Reborn as an SSS-Rank Guide in the Sentinel Academy [BL]

Julian’s whole body went numb. ’that’s not possible. that is not possible. it can’t talk, it can’t know my name, it can’t...’

[Host. This creature spoke a coherent word. This behavior does not match any recorded Aberration data]

’yeah I noticed thanks’

The creature took another lurching step forward, dragging one leg behind it, head twitching side to side like it was fighting its own body just to stay upright, and its mouth opened again, that wrong, broken voice scraping out.

"Julian... why... didn’t you... come back..."

Jayden’s blade didn’t waver, but Julian saw his eyes flick sideways for half a second, just enough to catch the way Julian had gone completely still behind him. "Do you know this thing," Jayden said, not a question.

"I don’t," Julian said, voice shaking despite himself. "I mean... I did. I knew him. before. he died three years ago, I watched him die, I buried him..."

’Marcus’ Julian thought, staring at that twisted gray face, trying to find any piece of the man he remembered underneath all that rot and wrongness. ’Marcus you idiot you were supposed to stay dead’

The creature lunged again, faster this time, and Jayden met it head on, gold light crackling off his blade as steel met claws in a shower of sparks. The impact sent the creature skidding back across the dirt, but it was back up almost instantly, screeching, that broken voice tumbling out between the screams like something trying to claw its way through a throat that wasn’t built for words anymore.

"it hurts... Julian... it hurts... help me..."

Julian’s chest cracked open at that, something raw and old surging up past three years of careful distance, past every wall he built to survive watching people die over and over. "Marcus," he said before he could stop himself, stepping forward despite Jayden’s arm shooting out to block him.

"don’t," Jayden said sharp. "whatever that thing sounds like, it is not your friend anymore."

"I know that," Julian snapped back, even though some small stupid part of him wasn’t sure he actually believed it.

[Host. Analysis complete. This creature is not a resurrection. It is a corrupted echo, formed from residual guiding energy that bonded with an Aberration during the breach. It is mimicking memories pulled from host’s own mind.]

Julian’s blood went cold all over again, but for a completely different reason this time.

’wait. residual guiding energy. my guiding energy. it pulled that from me, oh wow?’

[Affirmative. When host healed the wounded Sentinel, output levels were significant enough to be detected and drawn toward by nearby corrupted entities. This creature latched onto the nearest source of guiding power and absorbed fragments of host’s memories in the process.]

’so it’s not Marcus’

[Correct. It is wearing him. Nothing more.]

Something in Julian went very still and very cold at that, the grief shifting fast into something sharper, something that felt a whole lot more familiar. He’d felt this before. Three years of watching monsters wear the faces of people he loved, learning the hard way that grief was a weakness these things could smell from a mile away.

"okay," Julian said quietly, straightening up, that shaking in his voice draining out and leaving something flat and steady behind. "okay. that’s enough of that."

Jayden glanced back at him, surprised at the sudden shift. "you good?"

"You I’m good," Julian said, and meant it. "get it away from me. I’ve got an idea, but I need space."

"an idea," Jayden repeated, blocking another lunge from the creature, gold light flashing bright across the field. "care to share it before you do something insane?"

Julian was already reaching for that door in his chest again, except this time he wasn’t reaching for healing. He was reaching for something rawer, something he’d never actually tried to use as a weapon before, something that felt less like light and more like pure, focused will.

"just trust me," Julian said, stepping around Jayden despite every protest, walking straight toward the screaming, twisted thing wearing his dead friend’s voice. "Marcus. or whatever’s left wearing you. I’m sorry."

The creature froze mid-lunge, head snapping toward him, that broken voice cracking out one last time, almost gentle, almost pleading...

"Julian... don’t you remember... we promised we’d hold the line together..."

And Julian’s hands lit up brighter than they ever had before, gold turning white-hot at the edges, and just as he reached out to end it, a hand grabbed his wrist from behind, hard, and Reid’s voice snapped low and urgent right next to his ear...

"wait. before you do that... look behind it. look what’s crawling out of that breach right now.".