-Chapter Fifty-Three-

A New Future - Part Three

“We’re going to miss you Aria-”

“Wahhhhh don’t go!”

“Noooooooo-”

The cries and sobbing of the children could be heard anywhere in the village, as Aria and her father helplessly hugged each of them.

“I want you all to be good children, okay? And listen to grandmother and Brian. Big sister will come back when you’re all grown up.”

“Kuek…. Okay…” the children answered through their cries and wailing.

Aria turned to Brian, giving him a small smile.

“I’m leaving the children to you. I know you’ll do a great job without me.”

Brian, who was appearing soulless with dark bags under his eyes, simply nodded.

“...Live a good life, Aria.” He looked up, before looking past her at Aelius, and then dropped his eyes to the ground. “Perhaps we can meet again someday.”

For a moment, Brian considered whether he wanted to ask her for a hug or not, but after he considered she had never been the type for physical affection, he gave up on the idea and returned to the line.

Aria returned to Aelius, slipping her hand into his and giving him a warm smile.

“Not gonna say goodbye to the Varnian Dragon?” he asked.

“We already did.”

“Ah, okay. Telepathically?” He raised a brow.

“Yes. She has such powers, but after being Liberated by Saki, I’ve also gained similar psychic abilities.”

“Nifty,” Aelius remarked as the Aerianne Archduke joined their small, huddled group. “Alright, I’m setting the spell going.”

At their feet, the ground began to shine with light as a magic circle came to life. As their vision was blinded, Aria waved to the children, and with their vision gone, they could only hear the voices of goodbyes.

“Byeeeeeeeee-” and together with the whoosh, their voices were cut off.

—-----------------------

When Aelius’ feet hit the ground, he found himself looking at familiar scenery, standing in the centre of Dawnbreak.

“Hah…” Aelius sighed, recalling the painstaking efforts he went through last time to escape the city.

“It’s been many-a-year since I’ve been here,” Felix Aerianne commented, looking around.

“I’m sure my parents will be happy to see you again,” Aelius said as he narrowed his eyes, recalling their death and the role the Archduke played in it.

“Your father and I fought back-to-back in numerous life and death situations during the war in our twenties. I wonder how that rigid bastard is doing,” the Archduke merrily laughed.

For a moment, Aelius found himself chuckling along. Maybe he, like Aria said, should let go of some of the grudges of his past. He hated the Archduke in the past but seeing him like this… he really was just another victim caught up in this mess.

Sighing, Aelius pulled Aria by the hand down the streets, and the Archduke followed of his own accord.

—-----------------------

As they came to the gate guarding the Manor in the centre of the city, Aelius felt his hands begin to nervously shake.

Last time he was here, he had yet to regain his memories of their tragic fate. But this time, not only does he remember, he’s also directly speaking to them face-to-face.

Last time, he dumped a letter and ran away.

As Aelius nervously looked up, feeling nauseous and like his stomach was about to spew any moment, he felt a soft presence press up to his side, and glanced to find Aria giving him a cute smile.

“I’m here, Ael,” she rubbed his back affectionately and he sighed.

“...Thanks.”

Wordlessly, Aelius let go of her hand to step forward, placing his palm to the gate. It recognised the sigil of the Kanarian House from his palm and began to open of its own accord, and as Aelius stepped into the large courtyard, he saw the front door swing open and a familiar figure skipping down the stairs.

Followed behind the blonde woman were numerous servants, including their trusty butler.

Leislette, his dearest mother, came running up to him with tears at the corner of her eyes, before she cried out.

“My baby!”

Aelius winced as he was met with a full tackle from her, as she shot into a hug.

“Aelius, my son! My sweet, dear child!” she cried, flinging his head around as she pulled him to her chest.

“M-mother-”

She did a few full revolutions until she was satisfied, pulling away and wiping her eyes.

“Let me get a good look at you. Oh, Goddess.”

