Third Person’s POV
“A-Aether?” Liora repeated, this time with a note of hesitation, her voice trembling with uncertainty. She reached out, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder.
Aether flinched violently at the touch as if he’d been pulled from some deep, dark place.
His head turned slowly, his eyes distant and glassy until they found Liora’s face. For a moment, he seemed lost… disoriented.
“I… Heh… I’m sorry…” he mumbled, his voice barely audible, as the memories of Kaelen’s death entered his mind.
Liora’s frown deepened as confusion washed over her.
Why was he apologizing?
She couldn’t make sense of his sudden shift in behaviour. Her thoughts wandered back to the night they had just shared.
Perhaps he felt guilty for the passion that had consumed them?
A playful smirk tugged at her lips as she recalled the way he had “tortured” her with his intensity, making her beg for more of his hot and thick…
‘Is that it?’ she thought, feeling a spark of amusement, ‘Is he feeling guilty for how he played with my body so thoroughly?’ She found the idea endearing, in a strange way.
She leaned closer, her grin returning as she teased, “Don’t worry, I liked it too—”
Her words faltered and died in her throat as Aether suddenly pulled her into a tight embrace, catching her completely off guard. His arms wrapped around her with a desperation that took her breath away.
She felt his body tremble, the raw emotion radiating from him.
“Aether?” she whispered, her playful tone now replaced by genuine concern.
His behaviour was unlike anything she’d seen before. She hesitated, unsure of what to do, but slowly, she wrapped her arms around him in return….. The gesture felt awkward, foreign to her, but she held him as best she could.
Meanwhile, Aether’s mind was a chaotic storm, his thoughts spiralling out of control.
‘I-I came back? Is this real? Did I truly witness the future? Everyone… they’re all going to die? Is Delphine’s vision of the future true?
S-Selene… Hehe A-Aria…Hehehe they’re all going to die? No… Wh-what have I done? What am I supposed to do?’ His breath came in short, ragged bursts as panic and despair gnawed at him, consuming every corner of his mind.
Liora felt the tremors running through him, the tension in his muscles, the torment that seemed to weigh on his soul.
Her own awkwardness faded as worry took its place. She wasn’t sure what had happened to him, but it was clear he was trapped in some kind of nightmare… one she didn’t know how to pull him from.
She patted his back gently, her voice soft, “It’s… it’s going to be fine,” she said, though she wasn’t entirely sure of her own words. She didn’t know what he was going through, but it was all she could offer.
However, her words seemed to fall on deaf ears. Aether’s eyes darted wildly, filled with unseen horrors. The pain etched on his face was almost unbearable to witness. His body shook as though he were on the verge of breaking.
Liora sighed deeply, frustration flickering across her features. ‘This… this isn’t my speciality,’ she thought, biting her lip, ‘Elona would probably know what to do in a situation like this. She’s better at handling people… especially when they’re like this.’
After a moment’s hesitation, she made a decision, “Alright, enough of this,” she muttered under her breath. She placed a hand gently but firmly against the back of Aether’s neck and, with a swift motion, knocked him unconscious.
Thud!
Aether’s body went limp in her arms.
She eased him back onto the bed, carefully arranging him so that he lay comfortably on the soft sheets.
His face, now free from tension, looked peaceful as if the nightmare that had gripped him was gone…. at least for now.
Liora stared at him for a long moment, her brow furrowed in deep thought, “Just what happened to you?” she whispered with both a mix of shock and concern, her eyes tracing the outline of his newly transformed body.
He looked different… stronger, more mature. His shoulders were broader, his muscles more defined, his white hair grown lengthy, his once pale skin now radiating with an inner glow, as though he had been imbued with some powerful energy.
“He got stronger…” she muttered, her voice barely audible. The aura that emanated from his unconscious form was far more potent than before, pulsating with a strength she hadn’t felt during their last encounter.
Whatever had happened to him over the night, it had changed him in ways she couldn’t yet understand.
Meanwhile,
In the Umbra (Dark) and Ethereal (White) Domains,
Aether sat on the surface, his face pale as if the weight of what he had witnessed was too much for him to bear.
His body trembled violently, his breath ragged and uneven. His mind was racing, trying to make sense of the tragedy he had just endured.
“Hehe… W-Why?” he muttered, his voice shaking, his eyes wide with disbelief. He couldn’t fathom it… the loss, the pain.
His loved ones were gone!!
All Because he couldn’t do anything… He failed his mission!
A single mission failure changed everything!!
“Why? Why? Why? Why?…..” He mumbled devoid of emotion, even though he knew the answer.
