[Your father] it said. [In a strange sort of way.]

  Damien's mind froze for a second, anxiety within. It took a lot to unsettle him, as most of the time, he wasn't even surprised by a lot of things. They were either things he already knew or things that were so within his prediction that they weren't that surprising. But what the man thing had just said was so out of the blue that it took his mind a moment to process it.

  The mystery about where he came from had been bugging him for as long as he had begun searching for answers. He had come up with lots of theories that were later disproven when he couldn't find any true facts to base them on. Like when he'd thought himself a lost prince from a faraway kingdom. Ambitious? Yeah, he knew. He and Keilan had searched library records for any royal lines that had any features resembling his. They'd also combed through libraries for lost lines but had still come up with nothing, not even a line with grey hairs as a major feature had come up.

  He'd even thought maybe his parents were the sort of secret powerful types, those powerful shadow families, wielding grey destructive powers like his and manipulating from behind the scenes. That had also come up with nothing, as he hadn't even met anyone in years who wielded the same affinity as his. He'd checked the records of lots of kingdoms. Secretly, of course, but the results had still come up the same, nothing. He'd asked some of his contacts in some of the most powerful organizations to search for any lost records or something, but still....

  He knew that the answers to his origin could be found somewhere and it was just a matter of time before he found it, but he'd never predicted that the answers would just appear on his lap like that. Afraid to hope but still basking in the ray of sunshine that had just shone on him, he asked the question that had been on his mind for years.

  "Who are my parents?"

  [Sorry, I can't tell you that.]

  And that was how clouds of darkness blocked out his ray of sunshine.

  Anger rose in him. "What do you mean you can't tell me?" he said, stretching his hands to catch the creature

  Quickly backtracking, it replied. [I mean I can't tell you the answers, yet.]

  "They're my parents, I deserve to know who they are!" Damien couldn't keep the anger from his voice.

  [Not when your life depends on it,] it said, plunging the room into a tense silence.

  "What do you mean by that," Keilan asked, tense, since Damien was too shocked to speak.

  [It means that the moment you find out who your father is, your life will immediately be on a timer, probably in seconds.]

  Fear and surprise gripped him in equal measure.

  Seeing as they were too dumbfounded to respond, the creature continued. [There are higher works in play here, and you knowing who your father is would bring unwanted attention down on you, attention that is definitely going to be murderously hostile.]

  Getting over his shock which kept coming back to back, he asked. "Attention from whom?"

  [You're smart, I know, so smart that I know how easy it will be to piece who your father is the moment I tell you who his enemies are. Nice try though.] The creature danced out of his grasp, again.

  Having been caught, he raised his hands in exasperation. "How am I then supposed to know who my father is then!?" He shouted.

  [Easy, you have to grow in power to the extent you're able to fend off any unwanted attention. You wouldn't be able to fend off the truly powerful ones, but at least you'll be able to protect yourself from their lackeys.]

  "You can't expect me to start with nothing, do you?" He asked, eyes narrowed.

  [You have already been given clues to start with; you just need to leave this planet, and eventually, you'll stumble on some answers.]

  Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author's preferred platform and support their work!

  "What clues?"

  [Your powers, specifically your affinity. You're not the only one wielding powers from the realm of destruction, start from there, and if you uncover a truth that's not going to risk your life, I will explain more.]

  Damien was frustrated, murderously frustrated. How could a question which he had been searching for all his life slide out of his grasp the moment he came close? It was enough for him to blow the entire building apart in anger, but he calmed himself.

  Damien opened his mouth to argue, but Keilan stopped him with a gentle hand on the shoulder. He looked over to see the other man shaking his head. Accepting, he sighed. "What's your name? I can't keep thinking of you as a thing or it or grey man."

  [Oh,] it sighed, pleased that they were finally going to change the subject. [You were supposed to give me a name,] It said, turning to Damien.

  "Why? You can choose a name for yourself, right?"

  [Sure, but It would still be better if you did it.]

  "Trust me, you don't want the ideas running through my head," Damien said. "What are you even supposed to be?" He asked.

  [In essence, I'm supposed to assist you in any endeavor you need me to,] it answered.

