The Talentless Inheritor

"...Ah."

'My throat is dry.'

Sebastian turned his head to the side. Amy and Sana were sleeping on the bedside.

He unintentionally chuckled at the familiar sight. Whenever he becomes sick or whenever he ends up in a sorry state like he had during the fight, Amy would always watch over him like this. Sana was an addition this time.

Sebastian reached out to Sana with his right hand and Amy to his left.

"My stigma...!"

Sebastian's eyes widened and he began trembling. He had lost consciousness and his stigma had been in plain sight.

Perhaps sensing his discomfort, Amy woke up from her sleep. Sebastian turned his trembling gaze at her and then back to his hand.

"..."

Amy reached for Sebastian's face.

"Sebastian, what's wrong?"

Though she could already tell what he wanted to hide, it would only worsen the situation if she were to say it out loud.

"Nothing..."

Sebastian's voice cracked as he hid his left arm behind his back.

"You saw, didn't you?"

After a bout of silence, Sebastian asked with fear in his voice.

"The tattoo? Yes, I did."

Denying it would just give Sebastian false hope.

"..."

"Sebastian, I don't know why you're so scared of me seeing your tattoo but I don't plan to condemn you for having one."

'The best I can do is lie. Lie that I don't know what it is.'

Amy took a deep breath and let Sebastian go to sleep again. He was only half-awake. Though both of their injuries were healed completely, Amy was in a coma for a day and Sebastian was in a coma for two days more than Amy.

It was enough grounds for worry. Amy had spent a tiny bit of her life but with the healing and rest, she had already recovered it. Sebastian, on the other hand, had his entire body was riddled with wounds and it wouldn't have been strange for him to drop dead at any moment was what she heard.

She wanted to let him recuperate himself.

'Father, why did you have to tell me?'

...

Before Amy and Sebastian left for Tidas, Markus called Amy to his study.

"Books and theses?"

"Yes, skim through them and tell me about the common point."

Amy knew that her father wouldn't just give him all of these to read to mess with her. She read through them for a few minutes before raising her head in confusion.

"They all speak of a stigma on a person's body and that it allows them to have a copy of the God's powers and turn it into their own. And, that the wielders of the stigma opposed the God of Primogenitors.

"In the end, Primogenitors won the war and wiped out the stigma from the world. It's an interesting story, but what does this have to do with anything?"

"It's not fiction."

Markus' voice was solemn. Amy frowned and talked as she read through the papers more seriously.

"But, isn't this too far-fetched? A tattoo, a stigma on the body that can help them use any and all powers from Inheritors and Primogenitors alike? I don't understand why they'd lose the war."

If they hadn't, then Amy wouldn't be sitting in front of her father today.

"That's what I thought as well. Unfortunately, these records are all I've found even with his help."

"Who?"

"My father. Your grandfather."

Amy was shocked. She was well aware of who her grandfather was. He was the most terrifying Inheritor to walk the face of the planet in the last century. He was strong, sure, but what made people fear him was his influence.

He could orc.h.e.s.trate a coup like he would a play and he'd do it flawlessly. He would be able to snap his fingers and sentence kings and house heads to death.

Though he is just a shadow of his old self, there was no denying his past achievements.

"What are you telling me this for? You're not saying that a stigma user has emerged, are you?"

"What if I told you there is? And, he's a lot closer to us than you imagine."

"..."

Amy frowned again. His father normally wouldn't go through such roundabout ways of telling her something.

"What are you—?"

Just then, it clicked.

Amy held her breath as she asked, "...is it Sebastian?"

"I've my suspicions about him, yes."

Just then, Amy unleashed her bloodl.u.s.t. If what she read was true, then the stigma is an enemy of the Inheritors and Markus had a duty to get rid of that threat.

"I won't forgive you if you so much as lay a finger on Sebastian."

"Relax."

Markus didn't even flinch.

"I'm not his enemy—rather, I'm his ally. Not just me, your grandfather as well. In fact, you can call the entire House of Luna as his ally from those two facts alone."

Amy didn't let down her guard much.

"You should know that though I am quite a conman, you know that I don't lie to my allies, are you not an ally?"

"..."

Of course, Amy knew that. She knew that the most. Though Markus was a big threat to his enemies, he was also the best ally to have. He wouldn't even consider betrayal for a second. She was just fl.u.s.tered.

Amy calmed down and waited for Markus to continue.

