Chapter 181

  A crimson color was rare, seen fewer than once in a hundred Walkers. Blue was the most common, followed by white varieties. All these colors implied the true source of energy known as Arcana, the craziest, magical, and unconventional energy of today's age.

  Coloration was a mark of variations, flavors, and meanings of Arcana's influence. It was mostly leaning on elemental properties, or Vectors, which were denser conglomeration and tides of Arcana.

  The proper sensual motivation for such powers was how Emblem worked and how Walkers used it. In truth, color was just a mark of elemental infusion or quality, or a simple mark of talent and stains.

  It was the sole reason the Emblems looked the way they did, although it wasn't all about them or Walkers. Everything linked shall become elevated at due age, while power was meant for rising and crashing primal hunts against the Darks. Things could change significantly in the following Ranks, and if someone was truly lucky, they might eclipse their little cocoons.

  Mi-Yung knew it, so she glanced at his Emblem after grasping his hand. With quite some force, she dragged it forward and leaned forward for a better look.

  “What a splendid and beautiful crimson! You have the same colorful life as your father. So pretty.” She blushed, acknowledging this beauty that Ellie liked as well.

  This was the first of many shocks that William was bound to have.

  After all, he was mindful of what to believe, thanks to Kaufman and his rarer events Outside. Also, two Walkers couldn't birth a Walker, so that meant his parents weren't simple at all, or it was a mocking, big lie. Maybe he was just an experiment gone wrong or right, or those two had more secrets, or his mother was all he ever had, or....

  At worst, she wasn't even his mother, and all this time, his heart and pain were for nothing.

  No. That's bullshit. He cared, so it was real. She cared, so it was genuine.

  Who was he? Was he even a son of his parents, or was this about that father of his? The shadowy figure of that man might be someone else. After all, William didn't recall an ounce of desire to get close to him. His mother was more for his mind and recollections.

  Maybe the cause was the last moment they had together. When everything went south, and never returned and left its mark. It also left something else, but that was a decade-long story.

  Who he was ended up as a dubious question, as well as something personal, because of Ellie. He didn't like how it sounded and how it made him feel.

  “My father had the same color as me?” William muttered, enduring this tigress who was almost salivating and kissing his hand.

  “Oh? That is nothing crazy. You could have gotten some bloodline connections through the Emblem's System from him. After all, both of your parents were Walkers, and I can attest to that.”

  “Really? How?” William said, frowning and trying to jerk his hand back, but she didn’t let go. She didn't even budge or consider his feelings.

  “I just do since both of them were quite high-ranked, unique, and sharp. Also, I looked up to that madness and I figured... what else makes sense? Maybe too much.” Mi-Yung said this fact as if it were normal. She wasn't telling small gray lies, but more like doubtful little facts.

  William caught up with that only because of Ellie and a bit because of Kaufman. “I... read on Walkers in the library. Births. Parenthood. Chances. A lot of stuff makes no sense, but I read it anyway. I have to—to know.”

  “Oh...” she dejectedly said, straining her face and feeling awkward. “I mean... is this a bad thing?”

  “What and who am I? Are my parent my parents?”

  “Viktor was. This here is an indisputable fact.” She pointed to his hand, and William had had enough.

  “And my mother? Luke mentioned her and feared talking about her more.”

  “At least he did something right. And no, your mother was also a Walker, and you are their son. I swear that to you.”

  “So who am I then?”

  “An oddity, lost Outside, connected to a bunch of problems, and… unknown, I fear. Your parents left everything in the darkness. They didn’t want you out in the open. They hid you until they couldn’t run away. At one point, someone discovered them and what they did or kept doing. Why or what exactly, I don’t know.” Mi-Yung said, full of regret. It didn't seem her clearance or success was very deep.

  But she found him!

  “Am I just an experiment gone right and lost outside because my parents were afraid or hopeful of something far bigger than them?” William revealed his deep cluster of emotions and the research he had speculated about in the last couple of days. He wasn't sure how much of it was accurate or if it was a bunch of terrible guesses.

  From the looks of it, Mi-Yung had similar and maybe even well-established theories and ideas about similar questions, so asking her about them was clever.

  Mi-Yung hid that behind a flustered, shocked, and skeptical face. To hear him mention this much was almost sad. That meant he seriously thought about himself and wasn't a clueless brat as she thought he would be. Outside had vast limitations, and she recognized William as someone inferior in knowledge.

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  But he was young, and those could change. She did, at least. It was always possible, especially if he was the son of his parents. To her, it looked like this youth was much more surprising than she gave him credit for.

  “Hm. Experiment, you say? Personally, I have no ulterior motives here. Unlike others, better forgotten and omitted figures. I want to help you regain your life and a proper future. You wouldn't get it Outside, yet you stubbornly refused to get yourself out. You didn’t even talk much about things you have done, eh?”

  Huffing, she let his arm go and hid her fluster and anger behind a naked annoyance and a small, confident smile. “It would help so much if you did reach out to the Federation. Or anyone better, truly.”

  “S-sorry. How about calming this down, miss Mi-Yung? I wanted to find them, and all I knew was Outside. I was afraid, I think. Young and... it wasn't easy.”

  “I am calm. You aren't becasue you are obviously curious. Rightfully so, mind you, and I don't like where this is going. I want good things for you and... wait, where have you learned about this Walker births and stuff? That is quite progressive stuff that not everyone can learn.”

