It was as if a warm blanket had been laid upon me by my mother. It felt as if boulders of worries had been lifted and shackles that bound me had rusted and shattered. My hand instinctively reached out to the burning sensation on my cheek, and when I gently rubbed the area that stung the most, I felt a black flower oozing ominous mist from its petals. I traced the roots of the flower all the way to my collarbone, and as the moon's light graced us, a reflection appeared on Viego's sword.
I saw myself there, with the black flower on my cheek.
Emovi, with her eyes wide, covered her mouth in absolute shock as she had just witnessed the birth of an otherworldly being.
Deep amidst the rampaging thoughts in my mind, I heard a voice calling out my name. An acknowledgment of my existence. The voice seemed to drag me further from reality; it was calming and reassuring, letting me know that everything would turn out alright if I just loosened my grip on control.
Was this one of the many side effects that comes with being the host of an Aeon? I held my head as a sharp pain pierced through my skull.
I looked up into the vast night sky filled with uncountable stars. The moon was watching over us with a watchful eye. Never before had that thought come to my mind, that the moon was watching me, following me.
After gazing at the moon, a sudden urge to make a wish swelled inside me.
"I wish… I wish for…" My eyes glimmered in the light.
"To experience this feeling once more," I quietly murmured to myself.
The overwhelming emotions from earlier had passed, and I finally made eye contact with the two royals again.
I picked up a nearby metal pole and struck it against my hand a few times to make sure it was solid enough before challenging the prince again.
"Today has sure been an eventful day, hasn't it, dear little sister?"
Emovi nodded before backing up a little bit from him.
"Now, for this honorable duel, I will put my sister up as my stake. As for you, dear fellow Aeon, you will put…"
"MY LIFE!" we both screamed out in excitement.
So this was the burning passion and warmth the Aeon of Ember created. The two of us rushed toward each other, both grinning from ear to ear. The exhilaration of battle was an unforgettable feeling, the sounds of metal clashing, our bodies colliding, the air whooshing as the blade swung by, grazing me by the hair.
After a few minutes of struggling, Viego took a massive leap back before telling me he would wrap things up. He said it had been fun while it lasted and smiled.
With the scorching blade in his hand, he sliced his own palm and drenched the edges of the sword with his blood. The flames grew even larger and burned with fiercer intensity. The flower on Viego's cheek shifted hue, becoming a deeper crimson as blood was offered to his Aeon.
I spun the metal pole around before readying myself for his attack. Then, in a split second, too fast to react to, his blade bifurcated the metal pipe and cut into my chest. A massive cauterized wound ran from my collarbone all the way down to my stomach.
"This concludes this."
I had made a promise with Emovi, and that promise I would uphold no matter what, even if it meant running away in shame. Emovi was still standing by the wall, watching in fear as her brother approached me from behind.
The Aeon on my cheek began pulsating violently as if it sensed my life was in grave danger. Black nectar leaked from the crown of the flower and dripped onto the ground. My left arm suddenly felt numb, and as I lost all feeling in it, it started to move on its own as roots from the flower spread toward my limbs.
With a quick and clean movement, energy gathered into my fist as I struck toward Viego. He managed to parry the attack with his sword before my hand touched his body, but the force still knocked him a decent distance away.
I grabbed Emovi's hand and asked if she wanted to follow me so I could tell her my life story. She hesitated, looking back at her brother lying in a heap of dust, then back at me with a conflicted expression. Her eyes darted back and forth, but eventually she closed her eyes, let go of my hand, and looked down at the ground. I didn't have time to think, I just ran away from their mansion with a broken promise.
Viego brushed dust off his gold medals and whistled. A legion of soldiers stormed out of the royal palace and gave chase.
"Arrest that man and bring him back to me," he ordered, pointing at me as I fled into the city.
"And as for you… sigh… how asinine," he added, standing before his sister. He then turned and walked back inside.
"I'm sorry, Vieg…"
A loud smack echoed as Viego struck Emovi across the face with such force that she fell to the ground.
"Know your place, mongrel, and stop calling me brother. You disgust me."
He walked back inside, leaving Emovi outside in the cold. She looked up at the moon with her swollen face and made a wish, a wish that she could have been granted if she weren't such an idiot.