Chapter Seven

The Start of a Second Chance– Part Two.

Of course. Aelius was kicking himself. Of course! Of course, if he had come back in time, that means that everyone who died was back to life. Including Alea…

There she stood, so young, so bright-eyed, so… alive. At this point, he hadn’t seen her face for years. Not since the day she had died horribly.

She had been dead in his timeline for so long, he almost forgot she was even alive in the first place.

Aelius’ breath caught in his throat as they stood opposite each other. She tilted her head curiously, blinking at him.

“Hello?” she repeated with a raised brow as he stared. Between the two of them, Headmaster Polia’s eyes darted back and forth with perplexion.

Aelius realised he was staring, his mind racing through a million conflicting thoughts. He can’t look at her face without recalling the horrible sight that traumatised him. He can’t speak to her and act like he hasn’t seen what he’s seen– her gruesome death, and what was yet to come.

Yet to come? Aelius looked down at his hands. If he’s travelled back to the past then it would mean that… it’s gone.

Aelius closed his eyes and his mind retreated into his inner-self, exploring his cores but found… nothing. Everything was gone.

His Nine Star Core, gone. His Aura Core, gone. And additionally, the Holy Core, the power he was given by Stecia, gone.

That meant that the Alea standing before him right now… everything’s been reset back to the way it was meant to be. She has Stecia’s power coursing through her body right now, and that means that Aelius no longer has it.

He can’t use Stecia’s power to kill them anymore. But it’s okay. If today is the day he remembers, then there are still 3 years until Alea dies. That’s 3 years for Aelius to get stronger without relying on Stecia’s power.

I won’t be your lap dop anymore, he thought to himself coldly.

Though his fists were clenched, a false smile crept onto his face.

“Hi. My name is Aelius. Nice to meet you. What’s your name?”

“I’m Alea.”

*

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Alea was just as Aelius remembered. Bright and dazzling. She radiated a warm glow, like the sun herself.

It was no coincidence that she saved his wretched self in his past life. When he was at his lowest, and the path ahead lay dark and full of unknowns, one encounter with her left Aelius forever looking to her as his beacon.

But now, he is no longer that same, lost boy.

“Aelius…?” Headmaster Polia’s voice snapped him out of his deep thoughts, and with a blink, he looked up.

“What?”

Before the small group, Headmaster Polia’s gate was already summoned and ready to be stepped through.

“You recall your task today, yes? You seem a little dazed,” the grandmother-like existence asked him with genuine concern, but for a moment, she was met with a sharp gaze from him.

Until his face softened and he smiled. “Of course. I’m summoning Spirits for Alea, and…” Aelius looked over his shoulder. “Quarren Leos.”

Quarren Leos. Oh, what a twisted fate. For them to meet again like this. Aelius turned away, eyeing the Holy Knight up in the corner of his gaze. You’re lucky. As soon as I regain my powers, you’re the first one I’ll kill.

“Very well, through you go then,” Headmaster Polia gestured and Aelius stepped through, wary of the man behind him.

He’ll never forget what Quarren Leos did to him. What he took from him. Who he took from him. The sheer rage he felt. The hatred. He’ll pay it all back double, just like his grudge against the Skals and their masters.

*

Whoosh. Wind danced around Aelius and Alea just like it had in his first life.

The incredible phenomenon that occurs in the atmosphere as a result of a Royal Spirit’s descent, Aelius was witnessing once again.

The familiar sight of Gaia’s silhouette manifested from the portal before them in the sky. Behind them, once again Headmaster Polia was watching with a dropped jaw. Quarren was indifferent behind them. And as for Alea, she was captivated by the beautiful display of nature’s power.

Gaia’s misty feet touched onto the grass and around them flowers bloomed from nothing. Her eyes, merely two green glowing orbs, turned to Aelius and and he saw her face scowl in disgust.

Why have you called me here, mortal? You dare seek my audience, knowing of your accursed status? a voice rang out in all of their heads, to which Aelius only rolled his eyes.

“Yeah, yeah,” he dismissed her outrage. “Here, you have a contractor,” he gestured to Alea before stepping back.

And once again, just like in his first life, Alea took the interest of Spirit Queen Gaia, and successfully formed a pact with her.

The same went for Quarren Leos, though Aelius purposefully summoned him a low-tier crappy Spirit and then indirectly mocked him by making an offhand remark saying, ‘this must be all your affinity amounts to. Such a shame’.

Though annoyingly, Headmaster Polia’s astute gaze noticed the differences between the summoning circles that Aelius drew up for Alea and Quarren.

He got some questions about it, but unlike his past, timid self, he simply dismissed the Headmaster’s questions, and went about his way.

The time came once again for Aelius to watch Alea leave out the school gates from his room window. He watched with a conflicting sense of bitter-sweetness.

“In three years time, I promise I’ll be there to save you.” He clenched his fists.

Maybe, Alea is his salvation. His redemption. In his first life, everything went wrong beginning from her death. Perhaps if this time she survives, humanity can be saved.

Maybe, he can change fate this time around. Maybe, she’s the key to it all.