The Fallen Prince

The Monster

"Oji-san! Ojiii-saaan!" a man cried, running towards a large wooden house at the extremity of a small village in the middle of a large forest. It was cut off from the world; the only thing leading to it was a hidden stone path. Its inhabitants were a rough country bunch, but they were respectable folk who specialized in the crafting of quality wooden furniture.
The man arrived at the house, along with other villagers closely behind him, and rapped loudly at the door. "Oji-san, please help us!"
Shuffling noises were heard inside the house, and then the door was opened slowly. A short, old man stood in front of them, dressed in night-clothes. He was thin and seemed frail, because he walked with the aid of a stick, but the villagers knew better.
Oji-san drew in a deep, deep breath, and shouted, in a voice that chased the birds away, "Do you all know how early in the morning it is?! I have been working hard yesterday helping you in the fruit harvest! Don't I deserve rest?" He stamped his foot on the floor and banged his stick on the doorframe. These were his habits whenever his temper grew sour.
The villagers had taken a few cautious steps back, and the village leader stepped forward shakily.
"Th-There has been a m-m-monster sighted a few miles away from the village! He has the body of a creature from the underworld and the fangs of a serpent!"
The old man was quieter for a moment as he stroked his long beard. "Well, what damage has he done?"
"N-Nothing, Oji-san, he just growls at us whenever we come close..."
Oji-san became grumpy all over again. "Then leave him alone for the meantime, I'll go there once I've rested. If you disturb me again, I'll beat you!"
The men went back home in fear, both of the monster and a beating from the village physician.
•••••
A201 sat down on a rock next to a spring frustratedly. Ever since the human enhancement, he had lost his ability to speak because of a few hastily performed surgeries inside his mouth and throat. A number of villagers had approached him a few times earlier, and he tried asking them where he was. All that he could do was growl like a beast, which sent the villagers running away. Fantastic. The very things he needed help with were actually preventing him from getting the assistance he required.
For the first time in his life, he could see what he looked like in his reflection in the water. All memories of his past self were washed away by a strong drug, so he did not know what he used to look like. He stared in contemplation at his disfigured self.
He had long, reddish-brown hair reaching his back that hadn't been cut in a while, and four sharp bone growths sticking out each of his arms. Enlarged veins crawled across his face, and sharp, curved fangs emerged from his lips. A201 slapped at his reflection in the water in utter revulsion.
"A rather vain one, aren't you, Kaibutsu-kun?" said a quiet voice behind him.
A201's instincts kicked in to attack, but when he saw it was merely an old man, he withdrew his fist and took a few steps back.
Oji-san looked at A201 carefully and observed him. "You have a quick reaction. Who is your master and how did he teach you that?"
One corner of A201's lips curled in disdain. "I have no master." He didn't expect the old man to understand him anyway, and turned away. All he could do was growl.
"A strange creature you are. Where could you have come from?"
"It's a complicated matter."
"Would you like something to eat?"
"No."
"Anything to drink?"
"No."
"What are you doing?"
A201 irritatedly snapped, "You annoy me so much. Go away!"
"How do I annoy you? I'm trying to be polite," Oji-san huffed. "Well, what a sour mood has come upon you today!"
"Sour? It's you who's... Wait--"
"I can understand you by reading your conscious thoughts, the things you are about to say. Please communicate with me freely."
A201 apologized for his behaviour and Oji-san sat next to him on the rocks.
"How can you read my thoughts?"
"I am a partial magic user. That means I can use magic, but it is not much, thus only enabling me to cast limited spells. What about you? Can you use magic?"
"I can't remember. I don't know... I've never tried."
Oji-san took a leaf off the ground and laid it flat on his palm. "Try lifting this off my hand. The spell is, O wind, carry this object upon your wings, Levare Ventus!"
The leaf floated on top of his palm for a few seconds, then dropped back down. "If you are a magic user, you can do at least this. It's the easiest spell."
In his deep, growling voice, A201 repeated the spell. Only the corner of the leaf twitched.
"Ah, wonderful!" exclaimed the old man, throwing the leaf away. "Just as I thought! You are a magic user, too. I could sense your magic from a distance away."
