Timeless World

The hallways of the palace were confusing and labyrinth-like, but over time they managed to find the cafeteria. Unsurprisingly, everything was automated with no soul in sight.

They sat down on one of the empty tables, and Ashton spoke, "Fayden, I was told that Alea was alive, but not much else. Is she doing ok?"

"Yeah." Fayden said, gulping down his food. "She had to replace her arm, but she's doing fine."

Sighing with a mix of relief and what seemed like sadness Ashton said, "That's good to hear."

"Why do you ask?" Fayden said. "Were you two close in your world?"

"Not until after an incident in Hell's Jaw. Arthur and I fell into it from a field trip and found her there on the brink of death." Ashton answered as he picked at his food.

"Did she survive?" Fayden asked, although he could guess what the answer would be.

After a moment Ashton nodded, "Yeah, but I don't know if it was right to force her to live like she is though."

"Do I even want to know what state she's in?"

"Considering you're the Elven prince, you're likely closer to her, so probably not. At least not while eating."

"That bad huh." Fayden grimaced. "Did you get to kill the retainer who did it to her?"

Ashton jerked to look at Fayden. "No? They, and the reincarnated that attacked her, were gone before we arrived."

Now it was Fayden's turn to be surprised, "Reincarnated? Who- I mean reincarnation is a thing?"

He glanced at Nathan, who was showing more interest in the conversation, and Elijah who was already thinking of possibilities.

Ashton grimaced realising his mistake. "Uh, yeah." He paused for a moment, glancing at the three. "About the retainer, can you tell me anything about them? Their abilities, how strong they are, all of that?"

Fayden didn't want to let the topic of the reincarnated go, but he supposed it would be better to confront him about it later, preferably when Nathan was not with them. He sighed. "Right, the retainer. His name was Uto, a lanky, vritra-blooded Alacryan. He had two long horns on his head and used bandages to cover his body. His powers were similar to mine, but still inferior. That included shadow magic, creating infernal spikes like Elijah, and he was faster than any Lance. Only with my Integrate Phase, did I manage to beat him."

He inhaled deeply, "If you want, I could show you the fight, but it might be a little disorienting."

"I feel that it'd be best for me to see either way." Ashton said, "How exactly am I meant to see this though?"

Fayden shrugged, "It's simple, I'll just insert the memory into your mind using some of my inherent Nacht arts. That way you'll never forget it."

"Nothing about that is even remotely simple. Also, what the hell is Nacht arts?"

"You see, when mama aether and papa mana love each other very much, the end result is nacht." Fayden spoke with a high-pitched voice like he was explaining something to a child. It didn't help that he had two humanoid mana and aether constructs floating over his hand.

Elijah almost spat his drink out at the insinuation, glaring at Fayden. Nathan, on the other hand, was confused as to what he meant.

"I really hope you stop this demonstration before it gets any farther." Ashton chuckled as he glanced to see the others' reactions. It was starting to dawn on him that Nathan hadn't gotten the birds and bees talk yet.

Fayden grinned back, and the constructs of mana and aether imploded into two spheres. "To simplify the process, the two particles undergo nuclear fusion." The constructs collided into each other, the white and purple meshing together before all color left it. "Resulting in the formation of Nacht."

Ashton stared at the colorless ball of Nacht. "So, it's similar to Nox then. However, it's a bit more complex of a way to make it."

Fayden raised an eyebrow, "We're going to have to compare notes later."

"Agreed," Ashton nodded back.

"So," Elijah cleared his throat, "how is your world like?"

"Well, I want to say normal, but I don't know what yours is like." Ashton said, before musing through the question once more, "I guess I'll list some stuff: The human king and queen are Blaine and Priscilla Glayder, the dwarven-"

"Are dead." Fayden interrupted. "I figured out they were traitors, along with Olfred Warend."

"What? I mean, that would explain why the dwarven royals weren't there when I met the council, but Olfred?"

Fayden nodded, "When you return, make sure to kill him as soon as you can."

"Trust me, I won't wait to get my hands on him." Ashton said, a tinge of fury in his tone. He shook his head, "Any other traitors I should know of?"

"I'm assuming you've dealt with Kai Crestless?" Fayden said, receiving a nod. "Then no, not really."

"I noticed something when you first arrived." Elijah said. "You had a look of guilt on your face when you saw me, why is that?"

Ashton turned his gaze away before speaking, "I- It's-" Clearing his throat, he tried again. "I couldn't save you during the attack. The people the Vritra sent dragged you away."

Elijah raised an eyebrow, "I take it, I was weaker in your world?"

"And younger." He pointed out. "You went berserk in your rage, and killed some of them. But eventually you lost consciousness and they took you away."

"Because of my Vritran genes?" Elijah said.

Ashton shrugged, "I can only assume so."

"Good thing I gave you Uto's core and horns then, huh?" Fayden said. "Who knows what sort of experiments Agrona would be doing on you if you were taken."

Elijah fixed his glasses, "I would have probably ended up as your enemy then."

Nathan glanced between them, "How is it that you can talk about that so casually?"

"Because to them it's just some random possibility that didn't happen." Ashton muttered.

"But isn't that a bit…insensitive?"

Ashton shrugged, "We can't change the past, it's best not to dwell on it."

The rest of their breakfast passed with idle chatter and ended when Noctis finally arrived.

"I had a feeling I would find you four here," he said. "Now come, it's time to start your training."

"What are we going to train for?" Elijah asked.

"Mental fortitude." Noctis replied. "Specifically, how many times can you die and still retain your sanity."

