Royal Reboot: Level up, Your Majesty!-Chapter 131: The Monster I Became.

5

GODS AND MONSTERS

“Ah, labels… We do love to categorise things.” A stranger lifted a badge from the linoleum and studied the label with mild interest. Then he lounged in a visitor’s chair, sprawling like he owned the damn hospital.

“Take these two men, for example. We label their Gifts by what we see. This one is the fire-thrower.” He tossed the badge onto one of the men in dark suits lying unconscious on the floor. “We see flame, we stamp ‘Fire Affinity’ on their file.”

He glanced at the other limp body at his polished designer loafers. “And this man, who commands vines to strangle and roses to bloom? Naturally, Nature Affinity. Simple, intuitive. Wrong.”

The stranger smiled, amber light skimming the sharp angles of his jaw.

“As science advances, Gifts only grow ever more puzzling, more contradictory. But are they? Maybe our Gifts aren’t violations of nature, just a careful walk along its edge. I’m guessing that wasn’t covered in the bedtime stories your Academy instructors told you, Mr. Robin.”

“How… do you know my name?” Lionel’s voice came out hoarse, his fist bunching the sheet to hide the tremor, crimson eyes flicking between the slumped agents and this intruder. “What do you want?”

All had happened in dizzying haste. When Lionel opened his eyes, this man—elegant, absolutely formidable and dangerous—had just finished incapacitating two Gifted Secret Service agents without breaking a sweat, without even lifting a finger…

Just to give a lecture?

The man leaned in, his rust-coloured suit still crisp. “Let me ask you, Mr Robin. Do you want to keep letting your power control you, or take the wheel?”

“Power? Why the hell are we even on this?” Lionel said, then winced, the small act of raising his voice sending a spike of pain through him. “Why me? I’m just an average Gifted student.”

“We will get to that soon enough, so bear with me,” said the man.

“Then stop wasting time,” Lionel hissed when he tried to ease his leg on the foam pillow while the splint pressed heavily against it. “My instructors have spent enough time teaching me control and how to enhance my power. I don’t know why you’re asking me this.”

“I’m not talking about hurling bigger fireballs or stronger bolts.” He fiddled with his golden falcon cufflink. “Has it never occurred to you there are two ways to burn? One is just... lighting a match. Chemistry. The other is significantly worse: electromagnetism manipulation.”

At the mention of Fire affinity, something in Lionel’s expression must have pleased the man; his lips curled to a small smile.

“Meanwhile, ‘Earth’ and ‘Metal’ are just elemental myths. You aren’t moving rocks,” the stranger said, “you’re pulling at the bonds between atoms.”

“The bonds between atoms?” Lionel vaguely remembered the concept from physics, but that was science, not this. If Melissa were here, she would understand immediately, and the thought made his heart race.

“The strong nuclear force,” the stranger clarified.

The phrase made sense. “You mean our Gifts are tied to the universe’s fundamental rules? Not just some mystical birthright?”

“An educated guess, of course,” the stranger replied with a shrug.

Lionel reflected on the gruelling training sessions at the Sanctuary, the fundamentals of Gift. “Supposedly the arcane heart is a second brain, immutable, right? It locks in your affinity from birth. Fire stays fire; you don’t get to bend water or command animals.”

“Genes get edited in labs now, Mr. Robin. So why should the heart be any different?” When he pushed his hair back, a loose strand fell across his golden eye, like Adrian’s, heir to one of the most ruthless magical dynasties in the world.

“Just to give you an example. Infrared light is all around us, but your eyes ignore it.” The stranger crossed one leg over the other. “The arcane heart functions this way, streamlining your perception so your mind is not overwhelmed trying to process, say, the entire electromagnetic spectrum.”

“No one’s ever broken past what their heart sets,” Lionel argued.

“A handful have. Changing an arcane heart is akin to remodelling one’s neural architecture. The heart’s limits exist to protect us. Breaking it often… ends badly. Yet for a rare few, their hearts remain incomplete.”

“What does that even–”

“What’s your Gift, Lionel?”

Lies raced through Lionel’s mind. His leg throbbed, so he stared at the sheets instead of those piercing eyes, fighting the urge to call the nurse. With a man like this, help would only mean more casualties.

