The Beacon Born

xxx

‘Are you serious?’ Cuma wrote, using a pen held with his tail.

‘The paperwork is your job. I only took over for you in your absence,’ Cek wrote.

‘You’re insane, what will the people think seeing a snake sitting in the Royal Office!’

‘The same thing they always think.’

Cuma dropped his pen after reading Cek’s last message.

‘King Cek! King Cek!’ one of the maids said coming into the office, ‘the baby, I think there’s something wrong with him!’

Cek followed the woman out of the office, thinking; ‘good thing he can’t hear. Last thing we need is a worrying Cuma.’

‘Watch,’ she said as they entered the small room designated for Igni’s care. She put a long-sleeved shirt on the child.

Cek turned his head to the woman, although showing not the slightest sign of the confusion he had.

‘Just wait a minute,’ she said, crossing her arms.

After a few seconds, Igni started crying and moving his arms.

‘Feed him,’ Cek said.

‘We already did, keep watching.’

Igni moved his hands towards his chest, attempting to grab folds of the shirt he was wearing. Cek came closer, admitting that something odd was going on.

Igni gave a high-pitched shout and ripped the shirt, tearing a hole on the middle of his chest, continuing to shred the shirt until it fell off his body.

‘We tried giving him different sizes, but he rips those, too!’ the woman said.

‘Unk.’

‘Yes, father,’ Unk said from behind Cek.

‘What! How… how long have you been standing there!’ the woman said, startled.

‘I just arrived, ma’am,’ Unk responded.

‘Does this kid wait on standby or something…’ the woman thought.

‘Go get Igniculus your baby clothes,’ Cek ordered, sending his son off.

‘He’ll just destroy those too, though!’ she said.

‘Unk’s clothes are studier than average, let’s see if those withstand his abnormal strength.’

‘Maybe we should just keep him naked for a while…’

‘It’s important to take care of these habits early,’ Cek said, ‘besides, the sun would hurt the child’s skin. We’ll teach him to control his body temperature when he gets older, until then, let’s keep him covered.’

‘Y-yes, my Lord.’

As Cek walked out of the bedroom, he saw Yaş waiting outside with Su.

‘Problems?’ Yaş asked, ‘if it isn’t too crowded, I’d like Su to see little Igni.’

‘Unk is working on it,’ Cek said, continuing onward.

‘What are you going to do?’ Yaş asked after him.

‘Don’t worry about it,’ he said.

‘Pff, whatever.’

xxx

‘That took way longer than I expected,’ Petror, the lead architect of Ryut, said to himself as he walked to the 11th house on 4th street. ‘Don’t think daddy will make it in time for the cake,’ he thought with a sigh, climbing the ladder on the side of the house.

As he reached the roof, the sun shone in his eyes, making him unable to clearly see a crouched man a few feet away.

‘Hey! Who are you!?’ he asked, blocking the sun with his hand. A chill went through his spine as he realized who it was.

‘K-K-King Cek!? I’m so sorry, my Lord. I didn’t know it was you!’ he said, kneeling on the side of the roof.

Cek turned to look at him, turning back without saying a word. He picked a nail out of a wooden box next to him and hammered it down with his fist.

‘King Cek?’ Petror asked.

‘Get to work,’ Cek said bluntly.

Understanding what was going on, tears of Yu rose from Petror’s eyes. ‘We have tools,’ he said.

‘When you train your body hard enough, the only tools you need are always with you,’ Cek said, hitting another nail in.

xxx

‘Cute, right, little Igniculus,’ Yaş said.

‘I guess. So, he’s the last piece?’ Su replied.

‘Probably not the last, but still a big one. He needs to grow, though, before we head to the promised land.’

‘He’s just like any other baby,’ Su said, puckering his lips.

‘What were you expecting? Do you want him to shit out rainbows?’

‘No, of course not, but since he’s a beacon child, I expected… something,’ Su said.

‘We don’t know a lot about children born with beacons, since they are so rare. They tend to be strong, though, really strong.’

Su’s face dropped as he heard his master’s words.

‘I know what you’re thinking,’ Yaş said.

‘I know, that’s probably why you brought me here…’ Su replied.

‘There is no reason to be jealous or discouraged. The beacon is merely a guarantee of strength, not a guarantee of greatness.’

‘I don’t understand.’

‘This child will be strong, since there has never been a weak beacon child, but that doesn’t mean that those who didn’t come with beacons will always be weaker.’

‘I’m worried,’ Su said. ‘I’m worried that after all my training, I’ll have to watch Igniculus grow and ultimately surpass me, even though I’ll be training harder than him.’

‘That possibility exists, but it shouldn’t sadden you. Great men are molded by the pressure from their rivals. You’re very lucky, Su.’

‘Why?’ he asked.

‘You’re lucky to have met such great peers, like Unk, Lucille, and Igniculus at your tender age. I met mine only a few years before meeting your mother, long after becoming an old man. Don’t be mad at yourself or Igni, rather cherish your moments together.’

‘There is no point in me trying if I know I can’t be the best…’ Su said.

‘Let me tell you something,’ Yaş said, putting his arm over Su. ‘There was no beacon at the birth of the Eternal.’

Su’s eyes lit up the way Yaş was hoping. A smile emerged on the young man’s face. Only a small one, but one that suited him well.

‘So, he’ll be strong,’ Su said, putting his palm on Igniculus’ forehead, moving his yellow hair back to see his eyes.

‘Oh yeah, we’ll watch him grow, and in a few years move towards our final destination, to conqueror it together,’ Yaş said.

‘Have you ever met a grown beacon child?’ Su asked.

‘Met one? I had served one for a century!’

Intermezzo 1: Demons and Yu

xxx

The counterpart to Earth’s Humans, the Demons serve a similar role in their own realm as the governing species.

While the building blocks for the human physique, together with everything else on Earth, can be boiled down to atoms or even smaller particles, the same can be done in Alem.

The essence of all in Alem is named Yu, microscopic particles emitted from the sky, able to differentiate themselves into various different forms, in turn giving it the ability to function as everything, from a simple rock to a living, breathing Demon.

The Demon manipulates the Yu to change its unadulterated form into whichever kind fits it best. By breathing, the Demon absorbs the pure Yu and within its body; the Yu catalyzes to transform into the specialized Yu present in the body.

With this method, the Demon does not age after a certain point, continuingly replacing the exhausted Yu with fresh ones. Not only does it not age, using the same method, it can heal any type of wound inflicted, as long as the supply of Yu enters the body and the Demon is strong enough to maintain its prime form.

That being said, the Demon knows not only unnatural death, for since the beginning, a certain individual loomed Alem as an enactor for the imminent end all will face.