In the shadowy corners of my mind, where I had once excelled at revealing other's lives, a chilling darkness engulfed me, replacing the warmth from the expected mind of Aldrich. Disoriented, lost, I searched for some semblance of familiarity but found none.

"Something's wrong," I whispered into the void, feeling the words dissipate, leaving a cold emptiness in their wake. The darkness seemed to smile, mocking my confusion.

Then, the sound of rain began, soft at first, but soon growing into something more sinister. It whispered to me, voices hidden within the sound of phantom droplets falling. "Rain? Voices? In Aldrich's mind?" I murmured, my voice trembling, dread wrapping around my heart.

The whispers intensified, twisting and turning into recognizable shapes and sounds. They began to taunt me with my failures and fears, each word a needle pricking at my conscience. "This isn't right," I stammered, my hands shaking as I traced the symbols to sever the connection. The symbols faded, refusing to obey, leaving me trapped, my fear growing.

"No!" I shouted defiantly at the rain's whispers, feeling a spark of hope. "I've moved past this! You can't control me!" My heart pounded, determination replacing my earlier fear. I focused, concentrating all my energy, attempting to push back against the voices, to silence them.

But the rain was relentless, and its whispers began to coalesce into more distinct voices. They recounted specific moments of my deceitful past, each word a cold judgment. "Remember the families you ruined?" they hissed. "The trust you betrayed? The lies?"

I felt the room spin, the voices closing in, the whispers becoming shouts. Tears welled in my eyes as I stumbled back, but I fought, screaming back at the tormenting rain, refusing to succumb.

"You're wrong!" I yelled, rage mixing with fear. "I've changed! I'm not that person anymore!"

But the rain continued, each drop a reminder of my sins, each word a hammer blow. The terror grew, the whispers turning to screams, the rain a torrent of accusations.

"Remember the secrets you stole? The lives you destroyed?" the voices shrieked.

I felt my resolve crack, my strength waning. My hands trembled as I formed the hand signs again, my once-strong will now crumbling.

"This isn't real. It can't be real," I choked out, but the voices laughed, cruel and knowing. "Oh, but the guilt is real, Aeona. The fear is real. The shame is real. And we know it all."

Defeated, broken, I collapsed to the ground, the laughter of the rain echoing in my ears, the darkness victorious.

The whispers stilled, the rain's cruel torment muted, all replaced by a presence so profound that it silenced even my pounding heart. Above, a red star burned through the darkness, not merely shining but radiating with a force that was almost palpable.

It was as if the star held dominion over the very fabric of this shadowy realm. Its red light didn't simply pierce the gloom; it commanded it, transforming the sinister whispers into reverent silence. Every drop of rain seemed to bow before its glow, reflecting its crimson might.

My eyes were fixed, not by choice but by a compulsion that resonated deep within me. The star was not just a beacon in the dark; it was power incarnate, a pulsating heart of something vast and unfathomable.

"What are you?" The words slipped from my lips, a plea, a supplication to something greater than myself. The star seemed to hear, its light throbbing in response, reaching out to me with a pull that was both terrifying and sublime.

The fear, the guilt, the very fabric of my identity were dwarfed before this celestial enigma. It was as if the star was a key, unlocking a door to something beyond the mere play of human emotions and memories.

I stood, mesmerized, no longer a manipulator but a supplicant, drawn towards a truth that was both beautiful and dreadful. The darkness and the rain had been but gatekeepers to this moment, this communion with a force that defied understanding.

The rain now played a symphony, each drop a note in harmony with the red star's inexorable pull. I knew then that I was not merely observing; I was a part of something greater, something that transcended the bounds of my own existence.

I lingered, lost in that crimson gaze, feeling small yet connected, fearful yet enthralled. The red star was not just a mystery to be solved; it was a testament to a power that transcended all I had known, a promise of something more.

The red star's enigmatic allure lingered, but a new sound began to weave through the rain's symphony. A voice, soft and distant, echoing with a power that sent a chill down my spine.

"Alessandra Veyr," it intoned, the name itself an unearthly shock that jolted me from the star's hypnotizing gaze.

Alessandra Veyr. My real name. A name I hadn't heard spoken in years, a name I had hidden and buried. Aeona was a construct, a mask I wore to escape my past. But now, here in this otherworldly place, it had been unearthed by something... divine?

The red star dimmed, as if humbled by the voice's presence.

"Alessandra Veyr," it resonated again, the words rich with an emotion that seemed almost holy. Was it judgment? Mercy? Command?

"Who are you?" I stammered, my voice reduced to a terrified whisper. "How do you know that name?"

The rain danced around me, untouched by my terror. The voice offered no answers.

