K awoke without a thrash nor a sound.

  His limbs tangled in the sheets, and for a moment he thought he was back there—

  At the compound. The night of the fire. The night of the Red District Massacre, when he was given the Beast’s Blessing.

  But this was an unfamiliar part of the memory. Every time K tried to recall what had happened to him that night, he’d draw a blank. All he could see were flames and burning bodies.

  For the first time, however; his memories cleared enough for him to remember one thing:

  There was a man.

  K felt a horrible ache in his bones. His cheeks were a bit moist.

  Had he shed any tears? K put a hand up to his face, feeling the wetness with two fingers.

  As he did so, the blanket shifted; and beside him, his brother gave a quiet grunt. The man twisted to his side.

  K held back a wince as his back and legs cracked from disuse. It felt as if his body had been running a marathon the whole night.

  He sighed as he lifted himself from the bed, trying his best not to jostle Chet awake.

  He padded over to the bathroom. The heaviness of his head and the nauseousness he had felt the night before had all but vanished. All that remained was this new ache in his body, and the tears wracked across his face.

  He rubbed at the tears again, harder this time. But they continued to fall, unending. How strange.

  After all, K wasn’t gasping for air in short bursts, nor was he trembling. Instead, he felt quite well. There was no panic lurching inside of him.

  And yet, the tears never ceased.

  K frowned to himself as he finally stepped past the bathroom’s door frame.

  That was when he saw it.

  —The perfect, glimmering gold that was across his fingertips.

  K gaped and trudged towards the bathroom’s mirror, distractedly locking the door as he went.

  Finally, he gazed at his face in the mirror.

  His eyes were still shedding tears. But now K could see that they were not just tears.

  No, it was molten gold.

  They flooded from his tear ducts. Sent rivulets of aureate liquid down his cheeks, and his neck, even seeping into his shirt’s collar.

  And they never stopped, not even when K desperately rubbed at his eyes with his hands. As every second passed, more gold poured out.

  K huffed a desperate breath, catching sight of the sink’s faucet. He grasped at the tap, letting water flow into the sink.

  He cupped the cool water into his hands, shoving it to his face.

  Looking back up at his reflection, the bangs of his hair were a bit moist, and his face was as wet as a freshly bathed dog’s.

  But he could still see it.

  The endless rush of gold never ceased. Flowing down his cheeks so quickly that not even the water could impede it.

  Now, K was beginning to panic. He still couldn’t wrap his head around what could have caused this.

  K’s heart began to beat harder and faster, that familiar chill growing beneath his bones.

  ‘You’re making a mess, my Sire.’

  There was a tap at his forehead.

  Soft, fleshy. A graze of something hard and sharp matted against his hair. It felt a bit like a dog’s ragged nose. He flinched as a moist tongue lapped at his face, clearing the gold away.

  At last, the tears stopped.

  It was only now that K realized his eyes were squeezed shut.

  He drew them open.

  In front of him— was a creature’s massive maw, its jaw shrouding the entirety of K's face.

  There were fangs peeking from its jowls. And he could see that there were beautiful, golden scales racing down a serpentine body. A body that clearly took up the entirety of the room.

  It was the Beast.

  K shrieked.

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

  Footsteps padded closer, somewhere.

  “Kai! What’s wrong?” Chet yelled from behind the bathroom door.

  K jolted when the doorknob began to rattle, his brother’s voice growing louder again, “Are you— did you…”

  K's heartbeat was still racing in his chest, as he stared up at the Beast that lounged in front of him

  The creature was curled over the sink, its body nearly 10 meters long. He was trapped between the walls, scrunching its body up in coils. His body grew thinner as it tapered off into a tail, and K could barely make out its long hooves on the ground.

  He stood stock still, unmoving. K would have thought he wasn’t real, if it wasn’t for the bathroom’s fluorescent lights casting an uneven glow upon his scales.

  “I’m fine. I just…” K said unsteadily. “You can go back to sleep. I was just spooked by my own reflection.”

  It took a while for Chet to reply. “Alright, then. Dawn’s breaking, so I’ll just get started on breakfast.”

  “Okay,” K called out, eyeing the Beast. The creature’s pupils were following his every move.

  When he was sure that his brother’s ears were out of reach, K turned to the Beast in front of him. “...Hun?”

  ‘Sire,’ the Beast spoke.

  Hun’s voice rang through K's mind, the same way it always did. His snout didn’t even shift.

  “You’re here.” K breathed, “You’re real.”

  ‘I have always been real,’ Hun replied, that familiar drawl that K had spent years hearing entered its tone.

  K reached out a hand, aiming for the Beast’s snout. He let him get closer, let him gently press his fingers to the soft flesh of his nose.

  K could feel him breathing, the way the skin stretched out to accommodate each rush of air as he exhaled. “How did this happen?”

