Steelcode, who owns Sage and Kardama, asked guestsurprise for this one. Here you go, Amigo! Enjoy! :)

Ben 10 (because Whampire is mentioned here) belongs to Cartoon Network and Man of Action. Mythology belongs to its respective owners. Damus, Laviatha, Optimo, Vibracio, Lauhin, Nitia, and Jocu belong to guestsurprise. :)

War Of Inheritance

"You have failed me," a deep Nitian voice growled from the throne. Damus, the Nitian Nightmare King, slowly rose from his throne and looked angrily on Kardama.

"Please, King Damus…it won't happen again," Kardama said, now kneeling in respect.

"You had one mission for me and you failed it!" Damus snarled lowly.

"I understand."

"Do you?!" Damus said, his voice raising.

"Yes, I understand!" Kardama said, before he was grabbed by the throat and risen from his feet!

"You let the human boy ESCAPE YOU!" Damus roared.

"Please listen! The mission was not in vain!" Kardama said.

"You had ONE mission! That was to create a human child and then to use our blood to brainwash it for our purposes! AND YOU COULDN'T EVEN DO THAT!" Damus roared, now dropping him. Kardama got back on his feet and looked at his king.

"Listen, my king! I didn't fail! I did create Sage!" Kardama explained.
For a second, the room was silent and Damus smirked as he slowly slithered back to his throne.

"Then explain what happened…and if I don't like it…I will destroy you on this spot," he growled.

"My king. I know you used a lot of your power to create that one potion to create a human baby. I gave that potion to my son's mother. Once she had the child, Sage, I was going to bring him to you so that you could train him for our purposes," Kardama explained.

"THEN WHAT HAPPENED?! You never brought me the child!" Damus thundered.

"I didn't because one of your guards accidentally injected him with Lauhinian blood! By the time I got there, the Lauhinians had already gotten to him to remove the blood. But their good nature and kindness was already in his system! He was already worthless for our cause," Kardama explained.

"Hmmm…then it appears it was not entirely your fault, I suppose," Damus said, now scratching on a nearby wall.

"I then went into a human disguise and treated Sage as terribly as I could. My goal was to make him angry and bitter at the treatment he was given and then hate the world!" Kardama continued. "I was trained to instill hatred, fear, despair, anger, and pain in him since he was a boy! I abused him in every way possible, but it didn't work! Even though he was technically my son, he never acted like me! He was still acting kind and generous, like the Lauhinians! Their blood made him good, even though I was part of the reason why he was created!"

"But he is still a blood human, isn't he? He isn't a clone, is he?" Damus questioned.

"No…he is a real human. Not a clone. The potion I gave his mother made her systems react as if she mated with someone; that is how Sage was born…through magic, but he is still a human because of his birth mother," he said.

"I see…," Damus said, now leaning forward. "Well then…it may have not been your fault, but you still owe me a boy for my purpose."

"I know. I know I promised to bring you a human…one that was partially born because of Nitian magic." Kardama explained.

"And Sage is that child. He may not have our blood, but our magic is what helped him to be born in the first place. That magic potion will take thousands and thousands of centuries to ever recreate, which is why I WANT HIM!" Damus shouted, making the room cringe. "He belongs to me! And I want him back!"

"And you shall have him! He is, after all, considered my son. And I will bring him to you." Kardama said.

"That is what I want to hear. You are one of the ancient Nitians such as myself and only you, the queen, and I have the power to bring this to pass," Damus smirked.

"I know where Sage is. He is considered the 'adopted' son of Optimo since it was Optimo's blood that was injected into him. I can bring him here and to us," Kardama laughed out. "Very few can match my cloaking skills. Only the ones from the ancient times know of this skill."

"Which is why I need you to do this. Yessssssss…bring Sage to me. We will drain him of that Lauhinian likeness even if it takes the rest of his human life," Damus said, making Laviatha laugh.

"My love, please let me torture him…please?! I haven't tortured anyone for two days now," Laviatha pouted.

"You will get your chance, my love….maybe we can start on that little female named Nitia who was so 'kind' to Lauhin…," Damus growled.

"Yes! She is perfect! When I find her, I will make her yell until she can yell no more," Laviatha laughed, now clutching a nearby rock and smashing it with her bare hands. Even her evil vibes made Kardama shudder; she was a ruthless and evil queen! Damus smiled and then looked at Kardama.

"Go…find the boy and sneak him back here…,"

"As you command, my king," Kardama said, now vanishing from sight.

In the throne room…

Sage's mouth was open in shock. Lauhin and the others told them exactly what Kardama explained to the Nitian king and queen.

"Y-You mean, I'm really a Nitian?!" Sage said in horror.

