Time came in a slapstick manner, slipping from between Yulli's fingers like sand.
Hare was stopping by more and more often, and for some reason, she'd gotten Muetaki and Eliches involved. With those three in the household, it was far from silent. Ear-piercing arguments over who rigged the card games, Muetaki's outlandish rehashes of hunts he entirely didn't flub, and Eliches dryly exercising his book knowledge just to get a rise out of them—it was chaos.
But it was nice.
Charlotte had smiled quite a lot of late, her giggles ringing through the once-staid house.
Yulli found himself wishing—hoping—that it would never cease.
Until one night.
Dinner was only just over. Yulli stood at the sink, scrubbing the dishes as Charlotte balanced a load across.
Then—
CRASH!
The plates shattered, their sharp edges skittering across the floor. Yulli turned back, his gut churning as he saw Charlotte on the ground, her body convulsing as she gagged violently.
"Mother!" He dashed to her side, grasping her just before she went down. "What did you do?! Are you okay?!"
Charlotte, stubborn old dame that she was, waved him off. "Oh, nothing! Maybe I've just been too excited of late!" She coughed up another spate of hacking,
Yulli wasn't having it. "Yeah, excited enough to pass out in the kitchen. Just super normal stuff, Mother."
Ignoring her protests, he scooped her up and carried her over to a chair. She didn't weigh much—too light for a woman who was supposed to be recovering.
She smiled weakly as she sat down. "Thank you, dear."
But Yulli wasn't done. He crossed his arms, his eyes glinting. "What were you thinking just now?"
Charlotte sighed, her eyes distant. "Oh… nothing. Just thinking about your father."
Yulli sat up straight at that. "Actually, you never really told me how you two met."
Charlotte smiled wistfully, shaking her head. "I did, didn't I?"
"Nope."
"Oh. Well… a friend set us up, actually." She smiled, a small smile playing on her lips. "You know, now that I think about it, your hair is the exact same color as his."
She reached out and messed with his hair with a laugh.
Yulli quickly swatted her hand aside. "Stop that!"
She smiled. "You really are his son."
Yulli exhaled, crossing his arms. "So what? What did happen to him?"
Charlotte's smile wavered just a little. "Like most hunters… he didn't return. His whole team was eliminated."
Yulli tensed, but nodded slowly. "I see."
Charlotte leaned back in her chair, eyes weighed with something he couldn't quite put his finger on.
"Hunters don't get happy endings, Yulli," she breathed. "They die in the line of duty, or live long enough to watch everything around them pass on."
A silence.
"But he did get married. Had a child as well. Then I don't know what happened to the baby."
Yulli frowned. "Wait, what? Who was—"
"ANYWAY!" Charlotte suddenly clapped her hands together, her mood flipping like a switch. "Want to hear something cool about me instead?"
Yulli's eyes narrowed. "That was suspiciously quick."
She smiled. "Bet you didn't know I was an assassin hunter!"
Yulli blinked.
"Excuse me??"
Charlotte laughed. "Yep! My specialty was partial invisibility—I could make parts of my body disappear! Hands, scars, even whole limbs if I wanted to."
Yulli scowled at her, then crept his finger at her. "So let me get this straight… if you were annoyed, you could just.?" He punched the air for emphasis. ".make your fist disappear and hit them in the face before they even realized it was happening?"
Charlotte laughed hard. "Just exactly!"
Yulli nodded, impressed. "Alright, that's intimidating and kind of cool."
Charlotte smiled. "Hell yes it is."
Then she immediately slipped into another fit of coughing.
Yulli panicked. "Okay, badass stories later! Right now, you're going to bed before you actually pass out!"
Charlotte sighed dramatically. "You're no fun."
But she didn't fight with him as he carried her to her bedroom.
When she was comfortable on the bed, she grasped his hand.
"Yulli…"
"Yes, Mother?"
Her eyes softened. "You don't have to worry about me anymore. Go chase your dream."
Yulli's smile faltered, for a moment.
Then he smiled. "Mother, we've talked about this. I'm happy. I just want to spend more time with you."
Charlotte didn't object. She just looked at him, something inscrutable in her eyes.
Then Yulli burst to life. "Oh! I got a job!"
Charlotte sat up. "Oh? Where?"
"The market! I'm doing work as a vendor—early in the morning, first." He grinned smugly. "So don't worry about a thing, okay? Just rest!"
Charlotte smiled. "Alright then, dear."
Yulli nodded and left the room.
The door shut with a click behind him.
Charlotte didn't move for a great big moment, staring at the ceiling.
Then, she coughed again—this time, her mouth full of the metallic taste of iron.
She stared down at her trembling hands.
Blood.
With a tired sigh, she pushed it away with her sleeve.
"Why are you lying once more, Yulli?"
Morning came with the usual fogginess, but Yulli was already up and on his feet, buttoning his shirt as he got ready to go to work for his first full day.
On his way out, he went down to Charlotte's room. The door was shut.
"Mother, I'm off now!" He knocked on the wooden doorframe, anticipating some sort of response.
Silence.
He rapped again. "Mother?"
Nothing.
Yulli sighed, running a hand through his hair. "She's still asleep… lazy old woman." He grinned to himself, hardly noticing, and gathered his things and left.
Behind the closed door, Charlotte was huddled, her fingers knotted in the sheets. Her body spasmed as another fit of coughs wracked her chest—wet, painful, sputtering the sheets with blood.
But she didn't call out. Didn't want him to know.
