11. The Mirror of Time
Ernst...!
No...!
Theodore's closed eyes opened wide.
He had a throbbing headache.
Looking up at the clear sky with squinting eyes, he quickly jumped up.
"Yves...!"
Obviously, until a while ago, he was in Albrecht's palace, his throne room.
But where he is now was a place he has never seen before.
Fresh green fields, chirping birds and baby squirrels running through trees.
'"What happened?"
Theodore looked around with a puzzled face.
"Yves... Ernst ..."
There was a rush of surprise on his face. Neither Yves nor Ernst was seen.
"Yves...... was crying..."
Theodore saw countless women like Yves crying in her unconsciousness, but he still couldn't get used to her crying.
"Is she still crying?...."
He was worried that she might be crying again in his absence.
"She shouldn't cry so much..."
Of course, Yves doesn't want him to worry about her, but.......
Thump.
When he remembered her crying sadly, his heart ached so much.
Maybe he'll be the reason for her tears for the rest of his life.
Shamefully, he was the person that actually made her cry.
Theodore recalled Yves and Ernst.
The friendship between the two was something he dared not intervene.
It seems that he has changed a little, seeing that he was more worried than jealous.
What happened to Ernst.......
Before the world shook, Ernst stabbed himself with a sword into his heart once again. It was the last scene he saw.
Then he fell to the ground right away.
The long hair that had been bleached white had faded a little, returning to the original color of his hair that Theodore remembered.
He had his eyes closed, so he (Theodore) didn't see if the colour of his eyes became as before.......
Perhaps the eyelids won't reopen ever in the future.
Thump. Thump.
But Ernst is a family to you, too.
As Yves said.
He thought he didn't have any affection for a pathetic guy like Ernst, but he perhaps thought of him (Ernst) as a family member.
Ernst died from the golden sword that his magic had created.
Strangely, the power he used to control well didn't work his way at that moment.
It's probably because the soul of Tenebris, who stayed in his heart, was interfering.
The black energy that flowed out at the end and covered the surroundings, it was definitely the soul of Tenebris, who was struggling in the face of extinction.
Anyway, Ernst, he (Theodore) killed the tearful and pathetic half-brother with his own hands.
It wasn't Ernst that was pathetic, it was himself.
"There's no trash like me."
Theodore began to self-criticize himself.
"I even made Yves cry......."
Maybe he's just a guy who knows nothing but to make Yves cry.
'If I had disappeared instead of Ernst, Yves might not have cried.'
A deep sense of shame surged in just at the thought.
'Wouldn't Yves be happier if I disappeared?'
It was something he kept thinking about while he was in her unconsciousness mind.
As soon as he came out from her consciousness, he was caught up in sudden things and didn't have time to think deeply.......
"Please."
All of a sudden, his eyes were flushed.
Theodore lay flat on the dirt floor, covering his eyes with two hands.
The bottom of the palms were getting wetter.
'I feel pathetic to cry like this, but who cares. It's not like Yves is watching.'
It was when Theodore rationalized and wept silently.
"Tenebris, why are you crying?"
A voice came out of nowhere.
'But I am not Tenebris.'
So Theodore kept crying, ignoring the voice.
"Tenebris?"
The sweet voice was just like his goddess, Yves.
It would be nice if that voice said "Theo" and called his name.
"Tenebris!"
A warm touch reached his hand.
The thin and elongated texture was definitely a woman's hand, but he could feel calluses in the palm.
Just like Yves' hand.......
Theodor's palm, which was clinging to his eyes, was removed by another hand.
At that moment, a woman came into view.
"Huh...??"
Theodore's eyes widened with surprise.
"Yves..."
Silvery hair shining in the sun.
Fresh green eyes.
The pretty face that surprised him the first time he saw it, saying, "How come you look like this?"
The face looked at him anxiously.
Theodore stared at the woman in bewilderment.
His eyes kept falling on the woman's face.
It's Yves.
There was no way he couldn't tell Yves apart.
It was obviously Eve.
But the woman acted like she wasn't Yves.
First of all, that kind smile and warm voice that could not be seen by him if it was Yves.......
Above all, she was calling him 'Tennebris', by that unlucky guy's name.
And people called her another name, too.
Chernicia.
The name of the earth's guide, her family and at the same time one of the four ancient apostles.
"Chernicia!"
"Is Tenebris with you, too?"
The clothes people were wearing were a little different.
Theodore had seen this combination in history.
That was the clothing of the ancient apostles.
[There were four apostles protected by the ancient God of Brighim.
Leobrante (Light), Tenebris (Dark), Ferdinand (Sky), and Chernisia (Earth).
They are the heroes who have risen to the level of God and have been praised for protecting and guiding humans according to the will of the God of Brighim.]
Theodore recalled what he had found in old literature while investigating Tenebris's holy treasure.
'Ancient Apostle.......'
Obviously, just before the world shook, the black mirror on the floor reacted.
'Then I went over time again?'
He had already crossed time and space through the mirror and encountered Odelia several times.
'Maybe beyond time...... the time when Ancient Apostles were alive.......'
Theodore was lost in thought as he stared at the woman who looked like Yves talking to people.
Of course, he searched the mirror to turn back time.
To turn back time, to revive the dead Yves.......
Although he had been distracted for a while by learning she hadn't died.
Anyway, he didn't mean to come this far into the past.
"What's the matter, Tenebris?"
The woman spoke to him with a vacant look on her face.
Theodore peered into the woman's face.
......my Chernicia.
I missed you. All the time.
That's what Tenebris called Yves.
It was Chernicia.
At first, Tenebris, who was aggressive enough to kill everyone, suddenly changed his attitude to a face that seemed to realise something.
"Tenebris? You're acting weird today. Are you sick?"
The woman touched Theodore's forehead.
At that moment, his body shuddered.
It was the excitement and anticipation he felt whenever he saw Yves.
"You were even crying earlier......."
"Lord Tenebris! Lord Chernicia!"
At this time, a man ran towards them.
"What's going on?"
"Oh, a child...... A child fell into the river......! Th, There's a demon......!"
Before the words were finished, the woman began to run toward the river.
Theodore also got up and ran with her.
The woman ran and tied her hair up in a ponytail.
When they arrived by the river, they heard the child crying.
A drowning child was floundering, but people were just stomping their feet because of the large demon lurking around the river.
The child's body was gradually pushed down by the flowing current.
"Tenebris, please take care of the child!"
The woman immediately drew her sword and ran at the demon.
Theodore jumped into the river before nodding his head in surprise.
Then, while the woman was dealing with the demon, he rescued the child and took him out.
People came in and covered the crying child with a warm blanket.
"Oh, Eric......! Are you all right?"
"Thank you, thank you, Lord Tenebris!"
People thanked him constantly.
But Theodore was so dumbfounded that he couldn't say anything.
It was because he found himself reflected in the river.
Red eyes....
The appearance of the face was clearly his, and the pair of eyes reflected on the transparent water surface were as red as rubies.
'How can this.......'
In the meantime, the cold atmosphere around him subtly resembled him.
The ancient darkness that awoke in Ernst's body, Tenebris.
"Tenebris?"
Before he knew it, the woman who had killed the demon and had a short conversation with people approached him and asked him curiously.
"Why did you go into the water yourself without using your blessing?"
"......?"
"You don't like using your body because it's annoying."
"Blessing, what do you mean......?"
Theodore tilted his head and asked to see if she was talking about his power.
"Oh, come on, what's wrong with you today, Tenebris? The power of darkness that was bestowed upon you."
"......."
Theodore blinked his eyes blankly.