Chapter Text
Light, gold, silence…
Cale’s painful and heavy eyelids cracked open, welcoming the mush of warm colors and the silence in his throbbing ears, finding himself in a familiar hall—the Great Hall of Final Verge. The same setup as before, except he half laid on his seat this time, facing the far high golden ceiling with a heavy and limp body. His ribcage felt so heavy, persistently pressing on his heart to the point where breathing was arduous.
‘What am I doing here again…?’
He wracked his numb brain to recall what happened, relieved to realize he hadn’t lost himself. His vision was still distorted somewhat, with faint, darkened lines swirling about, and his ears kept hearing distant sounds of shrieks weakly echoing in his brain. The signs of his severe condition were lingering, but he couldn’t tell for sure what was what at the moment.
‘…doesn’t this happen often lately?’
A situation where he opens his eyes to somewhere else and needs to differentiate reality from dream, trying to collect his correct memories quickly before they slip away and scatter all over the place beyond repair.
He would’ve laughed at it if not for his drained state. His legs dangled from the armrest, and his arms rested limply on his middle. It was tough enough to take every breath, so he couldn’t bother whether or not to find this recurrent situation comical. Perhaps his body was reaching its limits due to the constant confusion of such mind tricks, where he constantly fell into doubt every time he had to open his eyes. Or perhaps he just didn’t care what was a dream or not anymore.
His aching eyelids couldn’t help but slowly close, and he allowed himself to slip into the lull of rest, telling himself, ‘ Just a little. ’
He felt the remaining strength he had in him slipping out of his fingers and toes, becoming weightless, soulless. It was then that his mind started clearing with numbness in his heart. He was going through an indescribable pain earlier, one he couldn’t put into words regardless of how long he would take to carefully explain it. The closest he’d put it would be ‘Crushing void.’ He was rendered nothing, a pain that stopped and erased everything in him all at once that the deafening silence mercilessly and eagerly devoured his inner screams and cries.
‘Do I even… need to explain it to anyone?’
Would he be asked to describe a pain he had gone through? Did anyone ask him that before? Is it even necessary? People go through crap frequently anyway, or so he believed. What’s the point of describing what he went through if he overcame it? He’d just have to state the current condition when asked.
‘Maybe…’
A few faces came to his mind at the question. Rok Soo, Tristan and Olenth. Lilly, Ron, his team members, and maybe everyone nearby who witnessed what happened to him. Will they investigate him? Finding a twinkle of humor at the thought, he could imagine that happening with all the questionable situations rising out of nowhere, one after another. Regardless of the extent of their concerns, he should probably explain well to calm them all down.
‘…right. So much to do later… later…’
For now, he wanted nothing but to rest for at least a minute. It felt as though his body was rolling down a mountain nonstop for months, unable to catch a second break with everything damaged in him now.
“Hmm,”
A soft sound crept close and soon surrounded him like a predator embracing its prey, very gently yet meticulously.
“I understand the magnanimous souls seeking respite in death, like yourself.”
Cale couldn’t recognize the velvety, calm, almost apathetic voice…
‘…What was it again? The God of Autonomy…?’
He didn’t bother to open his eyes and meet her. No, perhaps he couldn’t open them even if he wanted to. It felt as though his eyelids were glued close and utterly still.
“Hm…”
His throat made a faint sound when he felt the woman’s cold hand pat his head as if calming his confusion.
“Your dithering soul won’t be able to host the overwhelming power for long if this continues. The burden isn’t solely on your currently weak build.”
She claimed in a low tone like a lullaby.
“Welcome to the Hall of Final Verge, where you can ‘Decide’ with the utmost freedom. Now, answer, kid. Do you want to let go of the frail threads of purpose you keep holding onto instead of putting yourself asleep in the cage?”
“……”
What is this woman prattling about now? He couldn’t bring himself to talk, let alone move the slightest bit, but his lips were slid slightly apart to mumble a response despite all odds.
“Sleep… five minutes…”
Just five minutes. He wanted five minutes of a peaceful nap. His mind and body were already welcoming the silence, and he was about to drift to slumber when the woman spoke softly; her tone carried a hint of a smile.
