Chapter Six

The Start of a Second Chance– Part One.

Wind in a tunnel. The sound of something pounding. Light whooshing past, overwhelming. Sensory overload brutally drilled into Aelius over and over. Tingling at his fingertips that grew into fire pouncing up his arms, was the least of what he cried out over.

And then, in an instant, it was all over. Aelius’ brown eyes snapped open as he gasped for air.

The warm glow of sunlight, for a split second, was like a concussive flash bang, making his head pound and pound in pain. But thankfully, it quickly subsided and Aelius’ frantic breaths calmed down.

His blurry vision started to turn clear. His ringing ears slowly but surely recovered, gradually picking up more and more of the sound from around him. First, was his harsh, panting breath; an exhausted breath huffing and puffing from the arduous ordeal he just experienced. Second, were the whispers. And snickers.

He found a strange sight before him. He was on his knees, looking down. His pale hands stood out to him at first. They looked smaller, softer, and completely devoid of all the battle scars and sword-wielding calluses he was proud of.

Then, was the scattered pile of books. They lay fallen over the wooden floor with some titled after Spiritualism, Alchemy, basic Mana theory, geography, and various other key words that Aelius would have found interesting once upon a time. A long time ago.

But he hasn’t needed to read a book on Spiritualism in years. Nor is a book on basic Mana theory of any consequence to him. So what were they doing here?

“Look, he’s completely frozen,” a girl’s voice cut above the rest and mocked him.

“Yeah,” a snicker responded. Aelius looked up to find the gossiping culprits, standing at the front of the crowd of students surrounding him. “Oh, he’s looking this way. Awkward.”

Aelius paid no attention to their words, but the emblem on their uniforms… impossible.

He heard a ruffle from in front of him and turned back, seeing a familiar sight. A familiar hair of light blue, a familiar pair of delicate hands reaching down to gather the books.

“Are you not going to pick them up?” A familiar, soft and gentle voice. A familiar, golden pair of eyes cutting deep into his soul.

“A-Aria…?” Before him, the teenage Aria laboured away at the fallen books. Her eyes met him, and for a split second, she froze. “Aria…” Aelius reached out, but she backed away. She abandoned the books where they lay, her breath becoming uneven. She almost stumbled, straight into her group of friends.

“Come on, let’s get outta here and leave that nerd alone,” the group of toxic schoolgirls pulled Aria away. She glanced one last time over her shoulder at him. He almost caught a glimpse of… fear?

And then he was left to his own devices once again. He heard the group mocking him as they faded away down the corridor. Mockery aimed at his incompetence, his lineage, his family, and most of all, how he didn’t belong here.

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What is going on!? Aelius sprung to his feet and took off, ignoring all the surprised looks, the perplexed looks, and the amused looks on the faces of the surrounding students.

He found an exit and broke out into the courtyard, coming to a standstill on the grass in shock. Around him, the sun warmly shone down on the Academy. The buildings glowed with gold and majesty in the rays. The orange and auburn trees painted a scene straight out of a fantasy.

There was no doubt about it. This was the Academy. Aelius spotted the courtyard pond off to the side and ran up to it, short-breathed already from this little amount of physical exertion. After sliding down onto his knees, he peered out over the water, into his reflection.

No more tired eyes. No more big black bags under eyelids. No more scar running up his left eye, or forehead. He was… young. Incredibly young! Either only 15, or 16 years old.

This could only mean one thing. “I’ve… returned?”

*

The Goddess Stecia was hailed and worshipped on Sacrescha by the Churches of Light as the Goddess of Fate and Time. On the fateful day Alea died, Aelius felt the power of fate when Stecia told him that ahead of him awaited a harsh destiny.

Now, it appears he’s gotten to experience the ‘Time’ side of ‘Fate and Time’, having returned from the age of 25 to the age of 16 and 1 month.

Aelius gazed at his reflection in the waters, until he felt rage overwhelm him. He sprung to his feet and turned to the sky, a vein popping up from beneath his skin.

“Damn you, Stecia! Damn you! How could you!? How could you do this to me? After everything. How dare you!” he shouted at the sky.

Some flustered students passing by looked at him uncomfortably. “Whoa, looks like he’s finally lost it.”

“I would’ve too ages ago, if I was being bullied like that.”

But Aelius paid them no heed. Through the angry breaths blowing out his flaring nostrils, his mind continued to spiral out of control with angry thoughts.

After the hellish life he lived. After the sacrifice he made. After all the ones he lost. After everything he tried to do to save the world, but couldn’t change fate at all. He fails.

And what? She just sends him back to start all over.

It’s not fair. He’s tired. He doesn’t deserve this. He just wants to rest. She won’t even leave him alone in death. What did he do to deserve this?

Just as Aelius was looking around him for something to punch, he heard a voice he had not heard in a long time.

“Good golly, what is all this commotion you are causing, Aelius?” An old woman’s voice exclaimed. Aelius turned with pursed lips to find a still youthful and spirited Headmaster Polia approaching with her cane.

But all he could see was her body covered in blood, and her lifeless eyes. Then he snapped out of it. This Polia was still perfectly alive.

“You were meant to come to my office, but instead I find you screaming your head off in the courtyard,” she remarked.

“...Right.” Aelius couldn’t even remember he was meant to go to her office. After all, how many years had it been since this day? And he doesn’t even know which day this was.

“We have some very important guests today, you know. It’s not the time to be losing your mind.” She stepped aside, revealing two figures and Aelius’ eyes widened.

The pure-white uniform. The golden silk tracing. The embroiled emblem. The blonde hair. The beautiful smile. Aelius remembered them all too vividly.

“A-A…” Alea, his breath caught in his throat.

Opposite him, the elven Holy Knight shyly tucked a strand of hair behind her hair, giving him a sheepish smile. “H-hello?”