“Be concise, what’s the situation?”

“Sir, Admiral, sir! Reporting, Mr Silvano had woken up, was able to speak several words and currently…”

“Had woken up?” Admiral Carnage picked up an odd word. 

“Yes, it was tiring for him. He fell asleep just now.” 

“What exactly was tiring?” The Admiral was as sharp as ever. 

“Sir, at first he had a hard time grasping the reality, then we had to explain some details, but I didn’t say too much, just enough to reassure him.” As the Admiral was quietly listening he continued. “What seemed to worry him the most was whether the child could be kept and whether we knew that the child was his cousin’s. He settled down only after I confirmed that the child has nothing to do with Jerome Ulime and that nobody is going to take the baby away. I’m sorry, as he was still unable to speak articulately it was hard to understand what he was saying, so it took some time to realise his worries and appease him.” 

“Did he cry a lot?” His voice sounded chilling. 

“Well, more than he could handle.”

“I had better expectations of you Colonel Gillian. If a person wakes up to discover they are seven months pregnant of course they first need facts about that situation.” 

“Yes, Sir, it’s my fault for reacting slowly.” 

“I can’t stay longer, do your best to keep him reassured and calm.”

“Yes, Sir!”

This conversation was a little unusual  between two prominent military figures, but both of their voices sounded very serious and determined. 

… 

Silvano didn’t wake up until late at night the next day. First, he felt uncomfortable then realised that the baby is actually the one who is uncomfortable and wants him to move. He slowly woke up, made an effort to move his hands towards his belly, and opened his eyes quietly. The baby was very active, kicking, nudging, turning… Silvano was kind of amused but at a loss of what to do to make the little one calm down. There were dim lights in the room and behind the curtains he could see that it’s deep into the night. It’s not much but he was happy that this room has such large windows. His vision has improved to around 80% so he can see much more details. 

“He is a little too active, isn’t he?” 

Silvano was startled not just by hearing an unfamiliar voice in the dim room but also because it sounded quite close to him. He turned his eyes and saw a figure sitting on an armchair right beside the bed, a metre and a half a away from him. His body is still almost immobile and he can just slightly move his arms and legs. So his first reaction was covering his round belly with his hands. But to his surprise he wasn’t very terrified to have this stranger so close by. Even though his deep voice was definitely unfamiliar it sounded kind of comforting as if he actually had heard it many times. But Silvano couldn’t see his appearance clearly as the night lamp was behind the armchair he was sitting on. 

Silvano might not be a particularly smart person but he is still not dumb. 

“Y-you.. the… f-fath..er?” He made an effort and stuttered this phrase guessing from the man’s demeanour and built that he should be the military commander Colonel Gillian spoke about. 

“Hello, Silvano. Yes, you guessed right, I’m the one responsible for that rascal.” He spoke very calmly and in a low voice not to agitate Silvano in a slight bit. Then he got up to give him some water. The Admiral hasn’t cared personally for anyone in many-many years, his hands are big and rough. But he carefully reached out and took a glass of lukewarm water with a straw from the bedside table. 

“They said you need to drink to be able to talk more.” The Admiral’s actions were caring and gentle but Silvano’s attention was elsewhere, he kept staring at the other’s face which was in the dark with wide open eyes.

“Y-you.. im-i-mmortal?!!” Silvano was struck as if by lightning as what he saw in the darkness were two ultramarine irises looking at him.

“Not at all immortal, we just age slower.” The Admiral was amused by his reaction, wanted to say more but decided not to. 

Silvano wasn’t making up words, that is what the general public called the few special born individuals. But they really were not immortal. 

“We just have some talents and live longer but in other aspects are just like most people. We do feel pain and if pierced in the heart we’ll surely die.” While patiently explaining, the Admiral brought the straw to Silvano’s slightly parted lips, who actually drank several sips absentmindedly staring into those illuminated blue pupils, until the moment the “rascal” interfered. 

Hearing the familiar voice so close by and not feeling his touch, the little guy was angry and anxious, demanding attention. Which he expressed by starting to kick and punch. Poor Silvano almost choked on the water he was about to swallow, spilling some even on the Admiral’s hand holding the glass. 

“Sh-s-sorr-y!” The realisation that he had just spat on an immortal’s hand made Silvano frantically panic. And the fact that he had no idea of what to do with the overactive little rascal inside his belly made him feel completely helpless and almost tear up. 

