Chapter 52: Another Taoist

Back at the residence, Holy Progenitor finally awoke after having been beaten the crap out of.

He looked at his clothes that were in disarray, and was unable to understand why they are so cruel.

…It wasn't like he had any bad intentions.

All of his actions was for their sake. Maybe what he heard his drunken self did was one thing, but him?

'Simon' felt like they were taking things out on him.

"You're awake. Good thing, I was about to feel bad about what we did to you." Hyuk was by his side.

Two fingers attached to his wrist was sensing his vitals and what condition his injured body was at.

 

"…What happened?"

"We beat you up after you screwed with the person who'd given us a place to stay. That's 'what'…!"

"You sound like I did something wrong?"

"You didn't ask for his consent before you put your grubby lil' hands on him." He straightened his back.

Holy Progenitor gaped at the unholy implications of that accusation. When did he do such a thing…?

"Don't try to back out of this."

"…I didn't sexually assault him. I'm straight."

"So you would if he was a girl?!"

"You KNOW that wasn't what I meant."

"Fine, but you did do things non-consensually with him." This heavy accusation made his eyes roll.

As Hyuk was looking down on him like a perpetrator of something greatly horrendous, a girl barged in and interrupted them. It made the handsome man have no choice but to smile.

"Let's go out again~ I liked it a lot!" The little figure grabbed onto his arm and tried to tug him away.

Lucia seemed to have brightened up recently.

"I will. Just need to talk some sense into him. I'm angry at this guy for what he'd done to Adam."

Although the young girl didn't know their Landlord enough to empathise with him, she let him be.

Quietly sitting down on a nearby chair to watch.

"…I didn't hurt anyone intentionally." 'Simon' repeated, which spurred a response from Hyuk:

"Do you know what that kid did after beating you up?" These words caught the man's attention.

"I don't."

"He split himself into two distinct people."

"That's…"

"Crazy, right?" This bombshell seemed to surprise the little princess who was listening in as well.

She couldn't even imagine that being done…

"…" Holy Progenitor didn't know how to react to this. It was both strange and unbelievable to hear.

Adam split himself up? Why…?!

"From what I've seen, it's akin to a 'dissociative identity disorder'. As in: Split Personalities."

"You're aware of that?"

"You'd be surprised the amount of psychological studies pop up when Heart Devils are involved."

"And what are those…?" Seeing the clueless look on the young man's face, Hyuk sighed and spoke:

"Let's just call them 'Dark Egos'. They are the mirror of the subconscious… and self-destructive."

"Sounds complicated."

"It's simpler than you think. All you have to understand is that he couldn't cope with betrayal."

"Did he break down…?"

"Maybe it would've been better if he did. After managing to hold his composure, he broke in two."

"What's the possibility of him returning to his original self?" Now 'Simon' started to feel bad…

"None." That simple answer made his face fall.

There was a look of shock, followed by absolute regret on that once expressionless face of his.

At least, that's how Hyuk was interpreting things.

As a Martial King that thrived in the social area of expertise, he could see the distinct differences in Holy Progenitor's moods. While Lucia, who was sitting at the side, looked a little bit confused.

Perhaps there was only one person who could understand the man. Able to see past that face.

Knowing this to be the case only made the young man's feelings spill out even more than before.

"…What did I do wrong?" His logical mind couldn't comprehend what he'd heard from the pervert.

"If you don't believe me, you can check on them yourself. They just went out recently to meet the two who'd helped us stop you once before." These words were like the icing on cake for his regrets.

"What did I do wrong?" He parroted on again. The indifferent way Hyuk changed the subject hurt him.

Was he not worth answering?

"…If you want my opinion, it's because you don't consider other people when doing 'good deeds'."

"I'm trying…" As a former hero, he'd learnt that one shouldn't ignite the pieces making the big picture.

It was easy to understand, but hard to actually do.

After all, Holy Progenitor had been moulded but his past. He couldn't help thinking he knew better.

That's why 'Simon' tried explaining:

"You would understand me too. Shouldn't one who knows more teach someone who knows less?"

"You say it like Adam was a child."

"If you compared him to me specifically, then he might as well be. Intelligence help one mature."

"Don't make this a question of who's smarter."

"…I'm just trying to put things in prospective."

"Then let me do that for you: If we ignore the incident where 'training' to your future self meant torturing someone, then if we take that out and consider your current self, all we get is deceit."

"I didn't lie to you…"

"But you DID take the chance we left to harm him again. Even after you apologised for that earlier."

"…I didn't harm him." 'Simon' stood his ground against that accusation. He couldn't let it be!

Regardless, Hyuk became more aggressive to shut him up before he started talking some nonsense:

"You broke him to the point he had to split his mind to cope! Is THAT what you consider 'no harm'?!"

"…" Holy Progenitor was silenced again.