“There’s still some fight in you. I suppose this would be worth the try.”
She stated with pleasure, voice drifting.
“Five minutes of pure silence is granted.”
True to her words, Cale was relishing the silence that followed, and his body greedily welcomed the moment of blissful nothingness. But five minutes felt like seconds when she suddenly spoke barely above a whisper.
“Now, decide.”
Click—
The echoing sound of a snapping finger startled Cale, frozen awake with a slight jolt.
“……”
He found himself standing on a cliff as the breeze brushed by him. Looking over his shoulder, he saw a beautiful meadow behind him. At the same time, the roaring oceans lay before him, with each tidal wave outspreading near the edge as if reaching to drag anything and anyone down with it as it descended and retreated into the deep ocean.
Cale tilted his head to look at the vast, clear blue sky with scattered white clouds that gave a sense of peace. The soft, harmless sounds of nature from the green field behind him were a contrast to the ferocious, limitless ocean before him, as though he was standing between two different worlds, with the cliff serving as the bridge separating them.
He brought his eyes back to the figure before him, the only other person with him. Her vibrant, memorable color palette was what startled him the most about the unexpected situation, standing out like she was the only entity colored on a canvas. Cale silently locked eyes with the beautiful woman—a woman with a presence as sharp yet warm as he could remember.
“…Jour Thames.”
The name he hadn’t uttered in so long rolled over his tongue in a quiet, almost choked whisper. Her face hardly shifted in a mix of surprise and confusion, studying him like she used to with people she couldn’t decide what to think of. His eyebrow twitched ever so slightly at her realistic, honest response and expressions at him, making her seem real.
“Cale Henituse.”
She called as if testing the name on her tongue, her eyes hopeful, yearning, yet there was dread she couldn’t entirely hide from him.
“Ha,”
Cale couldn’t hold back the cynical sound escaping him.
“This isn’t too kind of a prank.”
He muttered with a slight smirk, his expression tight with a tinge of irritation.
Jour’s eyebrow twitched ever so slightly with an unreadable expression, still seemingly searching for answers through his eyes, questioning who he really was.
Cale noticed he couldn’t decipher her emotions or anything through her voice just now, nor did he hear the prediction voice when he thought of using his abilities.
Thud…
As a test, he tapped his foot lightly on the ground and shifted his weight on the other leg. He didn’t teleport.
‘This must be a dream or a specific type of realm where one is stripped of any power. Or is it an illusion?’
He wondered as his gaze slowly lowered to his hands. They were red with glowing golden veins and nails, yet he couldn’t feel any of his powers.
“Where is the key to my treasure case?”
“……”
Cale paused, doubting his ears for a second before slowly raising his gaze toward the woman.
‘That question…’
A question that was meant to be playful he hadn’t heard in ages. A question that was between them, him and his mother alone. It was a sign of confirmation when one of them wasn’t sure of the other, which came to happen when Cale once curiously asked during one of their play times. They were laughing until he voiced the question with a bit of worry in his voice.
“What… should I do if someone disguised as Mommy? Or… what if a mage disguised as me and did something bad?”
Jour blinked and fixed her gentle yet observant eyes on her son, searching something over his unreadable yet innocent face.
“What makes this cute head of my lovely son wonder about such a scenario?”
She raised her eyebrows mischievously, poking the tip of his nose with her finger.
“Will you practice magic so you can use it next time we play?”
“…no, that’s cheating.”
“Your intrigued face just now said otherwise, crimson baby bird.”
She pinched his soft cheek, chuckling at his expression, which relaxed under her teasing. Cale babbled and explained that the question always seemed to occur whenever he learned about magic and its possible dangerous usages in his lessons, so he finally voiced it out.
“Aww, was my baby having nightmares of this?”
His mother teased back then, but she gently pulled him onto her lap, facing him with a smile in the way she usually did when she was about to have a serious conversation with him.
