What It Means To Be King

Chapter 48: What Trod Beyond His Words

"What did you do to me?" Shao Long blinked at the figure hovering at his side with a piece of coin twirling across his fingers with little to no effort. Shao Long watched as each nudge of finger drove the coin from one knuckle to the other, with undivided attention as he so easily does whenever Anubis did it. The same way when Anubis held a pocket watch, or a feather, or a spiral. It didn't matter which one, it was just painfully, overwhelmingly distracting, and, well....hypnotizing.

"An imperfected trick." Anubis focused on Shao Long's dazed eyes, watching every change there was. "A new one I made. You won't be able to feel anything."

"I feel things..."

"Like what?"

Shao Long did not look away from the coin, though the tips of his fingers curled, twitched, tapped. "Surfaces. Temperature. Gravity."

"Then it's doing it's job." Anubis tugged a smile. The coin in his fingers came to a halt. "I don't suppose you feel any pain now?"

Now that he mentioned it... Shao Long glanced the alarm clock by his bedside, taking note of the alarming long time that had passed. Since when had it been that all the aches on his joints began numbing out? When did the boulder in his throat subside? When did his shoulders start feeling light?

"I ..... Yeah. I feel numb." Shao Long tried to speak louder, then immediately noting the way his voice came out harsh. It came without the feeling of sandpaper through his throat, much to his confusion, but true enough, there was no pain. Not even a headache. Not even a pulsating ache.

"That's quite a trick you developed."

While it was nice to not be able to feel pain, Shao Long couldn't help but feel alarmed. How could pain be numbed using mere mind tricks?

"It's a trick few could effortlessly receive." Anubis sighed, the tiniest bit of chagrin could be heard at the end of his voice. There was a look of disappointment coursing through his irises that Shao Long couldn't really understand with how the trick made him feel surreal. Anubis stared at him, expression blank. "It's imperfected. Otherwise anyone else could fall under it."

Part of Shao Long wanted to ask why Anubis wanted that, of all things. Why Anubis even created this spell, or whatever trick of the mind, because to lift one's pain is no simple matter. People died from pain. Died from the trauma of it. People were afraid of pain, had been for as long as they could remember. Anesthetic was created for that reason, but oh, to be able to lift it without so much as a drop of drug. Who wouldn't want that? But why would Anubis create it?

"Are you in pain?"

Anubis' eyebrows quirked up. "Why?"

"It's just, I don't see any reason for you to develope that trick." Shao Long was perfectly aware that Anubis would occasionally use him as a lab rat for his hypnosis tricks, and he trusted that Anubis wouldn't go too far when it comes to testing. In fact, multiple times, Shao Long had the more beneficial end for his part.

Upon his words, Anubis pursed his lips. He glanced away from the ebony eyes that seemed to stare into his soul. "Why couldn't I just do it for nothing?"

"Nubis." Shao Long frowned. "Why?"

Anubis shook his head. "It doesn't really matter. It won't work on anyone else other than you anyway. It's a ridiculous goal." For a second, Anubis considered telling Shao Long everything, from the surface he showed on his face to the deepest darkest secrets he hid even from his own mind sometimes. But looking at the confusion clear on innocent eyes, eyes that belonged to Shao Long of all people, Anubis gritted his teeth.