Hearing those cold words, little Kento's eyes rushed with hot tears. The heavy silence of the basement completely broke as he burst into a frantic, breathless sob, reaching his small hands desperately toward his mother.
"No! No, I don't want to!" Kento cried out loud, his tiny voice shaking in pure panic. "Mommy! I don't want to play the game anymore! Take me home! Please... pull me out of this circle! Mommy, come get me!"
The raw terror in her son's voice struck Yuna like a physical blow. Her knees completely gave out, and she fell heavily onto the cold stone floor.
She slammed her hand over her mouth to muffle her loud, messy screams, hot tears soaking through her fingers as she shook violently.
"I'm sorry... I'm so sorry, my baby..." she wept loudly, repeating the broken apologies over and over again into her palms. "Forgive Mommy... please, Kento, forgive me..."
Ayato instantly dropped to his knees beside her. His own face was tense with pain as he threw his arms around her trembling frame, trying to anchor her. "Yuna, shh...don't cry." he whispered against her hair, his voice filled with a desperate urge to keep her controlled.
"Look at him... if you break down like this, it's only going to hurt Kento more. We have to stay strong for him."
"I know... hic... I know that!" Yuna sobbed out loudly, her chest heaving as she gripped his sleeves in pure agony. "But I can't... I can't help it, Ayato! He's crying for me!"
In the center of the ring, Kento saw his mother collapse. The sight of her weeping figure sent a fresh surge of adrenaline through his tiny limbs.
"Mommy! Don't cry!" he shrieked, his soft fists clenching as he took a brave, shaky step forward. "I'm coming! I'll come out to you!"
He began to walk slowly toward the edge of the carved lines.
"STOP HIM!" the priest suddenly shouted, his majestic composure completely shattering into a high-stakes panic as he pointed at the moving child. "Do not let him cross the boundary! Stop him now!"
Ayato's heart stopped. In a flash of pure terror, he ran across the stone floor, his feet skidding in the dust as he threw himself toward the edge, stopping just bare inches away from the outer line of the circle.
"Kento, no! Stop walking! Stay right there!"
Ayato shouted frantically, his face completely wet with tears as he held his hands up like a barrier, his eyes wide with raw desperation.
"Don't take another step! Do not come out of that circle!"
The small boy froze mid-step, his tiny foot hanging just above the carved stone.
He stared at his father's wet, frantic face, and a sudden, suffocating confusion completely overwhelmed his five-year-old mind.
To a toddler, a father's loud, commanding shout meant only one thing. 'Why is Daddy yelling at me?' Kento thought, his chest heaving as a terrifying wave of loneliness crashed over him.
'Is he angry with me? Did I do something bad? Is that why he's blocking the way... because he doesn't want to hold me anymore? Does he not want me to be his son?'
The awful thoughts made him completely lose his composure. He turned his watery gaze toward his mother, his voice breaking into a piercing, desperate scream as he tried to move again. "MOMMY!!!"
"Kento, stop! Please, stay still!" Yuna scrambled to her feet and ran toward the edge, her tears flying as she screamed at him to stop.
She stretched her arms out across the air, her face twisted in pure agony as she begged him. "Don't get out of the circle, baby! Just stay inside! Mommy is right here, but you can't cross the line!"
"Why?!" Kento shrieked, wiping his nose with his sleeve as he cried louder, his tiny body shaking in total betrayal. "Why can't I come to you?! Why?!"
Ayato's jaw clenched so hard it ached, his chest bursting with a physical, burning pain as he looked back over his shoulder. He glared at the holy robes with absolute fury and desperation, screaming through his teeth.
"What are you just standing there looking at?! Start the ritual right now!!!"
"The wheels of the cosmos do not halt for a mother's tears, nor yield to a father's desperate vows. Though born in the Abyss, he belongs to Aeterna. He is the bridge promised since the days of Aethelgard and Elysia, and his heart has been chosen to bear The Golden Chains.[1] The stars have waited long enough. The appointed hour has arrived… and with it, The Beautiful Curse."[2]
He didn't speak in English. He didn't recite a common prayer. Instead, he opened his mouth and began to chant a strange, rhythmic, and terrifying sequence of words—an old, forgotten tongue that felt heavy and jagged in the air, vibrating through the cold stones of the basement.
"No! No, stop it!" Kento screamed out loud, his tiny hands flying up to cover his ears as the loud, madman chanting filled the small room, bouncing off the walls like thunder.
Standing just bare inches away from the glowing line of the circle, Yuna and Ayato instantly panicked, their hearts freezing at the sight of their son twisting in pure agony.
