Dragon Raja 3; Chapter 14: Zero (4)

Dragon Raja 3

She lowered her head, her cheeks blushing. No one had ever explained hygiene to her, so she didn’t know it was a topic to avoid. She thought wetting the bed was a flaw, just like some children stutter. But for some reason, as soon as she said it, she felt it wasn’t right, and her face burned as if it was on fire.

“Have you wet the bed since you were little?” Zero asked, looking interested.

“No way!” Renata quickly defended herself. “It only started recently!”

“How old are you?”

“Thirteen.”

“Congratulations, you’re starting to develop,” Zero smiled.

“Develop?” Renata hadn’t heard that term before.

“It means you’re growing from a child into an adult. When you’re a child, the female body’s functions are dormant. Around your early teens, those functions begin to mature. You’ll develop a chest,” Zero smiled, “and you’ll experience menarche.”

He spoke seriously, without a hint of mockery or teasing, like an elder explaining the natural order to a young girl, conveying a sense of blessing.

“What is menarche?” Renata knew it might be a taboo question, but she couldn’t help her curiosity.

“It means you’ll start bleeding from below, and then every month there will be a few days of bleeding,” Zero said. “The reason you’ve been wetting the bed lately is because you’re starting to develop, and your nervous system is a bit disordered. Once your menarche arrives, it will get better. It’s a good thing, a very good thing.”

“A guy claiming to be mentally ill explaining a neurological disorder?”

“Have you ever had your first period?” Renata asked.

Zero looked embarrassed. “I’m a boy, only girls have menstruation.”

“Will it be troublesome? Will I run out of blood?” Renata asked.

“It can be a bit troublesome,” Zero thought for a moment, “but it’s mostly a good thing. You’ll become prettier, like Khorkina, and be liked by everyone. The hormones will also make you like a boy, and you’ll feel happy being with him. You two will do things that boys and girls should do together…”

“What kind of things do boys and girls do?”

Zero rolled his eyes. “You’ll know when the time comes. Anyway, it’s a good thing. Girls are like flowers, and they always bloom. Maybe by then, I’ll like you the way I like Khorkina. You should remember to wear a beautiful dress for me.”

“I don’t want you to like me.” Renata pouted.

“Now that we’ve exchanged secrets, how about you hold my hand? If you hold my hand, we’ll truly be friends.” Zero looked at Renata with those innocent, pitiful, seal-like eyes, using that gaze to talk to her in a way he was obviously very practiced at.

Renata couldn’t resist his pleading eyes and held Zero’s hand, which was strapped to the iron chair. That’s when she noticed that his fingers were covered with scars from blood draws, and his wrists were thin and bony, with deep marks from the straps. Renata touched those scars and suddenly felt an unspeakable sadness. A person lying here every day, with no one to play with, the whole world unaware of his existence. He didn’t even have a name. His sole purpose seemed to be to provide blood and receive injections. And yet, he could still smile. Silent tears fell into Zero’s palm.

“Why are you crying?” Zero asked, feeling the dampness on his fingers.

Renata wiped her face. “Are you suffering?”

“Anyway, every day is the same, but why are you crying?” Zero stubbornly fixated on this question.

Renata hesitated for a while. She didn’t want to say those words that would embarrass her—how she cared about Zero’s feelings. No one had ever needed her concern before, and she had never cared about anyone else. If one of the children around her quietly disappeared or reappeared, she would silently accept it and gradually forget. Here, every child only needed to live quietly.

“Tell me,” Zero pleaded.

“When I look at you like this,” Renata said softly, “I feel very sad.”

“I knew it!” Zero smiled, the teeth behind his mask gleaming.

“Why did you have to ask?” Renata was a bit annoyed.

“I wanted to hear you say it,” Zero said, looking up at the ceiling, dazed. “I’ve never seen someone else cry. When I was little, it was only me who cried, but I never saw what I looked like crying… because there was no mirror.”

“When someone cries for you, it means you’re something. Otherwise, you’re nothing,” he said softly.

In that sentence lay so much loneliness—a loneliness as vast as the glaciers on the tundra outside, accumulating year after year in the snowy winds, never melting, rising higher and sharper. But one day, when the weight of loneliness exceeded its limit, it would collapse, and an avalanche would engulf the entire world.

Renata reached out and gently touched his forehead, and Zero closed his eyes like a small wild animal, silently enjoying it. Sometimes, all a person needs is the warmth of a touch, as if that means possessing the whole world.

“Have you ever seen a black snake?” Renata asked quietly, “a really big one.”

Zero opened his eyes and gave a mysterious smile. “Of course! That’s my pet!”

Bondarev’s face was purple, veins bulging, a sign of severe oxygen deprivation. His heart was still desperately trying to pump oxygen throughout his body, but it was all in vain. No matter how hard it worked, a heart couldn’t save a person whose lungs were filled with gel.

The doctor struck the wooden clappers again. The boy began to tremble violently, like an epileptic having a seizure. The sound of the clappers controlled him, interrupting the chant. Bondarev could once again breathe normal air, and that cold gas felt so sweet. He staggered backward, coughing violently.

“Anton’s ability is to transform the air within his domain into a gel. We don’t yet understand the physics behind this power, but you’ve seen its incredible potency. Anton can even neutralize the kinetic energy of a high-speed bullet using this gelled air,” the doctor said.

“Incredible,” Bondarev said, panting.