Oracion's POV

"Doesn't look like you're doing too good?" He questions as if not able to see my current state.

'It can't be him' I think to myself, reluctant to even try to entertain the voice.

"I could probably help, just like I used to when you were growing up?" He asks, but I ignore it. "You were clumsy as a child, you know that? Bumping into everything, tripping over anything...ha" He laughs as I tighten my grip on Ira's leg.

"You still there bud?" He asks again.

I want to respond, I do. But at this point, I don't think I even can. The snow from outside felt like rocks against my skin and the tomb surrounding me feels like boulders, 'I'm better off freezing to death in here.' I try to reason with myself.

I can barely make out the crunching of snow as something walks around outside, "You're strong, that's something everyone knows for certain. Right?" He continues talking. "But every now and again, I see something in you that nobody else can. Or should I say...you've shown nobody else?"

The footsteps stop just in front of where I'm facing, "You're weak when you have no reason to continue, isn't that right? It's almost as if you want to die in those moments. It's almost like you don't want to even be here in the first place, like you *need* someone else's permission to even exist."

Whether it's him, or it isn't. Using his voice like this...saying those words to me, it hurts. "Look at you, giving up when a little bit of weight is put on top of you." He sighs as if disappointed, circling my mound of snow. "We'll I've got some happy news for you, if you haven't already made sense of your situation." He scoffs.

"You'll die this time, Oracion." He puts bluntly. "Your name carries a lot, both within the Veil and outside of it. As many praises as it'll give you, you'll lose just as much." He explains. "There's things that hate you or even love you for who you are. But then things that envy what you have, whether it be power, recognition or even just your life. They'll kill you for it, and I think only now you're beginning to grasp that."

He pauses, giving me time to think to myself as a lot of sentences and questions string through my mind, almost to where I can't even hear the snow anymore. But none of them are glaring at me as hard as one simple word, "W-h-y?" I barely speak out to the voice.

Just as I finish, an arm bursts through the snow. Extending out to me as if knowing exactly where I am. Even despite my hesitations, I grab it knowing that it was my last chance to do anything. "Because you're my brother" He answers me as me and Ira are pulled out of the mound and back into the beating snow.

I look around, trying to find Aeron. The footprints in the settled snow quickly being reverted as it's filled in. I shuffle myself, trying to find my footing as I look ahead back to where I saw the castle. And whether it be delusions or just wishful thinking, I could of sworn I saw his eyes, ever so slightly guiding me towards that direction.

'He's alive' The other voices return as I not so graciously place Ira along my back.

'Quite the monster' They snicker at me.

I look down, not wanting to know the true distance between me and the castle. Instead focusing on my two bare feet, losing their colour and dyeing to purple. My arm, bruised and following suit as the snow sinks in like a bullet, throwing itself against me with the intention of death.

'Do you think he likes it?' One asks.

"I-do-n't-" I respond.

'Then why keep going, clearly there's something inside you that gets some kind of rush out of this?' Another one asks.

"I do-n't" I answer again.

'Then drop dead, Oracion.' A new one laughs.

All I have to do...is ignore them. 'Walk. Walk. Walk. Walk. Carry yourself. You promised Requis. So. Walk.' I repeat to myself over and over, trying to desperately think over the voices that are speaking directly into my head.

My bruises begin to open as blood trickles out and onto the snow, leaving a trail as I gradually move along. 'Don't focus on it, you don't need all of it. You just need enough to get you there. Ignore. The. Wound. You won't be of any use to anyone if you care about yourself that much. Move.'

They're still speaking, I can hear them. Their voices panning in and out of my mind as they take turns amongst themselves. Taking turns to humiliate me, taking turns to mock and insult me. "I-ca-n't...he-ar...y-o-u" I speak out loud.

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My words pausing their whispers and giving me a brief peace of mind. Even though I wouldn't dare look up in this snowstorm, I can see it. My blood trailing along the snow, flowing through it more and more until red replaces the white in both the land and the sky. The once white pieces of snow, now glistening a crimson glow.

'Blood is a liquid that remembers...Ice remembers, but do you?' They all ask me in unison as the bloodied snow turns into a sheet of red within the sky, copying the appearance of none other than the Veil.

I drag myself through it as the snow takes the shape of those people within the village. Shocked, scared, 'From what?' I think to myself. Curiosity getting the better at me as I follow their line of sight, noticing the Veil behind me remaining cracked open as different Shadows appear from it. Their usual darkened texture replaced with the snow as they all run past me, jumping onto the human shaped snow as they stay there, frozen and helpless.