"No! That does not mean that," Optimo said firmly.

"But they created me! I'm technically his if he created me with his power," Sage said, tears forming.

"Sage, stop! I know it's complicated, but you were made with magic. Magic and your mother. Nitian magic does not mean you are a Nitian. They only made your mother form a baby and that baby was you. It wasn't personal like having blood in your system. You are technically my son because you had my blood and your mother's blood. And Whampire is also your stepfather because he adopted you," Optimo explained.

"It is true, young one. The Nitians did not 'make' you exactly. They used magic but your mother helped bring you into the world along with our blood." Vibracio said.

But Sage hung his head. He still felt like he was part Nitian because whether magic or not…he felt like they were still part of him.

"We wanted to tell you as soon as possible," Lauhin said. "I felt it with my magic that there was another presence there when you were born."

"But the Nitians created me!" Sage cried out.

"No, they didn't! You formed a heartbeat of your own and your mother's blood and my blood sustained you…they didn't help you to survive," Optimo said, now seeing Sage's tears.

Sage just couldn't bear it. He felt somehow still connected to the Nitians. Now feeling more discouraged, he jumped to his feet and ran out into the forest and Optimo took off behind him.

"Sage! Come back! Sage, slow down!" Optimo called, now switching to all fours and gaining on him. Optimo was almost to him when he stopped and gasped. Kardama appeared out of nowhere and grabbed Sage in a bear hug.

"Miss me, son?" He sneered, showing his ugly, yellow teeth.

"GET AWAY FROM ME!" Sage yelled, now struggling to get free.

"Back away from my son!" Optimo bellowed, now approaching in a threatening manner. Kardama then used a quick spell to make a laser rope appear to bind Sage!

"Don't come any closer or I'll use that rope to tear into his skin!" Kardama shouted, now transforming into his human form briefly. "Recognize me better this way, boy!"

"Y-You monster! All this time you were a Nitian?!" Sage yelled in anger and his eyes widening in horror.

"Well, well…and let me guess…they told you about me, eh?" Kardama smirked evilly. "No matter. It's all about to be over for you anyway!"

"What are you talking about?!" Sage growled.

"You are my offspring and you're going to help us to take over the world with nightmares. We will make people scream and cry each night and fill the entire world with darkness. And we need a human to help us make it happen," Kardama smirked.

"Never…," Sage growled, now squirming.

"You are wrong, Kardama. Sage belongs to us; your magic only assisted in making his body, but his blood is from his mother and mine. And of course Vibracio. You do not have any input in his life!" Optimo bellowed.

"Captain Optimo is correct! He is not part of you," Vibracio said, now coming into the clear.

"And now…leave my kingdom, Kardama…," a deep voice growled. All turned and saw Lauhin approach. Just the appearance of the large king made Kardama hiss and back away.

"This is not over…I will find you, Sage, and you will be given as a gift to King Damus! It's only a matter of time!" Kardama said, now transforming back into his Lauhinian form.

"I said leave!" Lauhin thundered, making a move forward. That caused Kardama to shout in shock and then use his cloaking skills to vanish.

Once he was gone, Vibracio released Sage and the teen only looked away in confusion.

"I know that you all love and care for me…but this is a lot for me to handle," Sage said, now turning and leaning on Optimo as the large captain pulled him into a hug.

"We know Sage, but rest assured that you are one of us," Lauhin said.

"I know that now, Your Highness. I was just…concerned…but he was a monster! And he always will be! Now it makes sense why he was so evil! He was a Nitian all along!" Sage hissed angrily. "I am one of you and I will stand and fight and protect this kingdom and Earth from them!"

"That's the Sage I know. Now how about some training and later you will join us for dinner. My sons want you to stay for the night as well," Lauhin said.

"They do? I would love to stay. They are like brothers to me," Sage smiled.

"And you are like a brother to us," Jocu smiled, now coming into the clear. "Ignore those Nitian creeps. They didn't make you who you are Sage…you did that."

"And we love every single part of you," Optimo grinned, now gently headbutting him. Sage laughed and did it back, loving the attention of his Lauhinian father.

"You guys are the best; I couldn't imagine not having you all to help me," Sage said.

"That is what family is for, Sage; we are one and we are there for each other," Optimo said, now letting Sage cuddle into his chest. There was nothing like a family being there.

guestsurprise's words: Hope you all enjoyed it! This was done as a request for Steelcode and introducing his new OC, the Nitian Kardama! Thanks for posting, Goldie! ;)

To guestsurprise: My pleasure, Amiga! :) Love this story! :)

To everyone else: Please leave guestsurprise a review, but no flames!

GoldGuardian2418