Hyuk then went on to explain what he'd meant by Adam's dissociative identities. Hyuk knew it well.

There were many times people who had fallen victim to their Heart Devils changed their names.

Becoming new people both in body and spirit.

It wasn't about becoming 'evil'. Heart Devils could not be categorised as wicked or compassionate.

The same could be said for the egos of the original.

Perhaps a normal overt dissociative identity disorder meant falling prey to external influences and 'branching out'. Usually, having more personalities meant the original still existed.

However, Adam was in a different situation entirely.

He personally split his consciousness into two parts. His mind tranquil while doing this action.

And those two pieces now had wills of their own.

It meant that the 'Adam' they knew would only return once they fused, but what were the chances of that happening? Especially now that Solaris and Lumina had managed to form independent hearts?

Adam had died the day he felt betrayed again…

Nothing would've stopped him even if Hyuk had held back on teaching him. Time would have done the same thing the Dao Hearts did, because they had no intention of becoming one again later on.

'Eclipsus' was only a fictional character they made to dream about. To make them feel more content.

As if to tell themselves that they were trying to work towards something they could do anytime.

There was nothing but themselves stopping their unity. Something both counterparts were aware of.

But consciously chose to ignore…

When 'Simon' heard up until this point, he got off the bed and headed towards the door instead.

Not wanting to listen to the scolding any longer.

"…I'm going to apologise." In order to quieten down the Martial King, he made sure to clarify his intent.

Hyuk only nodded at him, then let him walk off.

The rare bout of anger made the only other person left in the room to speak; her voice softly spoke:

"Why did you act angry?" When Lucia looked at him, the twisted face on the handsome man eased.

He scratched the back of his head while speaking:

"Did I make it obvious?" There wasn't a hint of guilt on his face for tricking Holy Progenitor whatsoever.

"No, I'm a bit sensitive to these kinds of acts. I'm sure anyone else would've been fooled easily."

"Thanks for not saying anything." He would've been real embarrassed if she'd pointed this out earlier.

He was trying to get this expressionless idiot to go and try to fix the estranged relationship the two(?).

If he didn't act, then he was sure 'Simon' would've blamed Adam himself for splitting his personality. 

However, she still had one question to ask him:

"What was the point?"

"Of what?"

"You didn't need to help. Even if they became estranged, nothing would effect us specifically."

"And that's where you're wrong!" Lucia expected him to speak reason after this, but had only got:

"I'd feel awkward if they never got on better terms."

"…Why?"

"I don't need a reason."

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"You're not angry about what happened to the owner of this mansion? You just said he died."

"Depends on how you look at it. If 'dying' is changing, then we all die a lot while growing up."

He then remembered about Lucia's circumstances and made an apologetic face. He then added on:

"No offence."

"None taken. I'm guessing you like those 'split personalities'?" The little princess waved it off.

Her interest in something else.

"…Yeah. I think I've finally found a friend who could understand my heart. A true natural at Taoism."

This statement managed to make her smile warmly.

Because she knew this was just the kind of person Hyuk was. It made her throw away other inquiries.

Meanwhile, the heart of the Noble Familia were discussing what they were going to do later.

When Velma first arrived with her lost ears, she was immediately challenged by the foolish Ardo.

She beat him down as a show of dominance.

Even with some of her strength as a Beastkin diminished, she still had martial arts and tools. 

In fact, she was stronger than she was before.

Before they could argue that she was practically human at this point, Sebas had been introduced.

He quelled the anger of those at lower ranks.

Besides Esparda, Oros Rank and Copas Rank individual were good at using weapons and magic.

They, along with the lowest rank of Bastos, had Knight, King, Queen, Jack, and Ace combatants.

Which didn't take much time for him to defeat.

He didn't even have to make much invocations of his spells. His 'Dark Reinforcement' was enough.

Their situation afterwards was peaceful…

  

Nyaura wasn't doing anything in particular. She was just chilling out with Velma for a good while.

Recent events had given them time to bond…

That, and they needed to discuss how long Sebastian would stay over and his role here.

"I'm thinking of making you the new 'King Esparda'." The tigress woman spoke her thoughts.

This was her desire even before he'd arrived…

But just as she was going to get into detail about the role and the things required for him to do, a Bastos Rank woman ran in. Her breathing was disturbed, and she looked ready to fall over.

"What's wrong?" Velma peeked from a nearby sofa.

"We are being attacked!" The trio quickly got up to see what was going on. Heading to the balcony.

Their eyes widened when they saw their people being chased and attacked by icy marionettes.

They were barely holding on!

"…I'll help." A bad memory seemed to awaken in Sebastian's heart when he looked at the spawns.

 He jumped down to help.

And faraway, the perpetrators of this incident were watching the chaos while being hidden to one side. 

There was a young man standing in the centre of the crowd that was being attacked by marionettes.

