29 Memory (1)

"Can you believe that?! That ass asked me to name him!" Aria shrieked, her face ashen red with fury. "First, he looked through my memories, stripping me of any privacy that I have, and now he wants me to play to his tune? What a fucking maniac!" The Archmagus slammed both her feet onto the white, linen sheets of her king-sized bed while flailing her arms about.

By her side, Yvette was cautiously rubbing her eyes, trying her hardest to remain awake and interested in the conversation. Wearing pink silk pyjamas, the blonde elf had her silky smooth hair dishevelled by the comfy pillow that she was embracing. If anyone were to see the Healing Saint in such a state, they would be sure to drop their jaw in complete shock. Fortunately for Yvette, the only one who was permitted to see her sleepy face, was her angered roommate that had dragged her out from the bedroom.

"Hahaha, it looks like he really, really likes you!" Yvette teased her mind not really lucid.

"Like me? Don't be ridiculous!" Aria spat.

"I mean… A man who wakes up from an eternal slumber only to be attached by the woman who woke him up… Isn't this just a copy-paste of Snow White?"

Stunned, the black-haired beauty hunched her head back. At that moment, it seemed like Aria had forgotten how to speak like a human and had turned into a vegetable for a split second. However, it didn't take long for her functions to come back online. "HARGH?! You're saying that he's Snow White and I'm the Prince who wakes him up with a kiss?"

"Stating the obvious is always a cute trait of yours, Aria." Yvette giggled as she supported her heavy head up. "Still, naming him Aurum. You have good taste."

"What do you mean?"

"Aurum… Aria… What would your kids' names be? Auria? Arnim? Or are you going to go an entirely different route and name your child Achilles? Like, Aurum would become the S-Rank Archmagus' Achilles' heel?"

"Yvette!" Aria shrieked out once more, this time her face was burning hot and steam was billowing out from her ears. She was a pure maiden that hadn't even fathom the thought of having a child. How could Aria even think about bonding with that pervert who read all of her memories?

"Kidding, kidding..." The elf slapped her friend's lap in jest, seeing as to how agitated the woman had become. "So, have you relaxed a little bit now?"

"... You noticed?"

"Hmph! Who do you think I am?" Yvette puffed out her ample chest with the pride of a matriarch. "I'm an S-Rank Healing Saint who had healed thousands of people! But before all that, I'm your closest friend and roommate of three years! If I can't sense how tense you are, who could?"

Aria's anger quickly subsided, and in its place, a variant of joy bubbled out from her inner core. "You're right… I have been feeling rather tensed up over the past few days..."

"It's normal," Yvette reassured. "How many people experience the same amount of stress as you do? After defeating the S-Class Dungeon, you've barely been able to get a good night's rest." With a jerk, the elf pulled Aria's body down and landed her petite head on the soft, warm thighs that made millions of elves drooled.

"Taking down an S-Class Dungeon is hard enough, but you've been caught up in the maelstrom regarding the ancient man. Not to mention, Finn's hospitalisation and the mayhem surrounding Yudonia… When was the last time you properly entered REM sleep?"

"..."

"See?" Yvette took Aria's silence as a yes and continued with her lecture. "You've been exposed to high amounts of stress, and you're trying to skip sleep, the most important function for your brain? It's no wonder that you're so cranky these few days."

"I'm not cranky..." Aria made a weak protest.

"Says the woman who can't think straight!" Exasperated, Yvette snorted in derision. "If your mind is in the pink of health, you wouldn't have been so triggered by the ancient man's actions. Heck, your perverted nature would dive into the man's mind, hoping to figure out the mysteries that surround him!"

"Perverted is a little..." Aria's lips twitched, wanting to further her protest. But who could win against the Master Elf?

"You are Aria Saciustrum! The world's youngest Archmagus and a perverted sicko that does everything in her power to unravel the secrets of magic and existence! How could you let this opportunity to study the ancient man's origins slip? The usual you would have stayed a full week with the man and ask as many questions as you could!"

"Like I said… Why use that verb? Is your lexicon that limited?" Aria was still hampering on the word that Yvette kept using to describe her, but the elf wasn't really listening to her protests. Instead…

"So, I'm going to force you to take two days off! Sleep for ten, eleven hours today. No, sleep for twenty-four hours if you must! Only when you've fully recovered, then we'll talk about dealing with Aurum." Yvette stroked on Aria's smooth black hair as a mother would to her newborn child.

"But, I'm not sleepy..."

"That can be fixed quite easily!" Yvette stuck her tongue out and waved her palms above Aria's eyes. At that moment, the elf's small hands seemed to be shrouded in a mirage, and a wave of fatigue gushed into the Archmagus' frontal cortex. Left, right. Left, right. Aria's eyes followed the movements of the soft hand that moved like a pendulum. Her eyelids were starting to feel as heavy as sandbags, and her mouth and nose turned numb from relaxation.

