“W-What are you doing?” Xara stammered, her voice catching as she gulped, watching Aether slowly loosen the collar of his shirt in a deliberate, almost seductive way.
Aether grinned, sharp and teasing. “What do you mean?” he asked, his voice smooth and low. “You brought me here… to this lonely, abandoned place. You asked me to spill my deepest secrets… So tell me, what do you think is going to happen now?”
Xara’s eyes narrowed slightly. “Aethe—” she began, but he cut her off before she could finish.
“Yes,” Aether said firmly, his voice calm but intense. “I was scared of you. Genuinely. Your nature, your unpredictability…”
He looked straight into her eyes as he continued. “Doing things recklessly… cursing people, stealing hearts—literally, killing without hesitation, loving blood like it’s candy. Using your own children as test subjects, just to uncover truths that might not even exist… That’s seriously messed up.
That’s not normal by any definition!”
He shook his head slowly, disappointment clear in his tone.
Xara’s expression dimmed, a gloomy shadow creeping over her face. “Well, that’s wh—” she tried to respond, but again, Aether interrupted.
“That’s who you are,” he said, more gently this time. “And now I get it… You’re normal.”
Xara blinked, caught off guard. “Normal?” she echoed, confused.
Aether nodded. “Yes. You’re normal. It’s just the rest of us who can’t see it that way. You see, we build our lives on rational thoughts, agreed-upon rules. We align with one another because it’s easier to call anything outside those boundaries… wrong. Abnormal. But that’s the lie we live in.”
He stepped a little closer, pointing at her softly. “You’re not broken. You’re not acting out for attention or seeking validation. You’re not lost. You’re just… you.”
Xara frowned slightly, her voice quieter. “I’m not sure what you’re trying to do here…”
Aether’s smile deepened, both warm and sad. “Honestly? I don’t even know anymore. For the longest time, I thought you were broken. I assumed something terrible must’ve happened to you to cause the way you are… I believed if I just tried hard enough, I could fix you. That I could somehow find your path for you. That I could… I don’t know…” he sighed and shook his head. “Fuck it. All I ever did was try to correct you. But I never once considered… just accepting you.”
He leaned even closer, his voice lowering to a soft, steady murmur. “But now… after everything I’ve seen, after all I’ve learned—I see you. The real you.”
Xara unconsciously stepped back, unnerved by his calm sincerity. “T-The real me? W-What is—”
“You’re a wonderful child,” Aether said, cutting her off again, his eyes glowing with conviction.
“When I heard the story about you trying to bring back cattle that had died… like puppets, with strings in your hands…”
Xara’s lips twitched slightly, ‘How does he know that?’ she wondered silently. But she stayed quiet, letting him speak.
He gently reached up and tucked a loose strand of her dark hair behind her ear. Her cheeks flushed softly at the touch.
“I thought it was crazy… and so did everyone else,” he continued. “But the real question is—why did you do it?”
“W-Well, I… I was trying to mak—”
“Make your mother happy again, right?” Aether completed her sentence with a quiet smile.
Xara blinked, a flicker of shock flashing in her eyes.
He went on, his tone growing more tender. “That alone shows how much you loved her… how deeply you cared about her happiness. And when you left your home… that wasn’t out of rebellion or cruelty. You did it for your family, didn’t you?”
Xara didn’t reply. She simply lowered her head.
Aether smiled gently. “Even when you designed your children… they were more than just products of your obsession or your thirst for blood. Kai, Selene… You could’ve abandoned them. After all, they were considered failed creations, weren’t they?”
“… T-That… is… I…”
“Because you’re their mother,” he whispered.
Xara’s heart thudded loudly in her chest as Aether’s fingertips lifted her chin, making her meet his gaze.
“No matter how much of a mess you think you are… no matter how reckless or dangerous your actions seem… at the end of the day, you take care of your responsibilities. I might not know the full truth about the blood you’ve taken, or what you’ve tortured, stolen, or destroyed. But one thing I do know… is that Xara loves her family.”
Xara’s eyes widened in disbelief, as if her mind couldn’t fully process what she was hearing. Her lips trembled before she bit them furiously.
“B-But I just used them… all of them… for my own goals—”
“Did you ever take my blood?” Aether asked suddenly, cutting her off.
“Huh?” she blinked in confusion.
Aether smiled, his gaze intense. “Back then… when you were curious about my egoless self… even with all the chances you had, you never took my blood for testing. Not even once. Why?”
He leaned in dangerously close, his voice calm but deliberate.
Xara’s heart skipped. She immediately stepped back, instinctively creating space between them as her chest began to tighten with every beat.
“Come on,” Aether stepped forward, stalking her slowly. “Answer me.”
“W-Well… I-I kind of forgot?” she stuttered, voice uncertain as her back finally met the cold surface of the wall.
Aether chuckled lowly, a dark smirk playing on his lips. “Forgot? That’s your excuse, woman?”
His voice dropped as he slammed his hand against the wall beside her, making her flinch. He lowered his head, breath brushing her ear as he whispered,
“No… You didn’t forget. You just couldn’t do it. Because deep down… you’re a lovely woman who couldn’t bear to hurt the ones closest to her.”
Xara gulped hard. She turned slightly, trying to slip past him, but—
BAM!
His other hand slammed into the wall on the other side, trapping her completely.
He leaned in, his face inches from hers. His voice grew husky, fierce.
“I know I was confused back then… lost. I fucked up. But not now.”His eyes burned with dangerous clarity.
“Now, I’m done holding back. I’m not losing you, Xara. No way in hell am I letting someone else steal you from me!
You are Mine and Mine Only, Xara~”
Xara’s heart pounded violently in her chest. Her face flushed deep red as she met his gaze—the sheer possessiveness in his eyes sent a shiver down her spine.
It wasn’t just jealousy. It was an all-consuming hunger… He would kill for her. Burn the world down if anyone else dared to touch her.
“A-Aether… I… I…” she tried to speak, but the words tangled in her throat.
“It doesn’t matter anymore,” he said firmly. “I love you. That’s it. That’s the only truth that matters to me. What about you?”
His lips hovered dangerously close to hers, his breath warm against her skin.
Xara trembled, her voice barely a whisper.
“I… I’m so messed up, Aether… I don’t think I can ever live a normal life. I might end up hurting you… you might start to hate me—hmm~”
He kissed her.
He silenced her mouth before she could spill more self-loathing, before she could pull herself deeper into that pit of shame and fear.
Their lips parted slowly, and Aether leaned in close, whispering against her mouth,
“Maybe I will. Maybe I won’t. But I’m willing to take that risk… because I love you. So tell me… what about you?”
Xara looked into his eyes. And for the first time, she saw no hesitation, no clouded thoughts, no confusion.
He was clear.
Clear as the sky after a storm.
She bit her bottom lip and lowered her head, her words stuck in her throat. She didn’t say anything… but her ears were glowing bright red.
Aether couldn’t help the wide grin that spread across his face.
“Oh my~ Someone’s being shy now~” he teased with a chuckle, ready to lean in again—
Crack…
Both of them froze.
They glanced up in unison.
Aether’s earlier slams had cracked the wall behind Xara—deep spiderweb fractures now crawling across the old, weak structure of the building… The building is already cracked and old… Aether’s slam just broke more.
And then…
“Oh dear,” Xara muttered.
“Oh dear,” Aether echoed at the exact same time.
Then—
BOOOOOOOM!!!
The abandoned building gave out entirely, collapsing with a thunderous roar of debris, dust, and chaos.
