Chapter 13: 13. Can’t Hold It In Anymore

"W-wait just a second!" Zeff exclaimed, jumping out of his chair. He winced as the sudden motion caused his stomach bruises from where the bullets had struck him get agitated, "Are you trying to tell me there's *actual* dragon DNA in this thing?" He pointed to the dracoRex on his left hand.

"Indeed, there is…" Sylvan replied.

Zeff sat down hard in his chair and looked blankly at the table. "Dragon's are… real?"

There was silence for a long moment.

Zeff didn't know what to think. The world, as it turns out, was bigger than he ever knew.

"Well, d*mn!" Zeff suddenly burst out, with a big smile on his face. "Who would have thought it, am I right?"

The smile never touched his eyes.

Sylvan sighed. It was obvious to him what was happening, but what could he do?

"But how does all this fit together? The 'G.I.s', you and your dragons, my apartment?"

Sylvan scratched his chin. There was so much on his mind. Things he wanted to say, things he had to say, and things he would do his best not to say, and especially things he didn't yet understand. This conversation had taken a wild turn, not because it was a wild conversation, necessarily, but because he had no resolve. Yesterday, he would have told Zeff everything had Zeff known to demand it from him. But from yesterday to today quite a few things had changed. Namely, now Zeff had the power to do something, to affect change, and to put himself in grave danger… Telling the whole truth now would be irresponsible. He wouldn't find the resolve to tell Zeff the whole truth in a day, let alone over a coffee in a strangers house. But he could find the resolve to comfort Zeff now when he needed comfort most, though the two might be the same in the end.

"I'll start from the top." Sylvan scratched the back of his head nervously and then began. "Ruins. That was my thing. I traveled the world from country to country in search of ancient burial grounds, tombs, crypts, you name it. I uncovered countless sites and ancient relics of unimaginable value." He smiled fondly as he stirred his now warm coffee with his finger. "These were some of the best days of my life."

"But where do dragons come in to—"

"I'm getting there, Zeff." Sylvan interrupted. "Patience."

Zeff huffed in frustration but fell silent, waiting for the doctor to continue his tale.

"Well, one day, while me and a PhD studying under me were on a remote island off the coast of India near the Arabian Sea, we stumbled onto something unimaginable. Something unexplainable…" As the doctor spoke he began to gaze off into the distance with a look of longing, "We found what we thought was a tomb. And it was like nothing I'd ever scene.

"And It. Was. Massive. After a whole year of excavation and study we discovered that, what we had at first thought was a tomb was, in fact, closer to a castle or church. But it dated back to before any known religion or kingdom. In the center of the structure we found a throne. A throne so large 100 men could sit on it."

"A giant throne?" Zeff asked in amazement.

"Yes, boy. It was gigantic. But most interestingly there were these strange glyphs all over the place. I spent several years studying them, and several more deciphering them, until, in time, I and my colleagues were able to translate them, albeit partially. It took a long time but the glyphs eventually revealed that we had discovered the burial place of one called Rutigorn, the Woeful."

"Rutigorn." Zeff said with a shiver. "Why does that sound so familiar…?"

Sylvan couldn't know it, but there was a dark shadow under his eyes.

Zeff, seeing his sudden serious demeanor, misunderstood and said, "Sorry… Please, go on."

Sylvan was a bit glad Zeff had misunderstood his sudden change in manner, actually. This was one of those things that fell into the category of 'things he didn't quite understand'. How had Rutigorn appeared once Zeff had put the ring on? He was actually dying to know himself.

"As far as we could tell, Rutigorn was some kind of king or deity. There was even evidence to suggest that he received worship from the people who built his throne, who we called: The Rutigorn Cult."

Zeff's eyebrows raised in surprise but he said nothing.

"But this was all only speculation. The real problem began when, much to my everlasting shame…" Sylvan began, his eyes downcast, "…we found two things at that site. Two things that would ruin my life and the lives of many more…"

"What did you find…?"

"We found a bone and a map of stone."

"The bone of a—"

"Yes. The dried up, dusty old bone of a dragon, though we didn't know it at the time. The bone of Rutigorn, the Woeful, the First Calamity, Death-Maw, he had many names, in fact… His castle-tomb, we later found out using the stone map, was one of more than a dozen. We went from site to site learning more about him. Deciphering the glyphs at each location. And finding more bones. Until one day…" He paused to sigh, his eyes closed. "…we found one with the soft tissue still intact. We had accidentally stumbled upon the DNA of a real Dragon."

"Wait just a second…" Zeff interrupted. "How come this wasn't on the news? This would have to be one of the greatest discoveries of all time."

