Hi guys! Welcome back!
⚠️Warning!!⚠️
<Mild gore>
<Mild angst>
<A lot of love>
<A small surprise at the end>
Onwards!!!
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|Arthur's POV|
Two weeks now. Two long weeks since I last used the stone, which was still recharging. I sat against the wall, playing around with the dried-fruit toy I'd gotten from three-steps. The aetheric claw I'd constructed wavered, just as I was about to pull the seed through the tiny hole. I huffed, reforming the claw and tried again.
And again and again.
After a while, I stood pacing around my cell, the reality of the escalation of this war settled with a new weight on my shoulders.
It's likely that Virion didn't have a choice but to trust the words of the Asuras. It's not like they could fight against the Asuras while also fighting against Agrona and the Vritra Clan. If a three way war broke out, no mortal would make it out alive. It would be the destruction of not only Dicathen, but Alacrya too.
Nico and Agrona nearly succeeded in reincarnating Cecilia into Tess's body. If that had succeeded, what would've happened to my Tessia? Would she've been erased from this world?
'If Cecilia was strong in your world, just how strong could she be in this one?' Regis questioned as his curiosity leaked over into me. I came into this world a quadra-elemental, and developed a white core.
'She'd be a pinnacle of power, even amongst the Asuras.' I replied.
'It's a big damn mess.' I thought as I reclined back against the cot. If it weren't for the Indrath clan being so greedy in the first place, none of this would be happening. Did Kezess ever even realize that what he and all the other Asuran clans did basically resulted in the death of his daughter, the near death of his granddaughter and the many deaths of us "lessers"? Are they all that greedy for power? How many Elven lives were taken because of what Aldir did? Lives that apparently my little sister tried to save but to no avail. She almost died because of it and it made my blood run cold. It scared me. It honestly terrifies me.
Shaking my head and pushing those questions to the back of my mind, a small smile reformed on my face as I thought about my family.
'Ellie's fine. Mom is okay. Sylvie is alright.' I thought while taking a deep breath. Calmness washed over me as I sigh, relaxing back into the springy cot.
That didn't last long though, as my thoughts redirected themselves to Tess.
The entire time I was there, she was unconscious. She was drenched in sweat, trembling lightly. Her calm, deep breaths put me at ease, but the two small bundles she held so tightly in her pale arms even though she was unconscious made my heart clench as dread washed over me.
I tried to swallow the heavy ball in my throat, but it didn't budge. Life really could never give me a break, huh? I guess this is the karma I didn't really get in my last life. You'd think after everything I've been through, I'd be given a peaceful life. And at the start of this life, it almost was.
Almost.
The longing I felt for the two lives that couldn't even be born pulled harshly at my being, making me curl on my side. Tears dripped down the bridge of my nose as I closed my eyes, hands bunched at my chest. I lay there, praying.
Praying for the feature to be brighter.
Praying for the lives of my family, my friends.
Praying that I could bring my twins back.
'Maybe...if we get further insight into the fate edict you can....' Regis said quietly. It was weird for me, hearing him try to comfort me when his personality was the exact opposite of comfort.
'You do realize that I have half of your personality right?' He scowled as I chuckled. For some odd reason, Regis has the ability to—quite literally—clear my mind. That's what he was doing right now. He was sweeping my subconscious clean of thoughts and lingering memories.
'Thanks Regis.' I hummed as I closed my eyes. He hummed back in response, leaving my mind and settling into my core. There was a comforting kind of weight as he relaxed in the confinement of my core.
Before I realized it, sleep took over my form for the first time these past two weeks.
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Petras stood in front of me, jagged daggers in hands as he cut into me. He hummed an upbeat tune as he sliced into my chest, and I winced as he carelessly carved out a sizable piece of my flesh. He yanked his dagger out of my chest, blood splattering on the wall and floor below as he looked up and me in pure shook.
For the first time since being down here in this godforsaken dungeon, being tortured everyday, I winced. For the first time since he started his torture, I showed weakness.
W e l p.
He stood back in a daze, watching with wide eyes as the large gash on my chest leaked my life fluid. Petras suddenly burst into maniacal laughter, spinning in a circle with his daggers drenched in my blood. I stared at him, blinking slowly as I watched him bounce around the cell like a child on Christmas day.
'He....has issues..' Regis snorted as he watched the mania of the lanky man in front of us.
'So you finally threw him a bone huh? You're such a good person.' Regis laughed as I stifled a laugh. I snored at his comment, catching my friendly torturer's attention.