"I'm not completely sure that the Sol's young master has it. Though, I'm about eighty to ninety percent sure of my conjecture. He is inept, and with the power of the stigma, imitated the House of Sol's flames. During the trip, I'm certain that you'll have the chance to find out for real even if you don't want to.

"If you confirm that he does have it, then do your best to make sure that only you know. The threat trying to frame him might also have knowledge of the stigma, and that's why we need to keep his secret safe.

"Do your best, for your house and your other half."

...

Sebastian woke up again in the night. Sana and Amy had already left the room. Sebastian looked at his left hand and saw the stigma's change.

"It extended?"

At first, the stigma was just an arrowhead on the back of his hand. Now, it extended all the way to his forearm.

"That's where the energy came from..."

During the end of the battle, he had become crazed. However, he could still process some of his thoughts.

He had thought he misjudged the stigma's energy or pulled out more from another source but it turns out, the stigma evolved. It looked like an arrowhead attached to an ominous shaft without any fletching.

The pain from his arm didn't come from his wounds nor did it come from trying to squeeze every last bit of energy out. The pain came because of the branding.

"I need to talk to Balanos about this."

Just as Sebastian tried to stand up, he paused. Amy had seen the stigma but confused it for a tattoo, what would he do if she found out the truth?

He felt his stomach churning at the thought of Amy looking at him with negative emotions.

Just then, the door opened.

Amy subconsciously looked at Sebastian's left arm and after noticing his gaze, turned away and approached him.

"How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine but what about you? When did you last sleep?"

Sebastian c.a.r.e.s.sed the side of her face. He could see the bags under her eyes.

"This morning."

"And before that?"

"...two days ago."

Sebastian sighed and pulled Amy into the bed. He still didn't have much energy but he could do at least that much.

"Rest beside me."

"I don't need to rest..."

"It wasn't a question."

Amy put up a little resistance but because Sebastian should still be very tired, she eventually complied.

Sebastian and Amy laid down on the bed. Amy was resting her head on top of Sebastian's shoulder.

"Do you want to know?"

Sebastian raised his hand for Amy to see the stigma.

"Do you want to tell me?"

"If possible, not yet."

"Then, you don't have to. I'll wait as long as you want and if you never decide to tell me, that's fine too."

"..."

Sebastian took a deep breath and buried his face in Amy's hair.

"I love you too much."

"I know."

"Let me stay like this for awhile."

With Sebastian's wish, Amy silently stayed beside him for nearly half an hour. She hadn't fallen asleep, she just kept her eyes closed while thinking about various things.

"Sebastian?"

"...yeah?"

His voice was still groggy.

"I'm sorry."

"What are you sorry for?"

"Getting injured."

"So you know why I'm like this."

Sebastian moved his face to her neck and whispered.

"Do you have any idea how scared I was? How angry I became at the ones who had hurt you?"

"..."

"I would've destroyed the world and then myself if you had died there."

Though Sebastian said it jokingly, a part of Amy believed that he'd end up fulfilling part of it had she really died.

"I'm still too weak."

"So am I."

"You don't have to be strong, I'll get stronger on your behalf. You just have to keep on living. Tomorrow, I'll go train with the Lightning Spear."

That day, Sebastian had felt the biggest sense of crisis he had ever felt before. He felt that he'd lose Amy if he were to make just one mistake.

"Amy, please don't get hurt like this again. I don't know what I'd do if this incident were to repeat itself."

Sebastian felt it. It was as if a demon had taken hold of him and filled his head with nothing but thoughts of killing and slaughtering the ones who had hurt Amy. He feared that part of him but even more so, he feared the feeling that came with it.

"It's the same for me."

Amy turned her body to the side and touched foreheads with Sebastian.

"Don't you know that while you were in a coma, I could barely eat, I couldn't sleep, I felt restless, and I wanted to kill everyone who had injured you?"

Amy stared into his eyes. When she saw him that day, his eye didn't look like it would recover but thanks to Sana, she could enjoy the sight of him looking at her with his deep pools once again.

"If you die, I'll follow you after killing the ones who had killed you. That's why, don't you dare die unless you want me to die as well."

Sebastian chuckled and kissed Amy's lips.

"Good night."

"Nn."

When Sebastian closed his eyes, Amy waited for a few seconds to try and get away but Sebastian just tightened his grip instead. They were stuck so close together that it wouldn't be weird if someone were to mistake them as one person from under a blanket.

"But I still had some work to do..."

Sebastian slept peacefully, unaware of Amy's woes.