Child from the Dungeon

Chapter 203: Spin-Off Vol.1 'Dark Stranger ': First Memory

[ Elysium Haven Capital Park, Eliopolis ]

" Adria, come here! " Donovan calls his sister Adria, calling her as the little sister walks to him in the park.

" Adria's legs are getting stronger, she's still one year old, am I right? " Duncan asks Irina, looking at her, as he sees his little girl.

Seeing Duncan's glance, Irina chuckled as she knew what he was implying.

" Of course, not only she's so strong (you're referring to my strength, aren't you?). "

" Our Adria is also fast, reminds me of someone who is faster than the wind, you know? " Irina winks at Duncan, as the two were accompanied by some knights who were guarding Irina as their Commander.

" How very correct, Royal Knights Commander... " Duncan praises her as she flirts with him and leans to him.

While seeing her leaning, Duncan looks at the knights, feeling awkward but the knights just stay guarding them professionally as they can.

"( You guys won't be envious, right? )" Duncan says, Despite everyone knowing him being Irina Richter's husband, many are still not pleased because of his 'commoner' status, which he understands.

"( It's been years, back then, I never thought things would go this way. )"

"( When I was a little, I only dreamed to only living a happy life... )"

"( Yeah, a happy life... )"

"( When I mean happy, I mean just what I thought to be happy at the time when I was little. )"

"( Have so many foods and drinks, lots of money, be handsome and fashionable, and probably had so many friends that I could have fun with... )" Duncan sighs as he remembers this.

"( But, despite that small dream, look on what I have now. )"

"( My life is 'happier' than what I've dreamed of... )" Duncan smiles a bit while holding Irina who leans on him as he watches his two children.

* Donovan and Adrian running and laughing. *

"( Enjoy your youth, children... )"

"( Seeing you two happy means that I've been getting things right in my youth, preparing myself to grow up and have a happy family... )" Duncan remembers the past, he remembers his orphanage where he was taken, he remembered it was a poor orphanage whose nurses was just a bunch of diligent old women with minimum wage.

"( That's what I thought about them for their diligent and kind attitude towards me and the other orphans. )"

"( I was so happy there, I really want to spend my life there as much as I could, unlike the place before it. )"

"( Yes, that place... )"

"( The place I was first taken in..., it's... )" Duncan closes his eyes, and as his eyes are closed, he begins to remember the moment he could remember, as the starting point, of his past.

...

( Years Ago, in an unspecified time. )

[ In an unknown place ]

Darkness...

The first memory I've remembered was Darkness...

If you asked me, where I actually came from, the answer I could utter is just a dark place, a place untouched by the light, in a realm that I couldn't even specify whether was it in the human realm or not.

At the time, what I could see was everything covered by the dark, in my early years, I was able to see within the darkness, and walk within it without crashing the objects around me.

And...

* Random voices. *

I remember hearing voices around the dark, I believe that's the voice of the people I was from in that place, I was so little, I am still learning to interact with them.

But then, it happened...

* Flashes of light. *

The first light came into my sight, it was, different which intrigued me at the time.

The light shines so beautifully into my eyes, but not for everyone around me.

* Screams. *

They all screamed as the light flashed them, spreading its light into their skin, which made the screaming go loud and louder as everyone wreaked havoc in the dark place.

I was little, perhaps.

That's what I believed, since in that place, I've never witnessed anything that could reflect myself, like a mirror or a reflecting water, as the darkness covers.

As it happens, it seems, the little me was intrigued by the light, and either crawled or walked to it to see it closer, to look more of that dazzling radiant.

The very first choice of my life...

That will change my life forever, as I get closer to it.

* Little Duncan's body was being held. *

" We found a little one, this one will make a good subject. "

" This one is sure in the early years, guess we need to take him. "

" Really? What's so special about this little thing? "

'This One', 'Little Thing', my very first primary identification...

That's what my 'holder' called me before I was named.

" You fool! " said the other voice, I tried to see it, but my eyes were still not used to seeing within the light.

* Slapping voice. *

" We're having an experiment here, do you know that the younger the subject, the greater chance they will succeed!? "

" Now stop blabbering and take this one into the facility! " said the other one as he left me with my 'holder'.

" Fine then! "

" It's your lucky day, Little Thing! "

" From this day onwards, you and your kind will have a new life now, once you were experimented on. " said my 'holder' as he picked me up (I believed he was a male due to the deep raspy voice).

As I was taken, the thing I could hear from the darkness I was taken from was just screams of the people that were covered by the dark and flashed by the brightest light as I saw it from my place, my eyes were fuzzy since I was brought closer and closer to a place filled with light, leaving the darkness I was from.

...

...

( Later on... )

" Subject was enlisted as DG-525. "

" Within hours, the subject will be on the queue for the primary operation after DG-524... "

" The 'Little Thing' might fail this, I'm not sure this one will- "

" It will adapt! " said the people I was still not able to see, My eyes were still fuzzy as the place was filled with lights, it was everywhere as I waited for my turn.

" Subject DG-525 entering the operation. " I was automatically taken into a place, by some machinery hands as it took me with such cold, it irritates my dark black-skinned sharp-long hands at the time as I also held it in fear of falling when it took me.

" Subject DG-525 will begin the procedure. "

" Subject DG-525 will begin to receive 'Advancement'. "

" In 3..., 2..., 1... " As the announcement voice says that, I then see a bright flash of light, shining upon me, a light brighter than the first one I've seen before.

I remember covering my sight with my hands at the time, As it happened, my dark black-skinned sharp-long hands began to change into more... humanoid ones.

" Subject DG-525, Receiving 'Advancement'. "

" 'Advancement' Complete. "

" Initiating Result. "

" Subject DG-525's 'Advancement' is a success. " the voice as the light dissipated, at that time, I opened my eyes, my sight was not that fuzzy anymore as if I'd already adapted.

In the first moment of my sight recovery, I then see the glass I'm in, it shows me my reflection, showing me a glimpse, of what I looked like as I touched it, thinking it was another person, but.

* Little Duncan can't hold it, as he instead holds the mirror glass wall. *

" That, is a mirror... " said a voice, coming from behind my direction.

" An object that reflects who and what you are. " said the voice as he explained to me, what I'd just seen.

" Mir...ror...? " I talked, despite I never once spoken the word before, it suddenly came to me right after I heard it.

" Yes, DG-525... "

" M-I-R-R-O-R, Mirror. "

" So interesting, isn't it? "

" A simple, bland object. "

" No decorations and no reliefs made with it. "

" Just pure, made and enhanced to be more durable, yet the bland essence is still useful, without any need for advancing it. "

" A great simple object, that shows everyone who they are... "

" And what do we actually look like. " said the voice as the mirror glass was being pulled up by the machinery, and the voice's body came closer to me within the releasing smoke.

" Right, DG-525? " said the voice as its owner came in front of me, standing below the light that shone beyond us, making his face look fuzzy in my newly adapted eyes.

" Congratulations, DG-525... "

" Congratulations, on your first... "

" 'Advancement'. "

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Extra:

Hello, KJVZeanso here.

Sorry if you guys had to wait long, for I've been trying to formulate this Spin-Off Volume so much. The Spin-Off Vol.1 'Dark Stranger' starring our daddy Duncan as I explored a bit about him, and the stories he never told to his family.

Stay tuned!!!

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BTW, I am pausing Donovan as the MC for now, From this chapter onwards, in this very Volume, the MC will be Duncan during this very flashback. Please bear it.