  ‘I am not too sure, Sire.’ Hun whispered, padding closer to wrap his long, serpentine body around K’s frame. The separation tolled on him. ‘But I know that the moment Master Pachinko flared his aura— I felt an immense amount of Cultivational power. It almost felt… familiar.’

  And wasn’t that a piece of truth, as well. The Beast’s origin was just as mysterious to the creature as it was to K.

  Hun did not know where he came from. He did not know who his true wielder was. The Beast was nothing more than a toddler, and everything he knew came from what K saw with his own two eyes.

  “Master Banzai stated that Pachi was more powerful than Sunren had ever been…” K mused. “I wonder if this is what he meant.”

  ‘What are we to do?’ Hun mustered. He looked a bit like a fearful dog. ‘This may have affected your Blessing, Sire. What if you’re not able to channel the Phantom?’

  “I need to meet with Master Banzai about this,” K sighed, before a frown descended his features. “But before that, I have to deal with Pachi, first.

  Of course, that was easier said than done. Master Banzai was a difficult man to reach. Even as the Golden Phantom, his Master was elusive. He employed other men to complete his affairs and his estate was in a secret location. Less than 5% of the Triads' members could meet with him, face-to-face.

  In order for K to have a private audience with Banzai, he’d need to complete his mission, first. Without doing that, Banzai had no reason to speak to him.

  ‘What do you—’

  “Kai!” Chet’s voice drew nearer again. “Breakfast’s ready!”

  “I’ll be out in a bit,” K called back. He turned back to Hun and looked him up and down. “How do we…”

  The Beast didn’t reply. Instead, he wrenched his body apart in a twist of golden sinew and muscle. As if his physical form was being torn and broken apart.

  Then, the creature disappeared altogether.

  K jolted when he felt a fly buzzing at his ear, his hand automatically coming up to swat at it.

  The fly happened to dodge him perfectly, landing on the curve of his earlobe. The Beast’s voice echoed from his mind again, ‘This should suffice, yes?’

  “You can shapeshift.” K whispered to himself.

  ‘I can transform into any being of the land and sky.’

  K’s hand slowly came to rest on his ear, his finger reaching out to graze at the Beast. Now transfigured into a fly, sitting on top of his helix.

  It was a strange sensation. To feel the Beast’s little legs crawl across the expanse of his fingernail before K withdrew it.

  ‘Incredible.’ Even Hun sounded in-awe. ‘These abilities… I never knew I was capable of them. But they feel like they’ve always been a part of me.’

  K let the manner drop as he slowly slinked out of the bathroom.

  “Breakfast’s on the table, Kai.” Chet said, taking a seat as K entered their main living room.

  K smiled tightly, and took a heaping serving of the yellow chicken soup. He eyed the shredded bits of chicken breast, egg, fried garlic, and noodles as they slid into his bowl.

  “Aren’t you going to have any of the bitter gourd?” Chet pouted, pointing at the dish with his chopsticks.

  “Ah, no,” K shook his head politely. “You know I can’t stand bitter food.”

  Chet shook his head. “Don’t be so picky. We’re not rich enough for that sort of behavior.”

  K laughed, and took a big mouthful of the bitter gourd just to appease his brother.

  There were a few solid seconds spent in idle silence before Chet broke it. “So… what did your assailant want to tell me?”

  “Oh, yes,” K trailed off, picking at his food. “Kizuna wanted to tell you that… some kid named Isagani is being held captive by a man called Dae-Jung. He said it was important to let you know that this was his ‘first mission’.”

  Chet hummed. “Did he say anything else?”

  “Um…” K pretended to wrack his mind. “He wanted to meet with you. At some place called… the Gurden?”

  “Guerdon.”

  K nodded along, “Yes, that’s what he said!”

  Chet was halfway through his meal when the telephone by his desk rang. The man swallowed, groaned in frustration, and stood up to answer the call. “I’ll need to meet with him, then. Just stay here and rest for today, Kai. If you feel sick again, just call your Auntie Naomi’s number.”

  K nodded again.

  He would not be staying here. The moment his brother stepped out to meet Kizuna, K himself would be bolting to the Transit.

  Regardless, the man took his leave, closing the door to his office as he answered the call.

  K’s narrowed eyes followed his brother. He took one last bite of breakfast and sauntered back to the bedroom.

  “Hun,” K whispered under his breath.

  ‘Yes, Sire?’ came the Beast’s reply, still in the form of a fly.

  “Head to the office and listen in on Chet’s phone call,” K ordered. “I need to know who he’s speaking to. And I want you to stay with him until I get to the Guerdon— if he speaks to anyone else on the way, tell me.”

  Hun didn’t even respond. He merely heeded the order and buzzed off K’s shoulder.