A Second Chance (1)

Humans... No matter how perfect they try to be, they are always prone to making mistakes... Grey wasn't any different. After the death of his wife, he has tried his best to be the perfect father for his son, but now, after finding out that Ray has killed people once again trying to defend himself, he wonders if he is on the right track.

Although he wanted to deny it in his heart... Ray was turning out exactly like him.

"Mother... You know... Sometimes I feel so lost... The questions you asked me that day... I ask them to myself. I don't know their answers anymore..." Grey said to himself while lying down on the sofa with a cigarette in his right hand.

"Would a pie be enough to solve that problem, Master Grey?" Alfred asked as he walked in with a plate of pie in his right hand and a couple of small white plates to serve it in his left hand.

"Likely not; sit down, please," Grey requested, straightening his posture. "Alfred, you have a lot of experience as a father, yes? You practically raised our whole bloodline... How do you scold someone when they didn't do anything wrong?"

"You don't," Alfred answered, laying the pie on the table and serving a piece of it on the small white plate to Grey before sitting down on his right sofa. "You need to have a talk with them, you would be surprised at how many things a simple talk can solve."

"Then why did... Father avoid me after I gave up my powers for Thomas?" Grey asked, his eyes fell on the floor.

"... He was scared. He didn't want to see you suffer like a human, grow old, or be shunned by the metahumans. However, I think that in doing so... He failed you as a father," Alfred heaved a sigh. "No matter how old and experienced you get, you can never be perfect at everything. I might be a good father but I will never be the best father as I can never have children of my own."

"It must be painful."

"Not anymore, Mother took it away from me. Now I feel that it is better this way... I am not strong enough to watch my children pass away one by one as I live on," Alfred lamented. "... By any chance did they target the young master again?"

"... They did; Lyrien told me that he will start working from tomorrow, so it wouldn't be a problem anymore because they would be so busy dealing with their own problems that they won't have time to target Ray," Grey explained, taking a bite off from the apple pie in his hand.

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Allen Family Manor

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Laboratory

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While discussions about the life of the young boy went on in his absence, Ray was running experiments of his own with a few test tubes on the desk and a diary by his left side.

In the diary, there was a step-by-step formula for a medicine which he named Sangraphen.

"Bloodlust control... I don't think the name of the medicine fits its description," Ray stated, pouring a small amount of chemical in the test tube in his left hand.

"I am bad at naming things unless you have a better idea. We have to make do with this, and moreover... Do you think a bunch of low-life thugs would care about the name of the medicine we feed them? They would be overjoyed after learning that they can control their bloodlust with this. I just hope they don't do something stupid like trying to capture us," Moriarty replied, projecting a perfect copy of the vessel.

In the short amount of time after their awakening, Moriarty had already mastered his mana control to a certain level while Ray completely focused on their plans and ran experiments on their vessel and "discovered" some formulas in his clouded mind which could prove useful to them.

Currently, they are trying to create a medicine that can control the bloodlust of a person. This was a medicine that would be discovered after ten years in the novel but they weren't afraid of changing the timeline anymore.

"Last time we messed up with the timeline because uncle didn't lose his rationality after the only people he considered his family survived. So if we just follow along with his route to fix the gaps, then everything will slowly return to normal," Ray explained, setting his eyes on the test tube in his left hand, which contained the finished product while setting aside the rest. "And for that, we need to divert from the path even more before taking a turn back."

***

Ray's perspective:

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Warwick Family Manor

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Elmond's Office

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I came to visit Elmond through the underground tunnel that connected the main family manor of the Allens with the branch family manors. Other than Alfred, I didn't tell anyone about my visit here because I trusted him enough to keep a secret.

The reason, I visited Elmond and not Lyrien was because Lyrien always reported to Uncle no matter how much unruly he was. However, Elmond didn't know that; he, on the other hand, wasn't like Lyrien and kept a few secrets. This is why I visited Elmond first to make it seem like Lyrien was my backup option, someone who would be ready for an adventure at any moment to obtain leverage over him.

The office was a quiet, imposing space. A large oak desk sat in the centre, its surface nearly empty except for a cup of tea and a few neatly stacked papers. Behind it, a tall bookshelf lined with old books and family records stretched to the ceiling. On one side of the table sat Elmond with his back against the window, looking at me, who was sitting in front of him, with a stern gaze.

"With all due respect, young master, I can't comply with your request. Not that I disagree with your idea, I understand why you see a need to create a security squad for yourself, and I will be more than happy to lend a few trustworthy people for it, but is there really a need for you to visit the underworld for it?" Elmond tried to reason with me.

"Uncle Elmond, do you know the number of people who have been falsely accused as criminals, misunderstood and turned into scrap goats for someone else? In our world, there are 805.3 crore people who would do anything for a second chance at redemption. Even in our city, which I don't know why is still called the safest city in this world, there were 1034 such cases within the last five years!" I explained, tapping the table lightly with my right index while looking into his eyes.

"But the Smith brothers? Those monsters have uncontrollable bloodlust, they might even attack you when they transform. Please reconsider your decision, young master," Elmond pleaded.

"I guess you are not the only seer in our family any more," I smiled, taking out the test tube from the inner pocket of the coat I was wearing. "This is called Sangraphen, it can control the bloodlust of a person, bringing it down to a level where that person can perfectly control their bloodlust no matter how strong it is."

"Have you tested it?" Elmond asked, surprised by my words.

"Not yet... But we could use the Smith brothers as test subjects," I stated, putting it back in my coat, which disappointed Elmond.

If his words are true... Then this would be a groundbreaking discovery... With this single product... The Allens would surpass the Tempest family in a single night! But taking young master to the underworld... Elmond fell in doubt; at this point, he didn't know what to do.

On one side was his young master's great achievement, which could take their family to heights it had never reached before with a small demand and on the other was an empty path which didn't have a beginning nor an end.

"Sigh... I guess it was too much to ask of you, never mind, I will ask Lyrien," I stood up from my seat as he was rubbing his temple.

"... Fine, I will take you there, young master... Phew... Just... Don't wish to go back there if your plan fails and they try to attack us," Elmond accepted the offer, heaving a sigh.

"Of course, that's a given," I replied, smiling happily.