“How about we decide on a single question, a secret code between the two of us to confirm if that ever happens? We can’t use it in our games, though, so it stays as our little secret, hm?”
Her smile, with the sunlight casting down on her through the window behind her, in Cale’s eyes right then, was the most reassuring despite her looking as though she deeply understood her son’s worries and could envision a situation where they’d doubt each other at some point.
They never used the code until this very moment.
“……”
Cale observed her sharp, piercing eyes as she wore a meticulous smile, testing him. Cale blinked slowly, finding it baffling when she was the one doubting his identity instead of proving herself to him. The question, which was a secret agreement between the two of them, should’ve been enough to let his guard down and believe this was, indeed, his mother. However, Cale found himself unable to relax, untrusting.
“A son can’t truly be the treasure of a mere identical front of his mother.”
He claimed, slightly tilting his head and offering an empty smile that didn’t reach his sharp eyes. There are all sorts of tricks the powers of the likes of the Initial Inhabitants or gods could pull off, and this could easily be one of them. Wouldn’t it be easy to dig in Jour Thames’s or his memories and know of this little secret? Jour Thames standing there could still be nothing but a perfect illusion.
Jour’s smile twitched, breaking her composure for a split second at the unexpected, reassuring, yet bitingly cold answer. Her smile fell into a hurt one, eyes warmly looking at Cale as if finally recognizing him.
“You seem to know where my key and treasure are at.”
“……”
‘…can an illusion be this accurate?’
Cale’s heartbeat quickened at those deeply loving eyes looking directly at him, finally lowering all her guard around him. The woman looked and behaved exactly like his mother, clenched her hands in a way as if she was holding herself back from running to engulf him in a heartfelt hug or open her arms wide, asking him to give her a hug she missed for so long. A reluctance that wasn’t of fear or doubt but of understanding.
“You shouldn’t be here, baby fireball. What are you doing in such a place?”
“……”
Something in her words stung him. Cale maintained his expression, swallowing back a gasp at the nickname he hadn’t heard for what felt like forever. He opened his mouth, struggling to hide the edge in his voice.
“You sound like you’ve seen this place before.”
Contrary to his expectations, Jour Thames’ smile looked pleased, as though she was proud of her son for seeing right through her.
“I can’t deny it isn’t my first visit.”
“……”
Cale silently nodded along, seemingly not surprised, yet her confirmation stung even worse. His sharp eyes subtly softened despite the slight anger growing in him.
“Why are you standing so close to the edge?”
“Why, indeed…”
She calmly looked behind at the ocean with a distant look in her eyes. The image of her standing there, watching the death lying ahead with great familiarity, finally snapped something in Cale.
“You must jump?”
She looked back at him with questioning eyes, seeing clearly the subtle resentment in his eyes, which finally broke her composure as her smile faltered. She looked down at herself in a moment of thought, gently pulling the scarf wrapped around her delicate shoulders tighter as if she was getting cold under the windy weather.
“I just didn’t expect to stand here a second time and in this form.”
She raised her gaze when the silence stretched, finding a different expression on her son, this time as if the response slightly breached his doubt. Cale was slightly frowning, his cold smile nowhere seen as he carefully studied the woman before him, and she seemed to welcome the change, ready to wait patiently for as long as it took for him to reach his answer.
Cale asked, ignoring his hammering heart.
“Where is Hye Sun?”
The woman before him moved to push a long strand of her beautiful red hair behind her ear, smiling at him mischievously.
“Oh, so my precious son prefers I keep calling him uncle or, better, dad ?”
“I’m afraid you don’t have that sort of privilege.”
Despite the harsh response, her eyes brimmed with endless longing and love.
“Cale. Son. Uncle… I am here .”
Her eyes softened with the smile of someone guilty when his face fell into one of resignation, with all the walls he put up crumbling at once. His voice slightly shaking.
“…you’re here, you say…?”
Despite his sharp instincts crying for him to trust and believe the woman, Cale’s legs refused to move and hug her before she would disappear once more.
‘You can’t risk it, not anymore.’