She reached up to cup his cheek.

“My son, my son, my son. You’ve been missing for twelve months. I had no idea if you were alive or dead,” Leis sobbed.

Aelius didn’t cry, nor did he smile. Instead, it almost looked like he was shutting down.

He gazed at her face silently, with almost no reaction until he felt a tug on his sleeve.

“Come back, Aelius. Where has your mind wandered off to?” Aria whispered and he blinked, his attention returning to him.

There his mother was, alive, and perfectly fine. Suddenly, Aelius felt more determined than ever to ensure this woman lives happily.

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“Mother… I’m sorry for worrying you,” he calmly told her. “I’ve come back to visit because I had some spare time.”

For a moment, Leislette was considering the words of her hard-ass son. She expected to be welcoming back the whining, crying Aelius that had always been her son.

But instead, he looked at her with calm eyes, and even a hint of sadness in his gaze.

“Well… thank you,” Leislette smiled as she gave him another, softer hug. “Thank you for coming to see this mother of yours.”

Before she could pull away, she felt him reach up and tighten their hug.

“Have you been well?” he asked.

“As well as can be, with not so much as a letter from you,” Leislette pulled away with a pout.

“Oh, don’t worry aunty Leis. He seems to be like that with everyone,” Aria sarcastically remarked. “I received no letter from him either after being abandoned for a whole year.”

Leislette turned to the Aerianne duo, tucking her hair behind her hair.

“Aria… you’re alive too,” Leislette gave a sigh of relief. “And you, Felix. You both look like you’re doing very well. Kael and I were so worried after we heard the news of the massacre at your manor. What exactly happened?”

“...Well…” Felix looked unsurely to Aelius, who looked back. “It’s a bit difficult to explain.”

“It’s good to see that you’re doing okay though!” Aria said to Leis.

“I heard Diane’s corpse was found at the manor. Just what is going on? How are you two appearing with my missing son after an entire year?”

“Mother…” Aelius stepped past. “Aria and I came here just to see your face. The Archduke is just tagging along. Anyways, let’s have a good old family dinner, shall we? I’m dying to see Penelope.”

“Your explanation leaves much to be desired but… go on in, then,” she sighed before turning back to Aria and Felix. “You two are safe, that’s the main thing. And I do have to say, Aria. You’ve really grown up to be pretty, like I always said you would..

“Thank you, aunty,” Aria returned a beaming smile. “You still don’t look a day over twenty-five.”

“Oh, stop it,” Leis chuckled. “Come on, I’ll guide you to our receiving room.”

—-----------------------

As Aelius waited in the lounge, chatting away with the rest of the family, they were interrupted and fell silent when they heard the door creak open.

“Hello…?”

A cutesy girl with cotton pink hair stepped in, her eyes lighting up when she saw Aelius.

“Is that big brother?”

“Penelope…” Aelius felt his heartache as he rose to his feet. “Look at who’s all grown up, huh? Haha.”

He stepped forward and the two joined in a hug. She was now five years old, standing at the height of his waist.

“Where did you go?” Penelope asked, stepping back to give him a curious look.

Aelius couldn’t help but reach down to give her head a ruffle.

“I was off to work,” he smiled. “Sorry I didn’t come see you until now, Penelope.”

“It’s okay.” Penelope quietly hopped onto the couch, looking around at the remaining adults that were all looking at her. “...What’s wrong?” she asked.

Penelope had always been an oddly quiet and calm child. She was gifted with intelligence that could have given her a bright future, if not for the events of the past.

As Aelius gazed at her, sitting in her cutesy frill dress, with her stubby arms and legs and mellow, dreamy eyes, he felt his heart tighten.

Knowing the future this girl was facing in merely a decade was heart wrenching.

—-----------------------

Leislette was shocked the next morning when Aelius said it was time for them to go. Kael was angered that Felix got to tag along with them, but when Aelius explained that they were going to be travelling for a long time, they understood they could not leave the Archduchy behind.