  "Why? I've been doing well by myself, I don't see why I need any assistance from you."

  [Trust me, you'll need it.]

  Damien frowned. "Since when we met, you've mostly denied me information... information that I've spent my entire life searching for, and now you want me to just trust you on word alone? I've allowed you into my head!"

  [The alternative is me letting you off and then you go stumble and get yourself in big trouble, trouble that'll then get a lot of extremely powerful beings after you. I may not be exactly forthcoming, but my job is to keep you from any path that will lead to your death. Eventually, you're gonna find all the answers to your questions, and when you do, another of my jobs is to get you strong enough to survive them.]

  Damien sighed. "Sorry, I'm just frustrated. I've been searching for answers for years now and it irks me to have all the answers in view but still can't grasp onto them."

  [Don't worry; get powerful enough, and answers will come rolling onto you.]

  Keilan had been quiet for their conversation but then chirped in to bring their talks to more productive results. "Nice that everyone's calm now. Damien, we'll find your answers, even if it means turning the earth over looking for it." He said with a confidence that actually soothed Damien.

  Turning to the grey thingy, he said. "As for you, we don't have a name for you yet, so I'm just gonna call you Gray with a letter 'a', and before you ask, that was the best I could come up with."

  "Seriously? Gray? That's the best your mind could think of?" Damien couldn't keep the mirth out of his voice.

  "Didn't you hear? That was the best I could think of. It was either 'Gret' or 'little man', and I know how feisty he can be if I called him 'little man,'" Keilan replied.

  [Dodged an arrow there; you would have been toast if you had called me that, and besides, isn't calling someone by their body color kind of racist?]

  "It isn't if you're completely grey."

  [Still don't like it, I should be having cool names and such,] Gray replied.

  "Well, if you don't like it, then you should come up with a better one," Keilan said, expectedly.

  Gray grumbled for a few moments, but he accepted the name.

  "Now that we're done with the terrible naming ceremony, let's move on to the more important things," he turned to Gray. "You said you're some kind of assistant with other features, can you explain more?"

  Gray rubbed his tiny chin with his equally tiny fingers. [Like I showed you earlier, which you weren't paying attention to by the way. As you get stronger, you will meet impossibly powerful beings, and if left alone, you will die. It could be from lack of quality armor or weapon, or even utility tools. I am here just Incase you need something overly rare.]

  [Damien, you knew how hard it is for a warrior to find a weapon that's perfect for them,] it continued. [Some find good ones, but most never find the perfect ones. I was made to be that kind of perfect weapon for you.]

  "How are you so sure you're what I need? Besides, how can you turn into a weapon when you're so tiny?" Damien asked, emphasizing his point by pinching his thumb and index finger almost together while doing the same for one of his eyes.

  [If you recall the moments before you blacked out, you'll remember the feeling of completeness when I bonded with you, like a lost part of yourself was just returned to you.]

  Damien nodded, frowning.

  [That's your sign; I'll never feel off when you're wielding me; I'll always have this complete rightness when being wielded by you,] Gray said with evident pride.

  [And about my size, trust me, it isn't going to be an issue, see] it said, immediately melting into a kind of grey liquid, when it again took shape, it was in the shape of an eleven-foot-long war spear.

  Damien's mouth dropped as he admired the spear and even Keilan was completely awed.

  The spear was eleven feet long, with a grey thick shaft. it was clearly made from some kind of unknown exquisite grey metal, but the evidence a few seconds ago proved him inaccurate. At both ends of the shaft was a two-foot-long blade, shaped like a leaf. The blade was so silver-coloured that it almost glowed, freeing Damien from any misconception on its sharpness. He didn't doubt that the blade wouldn't be able to cut through metal like butter.

  Gray turned back into his human form. [See, no problem with the mass; I could even become an armor if you want,] he said, turning into a sleek, grey-silver armor.

  "I have a different idea about the armor, but we'll get back on that later," he said, continuing. "Can you only turn into weapons and armor?"

  [Oh, I can turn into many things, you just need to say it.]

  "Oh yes," Damien smiled excitedly, ideas running through his mind. "This will do just nice."