Hello all! Welcome back.
HAPPY NEW YEARS EVERYONE!!!
Just an FYI:
Feelings will be hurt in this chapter.
Enjoy!
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|Arthur's POV|
It's been a total of four days I think. Each day was the same, I get visited by the friendly torturer Petras, then get questioned by the steward or Lord Granbehl. More torture afterwards. At first it was amusing to watch them struggle to get any reaction out of me, but now it's getting tedious. Now, I sat slumped against the wall next to the cot.
Regis was getting restless, even more so than me. I could feel him constantly shift about within my core. His snarky comments dwindled down, now he's just quiet.
Which is unsettling.
'What's unsettling is me having to stay inside. It's...stuffy in here...' He grumbles in my mind, shifting once more. I simply shook my head, looking down at my tattered clothing.
It was my clothes that suffered more than anything. They didn't bother to at least undress my top half. Instead, Petras cut straight through any cloth that covered me. The shirt I have on is riddled with cuts and blood stains.
Sighing, I pulled the "creeper stone" as Regis put it, from my dimension rune. It glowed in the palm of my hand, no longer absorbing my aether. My heartbeat quickened as I sat up straight in a lotus position. Anxiety creeped into my being as I probed the white crystalline stone with my aether, watching in relief as coils of its own aether reached out to mine.
The feeling of numbness washed over my body as my consciousness was pulled into the relic. The soothing voice echoes in the darkness that engulfed me once more. My memories playing over as one word came to mind.
'Sanctuary.'
Immediately, I felt like my soul was being pulled away from my body as a rush of colors engulfed my vision before clearing away completely.
Virion stood in front of me. His eyes are dull, with darkening bags under his eye-line as he was stared past me. I turned around to see civilians and soldiers of Dicathen, sitting or standing. Cries of children reverberates off the walls as I walked forward.
"Mom." I ran to her side. She was trembling with Ellie crying in her arms. They both looked so helpless, as did everyone else. Helen limps over to them, offering a comforting soft smile. It only did so much to ease their nerves. I felt my heart clench in my chest. Sylvie walks over with the rest of the twin horns following close behind. She hugs my mother and sister tightly, wincing when she presses against her...bandages...
Why does she have bandages? When did she get hurt? Why didn't it heal?
I shook my head as I watch her carefully before turning my attention to my surroundings.
The cavern everyone was in was wide, with a high ceiling. The grounds was bare, and nestled up against the walls were glowing crystals that acted as lights. This place was smaller than the place we all originally stayed. Why were they here? Why did they move?
The questions flitting through my head halted as the cavern shook and everyone went silent. The far wall that Virion was standing near started to move. It slowly slid down into the ground as Durden tries his best to keep it from falling deeper.
Virion was quick to react, already in the second phase of his beast will as soldiers took up arms and rushed beside their commander. My heart sunk to the pits of my stomach as I watched the wall collapse to reveal a person walking down a wide, dark hall. My breath hitched as the person stepped into the light of the cavern. She stood tall, but what caught my attention was the woman in her arms.
"Tessia!" I ran to her, running through soldiers as I made my way to her side. Scythe Seris held Tessia gently in her arms, a blanket wrapped around her loosely. Tessia's head leaned on Seris' chest, eyes shut as her body trembled.
"Hello commander Virion." Seris held a leveled gaze at Virion, who stepped forward holding an arm out to the side to tell the soldiers to stay back.
"Who are you, and what do you want?" His piercing glare never wavered as his eyes flickered from Tess, back up to Seris. Sylvie hissed, standing at Virion's side. Her aura leaked from her as she readies numerous arrows made of pure mana, coated in a thin layer of aether. The arrows floated around her gracefully as Sylvie snarled, showing her elongated canines. Lance Bairon, as well as an injured Lance Varay readied their weapons with spells forming around them, ready to release them upon the Scythe.
"I'm not here to cause any of you harm. My name is Seris Vritra, I am a Scythe and a friend of General Arthur Leywin." She stepped forward before kneeling down, laying Tess on the ground gently. She stood and backed away as she watched Virion rush to his granddaughters side with Sylvie right behind him, hugging her close. In Tessia's arms, two small bundles of bloodied cloth tucked tightly in her hold. I watched Virion's face pale as he realized what they were. Sylvie's golden eyes widened as her tears fell. Her hands shakily hovering over the two small bundles before she gasped, snatching her hands back like she was being burned by fire. Her breath hitched as she turned her piercing glare to Seris.
"What did you do?" Sylvie's eyes sparked with lividness as she glowered at Seris. Her bloodlust bursts from her, causing the people nearest to her to collapse to their knees. Seris simply stared at Sylvie, expression blank but her eyes portray her pity.
"Scythe Nico is the cause of such a loss..." She trailed off as her eyes flickered to...me. Her gaze stayed leveled on me, like she was actually seeing me. Although she wasn't looking me in the eyes, she was staring in my general direction. I glanced behind me, but only soldiers stood there.
"Show yourself." Her voice suddenly lowered as it echoed around the cavern. It went silent.
I stood from my kneeling position at Tess' side. Maybe she could feel me? She was looking straight through me, so I know she can't see me.
"Seris?" I asked, standing in front of her. I watched her eyes widen as she backed away from me. I called her name again, watching her closely. Suddenly, she reached out to me, aether coiling around her arm before lashing outward and striking me like lightning. I gasped, stepping back as the coils of aether traveled through my incorporeal being. It flared out before coagulating at my solar plexus, forming a small ball of aether. I looked up a Seris, who stood before me, eyes wide in genuine surprise as she stared at me. The only difference was...
she was looking me in the eyes.