Cale kept warning himself, clenching and unclenching his fists. His gaze slowly lowered to the side as he deflated, calming the turmoil within him.
“…haah,”
Sighing deeply as the tension was easily lifted from his heavy shoulders, he shook his head with a dim smile, turning around with his head helplessly nodding as he let his hands fall limply by his side.
“Go ahead and jump, I won’t look. Your decisions and reasons… will forever be very well respected and understood.”
He added with a quiet huff, his voice smooth with apparent exhaustion.
“…please make it painless on yourself… this time.”
He finished with a quiet voice, feeling light as if the weight of a huge boulder was lifted from his back at last. He was a tenacious person since the start, one who would fight all odds to get what he wanted, something people wouldn’t expect from someone who didn’t think twice before tarnishing his reputation for others’ sake. His stubbornness ignited from deep-engraved love and appreciation when it came to his mother. But he was also someone who quickly noticed when to stop, against all his efforts and wishes.
He was done with the tag game. He was done with surviving on a faint hope, done with clinging to empty promises. This was all he could ever sincerely offer. Cale’s exhausted, heavy legs dragged him away, away from the primary source of both his pain and strength.
His mistake was he clung too tightly onto people despite him putting distances for everyone’s sake. He clutched on, but especially to his mother, whom he thought would never reject him, would never misjudge him, never betray him. But she did all those, disguised in a sense of noble reason, a better future. Gone the promise of not hiding secrets, gone the truth of being her sanctuary, gone her trust in him for handling the truth as she exposed his annual time rings and only to him. Honest to say, the image of his mother had somewhat distorted into a scamming woman, eliciting a low laugh from within him. Perhaps Rok Soo was better suited to be Jour Thames’ son from the start.
Despite all the tumbles, Jour Thames was and still is one of his strengths. Despite her letting go of his hand multiple times and lying to him once or twice to head straight to her death, Cale still held on to his promises from his childhood that should be long forgotten. He never allowed himself to forget, reminding himself his mother deserved to be remembered. He never allowed his pain to erase her, and he knew all too well he would never let their moments go just to breathe better, to feel life flowing in his veins again.
This time, too, Jour Thames was standing near the edge, visibly prepared to let go and jump into the abyss, leading to her death under the ocean once and for all. Regardless of whether this was an illusion, Cale had finally met his limit. The line he was unsure of who had drawn, his mother or himself, or maybe both, was clear and harsh before his eyes. There was no longer any effort or pleading to make. Being stubborn would be foolish now. The kind of idiotic tenacity that would do no good to anyone but pour salt into reopened wounds.
He couldn’t recall since when the threads knotted to his fingers, which he always stared at with great care as if they were delicate and precious, had turned into a reason for his weakness, dragging him down like a leash around his neck.
‘…I suppose I was the one who refused to let go.’
Cale smirked, his head slightly nodding along with his quiet thoughts, reaching the cold truth. It’s he who willingly kept the leash that his loving parents introduced to him and kept by his side, free to leave it in place or obediently wear it. He was taught to love and give, to consider and understand, to reach and cling to something called a gem, a family. There was something twisted in how they taught him to love and care, to grow up with a noble heart. His loving parents carved the wisdom of nobility into his being, unintentionally creating a helpless person who couldn’t function at best for his own sake and rights.
‘I see… I’m finally done grieving your death.’
This numbing comfort in his heart was a confirmation that he was finally moving on.
‘Could you have taken any longer?’
He thought with a smirk, though he wasn’t reprimanding himself or his young self. He was more amazed than sarcastic. It took him long decades, jumping across dimensions, fighting all sorts of doubt, rejection and trouble, insistently trying his hardest until he called it quits. Until he could let go and look back with nothing but satisfaction and relief. Surprisingly or not so, acknowledging this destination wasn’t all too bad. He had gone to great lengths to make amends, so he had nothing to regret anymore.
A losing soldier wasn’t bad—one with pride and strength of not having betrayed anyone who clung to him once. There was a time when he blamed himself for things going south after meeting Choi Han, but he had long learned to go easy on himself, on the grieving child who had to grow up quickly and push himself within his capacity to think ahead of the adults around who could’ve done better but didn’t for whatever reasons.