He had a deranged look in his eyes as his laughter stopped. He stood silently in front of me before his dagger plunged into the open gash, which was very slowly mending itself. I forced a flinch again, this time hissing for real as he sliced deeper into me, nicking at the bone of my sternum.
He pulled back, bursting into gleeful laughter again before walking forward and using mana to heat up the blade. It simmered as blood bubbles and stained the blade that was digging deeper. It stayed like that before he yanked it roughly out of me. The smell of burning flesh wafted throughout the air as Petras pranced around gleefully.
"FINALLY!!! Finally, you showed weakness!" His breath was torture all on its own as my nose wrinkles.
'Someone needs to create Listerine asap.' I growled, in which, Regis cackles in my mind as I concentrate on the large gash on my chest. It was healing, but even slower than before. I knew this would happen. The atmospheric aether here was insufficient and there wasn't enough for me to constantly heal the damage done to me by Petras. I choked as blood dribbles down my chin.
This isn't good.
"That's enough Petras, well done." The steward whose name I figured out was Matheson, said as he stepped into the cell with a content smirk. Petras stood aside, beaming maliciously. Matheson walked toward me, stepping around puddles of blood as he looked at me.
"Ascender Grey, I think we can both agree that this is becoming tedious." He looks at me with a passive expression, looking at the gashes across my body that hasn't healed and frowning at the blood dripping from me. Most likely from the filth it was creating, but what does he expect exactly?
"Your trial is next week. Surely you'd like to save yourself from another week of pain. Simply admit to the murders of Lords Kalon and Ezra." He stated as he fiddled with the cuffs of his white sleeves. Over the few weeks I'd been here, and observed him, I've come to the conclusion that he only does that when he's thoroughly annoyed. I inwardly smirked at this.
Feigning tiredness, I slumped against the wall I was cuffed to with a pained groan. My head hung low, bangs covering my face. It was silent as the two watched me curiously with surprise.
"I'm....sorry..." I said quietly as my voice trembled. I took in a shaky breath as I coughed up blood, hissing at the pain that radiated from the wound on my chest.
"What are you sorry for?" Matheson edged closer. I could tell anticipation ate away at them as I stayed silent for another minute. I held back a chuckle as I smiled, knowing they couldn't see my face.
"I'm sorry.....that you and the Granbehl's are delusional, and it seems you've all lost a few marbles." I said as I burst into laughter. Looking at their faces made me laugh harder as they stared at me in utter disbelief.
'Y-you bamboozled them!' Regis stutters out as he laughs raucously in my mind.
A right hook to the face and a left jab to my aching ribs didn't stop me from continuing to laugh. I looked up at Matheson to see his face red in anger, sleeves rolled up and knuckles red from my blood. He straightens hisself up before walking back out the cell.
"Petras, spend a bit more time with him. Keep doing what you were doing. The Master wants results." Matheson said as his footsteps echoes down the hall, fading into the background.
Well that was fun.
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I slumped on the cot, slowly lying back as Petras' footfall fade away. I hissed, feeling the wounds on my back sting as blood leaked onto the cot below. The metallic smell of blood drifted throughout the dungeon as it pour from my wounds, soaking what was left of my clothes.
'He actually used a whip...kinky bastard' Regis said as I felt him release a bit of his aether into my body to help heal me. It wasn't much, he needed most of his aether in order to contain the destruction rune, so there wasn't much he could spare.
The smaller wounds on my body healed without a trace, but the deeper ones didn't. Though, blood did stop flowing from them. I chuckled lightly at him, surprising him as he nestled himself in my core.
"Thanks Regis." I groaned out, turning to my side where less injuries were. It helped, although I still felt like shit. I pull the seer stone from my rune, my eyes widening as the stone flashed. I quickly prodded it with my aether as tendrils of its own pulled at my consciousness.
Once within the stone, I immediately thought 'sanctuary' and watched as clouds of fog enveloped me. I felt myself being pulled away from my body once more as the fog started clearing.
I stood in grass....
This floor of the sanctuary was dense with aether, even more so then the floors above. Life thrived as emerald green grass blanketed the moist ground. Tendrils of vines grew on the walls and shards of glowing crystal covered parts of the walls and high ceilings. Little bugs that reminded me of the fireflies from my last life flew gently about. Further way, stone constructs that looked like houses stood tall, most likely being three stories in height. There were many similar houses scattered in rows behind those houses. They formed a wide semi circle around the building I was standing in front of.