'What a crazy sight.' There was slight indifference in his eyes, but he was relieved no one got hurt.

Solaris thought that they were truly like the masked woman in his arms. The one he was trying to heal.

"You dolt… Was this worth causing your body to become infertile? You should know your condition."

"If you're gonna scold me, at least put some strength in your voice." Lumina had a fixed smile.

Her mask wouldn't show any other expression.

However, the male counterpart could tell she was back to normal. Her mind wasn't clouded by hate.

The monstrous-looking girl found herself feeling a strange sensation when he transferred his vitality.

She couldn't understand what he wanted out of this. What could he gain by helping her now…?

"Our connection is cut. You can feel it too. When I wear this mask, YOU become Adam Graham. Is there any reason to help me?" She asked with a suspicious look. Her eyes fell down to the hand transferring vitality into her dantian directly.

Having good reason to not trust him anymore.

"…I admit. I'm missing that connection that made us have full understanding of each other. I really, REALLY do." Solaris felt different from before. The lack of a connection made her feel like a stranger.

It made him feel like she was no longer part of him.

However, he didn't reject her appearance one bit.

He thought about the teachings passed onto him and gained new insight. The quality of Qi altered.

The cruel, blazing hotness of his Yang Qi… had suddenly became comfortably warm instead.

Even without a Yinyang Connection, Lumina could feel the sincerity that was engraved into his bones.

He had aura like a sunflower in the breeze…

Free from any artificialities and hidden intent.

"Why…? You can't understand me. We're nothing more than strangers." It was at that point he spoke:

"We're family." Those words sank in deep.

The icy black mask around her face cracked, and ended up shattering upon being impacted by it.

Lumina's beauty had returned…

Her heart back to that of a human being, rather than a monster that threw away clear emotions.

The eyes behind that mask were wide, unable to comprehend the words that were told to her.

Nor the compassion she felt from Solaris…

She blushed. Unable to hold herself back from quipping at the sweetness of his current self:

"Did you drink honey before talking? Why do those words make me melt?" She covered her face.

"…" Her counterpart started at this adorable sight.

"H-hey! Just because I didn't say anything, does NOT mean I suddenly accept you as my sibling..."

"…" He seen even more moved by her attitude.

The distinct change in the way she treated him before and the way she did now was significant.

"I-I'm NOT doing a Tsundere act!" She shook him by the collar, but he seemed deep in his own world.

"Yeah, just like how you're DEFINITELY NOT just scaring those Beastkin with your newborn spawns."

"T-that's because we're going conquer them!"

"Yeah… You can keep on telling yourself that. My sister has more of a heart than she lets on."

"WHO IS YOUR FUCKING SISTER, YOU SHIT?!"

Thanks to the reconnection, they didn't need to speak to know what the other was thinking.

This rare moment of connection was captured in his boundless Sea of Consciousness like a video.

Backups were made as he put it on repeat.

His counterpart's embarrassment was ignored…

Lumina quickly stopped being carried by him. She had enough sense to know when she had lost.

And when saying more would make her immature. 

After being healed up, the wannabe ice queen decided now was a good time to change the subject. It felt too awkward being so mushy with someone. Especially with her snarky personality.

"E-ew! Look at you now~ A-are you falling in love with yourself? Do I look gay?" She jeered at him.

There was a theatrical air in the way she spoke.

Solaris decided to go along with her. She meant none of her words, but there was we a reason she spoke. It was because if she didn't, they'd have to deal with an awkward conversation between them.

That was scarier than anything…!

However, her male counterpart had to be honest:

"You're a girl who is into girls, so yeah…" This answer stunned her from how she couldn't refute.

It was hard to deny what he'd just said.

"…I'm gay?" She looked at herself closely. It was like she had come to an sudden realisation of this.

"Pretty much." Solaris told her straightforwardly.

"But I originated from a straight white male…?"

"Oh, so that's why it's taking a while to digest." He understood, but found her reaction to be amusing.

He continued: "What? Do you feel different?"

"The lack of any difference is throwing me off. I've never met one in my life, but have heard of them."

"Hyuk doesn't count as one."

"That's Hyuk…"

"Point made. I wonder why I asked…?" Solaris felt like he had done brought up a worthless topic.

Their perverted instructor obviously didn't count!

"Anyway, let's get you married."

"Don't you want to become the Queen's wife?"

"She'd have to be lesbian or bisexual for that to happen, but what are the odds of that happening?"

"Doesn't seem like it wou-" Just he was about to agree, their small talk was interrupted by a bolt.

A steak of lightning hit the ground in front of Lumina, and someone familiar popped out.

The only difference from the person they saw and the man in their memory… was that real dark look. 

He seemed ready to kill someone already.

"Adam, get this 'thing' to call them off." His words immediately caught the two of them off-guard.

Things had just turned more complicated…

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