  “I wonder about that...” William calmed down, ignored the card in his pocket, and found a common ground with less awkwardness between him, her, and his words. “I am not used to dealing with this, but I had my parents in mind for as long as I could remember. My mother left me in that camp ten years ago and never returned. She never promised it, and Outside is full of death. I recognized it later. I was five. Now, whatever that means, I want to know the truth.”

  Talk of his parents was sensitive, so he gripped his fits and hoped nothing bad would happen. From the looks of it, Mi-Yung was hesitant to go too far, which clashed against her previous promise.

  William shouldn't be in a hurry because it might end up shocking him or being too terrible for him.

  “Promises and truth, you say? It might be embarrassing for myself to get this apart. I wanted to cut the chase and talk first, as I promised this to myself and you.”

  “I don’t refuse that. I am just confused. Am I wrong? If my parents are dead and all...”

  Before he finished, Mi-Yung talked.

  “I adored your father and took big notes of his exodus. I hated everything about his so-called death and the overall situation. It is full of cracks and instabilities. So I apologize if I am making less sense since there are facts that don't make sense to me to this day. Darks are there, Incursion is a big deal, and that camp was big and completely eradicated. You survived it, somehow. How?” Mi-Yung forgot her loftiness and stated her main idea.

  If not William, who could help answer these old rumors? She looked as normal as she could be and gave one excuse alone.

  William wasn't in the dark about that camp from ten years ago. Sure, he lived there for a while, but he was five, so his memory wasn't good. Add to that what came afterwards, and it was no wonder he didn't have fond memories of that place.

  What secured his mind was his later research. The Outside didn’t forget what had happened, even if someone tried to sweep that under the rug.

  Pulling his tattered sleeve back over his wrist, he looked at her face. A kind, unfamiliar, yet very charming, honest, and grown-up face.

  “Incursion. I learned a little about it. It involves highly dangerous Darks and points that are hard to control. It is like a knife going through butter. Dark invasion. What kind of thing causes that?”

  “What do you mean?” she asked with all sorts of smiles that twitched her brows.

  “I mean, it isn't normal that you pulled a young Walker like me for nothing. I get it. Most end up in other facilities under the Federation, or straight up stolen, or who knows where else. Is it not true that you want me for something specific? What is it? This is far too weird.”

  William linked plenty of information, doubts, and ideas he was certain about, which the library expanded. This question was a labor full of his deliberations.

  “I suppose that is true. I want something from you. Many want that, frankly. I also want you to get a lot from me, and I want a lot more out of me. Have you already guessed other things? You are a Walker. That is true and not normal either, if the rest is also true. I want no trouble to come to you, so I made my move before the others could. Why? Because you would come here, no? The Academy could've put their interest in you in no time at all.”

  “Is that a bad thing? The Academy is famous and influential. Mysterious, too, but that is another thing. Like my mother!”

  “Have you not heard me? Academy can be troublesome.”

  “And? I made no exodus or sins, so I have no clue what you are talking about.” William stated without any shame. He almost sounded confident and coherent.

  “You did not, but do you think the Academy cares about that? Your mother made a mess in there, and few know the rest. They might, though, and I don't want to touch that. It is not... safe, I think. This is not straightforward, so who do you want to be, chained or free?”

  He remained silent and a bit angry.

  “I want it all for you, William. Power, choice, freedom. Those are big differences that not everyone can get. Not every Walker is equal. The start. Their Dives. They Rank Up. Leveling is gradual, but in the darkness, Darks have their hierarchy. They ought to follow it because it is in their core. In their so-called Madness. We also have our own Madness and rules.”

  “Don't mention Darks. Those are different!”

  “I guess you don't get me. Fine. Your retrieval was fast and requested under my name alone because I was afraid and successfully found your scattered reasons. My standing gave me this choice, but I want your choice to be yours, and I want to see you near me. Awakening is your future, so... how about this? I might as well offer you to become my son in name alone, and it wouldn't be too bad, but it appears you wouldn’t ever want that.”

  William stared at her, speechless.

  “Guess not. Wanting to be my apprentice is the same, eh? Well, that one is ambitious.” Mi-Yung said confidently and with a passionate chuckle.

  There was no question she was important, and what she was exaggerating wasn't even necessary. She believed in her words, and William sensed it.

  “Yeah. So, I am an orphan. Not yours, and I refused many offers because it is, as you say, I don't like how it sounds. I didn't like those people who came to me.”

  “So you hate me that much? After all of this?” She appeared hurt, but not too much. She was still working out her own troubled mind and words.

  “No… Well, maybe a little. It is… unreasonable. Wait… no. Not that. I shouldn't...”

  “Which is not a bad thing if you can afford it. Can you?”

  William frowned and realized he had turned out to be the one being unreasonable. He should change or get some air.

  “Alright. I am not shameless and greedy, let alone question a feeding hand. But something is bothering me when you talk to me like this. Kaufman was the same. Who are you?” William urged, hoping to know her a little better.

  Not the reason. Her!

  A person who could be more reasonable was before him. While his parents might be a distant topic, this lady before him was not so distant. Mi-Yung also had her pain and plans, and definitely had history and hardships in her acts. The ten-year gap offered up many questions, and wonders were hiding in her eyes.

  And the glints and colors and hesitation all over her body didn't fake anything. She was emotional, afraid of many things, and hesitant. Why? Maybe this was a different meeting than she ever wanted, or William turned out to be worse.