I stood in front of a greyish building construct and had vines slowly growing on it. Two soldiers stood guard at the entrance. I simply walked past them and through the door, down the long halls. It was dim with limited lighting artifacts. The walls and floor was made of stone, like this entire building was simply morphed into being instead of being assembled.
I heard voices echo from a nearby room, which was being guarded. I walked in, and was greeting with the gramps, Curtis, Kathlyn, Bairon, Mika, Varay, Hellen, Madam Asteria, Feyrith, Sylvie, Ellie....and an old man that I'd never seen before and....
Tessia.
My heart skipped a beat and ached.
She looked so tired. But her eyes still shined with determination. She was pale, didn't look sickly, but dark circles lined her eyes. It looked as if she'd lost a bit of weight, her pale hands looked smaller as she placed them on the table.
They all sat at a long table. All attention was on the old man, standing at the front. He was tall with black hair. His skin was a chocolate shade of brown and electric blue aetheric runes lined his arms and shoulders, all the way up to his forehead were the runes intertwined. Even thought he was aged, his toned muscles showed through the tribal robe he is wearing.
"So there is a new war is it? It's been a long while since the last time an Asura ever came to this continent." He said, rubbing his stubbly chin. I watch in confusion as the man falls into silence.
"We need your help. There is no way we have a chance at saving our people, let alone winning this war without divine intervention." Lance Varay eyed the man with a serious gaze as she waited for his answer.
"And we all know that the Devine intervention that we had is on the road to killing us all. Can you help us? Please." Curtis added as the others nodded in agreement.
"Do you all still have the medallions?" The mysterious old man asked as the others sat the medallions out on the table. The old man reached out, and the medallions shimmered as they floated towards him. They lined up before slowly forming a rotating circle.
"These medallions do more than just teleport the users to one location. They can go to many different places, so long as you've been there. My clan used them as a way of trading and even to create storage. These medallions can be the catalyst to create small dimensions if need be." Aether within the air started trembling, slowly gravitating towards the medallions before consolidating around them.
In a flash of light, a small portal opens, and on the other side, a white room....
Tessia gasped and stood, turning away from the portal. Her hands covered her mouth as she backed into a wall. Ellie and Sylvie were at her side immediately, calming her down as much as they could as the old man made the aether disperse, and the portal disappeared.
"It seems you've seen this dimension before, right child?" The man says with a look of intrigue. Tessia nodded slowly, standing with the help of gramps and sat back in the chair.
"I see. And it also seems that we have a visitor." The old man looked directly at me, aether coalescing at the palm of his hand. It formed a ball and before I could even blink, it shot out at me. My incorporeal form wavered as aether coils throughout my form. The aether somehow hardened around my form. It tingled before going numb, and I stood silently as all attention was directed at me.
"A-Art?" Tess stood abruptly as Ellie smiled brightly at me. Sylvie took Tessia's hands, slowly guiding her towards me. Tears formed in her eyes as she stood in front of me, her delicate hands coming up to rest on my cheeks, which surprised me. I smiled down at her, tears streaming down my face as I stared into her emerald eyes. Everyone went silent.
"Y-you-you're alive?" She stuttered, tears finally falling as I wipe them away.
"Not entirely. For right now at least." I said. My voice was quiet, hollow sounding in this form. I wiped away more of her tears as I hugged her, both of us falling to our knees.
I missed her so much
Her sobs echo around the room as the others stood silently, knowing just how much we lost.
She felt so warm and I vaguely wondered how I was even able to feel her, let alone touch her. I hushed her cries softly holding her closer whilst rubbing her back. I whispered sweet nothings to her as she buries her head in my neck, holding on to me tightly, as if afraid to let go. I caress the back of her head, my hand tangling in her silver locks. Her hands held onto me tight as sobs racked her already trembling body.
"I'm sorry Tess...I'm so so sorry."
It made me ache. She had to go through so much pain. Tears of my own fell as I held onto her trembling body tightly. After a while, her sobs turned to light sniffles as she stared up at me with puffy eyes.
She's still so adorable.
I smile softly at her, pulling her up to stand with me whilst wiping away our tears.
"Sorry. Hi guys."
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Freaking hell guys.
F***ing hell.
The reunion of Art and Tess!!! Yes.
Yes I did just do that.
They deserve to be in each other's arms after what I....did to them....
Anywhore! Part two for this chapter is coming next Saturday so stay tuned!!!
Oooouuu and I made some fanart of Arthur:
See ya~
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