His history wasn’t starkly clean. He was flawed with mistakes made, but he was very well aware that he had put his all into every step he took from a very young age, ensuring all sides except himself.
‘Let’s rest now.’
His heavy steps became lighter the farther he climbed the hill, away from the cliff, away from death. He got new promises to keep; his life wasn’t his alone. Maybe it was at some point when he was left alone with cut threads hanging loosely at his cold fingers during the war before meeting Tristan. Back then, he had no one who’d be affected by his death, no one he’d drive miserable if he ended his life, quite the opposite.
But now, Cale had many ribbons tightly knotted around his fingers and wrists.
He lightly waved his hand to his mother as he bid his farewell, his back to her from afar. It was time to let go of the promises he was not allowed to keep anymore. He had to return to Rok Soo, Olenth, and the rest, who were currently waiting for him.
Fwoosh…
A rush of wind brushed past him as he let his hand fall by his side, hauling along something familiar with a scent he could still recognize despite his lungs nearly forgetting it. Cale’s puzzled gaze followed the scarf as his feet stopped, watching it fly far away over the hill and disappear into the sky.
‘That…’
Though hesitant, his head turned without a second thought. Shock flashed over his face, and he instinctively turned his whole body around toward the woman, who was struggling yet insistently climbing the hill and following him with her fragile body.
“Wait for me, huff—I see you’ve grown into a lovely, naughty young man.”
Jour looked at him with a pant, pushing her long hair back and away from her face, lifting her dress with a determined look in her fierce eyes. A mischievous smile danced over her face.
“Jump into there when I can instead enjoy sky gazing in peace? I’m also tired of being held hostage like a doll in the dark. I need to talk to someone already. Who is a better chatterbox than my pouty son?”
“…careful—”
Cale’s feet shifted when she looked about to stumble.
“ Stop right there, cutie pie.”
He slightly flinched at the threatening tone, unsure why he was being scolded for wanting to help.
“Stay still and wait there. I’ll get to you in no time. You should have a taste of the days I had to wait for you to walk with your fat diaper to me.”
“……”
Cale couldn’t do anything but obediently stand in place, understanding too little of the situation to react or utter a word. He couldn’t even feel embarrassed at his childhood being mentioned in such a teasing manner. Besides, what kind of ludicrous comparison is this?
True to her words, Jour soon made it to stand before him with a huff, collecting her breath with light pats on her chest and her eyes closed, calming her accelerating heart. Looking as elegant as if she wasn’t fighting to climb a second ago, she opened her eyes and fixed her gaze on him with a daring smile, giving the impression she was about to smack his head. The uncharacteristic image wasn’t evoked from memory but rather from a certain hyung who had brainwashed him into thinking of such a scolding whenever the chance arose.
He slightly winced in startle and confusion when she, indeed, raised her hands.
“Uhm…?”
Instead, his cheeks were gently pinched, tugging his head down shortly so she could leave a peck on the tip of his nose and forehead. He wasn’t given time to react when Jour peppered him with kisses all over his face, the way she always did when he was a child. She finally let go after what felt like minutes and smiled at him.
“Mommy has upset her son for doing things without any clarification, but still come and save me this time, okay?”
“……”
She hummed in thought at the lack of response, glancing sideways.
“Or I’ll be reckless and rush to you this time? Maybe I’ll find my ways—”
“ Mom …”
The name slipped from him in a weak whine, almost begging her not to act recklessly anymore.
“Make up your mind. Do you prefer me as mother or daughter?”
“What…”
Cale kept blinking blankly at her teasing smile for a moment. Jour’s widening smile eventually made him laugh a bit, visibly satisfying her as if she had finally achieved what she wanted.
“Now carry me on your back so we both can rest and admire the sky. We don’t know when our break time is up, hm?”
“…sure.”
Cale quickly caved in, smiling warmly with a sigh. Turning around and sitting on one knee, he quickly did as told and carried her with ease, as she was too light even for his feeble body.