He hated being weak and terrified like this.

The man eased back, amused. “And more specifically, what is your sister’s Gift? Natalia Robin?”

Lionel’s mind went blank. The heart monitor beeped faster, giving him away.

The man smiled, all knowing.

Shit.

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

Red and blue strobes cut through the mountain’s fog. The lights glinted off what was left of a pearlescent SUV, which had stopped dangerously close to the cliff’s edge.

“Well,” the female cop grumbled. “Ain’t that a sight.”

“No shit. What the hell happened here?” Her partner shone his flashlight on the SUV.

The vehicle looked less crashed and more vivisected. The roof was gone, its metal frame protruded and warped as if a giant had pried off a can’s lid. The right passenger door was obliterated, jagged steel hanging from the frame.

The officers stepped closer, carefully avoiding the shattered glass on the ground, but froze when tyres shrieked behind them.

A black SUV drifted sideways across the ice, coming to a halt inches from where they stood.

The female officer drew her piece. Her partner matched her. Two men emerged from the dark interior, dressed in matte-black tactical gear.

"We'll take it from here, officers." The speaker was tall, bald, and his voice brokered no argument.

Before she could bark a challenge, a badge gleamed in her face. She lowered her gun and studied the badge. Secret Service. The suits with jurisdiction across all of Oceana, shrugging off the local law whenever they appeared. The town had been crawling with them since the leaves started to fall.

She backed off, gun away. “Watch your step,” she deadpanned, then tailed her partner back to the cruiser.

As the cops drove off, the bald agent nodded to his partner. “It’s sir Taika’s ride, alright.”

Agent 078 clicked off shots with his phone. “Never seen one of ours mangled this bad. If they got to him…”

The bald agent snorted. “Taika? The man’s a phantom. No way a bunch of punks pulled this one off.”

“What about those?” Agent 078 gestured toward the cabin.

The interior was ransacked, leather seats incised with precision, the glove compartment hanging open, and stuffing spilling from the cracked dashboard.

“Looks like a search job. Pros, not punks,” Agent 078 said, checking the driver’s side. “The black box is missing. Cameras pulled out, software wiped clean. They knew their shit.”

“Not all of it,” the bald agent grumbled, heading to the front of the vehicle.

“What’re you up to?”

“I worked with Sir Taika.” With a grunt, the bald agent lifted the SUV’s nose, revealing the underbelly. “He always hid backups the old-fashioned way.”

Agent 078 ducked under and spotted it right away: a small recorder strapped to the axle with duct tape.

“Good call.” He gave his partner a pat on the back, grabbed the device, rewound it, and pressed play.

Taika’s calm voice started:

"Astra is A-Class —"

“Doctor Le Bleu isn’t the combative type—"

“Natalia Ro... C-Class. Recommend recon on Natalia first—"

Those were standard pre-mission intel, so it was useless. The recording dragged on with dull descriptions spoken in Taika’s usual monotone voice. Agent 078 reached to stop the recording when Taika’s breathing suddenly turned ragged.

"But how did she perceive me? My arcane system was invisible. Orion can't even see it. But she looked right at me. Does she see... like Father?”

The agents exchanged stunned glances, mouths agape, as the tape looped “I’m real”, as if mentioning ‘Father’ had shattered Taika’s composure.

"Not a C-Class then. How’d we screw that up?" The bald agent whispered.

“Let’s send this to—” A sudden golden flare erupted from 078’s hand. The recorder exploded, cutting him. He cursed, stumbling back onto the slick asphalt.

From the darkness emerged a towering man in a black tailored suit, broad-shouldered, eyes burning with icy red light.

“Sir… Lionel?” The bald man hesitated for a second before refocusing. Eyes narrowing, he charged, extending his fingers towards Lionel’s throat.

Lionel slipped past the attack, hooking one arm beneath the agent’s and slamming his free hand into the man’s chest. The jolt instantly stopped his heart. The bald agent’s eyes went blank before he hit the ground.

Lionel stepped over the cooling corpse and fixed his eyes on Agent 078.

