Damian chose his words carefully, aware that everyone was waiting for his explanation.
"Headmaster Kaiser is my master. He taught a weapon art called Abyssal Slaughter that specifically requires developing Slaughter Intent as a foundational principle.
It’s one of the most powerful weapon arts in existence, but it cos with requirents that most people can’t or won’t et."
He paused, then added what was technically true but deliberately misleading.
"I developed the intent by killing beasts in the forest during my training. Spent months hunting and killing them to build the necessary mindset. So there’s nothing to worry about regarding where it ca from."
Nobody in the room believed him completely.
Lyandra and Alaric exchanged a look, entire conversations happening in that silent glance.
Sebastian adjusted his glasses, his expression skeptical.
Even Luna’s grip on his hand tightened slightly, a wordless acknowledgnt that she knew he was lying or at least not telling the complete truth.
"Slaughter Intent isn’t that easy to develop."
Lyandra’s voice was quiet but carried the weight of experience.
"You don’t get it from just killing beasts, even if you kill hundreds of them. It requires imrsing yourself in the act of killing on a fundantal level. Learning to love the violence. Finding satisfaction in ending lives. Letting that darkness beco part of your core identity."
Her black eyes were pained as she looked at her adopted son.
"Your father and I participated in countless battles over the years. Killed Monsters and enemy combatants and threats to humanity. Shed more blood than most people could imagine.
But neither of us ever developed Slaughter Intent. Do you know why?"
Damian shook his head silently.
"Because we never liked the slaughter. Never found joy in killing. It was necessary, required for survival and protecting others, but it was always just a burden we carried. A responsibility we fulfilled because soone had to."
She leaned forward, her voice becoming more intense.
"Slaughter Intent only develops in those who embrace killing as sothing more than necessity.
Those who find genuine satisfaction in the act itself and let that darkness beco part of who they are fundantally."
The implication was clear and cutting.
’What have you done? What have you beco? What happened to the boy we raised?’
Damian held her gaze steadily, not flinching away from the accusation.
"I did what I had to do to survive and protect what’s mine. The world I entered at the Academy doesn’t reward gentle approaches or moral hesitation.
It rewards power, decisiveness, and the willingness to do what others won’t. So I beca that."
His voice was calm, accepting of what he’d beco.
"I’m sorry if that disappoints you. I’m sorry if the person I’ve beco isn’t the son you wanted.
But I won’t apologize for doing what was necessary to achieve my goals and protect the people who matter to ."
Alaric stood up slowly, his stern face troubled.
"We need to give him space to rest. This conversation is getting too heavy for soone recovering from near-fatal injuries."
He looked at Lyandra and Luna.
"Co. Let’s allow Damian to heal. We can continue these discussions later."
Lyandra hesitated, clearly wanting to say more, to sohow reach through to whatever remained of the gentle boy she’d raised.
But Alaric’s hand on her shoulder guided her toward the door.
Luna remained seated beside Damian’s bed, refusing to move.
"I’m staying with him."
Her voice carried quiet determination.
"Soone should be here if he needs anything during the night."
Lyandra looked like she wanted to argue, but sothing in Luna’s expression stopped her.
"Alright. But co get us if anything changes or if he needs help."
The adults filed out, leaving Damian and Luna alone in the dical wing.
Kuro had been silent throughout the entire conversation, perched on a nearby dical cabinet, his intelligent red eyes tracking everything with unsettling awareness.
Now he flew over and landed gently on Damian’s chest, settling down like he was standing guard.
Luna’s hand was still in Damian’s, her thumb tracing small circles on his skin unconsciously.
"They’re scared for you... Not of you but for you."
Her voice was soft in the quiet room.
"They see you changing into soone who carries darkness they can’t protect you from.
Soone who’s moving beyond their ability to guide or shelter. And it terrifies them because they’re your parents and parents are supposed to be able to protect their children from harm."
Damian looked at her, this girl who could see through every facade he built, who knew him better than anyone else despite being younger than him.
"And what do you see, Luna? When you look at with those eyes that read emotions like books?"
She was quiet for a mont, her silver eyes eting his crimson ones directly.
"I see soone carrying two lifetis of pain and experience... Soone trying to build sothing aningful while fighting against systems designed to crush him.
Soone who loves his family desperately but knows he can’t be the person they want him to be anymore."
Her voice dropped to barely above a whisper.
"And I see soone... who’s terrified of letting people see how much darkness resides within you. How much it costs to be what you’ve beco."
Damian’s carefully controlled expression cracked slightly.
"...You see too much."
"Rember what I told you before? You don’t need to pretend around ."
She shifted closer, her head coming to rest on his shoulder carefully, avoiding his injuries.
"Whatever you’ve done, whatever you’ve beco, you’re still my brother. The person who saved during the Norrington incident, the one who always was there for ... And the one I love more than anyone else in the world."
The last words ca out so quietly Damian almost missed them.
But he heard them clearly, thanks to his increased perception.
"Luna–"
"Don’t. Not right now. Just... let stay here. Let make sure you’re okay."
Damian fell silent, accepting her presence, her warmth, her complete acceptance of everything he’d beco.
Kuro made a soft sound from his chest, apparently approving of the arrangent.
Outside the dical wing, in the sitting room, the three adults sat in heavy silence.
Finally, Sebastian spoke.
"That boy is going to change the world. Either save it or destroy it or reshape it into sothing completely new. But he’s definitely going to change it. Just look at him, nothing is normal about that kid."
"I know."
Alaric’s voice was heavy.
"The question is whether we can guide him toward the better outcos or if we’ve already lost the ability to influence his path."
Lyandra wiped tears from her eyes.
"He’s still our son. No matter what he’s done or beco. He’s still our Damy underneath all that darkness. We just need to help him rember that."
But even as she said it, all three of them wondered if that was true.
If the gentle boy they’d raised still existed beneath the strategist and killer.
Or if that boy had died sowhere along the way and been replaced by soone new.
Soone powerful, dangerous and brilliant.
Soone they loved but no longer fully understood.
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