It had been an hour or two and the only progress that we could make was to hit Slade's boiling point.

Well Lucian did most of the job.

"Slade, do you remember the time when you attempted to force me into sexual acts? Well this time I will not allow such thing. You must first ask for a consent," Lucian told Slade who then gave him a questioning tone of "HUH?"

"I believe that is not how it goes for rapists Papa," Thomas chuckled at Lucian.

I still cannot swallow the fact that I had a son. Although unlike Slade who was overreacting to everything, I already experienced on how to be a father to hundreds of children before so it wasn't a huge issue.

The children who we have journeyed together with spread all over the world and lived in their separate lives. We visited some of them to see how they were doing and as time passed by, most of them already died from being hunted mostly by humans.

Buck and Rui went missing. We don't know where they were at all. They traveled with us for some time but when they grew up and Buck realized that Rui was his mate, they left us to experience the world on their own. We were happy for them. They neutralized the extremes of each other's personality and I was disappointed in myself for not being able to protect the children that Lucian was so fond of. We were the last survivors of the Ancient Era but that theory was still unsure. There were so many powerful creatures before and they were either still hiding or they were in deep slumber and were waiting for the day where they will finally reclaim the world that was borrowed from us.

Slade and I had slaughtered humans in villages and in kingdoms who had knowledge and evidence of dealing with non-human creatures.

Humans grew in number and so we had no other choice but to instruct mythical creatures to hide if they wanted peace. But not all of them heeded our words and thus, they have fallen into great misfortune.

We were portrayed as vicious beasts in their stories but the true monster in their world was their fear of the unknown. And unless they overcome that fear, we will always be used as an instrument to feed their farcical antipathy.

The mythical hid and let the wannabe predators live in their delusional work. We hid our strength for them to be ignorant of our weaknesses. It was better that way.

"You are right. All men are potential rapists as women claim. Slade has reached his fullest potential," Lucian deadpanned.

"Give me a break will you?!" Slade snapped.

"Which body part?" Lucian asked in a monotone voice.

Thomas remembered to contact the other three to inform them about our location. Samael couldn't be contacted. He must be focused on chasing the artifact to find another fragment of Lucian. But if he were to find out that we were all here and he was the one who worked his butt off to track Lucian, I was very well prepared for another spark of argument.

Raphael arrived along with Caleb who then shoved Slade off of Lucian and threw his huge form on Lucian's lap. "Lucian~ I've found you!" he cooed only to be rammed down to the floor by an angered Slade.

"What do you mean you found him? WE found him first!" my twin exclaimed.

"No, you have kidnapped me the last time I remembered," Lucian pointed out the memory that already happened thousands of years ago.

"That's not the case anymore!" Slade growled.

Caleb stood up from the grass and crossed his arms in thought. "So the only thing that Lucian can remember was this filthy lizard kidnapping him? That's great. First impression lasts for millenniums. You're still a thief!" Caleb spat cockily.

"Now is not the time to squabble. We must find out what is the issue that needs to be resolved," Raphael stated sensibly. He extended a hand towards Lucian and smiled at him.

"Hello Lucian, my name is Raphael," he introduced. Lucian looked at his hand at first before shaking it.

"Hello stranger and what is your role here?" Lucian questioned. I could see a twitch on Raphael's expression. It must have hurt to not be remembered. Then again, Lucian was still an innocent child when Raphael interacted with him. He wouldn't be able to remember someone from a vague memory.

"I am your companion. I am not included in the memory that you have now," Raphael explained.

Lucian nodded. "I see, that is unfortunate. Are you someone that I am not fond with?" Lucian asked.

Before Raphael could reply, Caleb and Slade beat him to it. "Oh yeah he is Lucian, he's the most annoying bird you'll ever meet. I say you should throw him out before you could make memories with this scrambled shit!" Caleb replied and pointed an accusing finger at the angel who crossed his arms at their childishness.

"Don't you ever associate yourself with this undercooked turkey! You're vegetarian right?!" Slade added with a wicked grin.

Thomas rose from his seat and stood among the three. "That's enough. Since Caleb and Raphael already interacted with the other two fragments, it is the twins' turn now."

"No fair!" Caleb whined and wrapped his arms around Lucian's shoulders.

It was already a gesture of the other men that I already got used to. I don't know their current thoughts about sharing Lucian but the thought did not bother me nor did it irk me. I supposed I was the only one who accepted this set-up.

I know if forced, Lucian wouldn't be able to choose among all of us. He treated us equally and we were important to him. For all these millenniums, I don't know why we were still arguing over who was better suited for him.

I believe it was all just for show.

Maybe they already accepted this relationship but they refused to admit it out loud.

It must be that reason.

"Okay then, it is settled, tomorrow, the twins shall go with Lucian to school. Do not worry about the documents, I'll talk with the principal," Thomas stated with a smile that indicated that everything "must" flow along with his plan and that if we screw up, we will face grave consequences.

The blood of Lucian really flows strong in his veins.

"But I wanna be Lucian's classmate too!" Caleb protested and lay his head on Lucian's lap dejectedly. Caleb suddenly perked up with an idea sparking in his eyes. "Can I apply as a Science teacher? I got my degree in that subject!" Caleb suggested. "And then the story of an extremely hot and attractive teacher and a quiet yet beddable student starts in one deten- OW! Stupid peacock!" Caleb snarled at Raphael who landed a knuckle on the back of his head.

