Chapter 26: Ferral and Laura

Laura slowly dragged her body across the ground. She had to go back; they were all still in trouble. She had never felt so useless, digging her fingers into the earth as a bloody, sweaty mess. Yet, her expression was still filled with determination. Laura’s body rose suddenly; someone was picking her up. She whipped her head back, her vision was a bit blurry from the sweat, but the figure looked like her father. But that’s impossible. Laura rubbed her eyes, her pupils shrinking in shock. Her heart dropped; she nearly fainted.

Ferral grabbed onto Laura’s shoulders to help balance her. He smiled and said, “Glad to see you're relatively okay, Laura.”

“Pa-Papa?” Laura said in a gasp.

Ferral nodded, letting go of her and taking two or three steps back. A million and one thoughts swirled in Laura’s mind; they almost made her lose balance. She thought she was dead; this couldn’t be real. She had to be. There’s no way. Right? Laura slowly reached her hand out, wanting to touch her father’s face and see just how real this was. At the last second, Laura’s brow furrowed into a scowl as she cocked back her other arm and socked Ferral in the jaw. He let it hit, taking a step back from the blow.

“Liar!” She shouted.

Ferral rubbed his chin and chuckled. “You’ve gotten a lot stronger,” he said, “that’s for sure.”

In her fit of anger, she pushed her father. “How could you do it?!” She barked, shoving him again. “How could you kill all those people?!”

Before Ferral could say anything, Laura took a step back, reaching into her robe and pulling out the folded photo, slamming it into his chest.

“Who are these people?! Start talking!”

Ferral took the photo, as he opened it and saw what it was, his eyes widened. As he gazed at the old photograph, his eyes lowered while he clenched his jaw. Ferral remembered the day it was taken as if it happened yesterday. This only added to his melancholy expression.

“This…this is a picture of my foster family,” Ferral said. “This was taken the day before…” He bit his tongue, the negative emotions bubbling up.

“I don’t care when this was taken!” Laura interjected. “I want to know who they are?”

Ferral glanced at her, then back at the photo. “When I was eighteen,” Ferral started, “I was sent out into the outside world. That is when I met this woman, Clare.” He flipped the picture around and pointed at the woman behind the young Ferral.

He continued, “She…she’s your biological mother. Clare took me in, kept me safe from the humans, and practically adopted me. Then, I met Leona, but you already know her. Then, these two. Belle and Ezekial, they were runaway experiments like me.” Ferral pointed at the girl and boy, whom Laura had never met. He continued, “Finally, there was Buck, your biological father. We all found each other by fate, and we formed a family. We…we were happy. Yet, that happiness fell apart in the blink of an eye. Belle and Ezeikal were both murdered by another experiment; I couldn’t save them. Three years after the incident, you were born. Clare and Buck were so happy, they smothered you in love. Leona and I were ecstatic, too, although more from me. However, during that time, I was at my lowest point.

“Humans didn’t take too kindly to the existence of experiments. We were shunned, segregated…treated like trash. I started to despise what I was. I didn’t want to be an experiment anymore, so I began to obsess over finding a way to fix that. It got to the point where I was seduced by the lies of a godawful man. In that moment of weakness…I was forced to murder Clare and Buck. I still remember, my hands covered in their blood…it…it broke me. So, I, and the rest of the experiments wiped out sixty percent of humans. You survived because I took you and chose to raise you as my own. God, just saying all of this…I’ve felt nothing but guilt ever since. No matter how many times I tried to shove it down, to pretend that I didn’t care…all for it to eat me up on the inside.”

While hearing Ferral’s story, Laura saw his ever-changing expressions. When his lips would curl faintly into a smile or when his eyes lowered in sadness, and even when his eyes blazed with anger and nostrils flared. So many emotions filled Laura. Should she be disgusted? Empathetic? Angry?

Ferral reached out to grab Laura’s hand, but she quickly pulled back, taking a few more steps away. He nodded his head and muttered, “I understand. I’ve done such horrible things…I really am just a monster.”

“Did you even really love me?” Laura asked, her voice breaking as tears flooded her eyes. “Was the love I got from you only out of guilt and not genuine?”

Ferral’s eyebrows raised. “Laura, my love for you hasn’t changed since the day you were born,” he said. “I was the only person who could even match the amount of love your parents gave you. I adopted you because of that love, not guilt.”

Laura’s lip trembled as tears ran down the side of her face. She had been lied to by Ferral for years, but now, in this moment, she knew his words were genuine. Laura was overwhelmed with emotions; they made her heart ache.

“Oh…Papa…” Laura muttered, running into Ferral, hugging him tightly as she sobbed into his chest.

Ferral was so stunned, he almost pushed Laura off. He didn’t deserve this. “L-Laura,” he muttered to himself. “Why?” Maybe he shouldn’t care and just enjoy it while he can. He hugged Laura back, stroking her head while she continued to cry.

Laura lifted her head and started rambling. “Papa! Amber Village…Mama…I-I-I-I…!”

Ferral shhhed Laura and said, “I know, I know. Armin already told me.” He moved Laura back, wiping her tears. “Look,” Ferral continued, “we can talk more about this later, okay? I have to help you stop that fungus.”

