Chapter 2: 1 – Glynn and the train

Year 1248 of the Ederian calendar

[“5471, please move to room H-12.”]

The sweet feminine voice of the intercom rang out, making a boy around 7 years of age with jade green hair and bright red eyes jolt up in surprise.

“Oh, it’s my turn. Sorry Lilith, we’ll have to play some other time.”

“It’s okay.” Lilith – the girl with platinum-blonde hair and similarly red eyes – spoke with a concerned tone. “But are you going to be alright? The last time you went there, Glenn, they—“

“I’m going to be fine. Wait for me, okay?” The jade-haired boy – Glenn – interrupted her with a smile. However, his trembling hands betrayed the façade that he was putting up.

Of course, Lilith noticed this. However, she didn’t call him out on it since she knew that he would just deny it anyway. As such, she could only pray as she watched the departing figure of Glenn.

“May Goddess Lyra look over you, Glenn. Please come back safely…”

Leaving the designated area for him and Lilith meant that Glenn had to transverse through the other kids’ areas. Unlike what he had expected though, they didn’t make fun of him like always. Instead, all they did was look at him with a mixture of shock and pity.

-”Hey, did you hear that?”

-”Yeah, 5471’s getting experimented on today.”

-”Sucks for him. I heard that the professor’s visiting this facility today.”

‘N- No way! The professor!?’ Glenn widened his eyes in surprise and shock.

However, his surprise soon turned into fear. 

‘Wh- What abomination is he going to turn me into…?’

The result of every of the professor’s experiments was… strange, to say the least. One kid walked out with tentacles for arms, and another lived in constant pain as his eyes were turned inside-out. Needless to say, there were many more that went through the professor’s hands, but what they became were either too gruesome or weird for Glenn to want to recall.

But professor or not, the intercom had called his name. Thus, Glenn could only grit his teeth and pray that everything he had just heard was just some false rumors. 

 …

As he exited the so-called ‘community room’, Glenn was met with a familiar white and clean corridor lit up by pale white fluorescent lights. His eyes were stung by the whiteness of this whole facility. He could never understand the adults. Why were the researchers always wearing white, and the guards gray? Weren’t the warm and vibrant colors of the community room much better than whatever this was?

However, Glenn couldn’t dwell on that thought for long, as he realized that he was running out of time.

‘I spent too much time reassuring Lilith. I have to be fast or else that guy will beat me up again!’

However, as Glenn stepped foot into the room that he had always gone in every time the intercom called his name, he couldn’t help but to let out a sound of confusion.

“Huh? Why is no one here?”

As he was about to call out to see if anyone was there, he suddenly felt someone’s hand on his shoulders. Slowly turning around, he was met with a man wearing the familiar gray combat armor and helmet of the security guards.

“Glenn.” The guard spoke as he removed his hands from Glenn’s shoulders. “What are you doing here?”

Upon hearing that the guard was calling him by his name, Glenn sighed in relief.

“Ah, it’s you, Toby. I thought you were the other guards!”

Toby - the man who was like a father to Glenn - was a security guard at the facility. However, he wasn’t cold like the other adults here. Instead, he sympathized with the children here and even tried to give them names. However, not many accepted the names and instead opted to just use the number that the other adults gave them.

Removing his visor and staring straight at Glenn’s bright red eyes; eyes that contrasted perfectly with the white hell children like him were stuck in, Toby sighed.

“It’s your turn, huh?”

“Yes…”

“How unfortunate. To be called up when the professor is visiting…”

“S- So it’s true after all…” Glenn’s eyes were filled with despair. 

Seeing this, Toby hurriedly spoke up. “H- Hey, don’t be too sad. There’s one good thing about the professor-approved experiments, you know? No one has died so far. And even if you turned into some… disfigured monster, I’m sure that Lilith would still play with you.”

Hearing this, Glenn’s mood brightened, just a bit though. “Thanks, Toby.”

“It’s nothing. Anyway, speaking of Lilith, how is she doing?” 

“She’s doing great! She can run again now! Though… sometimes I wish she wouldn’t get well so soon. I missed seeing her sulking face every time I try to feed her food.”

Toby chuckled. “She’d pummel you to the ground if she heard what you said… but I’m glad that she recovered from that horrible Soul experiment. Anyway, you haven’t answered my first question. What are you doing here?”

“Oh, this is the room Sciencer was supposed to be in but there’s no one in there now.”

“Sciencer? He was promoted and moved to room H-12 a few weeks ago, didn’t you know?”

“No…?”

“Didn’t the intercom say what room you’re supposed to go to?”

“Now that you mention it… I think it did…”

“Shit! Come on now, let’s go!” Toby held his hand out to Glenn. “He’s definitely going to beat you up if you’re late.”