A201 looked grim. "But it is very weak. It does not matter at all and it is useless."
Oji-san tapped his stick on A201's leg in annoyance. "It does matter!"
"Oh, how then?"
"It is because you are unable to talk properly that the wind cannot understand and respond to your call as you want it to. Another factor is your will and concentration. They are at a low level. But those are less important factors. If you were at least into it, you could have lifted the leaf."
"So the problem lies in my speech?"
"Yes."
"How do I fix myself?"
"I cannot know unless you tell me what on earth has happened to you!" Oji-san said irritatedly. "Are you willing to tell me?"
A201 inhaled slowly and looked at the sky, which before he could only see through his glass container through a far window every time a lab personnel opened the door to enter the subject containment room. Seeing it gave him a sense of calm.
He slowly spoke (growled), "I am A201, an escaped experiment subject of Avann Rasmus, Minister of Magic, who has been illegally performing secret human enhancement without consent from the Royal Court. I do not know my age or birthplace because my memory is erased by a strong memory-inhibiting drug."
The old man fell into deep thought. "I am quite uninformed in politics, but I've never liked Rasmus ever since he was appointed Minister of Magic. I dug deep into his background because for some strange reason, the man seemed shady to me. It wasn't easy, but after a year I found out he used to be a biologist and bioengineer, surpassing the best teachers in the land. This fact was only known to himself and his mentors. That was all I could gather, but sufficient to theorize something and find out his intentions."
"Which were?" inquired A201.
"Rasmus was an aspiring scientist, but no matter how much money he got, he could never fund any experiments or exhibitions, and this frustrated him. Then, he came up with an ingenious plan. He started working hard in the magical field to enhance magical power and the like through tools and objects, despite being a full magic user himself. Most objects made by his business can be used once or a few times before buying replacements or refills, but they do the job.
"The business was a success, and he was appointed Minister of Magic soon after. Because the enhancement tools could be refilled or recycled, this earned him the favor of the Ministry of Environmental Health. Now, with plenty of money from his business and from the Royal Court, he has more than enough to fund whatever experiments he had always wanted to perform."
"Makes sense," nodded A201. "What would he do then?"
"Well, I assume he has two groups of scientists. Those who work with the common enhancement objects in his growing industry, and those secret scientists, the advanced doctors and engineers. From what you said in your self-introduction, I am sure those secret scientists were ordered by him to do more complex enhancements using transplanted body parts."
"Yes, yes," said A201 excitedly. "That is correct. He had illegally collected body parts from various magical creatures with more useful properties than humans. After preserving the parts and studying them for a long time, he finally transplanted them into human subjects. I overheard from some scientists that worked where I was kept that the transplanting took place only in recent years because of the length of time he took after studying to find suitable subjects to use for the multiple surgeries."
Oji-san was excited as well at the new information he was receiving. "What kind of subjects did he take?"
"There were ten of us. We were once powerful men, which makes sense, since he wanted to create powerful, enhanced people. I think five of us used to be strong magic users, of which I am included, and the other five were very physically strong.  I do not know much else, since our memories were erased and the scientists told us almost nothing, but I know we were once human."
"Once human? Do not say such nonsense!" fumed the old man in righteous anger. "Although your physical appearance has been marred, no one can take away your human intelligence and spirit! You have a bright future ahead of you!"
"My fellow subjects were my only friends in that cold, forsaken containment room! What is my future?" A201's pained voice filled with sadness.
"Live! Live your dreams for them. I'm sure you wanted them to do the same for themselves!"
A201 closed his eyes, but couldn't keep the tears from flowing down his face. A191 wanted to be a musician. A192 wanted to accompany A191. A193 planned to have a family. A194 wanted to be a physician along with A199. A195, A197, and A200 wanted to be farm workers. A196, as always, wanted to surpass A201. A198 wanted to start a village. But first and foremost, everyone wanted to find their former selves.
"Everyone had their dreams," thought A201. His tears had already stopped. "Mine is bring Rasmus to justice. I, A201, vow to return to your graves with tombstones, engraved with your real names. And if I become a mighty man, I shall return with the head of Avann Rasmus."