"I told you, we didn't know they were dragon bones… And this was perhaps more than 50 years ago. DNA sequencing wasn't even—"

"FIFTY YEARS AGO!?" Zeff exclaimed. "Y-you don't look a day over 55!"

"I have the dracoRex to thank for that." Sylvan said with a wry smile. "I'm closer to 85 than 55."

Zeff was in utter disbelief as he looked Sylvan up and down and asked, "But how?"

"I don't know *how*, boy!" Sylvan said, a bit frustrated. "All I know is I was an old man who could barely walk, I put on the ring and, Boom! I was suddenly younger and fitter. No one was there with a manual to explain this thing to me."

"Then how did you get the ring in the first place. How did you find out the bones were from a dragon." Zeff asked both frustrated and intrigued.

Sylvan, glad that Zeff had asked two questions, willfully ignored the first. "Well, as I said, we didn't know what we had really found. We thought the bone belonged to some giant dinosaur or never before seen creature. Eventually our funding ran out, our backers lost interest and the whole thing was soon forgotten. I kept most of the records and data and bones we had gathered, though some, like the stone tablet, was lost to time. Until nearly 20 years later, in my late sixties and retired, two men showed up at my door. Of the two men, one of them was Zayn Leanders."

Zeff flinched at the mention of the name.

Sylvan looked Zeff directly in the eyes and said, "Boy. Zayn is strong, indeed. But there are people in the Underworld, G.I.s and humans alike, that make Zayn seem like a boyscout on vacation. The other man who came to my door with Zayn, for example, was such person." Sylvan couldn't help but shiver. "His name was Leo Leanders, the younger brother of Zayn, and a high ranking member of The Rings of Rutigorn. If Leo had been there that night in the park instead of Zayn, it would have been the end of the line for you and me, boy. Unquestionably so."

Zeff gulped audibly, his fear evident.

"Short story, shorter: I was made to to go with them to one of their many bases. To give them all my research, my life's work. To give them the bone with the soft tissue. I was made to live and work for them and…" Sylvan shivered again, slightly more violently than before, "I was tortured by them."

Zeff felt like he had a frog in his throat as the mention of torture (and likely of an old man, at that,) put the seriousness of his present predicament in a more dire perspective. The people who had effectively ruined his life, who were now targeting him, were not only devious, cunning and powerful… they were also ruthless. "Why? What did they want from you?"

"They kept me locked up for more than twenty years… torturing me, hoping that I would tell them where more of the ancient temples of the Rutigorn Cult were." Sylvan answered, staring wide-eyed at his coffee like a dark vision of his past was being reflected in it. "They were determined to find more ancient dragon DNA, more of Rutigorn's DNA, so that they could make more than one of those." He pointed a long finger at the dracoRex on Zeff's hand.

Zeff's eyes grew large with shock. "And d-did they succeed? Did they make more than one." His breath was trapped in his throat for fear of the answer to his question.

"Sadly, no…"

"'Sadly'?!"

"Yes, boy. As a result of their endless attempts to make more than one, they wound up discovering something far worse than a ring that malfunctions more than half the time…"

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The doctor paused for a long moment, until Zeff was unsure if he'd continue at all. He was afraid to ask what the Doc had meant by that, but he was, nevertheless, going to ask, anyway. Before he could muster up the courage to do so, however, Sylvan suddenly said, "So, I lied to you earlier, boy. Or rather, I wasn't being completely honest. That ring wasn't made by me, nor were we 'tricked' into making it, but it was made because of me discovering that d*mned bone…"

Sylvan fell silent, a pained look on his face.

Zeff didn't know what to say in response to that. 'It obviously wasn't your fault, Doc.' He thought to himself. 'All these events were out of your control.'

He couldn't see the irony in what he had presently thought. But in the end, he could only say, "What do they want? What's their end goal." in an attempt to banish the silence that was floating through the air.

"I don't know…" Sylvan lied, albeit, partially. He had only answered the second question. "I was locked up since the moment I first set foot in their base. All I know is they call themselves 'The Rings of Rutigorn' and they're extremely dangerous and insanely powerful in both influence and military might. You've seen first hand what they could do in a day. Literally change history…"

Zeff clenched his jaw and balled his fists as he thought of the news. His nose began to burn and his eyes felt misty so he laughed and said, "Right?! These guys are the real deal."

It was too painful for Sylvan to watch any longer. "Boy… You don't have to do that…" he said softly.

"Do what?" Zeff asked with a forced smile, his chin already quivering.

"You don't have to act like you're not in pain."

*****

The world suddenly got blurry as Zeff did his absolute best to hold back the flood of emotions that had been bombarding his mind since the moment he saw the news.