Agent 078 stepped back, blood dripping from his right hand, while his left fumbled behind his back. "I’m… I’m sorry, Sir! Please! Let me walk away from this. I won’t tell anyone. I saw nothing here. I swear on my life!”

“I believe you,” Lionel said, his voice vibrating in 078’s chest. “But your silence doesn't matter.”

Agent 078 raised his gun with his shaking left hand and fired off a round.

The bullet went Lionel's shoulder, the flesh and suit blazer knitting closed behind it.

“Our mutual employer doesn't need you to speak to read your mind. He just needs you alive. Which is why...” Lionel murmured, his eyes burning. “...you can’t be.”

Agent 078 fired every round in his magazine in a desperate bid.

Lionel calmly walked through the barrage. A gun shot to the stomach turned to smoke. A neck shot passed through like nothing.

Agent 078 began to panic. What the fuck? Taika’s the Breaker, not Lionel. He can’t do this.

A gloved palm flattened against his chest.

“Easy. Your heart stops in three seconds. You won't feel a thing.” Lionel’s fingers tensed.

The panic smothered. Agent 078’s heart seized immediately. The pump fell quiet, colour leaching from his cheeks.

"Rest, Agent 078."

Lionel carefully steered the SUV along the icy road back to the resort. He smiled at the memory of Melissa sending her itinerary a month ago, along with her playful jabs about him hovering over Natalia like an overprotective hound.

The smile quickly faded under the pull of old memories. He often reflected on that pivotal night a decade ago; the one that had changed him.

Good thing Ares hadn’t gotten to him first. With how twisted his “Children” were, Lionel was just glad he’d managed to give Natalia somewhat of a normal life. He tried to ignore the guilt that often pulled at him when he saw her so unsure of herself.

So afraid. He gripped the wheel tightly. The road ahead was dark and murky. That night was much the same.

The stranger then was no stranger now. Professor Indigo Crane posed as a researcher on the Gifted, but it was just a handy cover. Those words from the hospital room still echoed.

“To protect your sister, you must hide her Gift, even from her own perception,” Indigo had told Lionel, after warning Lionel in detail about the danger of Natalia falling into Ares’s hands.

Indigo had looked younger then, unlined by the years, yet his eyes carried something old and heavy. How did he know more than the Academy’s lecturers? How could Indigo track down Lionel faster than Ares’s operatives?

Lionel’s teeth ground together. “If Ares can read minds like you say, what’s stopping him from cracking mine open right now?”

“It all comes down to what you’re willing to choose, Lionel. Could you stomach becoming the monster you’ve spent your life despising… if it meant protecting those you love?”

The words were spoken quietly, as if Indigo were confessing his own scars. His golden eyes shadowed by something unspoken. “You’re capable of more than just lightning.”

Indigo had known Lionel’s affinity from the start. Lionel had no choice but to hear what this man wanted from him. “So you’ll show me? How to push past it?”

“We’ll turn those flames into a lie. First, a disguise for you. You need time to master it before facing Ares again. But Mr. Robin…” Indigo smiled, melancholy. “How far would you go to save your sister, and the world?”

Lionel’s eyes felt sharper than ever that night. At eighteen, the world seemed like a puzzle he could smash apart and rebuild. He’d given that nod back then, but these days, he couldn’t shake the doubt…

Had it all been a mistake?

Lionel floored the accelerator. Lying to the world was fine, but lying to his sister each day—and to Melissa, whom he could never let go—chipped away at every bit of resolve he had. Each morning felt a little heavier. Each night, a little quieter.

Still, this was his road. This was what he was meant to do.

Who did someone like Indigo want to protect so fiercely? Didn’t matter. Lionel didn’t trust him completely, but the deal worked. He’d played spy to win Ares’s favour, avoiding the Council’s hunt while Indigo worked from the inside, feeding him intel each time he was nearly caught.

That one time he ignored Indigo and inadvertently led Astra to St Kevin’s. But it seemed he owed her a thank-you. If anyone could kill Taika and save Natalia, it would be Astra.

He glanced at the lightening sky and wondered if today would be the end of his lie.

“Monsters don’t deserve happiness,” he whispered to himself, and wondered if he looked just like Indigo had back then.