A Subject's Horror - Book Three

Chapter One

Rose might have been loud, and foul mouthed, but she had become a close friend to all of us over the last six months. One that we had learned to lean on over time.

To watch as she was tossed into that archway was almost too much to handle.

Not that watching Craig be tossed in had been any easier.

"You fucking psycho," I hissed out while struggling against the guards who had moved forward to grab me. "Do you even care that you're sacrificing humans?!"

When one thinks of a true monster, sometimes I think Hilton could fit a type of monster. Yet, even then I knew there were different levels and types of monsters.

To us he was one of the worst ones out there.

"Bring her forward," ordered Hilton with an eyeroll and wave of his hand making me spit out a few more curses towards him and his guards. "You seem to have forgotten that I am doing this for humankind and to better our future."

"You're a stupid human with a god complex," I spat back with a sneer only to hiss as one of the guards slammed his fist into my stomach making me jerk forward. "Motherfucker..."

I couldn't even pay attention to how the others were also cursing out Hilton and the guards keeping them in place. Not when I was being dragged up the dais and towards the veil.

Part of me wondered if Rose and Craig had felt fear in their last moments like I was feeling.

Well, fear and unimaginable hatred towards Hilton.

"Toss her in."

Those were the last words I heard as I was shoved forward and right into the veil.

~ Heartfilia Manor ~

Waking up was confusing enough, waking up in an unfamiliar bedroom with tiny hands, well, that was on a whole new level. Fear made my body tremble as I worked to get out of the huge bed and stagger towards the door towards my right.

Hopefully it lead to the bathroom.

Turns out the door lead to a huge closet, luckily inside there was a large standing mirror.

Not so luckily, it turns out I had somehow become a young child.

A boy at that making a scream lodge in my throat as my legs gave out from under me as I continued to stare at the blonde and golden eyed boy. He looked somewhat familiar.

How that was I wasn't sure.

"Calix?" called out a young feminine voice from the main bedroom area making me tense from where I knelt on the floor. "Are you in the restroom?"

There wasn't much of a choice here, not when thanks to Hilton I had somehow become someone else. It seemed his theory on the multiverse was real.

Though on what level that truth held I wasn't sure.

"I'm in the closet," I called back while finally gaining to my feet even as I tried not to wince at the unfamiliar voice that came from me while I worked to ignore my appearance in the mirror.

"Did your butler not set aside an outfit for you?" questioned that same voice as it grew closer towards the closet making me glance towards the door.

And right there, now standing before me was a young Lucy Heartfilia.

I would easily know who she was considering my love of the fandom and her specifically.

It also made me realize why my new looks seemed sort of familiar.

"Calix? Are you alright?" questioned the chibi version of Lucy Heartfilia as she moved closer to place her hand upon my forehead. "You don't feel warm. Do I need to go get the nanny?"

"No," I shot back before wincing at how loud I said that. "Sorry, I just didn't sleep well. As for if my butler set aside clothes for me, he likely had but I wanted to pick my own outfit today."

The closet was huge and filled with custom made dress shirts and pants along with having a middle island filled with expensive watches, cuff links, and even a few pieces of jewelry.

Set atop to one side there was also a few different cologne bottles as well.

You would think I was a young teenager already instead of being around the age of nine or ten.

"Must have been some dream," mused Lucy with a light giggle before glancing back towards the door with some hesitation. "Father still isn't happy that you picked Ash to be your personal butler seeing as he is an orphan from the streets."

Meaning he had likely only been with me for a short while before I woke up in Calix's place.

"That's fine," I waved it off with a narrowed look shot towards the door. "Ash is the one I picked, and I know he will prove his worth to Father. On another topic, I think I need a bit of time to myself this morning. My dream seems to have me out of sorts this morning."

Lucy seemed to understand as she reached out to hug me tightly before leaving room.

This meant I had a bit of time to dig through the bedroom and the other three doors, none of which counted the closet or the door leading out of my bedroom.

Why there seemed to be so many doors connected to my room I wasn't sure.

I spent a moment to change into a black dress shirt along with matching blank pants, choosing a pair of crimson cuff links to wear, before leaving the closet behind to search the other rooms.

The door near the closet lead to a bathroom, a room I gave a glance over before leaving, causing me to focus on the two doors facing opposite of my bed.

The first one on the right leads to a study, filled with an assortment of books, and a large desk and high-wing backed chair. Here I found a few documents filled with ideas for businesses.

Just why Calix seemed to already be focusing on creating a business I wasn't sure.

Though I also found a safe, I wasn't sure what the password was at first. I hit jackpot with using the birthday of Lucy that I remembered finding on Wiki.

Inside the safe held documents like a birth certificate, showing I was Lucy's twin brother, along with a key ring with two Celestial keys placed on it.

It was curious that this was placed here when Lucy had kept her own with her.

"Master Calix," called out a young masculine voice making me turn to face the door while shutting the safe at the same time. "Did you not care for the outfit I had set aside for you?"

This must be the young Ash who I had taken in to be my personal butler. He seemed to be about fifteen or so considering he had the look of a young teenager.

Which made him about five or so years older than me.

"I felt like picking my own clothes today," I answered after a moment of silence before offering the other a gentle smile. "Is it time for me to begin my lessons?"

In truth, I was shooting in the dark here since I had none of Calix's memories.

Ash (older version)