Uhh....why does it hurt? Wasn't my body chared to ashes?
He felt like his very existence is being forcefully violated down to the most minute cell organelles. Rearranged, rejuvenated and burnt again and again in an endless cycle.
Aeon never felt such pain, pain of having your physical existence overwritten.
He endured that excruciating agony for who knows how long.
.
.
Finally, the agony stopped....he opened his eyes with all the strength he could mutter.
Infront of him was a endless void, pitch black with no end in sight.
He panicked, trying to grasp at something.
"Don't worry you are not falling, do note that you are on your back." A voice to his right calmly pulled him out of panic.
His senses grounded...Indeed, his back is against something rough...like a tree stump.
Aeon moved his head towards the source of voice,
The blasphemer sat on a dead tree stump, wearing a wrinkled untidy plane White shirt and black trousers. His face had some smudge and snoot stuck to it.
He was feeding dry wood to the fire that was between them, keeping it running.
"Lay down for a while longer, Unless you want be knocked out from getting up too fast." He continued calmly.
Aeon complied, he knew his body more and could tell that he isn't lying. He glanced at his now repaired body.
His pale skin was new as a newborn, subtly glowing from the light. He felt like a coughing man finally breathing crispy air for first time in life.
All injuries were back to normal. No, they were better than ever before. It's like he has been reborn again. Strength slowly returning.
Seeing Aeon's astonished gaze, sky chuckled and explained -
"I have to say, you are quite resilient. To be considered not dangered of dying while being one step from being ashes. The endurance and regeneration is off the scale for normal low Ascendancy."
He leaned forward,
"Your fatal injuries were suspended by the trial, but your condition whole couldn't be fixed by that grace alone."
"Lucky for you, I carry high grade healing alchemical reagents with me by habit. No need to thank me, think of it as payment for your great service."
Aeon's nodded weakly, but he had another question-
"Was....it part of your plan... being at the throne?"
Hearing it, sky gave a helpless smile, his usual confident, enigmatic demeanour cracking. He answered bit awkwardly,
"Ah...that..I am truly sorry.." he got up and bowed apologetically,
"First! As an acquaintance of Ashur, I ask you to not bear any grudges against him. He didn't mean to harm you that badly, he is just under alot of pressure. I truly believe that if it were another setting, you two would have gotten off on the right foot."
"You know him?" Aeon questioned, now having enough strength to get up.
Of course I know one of the central characters.
"Ashur is the prince of North, the land of eternal war and cold. They have been battling the encroaching Overlap for generations at the Northern frontline, But it's crumbling like all other front lines."
"He wishes to gain quick strength, intelligence and allies to aid him save it. He cannot just wait and see his homeland fall to overlap, so he is desperate. Maybe he was testing if you could be one such ally, though his methods are....rather rough."
Aeon nodded in understanding, he now understood why he felt like being in presence of an commander.
He never held any grudge against ashur in first place, it was a fair battle he choose himself.
Sky continued,
"Second! Yes, I planned for you to be present at the throne. I had hunted you in the beginning to know your location and moved in opposite direction."
"You could say, I put my bet that it would appear east. So I took most powerhouses and contestants hunting me towards west."
This should be good enough excuse for now, though I am going to get questioned later.
"Originally, it would have been you defending against simply Ascension 1's with all high Rankers of zone too far away, I would have joined you at the end. But.."
Sky gave an helpless smile and awkwardly scratched the back of his head,
"...I didn't account for ashur to be present in our zone, thus the situation that led to your near death."
Aeon finally understood why there was hardly anyone in east section. So this was why...
Sky handed him a cup of warm milk, his eyes widen at the sweetness, he asked sky for more...
After a while of useless small talk, Aeon asked
"How did you get so fast from West to throne?"
To which sky answered -
"I rode the rolling wave of land to get above the anchor, then used explosives and small artifacts to propel myself inside. I filled the carriage with explosives just incase if anything went wrong, which it did. It came in handy."
Aeon didn't question any more, he simply stayed quite.
Then it came to him, where were they?
"Hehehe" sky read his thoughts and laughed, finnally this slow poke questioned it.
"As the reward for being zone winners, the stars fulfilled my small request."
Spreading his arm, he introduced the land-
"Welcome student Aeon, to the land of eternal stillness! The final stop between life and death, Where everything waits the end of Eternity."
The world was dark, but dimly lit - enough to see the baren plane lands. Dead trees were scattered far apart, soil was dry as it can get. It had nothing remarkable except the distant sense of forbounding from the pitch black void above.
Aeon hesitated, then asked in confusion,
"Why...did you wish to be here?"
Sky grin widened, aeon could see a hint of madness in his eyes.
"Both of us are stuck in Ascension 0 due to not being able to connect with the world..."
He stook a step towards Aeon,
"....then we would just have force the world to fit our standards."
Aeon's heart skipped a beat,
...Force the world?
Sky's voice dropped a octave,
"Hey, Aeon...do you know what a crowned Aeon is?"
A look of understanding flashed through Aeon's face, he trembled slightly. Sky took it as affirmative,
"Ascension 3 are called Graced Mortals
Ascension 4 are called Authority Bearers"
"They are all world defying and all, but still mortals...still embers of stars."
Sky voice rose matching his excitement,
"Ascension 5 is the first step towards true divinity."
"They are refered by many as sovereigns, minor stars, heaven's envoys throughout ages."
"There unified title is Crowned Aeons, divinity below the Heavenly Principles. Minor gods but gods neither less."
"The StarStrek cannot elevate us from 0 to 1 by itself, but it can facilitate it by being an intermediary."
"We will ask a Crowned Aeon of this still land to grant us our reward."
Aeon who didn't fear much, felt instinctive fear. Be it in stories or historical records, mortals demanding from gods have never went well.
Sky understood aeon's fears, though he didn't show it, his heart too was currently racing.
The act cannot collapse!
Still showing a smile to ease aeon's fears, he continued -
"The Crowned Aeon we will meet is a dragon from the epoch of Mythology."
'A dragon....?'
"You mean flying lizards with tuff scales, breathing fires and big has an Cities." Aeon asked innocently.
Sky laughed uncontrollably at this, maybe he was too stressed, but he laughed louder than he expected,
"Hahahaha....you are right..kinda.. hahaha...but the fairytales are quite....water downed from the source... hahaha."
After few more good hearty laugh to distract himself of fear, sky took a deep breath and continued with a faked grin,
"Matter of fact, we are already in there presence." He stated simply.
Aeon stiffened and looked around confused, there was no dragon or anything in this baren lifeless world for has far as he can see.
"Where?..." He asked cautiously.
Sky pointed up at the void,
"That void in the sky isn't a void.....it is the pupil of the crowned Aeon."
[A/N : Officer, I swear it's a small pet dragon!]