“There goes my strong, lanky son.”
“I’ll have you know I sacrificed my poor muscles for a good reason.”
He laughed along with her as she teasingly cheered for him all the way to the top of the hill. Cale stopped, realizing briefly that they were on a small, empty cliff island surrounded by oceans. Slightly out of breath, he carefully let her down.
“Mhmm… Yeah, here is much better.”
Cale watched her inhale deeply and immediately lay down on her back, closing her eyes with a content smile. After a moment, he silently lay on his back next to her.
“……”
Staring at the sky in the comfortable silence, Cale was taken aback when the tranquillity in his head was interrupted by a hand holding his. Looking to his left, he found his mother gazing at the sky with a relaxed smile. She held his hand a little tightly.
“I missed this peace… with my son and my uncle.”
“…you have both memories now.”
It was more a statement than a question, and she hummed in response. A look of nostalgia could be seen in her eyes.
“What’s your status?”
He finally forced the nagging question out, waiting for her as she closed her eyes for a moment, taking a breath with a smile he found unsettling. A smile his mother wore whenever she was thinking of hiding the truth from him, mainly for his sake. Despite the desperation gnawing at him, he waited patiently.
Her lips finally parted to offer him the answer.
“My soul is intact.”
His body stiffened at the ominous, vague answer he got instead. Her hand gently tightened around his, calming his nerves. She shifted to her side, pushing herself up to sit and stare down at him for a moment.
“Cale,”
She leaned in to rest her forehead on his, closing her eyes with a peaceful smile.
“Orla is someone you can trust, so you must ask her.”
Her words, barely above a whisper, felt like an enchantment as her long red hair laid down around his head like a veil, pulling him into a secure embrace and blanketing him from the world. Cale didn’t ask anything. All the questions were pushed to the back of his mind as he kept his eyes on his mother, carving the moment into his memory and basking in her presence.
Her smile slightly stretched as if she got the response she wanted to hear from him. Opening her eyes and drawing away a little to look at him.
“Where are the keys to my treasure case?”
She whispered the question from earlier again, watching him with overwhelmingly loving eyes instead this time. The slight change didn’t go unnoticed, and slowly, a smile was drawn on his face as he whispered his answer.
“Rok Soo and I, the keys and the treasure itself.”
Her eyes were brimming with so much adoration he couldn’t describe, and his vision gradually started changing with the sun above them growing brighter until everything turned white. Cale inhaled deeply, eyes calmly closing as his hand hung midair, the feeling of his mother’s soft, cold cheek and hair still lingering in his fingertips.
“Hmm, hm,”
Cale urged his aching eyelids and opened his eyes at the sound of a soft humming. He found himself back in the rose golden hall.
“……”
The humming stopped. He made an effort this time to shift his cumbersome body and look at the woman hovering in the air not too far from him with her overly long, light dress and hair reaching and lying across the spotless floor.
Orla—a stunning woman with eyes that looked cold and lonely, yet one look from her made him feel a sense of compassion. Her noticeable butterfly wings glowed beautifully, yet melancholy air surrounded their faint shimmering particles. The pattern on her charming wings almost resembled intricate maps.
She peered down at him with her chin resting on her delicate fingers, sitting with one elbow leaning on her knee as if she were on an invisible swing chair.
“Resisting the thirst of death. Just as I predicted, you’re worth the effort.”
He relaxed in his position, lying still in his seat as he watched her gracefully lean her head back, moving smoothly in the air as if spinning with her swinging chair. The sight of her dancing merrily with a soft tune from her flapping wings brought serenity to him. She kept humming along with her wings with a pleased tone while her face remained unresponsive.
Cale decided it wouldn’t hurt to be kind and respectful to this one.
“May I know what you require from me?”
After all, hardly any proclaimed god would be helping him without a price to pay. She simply glanced his way while spinning in her invisible seat, albeit slower now. Her long hair and dress swayed in spirals in a captivating manner. Cale found the action relaxing in a way.
