Unravel(4)

There were sounds of someone talking beside him. It was the sound of murmurings between two people, or maybe three people? Matthias was not very sure.

His head was throbbing like crazy and when he tried opening his eyes, he quickly closed them back due to the onslaught of the bright lights shining down on his very sensitive eyes. He groaned.

"Matthy? Darling, are you awake?" his mother quickly came to his side.

Matthias slowly peeled his eyes open again, and this time his vision was not interrupted by the lights. His father was also there, standing beside his wife with a look of worry written all over his face.

So it was the murmurings of my parents, Matthias thought.

He tried sitting up but a sharp pain shot through his lower body. He shrieked.

"Darling, don't try to move right now. Your injury is quite serious, you may need to lie down for a few days," his mother told him.

"Your mother's right. If we had not found you when we did, it might have been even more serious than this. This is exactly why we don't allow you and Izana to venture out too far," his father added.

Although he knew his father had only meant to say that for his own good, a bubble of irritation was forming inside Matthias. It became larger and larger until he couldn't hold it in anymore and the bubble burst with a deafening roar.

"NO! Why do you never allow me to go anywhere far? I understand if you don't allow me to go to the mainland, but even on this island, why am I so restricted? What is it that I don't know that you both do not want to tell me? Are we criminals? Why am I trapped here?" Matthias shouted.

"Matthy, you know it's dangerous out there…" his mother started.

"No I don't want that bullshit! Tell me the truth! Even Nana and Frie always go to the portside, nothing bad has ever happened to them! So why am I being so sheltered?" His eyes were red as he cried out all of the things that caused his frustrations to his parents.

His father gave him a long look, as if he was contemplating something. Then he gave his wife a look, something the both of them understood but not decipherable for Matthias. Tobias cleared his throat.

"You're right, Matthy. There's something you don't know about our family that I and your mother have been hiding from you. It seems you are old enough now to carry on that burden with us," Tobias said.

Matthias stared at his father without blinking his eyes; he did not make a single sound either as he did not want to miss even one word of his father.

"We are being hunted," Tobias said.

"Huh?!"

"Your father is telling the truth. We are being hunted for our ability," his mother added.

Matthias was speechless. All those days of wondering what would be the great secret of his family that made his parents so anxious about everything, this was not what he had in mind. But when he thought about it, it made sense; their obnoxious anxiety about everything and them not allowing him nor Izana to go anywhere, it was starting to add up. However, that bit about the ability and whatnot, he still was not getting it.

"What do you mean by ability? What's that?"

"Something we are being hunted for," his father told him, "to some, it is deplorable while for some people, it is so magnificent that they hunt our people to have even a shred of that ability. They like to call us Gaurs, it means barbarians."

Matthias stared at his father like he had grown two heads.

"For a long time, our bloodline can control beasts of all kinds. We can share our thoughts with them, link our minds together and even sometimes we can possess them. Since some beasts always wreak havoc on lands, people were looking for places to put the blame and that's when they came to the conclusion that people like us were better off dead," Tobias said.

"When you say beasts, you mean the ones in fairy tales the hero always defeats in the end? The ones called Seds?"

"Yes, we can also control those, but we usually avoid them. They can corrupt our minds. The ones we usually control are the ones with divinity, they are called Noltes. They are not like Seds, they are timid and they do not like showing themselves in front of humans. We usually have to coax them even for just a little bit of their help." Tobias explained to Matthias.

"Then what about the one I saw in the forest? That did not look so divine. Was it a Sed? What happened to that one? It was acting all strange when he licked my wound, like it was crying or something." Matthias shuddered just from the memory of it.

"That one was Sed," his mother answered him. "I go to the forest to hunt them, that's why I usually disappear there for weeks on end. I heard you calling for me when I was searching for Seds, but when I arrived, you were already unconscious. However, the Sed must have sensed the aura of my beast even before I arrived there, that must be why it was whimpering."

Rebek's hands were trembling. The sight of her son almost getting eaten by a Sed must have done great damage to her.

"I see, I think I understand now," Matthias told them, he could see his parents' face relaxing from relief. "But!" he added, "I still don't understand why the both of you just decided the best course of action was to hide me from the rest of the world. Why did you never think to, you know, just teach me the ability so I can protect myself?"

"It's not that we don't want to, you know we would be glad if you can learn to protect yourself. But this ability of ours just cannot be simply learned, you have to awaken on your own first," Rebek was trying to explain to her son who was looking so hurt that they decided to keep all this information from him.

"And how am I going to do that?" Matthias asked in a soft voice.

"If a Nolte ever approaches you, that's when you will get your awakening. You just have to hope one will like you enough to come and make a visit," Tobias replied.

"Are they horrendous like that Sed?"

"No," Rebek gently laughed. "Noltes are almost non-distinguishable from normal animals. If you don't look hard, you will never notice them. But if one ever approaches you, it will make itself known."

"I see," Matthias said, his voice low.

"Rest a bit for now. When you get better, your mother and I will teach you all the things you need to know," Tobias said, and both he and his wife left Matthias' room.