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Albedo’s parents had never cared much for him, perhaps it was because he never required care. Or maybe his parents were too busy grieving for their other lost sons, who had disappeared on the darkest night of the year where the crescent moon radiated in the universal abyss without a trace. They had never come back. Their belongings remained in the same place it was years ago, dust building up like mountains. Nobody had any clues to where they had gone, not even the investigation team of the king himself. So two rocks etched with Albedo’s brother’s names had been set upon the field of the lost souls.
The graveyard.
The word felt like a thick black ink that poisoned Albedo’s insides. How did his own older brothers who had taken care of him when his parents never did, his older brothers with shining talents, who were destined for the greatest life get buried on the lands of the dead so quickly? It was outrageous, it felt so abrupt. Like the guards never bothered to search for them, like everyone except his family had forgotten about them. They were buried amongst the soldiers who sacrificed their life for the nation, yet they never did any of that. They were just…gone.
Albedo has changed ever since his first brother, Dorian, had disappeared at the age of sixteen. All the kids at school could see how he was more isolated, more quiet, his mind never seemed to be in the room. Rubedo had it worse, he had stopped eating, sleeping, hanging out with anyone. He never left his room. Almost as if he wasn’t there, until he actually wasn’t. Albedo had stopped feeling when Rubedo disappeared at the age of fifteen, and Albedo’s parents had stopped feeling too.
Being the youngest, Albedo had never got to experience a proper “parent”, his father and mother had long given up on raising kids. He was an accident, and only his brother’s would ever care for him. After they left, nobody cared for him. He had lost all his friends, his teachers all saw him as a nuisance, and his own parents dozed off into drinking and fighting. The world had gone numb.
Yet that was why nobody noticed the boy’s disappearance until a month later, and also why he was the perfect target.
——Gold (Also known as Rhinedottir)—-
Rhinedottir was working on the primordial human project, behind the King’s back of course. She wouldn’t want the man to know about her war crimes. If anyone found out though, she would simply just use them as another toy to experiment on. She could always use another human puppet.
She had taken the Kreideprinz brothers, they were perfect for her experiments. The older one, Rubedo, subject one, had a smart brain, emotionally intelligent, mature, and perfect physical health. Yet he didn’t meet her expectations after she had used his body to create the perfect human being. Something seemed to have gone wrong when his body nearly dissolved when he touched water.
Dorian on the other hand went much smoother, but the boy had anger issues and would not cooperate with her. Rhinedottir was surprised at the child’s resilience even after dying. Too bad she had fed it to her dragon. Now the mad scientist was bored, she needed to restart her experiment again.
What better body to test it on than the last of the Kreideprinz brothers? Albedo Kreideprinz. Seemed like a nice fit, smart, quiet, but yet so loyal. He may be the key success to the primordial human project. Rhinedottir could do it without anyone noticing the boy’s disappearance for weeks, he was nearly invisible to everyone. Rhinedottir had observed the child carefully, if one was already invisible then it was not much different to die, right? Rhinedottir smirked.
—-Albedo Kreideprinz—-
Albedo quietly went through the front door of his house carrying bags of groceries. His dad was sitting on the couch with his face all red and seventy-or-so bottles of alcohol tossed loosely around him. Shattered glass pieces scattered everywhere. Quietly making it through the mess, Albedo glanced at the family photo taken years ago when Rubedo and Dorian were still here. The emotionless eyes of the blonde kid flashed with sadness for a second before quickly turning away into the kitchen. He quickly started placing the ingredients out in an orderly manner and started cooking.
Today he would make his favorite dish for his parents and him, the Woodland Dream. Gently frying the fish and decorating the plate with vegetables and cutting apart the fish precisely, Albedo was in a peaceful mood. Soon, the dish was done. Albedo decided to present it to his parents, in a naive hopefulness that they would care.
Once he carried the dishes to the living room, he saw his mother and father getting ready for one of their “sessions” which involved lots of disgusting kissing. Albedo decided to interrupt them to present his dish.
“Mom, Dad, can I show you guys something?” Albedo smiled softly as he hid the dishes behind his back.
“Did I give YOU permission to talk?!” His dad shouted angrily, his booming voice shuttered the whole room as he slammed the table in front of them.
“N-no sir.” Albedo stuttered as he felt tears welling up in his eyes again. Why was he always so weak, god damn it.
“I better teach you a lesson then right, boy?” His father said drunkenly as his mother laughed. Albedo just stood there.
“RESPOND.” His father had stood up in front of Albedo now, towering over him. Albedo nodded, shaking. His father didn’t seem to like that. The man grabbed Albedo by the collar as he threw him towards a wall, the Woodland Dream spilling all over the ground.
“Now look at the mess you've made! You better clean this after I break those little ribs of yours.” He looked at Albedo hungrily.
The rest of the afternoon Albedo was being played around with like a doll, getting beaten up, violated, and shouted at. It was until his father had drank until he passed out when Albedo escaped. Bleeding all over, he made it onto the street alleyways before collapsing. Everything hurts, Albedo hates his life. He just wanted to have a good thirteenth birthday. Yet nothing was different on his birthday, it wasn’t his “special” day, it was just a day. That’s when he felt arms cradle around him, and then he passed out.