This reaction amused Admiral Carnage who had rushed a negotiation of interstellar degree to come back earlier, of course he didn’t make any illogical or disadvantageous decisions, he just pressured everyone to work, talk and make decisions faster. Thinking back that was actually quite practical he can use this tactic in the future to save time. 

“No worries, it’s just water anyway.” He turned to the table to pick up tissues as a result his face was fully illuminated and Silvano was left even more stuttering. 

“A-A-dmi-r-rral C-ca…!” Of course He knew of Admiral Carnage, from school books, public transmissions and so on. The iconic dark blue uniform and stern look, who doesn’t have this image engraved in their mind? A face that is impossible to not recognize but at the same time so surreal to see up close that you doubt whether you’ve ever seen an accurate depiction of him. 

“Calm down Silvano, it’s important for you to remember that all your emotions affect the little one in your belly. And this guy is particularly sensitive to his surroundings.” He pointed his jaw to Silvano’s round belly, which looked incredible in his vision at the moment. Not only the gold-silver particles were crazy active now that the owner is conscious and emotional, but also the rascal is twice as active, maybe sensing the difference around him and ecstatic about it. The usually red-orange immature soul is now crackling like a real flame. Since some time ago the Admiral hasn't been sure whether the sparkles present in the little soul are innate or they are mixed with Silvano’s soul particles. He’ll have to wait until the baby is born to have an answer. And now when both souls are radiating so warmly he found it difficult to hold back and resist reaching out, but stopped himself on time. 

The notion of the baby’s well being actually worked and Silvano made an effort to calm down and organise his thoughts. And just by observing his hesitant, oblivious look the Admiral knew what he needed to explain but first asked. 

“Silvano, forgive me just for a second.” He reached out and put his large hand on Silvano’s belly, making him utterly shocked with his actions. Then he said in a low voice toward the rounded belly. 

“You, rascal, behave! You’re scaring Silvano.” His voice contained both sternness of a commander and gentleness with an amused undertone.

To Silvano’s surprise the riot calmed down, the guy inside his body nudged the Admiral’s hand that was lightly patting him and settled. And for the Admiral, there was nothing new in this series of actions, as he has often had long conversations with the little one and has carressed this familiar belly, that changed from sunken skin and bones to nicely rounded and smooth, all throughout 7 months, following the doctors’ advice for the child to develop connection with the outside world. Now with the other, previously silent parent awake and staring, Admiral Carnage felt strangely guilty of some uncertain reason.

Whereas Silvano felt warm and reassured seeing that the father seems to care for his child. As this was something profoundly missing in his life and he had been afraid not to let his child experience the same loneliness. Then a melancholy overwhelmed him as possible scenarios started to form in his head. Noticing this change Admiral Carnage lifted his hand, set back on the armchair and said.

“He’s not used to your voice yet and when you are agitated it’s unsettling for him as well.” This didn’t affect Silvano’s condition so he just started explaining. “You must be confused about many things, tell me the last thing you remember, I'll fill in the rest.” Silvano just stared back not knowing what can be said and what cannot be said. 

“Don’t bother, I know most of what was going on in the Ulime residence, I’ve personally sent them to jail for what they did to you.”

“Mh-mme?” Until now Silvano thought they were arrested for some other crimes and he was found in the basement along the way. He couldn’t imagine that the influential Ulime family would be down because of him. 

“Yes, Silvano, for what they did to You, as you said yourself just now, an immortal.” The Admiral paused to see a reaction but there was just a blank stare. “You have never known, right? Those animals didn’t seem to know either. Every person who is born with this constitution is supposed to be protected by the law as they may be quite vulnerable to people with evil intentions until they are mature enough. You were born in a remote illegal clinic where nobody had any idea about supernatural characteristics. While their deeds can be considered monstrous toward any human being it would be impossible to perform those atrocities to an ordinary person. An ordinary human would die from the first attempt to extract their spiritual essence whereas in your case who is a longliver they had an endless supply and leached onto you as parasites and subjected you to that horrible torment over and over again.” The Admiral’s cold voice trembled very slightly and this caused Silvano to be amazed by this prominent person’s emotional reaction to his own life, which he always thought of as insignificant and unimportant, still not fully apprehending the meaning in the Admiral’s words. He was still kind of hypnotised by the flickering ultramarine light in the man’s eyes. 

“Are you listening, Silvano?” Admiral Carnage noticed that Silvano’s attention didn’t seem right so he wanted to check if his lengthy monologue was even heard. 

“Y-yyes…n-not…sure.” He said with rounded eyes.