I tried to form the hand signs to sever the connection, to flee from this sacred space, but my hands were paralyzed, trembling before the unseen deity.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

"Who are you?" I screamed, a futile cry against the omnipotent unknown. "What do you want from me?"

The voice fell silent, leaving only the divine echo of my name and a gnawing sense that I had been touched by something far beyond my understanding.

The rain continued its ceaseless fall, each drop a reminder of the mystery unraveling around me, the red star a distant god bearing witness to my unraveling sanity.

The silence was heavy, charged with unspoken understanding, when the voice spoke again, its tone tempered with curiosity rather than judgment.

"Tell me of your job, Alessandra Veyr," it asked softly. "Tell me of green sprouting, and how you came to grasp such power."

The words were confusing, a mix of concepts and terms I'd never encountered before. Job? Green sprouting? I felt a fresh wave of panic, but there was something in the voice that encouraged me to be honest.

"I—I don't know what you mean," I stammered, my voice filled with trepidation. "I don't know what job you're referring to, or green sprouting. Please, forgive my ignorance. I will answer if you guide me."

I fell to my knees in the rain, my hands pressed to the empty ground as I humbled myself before this unseen entity.

"Your power, Alessandra Veyr," the voice clarified, not unkindly. "How did you acquire the ability to manipulate minds through herbs and plants a like, to see the unseen through them?"

My heart raced, a blend of shame and fear gripping me. This voice knew me, knew my secrets.

"I stole it," I admitted, tears blurring my vision. "I stole a manual, learned what it taught. I used it to become something else, to leave behind my old life. I became Aeona."

A thoughtful silence stretched, filled only by the patter of the rain.

The voice seemed to pull back, leaving me alone with my thoughts and the unrelenting rain. The red star continued to shine above, a celestial guardian that I dared not take my eyes from, fearing that the whispers would come back to haunt me. Praying to be free from this place, I knew that my interaction with this mysterious voice was far from over.

My admission hung heavy in the air as the rain continued its endless descent. The voice then spoke a name, a name that sent a jolt through me.

"Madame Seraphina Verity," it said, its tone even but filled with hidden meaning. "The owner of the manual you stole, hidden away in the depths of the Veyrwood Forest, watched over by an old crone who was more than she seemed."

My mouth went dry, and I could only nod, terror and astonishment mingling within me. How did it know these details? How could it know the precise circumstances of my theft, the exact identity of the owner, and the location of the manual?

"Yes," I finally whispered, my voice almost lost amid the rain. "Yes, that's true. How you know this, almighty one?" I flattered.

"Things don't line up..." the voice muttered cryptically, ignoring my questions and continuing in a thoughtful, otherworldly tone. "I played the game, I took that manual before and became a green sprouting in one of my playthroughs. But this time, it's different. It's too early for someone to take it. Someone has interfered with the timeline, altered the events, or... perhaps how the events were supposed to play out, and the developers changed the storyline..."

A chill ran down my spine, the words sinking into me, not just confusing but profoundly unsettling. The voice spoke of games, playthroughs, timelines—words that were alien, beyond the comprehension of mere mortals. These were not terms from my world, nor any world I knew. They were utterances of gods, secrets of creation, whispered in a language that should not be understood.

"What does that mean?" I asked, my voice trembling, feeling as though I was standing on the edge of a chasm that was too deep to fathom. "What's happening? What's a green sprouting?" I could sense that these were not questions meant for human minds, that I was probing into a realm that I was not meant to enter.

"Questions, always questions," the voice said, almost annoyingly. "Does anyone else know who you really are, who you were before you came known as Aeona?" the voice asked, its tone suddenly sharpened, probing.

I hesitated for a moment before answering, fear and confusion warring within me. "Targon," I whispered, the name of my childhood friend who had saved me, who had allowed me to take refuge in the village. "I was on the run, and he sheltered me after not seeing him for so many years."

The voice seemed to consider this, and I could almost feel its unseen gaze weighing me, measuring my worth. "You were unexpected," it finally said, a note of intrigue in its tone. "A divergence from the pattern, a wild card, perhaps. What is to come may be shaped by your existence, in ways even I cannot foresee."

I shivered at the words, the sense of destiny and uncertainty they carried. What did it all mean? What did the voice see in me?

After a long, heavy pause, the voice spoke again, its tone firm, authoritative. "Do not speak of this conversation to anyone, Aeona. Pretend that nothing happened."

A sense of finality settled over me, a door closing on a strange and terrifying experience. What had I learned? What had been revealed? The questions lingered, unanswered, as I was left to ponder the enigma of the voice, the red star, and the path that lay before me.