Chapter 29 - Levi's Inked Tattoo.
The Next Morning...
Inside a luxurious clean suit with glass windows peeking over Tamara's settlement, Levi was lying on a comfortable hospital bed. He was fully covered, only his head was being bathed under the warm rays of sunlight.
Meanwhile, Arthur was sleeping on a nearby couch, looking as uncomfortable as one could be. One leg was on the ground, another touching the wall, and half of his chest was spilling over the couch. Yet, he was still snoring soundly.
'Wake up, it's morning, we are wasting precious sunlight.'
'Levi, wake your ass up! You have been sleeping for fourteen hours straight.'
'LEVIIII! LEEVIII!'
While Ash'Kral was shouting at the top of his lungs in Levi's mind, he was living in another stratosphere with the biggest adorable smile on his face.
At first sight, everyone could guess that he was having a very nice dream. Those kinds of dreams that no one would want to wake up from.
For an entire decade of being under constant harassment from nightcrawlers, this was the very first time Levi hadn't dreamt of a nightmare...All due to Ash'Kral protecting his dream from the invasion of any nightcrawler.
Levi had forgotten about everything in the real world and lived in a dream, where he was playing tag in the backyard with his little brother and father, while his mother was cooking them a warm meal in the kitchen.
The sky was blue, the sun was gentle, and life seemed quite simple...
Just any other common family, nothing special, nothing great. Just a day to day life of an average family.
Yet, this was Levi's eternal dream life...
A life he would give everything to have again, he wouldn't mind even if he was still blind. In his heart, the darkness would feel less sufferable if he had the company and love of his parents.
'Whatever, a difficult journey awaits him, might as well let him start it with what was stolen from him.'
As Ash'Kral gazed at Levi's peacefulness and saw what kind of dream he had, he didn't let his assholeness get the best of him for the first time. He could easily ruin his dream and wake him up, but he ended up closing his eye and leaving him be.
Fortunately, Levi's biological clock acted up the moment the clock hit 8 am.
The dream collapsed against his will and his conscious was returning to gaze at the infinite darkness. He was up, but no one could ever tell when he had scorched marks for eyes.
Levi slowly sat up on the bed, sensing that it was different than the one in his home. His senses were alerted and he started reaching out with his hands, touching everything in sight.
When he touched the plastic tube attached to his wrist and the metallic short railing at the sides of the bed, he knew that he was in a hospital.
Soon, memories flooded his mind of everything that happened in the Harrowing Forest, leaving him overwhelmed for a few moments.
Then, he touched his face and murmured, "Am I really a Daywalker?"
"If you are still doubtful, reach out with your mind to your abdomen and try to feel your seed," Ash'Kral said with a faint smirk while floating in his line of spiritual sight.
Yet, Levi didn't even hear what he said. He kept looking at him in a daze for a couple of seconds, sizing him up and down.
Then, he broke the silence with a faint crackle that kept growing in volume until he was laughing his ass off while pointing at Ash'Kral.
His reaction was understandable when Ash'Kral's creepy and terrifying appearence was nowhere to be seen.
He was turned into a single floating eye with two small wings on its back and tiny cute feet on the bottom.
His grey leathery skin was changed to black fur and his singular horrific slit transformed into three differently colored slits crossing on the center. One was golden, one was black, and the last one was red.
He was as cute as Nightcrawler could be.
"Little f*cker, I knew I should have ruined your dream." Ash'Kral's single eyelid twitched in irritation, but it only made him look cuter.
"HAHAHAHAHAHA!! I can't! I can't!"
"Just keep laughing, we will see if you will laugh when I show you your tattoo." Ash'Kral smirked.
Levi ignored what he said and kept chuckling, waiting for this day for a very, very, long time. He was bullied by Ash'Kral daily, always being his number one hater. It was finally time for his payback and Levi wasn't going to hold back.
"You look like a disabled peanut when you blink." He roasted him.
"Haha, real funny." Ash'Kral sneered annoyedly.
"Wait, I have a better one." Levi chuckled, "Those wings aren't for flying; they're just there to distract from the rest of you."
"..." Ash'Kral was silenced, wanting to laugh but it was at his own expense.
"Oh, oh! I have another one...You look like a fuzzy tennis ball with an identity crisis."
Levi laughed while slapping the bed, if he had eyes, tears would already be pouring akin to Niagra Falls.
"Done yet?"
"Please just one more."
"No."
"Please, I promise it's good."
"How annoying...Fine."
Seeing his beseeching excited expression, Ash'Kral waved his wing akin to a hand, gesturing for him to go for it.
"You're the bat version of a 'work in progress', except the progress stopped halfway. Hahahaha!"
"Okay, that's a good one, I give you that." Ash'Kral chuckled, incapable of keeping it serious anymore.
"Just what happened to you?" Levi asked amidst his dying laughter.
"This is my starting Tier 1 appearence. Unlike most nightcrawlers, my end appearence depends on the chosen evolutionary path." Ash'Kral clarified casually while sitting on top of Levi's shoulder.