Truthfully, the Archmagus within Aria could dispel the spell that was being cast on her consciousness, but Aria resisted that urge. Aria knew that nothing could be solved by her ranting in this delirious state of hers and a reset as Yvette's suggestion could do wonders for the Archmagus. Not to mention… Who could resist sleeping on the lap of the world's most beautiful elf?

"Isn't… your spell... a little… too… effective?" It took Aria less than half a minute to reach a state of complete drowsiness, and the slightest push would have plunged her into total darkness.

"Ah, I may have increased the dosage of the hibernation spell a little too much..." Yvette stopped her waving hand, realising her folly. She'd cast the spell thinking that Aria's Archmagus immunity to magic would resist her charm. Unfortunately, Yvette had underestimated how tired Aria really was. She really needed that sleep and even a quarter of Yvette's dosage was enough to knock Aria out cold.

"No matter, I'll guard you while you sleep. Sweet dreams~" A melodious tune entered Aria's ears, probing her to finally release that last restraint to sink deeper into her luxurious bed.

"You… stupid… elf..." Those were the last three words that Aria said before her eyes shut for good.

❖❖❖

Crkkkt… Crkkkt… Crkkkt…

The first thing that Aria's consciousness heard when it 'woke up' was the familiar songs of nightly crickets, chirping away merrily with impunity. Heavy on the eyes, Aria found her 'body' slowly getting up. Light entered into the slits of her eyes, and her consciousness was gradually being returned to her. However, when Aria was able to fully open her eyes, she didn't see the familiar ceiling or the gorgeous blonde hair of her roommate. Instead…

'Stars?'

Still a little drowsy, Aria looked up, only to see celestial starlight beaming down on her face. She wasn't in her room like she ought to be, but outside in the open.

'Where am I?' Aria wondered to herself. A few moments ago, she was tucked into bed. Her body was as heavy as a rock, and her mind was dancing in the seventh of heaven. Yet, at this very moment, she was wide-awake in a foreign land.

Aria got up and glanced at her surroundings. Thick overgrowth eclipsed her from the back, and the sweet smell of grass tickled her nose. In fact, it was so dark that if Aria put her hand through the darkness created by the trees, the girl wouldn't be able to see her arm. The only light source that the Archmagus had was the full moon that hung overhead. No, there was one other ray of light that illuminated her world. Looking down, Aria spotted a clandestine lake. The luminescent moon reflected itself off the clear waters of the vast water body, giving the world that Aria was in a primordial feel. A place that was untouched by man… No, by all of civilisation itself. Sites like these were few and far between in the modern world.

Was this all a dream? No way… Aria was never a lucid dreamer. She had many dreams in the past, but she wasn't able to take control over the dreamworld no matter how hard she tried. So, there were a few other hypotheses that Aria could come up with.

'Illusion? No, Yvette would never do that. She doesn't have the capability of creating a dreamworld anyway. So that leaves...'

"%&Q@%^" While Aria was still wracking her brains for answers with the clues that she had, an ethereal voice broke her concentration. Aria turned around, evidently stunned. To her, being in such a situation was already bad enough and yet, a new variable had sprung forward. The Archmagus wanted to rally her mana to defend herself, but oddly enough, Aria didn't have 'control' over her body.

'W-what? What's going on?'

Aria wanted to feel threatened, but her 'body' wasn't listening to her. On the contrary, a warm, fuzzy feeling permeated throughout her entire consciousness, making her rather loose and comforted even in this foreign situation.

'What's this...'

This feeling that Aria was experiencing… She never had it before. It was so bright and warm that it was borderline nauseating. In her twenty-three years of existence, Aria never felt so conflicted in her feelings before. On the one hand, she wanted to run away with fright. Yet, her 'body' was brimming with happiness at the sound of the ethereal voice.

So… It was natural for both her mind and 'body' to turn towards the origin of the voice. And what greeted her was…

'A… woman?'

Not just any woman. Aria felt her heart sink as she looked at the features of the woman. Jet-black hair that flowed seamlessly down to her waist. Luxurious golden eyes that seemed to reflect the colour of the sun itself. Exquisite, creamy brown skin that tickled with any men's heartstrings and an hourglass figure that would make any woman cry out in shame. The only lacking feature that she had was her small bosom, but in terms of femininity, the woman wouldn't lose to any actress or hostess of the modern age.

By all accounts, the brown-skinned lean woman was a female specimen beyond any comparison, and Aria felt inferior just by looking in her golden eyes. However, there was one other feeling that blossomed up in her chest as she gazed at the ethereal woman, who was smiling right at her.

'Why do I feel so at ease? Why do I feel… So comforted?'

"%)#%@^*#@!#%"

The woman's melodious voice sounded out once more, and the sober Aria was finally able to connect the dots. That language that flowed out from the woman's mouth and her appearance… She'd seen it all once before…

'I see… So this is a memory of the ancient man… Aurum's memory.'