Chapter 18: Chapter 18: Cletus – Part 1

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That day was supposed to be a normal day at work for me. We had information that could lead to a drug bust. One of the guys we caught got scared and talked. He was young, not even allowed to drink yet. Then, it became a great day. Clues to a dealer who we were chasing for the last year? It was a damn holiday.

That day I was supposed to go home to my pregnant wife. We were expecting her to give birth any day now. My wife kissed me on my way out of the house that morning. I didn’t know that was the last time that I’d see her.

 

Me and my partner get the guy, the asshole looked real dumb. He freaked out when we pointed our guns at him and he couldn’t help but smile. Those damn yellow teeth, I could see the tartar on them from a mile away. 

When we had him in the car, he did nothing but whine and complain that he didn’t know what was happening. “I’m innocent,” that dumbass said. Damn criminal probably didn’t expect to get caught.

A real shady motherfucker, he didn’t stop smiling the whole time that he was in the car. Smiled while tears were streaming down his face. He begged and thrashed behind us, choking on his own spit. What a show he gave us.

Ordinary day on the job turned into an easy drug bust. Me and my partner were on cloud nine. We made jokes and made fun of him as he begged. I mean, come one, we’re only human, it wasn’t that bad and he was a criminal. A few jokes were fine, right?

Well, God didn’t like the jokes we did, I guess. He punished all three of us at once. God sent a truck going full speed our way. The one time during that whole drive that I didn’t pay attention to the road and suddenly all I see is white. Next thing I knew I was coming out of another woman’s vagina.

 

That whole memory, that day, ever since I was born, kept replaying in my head. It was all I could think about really. What else could a baby do? The first few months I thought that I was in purgatory. 

Things got better as I got older. That memory got hazy to the point that I didn’t remember any of the faces anymore. Then, I started thinking that it was all my imagination as an infant, all those feelings I felt and experienced. It was the only answer as to why I had that day in my head when I was born, the only logical answer. That memory wasn’t my reality, and everything was better when I thought of it as such.

A part of me didn't want to completely throw it away, so when I was old enough to speak I begged my parents if I could have my name changed. They agreed, they didn’t think much of it. I was now called Cletus, though I didn’t know if that was my name in that memory or if it was another person’s name.

Everything was great, my life was great. Thinking that it was all my imagination was great. Because if it wasn’t, then I would not have the heart to live with myself knowing that I abandoned my wife and unborn child.

 

Of course, the peace had to be ruined. And it started when they carried this person inside Nox’s office. That bald guy who follows her around had brought in a sick man wearing Kobold diapers. I never knew what Nox saw in that shady wizard, and weirdly enough, she seemed comfortable with him. Something about him bothered me. But what bothered me more at the time was the man he brought in.

I was fine at first, the only thing that bothered me was that he looked familiar. But there was no way that I could have met a guy like that. My father’s town had a homeless infestation, but they never got to our side of town. I’ve never seen one before.

So, curious, I peeked in Nox’s office. That dream popped into my head once again, still no faces. I stared at the man on her table. Suddenly, there was a face in that dream. Minus the scuffs, injuries, and his lack of clothes he was the exact same as the one who was in the back of my car in the dream. He didn’t age a single day.

After the bald one freed me from my trance, I ran back to my room and cried. His existence proves that the dream I had since I was a baby wasn’t a dream. It was real, and somewhere, whether it was this world, or another, hell, maybe it was even another time, they were out there. I had a family that I had abandoned for six years now, maybe even more.

My child was probably the same age as I currently am. It was pure horror and agony from that point on. But what I felt the most was guilt. It was too late for me to try and go back. And all my memories were blurry, I didn’t even know what my wife looked like. I agonized over it the next few days.

 

I stayed in my room and evaluated what was real and not, I never got to a conclusion on that. Then I started listing what was important to me. My parents, family, and friends didn’t matter to me anymore, except Nox.

She was the prettiest person I know. And, as sick as it sounds, while I agonized about my faceless wife, her face was there. Nox is a smart woman, maybe she’d understand and help me if I explained the situation. I never got the chance to do so.

 

I tried waiting for the criminal to say that he came from a different world, but he lied and said that he was from some backwater village that had no previous contact with the outside. A smart move, especially when I learned how they treated the ones who claimed to be from another world.

Then, that damn criminal became the bald one’s student, which ruined my plan to confront him.

Each day I grew to resent him. He gets to keep his real body while I was stuck as a child. My life was better before he came here, when I never remembered. That criminal was a living reminder of my old life, of everything that I’ve lost.

I needed to kill him to make me forget again. It isn’t fair that he gets to frolic around with his new friends when he was supposed to go to jail!

I approached the woman I loved, Nox, and asked her to teach me magic. I’ll kill him with the magic he wanted to have. However, Nox never taught me anything useful for my mission. She always stopped right before the important part. A tease.

Another problem was that bald colleague of hers. He always seemed oblivious, but there was an intelligence behind his playful eyes. I’d hate to admit it, but at times he seemed like he was the one in control of whatever situation he was in. 

I’ll never trust him. He was too close to Nox. I don’t understand why a woman like her would let a guy like that even near her. She’ll dismiss everyone and anyone except for people who were monetarily gifted. This dirty wizard however, had been staying at the Job Center for several months and recently the Pleasure District. The more I learned about them, the more they contradicted themselves.

That wizard is now on my kill list as well. I needed to kill the student and teacher for me to have my peaceful life once again. Maybe my guilt would die along with them.

 

“Young Master, did you call?” The new dumb maid asked as she entered the room.