In other words, the version Levi always interacted with wasn't his permanent appearence. It might be his original appearence, but it still could be altered.
Now, that he was restarting his evolutionary journey again, he could end up looking vastly different or quite similar depending on Levi's choices.
"Did it really have to be this damn cute? Both of us will get bullied now." Levi chuckled, "A blind kid contracted with a singular eye bat...Two entities and still we are three eyes short, how ironic."
"Don't worry, one eye is all we need to steamroll them," Ash'Kral smirked.
"I hope so." Levi's expression suddenly turned serious as he asked telepathically, 'What happened after I went down? Is my brother okay?'
'He is fine.' Ash'Kral shared, 'He is sleeping on the couch nearby.'
'Good, leave him be.' He sighed in relief.
After everything that happened, he was just glad that both of them made it out alive. This situation had taught him a grave lesson that just because he planned ahead, it didn't mean that everything would go based on the script...Especially, when the wastelands were involved.
'What about the others? How were we saved? They must have already seen the inked stamp on my body.' Levi frowned, 'They must be waiting for me to wake up and question me about the contract details.'
'Your friends are fine and no one has seen your inked tattoo.' Ash'Kral scoffed, 'Do you think this is an amateur hour? I have already hidden your tattoo.'
'For real? That's possible?' Levi raised an eyebrow in surprise.
He understood that Daywalkers/Sleepwalkers inked tattoos were permanent inked marks that could be removed only once the contract term concluded.
'Before I was stripped of my powers, I used them to cast a permanent veil on it. The only way to bring it to light is to use an incantation.'
'Good thinking.' Levi nodded in appreciation, 'I am sure the authorities are preparing to investigate and interrogate every single one of us. The death toll of Daywalkers is just too much.'
As Levi mentioned, all of the Daywalkers saved in the Harrowing Forest were placed in this hospital, awaiting the dust to settle before starting the investigation.
When it came to such incidents, it was almost guaranteed that a Sleepwalker or a Fallen Daywalker to be involved...The fact that a jamming device was found made it even more certain.
'What's the incantation and where did you ink the tattoo exactly?' Levi returned to the inked tattoo subject after touching his entire body and failing to feel its presence.
Every person had the tattoo inked in a different place on their bodies, depending on their choice. But, since Levi's integration experience was vastly different and filled with agony, the last thing on his mind was the tattoo's placement.
Ash'Kral told him about the incantation, which wasn't anything complicated or long. As for its placement, he merely showed his known mischievous grin.
'What did you do...' Levi felt his blood turn cold at Ash'Kral's silence.
Seeing that he wasn't answering, Levi swiftly murmured the incantation, "By ink and skin, reveal within, Let hidden marks now shine again."
The moment he finished, he felt a sudden burning sensation right above his buttcheeks.
"No, you wouldn't..."
Levi reached out with a shaking hand towards his tailbone with a mortified expression. Alas, against his hopes, his fingers caressed the cold black ink.
"You gave me a tramp stamp..." Levi covered his ashamed face with one hand while continuing to feel the tattoo with the other, "You dirty bastard, this is too much."
"What are you talking about? That's the finest location known in our Shadow dimension." Ash'Kral showed a wronged look, "Only royalties have the right to tattoo their tailbone."
"Really?"
"F*ck no, that's a tramp stamp through and through." Ash'Kral laughed mockingly, getting his revenge over the previous roasts.
Levi swiftly used the incantation to hide the tattoo, not wanting to think about it for even another second...Out of sight, out of mind.
'It's fine, it's fine, no one will see it...' Levi sighed helplessly.
'I don't care about the others.' Ash'Kral grinned, 'All it matters is that I know of it. You will never win an argument with me again, hear that, trampy?'
'Once an asshole, always an asshole.' Levi's eyebrows twitched.
Realizing that there was no winning against Ash'Kral's foolery, Levi decided to switch the subject by asking him about what he meant earlier concerning the seed.
He had yet to see what it was and he was a bit concerned, especially when the integration process almost fried him alive.
'First, reach out with your spiritual vision and see what it is.' Ash'Kral said, 'It should be much easier for you compared to other newbies.'
Considering that Levi had been using his spiritual vision for an entire decade each minute of the day, this was nothing to him.
As expected, the moment he focused on his abdomen, he was startled to see an elastic sphere filled with a peculiar white liquid. There were three seeds inside of it orbiting each other over and over again with a sense of chaoticness.
There was a pitch-black seed that resembled a black hole. A blinding bright seed that appeared as a minimized star. Lastly, a crimson seed that was pulsing nonstop.
As for the Shadowlife seed that Levi used to read about and was waiting his entire life to own, it was nowhere to be seen.
'What is this?' Levi asked, having no idea how he was supposed to react.
'Settle down and open your mind.' Ash'Kral advised calmly, 'I am not going to repeat myself, so focus.'
Hearing this, Levi locked in.
'First, I have to ask.' Ash'Kral shared, 'Have you ever heard of the cosmic theory 'A Three-Body Problem?'