Work was… something.
Yulli quickly realized that hawking veggies and carrying sacks of rice was a heck of a lot harder than dodging practice swings from Muetaki. The stand was crowded, people yelling prices and negotiating like their life was on the line.
"30 cents for a bag of potatoes? That's highway robbery! I'll give you 10!"
"Ma'am, that's less than what I paid for them."
"Fine, then, 12. Last offer."
Yulli kept reminding himself every step of the way that strangling customers wasn't part of the job description.
Later, the excitement gradually died down, and by sunset, the owner of the stall—a broad-built, middle-aged man with a bellow strong enough to shake the tiles of the roof—clapped Yulli on the back firmly enough to almost suffocate him.
"You did good for your first day, kid!"
"Thanks, boss—ow." Yulli winced, rubbing his shoulder.
The man laughed. "You picked up all those crates like feathers! You're a giant!"
Yulli laughed. "Well, I was preparing to be a hunter before I failed the test."
His boss rubbed his beard, nodding knowingly. "Ah, that explains it! Meanwhile, my son's been hanging around in the back all day doing nothing. If only he worked as hard as you!"
Almost on cue, a voice shouted from behind the stall.
"I'M RIGHT HERE, DAD!"
"Then GET OUT HERE AND DO SOME WORK!"
Yulli snorted, trying to hold in his laugh. "You just have to push him a little. I'm sure he'll stand on his own two feet eventually."
His boss grumbled, shaking his head. "That boy's been 'standing on his own feet' for years now—standing around doing NOTHING."
Yulli chuckled but didn't comment.
A minute or two later, the old man applauded his hands. "Wait here, lad!"
He disappeared inside the kitchen, then reappeared with a food bundle wrapped up.
"Here. My wife made extra. Take this for you and your mother."
Yulli's eyes widened with surprise. "Oh, gosh! Thank you so much, boss! I really thank you!"
The man smiled. "You're a good worker! Take it as a bonus. Now, get going—it's getting dark."
Yulli waved farewell, a day well done to his credit.
As he walked home, the chill of night air nipped at his flesh, but he hardly felt it. His mind drifted.
The heavens yawned above him, studded with stars, and for one moment, he allowed himself to recall.
The rigorous training. The fatigue. The dream once burning so intensely within him.
He did wish he hadn't. A bit.
But as he clutched the hot handful of food in his hands, he reminded himself:
He had moved on.
The night had been calm. Too calm.
Yulli, worn out from working his shift, stretched his arms above his head and sighed. His first day of work hadn't been terrible—his boss was tolerable, the job was simple, and the complimentary food? Win.
"Maybe this isn't so terrible," he muttered to himsel
Then he heard it.
A scream.
Far away at first.
Then another.
Then a few.
Yulli turned his head just in time to see a crowd of people spilling out onto the street.
Their faces twisted with fear, eyes open wide, gasping, running for their lives.
"What the hell—?"
One bloke nearly ran into him, but Yulli caught him by the shoulders. "Oi! What's happening?!"
The bloke was shaking. Eyes wide, gasping, on the brink of incoherence.
"A—A b-beast!" he stammered. "A f-freaking beast—!"
Yulli's blood ran cold.
"A beast?! Where?!"
The man frantically pointed behind him, in the direction of Yulli's home.
Yulli's stomach dropped.
No.
The food slipped from his fingers, hitting the ground with a soft thud.
No, no, no—
His legs moved before his mind could catch up.
He ran.
The world blurred, his thoughts racing faster than his feet.
A beast. Near my house. Mother—!
His heart pounded. His breathing turned shallow.
He had to get there. Now.
The Realization
As he sprinted, a thought—an awful, horrible thought—crept into his mind.
Something about this felt wrong.
He gritted his teeth. Focus.
Mother has been weird lately.
She's been sick. But then she got better… too fast.
Yulli's hands clenched.
She has the plague.
It was getting worse, and then—suddenly—it vanished.
His breath hitched.
She was an assassin hunter.
She could conceal parts of her body. Even scars.
Something cold and binding wrapped around his chest.
Wait. Wait—
His heart stopped.
Did she. hide it from me?
He didn't want to think it.
But the more he pieced it together, the worse the picture looked.
His mother. The plague beast. The power to conceal.
He swallowed.
No. Please. Don't let it be that.
The streets blurred. His vision narrowed.
He reached his house.
And he froze.
The ground floor was ruined—the window shattered, the walls ripped apart by something huge.
A huge tear ran along the front, as though something had ripped its way through.
Yulli felt sick.
His hands were trembling.
He went in.
The air was thick—with blood, with something. wrong.
"Mother?" His voice was a mere whisper.
Nothing.
His chest tightened.
He thundered up the stairs, two at a time, barely registering the creaking wood beneath.
Her room.
"Mother—?!" His voice broke.
Nothing.
His hands moved on their own.
opening the door—and Yulli wished it hadn't.
Blood. Everywhere.
The bed, the floor, the walls—painted red.
The window was wide open, curtains ripped apart.
And in the center of it—
Something.
Something wrong.
Not quite human.
Yet not fully a beast.
The figure lurched, its form shifting, struggling, growing.
Parts of it were still her.
Her hair. Her hand. The curve of her face.
But the rest…
Twisted. Clawed. Feral. Behemoth.
Yulli's breath caught in his throat.
He took a step back.
His legs were lead. His lungs would not work.
His worst fear had come true.
Charlotte was transforming into a beast.