"So, how's Cimmerian doing now?" Ezio asks, looking over Yves' shoulders as he finishes checking the sleeping elf's heartrate.
"He's recovering just fine. His heart rate is still heavy and slow because of the neura that was forced in his body. I'm only waiting for him to wake up so he can start with his rehabilitation," Yves informed them.
The whole group was inside the room. Right after they exited the treasury, Yves insisted on going and checking Cim's condition.
"Rehab? Why? He was never an addict," Dolunay asks.
"The drug had stayed in his body for years of slumber. His veins have been contaminated, and his blood is nearly stagnant. I'm almost surprised by the fact that he hadn't died from a cardiac arrest on a random day," Yves explains as he walks to a table. In front of him was a tray of metal tools. "Fortunately, he's an elf with a strong body. If this were Kian, he'd be dead in the first month."
Neura was designed to be taken by guardian angels. If the guardian angels themselves have gone insane due to this, imagine how much it could affect other races, Yves thought to himself as he took a band of rubber. He wrapped it tightly on the upper arm.
He then took a bottle of antiseptic and poured some on his hands. With clean hands, he took a ball of cotton, poured a small amount of antiseptic on it, then wiped it on a spot about two inches below the rubber.
Yves faced the tray once again and took the empty syringe. He sat next to Cim and took his arm. With enough precision, Yves was able to insert the needle in a vein. From the coner of his eyes, he saw Cimmerian's brow twitch.
Huh? He felt pain? Yves thought in shock.
However, he focused on his objective and slowly extracted blood. He once again noticed how Cimmerian's arm was twitching. This time, he thought of it.
His body is awake, I should feed the antidote now.
He immediately grabbed another ball of cotton, taking the needle out and carefully before placing it on the injected spot.
"Ezio, the tape. Quickly." Yves hurried over to Ezio for help.
They were able to secure the cotton, and Yves disappeared and reappeared within ten seconds, now holding a bottle.
"Ezio, help him up for me." Ezio immediately followed, assisting the unconscious Cimmerian's upper body to sit up. "Open his mouth." Ezio then used his other hand to hold Cim's chin and lightly push it down for his mouth to open.
Yves slowly poured a small amount of antidote inside his mouth.
Ezio pushed his chin up to close his mouth, and when they saw Cimmerian swallowing, they both sighed in relief.
"What happened?" Kian asked, rising from the couch. The two ladies on the other hand looked with worry, simply staying in their place
"Cimmerian will wake up within a day or two," Yves claimed as he placed the bottle on the table next to the bed. "His body is conscious, but his mind is still in sleep. The spell was directed to his brain after all."
Ezio watches as Yves pulls the sheets up to Cimmerian's chest. He was curious, as all the others are. And as forward as he is, he decided to break the silence.
"I've been meaning to ask…" Ezio starts. Yves and the others look at him. "Why must you hide?"
Yves froze in his place, he could feel their eyes on him, waiting for him to respond. Yves then asks, "What do you mean?"
"Surely I'm not the only one who found it confusing for years," Ezio glanced at the others, then turned back to Yves. "You are strong, Yves. Right now, even as a human, you are extremely powerful. You could have this whole Earth under your control, yet you chose to hide from a specific race when they said they would have you killed," Ezio stated. "Well, aside from the fact that you are human at this moment, what was the actual reason why you chose to hide from those basically below you?"
Yves used to think these children wouldn't care enough to ask him about his past completely. He was sure that he wasn't entirely hiding anything from them. However… here they are, being forward about their curiosity towards his past.
Well, judging by the fact that these children had known each other like family, it would be rude of me to not share my own story, Yves thought to himself as he smiled.
"Well, the reason why I couldn't kill them was because it's against my morals."
His answers left them more confused, and he couldn't help but laugh at their baffled faces.
"I have specific values and morals—or should I say chains?" Yves stated. "They are rules that keep my mind in check—grounded and chained down"
Yves walked to the couch and sat by a vacant spot, in which Ezio followed, sitting next to Milera.
"A high being like you needs rules?" Milera asks, finding it ironic. Yves cracked a smile.
It certainly is ironic, Yves thought to himself as he recalled the past where even Celio would tease him over his so-called morals because he takes it to another level.
"Why, of course. As ironic as it sounds, it is the sole reason why I am able to even smile and laugh with you kids," he says.
"Then, can you elaborate? Tell us what those rules are." Dolunay chimed in. Her eyes shone with curiosity. The others stared at Yves eager for his answer. Looking at them, Yves sighed, feeling hopeless as he found no escape from their staring eyes.
"My values and morals are too broad to talk about in one sitting, hence I summarized them in three main rules. I follow all three strictly, to a point that it is my only weakness," Yves says, as he then puts up three fingers. "One, I shall stay in pursuit of knowledge. Technically, I must remain curious." He puts down one finger. The four nodded along, as they have witnessed themselves how Yves remains curious about literally anything.
"Two, I shall not use my power to cease the life of any living form of existence. No unnecessary killing." He puts the second finger down. They once again nodded as they have never heard or seen him inflicting any unnecessary harm on people.
But then again…
Hold on… Milera trailed a thought.
Unnecessary killing he says… Ezio thought.
But he beats up people… Kian thought, recalling the story that he heard from his father about Yves beating up an addict.
Torture must be his thing… Dolunay thought, and she certainly does agree with him.
Yves could nearly hear the voices in their head, but he chose to continue.
"And last but my most important rule, I shall not cease from existence."
"Huh?" All of them reacted in unison, Yves kept his smile.
"You mean, you're chasing eternal life… just because your stubborn brain refuses to die?" Kian asks in disbelief, but Yves laughs at that.
"Well, for certain, that is one thing. But, it's not the whole picture," Yves stated as he simply looked at all of them.
"I simply cannot die."