“I do not hate that you have become corrupted. It leads to power and works better for me this way, but it is too soon. You are useless to me,” Asivos said.

Silence filled the Sanctuary Chamber. The atmosphere became heavier and heavier with each moment. Everyone had the same thing on their mind: Those who are not useful to Asivos will die.

“This one time I shall help you, Ae. If you fail me again, I will not be so understanding. If you think you are my slave now, I dare you to disappoint me again. You should be grateful that you still possess your free will,” Asivos said, sending relief through the tense atmosphere.

“I don’t want your help!” Ae growled to the surprise of the others.

“Don’t be stupid, Ae! Take it!” Mao insisted.

“No! Don’t you see? He is our enemy!” Ae said.

This time no one had any objections to raise with those words.

“I am your enemy, huh? In a way you are right, Midnight Sun,” Asivos said. “But by the same criteria, you are also your own enemy.”

Ae looked up at Asivos, tightly grasping at his stump as blood began forming a pool right next to him. “What are you talking about?”

“Don’t you get it yet? After the Midnight Sun, you will truly become the end of existence. For all the reasons you hate me, you should hate yourself. Everything you touch, you will erase. You corrupt and unravel even the memories you hold so dear. I know everything about your Vision when you embraced Retribution over Ataraxia. That was your own doing. Retribution did not manipulate you. You, yourself, are Retribution.”

Ae narrowed his eyes, but then almost instantly realized that his Liege’s words were not entirely false. No, they were not false at all! He himself rejected Ataraxia.

“I do want the same thing that you want, but not like this. Therefore, once more, I offer you my help. Will you take it, Ae Xion?”

Ae blinked. Asivos was unusually talkative today; it must mean that his Liege is somewhat invested in this.

“Is it… possible… for us to regain our names?” Ae asked.

The heavy pressure of Asivos’ attention lightened briefly and then returned. “Yes. If you do it properly.”

“How?” Ae asked.

“When you prove yourself useful once more, I may tell you.”

“How?” Ae insisted.

Ae could tell that Asivos was becoming frustrated. Fear overwhelmed Ae’s mind and he closed his eyes. He was convinced that he was going to lose another limb. Or maybe his head.

“You were never supposed to become what you are now,” Asivos said after a long pause. “Instead of the Midnight Sun of the End, you were supposed to become something else. The reason for this turning out this way is because you stole from the Reverse.”

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“The Reverse?” Ae asked.

“Yes. Your Reverse is a destroyer, it is the End of All Things. You are the First Fire; You are no longer mortal, you are a concept now. An aspect of the universe. If the essence of your Origin is the first light that came before everything, then your opposite is the final darkness as well—entropy itself.”

“What does that have to do with my name?” Ae asked.

Everyone else was quiet, but they closely followed the conversation. Obviously, they too wanted to know those answers and to learn more about the nature of their existence.

“There is a way, related to my explanation on what you are, for you to regain your name.”

“Tell me!” Ae growled.

“No. Do as I ask and when you are ready, I will tell you. That is the only way.” Asivos suddenly appeared more hostile than before. He would not accept no as an answer.

“What do you want me to do?” Ae asked, giving in.

“Reject the Reverse.”

“You say that as if it is the easiest thing to do in the world,” Ae replied with a hiss. “I don’t understand most of the things you are saying. I don’t understand Aspects, Principles, Origins, or even when I stole from the Reverse. I did nothing out of the ordinary.”

Some of the Chosen nodded at those words because they understood his position; they were facing the same problems and it didn’t seem like Asivos would be this forgiving again.

“It is because you understand things so literally,” Asivos said. “Your desire for vengeance and your pursuit of your lost name is what takes you in this direction. Instead of stealing from the Root, you steal from the Reverse.”

“Again, I do not understand,” Ae growled.

“I suppose the simplest way to put it is like this: The closer you are to the Principles of your Aspects the more powerful you become. In your case, the more you desire to destroy and the more you seek vengeance, the more your Origin will grow.”

“I… sort of understand. But how did I steal from the Reverse?” Ae asked.

“Because you desired what belongs to it. Your Vision… it was tainted by the Reverse. The Retribution you embraced did not come from the Root, but from the Reverse itself.”

“Are you saying my memories, and thus my name, belongs to the Reverse?”

“Yes.”

“Then how will rejecting it let me recover them!?” Ae shouted out.

“I told you I will explain this later. If I tell you now, it will be meaningless!” Ae could sense Asivos’ anger rising in those words.

“If you don’t tell me, I can’t trust you!”

There was another shimmer in the air and Ae closed his eyes. He finally pushed his luck too far. Moments passed like an eternity each. He didn’t feel anything, but he also didn’t feel anything when his left arm was severed. It was probably the wrong time to think about it, but Ae wondered why his stump stopped bleeding so quickly. It had to be related to whatever skill allowed him to block swords with his bare hands, or resist the Tyrant’s pressure.

Ae got pretty far into his train of thought when he realized he was still not dead. Slowly, he opened his eyes. The ground next to him was carved up, as if by an invisible sword, yet he was fine—well, still only missing an arm.

“I suppose it cannot be helped then. If you want to recover your name, you have to slay your Reverse. You cannot allow yourself to be tempted by it. The more you steal from the Root, the less it will possess. When the time is right, you can recover your name.”

“What happens to me then?” Ae asked. “You said we are not mortals anymore, because we lost our name. That we are concepts.”

“I don’t know. Maybe the Root breaks. Maybe the world ends,” Asivos said but there was no tone of warning in his voice.

“What is the Root?”

“You are crossing the line, Ae. You ask too many questions. Find out for yourself. You all have free access to the Stellar Gate now. Go to the planes, kill the entities there or make contracts. Ask them about the nature of Origins, Aspects and the Root, they would know the best.”

Ae gritted his teeth but ended up just nodding his head. He could not afford to make Asivos angrier than this. He was getting closer to his goal. This conversation was more than he ever hoped for.

“I shall take my leave then,” Ae said, standing up. He was slightly off-balance, for obvious reasons.

The others in the room took this opportunity to also excuse themselves and quickly depart, lest they risk testing Asivos’ patience further. They were just glad to be done with the Ancient Battlefield.