“I’m merely paying back a favor for being saved once by your ancestor, as well as Tristan Battlesea for saving and looking after the last child of my race.”
She hummed the answer, her voice reaching his ears like soothing music.
“But also to rid myself of the old man’s nagging. I need to feed myself properly. I suppose once a father, always a father. He was a father to all, after all.”
“…is this about Emperor Arshavui?”
Cale mumbled curiously, his voice loud and echoing in the enormous hall. Orla softly hummed in response.
“I gain better strength by having people like you reach out to me and hand me their resolve so I can guide them toward their chosen destination. I feed on the tangled persistency eating at the souls of your likes, where threads of love and responsibilities are the ones leading instead of oneself, coveting and rejecting death all the same.”
She is a Lord who helps the lost find their way by their own decision with nothing to cloud their judgment, as she explained to Cale. While the God of Death seeks death, Orla drives the people in despair away from it.
“Most of them lose their destination to death anyway. Death is the most feared phenomena in life, yet it becomes the most enticing in the darkest days.”
“…is that why you rarely show yourself, as I heard?”
Her melancholic humming shifted to a pleased tune for a moment.
“Death is easy to obtain, but it’s not the answer to anguish. I may not feel like humans do, but it ought to tire me out to see them walk their paths to death, persistently choosing to wallow in weakness and covering their ears and eyes from many, many other paths ahead. It’s less troublesome when I carefully look for people who would almost never tear off the slimmest lifelines tying them down despite the choking tug, like yourself, for example.”
Her gaze was drawn back to the only redhead in the hall looking up at her.
“Did you help Jour Thames before?”
Her lips stretched the slightest bit as if she awaited the question.
“Once upon a time, when your mother was given the sight of futures through an artifact briefly before her death.”
Her movement slowed down to a stop, gradually descending to his level.
“Jour Thames was a mess before she made up her mind, and her decision was to live alongside you and your future brother. Consequently, I simply helped clear her mind so she could see the morally safest path.”
She closely observed Cale, who blankly faced the ceiling, seemingly in deep thought.
“Was she scared…?”
Cale never got the chance to ask God of Death about his mother and in what state she was before reaching the decision to sacrifice herself. Moreover, he always thought she had sort of communicated with the God of Death before her end, but apparently, that was false. God of Death must’ve watched her since she had made a Vow of Death at some point. He must’ve watched her closely and let her end herself so he could help reincarnate her and use it on her son later to strike the deal, specifically choosing someone from the Thames for reasons regarding Hunters and Cale’s knowledge of the Annual Rings of Life. It worked better since no one would realize Cale Henituse’s disappearance, so it all proceeded very well for him in the end.
“She was devastated about the truth, whether past or future. She was torn between choosing to fix the crimes her family had caused and staying by her son’s side.”
Cale was about to turn to Orla when she hovered closer, looking down at him.
“I assume you know the Thames family split up long ago to follow different purposes. Though you probably don’t know that some of them willingly helped to test on and ruin Colvyr World, killing Kaitlyn before Jensen Heart’s eyes using his own spirits and leading to the downfall of the entire Heart family. Jour Thames was offered the truth of everything in a matter of a moment, came with it the discovery that her son wasn’t really hers when his rightful former mother has long reincarnated in this world.”
“……”
His lips twitched in a choked gasp. His eyes shook at the truth introduced to him. His mother, discovering everything and unable to tell anyone, was forced to take it all and choose her next move on short notice. How did she react? Was she in so much pain before coming to a decision? Did she think of relieving herself from the pain by committing suicide?
‘…did Norbert give her the artifact?’
Norbert was the only one who had missed God of Death’s notice in the past, so did the man approach Jour Thames early on to proceed with the plan he had long discussed with Emmitt and probably Everette?
‘She wasn’t looking for a better future… she was looking at a future with me and Rok Soo, together with all the Heart family.’
Cale thought in silence as realization dawned on him, calming his mind while Orla waited, casually tapping her cheek with her finger.
“Where is mom?”
“……”
“What is her state?”
Orla hummed, calmly moving to lean her elbows on her thigh, eyes turning sharp as if this was what she was aiming for from the start.