——
Albedo awoke in a dark purple-ish room with dimly lit torches. Around the torches seemed to be…human body parts? He was laid on a concrete desk. Trying to get up, he realized his arm, wrists, and neck were bound to the desk. Then a woman with a tight bun, a mask, surgical gloves, and a long white coat walked in. Something about this felt extremely uncomfortable for Albedo.
“Who are you?” He asked.
“Rhinedottir, you’ll know me as Master soon.”
“What…? Where am I?”
“Have you ever wondered what happened to your dear brothers?” Rhinedottir started organizing some surgical materials.
“Yes, all the time.” Albedo replied.
“I kidnapped them, they became my experiments, I killed them.” Rhinedottir said too casually. Albedo screamed. Or so he thought he did, the scientist had covered his mouth with a piece of cloth as soon as he opened it.
“No more noise for you.” The woman said, “Time for surgery.”
Digging a sharp knife into Albedo’s chest and then splitting it open, Rhinedottir was fascinating, her eyes sparkled in excitement. Albedo screamed silently. Biting so hard on the cloth, he thought his teeth would break. Tears pooled down from his eyes as he begged for Rhinedottir to stop. The woman seemed to not hear as she kept poking and prodding the body of the child, taking out organs and withdrawing blood.
“Thirteen…happy birthday, Albedo.” Rhinedottir said after a little bit. Unfortunately Albedo was still conscious, all he wanted right then was to die. He wanted that hollow feeling more than anything, he had lost his voice from screaming and black spots painted his vision. He was becoming increasingly cold, and his eyes felt drowsy. But Rhinedottir had kept injecting something into him that kept him alive but suffering. Yet all he wanted was to die.
The torture continued for hours, Rhinedottir was tireless, she was intrigued, she was insane. The blood had long dropped across the floor like a lake and Albedo seemed to be missing a lot of his inner body. Then, the final stage. Albedo’s death.
The heart was removed.
And everything went black.
——Flashbacks—-
“Rubedo’s gone? He’s WHAT?” Dorian screamed.
“I’m sorry son…I’m so sorry.” His father comforted.
“Big brother Rubedo?” Albedo had sobbed.
“Get the fuck out boy, you’re the reason why he’s gone.” His mother shouted, Albedo ran.
/
The Kreideprinz brothers had always hanged out under the sakura tree on the cliff. But the branches of the tree started falling off and decreasing, and the brothers also started decreasing.
/
Albedo had seen Dorian tie a rope on the sakura tree one day after the disappearance of Rubedo with a lighter in his hands. Albedo had realized what he was doing. After stopping Dorian, Dorian had hugged Albedo harder than anyone had.
/
Albedo had tried to jump off the cliff of the sakura tree once, once in the air he hoped that the autumn leaves would break his fall. But the only thing that broke were his bones.
/
Albedo’s never had a party just for him before, his parents never cared to host one for him. After all he’s just a mistake.
/
Albedo felt so tired.
——
An unfamiliar warmth arose.
Albedo first realized he couldn’t breathe, yet it felt okay. Almost as if he had no lungs, and breathing was only optional.
A soft lullaby was being hummed by a woman. Albedo woke up.
“Welcome back to the world, Albedo. You’re in a new body now, you’re better.”
Albedo rubbed his eyes as he opened them to see Rhinedottir smiling warmly at him. After a second, he immediately went into panic.
“You- how- I died? Then? Brothers? How-?” He struggled with words as he tried to back away from the women but ended up hitting the wall.
“I filled you up with chalk, you're an artificial human now, Albedo. The same as your brothers. But you are a successful experiment, that makes you Subject One.”
“NO! I DON’T WANT THAT! I-” Albedo broke down and sobbed into Rhinedottir’s shoulder. The scientist who had once killed him returned with a motherly gesture of hugging him and whispering comforting words into the boy’s ear.
“Being reborn just means I’m giving you a new start.”
——
Albedo had gotten used to his new life soon enough. The mad scientist was a loving mother, surprisingly enough. The nightmares of his thirteenth birthday still haunt him, but he has someone now. Even if his past skin and bones seemed to fill the wall like trophies and the sakura tree had withered away fully. A new start brought a new perspective. One that Albedo preferred much more than his past life.
Two months after the event, Rhinedottir brought him to his own funeral that had been held for him by his parents. Like they ever cared. Hiding behind the bushes, they watched as his “friends”, “family”, and “close relatives” mourned him. His tomb was placed next to his brothers and it was showered with flowers.
Rhinedottir scoffed as she said “They only care when you're dead.” Albedo’s eyes gazed out at the fake drama act played out upon him. None of it was real, all an illusion to seem like they had ever cared for him.
—-
Finally a party just for me,
In contrast with those attending, I’m quite happy.
-
If ya cared that much, should’ve showed love ‘fore I became a piece of meat,
I want some sort of balloons and your tears can be the confetti.
-
A whole garden of flowers and my name etched on a rock,
All this could’ve been avoided, all I wanted was to talk,
Now I’ve been appointed as your new king, I decree,
That it’s too late to start caring about me.