Eternity Through Sacrifice

The Thing (Side Story 1)

Told by The Arcanis Codex

She is four cycles old. Four times the world has circled the sun since her birth. I have watched her every movement since the time she took her first breath.

It was not the blood of my old master. It was not the child of Cedric D'Argent. Yet he did not mind. Raised along his own child, it grew up with love.

"Mireille." That is what he called the accursed child between his beloved wife and his wretched brother. "To be admired, a miracle."

The name bestowed upon the child of the wretched was strangely pleasant. I never understood why he gave the child such a name. Before her birth his beloved was repulsed by the very mention of the thing that was growing inside of her. Many times she had tried to rid her body of the wretched thing.

And so his beloved hurt herself. The thing would not disappear. It held onto life so very dearly. Clinging onto every piece it could hold onto.

And so he lied.

One of the minimal times I've seen the old master lie. He lied. Lied to his beloved, he fabricated the outcome of the tests. His beloved came to love the thing that was growing inside of her. She ceased her madness, her injuries were no more.

But the thing was weak at birth. At birth it almost lost the life it so desperately clung to. It's physical body was withering away. After all the times it had successfully clung to life itself, it was dying.

And yet it did not give up. It reached out, seeking the world. It lived. The thing's breath became stable and it found its position in the world.

It was now one cycle old.

One cycle since it came into the world. One cycle since it took its first breath.

It walks on two feet. Quicker than most children. It desires the world that it was born into. It looks through books, her eyes scanning each individual letter.

It toddles through the world, seeking out each of its elements.

It collapsed.

The countless times it had almost been destroyed did not let it explore the outside world.

Then it became two cycles old.

I was not wrong. Only two times the world has circled the sun since its birth.

The thing now speaks aloud. The master and his beloved smile as it speaks.

It speaks of the green hills that it wants to see.

It speaks of the delicate music it would like to hear.

It speaks of the wonderful scents that it desires to smell.

It speaks of things pleasant to the touch.

And the master and his beloved are amazed.

Once more the world circled the sun. Thrice since its birth.

The thing learned to move in ways that were like the adults.

It became healthy enough to explore the outside world.

Around it went, reading, and discovering.

The thing acts strangely. It was as if it were an adult.

It is clever, and eloquent.

Good with it's words.

However it seldom expressed sadness, great or small.

The master had instructed very clearly.

Protect the children, he said.

And I did.

The master and his beloved went away on an expedition in which they would not return.

One fortnight passed, only a mere fraction of my life.

Past four cycles, the world had been blessed with sunlight.

It was that day I knew, the master and his beloved were not to return.

The contract had dissipated.

Should their corpses be found they will forever sleep beneath the earth.

The date the children discovered the tragedy was long past mine.

The master's child immediately crumbled at the message.

While the thing remained sane.

It returned home and calmly looked through the testaments of the master and his beloved.

Calm it was. Not even shedding a tear.

It went to bed. Just like it always did.

And then it displayed a shred of humanity.

Its tears were silent.

Not to be heard by another.

The very next day, the wretched brother came to retrieve the children.

The thing became aware.

Aware that it was a bastards child.

It's world was destroyed.

Crumbling.

Shattering.

It despised its very existence.

From then on, its tears were no longer silent.

It cried.

It overcame.

It tried to protect itself and the master's child.

And that was when I realized it was not a thing.

It breathes.

It cries.

It lives.

The thing before me was a living girl.

She was not born of love,

But she was bred with it.

That was when I came to understand why the master gave her such a name.

She was a miracle that was blessed upon their lives.

She was to be admired for what she was to become.

[A/N] I really like this chapter. It flows really nicely.