“I’ll share five secrets with you, kid.”
Cale listened intently with his eyes closed as she stroked his hair softly, not expecting to hear a secret regarding others aside from his mother, like Alver’s mother, for example.
“That’s all I can tell you.”
“…greatly appreciated.”
He smiled with a hum in the end, unable to open his eyes when she let go.
“Am I a pleasant Lord?”
Cale remained silent as he found the curious question too random, but he huffed a chuckle.
“I can say I definitely prefer you more than God of Death.”
“Good, so the old man will have nothing to complain about when I see him after this. But please don’t compare me and the old man with the greedy Lords you know of.”
He huffed in a chuckle when she came to pat his head again as a reward. Her voice held a bit of life as she sounded pleased and maybe fond when she added next.
“Bear the pain a little longer. It will all be over soon since your soul is much at ease now.”
The delicate touch on his head vanished before Cale could process her words.
It took him less than a split second to know that he was sent back into reality, straight into the silent hellish pain, but this time, he bore it readily, even if he still felt like tearing off his skin and escaping his motionless body and its disturbingly heavy bones. Unlike before, he was now numb to the silent screams through his ears that felt like they reached and scratched every fiber in his body.
However, he suddenly felt a calming sensation, lulling the silent shrieks in his head into quiet whimpers with a throbbing following after, which sent his head into a different wave of dizziness than the sickening mix of all kinds of bright colors in vision while his eyes were forced close.
As if reading the distraught within his motionless body, the calming sensation spread to every corner, helping to somewhat subside everything unpleasant he felt while unable to move or cry.
His ears started catching a distinct voice amidst the throb in his head and body.
-Haah… why is it like a war in this body?
‘……’
-What’s this black… are his bones metallic now? What the fuck is this…?
‘…black metal bones…?’
-………
‘Ah… my brain can finally breathe a little… I suppose…’
-Cale…? Can you hear me?
Cale recognized the voice.
‘I can… hyung.’
Cale would’ve smiled if he could. It sounded like Rok Soo had been trying to reach him with his new aura using their linked plates for a while now.
‘…did you miss me so bad you couldn’t sit still and relax your abilities?’
-Look at this punk joking in this menacing state, hah…
Cale mentally chuckled at his sighing brother.
‘Do I look… that scary on the outside?’
-What are you talking about? You look even more beautiful than Dragons now.
‘Sorry, huh…?’
Why is Rok Soo exaggeratedly praising his looks? Does he look so horrible that Rok Soo can’t help but flatter him to make him feel better?
-Looks like you’ll soon open your eyes.
Is his hyung trying to change the topic now? Oh, well…
‘How long was I asleep…?’
-It’s been a whole week.
‘…where are you now?’
-Next to you?
‘Alright… Where am I?’
-Next to me.
‘…why can’t I get anything from your voice?’
Cale couldn’t read any thoughts or feelings from Rok Soo’s voice through his ability, which was odd since the shrieking had calmed down and was mostly gone.
-Arshavui taught me something using his power and this link between us. I can prevent you from using your abilities on me, and I’m the only one who can lift your arm now. Your weight doesn’t affect my body much.
Cale was about to ask why Rok Soo, the slacker-life addict, would put an effort to block his ability from unintentionally spying on his thoughts, but his attention was suddenly shifted to the other matter for now…
‘…wait, do you mean not even objects or earth could carry me?’
-Hah, forever curious, aren’t you?
Rok Soo just confirmed with his sigh that he was, indeed, trying to avoid his question from earlier.
-Your body crushed the ground a few days ago while transforming, and we’re now about more than 50 meters underground. I’m supporting your body with my Ancient Power. Just focus on resting now, Cale.
‘Excuse me?’
Cale was, in fact, completely at a loss for words.
However, he was suddenly hit with devastating sharp pain, specifically in his brain, making him fall into immediate silence as he was unable to shiver even or hiss.
Rok Soo’s voice was quickly driven to the furthest back in his mind under the utter loss of all his senses like a flash.