Vulture to know that he had left a message to himself.

When he could read the first words, his doubts were confirmed. They said 'memory erased'.

They had erased his memory. That discovery shook his mind. Finding out that something had happened that he couldn't remember disturbed Rhaegal to his core. Maybe, he reflected, those six hours of empty time he periodically had weren't drugged moments at all: those holes in his memory were caused by something. Now he understood why his body felt tired: he had never really slept, except for rare moments when he passed out, probably due to the administration of any substance necessary to erase his memory. What had they done to him during those moments that he didn't remember? He kept rubbing his tongue against his roof, reproducing in his mind the wounds he touched and forming letters and words. 'She tortures us,' he read. 'They want to know everything we hide. You've already confessed the army's current location and our destination'

If Rhaegal hadn't been afraid of being discovered, he would have hit himself on the head. So had he given in? Had he revealed some things? No… if they could break it, then surely he would reveal much more. It was more likely that he had simply let certain information slip without meaning to. What a fool that he had been! Luckily he hadn't revealed anything too important... at least in the last torture session. For the previous ones, where had he left nothing written? He couldn't know. He hoped he hadn't let anything slip regarding the fact that the family was much larger than just him and Haku.

He continued to lick the palate and read the last words. 'His mask is an almost unique piece. They made it recently, they couldn't make any more. Only she has it at the moment. I previously carved the invisibility rune while he wasn't looking and used it to alter a rat into a lizard. She didn't recognize the deception'

Rhaegal rejoiced at those words. They were very important and he should have communicated them to Haku immediately. He didn't know how he got that information, but it was likely that just like him, Black Vulture or someone else for her had given himself away. In any case, they were very important. Not only did they demonstrate that few people (perhaps only her) possessed the magical device that allowed one to see through the invisibility rune, but they also gave an idea of ​​how it worked. A rat and a lizard were very different in size and body shape, yet Black Vulture hadn't noticed the difference. This meant that as long as the one being cast on was a living being, she wouldn't see the deception.

Apparently 'sensing the life force' wasn't like sensing the temperature or electric field of living things. They matched the body, so altering the shape would mean having to alter these features as well. Had the mask sensed heat or electricity, Black Vulture would have noticed that the lizard appeared to have the temperature or electric field of a rat. If he hadn't, then it meant that the 'life force' wasn't that different between various living beings.

He didn't understand much, but he was sure that Haku would. He prepared to go back into his avatar; since by now they had understood that he woke up at regular intervals, by now Haku was already being found ready with his avatar's head in his hand to be able to talk to him and make sure he was okay. He was about to activate the connection when a doubt caught him: should he have told Haku about the torture?

Rhaegal had no doubt that the answer, at least for now, was no. If they had known this, Haku, Darbi and all their sisters would have been enraged and probably would have lost their minds, which would have been counterproductive in the current situation. Rhaegal didn't want his family to rush at the king without any plan and get himself captured. No, at the moment everyone had to remain lucid.

They weren't supposed to know anything. Rhaegal decided that he would keep quiet for the moment and continue to assure them all was well; only after he was freed would he reveal the truth, and at that point they would plan their revenge together. But for now it was best for him to remain silent and just relay the information he'd obtained, as he always had.

When he connects to his avatar, as he expected, he found himself in front of Haku who was waiting for him. "Brother, it took you longer than usual. I was starting to worry, is everything okay?" he asked him.

Rhaegal mentally bit his lip, but then he smiled broadly: "Don't worry, brother, everything is fine. I was just engaged in a... longer conversation this time" he answered trying to sound convincing. "I have obtained very useful information. Listen carefully..."

Rhaegal very quickly recounted everything he had discovered, obviously pretending that he had heard it from Black Vulture and not read it on his own palate. When he finished, Haku had become very thoughtful, as usual when he finds himself overwhelmed with a lot of information. "You said she didn't recognize the difference between a lizard and a rat... which means that what her mask sees must be very similar for these two living beings... yet, when she came to capture you, she immediately recognized you... mh... maybe I understood..."

"Explain to me too, please. I'm eager to know how it works" Rhaegal said, who was obviously very curious about it.

"Well brother... I could be wrong, but I think that mask can sense the mana in our hearts, or something like that"

"The mana?"

"Well, not all the mana in our bodies, just what is found in large quantities inside our mana core within our heart. It is possible that when the mana core is flushed and eroded by blood it emits some energy, which newcomers call vital energy"

"Why can't it just be the mana core?"

"Because otherwise the mask would have to sense the mana within the whole circulatory system, and therefore the shape of the body would have to be clear to the user. Instead Black Vulture didn't recognize the difference between a rat and a lizard. I guess what she sees it's just some kind of light or something like that where the mana core is, and so she can tell if a living thing is invisible or not, but she can't see beyond a simple illusion"

"How did you come to this conclusion?"

"Think, brother: Black Vulture immediately understood that you were the invisible one, but she didn't understand that Serengal was an avatar and that the lizard was a rat. What do we have that is different from a simple human body, and what difference doesn't exist between a lizard and a rat? Easy: our mana core. While we still can't use it since we haven't unlocked a domain, our mana core already has far more mana than any other living thing in this world, as evidenced by the powers of our blood. If we assume that Black Vulture sees us as some sort of flashes, then you, Darbi, and our sisters would be like beacons. In contrast, Serengal's avatar had the heart of a normal level adamantium human, and so Black Vulture didn't notice the difference. And a rat and a lizard have very similar mana cores, so she didn't notice that again"

Rhaegal considered. Haku's reasoning made sense after all. This was flattering for them: it meant that at least they could use avatars without risking detection (obviously excluding the case of legendary levels), provided they used mana cores compatible with the aspect they were taking on. And also that such avatars had a functioning circulatory system, so as to erode the mana core and emit the vital energy that Haku believed was produced during this process. "I'll try to use this information to put Black Vulture under pressure" he said. "I won't let her know that we know, but I'll try to make her anxious. If your theory is correct, I'm sure I'll be able to force her to give herself away somehow"

Haku nodded. "Fine. But be careful, I don't want you to endanger yourself" he said. "Is there anything else you want to tell me?"

Rhaegal noticed that Haku looked more worried than usual. Was it possible that he suspected something? Knowing his brother, it was probable. "No, Haku, I don't think I have anything else to tell you. I think I've already told you all the information I've gathered" he answered.

"I see. Good luck, brother" Haku greeted him.

"Good luck you too" Rhaegal replied, and then he severed the connection with the avatar and returned to his true body. Finally, he opened his eyes and revealed to the Black Vulture that he was awake.

The assassin almost looked like she was waiting for him. Rhaegal felt a surge of anger and fury at the sight of her, but his mind remained calm. 'Okay, bitch. Do you want to play interrogation? I do it too!' he thought, preparing himself for a long conversation that, he was sure, wouldn't be painless for him at all.