"Kento!" Yuna cried out, her voice breaking as she leaned forward as close as she safely could. "Kento, look at Mommy! Does it hurt somewhere?! Are you in pain, baby?! Tell me!"
Ayato didn't waste another second. He spun around on his heel, his face full in pure rage as he charged straight toward the chanting priest.
He grabbed the holy robes, his fingers tightening like iron clamps as he shook the man violently. "Stop it! Stop the ritual right now! Look at him, he can't take it!"
But the priest didn't stop. His hollow eyes rolled back into his head, a sickening, terrifying grin spreading across his face as he muttered a horrific, madman response right into Ayato's face."Let the vessel bleed,"[3]the priest whispered with horrifying devotion, his hollow eyes lost to madness. "Let the body cry. Let the heart tremble. Such things are fleeting."[4]
His grin widened impossibly.
"And if the soul should break beneath the weight of eternity…"[5]
"Then it simply means…"
"…the heavens chose poorly."[6]
Realizing the old man was completely out of his senses, a chill of absolute horror ran down Ayato's spine. He let go of the robes and spun back toward the ring, his mind completely snapping under the pressure.
"To hell with the traditions! To hell with your stupid cosmos!" Ayato shouted at the top of his lungs, his voice echoing fiercely off the damp stone walls. "Kento! Get out of there! Step out of the circle right now on your own! Just run to us!"
Hearing those desperate words, Yuna instantly gasped and scrambled to her feet. She stared at her husband in utter shock, her lips trembling as she called out his name. "A-Ayato...?"
In the center of the ring, little Kento's tears instantly stopped. A brilliant wave of pure relief and happiness washed over his five-year-old face. 'Dad isn't angry with me!' his little brain realized in a rush of golden warmth. He cheerfully cried out, his voice full of hope. "Dad!"
"Run, Kento! Come here!" Ayato started approaching them, his jaw tight as he prepared to catch his boy.
"This whole thing is complete nonsense! Yuna was right from the very beginning! My son's life is more important than any of this madness!"
But before Ayato could even take his second step away from the holy man, a bony, terrifyingly strong hand suddenly held onto his shoulder from behind.
With a brutal, unnatural strength, the old priest forced Ayato to turn around to face him.
Before Ayato could even raise his arms to defend himself, the priest swung his arm and Smacked him across the face, followed instantly by a heavy, brutal punch straight to his jaw.
THWACK!
The heavy, Ancient Book the priest carried slipped from his fingers, hitting the dusty floor with a loud Thud, while Ayato's vision went completely black. He stumbled backward, his knees giving out as he fell heavily to the ground, his mouth bleeding from the impact.
Without even checking on the fallen father, the priest immediately knelt down, his face expressionless and cold.
He picked the ancient text back up from the dirt, brushed the dust off the cover, and instantly went right back into his deep, terrifying chant.
"Aelyr... Serath... Caelora...[7]" the madman muttered, his voice echoing like a death knell through the basement. "Thae sanguis vetera, elyr novara..."[8]
Yuna's eyes widened as she watched her husband's body hit the dirt.
"DAD!" Kento screamed from the center of the ring, his cheerful smile instantly shattering into a terrified scream as his tiny hands flew to his face.
"Ayato!" Yuna screamed at the exact same time, her voice cracking in pure panic. She sharply spun around toward the glowing boundary, pointing a shaking finger at her crying son. "Kento, stay right there! Do not move an inch!"
Without waiting for a response, she turned and rushed straight to Ayato's side, dropping to her knees in the dust beside his fallen body.
Ayato was lying flat on the cold stone floor, his fingers desperately clutching his nose as dark crimson blood began to leak through his knuckles.
DRIP... DRIP... DRIP.
The heavy drops hit the dusty ground right beside his head. "Ow... ow, damn it...!" Ayato groaned out loud, his voice muffled and strained as he rolled slightly in agony.
He squeezed his eyes shut, his entire face twisting in pure pain as he whimpered. "It hurts... it hurts a lot... You Crazy Old Bastard, that hurt so much!"
"Ayato! Oh my god, look at me!" Yuna panicked, quickly sliding closer. She gently lifted his upper body, resting his aching head directly on her lap.
Her tear-stained face was positioned right above his, looking down in pure agony while his blood-stained face looked up at her from below.
The raw terror of the situation completely broke her defenses, and hot tears pooled heavily in her eyes, spilling over and dropping directly onto Ayato's pale cheeks.
