Darkness, it was only utter darkness. The type that consumed you whole, that brought you to despair.
What had happened? Was she dead? But how had she died? Who had killed her?
The last memories she managed to scrap were...
Shit! She had forgotten about them again.
...Who even was she? She didn't remember her past at all. It was as if she had truly lost any remembrance of her past.
Was this how it felt to be dead? If so, she hated it. She hated not knowing what had happened, who she was.
Something cold gnawed at her chest. She tried to breathe, but her lungs refused; they had forgotten how. Then, heat appeared. A flood of it even, rushing through her veins all at once, burning and soothing at the same time.
It was overwhelming, really.
Her mind suddenly began remembering different memories from her past. Of her mother, her friends, and who she was. Slowly regaining her existence.
Her eyes shot open.
The first breath ripped through her like knives, her ribs screaming with every gasp. It was as if her lungs had collapsed.
She rolled onto her side, coughing. Thick, metallic-tasting spit spilling onto the floor. Her mind was spinning, not able to concentrate from the immense pain.
Her heartbeast thundered in her ears; it was fast and wild, as if it had just been forced to start again.
She rolled around on the ground, blood slouting out with each cough, as if her body was replacing her damaged organs with newer ones.
She clenched her chest, her nails digging deep in her skin. Yet each time blood came up, her body healed. So the deeper she dug, the faster it healed. But she felt everything.
She felt as if someone was constantly hitting her head like it was a bell.
But as much as it hurt, it was slowly stopping.
Her vision was blurred at the edges, but the first thing she recognized was the ceiling that had fallen on the ground and was broken, dust still floating in the air, but it was more as if they were frozen.
Then she recognized some shapes, like the tubes and a figure crouching over her. Soon she was able to identify it.
"Aether?"
She spoke, but every letter was a challenge for her body.
The Fool smiled, as if amused by her pitiful state.
"The one and only."
Her mind caught slowly.
She blinked hard, trying to remember what had happened. From looking for the others, to finding the monster, to being pierced by its tail.
But there was one thing missing, or at least someone.
Her stomach turned cold again. She pushed herself up too fast, the world tilting violently.
"Where's-"
A groan escaped her mouth. Low, strained. She whipped her head to the side.
There she saw Elpis, resting on a chair; his eyes were the same, but he hid some sort of dread inside. He was clenching his chest, but looked to be fine.
The breath she didn't know she had been holding broke out in a shaky laugh, and her knees almost gave out.
She didn't understand. She remembered dying; she knew she had died. And yet here she was, her heart hammering, her lungs burning but working, and her skin damp with sweat.
She looked at Aether, her voice trembling despite her best attempts to steady it.
"What... happened?"
Aether didn't answer right away. His eyes kept darting between her and Elpis, like he was checking if they were really breathing.
He exhaled, a long and shaky breath.
He got up on his feet, walking over to a chair, and lying on it. Resting his back against the table, and looking at the revealed sky.
"Quite simple, really, you both died."
Her stomach twisted. She wanted to scoff, tell him that was impossible, she was standing right in front of him. But the soreness in her chest and the phantom ache where the tail had pierced her told her otherwise.
"I was about to die too, quite funny. I thought I was done for when Elpis fell to the ground." He laughed, but hesitated to continue, like he wasn't sure if saying it out loud made it more dangerous somehow. "But the ceiling caved in. And I was saved."
She frowned. "What?"
It was unreal. That beast was able to kill Elpis; it wouldn't have died from just the ceiling falling.
He wasn't telling the full story; she knew he wasn't.
Aether saw that she had seen right through his scheme. Sighing.
"It did happen, believe me. Just that the one who probably killed it wasn't the ceiling but someone else. He was also the one who gave me these."
Aether reached into his cloak, pulling out two empty bottles, but faint traces of something golden clung to the inside.
Avrie felt a shiver run down her spine.
"What were they? What did they have inside?"
The bottles disappeared into the air, like they had never existed in the first place.
"Relics, potions. One sip from them and-" He motioned to her and Elpis. "-you're back from the dead. How lovely."
She stared at him. Her mind screaming. While she hadn't known him for long. She liked to think that she knew that Fool quite well, and he was suspicious; everything he said was weird and convenient.
"And who was he?"
He laughed, but in it she could hear faint whispers of dread. As if he had been expecting this question from the start."
"An old friend of mine."
He winked.
She was dumbfounded, before a wave of fury washed over her. She walked over to The Fool, ignoring her own body's screams.
She grabbed him by his collar, ready to punch him.
Aether raised his hands in defence.
"Alright, fine, I'll tell you pu-"
But as he was about to continue, he stopped, and Avrie's grip loosened too, as she felt Elpis' hand on her shoulder.
"Calm down, Avrie. He was the one who saved your life after all, you should show him gratitude, not punch him".
Avrie's jaw opened and remained open, as if she wanted to say something, but couldn't find the words.
She let go of Aether, looking embarrassed at the ground.
Elpis smiled before looking at Aether with a question of his own.
"I won't ask about his identity, but I will ask about the Sun."
Avrie's head rose up, as newfound excitement sparkled inside her eyes. The Sun, how could she forget about it?
...but where was it?
Aether sighed, resting his head on his palm.
"Let's say it was his payment."
Elpis froze for some seconds, but nodded.
"So what now? Do we just... continue as if nothing happened?"
Aether's face darkened as he rose from his chair and passed by Elpis, giving him a gentle smile. He walked slowly toward the exit, but stopped right at the door.
"No. This is the end."
Elpis frowned, not understanding the meaning of his words. Avrie, too, was confused.
"I don't want this to happen again. I don't want you guys to be hurt because of me. And so I decided."
He paused, the next words being like knives going up his throat.
"Ill shall be going alone. That is how it should have been from the beginning. I am not meant to work with others."
And with that, he left, leaving Avrie and Elpis behind, speechless and frozen.
"What just happened?" Said Avrie, falling to the ground in shock.
...
...
In a wasteland where time was frozen and monsters roamed around, with nowhere to hide. There stood one boy, sneaking around them without being seen.
His blue eyes were like a cloudy sky, and his hair like a glistening sun. He was the last of The Children of Praise. The Fool.
The one unknown to most, as he was never meant to be part of the known world.
Aether sighed, getting passed another monster, reaching a forest that looked to be burnt down.
These were the only safe spots inside the outskirts, which was ironic since they used to be where the monster usually lived. But even since they were destroyed by the Queen's knights to let the Abyssal creatures into the world, in hopes of killing the last bit of Praise, the monsters never came back to them.
Which meant he could rest.
He sat down near a tree, letting his body rest.
He sighed, a Codex window opening near him.
***
[Relics]
—[Hair extension]
— [Cloak of Dread]
—[Card of The Folish]
[Card of The Folish]-This relic was never meant to exist, and yet it imprinted itself into the world. Unknown to all, it opened a way to a place where something mighty rests inside, something that not even Praise and The Forgotten know about. Something that was made to challenge the Gods and their place... if only it were original.
Category-Card
Class-Reader
Rank-fragment
Abilities- [Existence]
[Existence]- Whenever this card is used, if at the right place, then may the gates open.
***
Aether held his hand in front of him, watching as a card manifested in front of him.
It was a simple playing card, the ones he used to play with as a kid. Yet he had never used this specific one, since it had no role in the games he played.
The Fool card.