Boundless Hearts

Now Leor was staring at the shattered ring he remembered that this ring was given to him a month ago on his birthday, which he initially wanted to refuse since this ring was given to her by our mom on her deathbed, she said this was passed down from generation to generation in our father's family and it must be really expensive if it was an heirloom, after some moments of refusing Leor finally gave in and excepted it but after learning about Milford and Aetherborn it was easy to guess that this was not an ordinary ring and its shattering unnaturally like this confirmed it even more.

"Do you understand something from it Cyrus?" asked Leor in a tone a friend would ask something.

"When do you think your birthday was?" Cyrus asked somewhat pleased on Leor's polite and friendly tone 'Guess he understands that we are basically one'

"It was a month ago on 18th October, 1759? Why do you ask?" Leor asked a bad premonition rising in his heart.

"Today is 19th October." Stated Cyrus with a deep voice, he continued after a moment of to let Leor digest this simple information "Do you really think that you became an Aether born randomly? and do you even remember what you were saying when you first woke up?" Suddenly Leor's mind jolted and he saw how he died 30 times how his sister died in gruesome ways and how sometimes his brother died or became the killer of both of them and how in one loop he was spared by James and walked the path of revenge becoming Aetherborn in the way, Yesterday he was holding Clara's cold body, she was raped by the masked man and then tortured then died holding on to hope that her brothers will save her. When he finally got there she didn't even say anything, just lifelessly stared at Leor and passed away. He even experienced his own death in one more gruesome way than the other.

Tears were uncontrollably coming out of his eyes then he fell onto the ground holding his head veiling from the immense pain he was experiencing all of this like it had happened to him and it actually did and the massive memory overload was cherry on top in contributing to the pain.

"I found out in one of the loops…..This ring has a power related to time…it should be a proper artifact but it looks like it has not been taken care of by your ancestors by doing regular rituals related to it, It must made by the Milford family's ancestor who had been power related to the time since when it sensed extinction of this bloodline in future it forced you inside an endless loop until you survive….and used its remaining power of it but even after a month you couldn't save even one of Milford blood and what in reality should be limitlessly exhausted itself without any proper care for generations and broke down." Cyrus explained

"The ring must've been treated as a random ring inside the treasury by the previous generation since all records about it must have been destroyed" spoke Leor after a few minutes of silence.

His voice was sounding hoarse and his mind was a complete mess after receiving the memories of those experiences the boy had become a man.

"Your guess is most likely correct…..Now what should we do? we only have eighteen hours left and there are no cheats now." asked Cyrus after a moment of silence.

Suddenly Leor's gaze sharpened and he asked in a deep voice "First tell me what are my powers?... I will make a plan based on them"

"That is something only you could find out ....I can help you in how to do that" Cyrus started explaining the process.

"I understand we will proceed when my brother and sister leave" said Leor Suddenly a voice could be heard from the door "Leor breakfast is ready I know you didn't sleep well last night so just eat and then go back to sleep no need to go to university tomorrow". 

"No I am fine I can go today." said Leor hurriedly after remembering one of the loops. "Coming in five minutes for the breakfast"

Clara, in her defense, didn't dwell on why her brother was acting weird and just nodded and went back to serving the breakfast.

Leor breathed a sigh of relief and quickly went outside his room to the washroom to freshen up after getting back in his room wore an old suit likely passed down from his brother but still looked presentable. He slipped into a cream-colored cotton shirt, layered with a black woolen waistcoat, and topped it off with a sleek black tailcoat. Hanging by his side was a silver pocket watch, a recent birthday gift from his brother, its pure silver case gleaming, and its white-framed interior adding a touch of elegance.

It all made him look really gentlemanly and scholarly. His slightly muscular physique being cherry on top. Now why was he wearing such a heavy outfit in the peak of summer guess this is the price of looking good and not like his brother who never bothers to match any outfits, shoes and watches and whatever he sees which made Leor really mad sometimes. Leor could be said to be a fashion nerd.

Leor, admiring his reflection in the mirror, ran a hand through his ruffled black-brownish hair. His deep green eyes were filled with dark circles from lack of sleep, and his face could be said to be handsomely dressed sharply.

After a minute of admiring, he said smugly, "Guess this is the difference between looking good and just looking."

'Did the recent events break him' thought Cyrus with a darkened expression.

Leor now started picking up shards of the ring and gently put them in a box while placing that box in his pocket.

He went downstairs while stuck in his thoughts, Now he saw James whose appearance was taken from our mother with light brown eyes and black hair with a handsome face, he was reading the newspaper while continuously yapping about what he read, annoying Clara, but she was still continuing the discussion.

"Oye Leo you're finally awake, you know the food is getting cold, and we are waiting for you to come, You know how much you're hurting your poor brother," said James after acknowledging Leor's presence.

"Leor are you alright now?" asked Clara with worry evident in her eyes.

"Yes I am fine, It was nothing, you don't need to worry." said Leor completely ignoring James.

"But your eyes tell me something else." said Clara with pointed fingers.

Truth be told he was fucked up after seeing them and wanted to sit with them, talk to them, tell them how much he loves them, hug them, and….protect them. If he could time loop again he would definitely do that, but now he thinks he would die from embarrassment if he said how much he loves them or hugged them and it would also cause them to worry about something they can't change. 

"Did you read the newspaper Leo, queen Victoria died of a heart attack, she could be said to be the greatest benefactor of us common folks and I refuse to believe that she just died like this with a heart attack wasn't that so convenient for King Edward who was loosing power every day to Her, there you understand that right it must be the King who killed her majesty Victoria, that bastard is the only one who could be this vile. Poor Queen got that coming from not being a money-hungry dog like Edward. Oh and are you fine? Blabbered James after Leor didn't reply to him and finally asked with some concern.

"Thank God you asked" commented Clara with some sarcasm

Leor was just smiling and suddenly tears started coming from his eyes and he rushed towards Clara and James and suddenly took them in a long hug 'Embarrassment can fuck itself off, I will protect them' 

James who was sitting on a chair and Clara standing beside him were both startled seeing Leor rush at them like an overly affectionate dog and smacking both of them on the ground in process. 

James fell on his back while Clara fell on him and Leor who jumped on both of them and the reason why they fell hugged them really tightly with teary eyes.

While James was wailing loudly in pain, sensing Leor's tight hug, ignored the pain from falling and suffocation from Clara's and Leor's weight and hugged both of them back.

Clara was stuck between both hugs suffocating also hugged them back tightly with both her arms one on Leor's neck and one on James' making her stuck in a weird position.

All three of them stayed like this for more than five minutes and slowly got up while screaming about pain in locations they didn't even know existed.

—------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------—--

To be continued

Authors Note: I am not crying you are and man add this story in your collections already, It would be great for me and you both and let's get on with asking for reviews and feedback on this chapter like do you like emotional chapters like these or those power fantasy system bullshit has taken over your brain, please do tell me and rate the last scene, it actually made me tear up a bit and as always POWERSTONESS!!!