The Answer was… Him!!
As his mind reeled tragedy again and again… on the verge of breaking, a calm, ethereal voice echoed through the domain, soft yet commanding, “Calm down, Aether.”
But the voice didn’t reach him.
His thoughts were consumed, trapped in an endless loop of sorrow.
He could still see their faces, still, hear their cries as they died before his eyes….
The guilt gnawed at him like a beast, tearing him apart from the inside.
Suddenly, an invisible hand wrapped gently around his neck, the sensation both comforting and cold.
A whisper followed, “Death is a part of everyone’s life, Aether… You must learn to accept it.”
For a moment, Aether froze, ‘A-Accept it?’
But then, in a sudden burst of fury, he shouted, his voice cracking with raw emotion, “SO I SHOULD JUST ACCEPT THEIR DEATHS???!!!”
His face twisted with grief, his eyes wet, “I-I lost them… They died right in front of me! ALL BECAUSE OF ME!! And now… now I’m supposed to be happy just because I’ve travelled back in time and they’re still alive?!
What about Selene and Aria.. who died?
What about them?!”
The ethereal voice tried to soothe him again, this time more gentle, “A-Aether, please—calm dow—”
But before it could finish,
“Arcane.”
“Arcane.”
Two more voices cut through the air simultaneously, their tones cold and unfeeling.
The ethereal voice clicked its tongue in frustration, “Tsk, fine,” it muttered as the invisible hands around Aether’s neck disappeared.
The two new voices echoed again, as though mocking him.
“Yes, you need to accept their deaths.”
“Yes, you need to accept their deaths.”
Aether, now on the verge of breaking, stared blankly into the darkness.
“You’re weak.”
“Too weak!!
“…” He didn’t respond.
“Crying over death, are we? How pathetic!”
“They died. So what?”
“…” Aether’s heart twisted painfully in his chest.
“You died too, remember?”
“You chose death.”
“…”
“What about the ones who loved you?
“What about their pain?”
“Did you ever think of that before choosing death?”
“…” His eyes were wide with shock.
Celestia… Aqualina… Helena… What had they felt when he died?
“You only care about your own feelings, don’t you?”
“You never thought about them, did you?”
“I… I… Heh…” Aether’s lips trembled as the fog of despair began to clear from his mind. He realized, with chilling clarity, that he had died in front of the people who loved him.
Celestia, Helena… the devastation he must have caused them.
“See it now, don’t you?”
“Realizing it won’t help you now. You died!”
Aether blinked, his vision blurring with the weight of it all.
He wanted to scream, to rage, but no sound came out. His chest felt hollow like the very air had been sucked from his lungs.
Above him, his once-transparent card now swirled in the dark void, the Umbra (Dark) side nearly filled diagonally, while the Ethereal (White) side remained untouched, unchanged.
The voice came from the Card!
“The time has come.”
“Death is a part of everyone’s life.”
Aether bit his lip until it bled, his voice barely a whisper, “W-What am I supposed to do? Yes, they died… and I died too. But how can I just act like it never happened? How am I supposed to—”
“Then cry.”
“Cry until you die again.”
“Crawl on the ground like the weakling you are.”
“Heh… I-I am not weak–“
“Pathetic.”
“Too pathetic.”
“…”
“Why do so many women love someone like you?”
“Yeah, right. He’s a repulsive bastard.”
Aether’s eyes turned bloodshot, he was angry and yet he couldn’t say anything!!
“There is death in every life…”
“…And life in every death.”
The voices grew softer, more distant, as the card finally stopped swirling and hovered before his face…. Aether stared at it, disbelief clouding his eyes.
“Whether you embrace it or not”
“That is your choice.”
“I… My cho–“
“Get out.”
“Get out.”
Before Aether could process what was happening, his body was violently expelled from the domains.
But then…
“That was harsh, you know!!” the ethereal voice reappeared, this time tinged with a hint of anger,
“He’s still just a child. What did you expect him to do?
He’s breaking down, overwhelmed by grief and loss.
You can’t just push him like that! Act like it never existed and move forward? That’s ridiculous.”
The voice sighed heavily, “I never wanted him to unleash that power, but you’ve forced his hand….. Yes, I know it was inevitable… but still, he just activated his bloodline! At least give him time to recover—”
“Get out, Arcane!”
“Get out, Arcane!”
The two voices silenced the ethereal one, and the card slowly drifted back into position, stabilizing in the centre of the two domains.
For a moment, everything seemed to calm.
Yet,
Spark!
Out of nowhere, a blue, electrifying flame erupted from the domain.