"Seris?" My voice echoes off the walls around me. My eyes widened as she smirked at me.
"So you're still somewhat alive, huh?" She chuckles.
"Arthur?" I turned as Virion calls out to me. His voice wavered as he stared wide eyed at me. It went silent once more as everyone, including myself, took in what exactly was happening.
"You can see me?" It was a dumb question, but it slipped from my mouth before I could stop it. Gramps nodded, still kneeling with Tess in his arms. My mother and sister rushed to the front, panting from running towards us. Tears streamed down their faces as they approach rapidly. Ellie got to me first, trying to hug me, only to nearly fall as she phased right through me. She regained her balance before looking up at me confused and teary eyed. She stuck out an arm, only for it to go right through me. I chuckled sadly, kneeling before her.
"I don't have a physical body for now El. I'm incorporeal." I explained as more tears streamed down her face and my chest ached. I want to hug her, to pull my little sister close and tell her everything would be fine.
But I couldn't.
Sylvie stood before me. She looked so broken as her hand reached out to my face. What surprised me was her fingers gently caress my cheek. She smiled sadly, her big golden eyes showing relief, sadness, anger, guilt, and so much more...
"Papa, I still can't feel you...you're here so why can't I feel you?" Her voice wavered as she choked back a sob. Tears gathered in my eyes at her question because it was true. I can't feel her either.
"I don't...have your mark anymore Sylv..." I said as she sobbed. My heart seized as I watched her try hard not to completely breakdown. Mom kneeled at Sylvie's side, pulling her into a hug as she looked at me. Tears welled up in her brown eyes before spilling over and she smiled at me with so much pain. 'I love you' I mouthed as she nodded, burying her face in Sylvie's hair.
I stood once more turning to Seris, who was watching me like a hawk. I nodded to her in thanks as her gaze softened.
"Gramps, you can trust her. She's on our side." I said firmly. Gramps expression turned serious in an instant as his gaze turned back to Seris, who stood with a casual grace. She walked forward, standing next to me.
"There is a safer place within this sanctuary. It's a couple floors below, and no Asura, nor Alacryan will be able to enter, let alone find you again." I stared at her with a questioning expression. Virion must've seen my confusion, because he quickly elaborated.
"Scythe Nico found the sanctuary, Arthur. He killed many and took Tessia." A pulse of aether flared from me as my aura turned sour. The crystals on the walls nearest me, cracked and fractured at the sudden pressure released from me. My bloodlust didn't constrict around anyone, it wasn't meant for them. I didn't want to hurt them.
"Don't forget commander, the Asuras launched an attack on Dicathen soil, and decimated many Elves and the kingdom of Elenior to nothing, very nearly killing your sister in the process whilst knowing she was there." Seris added. Her voice was severe. Most likely, the Asuras were trying to get rid of the Alacryans in Dicathen on a large scale, but took the lives of Dicathians too.
The aether around me trembled, and the small ball of aether shook unstably as I tried to calm myself. The people around me trembled, all except Seris, who simply stood watching me cautiously.
"I'll be taking them to the floors below Arthur. Don't kill us all before we can get there." She said, shaking her head lightly. I chuckled darkly in reply, taking a deep breath and exhaling. I felt a pull on my chest, a tale tell sign that I was going to be pulled back into my body. My incorporeal form wavered.
"Seris, take them there. Please help retrieve other Dicathians from above and bring the here if you can." She gave me a curt nod, staying silent yet serious.
"Commander, I want you to keep everyone here in the sanctuary. It will take a little while, but I will come back. I will take Dicathen back for us. I will kill both Nico and Agrona for what they've done and anyone else that gets. In. My. Way." My aura dampened the atmosphere of the cavern. Gramps stood with Tessia in his arms, holding her tight. I ached when my eyes traveled down to what were once my twins.
I already thought about rewinding time, but Aroa's Requiem has its limits. I can only go so far back in time using that key stone. I already tried multiple times. I'd seen how far back it could take me, but it was never so far back to the point in time where I could save Tessia.
To save our children.
I felt useless.
My form once again wavered as I stepped back. Seris walks off to the side, running her hands against the stone walls. She shoved a part of the wall inward, and everyone watched as the wall moved. It opened up, showing a wide, dark passage way.
"We must hurry, Alacryan soldiers are still lurking about a floor above us." She said as her hand light aflame.
"Go." My voice wavered as the tugging in my chest got harsher, and I watched as my friends, family and civilians stood, walking to Seris, and following her into the passage way.
In a far corner, I saw elder Rinia. She was smiling, leaning onto a soldier to keep herself upright.
'You knew...didn't you?'
I was jerked back into the stone, then my consciousness returned to my body. I opened my eyes, realizing I was crying. I wiped away my tears, a small smile gracing my features as the stone started to recharge.
"You seem eerily happy....So I take it that your family is okay now?" Regis hummed as he fidgets it the aether in my core.
"Yeah. They'll be okay." I replied quietly as I stored the charging relic in my dimension rune once more.Reality slowly started to settle onto my shoulders as my mood suddenly turned grim. My smile faded as my killing intent slowly leaked out into the dungeon.
So the Asuras want to die too?
"That can be arranged."
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Welcome to the panic room.
So yes, I went a little off the original storyline and added some other details.
The "creepers stone" is different from the original novel. Instead of it just taking Arthur's consciousness, it pulls out his "Astral body" too. Look up what Astral body means for further detail.
The Asuras will not know Arthur is still alive until....
Until I say so.
I'm not gonna give away too many details because that would quickly turn into a spoiler and I want to keep you all on your toes...
See ya!
(2,264 words)