A pin could’ve dropped and echoed.
Ryan’s breath caught in his throat. Ray’s lips parted in stunned disbelief.
"What are you even saying?" Ray whispered. "You’re their mother. You’re ours. You don’t just disappear."
Es smiled, a broken kind of smile. The kind that ca with knowing goodbye had already begun.
"I was never ant to be a mother," she said. "I was never ant to be anything... other than what they created for. That’s what they said. That’s what I believed. And maybe... maybe I still do. I don’t even know anymore."
Ray stared at Es, his brows furrowed in deep confusion and the simring start of anger.
"What the hell are you even saying?" he asked, his voice low, sharp, laced with irritation. "What does that even an, Es?"
He turned his glare toward Es’s parents, his jaw clenched tight.
"Can soone, anyone, explain what the hell is going on here?"
It was then Es’s mother finally spoke. Her voice was calm but brittle, as though she’d rehearsed this truth a thousand tis in her head but never dared speak it aloud.
"Robin and Oscar—my husband—made a deal," she said softly.
Ray’s eyes narrowed, but he said nothing. Es’s mother continued, her eyes now focused solely on him.
"A deal that involved you, Es, and the others."
The na "Robin" barely registered with Ray anymore. That part of his grief had long numbed. But the word deal—that dug into his mind like a thorn.
"What kind of deal?" he asked flatly.
Es’s mother drew in a slow breath, hesitating for a second before glancing at her husband. She seed to gather strength from him before continuing.
"You know they were both agents—sent by the Organization," she said, her tone controlled. "But Oscar... he was more than that."
She turned toward Ray, her voice dropping to a murmur.
"He was a beast controller."
The silence that followed felt like the air had been pulled from the room.
Ray’s heart thudded heavily in his chest. Even Ryan, still fuming from earlier, froze in his place.
"That’s not... common," Es’s mother added. "For a r to be a beast controller, it’s unheard of. But Oscar was. And that made him a threat."
She looked down, voice trembling faintly. "So the Organization decided to keep him on a leash. Always. Even after he married , even after he tried to live like a normal man... they never really let go."
She turned to Ray again, her voice stronger now. "Robin... he was slipping through their grip, too. He wasn’t a controller, so it was easier for him to vanish, to resist. But then sothing happened."
She paused, her eyes on Ray.
"You were born."
Ray blinked, caught off guard. "What?"
"You were supposed to be the only one," she said. "Only you. But sothing changed. Maybe it was instinct. Maybe it was the suppressed power of the beast. Maybe it was fate. But instead of one child... four were born."
Ray’s mind reeled. He looked at Ryan, who was silent. His brothers—triplets, all of them. What did this have to do with anything?
Es’s mother went on, "And then sothing even stranger happened. You were all marked."
She lifted her hand and traced a spot on her own wrist.
"On your right wrists, all four of you had the sa mark. The mark of the divine eagle beast—Aron’s symbol. It was clear when you were born. But as you grew older, it faded, beca invisible. Forgotten. Hidden."
Ray’s breath caught. His wrist twitched unconsciously.
"Those marks," she said slowly, "weren’t just symbols. They were seals. Connections. Bonds. That eagle... that divine beast... chose you all."
"That’s impossible," Ray whispered. "Only one person can be a beast’s chosen. That’s the law. That’s how it’s always been."
Her voice turned heavy. "Exactly. And that’s why you beca... exceptions."
"Four owners," she said. "For one divine beast."
Es’s mother finally spoke, her voice a calm murmur that sohow cut through the tension like a blade.
"You know," she began, eyes flicking between Ray and the others, "for soone like us... a r... to be chosen by a divine beast is nearly impossible."
Her words drew everyone’s attention, stilling the air around them. Even Ray leaned forward unconsciously.
"There are others who carry divine beasts, yes. But they’re rare. Scattered. And the spirits that truly command them? Rarer still."
She paused, letting that sink in. Then she added, "You might have heard it before—maybe dismissed it as folklore—but it’s real. A divine beast mirrors the soul it possesses. Its strength... its nature... all of it cos from that bond."
Her gaze darkened.
"If the spirit is full of rage, the beast becos wrath itself. If the spirit is cunning, the beast becos a shadow in the dark. Like a serpent—if soone carries a black serpent, their beast can inject venom into the veins of another divine beast. Its coils can crush, its bite can destroy. It mimics the soul... but on a monstrous scale."
Ray was frozen, his heartbeat starting to pick up.
"But there are five," she whispered now, reverently, "five beasts... different from the rest. The ones ancient families still whisper about."
She counted them softly, like a sacred chant:
"The White Dragon. The Golden Dragon. The Black Dragon. The White Tiger. And—" her eyes locked with Ray’s—"the Eagle."
Ray’s eyes widened.
She continued, "These aren’t just divine beasts. They are bloodlines. Legacies. And when a child is born into a family with a beast, if their soul is strong enough—if they match the beast’s frequency—the beast chooses them. Passes down its ancient mark... its power... its curse."
She turned to look at Es briefly before returning her focus to Ray. Her next words ca slow, heavy.
"So when you and your brothers were born," she said finally, "they didn’t expect four. One child—yes. But four... four with the sa mark on their wrist... Four sharing a single beast’s blood..."
"It’s a blessing in disguise," she said softly. "But as you all grew up, it beca clearer that the Divine Beast’s power wasn’t held by just one of you—it was equally divided. Still, Ray, as the eldest, ford the strongest connection to it."
Reviews
All reviews (0)