"Stop suggesting ridiculous things. We will merely observe from afar-"

"That is a good idea. In that way, you can all watch Lucian and see how we can settle his unresolved issue," Thomas cut off Raphael.

"Tch," came from Slade who was finally quieted by a protesting stomach.

While the others interacted with Lucian, I was bothered with how we can figure out Lucian's problem when the man himself didn't know his own drawback. I feel like we were in a dead end. I can only thing of three things:

One, Lucian wanted to be returned to Caleb after being kidnapped by my twin;

Two, Lucian wanted to take revenge on Wye Fye and;

Three, Lucian may want feed every single starving stomach in this whole world.

But when I think about all these options, I feel like they wouldn't work out at all.

Caleb was already here. Wye Fye was already dead. Lucian already fulfilled his goal of solving the reign of the catastrophes that made the young suffer and unless he wanted to re-save the world again then we were in an endless maze of dead ends.

What if despite his emotionless features, Lucian was actually hurt that I chose Wye Fye over him? Was I the issue? I did say that I didn't like the woman from the start but Lucian didn't seem to believe me at all.

He didn't actually.

And if I was him I wouldn't believe myself either from how I acted.

When Caleb and Slade were at each other's throats again, I took the opportunity to sit beside Lucian who was waiting for the snack that Raphael had promised him to make. Thomas was talking to his husband through the phone so I had to take Lucian's current status of being unoccupied.

"Lucian, I want to let you know that I didn't love Wye Fye at all. I never have any love for her. I was just forced into a tight situation," I told him.

Lucian cocked his head at me in question before a quick and beautiful smile flashed on his lips in seconds. "I see then. I am proud of your progress. Please continue to hit your head against a golem's chest if you ever loose your senses again. I am worried about your mental health," he answered and then stared at the wall again.

He wasn't disappearing then that would mean that I wasn't the issue.

I let my foot bounce on the floor while I think of something again. "Are you considering of solving world hunger?"

Lucian turned his head to look at me. "That would be great but I'm afraid things aren't that simple as before. A great deal of chaos will arise if I do that," he pointed out. "I am a mere fragment and that means that I have limited source of power. If I use all my power I would either shift into a catastrophe or disappear without accomplishing the issue that I am still figuring out myself," he told me.

"You seem to figure things out for yourself easily," I praised his analysis of situations.

"It is simple. I am a fragment therefore my existence is limited therefore my power is limited," he pointed out.

I placed my hand on his back and rubbed him. All this fragment talk might affect his self-esteem. He was just a fragment but nonetheless, he was still a part of Lucian. He was Lucian.

"I apologize. I hope you do not think of yourself as something that is not necessary. You are a valuable piece of a precious whole. Without you, Lucian will not be complete."

The blonde blinked his eyes cutely. "I do not see myself as inferior to the whole. I am Lucian and that means that I am a superb being so bow down swain," he deadpanned.

I stared at him and let my mind load at the self-praise that he had committed. I laughed at his statement which made him narrow his eyes at him.

"Nothing is funny. I am as serious as Wye Fye's non-existent corpse. Do not laugh."

I continued to rub his back as he watched me with dull eyes. "Swain huh? You call me a suitor?"

Lucian looked up in thought. "Swain means suitor?"

I gave him a questioning smile. "Yes it does. What other meaning do you think it is?"

Answer?

SWINE.

He was referring to "Swine."

"I do not mind using the word Swain on you," Lucian admitted and diverted his eyes to the wall.

"So you accept me as a suitor?" I asked again to make sure that I was hearing it right. I wanted to try teasing him. I never thought of teasing him before but to make Lucian blush would be a great achievement.

He nodded and then took my hand to intertwine his to mine. I was startled. I never knew that he was the romantic type.

"I actually know what my unresolved issue is now," he murmured and then jerked his index finger for me to come closer. Did he finally remember? I hope Lucian wasn't playing around this time. "This is a secret okay? Don't ever tell anybody or else, I'll disappear..." he whispered. His dull eyes were unchanging.

"Okay..." I murmured and leaned my ear closer to him.

Why can't I tell anyone about it? Was it something that only I was capable of being entrusted with? Why did I suddenly become anxious? This was Lucian, there was nothing dangerous about him. If anything, his catastrophe side was the only thing that we should watch out for but that was unlikely to happen since Lucian was perfectly unharmed.

"I only want you...Keep your twin away from me..." he whispered in the coldest tone that I could ever hear from him.

9: OPPOSITES

"Can someone tell me why I'm wearing these humid clothes?"

Lucian turned to me with the usual blank expression on his face that I can never seem to read. I don't know if he was already planning to assassinate me in my sleep or if he was planning to conquer the world with his miraculous ways. This man was just so unpredictable that it wasn't funny. His sense of humor was also wicked for such innocent face.

I wasn't scared or anything but he should try to show some emotion every once and a while so that I wouldn't worry too much about my life.

It wasn't that I was truly worrying though. I can never be afraid or worried about this moronic ancient who did nothing but to disappear without a trace and then suddenly appear with confusing clues of his whereabouts. Once I meet with his original form, I'll make sure to smack the sense in him and chain him to my leg so that he wouldn't vanish.