"Are you okay?! Can you hear me?!" Yuna examined his swollen jaw and bleeding nose, her hands trembling violently as she wiped a drop of sweat from his forehead.
"Does it hurt anywhere else? Did he break your jaw?! Oh god, there's so much blood..."
She looked up toward the basement stairs, her voice turning frantic as she tried to pull him up. "Don't worry, okay? Just hold on to me. I'm going to take you to a doctor right now. We are leaving this place—"
But mid-sentence, the words completely died in her throat.
A sudden, suffocating chill swept over her skin, causing her entire body to freeze solid. Slowly, Yuna tilted her head up, her gaze locking onto the old priest standing just a few inches away from them.
The holy man had stopped his chanting for a split second, tilting his head downward to look at the couple on the floor. His face was swallowed in a terrifying, dark shadow, his hair falling messily over his features, but a single, dangerous eye gleamed like a red spark through the dark.
A sickening, evil, and completely twisted grin stretched across his lips, exactly like a demon enjoying the absolute misery of its prey.
Seeing that horrific facial expression, Yuna stopped everything, her breath completely trapped in her chest as the basement went into a terrifying silence.
The terrifying, demonic grin slowly faded from the priest's face as his posture relaxed, his breathing settling down as he suddenly returned to his calm, normal senses. He shifted his body, bending down toward the couple on the floor with his hollow eyes blank once more.
Seeing him approach, Yuna immediately threw her body over Ayato, shielding his bleeding face with her own arms as she glared up at the holy robes. "GET AWAY FROM HIM!" she shouted fiercely, her teeth bared like a protective lioness. "GET OUT OF OUR HOUSE! JUST LEAVE RIGHT NOW!"
"I cannot leave." the priest replied smoothly, his voice dropping back into that calm, mournful cello tone. He looked down at them without a shred of anger left in his features.
"If I walk away now, the price your bloodline will pay shall be too great for mortal hearts to endure."
He slowly closed his eyes.
"Do not mistake mercy for cruelty, children of the Abyss."
"If this rite remains unfinished, you will not merely lose the child…"
His voice dropped to a whisper.
"You will invite a sorrow from which there is no return."
That was the absolute limit for Ayato. Grunting in pure pain, he forcefully pushed himself up from Yuna's lap, wiping a fresh stain of dark crimson blood from his lip as he stood up to face the old man. His eyes burned with an intense fury.
"Punished?!" Ayato shouted angrily, his voice echoing sharply off the stone walls as he stepped into the priest's space. "Who exactly is going to punish us, huh?! Tell me! Is it going to be you?! Or is it going to be the Law?! Who has the authority to touch my family?!"
The priest didn't flinch. He simply looked up at Ayato, a tiny, chilling grin creeping back onto the corners of his lips as he whisperedingle, ancient name.
"ASTRAEOS."
The heavy word seemed to instantly drop theI
He slowly turned his head, locking eyes with Yuna in absolute, silent confusion. Yuna looked back at him, her own face turning pale before she sharply turned her gaze back to the holy man.
"Who is that?!" Yuna demanded, her voice shaking slightly as she tried to regain her legal confidence back. "Who is Astraeos?!"
The priest merely exhaled through his nose and waved his hand dismissively.
"It is a name wasted upon the people of the Abyss..." the priest answered softly, his voice carrying that same mournful resonance. "There is no meaning in teaching stars to those who have never looked beyond the mud beneath their feet."
He looked down upon them with profound pity.
"Only the voices of the pure may ever reach His ears. Not the prayers of those born to the darkness below. Only the pure are ever answered."
Before they could argue, the priest sharply turned his head, pointing his long finger toward the center of the glowing circle. "Observe the boy."
Yuna and Ayato's eyes instantly rushed to Kento. The little five-year-old was trembling violently, his small body practically vibrating from the intense pressure of the air around him.
His breathing was shallow, his tiny eyes wide with an exhausting, overwhelming fatigue. He was completely at his absolute physical limit.
"Look upon him..." the priest murmured softly, his gaze drifting back to Ayato. "If your late mother stood within this world, she would have done exactly as I do now."
There was no anger in his eyes.
Only sorrow.
"She understood what it meant to carry this bloodline. She understood that some tears must be endured."
His gaze lingered on the boy inside the circle. "She would not allow fear to rob him of his destiny."
"And she would never let the child break."
The heavy mention of his mother hung in the air, completely paralyzing Ayato's defenses.
The priest slowly got up from his knees, his midnight robes flowing around him as he securely tucked the ancient book back into his arm.