“Huh?”

Ferral smiled and said, “Laura, you need to be the hero, not me. I tried and failed. I will help, let you recover more of your strength, but you need to be the one who stops that bastard. Got it?”

Laura thought about it for a moment, then put on a face of determination and nodded.

“That’s my girl, now let’s go.”

Mortem sat atop a medium-sized pillar as he watched the remaining humans and experiments fight off another wave of beasts. He was laughing loudly at their struggle, watching them suffer.

“I hope you’re not too proud of yourself,” a voice sitting beside Mortem spoke. “Crushing ants and getting joy out of it. Such a mentality is fit for a child.”

Mortem’s laughter started fading, replaced by a nervous chuckle. He creaked his head to the left, and his eyes bulged from his skull upon seeing Ferral sitting cross-armed beside the clone. His back was turned, and his face was serious. Ferral leaned his head back, giving a smirk after locking eyes with Mortem.

“Hiya, bud.”

Mortem swiftly threw his arm back, but Ferral had seemingly vanished. He looked down to see Ferral standing under the pillar Mortem sat on.

“H-how?” Mortem gulped. “Y-you shouldn’t be alive!”

Ferral shrugged and smugly said, “Don’t you know the lore of a hellhound? They only come around when they have to drag a bad soul to hell.”

Mortem roared, leaping off the pillar and going to strike Ferral. The experiment dodged the attack, slamming his knee into Mortem’s stomach, then kicking him into the air. Mortem stopped himself, flapping his wings. He spun around, but when he looked at the ground, Ferral was gone.

“Where are you looking, retard?!” Ferral shouted, having jumped high into the air behind Mortem. He drove his fist into Mortem's back, the two soaring into the ground, leaving a huge crater in the stone.

Ferral leaped back, letting Mortem get up. The clone whipped his head back with a sneer, clawing his way forward like a rabid animal. He hacked and slashed at Ferral, who dodged with a smile on his face.

Mortem growled and screamed, “I don’t care how you came back, but you’ll never-!” He stopped his sentence after Ferral kicked Mortem’s face.

“Never what?” Ferral asked, his eyes swirling into a dark blue, and his pupils turned ghastly white.

Mortem stumbled back, and while the wind blew Ferral’s hair, its obsidian color whipped into a snowy white. In a flash, Ferral uppercutted Mortem’s stomach. Ferral vanished, kicking Morem in the back. It was like he was everywhere, Mortem getting assaulted by a flurry of attacks from every direction. Ferral sliced off Motem’s head, then diced his body into bits. Mortem’s severed head fell and rolled across the ground.

Ferral walked over, pressing his foot down on the head. “Boy, you used to be a challenge,” he jeered, “you’ve lost your touch. Pretty pathetic if you ask me.”

Mortem seethed with fury. “This means nothing!” he barked. “You’re nothing! I will end you!”

Suddenly, the beasts all started running toward Ferral. He got ready to fight them off, but Mortem's neck spouted tendrils, and he scurried away. The beasts started colliding with each other, turning into a large red clump. Mortem leaped into the clump, his body reforming. However, this body was much bulkier and taller. His eyes are now completely blacked out.

“I was wondering when you’d do this again,” Ferral chuckled. “Such a brat, throwing a temper tantrum.”

Mortem let out a deep, bellowing roar before bursting off from the ground. His speed had taken an incredible jump. Mortem had been holding quite a lot of strengthened back. He caught Ferral off guard, tearing his entire right side off. Mortem landed on the ground with a loud thud, his lips curled into a grin at the damage he did to Ferral.

However, Ferral chuckled before his destroyed right side regenerated. Mortem was baffled, struck speechless!

Ferral rolled his shoulder and muttered, “Thank God Armin remembered to add the reptile DNA to the serum. Otherwise…” He turned around with a smile, “That might’ve done some damage.”

Mortem took a step back, unable to process how this was possible. “No…you…how…when…!”

Ferral clicked his tongue and said, “What? Can’t handle the taste of your own medicine? Come on, let’s see who will last the longest.” 

Laura watched her father in awe; she had never seen him display such power. It made her a bit afraid of the man. She shook off the feeling and ran over to the battlefield. She felt much better after some of the rest, so she could definitely fight again.

“Papa!” Laura called out, catching both Ferral and Mortem’s attention

Mortem’s face contorted with anger and annoyance. How could they all still be alive?!

Laura stopped beside her father, giving him a nod. He smiled and nodded back.

“Ready?” He asked.

“Yeah!” Laura grit her teeth and let out a roar, once more transforming into Super Full Power.

Ferral was stunned. “L-Laura, you…” He started, but cut himself off and simply gave a big smile.

“I was a human before, right?” Laura asked. “Did you do this to me?”

Ferral nodded and said, “Yes. I wanted to keep you as safe as possible, so I used some of my DNA and mixed it with yours, turning you into a partial experiment. Sorry if that may have made things difficult, but it was to ensure you were an experiment while still being able to seem mostly human.”

“It’s fine,” Laura said with a smile. “Let’s just take this guy down!”

The two stood side by side, getting into fighting stances, ready to take on Mortem together.