The household of lord Altruso shook at the force of the loud shriek of its young lord within it's walls. Some of the maids trembled and covered their ears behind their hands weeping softly, they had all heard of what happened in the family dining room. They had all felt their blood vessels on the verge of hurting and heard the ruckus.
Even after the long silence it seemed that the problem was far from over. In a sealed room within the lord's mansion we're fifty of the kings guards all standing around a bed half soaked in viscous red liquid. On the bed was a young boy with thin black hair and a pale complexion, he was biting down on a piece of cloth and heaving deep breaths.
Standing on the bed right over him was the little girl, she was currently drawing blood from the fifty men in the room which included Lord Altruso himself, the blood exited their bodies from their slit wrist and converged in the air above him.
Aerith could see the little girl sweating profusely, he could tell she was barely mustering enough energy for such an endeavour. But she could not just let him die.
They both locked eyes in solemn understanding, she opened her mouth and spoke. "I've separated the impurities from the blood, I'll begin the transfusion now."
"It's not gonna hurt right?" He asked himself.
As he expected it did not hurt to have a couple pints of blood of blood being forced into his veins, it did more than hurt. He felt his insides being torn open by the sharp inflow of blood, he felt he would have died if it had not been for the undying phoenix flame he would have bled out. As use full as it did to quicker. His recovery he could feel the ability burning through his body like thick flames on dried wood.
The process went on for a few hours before it was completed, by then he has been changed to a cleaner, less bloodier bed and has his clothes changed. His injuries had healed to some extent but all his wounds were still visible. Both his hands were encased in thick strips of bandages, his body still ached all over but it was worth it.
The little girl sat on the bed, cross-legged right next to his head. He groaned slightly as he turned his gaze her way, she looked weak and tired, it was very late in the afternoon and if he remembered accurately he would be called to the tower soon. Whatever that meant.
"Are you fine now?" She asked him in a soft tone.
He smiled. "That should be my line, but yeah I'm fine."
She looked down at him her purple eyes radiating a warmth in them, she opened her mouth and spoke. "Have you thought of a name yet?"
He reached out his hands, wincing in pain as he felt all his veins on the verge of bursting open. He grazed her soft cheek, and relished in the feeling of having them melt in them. "How about jelly cheeks?"
She scoffed and smiled, her body looked pale but still had more colour than his. She had also been healed by the physicians, her wounds covered up neatly which was more they could do for him.
"Emilia." He said in a low painful moan, "I've never been good at naming things but it's good."
She looked down at him, her eyes lost in thought and confusion. "Em?"
He raised a questioning eyebrow. "How about little Em?"
She cuddled up next to his head and cuddled him. "Fine." She sounded exhausted and weak.
A few seconds passed in silence before his father Altruso emerged out of a corner of the room and saying in a low voice. "You two do share a bond."
It jolted Aerith, he turned sharply and regretted it instantly as it caused him to wince in pain. "How long have you been there."
The air around his father was distant and cold, his usual radiance was now nonexistent. "I already lost one son to the tower and I'm going to lose another. There has to be a way to plead with the tower."
Aerith looked at Altruso with an indecipherable look on his face. There was no sense of belonging or pity just cold emptiness. "Is there a way back?"
His father heaved a deep sign. "If there is, it'll be in the tower."
Aerith scoffed and gave his father a slight smirk, "Then I'll have to find my way back then. I'll leave jelly cheeks in your care till then."
The little girl looked at him with wide eyes and shook her head. "No, I see the runes too."
Aerith started at her long and hard in confusion. For a long time there was nothing but silence between them, "The tower called you too, damnit. When did this happen?"
Em said with a weak smile that seemed more in turmoil than happy. "A while back."
Aerith was left speechless, he simply pat her on the head. "Guess we'll be stuck together from now on."
They stayed there till it was night time when the tower would call them, both oblivious to how it would happen or when but simply waiting in each other's hands. His father and all the household staff came by to see him go.
To Aerith it seemed like they wanted to see him off not as a courtesy but as a funeral rite. The pain they had in their eyes looked foreign to him, since they felt it to the original owner of his body and not to him.
They each gave speeches of thanks and stories, some about good days some about bad, some about how they would miss him. It was all too campy for him. His father sat by him to keep him company, the sun soon vanished down the horizon.
He gulped down hard and told himself. "This is it." It seemed ironic that he would be going into a new world without fully recovering from his injuries. But what he would meet at the other end was oblivious to him.
Just as the last remnants of light vanished down the horizon a few seconds passed in cold silence, one could practically hear the trickling of sweat down ones face.
Aerith held on tight to Em like she was his last lifeline, waiting for a date none of the deserved. A second later there was an explosion of golden light bursting out of their body, it felt warm and comforting. Aerith heard Em gasp and cling to him tightly, with her around he he could not afford to show fear, he could begin to feel bis body breaking apart and becoming mercurial and intangible.
He sighed and spoke out loud. "This is it, I guess." His voice was broken, he looked up to see his father looking at him with eyes overflowing with tears, he hated to see him cry despite not caring about him maybe because he cried the same way when his father left him. "How ironic to be on the recieving end this time."
He closed his eyes shut and embraced whatever fate the tower of fantasy would bring him, he could here his father screaming. "Keep him safe."