Infinity| A Time After

|Mission pt.2|

Pain. Her screams echoing through the room as needles pierced through her skin. The core resting at her solar plexus shutters with her chest, more waves of intense past racking her body.

Until it expanded and shatters.

Her bones shifted within her visibly.

Breaking, reforming, elongating.

More and more haunting memories played out. From the time they first started the experiment to the memories that flickered in and out of fog, which led up to this point.

Pain. She's still in pain.

I pull away from her mind. My eyes wide as I stare at the beast before me. She's an Asuran child. Or—more accurately—used to be. I could see her eyes opening once more, pain flooding her eyes.

"You experimented...on a child." I said as I put the pieces together. Turning to Kezess, my eyes narrows into a glare. He simply stood there, a look of tiredness making his shoulders sink. What only could have been seconds, felt like hours as a solemn, tense atmosphere settles around us all. Myre comes to stand next to me, regret reflecting in her eyes as she looks at the creature before us.

"While all the clans had something to do with it, the main clan that did the experiments were the clan of basilisks. The rest of us didn't know the full extent to what they were doing." She explains, her voice heavy with sorrow as she lays her right hand gently on the snout of what used to be a twelve year old Asuran girl.

"That is no excuse for what was done. The Vritra, in a quest for the possibility of unimaginable power along with all the other clans, we created something that shouldn't exist in the natural world." She continues, golden eyes looking over at me.

I stay silent as I listened to Myre. She seemed to be the only descent Asura in all of Epheotus. Or at the very least, she held humility and care.

"It was one of the reasons this war started in the first place. Something that shouldn't have happened. And after the incident, we had no choice but to lock her away..." Her voice trails off as she looks over at me once again

"If our goddess, our mother and creator wants us all dead...I don't blame her." The heavy tone her voice held caused a deeper, more depressive silence. Was this young girl the end product of the Asura's trying to create an aether core?

It seemed more and more like it as the seconds slowly ticked by.

Instead of asking more questions, I simply lifted my hands once more, aether pouring into my hand before being released in a subtle, yet deadly mist.

The child, now young adult closes her eyes as her body starts to rapidly deteriorate. Flaking away into particles. It was better to relieve her pain. There was no way to reverse the effects of the brutal experiments on her. The DNA that coursed through her veins was mixed with countless DNA of all the other clans. Those cells fought for complete dominance inside her, causing pain.

In the end, as saddening as it was, I couldn't let her suffer. Bearing the sins of her kin, unwillingly carrying the burden of many wrong doings. As the aether consumed her, a faint voice echoes softly in my mind.

"Thank you."

With that, her entire form disperses into violet particles.

I turn to leave, walking back and passing Kezess with a glare as I walk through the doors.

.
.
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"It has been decided that we Asura's, will be staying out of this war for now." Myre sighs as she leans back in her chair.

Kezess, Myre, clan leaders and myself all sat in a conference room, deep within the castle. After the event earlier today, a bitter cold feeling of detachment fell over me. The thought of simply killing everyone here crossing my mind a thousand times over.

"For now? Explain." Is my curt response. I felt the need to leave growing stronger, restraining myself from just up and leaving. Aldir stood silently behind Kezess, his eye monitoring me.

"This war wasn't for lesser being to fight, Arthur—"

"You all made it our fight the minute you showed your indifference in taking the lives of Dicathien people. Not just in Elenoir, but all across our continent." Irritation practically drips from my mouth as I stand to leave, Aldir quickly following after me. I stop just short of the doorway leading out of the room.

"Craving for a power that you all aren't even fully ready for. That is what caused this war. Selfishness. Ignorance. Arrogance. Audacity. That is the pinnacle of what you all have become." With that, I step out of the room, leaving angered Asuran clan leaders to themselves.

I know that they won't stay out of this war. Even the dullest person could see that. Either way, whatever they choose to do, may result in their total annihilation.

I didn't mind.

Didn't care.

Only contempt formed within me after all they had done.

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"Arthur. One last thing." I turn back to Aldir, just as the light from his portal faded. His face was void of emotion as per usual, thought there is a a small frown resting on his face.

"Lord Kezess issued weapons to be made for the lances after your supposed death." A mahogany box materializes in his hands in an instant. I fully turn to him, my attention not on the box, but instead on him.

"It was made to work in the same way that those binding artifacts work. This time, each Lance will be bonded to one person and one person only."

"Let me guess. You want them, bonded to me?" It came out as more of a statement than a question. As I look to the box, a wave of uncertainty washes over me. A foreboding feeling that was telling me to disregard those artifacts.

"We won't need them. Good bye, Aldir." With that, I turned to leave out of the tunnel he'd transported us into. He didn't stop me as I walked away, only a deep sigh could be heard from him as light fills the tunnel once more, before vanishing.

__________**********__________

Well everyone

That's the end of this chapter.

I know it's unusually short, but this was the best I could do for now.

Hopefully the nurse doesn't try to take my phone again.

He really is like a nagging grandmother. The nurse I mean.

See ya!
(1704 words)