“It was nothing,” I smiled at her. “How long must I stay bedridden? Are the healers not done with their work yet?” I felt fine, they’ve kept me imprisoned in my room for far too long.

“They advise you to rest for a few more days,” she placed her hand on my head like I was some pet. “Oh, don’t you worry. You’ll be able to go out and play again in a few more days,” she said in an annoying high-pitched voice that she uses when talking to the dog or other kids.

“Alright, ma’am, I’ll do my best and rest as fast as I can!” I mocked her annoyingly enthusiastic voice.

“Silly, you can’t work hard and rest at the same time!” She scrunched her face up and poked at my nose. Somehow, she was entertained by that. I’ve wanted to hit her the moment that she introduced herself to me. “All right, if you need anything just call. I’m always nearby,” she left the room.

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I needed more power and I cannot wait until I’m older. Even this new power that the God-like being gave me doesn’t respect me because of my physical age, restricting many of its features until I got older. The only thing I spent points on was mana and intelligence. Both of which didn’t feel like anything changed when I added points into them.

Other than that, there was nothing to do in that room but rest. It took an entire week until I was allowed to walk alone. During that time that I was healing, my father didn’t visit me once and my mother had fled back to her own father’s mansion because she didn’t want to see her son hurt. Horrible parents, the both of them. Each passing day they mean less and less to me.

Of course, I wasn’t stupid enough to run away from home and from all their money. They were assholes but I still lived a rich lifestyle that most people in this town couldn’t afford.

Nox visited me two times while I was healing. The first time was to see how bad my injuries were and the second time was to scold me about increasing the power output of my Mana Dart to a lethal amount. Both times that she visited were short and she was accompanied by the maids so I haven’t had the chance to have a real conversation with her.

I wanted to learn more about the new power that I got, but telling her about it could get me killed. Maybe asking if there was a power similar to it was a loophole I could do. The rules surrounding it were vague and the being I spoke to wouldn’t respond to any of my requests.

 

So, late at night, I snuck out of my room and went to her office. Looking at the frosted glass window of her door, there wasn’t any light coming from the inside. I thought that she was asleep. Then, I heard hushed voices coming from the inside. Pressing my ears against the door, I listened.

“Then just continue teaching him the basics. Don’t think he’d mind, plus he’s still a kid,” it was the bald one’s voice.

“Ugh, if he does anything bad in the future, the first one they’ll blame is me. The one who taught him magic in the first place,” she sighed.

Was that how she viewed me, like some sort of monster? I’ve only worked so hard to impress and make her proud of me. The bald wizard must have tricked and manipulated her into turning against me. He probably wants Nox all for himself.

“If you’re really that scared about his future and you don’t think that you can change it, then,” he paused.” Make him quit, just teach him all the boring shit. No matter how twisted the kid may be, he’s still a kid. Make being a mage seem like the most boring thing ever,” his voice and footsteps seemed to get louder. He was walking to the door.

I ran into another room before he could open the door, a closet where the maids kept the brooms and other supplies. The bald wizard stepped out.

“Yeah, maybe I’ll do that. Fuck, and I have the mayor to worry about as well. Why’d you have to knock him out too? You still owe me for that one,” she said.

“I told you, I’ll pay it back someday. Maybe not in money. Goodnight,” he snickered and left.

“Night,” she whispered.

I stayed inside the closet for half an hour. That shady wizard had manipulated Nox into thinking that I was a threat. Not only did he ruin my image, but he had also taken away the only fighting chance I had against him and his student, magic. Does the wizard know more about me?

 

Walking around the mansion that doubled as the town hall, I ended up near the entrance into the dungeons. Several of the Townguard were going in and out of it. They started taking their jobs seriously ever since the Empire’s soldiers came. Not even my father could order them around.

I don’t think I could sleep after hearing the wizards’ conversations earlier. So I decided to hide near the entrance of the dungeons. The difference between our men and the soldiers of the Empire was night and day. Our guards seemed like they were children playing dress up when they stood next to a soldier.

 

“Hey, you on night shift today?” One of the Townguards asked the other. He was obviously intoxicated, swaying back and forth.

“Always have been, man,” the younger one said.

“Were you part of the ones who caught the necromancer?” The drunk one asked.

“Yeah, followed his trail to an old Goblin cave. We caught the sick fuck hugging his neighbor’s grandmother.”

“Did he do anything else?” The drunk one smiled.

“Ew, no, man. Turns out the necromancer was just a kid. Barely 20 years old. Catching him was the easy part, he was crying his eyes out when we saw him hugging the grandma. The grandma on the other hand, oof,” he sighed. “I had to bash her face in with my club. Good thing they took her dentures out before burying her. I still got the bruises on my arms from her rotting gums,” he pulled his sleeve up.

“Nasty, hahahaha. Nothing ever happens during my shift. So, the necromancer down there?”

“Yeah, he’s in isolation right now. Can’t kill an inmate and reanimate them.”

“Haven’t had anyone there for a while.”

“Yeah, we had to move him when he reanimated all the dead rats down there. Now that was a bitch to clean!”

“I bet. Alright, man. Have a great rest of your shift,” the drunk one waddled away.

“Yeah, take it easy.”

 

A necromancer was in my house. Bringing someone or something back from the dead to do your deeds for you, now that seemed like a useful spell to have. And I have the guy who knows it locked up inside my own house. If Nox won’t teach me then I guess someone who doesn’t have a choice would be better. That criminal and his master need to die, no matter what it takes.

 

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