Chapter 396 (2/2)
I expected hi so late, perhaps even bla unable to save Rinia or Aya…or even Feyrith
I didn’t even realize he knehat had happened to Tess I suddenly wished he didn’t knoas happening to her Virion had lost his son, his Lances, his country…it was enough to break anyone Knowing that Tessia’s body was out there being controlled by the enemy, unsure if she still existed within it…he shouldn’t have had to shoulder that burden too
Anger overtookand taking advantage of Virion,with bits of inforh to keep hi they should have to answer for, I thought, balling the blanket up insilence where we didn’t meet each other’s eyes, Virion continued “I needed toRinia and so many other elves when there are so few of us left…I spent so long holding it all back, after Elenoir—after Tessia—and then to suddenly feel like I’d lost ain…” Virion’s head slumped, and a tear dropped onto his clasped hands
“I’m sorry I couldn’t save her, Virion I tried, I—”
My words cut off as the ihts The aether blade pressed against her sternu over her face, her words… “Art, please…”
“She’s alive,” I said instead Virion looked up quickly and blinked his shi+ning eyes “Her body rona’s control, but Tessia is alive, buried beneath the personality of a being known as the Legacy”
Virion shi+fted, hesitating, then finally asked, “You’re sure? Windsoht perhaps…but…”
“I’m certain,” I confirh my entire body “I looked into her eyes, Virion Tess was still in there”
Virion searchedti his shoulders as more tears flooded unchecked
I slid off the bed and went to one knee in front of hi for his hands There are no words for moments such as this, and so I kept my silence Virion leaned down and pressed his forehead tosoothed -held grief
After a few minutes, Virion’s sobs ceased, and ered as ere for another minute or two It was Virion who spoke first
“I can’t sense the dragon’s ithin you”
I pressed ers into my sternum, over my aether core, which I’d formed from the broken remnants of theback onto the hard bed, I began to tell Virion about everything that had happened toCadell and Nico, Sylvie’s sacrifice, waking up in the Relicto after that
Virion proved an intent listener, leaning forith his elbows on his knees, hardly even blinking As I neared the end of aveyou to be a beast tao and lose your bond?”
My led for a reply, but Virion’s frown broke and he gave me a wry slad you made it back And…” He paused and cleared his throat “Thank you, Arthur”
“And thank you, Virion, forsure my mom and sister were safe,” I said in return
He let out an anet for trouble as you ever were Chafes at even the idea of ‘safety’” My expression iven away exactly how I felt about Ellie’s recklessness because Virion chuckled “Speaking of, I’er to see your family They were both here for the first day, but Lance Varay finally ave hiht-lipped s out an oldBairon!” he said loudly, turning toward the closed door
The door opened and Bairon entered again, this ti three identical boxes of polished black wood, each one bound in softly glowing silver
“The artifacts Windsoh they ht explode at anyback to the moments after I’d driven the Alacryans fro off and disappearing for so while the rest of us were
Virion took the top box off the stack fro inside was an ornate rod The red wood of the handle had golden rings wrapped around it at intervals, and it was capped with a glowing lavender crystal Aether see around it like so many curious bees
I activated Real that sent a jolt of pain up my spine as the Godrune lit up, then a rush of warmth from my lower back up into my limbs and eyes
The mana came into focus My breath came out in a rush
The rod-shaped artifact had becos, shaft, and crystal alike not only infused with s, so that the entire surface, as well as the box in which it was stored, positively sith blues, greens, yellows, and reds
“I’m not quite sure what to do with the the box out “We can’t use the that’s happened Not after Rinia…”
I carefully took it fro the box in the crook of my injured ar it so the facets of the crystal caught the light and sparkled through the glow of mana
“Ellie toldRealmheart and my own innate ability to see aetheric particles to track the h the artifact “Has Gideon looked them over?”