He looked at the frozen, bleeding parents with a final, heavy calm.
The priest looked upon the frozen, bleeding parents with a final, unbearable calm.
"Do not struggle against the heavens," he whispered softly, his voice carrying the sorrow of a thousand prayers. "I beg you... let me finish."
His eyes lingered on the boy inside the circle. "When the light fades, he will open his eyes again. But if you shatter this prayer now..."
He closed his own eyes. "...then neither your love, nor your tears, nor your screams shall be enough to protect him from what follows."
A deep sadness crossed his face. "You believe I am stealing your child."
"No." His voice trembled.
"I am trying to return him to you."
He slowly lowered his head. "Allow me to bear your hatred."
"Curse me."
"Spit upon my grave."
"Call me a monster if it comforts your hearts."
"But do not ask me to abandon the child."
"Not after waiting so long."
"Not after carrying this prayer for generations."
"Not when the heavens themselves have finally remembered his name."
His gaze softened. "And if suffering is the price..."
"Then let this old man bear it."
"Not him."
"Not you."
"Me."
"So please..."
"Allow this prayer to reach its end."
Ayato and Yuna stood completely frozen, their knuckles white, their hearts hammering in pure agony as they realized they had completely lost all control of the situation.
Without waiting for another word, the priest closed his hollow eyes, raised his hand over the glowing crimson lines, and continued his majestic, unstoppable chanting, the ancient words booming through the basement like thunder.
"Vae Astraeos.."[9]
"Selareth en Aeterna..."[10]
"Thae cor auriel..."
"Sael en septa..."[11]
"Thae puer nox Abyssae..."[12]
"Thae anima Aeterna..."[13]
"Vaelis en lumenth..."[14]
"Sael."[15]
Standing in the heavy, terrifying silence of the basement, both parents slowly turned their heads to look at each other.
Their eyes were wide with a deep, hopeless terror, and together, they heavily gulped, completely powerless as the crimson light began to engulf their son.
Suddenly, Kento looked straight down at his feet, and his green eyes widened in absolute, raw terror. The seven circles carved into the rock beneath his shoes were no longer dark.
Driven by the loud, echoing chant, the stone lines began to pulse violently, bursting into a fierce, glowing silver light that quickly turned into a deep, burning crimson flame.
"Dad! Mom!" Kento screamed, his voice completely breaking into a frantic, breathless sob as the silver heat began to swirl around his ankles, trapping him inside the glowing spiral.
"The floor is burning! It hurts! Help me! Dad, please... take me out of here!!!"
The priest only chanted louder, his voice rising into a wild, echoing crescendo that completely swallowed the child's desperate screams.
"Vaeni...Elyr...Astral..."[16]
"THAE AURORAE AETHARIS VENARIS!!!"[17]
"KENTO!!!"
----
✦ 🔮 A GLIMPSE INTO THE NEXT CHAPTER 🔮 ✦
"What awaits beyond this page...?" 🌙
(灬･◡･灬)♡
'Ayato, my boy... your uncle died young...'
"Yuna, that's unfair, my schedule this term has been—"
---
🌙 The stars may fade, and memories may sleep...
But the Spiral continues to turn.
Until we meet again beneath the same forgotten sky.
(⊙_◎)
— SakuraShinomiya
[1] He is the bridge promised since the days of Aethelgard and Elysia, and his heart has been chosen to bear a burden called as The Golden Chains.
[2] The Beautiful Curse = A fate that brings both blessings and suffering. Something beautiful because it gives purpose, and a curse because it demands sacrifice. ಥ_ಥ
[3] Allow him to suffer if it is necessary for the ritual. (‘◉⌓◉’)
[4] The priest believes that physical pain, fear, and emotional suffering are only temporary. In his eyes, they are small compared to the greater destiny that awaits. (●__●)
[5] And if his soul cannot bear the burden that has been placed upon it =_=
[6] The priest believes that Kento has been personally chosen by the heavens for a sacred purpose.If Kento's soul breaks under that burden, then the fault would not be Kento's—it would mean the heavens made a mistake when they chose him. ༼⁰o⁰；༽
[7] Old blood, awaken the new light.
[8] "From the ancient blood, Elyr is renewed.
[9] O Astraeos...
[10] Strengthen the Golden Heart.
[11] Bless him through the Seven.
[12] Though his body belongs to the Abyss.
[13] His soul belongs to Aeterna.
[14] Let the light carry him.
[15] Peace.
[16] Come forth, O Light of Astraeos...
[17] THE ETERNAL DAWN HAS ARRIVED!!!