Gulping, Glenn took Toby’s hand and ran toward the direction of room H-12.

…

It took a while, but they had finally arrived the door of room H-12.

“Here we are, kid.” Toby spoke as he released Glenn’s hand. “This is as far as I can go. I pray to Goddess Lyra for your safety, Glenn.”

Glenn nodded with a smile and mustered up all of his courage to open the door. As soon as he entered the room, he saw a man who looked like he was in his 60s with his back turned to him shouting at the top of his lungs.

“Genderbend powers!”

“But professor! Wouldn’t shapeshifting be better for—“

“GENDERBEND POWERS! I WON’T TAKE NO FOR AN ANSWER!”

After that loud shout, the man who Glenn presumed to be the professor turned around to try and leave the room. However, he halted his steps in surprise upon seeing Glenn staring at him. 

"You will make a great girl." Said the professor as he lightly nodded at Glenn and promptly left the room without sparing another glance at him nor the man who was just arguing with him earlier. 

As soon as the professor left, the other man in the room gritted his teeth in anger and shouted. “FUCK THAT OLD MAN! ‘ECCENTRIC’ MY ASS! HE’S FUCKING SENILE!”

‘Oh no… Sciencer’s mad. This is bad…!’

He was so angry that he knocked all his tools to the ground and kicked the ground in frustration. Then, he suddenly snapped his head toward Glenn and glared at him with bloodshot eyes.

“Shit!” Cursed Sciencer as he marched toward Glenn and grabbed him by his jade-green hair.

“Please, sir! I’ve done nothing wron—”

“THAT BASTARD!” He ignored Glenn’s pleas and continued kicking him while cursing the professor.

“IT HURTSS—”

“DARES TO—”

“AHHHH! PLEAS—”

“—WASTE THE DEPARTMENT’S MONEY—”

“NOO—”

“—ON USELESS SHITS!”

With the final and strongest kick, Glenn was sent flying toward the nearest wall. His body convulsed on the ground as he lay on a pool made of his own blood. As he was about to pass out, however, he suddenly felt something sharp digging into his arm. Slowly opening his eyes and looking at his arm, Glenn saw Sciencer using a syringe to pump some kind of liquid into his body.

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‘Wh- What’s that liquid for?’

Glenn’s question would soon be answered as his urge to go unconscious… immediately disappeared. However, the pain that was coursing through his entire body still persisted. 

Unaware, or rather, uninterested in Glenn’s pain, Sciencer picked him up and put him on the nearby operating table. “Since I’ve injected you with anti-anesthetic, you’ll have to undergo this procedure fully awake.”

Glenn gulped a mouthful of saliva in nervousness, despair filled his emotions as he realized what Sciencer was talking about.

“Why do I have to do this, you may ask? Well, I just want to hear the soothing symphony of a child’s screams. It always helps me calm down after suffering through the professor’s bullshit.” He spoke as he picked up a surgical knife from the floor. Then, he walked toward a cabinet and took out a vial that contained some kind of dark red liquid.

'Wh- What's that red thing supposed to be...?'

As if answering Glenn's question, Sciencer continued, “ACL, the greatest discovery of that professor. If only he was half as intelligent as he was in his prime. What a shame that he has gone senile.” He scowled as he poured some on the knife he was holding. “What do you think about this, homunculus? To have the honor of being injected with what basically gives Devils their powers. You must be ecstatic, huh?”

Then, he placed the knife near Glenn’s chest and spoke, “I’ll do what the professor told me to for now. Hopefully, the higher-ups will give me permission to experiment with Darkness magic on you next time. Hm... maybe also Amplification and Redirection too.”

Those were the words Glenn heard before his world was doused with blood, screams of pain, and unimaginable despair. The only thing that was keeping him sane at that time was his promise with Lilith.

‘I have to survive this and see her again! Heh, maybe she will be the one taking care of me this tim—’

-”WAKE UP!”

Hearing the loud shout, Glenn jolted awake with widened eyes. Frantically looking around, he saw that he was inside what seemed like a train station and not that facility anymore. Then, he glanced to his right to meet eyes with a girl with curly brown hair and violet eyes who seemed to be around his age.

‘W- Was that a dream?’ Glenn immediately thought as soon as he saw the girl. Then, he hurriedly asked. "Wh- What year is it?"

Though confused, the girl still answered, "It's the year 1259. Are you okay?"

Glenn ignored the girl's question and heaved a sigh of relief. ‘Th- That’s right. I’m out of that facility. I’m a free man now,’ he thought.

After reminding himself that this was reality and everything he had just seen before was just the nightmare that kept haunting him almost every time he tried to sleep, Glenn leaned back into the chair he was sitting on with his eyes closed. Before he could rest, however, he suddenly felt his cheeks being pulled. Slowly opening his eyes, he was met with the sight of the same girl from before pulling his cheeks with her hands.