'Murderer.'

He gritted his teeth as shame and guilt attacked from the left. His nostrils flared and his eyes burned, as anger and frustration assailed him from the right.

'Murderer. Cop Killer.'

"I'm not in pain… Why would I be in pain?" If he hadn't been so focused on putting on a good front he would have noticed the tear rolling down his cheek.

'Murderer!'

"Besides, I literally have s-super powers now." He scoffed both arrogantly and unconvincingly, then added, "If these suckers come at me, I'll just—"

"He did say your were a sensitive child…" Sylvan interjected with a short sigh and a head wag.

"W-who did?"

"While I was locked up, I met a man by the name of Finnius, you—"

"M-my F-fath—" The word wouldn't come out. "Impossible…" Zeff declared as he got out of his chair, a strange blend of disgust, anger, and disbelief on his face, and stood by the table with one hand resting firmly on it.

"Green eyes? A mole under his left eye? Rugged guy with a raspy voice…? And a birth mark on his neck that looks like Sant-"

"Santa Klaus's head without the hat…" Zeff finished, his mouth and teary eyes wide open in only disbelief, now. "B-but How? My father and mother abandoned me when I was a kid. Why would he be in some dungeon somewhere?"

"I don't know how or why he was there." Sylvan lied again, "But I do know several things for sure. Your father is a good man and he, alone, was the one that helped me and several others escape from the The Rings, though as far as I know, I'm the only one yet alive. He is the reason I'm sitting here now…" Zeff couldn't have known how literally he had meant that one, but Sylvan went on. "And I also know, without any doubt, that he loves you very, very much, boy. He talked about you nonstop." He said the last sentence with a subtle amount of annoyance that made it that more believable.

But Zeff, now more teary-eyed than ever, still struggled to believe what Sylvan was saying. Not because he didn't want to believe or because he thought Sylvan was lying. He struggled because, on the off chance that it turned out not to be true, he wouldn't have to be disappointed. Zeff thought about his parents every day even though he could hardly remember their faces sometimes. But in the back of his mind he had always thought they had abandoned him as a child because he was a good-for-nothing loser and they were likely dead in a ditch somewhere.

"And he didn't abandon you." Sylvan stated, seemingly reading Zeff's thoughts. "He was the one who told me, who made me promise, to find you and where to start looking. He loved you, Zeff, and he still loves you more than you'll ever know."

'Murderer…'

"Did he really say that himself…?" Zeff asked holding back an army of tears.

"He did." Sylvan stated, his eyes soft.

'Murd—…'

You aren't a murderer, boy. Your father won't be disappointed in you. In fact, he would want you to be strong now and know you are loved… Your killing of the police officer was not your fault. If it's anyone's fault, it's mine. Because of me, that ring was created. So you're innocent, don't you see?"

Zeff had felt weak in the knees since the first mention of his father, but he didn't want to fight it anymore. He let gravity pull him down to the ground where he fell to his knees and cried bitterly like he had never cried before.

He might have asked many questions had he been able. Questions like: 'How, exactly, did you escape with the ring?', 'What kind of abilities have you seen?', 'What about my mother?' and likely many, many more but now he would only cry.

He cried and sobbed there on the ground until he couldn't cry anymore. Until the burdens he had been carrying were completely expelled, washed away by his tears.

Sylvan, sitting there all the while, watching Zeff nearly cry himself into unconsciousness, could only look on with a serious and concerned expression.

'Sorry, Finnius.' he thought to himself as he got up from his seat and approached Zeff, 'I had to break my promise to you. But if I can't save you, your son will. He has to.'

"Get up, Zeff-boy." He said as he stood directly before Zeff.

Zeff was taken aback by his sudden forcefulness, so he quickly stood to his feet. "What's wrong." he said, wiping away his last stray tear.

"Repeat after me: 'dRas; enable Dream Mode. Set Dream Mode T.D. to 1:100'"

Zeff repeated obediently.

"When next you sleep, likely in the next few minutes, you will sleep for several hours, possibly even a day or two."

Zeff, eyes suddenly big with surprise, was about to interrupt when Sylvan said, "Evoking the Skill Tree, or more specifically, utilizing time dilation while being awake is too much for the average mind to handle. You brain is going to need a long rest. I have just made you change one of the settings so that tonight you will enter into the Skill Tree while you sleep."

"What?! I'd be in there for hundreds of hours!" Zeff complained.

"I also had you change the time dilation settings for sleep mode. You'll likely have 20 minutes or so. In that time learn as much as you can about the system and your skills."

Zeff could only nod his compliance.

"When next you wake, I'm going to teach you how to control your strength… and how to fight."

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