They all trail beside me, only advancing the further I get into the village. Leaving none but one of the humans standing. A man in the middle with a height greater than my own, his hands shaped like claws but his face as blank as an empty canvas. His design looks rushed, incomplete...forgotten if anything. I walk up to him, hoping to get past him as easy as the others but he slides in the way of my path.

"M-o-ve." I speak to him, attempting to go past him again but he holds up one of his clawed hands as if trying to defend against me going any further into my home...his home.

Again and again I try to outsmart or side step him but in this state, I simply can't.

I can feel myself becoming more and more frustrated as time passes, my bloodied arm already numb and my body's gradually giving up on me. "M-ove, Adam!" I shout as loud as my icy lungs would allow. Surprising myself as something ignites within me, a memory I've long supressed for reasons I don't even know.

His red figure smiles before crumbling into nothing more than a pile of snow that's brushed away along with the scarlet blizzard. Allowing me to continue as I trod onward with Ira still along my back. Reaching further within the Village where everything's misplaced, not in the format that I've always known it to be. 'Misplaced isn't the word I'm looking for' I think to myself as I reach the edge of the other side of the Veil. Looking back at my misremembered home once more, 'That isn't the word I want either' I correct myself.

I stare...waiting for it to click into place...'Outdated.' I answer just before walking into the vermillion dyed Veil. Sighing a piece of relief as I reach the front steps of the castle, taking one last look at the terrain I passed through.

Turning just as one final whisper sounds out through my head, 'So you...do remember?' They all ask, returning the world back to white as snow continues to fall.

As I try carrying myself up the stairs I realised my first mistake, one that I'm unable to take back. I relaxed myself, untensing for a second and causing my body to fail me as I kneel against the stone and Ira's weight shifts off of me.

I expect to hear a little bit of a thud with his body falling, but instead hear the soft taps of his shoes. "Thanks, but I'll take it from here." His speaks with his newly conscious state, grabbing me by the back of my collar and carrying me up, uncaring that my face is just barely grazing the chipped stone.

He opens the giant doors with ease, practically kicking it in as if he's lived here his entire life. He's greeted by an immediate red haze that flows around him. We both inhale it...having two entirely different reactions as I recognise it to be blood. "I-ra...wa-it" I try talking to him as he continues to drag me, completely ignoring my grunts of pain while he nonchalantly speeds ahead.

The grand entrance having two opposing staircases and between them sits yet another double sided door. He pauses, inhaling with a smile as if searching for something before abruptly starting up again.

He again, kicks it down, sending two guards flying into the walls ahead of us that cause the castle to shake. I have no room to complain as the heat from the unnecessary chandeliers are warming my skin back up.

"Eerrraaaagooon-" He sings through the halls, turning again and again but seemingly not getting lost. My attention drawn towards his healing body.

All of a sudden my body's lifted as we're both slammed against a wall, forcing Ira to let me go. I roll over on my back, now looking up at the two but Ira seems unbothered.

"And you got permission from who?" A man hisses, licking his fangs as he tenses his grip across Ira's throat.

His sadistic smile grows even wider as he tilts his head past the vampire to instead look at me, "Say, Oracion. Is this how it feels to be you?" he laughs.

I look away from Ira as I now focus on the head rolling between my legs, I'd say I blinked...but that would of been a lie. No sound, no blood, it wasn't done out of hate or anger. "C'mon, pal." He grabs me by the collar again, continuing to drag my beaten body.

"Ah! Here it is" He cheers.

Something changes, whether it be the air or the very space itself. But something's telling me to not open that fucking door. "I-RA!" I try shouting but his ego's getting the better of him.

He leans his foot against it, "Is this how you feel after killing all those Shadows? After killing Mael!?" His eyes briefly dye a light crimson before setting back to normal, kicking the door in and ending up in none other than the throne room.

"Eraag-" His voice cuts off, replaced by the sound of a slow thudding beside me.

"Ira?" I ask throughout the overly quiet room, not wanting to get up and make my thoughts become reality.

"Ira?" I lean against my elbow, barely able to turn myself to face his body lying flat downward.

A man begins to speak as I crawl my way over to Ira, attempting to place myself around him in a protective nature. "You're...?" He asks.

"Lik-e you gi-ve a fuck" I answer, trying to figure out what's wrong with Ira.

"You're right, I don't." He corrects himself as a searing pain shoots through my shoulder, tilting me onto my knees as I'm forced to look up at the man. His legs crossed with a single finger pointing towards me, connecting a crystallised stake of blood that's piercing my body. "You have my brother's blood, I can smell it. Give it. To me." He orders.

Along the trails of things racing through my mind, all I can currently focus on is my own beating heart as the true reality sings itself to me. 'I'm supposed to kill him...like this?'