Horacis stayed quiet and waited for Aren to question him.
He looked down at him with an unusual face, as if he knew what Aren was going to ask.
"Where is this place? Is it just all in my head?" Aren asked, uncertainty in his voice.
Horacis opened its mouth to speak slowly, unleashing a small wave of wind at its surroundings.
"Yes. You can call it The Sea of Thoughts. This is the only place where we could communicate directly." It answered, its voice firm.
"Then… How?"
Horacis thought for a few moments before finally answering, "I cannot say too much per the Eternal Laws. However, what I can say is that it involves your Aberration."
Eternal Laws? By that moment, Aren's confusion and curiosity had burst through the roof. He was urged to ask Horacis to explain what that meant, as well as the Eclipse Spiral Horacis mentioned earlier.
But, he'd also started believing that Horacis wasn't just a hallucination either.
Even without telling him, Aren had a deep sensation that told him this was no fake place at all.
Having thought that, Aren sat down once more to rest his feet.
The water splashed slightly as he put one foot over the other, ready to ask one more question.
"Why?"
Aren asked. It was one word—very short, but for Aren, it held much deeper meaning.
He wanted to know the reason behind everything that had happened to him, which had led him to this point.
He was also puzzled about why Horacis was answering everything so easily.
Horacis's wide mouth slightly curved up.
"That is your job to figure out. You have a thorny path ahead of you. I can only help you walk some parts, but never all of it."
The stars above started twirling beautifully as if the entire universe was spinning at an indescribable speed, unleashing vivid colors of the stars merging.
Drifting back to his feet, Aren's eyes widened as chills ran down his entire body.
Horacis, on the other hand, looked as if he'd been waiting for this exact moment.
"Now, go. Do not linger too long under the moon, but never forget the echoing reason of you."
Aren wasn't sure whether to focus on what was happening above him or what Horacis was talking about.
Either way, both options confused him.
"And… thank you," Horacis said, his body slowly vanishing into particles as a yellowish color outlined his entire body.
Aren subconsciously raised his hand for Horacis. Before he'd even realized, Horacis had vanished completely.
He felt as if he'd just been split into two pieces, despite not even knowing Horacis for that long.
Keeping his hand raised for basically nothing, he looked upwards at the twirling stars.
He had lost his way of thinking. Many things had happened to him, but it felt as if this was something beyond pure imagination. Beyond his own consciousness.
As he looked down, he only saw his hand vanishing into thin air.
Then, everything around him started to slowly get smaller and smaller.
Desperately, Aren tried to grab his vanishing right hand using his left. But it was already too late.
Aren continued to fight against the hopeless situation, but ultimately failed.
He fell to his knees, below him a sea of water with no end, and above him the deep ocean of stars.
It was like he was breathing, but he wasn't alive.
Just like that, his vision turned black as his entire body succumbed to the force.
In a different place, at a different time. There was a frail young girl accompanied by a man and another young boy wearing a robe.
They stood face to face with a dark-blue-haired woman in the fog.
The atmosphere was quiet, but the tension in the air had the power to overwhelm anyone not accustomed to such intensity.
The boy looked up, for no particular reason.
A moment later, they clashed and stood face to face once more.
Having caught that much-needed second of relaxation, a yellowish color outlined the boy's eyes as they widened.
In less than a second, Aren regained his consciousness in a familiar place.
His eyes twitching slightly, he looked down to see if his limbs were there.
Fortunately for him, they indeed were. He'd also noticed his dagger in his hand, as well as a metallic pressure inside his robe.
He raised his head to see the woman from the Order, as well as Faye and Kellen next to him.
Aren felt happy, but he couldn't express it. Not for now.
'I'm back.'
He was at the same spot he was before, but this time he knew what to do and what not to do.
At the same second, he'd realized something.
'Horacis…'
He was not going to go down again.
As the woman stepped up to fight Aren once more, Aren did the unexpected.
He threw his dagger on the snowy floor and put both hands in the air.
"You've got the wrong people!" Aren said, his voice rough.
Behind Aren, Faye, and Kellen were as confused as anyone could get. Due to their time together, they knew what Aren was plotting, therefore, they went along with him.
The woman stopped on her feet, gathering her thoughts for a few moments.
She struck her fancy-designed sword and drove it deep into the ground. Then, she also raised both arms to take her helmet off.
Having done that, a woman with sky blue eyes was revealed, her hair turned out to be even longer than what Aren expected.
She then put herself in a stance as she asked, "State your names and give me proof of your residence."
Aren inhaled as he was going to answer, before Kellen put a hand over his shoulder and whispered, "You don't need to tell her our names."
Aren was going to push Kellen's hand off his shoulder as he felt slightly irritated, but he opted not to. Instead, he just nodded.
"We're from the village on the other side of the forest. The Chief was killed, so we ran away and ended up here."
Secretly, Aren knew that he was the reason for the death of the Chief.
"It would be in your best interest not to lie. I can see the anger in your eyes." She replied.
'Anger? I'm not even angry! Those pesky Order dogs always talk with no meaning behind their words.' He narrowed his eyes, gritting his teeth slightly.
"Turn yourselves in, and you may be sentenced for fewer crimes. Again, it is in your best interest not to resist."
Aren sighed, seeing this was not gonna go anywhere.
"No."
The woman wore her helmet once more as she gripped the hilt of her blade. Faye summoned her Spectral Rings. And Aren…
Having communicated with Horacis and had his personal experience with time, he managed to unlock a deep part of his Aberration.
Aren's hands transformed as they were shrouded in a deep, inky black hue. His nails elongated and sharpened, like the claws of a predator awakening from a slumber.
He managed to control it.
In a mere moment, the woman from the Order lunged forward, blade in her hand. Aren did the same, and Faye frowned as she fired with precise aim.
In a one-in-a-million situation, three Aberrants clashed at the same moment.
The immense energy that exploded in the air led to one and only one outcome.
Aren slid to a stop on his feet. The woman mirrored his actions, taking in the events unfolding before them.
A scar, in reality, a rip in the fabric of space and time, was formed out of thin air.
It was shaped like a bloody scar, only with a prismatic color so unimaginable that everyone in the area froze like stone statues.
Faye's mouth widened, her brows raised.
"The Nameless Necropolis…"