Leislette made Aelius promise ten times he would write to them, and she gave Aria a big kiss on the head to send her off.

Kael and Felix had spent all night staying up and catching up, and from what Aelius could infer, Felix had explained the existence behind the massacre. It no doubt had more credibility coming from Felix, than it would if it came from Aelius.

And with the emotional goodbye, the trio set off. To potentially never return as they were.

—-----------------------

“Well, aren’t you glad you went to see them?” Aria asked as they walked down the streets of Dawnbreak.

“I’m glad to see their faces and ease their worries. But I knew the fact I was unable to answer all of their burning questions harmed our reunion,” Aelius sighed.

“Well of course they would ask you such questions,” the Archduke interjected. “Any parent would want an explanation behind how erratic you act.”

“Yeah, I’m not saying it’s a bad thing. But it was just… I couldn’t tell them anything.” Aelius finished his sentence and immediately took a turn into an alleyway, startling Aria and Felix, before they followed him in.

“Alright, let’s get going. I think there’s some very, very upset people waiting for me,” Aelius remarked.

“It seems like there’s always someone upset waiting for you,” Aria rolled her eyes.

“...Yeah.”

Light lit up at the base of their feet yet again as Aelius began the teleportation sequence, and in a flash, they disappeared.

Straight away, their feet hit the ground again, with a series of resonating thuds. The ground was solid and cold, and Aria blinked as he looked down to find her feet atop a metallic sheen.

“Where are we?” she asked as she looked around, before she gasped at a shadow at the other end of the room.

Aelius looked up to see the silhouette of a shaded blonde, and stepped forward toward her. Her unimpressed, sky blue eyes shone back at him from the darkness.

“Six months…” Asura’s voice lowly began to say as she stepped forward, giving Aelius a stern look. “You spend six months in a coma!” Her voice rapidly escalated. “And the first thing you do when you wake up is disappear for three days!?”

“...I’m sorry, sweetheart,” Aelius stepped forward. “I didn’t have the time to leave a message.”

She glared at him for a moment longer before she sighed, walking forward.

“As long as you know. Lia has been absolutely crestfallen. She came bounding into the Bunker when she sensed you had finally reawakened, and yet she only found the empty operating table. Can you imagine how that girl felt?”

“Yeah…” Aelius sighed as Asura leaned forward into his embrace. “I’ll make it up to the two of you.”

“Good,” Asura stepped back, before glancing past him. “New companions?” she asked.

“This is Aria. Aria left our party before I helped you regain your consciousness.”

“Ah ha…” Asura leaned back with her arms crossed. “Anyhow, you owe Lia a visit. She went back to the Academy with her tail between her legs, pitiful girl.”

“Yeah…” Aelius reached up to stroke Asura’s silky hair. “Thanks for taking care of us all this time.”

“Like you had given me a choice,” she furrowed her brow at him.

“Six month coma? Aelius?” Aria interjected with a raised brow. “I think you owe me an explanation.”

“...To call it a coma is a bit… It was more of a secluded meditation, accurately speaking.”

“Right…” Aria sighed. Being as witty as she is, she immediately deduced an explanation for Aelius’ absence, as well as his newly gained power. “You’ve been busy, I see.”

“...Yes. But more importantly, my dear, we received a message from Saki.”

Aelius took in a sharp breath, turning to Asura.

“Tell me.”

Asura gestured to the nearest wall, and as Aelius turned, his eyes glowing, he found a Spiritual mark left behind by her mental will.

Glowing text on the wall ominously shone back into his pupils. The text read, “Two seals”.

“Halfway…” Aelius muttered in shock.

This life is progressing far faster than my previous life. Saki didn’t undo the seals until I was twenty-five. What changed? Is it because I resurrected her so early?

“Okay. We’re under a time crunch. Get ready. We’re headed to the Capital.