Virion burst out with an indelicate snort “Took one look at thereed with ‘the old bat’ and prois shi+fted, no longer pretending to be asleep as he ogled the artifact hungrily ‘If we’re not going to do anything else with it, I could always absorb that aether You know, deactivate it, for safety or whatever’
Curious ould happen, I atte the artifact The artifact see its own force on the aether particles, which flowed down the handle toward ain Focusing, I pulled harder The aether trembled, and thethe artifact and spraying out into the atmosphere
If we take the aether, the artifact would break With this ht be pretty violent Besides, I added thoughtfully, I’m not convinced yet that we can’tplaced into a di me with his brows creased, clearly confused about what I was doing I realized that to hi competition with the rod “I don’t want to just cart them around, but I’ the artifact like a baton, I returned it to its case, closed and latched the lid, then imbued aether into my dimension rune
The box vanished, drawn into the extradie space controlled by the rune on lanced at Bairon questioningly, but Bairon only shrugged
“Here,” I said, reaching for the other two boxes Bairon gave theone, and I could sense the with the items I’d collected in Alacrya
I held up inal, not an old relic that’s been hacked apart ten times over Must ain, his brows rising all the way up into his hairline “One of these days, I suppose I’ll stop being surprised by you, brat”
“Let’s hope not, Grais “I think I’ve laid around long enough Ready to get out of here?”
He yawned and stretched, sticking his rump up in the air like an actual puppy “I’m ready to find a real source of aether, because I don’t relish the idea of being stuck like this for a hile we drip-feed off the atmosphere down here”
With the Compass, I could return to the Relictoo replenish our aether reserves as soon as possible, but first I needed to check on Morowing pile of artifacts within the dimension rune, I wished Virion and Bairon farewell, then h the labyrinthine halls of the Earthborn Institute
Regis stayed insidenear the sturowing li was slow—at least, slow forentire lienuinely worry fordistinctly inhu in real-tiis sent, knowing just what to say to further agitate me, as always
I don’t know, I answered, then cast the thought aside as I approached the door to the roo
It opened before I reached it, and Ellie was half through it before she noticed me and jerked to a stop Her face lit up, then her focus shi+fted to my hand “Oh, Art, that looks…”
I took her by the chin and turned her face up toward aveto check on you, so you savedas she turned and led me into the rooht, and she put herself into backlash trying to heal you” She flinched and looked into my eyes “Sorry, I didn’ther hair like I’d done when she was little It drove horown And how much I’d missed
“Arthur?” a wispy voice said froround, and quick but uneven footsteps Mos under her eyes
Still, when she saw me, she smiled “Oh, Art, I was so—”
Mo focus I was at her side in an instant, supporting her and leading her to the closest couch
“I’m…fine,” she mumbled as I eased her down onto the couch, but it was easy enough to tell she wasn’t
Activating Real the th
“Oh, you’re glowing,” she said, her eyes crossing as she tried and failed to focus on me
She had clearly pushed herself way past the point of exhaustion Her core was so strained that it was struggling to start processing ued delirium, not towith such severe backlash
I let Realot extreme backlash You need to be more careful You’re—”
“Lucky?” she said clu ets—how ets a second, second, second chance to ht”
I winced at the rets that I had fro my parents the truth aboutclean…the e a knot inMom a somber smile, I pulled a loose blanket over her lap “What do you o, re her head and squeezing my hand weakly “I ot to just…be your mom But I want to be I will be” Her eyes fluttered closed, and she sank deeper into the couch “I suppose that’s kind of what it ain to , but still, hearing her so casually and calmly mention my reincarnation madeTo learn, and do better”
Softly, the breathiness of her tone tellingback to sleep, she said, “I e, Arthur I know it’ll take tiain”
Turning toward the kitchen, I could just see the small, round table, and on it, a wooden boith a spoon laid neatly beside it
And suddenly, the armor of callousness and apathy I had donned in order to survive my time in the Relictohtened andup and walking toward the table With Agrona’s swift counterattack, I knew I couldn’t stay here ain, and I kneould only be worse
But I let e, barely noticing as Regis led my sister out of the room
Slowly, I took up the spoon and took a ave in to the weight of it all
Tears spilled freely as I took bite after bite Alone in this little kitchen, far away from anywhere I’d ever called home, I wept silently as I ate the first meal my mother had cooked for me in years