“Ava, what are you doing?” Glenn frowned.

The girl - Ava - giggled at Glenn’s frowning face. “Keeping you from the nightmare. Did you seriously want to experience it again so soon after just waking up?”

“...I guess you’re right.”

“That’s why father kept calling you an idiot, dearest brother.”

Glenn slapped Ava’s hand away, insulted that she dared to say that he was stupid.

“I’ll have you know, I—”

“Have an IQ of 200?” Ava sighed. “We’ve gone through this before. Having more IQ doesn’t mean that you’re smart!”

“Yes it does!”

“No it doesn’t!”

“Yes i—”

Before Glenn could finish his sentence, an old lady suddenly walked up to them and spoke. “Can you youngsters please keep it down? The train is almost here, and I don’t want to board it with my ears all deaf.”

“Shut up, old lady.” Glenn scowled. “Considering your age, you may have already gone d—”

Glenn was interrupted again by Ava knocking him on the head.

“Don’t be disrespectful!”

“But she—”

“I don’t care. What happened to your vow to ‘be kind’?”

Hearing this, Glenn could only keep his mouth shut and heave a long sigh. He then turned toward the old lady and spoke with the softest voice he could conjure up. “I’m sorry, old lady. I’ll remember to keep it down later…”

The old lady gave Glenn a kind smile and patted him on his head. She then reached into her purse and took out a candy.

“Here you go.” She said as she handed the candy to Ava.

As the lady turned around and was about to leave, Glenn called out to her, “Hey! What about me?”

The lady briefly turned around and laughed, “I heard what you said before. No candies for bad boys like you!”

“I’m 18! Not a boy!”

“Then great. Adults don’t need candies as much as children do.”

“W- Wait! On second thoughts, I am a little boy!”

But the lady ignored his words and continued to walk away. 

Glenn scowled in frustration. As he turned back toward Ava, he saw her unwrapping the candy and preparing to put it in her mouth.

As Ava was about to eat the candy, however, she suddenly noticed Glenn’s longing gaze on the candy. After weighing her options, she sighed and threw it toward him.

Seeing this, Glenn jumped up and caught the candy with his hand. He then devoured it hungrily.

“You’re awfully into sweets, huh?” Ava muttered.

Finishing the delicious treat, Glenn answered, “I still can’t believe you didn’t notice this until just recently. We have lived together for 8 years for fuck’s sake.”

“You’re right,” Ava scowled. “I should have known sooner. To think that you’d eat the cake alone without leaving any for me on my birthday just because dad put extra sugar into it…”

“Heh…”

“But why are you so obsessed with sweet stuff anyway? Does your Unique trait have something to do with it?”

“No… I just really enjoy sweet things. It reminds me of my time with Lilith…” Glenn’s eyes turned distant and sad as he muttered the name.

“Who’s Lilith?” Ava raised an eyebrow in confusion.

Before Glenn could say anything else, he suddenly heard heavy footsteps coming from his side. Turning, he could see men in blue military attires marching toward the rails.

“Ah!” Ava exclaimed, “It’s the Water mages! The train must be coming!”

And came it did. As soon as Ava finished her sentence, Glenn could see the hulking mass of metal powered by steam running on the railway toward the station he was at. 

After a while, it finally stopped at the station, and all of its doors were opened. Although the passengers inside the train could come out right now, and people waiting outside could enter, none dared to do so. After all, they needed to wait for the men in military attires to finish their duties. Prison time, or worse, execution awaited them if they even accidentally interfered with the men.

Of course, Glenn was no exception to this. Like any sane person, he didn’t want to go to jail. Thus, he sat still on his bench and watched as the men marched toward the locomotive. 

The locomotive’s doors opened as soon as the men reached them. Men dressed in similar military clothes walked out of the locomotive and saluted the men outside. Then, they exited it fully to let the men outside get in. 

As the locomotive doors closed once more, chaos ensued. People inside the train rushed to get out as soon as possible, not wanting to be trapped inside and transported to a different station. Similarly, people outside rushed in, not wanting to miss the train’s strict departure time and wait several more hours for a new one.

Ava suddenly stood up and grabbed Glenn’s hand. Turning around, she smiled, “Let’s go, brother. To the capital!”

“...”

“Seriously, are you going to leave me waiting?”

“Fine…” Glenn sighed. “...To the capital… and Kevlas academy. Wooooh…”

“You sound really unenthusiastic but good enough, I guess.” Ava chuckled.

Then, she pulled Glenn with her and pushed through the crowd of people to get on the train. As they found the compartment they were supposed to sit at, however, Ava suddenly whispered into Glenn's ear with a smirk.

"Hey, how about you turn into Glynn just for this ride? Is that alright with you?"

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