Nathan screeched to a halt, "Say what now?"

"Uh, Noctis," Fayden began, "you do know that we're not immortal right?"

"Sanity? I lost mine ages ago!" Ashton chuckled.

Elijah narrowed his eyes at the asura, "You have reached a method to simulate the feeling of death without actually killing us, haven't you?"

"I wouldn't exactly call it a simulation, but yes, you are correct Mr. Knight." Noctis said. "You will understand once we reach there."

He guided them through the halls of the palace for a few minutes, before they came across a heavily guarded door and a man standing in front of it. He was clearly a Marchosias, his metallic, black hair was proof of it. Especially the fact that he exuded an aura of power.

"This is Zerion, one of our strongest members, he specializes in mental warfare. Once let loose, he could drive an entire army mad with but a thought." Noctis introduced. "He will keep an eye on your mental fortitudes for the entirety of your stay in this chamber."

"That's definitely not a scary power." Fayden said, suddenly wary of the man.

Elijah sighed, "You speak as if every Marchosias here couldn't overpower us with ease."

"If you are worried about me spilling your secrets," the man spoke, "then you're right."

"Don't scare them too much, Zerion." Noctis sighed at the grinning man. "And you are aware of what you should and shouldn't disclose, are you not?"

"Yeah, I know, don't worry about it, old timer." He patted Noctis' shoulder and stood in front of the gate. And the gate slid open without protest.

Ashton glanced at the Marchosias and asked, "So, do we just step in and we're immortal till we leave?"

Zerion laughed, "Hah, nice imagination, but no. You will still be mortal."

"How the heck are we supposed to experience death without dying then?" Fayden asked, it was getting more confusing by the moment.

"Oh, you will die," Noctis said, not too worried about it. "But you will get better."

"That is definitely not the single most confusing thing I've heard in my life." Ashton said.

"You will understand once you see it with your own eyes." Zerion said, entering the room. "You gonna stay there or come in?"

Sharing a glance, they sighed collectively, and entered the room. Inside it was like they had entered a whole different realm. Behind them the gate disappeared, but they had other things to focus on. The inside of the room, if it could be called that, was like another world. It had mountains and rivers, valleys that stretched for many miles, and a fake sky with a Sun similar to the one they saw from Dicathen.

"Are you just going to gape at the scenery or actually train?" Zerion's voice broke them out of their thoughts, and they focused on him.

"We literally live in a separate dimension, and this is what surprises you?" he asked, shaking his head. "Anyways, time moves differently here. So don't worry about spending too long here."

"Oh, this shit again…" Ashton grumbled.

"So let me get this straight," Elijah began, "we're going to just kill ourselves over and over again until you decide we've had enough?"

"Pretty much." Zerion confirmed. He clapped his hands, "So, who wants to go first?"

"I'll go first," Fayden said, "against Ashton."

Zerion turned to him, "Do you accept?"

Ashton nodded, "I do."

"Alright then, The two of you, face each other, and the rest, follow me."

Nathan and Elijah did as they were told, following Zerion to the platform. Fayden and Ashton faced each other on the meadow.

"All out from the start, or do you want to start from rock bottom?" Fayden asked.

"I think testing our limits in each form would be smart, don't you?" Ashton asked.

Fayden shrugged, "Works for me."

Silver runes flickered into existence under his eyes, "Fair warning though, I've got my acquire phase permanently active, so you should probably activate yours if you want to test our limits on an even playing ground."

"Fair enough," Ashton nodded before activating his acquired phase. "Let's see if mine holds up to yours."

Ominous black runes flashed to life along his skin followed by what looked like circuits that weaved in and out of the runes and connected to his features.

"Begin on the count of three." Zerion yelled, and the two fell into their stances.

"Three, begin!"

Ashton acted first, dashing around Fayden he seemed to turn into a blur. Shockingly, his fist seemed to move even faster, gravity having stopped affecting it. Yet, right before he hit Fayden, it multiplied significantly.

Fayden waited for him to get close before moving, in a flash of black he was gone from his vision. The hair on Ashton's hair rose in alarm and a bolt of lightning raced towards him, large enough to fit an entire school bus.

Trusting the alarm that he's felt hundreds of times, he fell down through his shadow. Shooting up from Fayden's shadow he jerked around after not seeing him when first appearing.

"You have Void Step too?" Fayden asked from above, he had not expected there to be similarities this soon.

Looking up, Ashton shrugged. "I call it Shadow Step, but I assume it's similar in effect?"

Fayden did not respond in words, having accepted this similarity. He warped again, this time back on the ground. With his dominant hand, he made a gesture of pushing down, and gravity increased a hundredfold.

Ashton fell to his knees, his legs digging into the ground. It was impossible to stand as he was. Fayden took the opportunity, and a nacht blade materialized in his hand. He void stepped in front of Ashton, his blade held high with both arms as he brought it down with all his strength.

Feeling his senses kick into overdrive Ashton's mouth moved without his consent, "Elcipseforce."

The mana around him began shaking and shooting around everywhere, as if in a frenzy. And the resulting explosion sent Fayden flying back.

Fayden used his blade to slow down, cutting through the ground for a few meters before coming to a stop. It was like he was looking into a mirror when he saw Ashton's second phase.

"You sure we're not just variants of each other?" He asked, the similarities were too uncanny.

"As far as I know we're not, then again I didn't know other worlds existed till a while ago." Ashton answered as he pushed himself up.

"Huh, guess we'll need to have a talk later." Fayden said, pushing himself off the ground. Beckoning his opponent forward he said, "Come at me then."

And Ashton did.