74 We need to talk, don’t we?

Before he could thank the entity, he found himself surrounded by darkness. Jason's voice resounded in his head again: "Bro, are you there?"

Elated, Res mentally showered Jason with joy. "Jason!"

They both blabbered about what had happened and what they had felt. Jason had heard the voice of the Gamemaster too and they were both determined to pay him back as soon as they could. Abruptly, it felt like their dark space shifted. Jason stopped his story about what he had felt when the entity had saved them.

"Did you feel that too? I thought we were still in space."

Res tried to shout out, but he received no answer. Jason stated in a flat tone. "Bro, try to use aether."

Hitting his head at his stupidity, Res extended his aether senses and found that he could pull in aether. Finally, given something he was good at; he began to greedily suck in aether. He felt his awareness expanding and he mentally did a weird 'Holy fuck, we are still alive' dance with Jason.

A loud female sigh interrupted their dancing. The sound made the body he was occupying reverberate. Res immediately stopped drawing in aether, but the damage had already been done. A squeal of surprise later, a female voice that he knew well whispered.

"My necklace, Res's hair. Why is it glowing? Don't make me hope."

When he heard Serafina's sweet voice, he drew in aether with his entire strength. He felt how his body was shaken, but at the moment, he didn't care. He shot out his aether pipes in all directions and gathered aether at ridiculous speeds. He intentionally only converted the barrier above him into aether. With a sigh of relief at the feeling of actual space, he extended his aether pipes as far as they could go. It felt alienating when his entire head reconstructed itself and he could see again.

The amount of aether he was man-handling would have made him explode only a few days ago. Yet, his determinedness to see the person that that voice must belong to, overwhelmed his fear. From the position his head was in, he could only see the ceiling of a common nondescript living apartment. When he had hands once again, he pushed himself upright.

He found himself in a room that was only furnished by the bed he was sitting on and a simple closet. The only window in the room revealed Trianon's apartment district in the light of the moon. In the apartment's corner, a wide-eyed young woman had sunken to the floor in disbelief. She was staring wide-eyed at his glowing reconstructing feet. When their gazes met, a tear rolled down his face. It only took one word as Res walked up to her and offered his hand.

"Serafina."

Serafina only screeched and covered her face with her hands. "Clothes! In the closet!"

It took him a moment to realize that he was stark naked and he blushed furiously. In the back of his mind, Jason was howling with laughter and amazement. Res tore open the closet and quickly put on female leggings and a white blouse. With a calming breath, he turned and murmured: "Sorry about that."

Jason would have made a sarcastic remark, but he was already occupied with talking to Layana. Like in a dream, she opened her eyes again and Res walked up to her. She grabbed his hand and she pulled herself up to look at him. They stared at each other's tear-streaked face for several long minutes. Res broke the silence.

"I am sorry."

Serafina pinched herself and looked back at him. Finally, she asked: "For what? No, I should rather ask why did you come out of my necklace?"

Res knew that she realized that they both had no future as he only brought her pain, but finally hearing it hurt. "I was captured by the Gamemaster and managed to escape. I understand that you don't want to see me anymore after all the pain that I have caused you."

He turned away and his heart broke. Before he could blink, Serafina grabbed his arm, pulled him close, and pressed her lips against his. Immediately, Layana shouted something about making babies in his head and Serafina reddened. Res looked at her in confusion. "Why did you do that?"

She pouted cutely and said: "I don't change my mind so easily. Even if I had to be tortured like that for years, I would still want to be yours."

Res couldn't stop himself and pulled her in once again. After several minutes, they were both panting. "What was with the necklace, anyway?"

She blushed cutely. "I might have stolen some of your hair."

Before he could comment, she grabbed his hand and dragged him to the bed. Astounded by her strength, he asked: "Why are you still so strong?"

She grinned and extended, then retracted her nails. "Everyone kept their powers. I think the klengan's changed my innate aether pattern, which I kept as well."

With a small jump, she planted herself onto the bed and stared at the hole where the ceiling had been. His aether cultivation had removed the ceiling, parts of an attic, and the roof to reveal the clear night sky above. Impatient, she patted the space next to her: "You have to tell me everything."

With a contented smile, Res took his place next to her and grasped her hand. "I should begin with the moment I beat the prince … I "

Serafina immediately whirled around to face him: "You are the king?"

Jason had been talking with Layana since they had touched, but Layana barred in now: "Wow, we can have lots of princesses and princes."

Serafina blushed, but not as much as he had expected. She looked at him expectantly, as if it was his turn to say something. Res frantically searched his mind for an appropriate response. Through their mental contact, Jason whispered: "She wants you to propose. I can't give you any advice. You have to decide."

He looked deeply into the eyes of that perfect woman and breathed in deeply. For a moment, he shut off all senses and retreated into the black abyss of his mind. Once again, the question of that entity resounded in his mind: 'Who are you?'. Res dug down deep into his mind and asked himself: "Why don't I want to?"

It was a painful self-reflection session, but he realized: "I feel fear. Irrational fear."

His instincts screamed at his foolishness, but he still whispered: "Serafina, if you want to accompany me, you will be a target and you will suffer."

She tried to interject, but Res put his index finger on her full lips. Her new body hadn't kept its scars and Res was captured for a moment by her beauty. "I can't imagine that there is anyone else in this world who is more aware of those risks. I ask you despite that:"

Her eyes dilated and Res's heartbeat quickened: "Do you want to … "

Suddenly, a bright light shot at them from all directions. A deep booming voice resounded from surrounding roofs: "Drop your weapons and spells now! You are surrounded by the elite palace guard!"

Above them hovered an imposing figure with an enormous fireball hanging above it. The rage he felt at the interruption came damn near close to the rage he felt when he thought the prince had crippled his friends. In an instant, he had pushed himself towards the leader. Fireballs assaulted him, but Res was unstoppable. He emerged from a wall of flame and came face to face with the elite palace guard commander.

The elite palace guards on the surrounding roofs had stopped firing out of fear of hitting their commander. He hovered towards the commander until they were only an inch apart. The commander's face had turned ashen when he recognized Res, and Res grinned evilly. The commander extinguished his fireball and floated several steps back. Res's white eye glowed ominously while his black eye darkened until it sucked in the surrounding light.

When Res saw the right amount of fear on the commander's face, he rasped out:

"We need to talk, don't we?"