Fragments of a Forgotten Past - Part 4

5 minutes later…

"Welp, I guess this was a failure," Rin muttered after checking the room twice and finding nothing out of the ordinary.

'Probably it isn't something that can be found, but triggered through special means?' Pharaoh suggested.

'You do know this isn't some dungeon, that has a built-in secret floor, or a hidden pathway that has yet to be discovered, right Pharaoh?'

'You never know, plus what's there to lose?' He said considering, it would not hurt to inspect the room one more time just to be sure.

'Tsk... why do I even entertain your bullshit, but I guess we can give it another shot, before heading downstairs to see what that kid is up to.' Rin said.

'Thank you! Now could you please get back to work!'

'Ezekiel don't push it; now could you please keep quiet and watch a master at work.'

'Pfft, Master you must mean clown there's no~'

'Ezekiel!'

'Sorry.'

'Sigh... just keep your thoughts to yourself.' Rin said as he shook his head and returned to work.

'Aye, Aye Captain!'

***

"Hopefully, everything goes as predicted... as once it starts, it can't be stopped." Fred sighed as he stared at the monitor, waiting for the moment Rin interacted with the fragment. 

Which would jumpstart phase #2 and begin the reunion of past & present, following the absorption of the crystalized form of chaos and a few fragmented memories from Noctis.

Along with some other irrelevant stuff as this was still a piece of Noctis's soul at the end of the day, so, expect the unexpected when dealing with anything related to a Scourge.

Meanwhile at the topmost floor of Rin's Soul Palace…

Where there was nothing but a bed, stardust, and broken chains, a woman wearing rags suddenly awoke from her slumber, after returning from the Voice of Time.

'So, you made your choice it seems, huh? I guess now we can only wait for the wheels of fate to work their magic...' Olivia muttered to herself saddened at the path her husband chose to take without her as she sat up and secretly watched Rin's trial.

Along with him, however, while he may have chosen a path of desolation and destruction, would it not have been better to take a more cautious route, Olivia wondered.

But I guess time can only tell what the future would have in store for them.

***

10 minutes later...

'Hmm... what this?' Rin muttered as he retraced his steps and stood before the bookshelf, where he caught a brief glimpse of a shining object just as he was about to step out of the room.

'What happened?' Pharaoh asked as he saw Rin stop and walk back to the bookshelf.

'Um, I'm not sure... but I think I just saw a green light come from the bookshelf a while ago.' Rin replied as he began looking for whatever might have produced that light.

'Hmm, are you sure you are not just seeing things, Rin? As from my end, you are just looking at a bookshelf stacked with books.'

'I'm positive,' Rin assured himself as he knew what he saw and began frantically searching for whatever it could have been he saw or imagined.

Sometime later…

And before long he found it, residing on the second to top shelf, wedged in between two books behind a little bible hidden in plain sight. A glass jar covered with dust that contained a shimmering emerald with black marks on its surface.

'What did I tell you, Ezekiel? I knew I was not hallucinating, so what do you make of this?' Rin said as he picked up the jar and wiped away the dust that coated it.

'Hmm… that's strange are you sure it was not here all this time, and you just noticed it, Rin?' Ezekiel asked as it was weird how they only found it now coincidentally.

'I'm positive,' Rin replied as this meant he could finally go back to bed, 'So what now?'

'Who knows, but I~'

Crack.

'Hmm, did you say something, Ezekiel?' Rin asked before turning his head towards the window slowly after hearing something crack which then led to him running out of the room afterward as the cracks began to spread throughout the room like a disease.

Crack. Crack. Crack. 

Causing the entire dreamscape to collapse as darkness seeped from the cracks and quickly engulfed everything in pure darkness. But while terrifying and a bit bewildering, thanks to the jar at least he could see his surroundings as it was his only source of light for the time being.

Tip. Tap. Tip. Tap. Tip. Tap.

"So, you finally arrived, brother? Now before I answer any of your questions, would you mind opening that jar for me?" A voice said out of nowhere as they gradually made their way towards Rin.

"Huh?" Rin uttered baffled at the request he received as the faint echoes of footsteps rang throughout his surroundings like the murmurs of crickets at night.

"..." Noctis, 'Hmm, is Leon's reincarnation by any chance illiterate in this life? As I do not think I asked him to do anything too abstract or difficult. Nonetheless, humans have always been afraid of the unknown so maybe he is just nervous?'

"Um, would you mind repeating that as I don't think quite caught what you said?" Rin asked to see if he could pinpoint where that voice came from yet the only thing, he could hear was dead silence.

'Yeah, he's mostly definitely nervous and quite smart, but that tactic only works if the person you're trying to discover wants to be found, Rin.' Noctis smiled as he used this moment to thoroughly examine Leon's reincarnation.

Who was quite different from Leon in many ways, considering the former was born talentless and always took everything in life a little too seriously. Never finding enjoyment in the simple things; always striving for better.

But in the end, just where did that lead him...

'Hmm, to open the jar or not to open the jar, that's the question of the night.' Rin thought as he kept trying to make heads or tails on the significance of the jar.

Which at first glance, does not seem all that important, however, when you think about how Rin came into possession of such an object. The discussion now becomes why did he hide such a thing in a dream, in the first place.

Considering dreams exist within and outside of reality and can potentially act as gateways between different dimensions. Where anything is possible as power has no reign here, yet imagination can allow you to dominate everything.

"Sigh… hopefully, in time this will all make sense to me as I'm currently confused at how this is all connected," Rin muttered as he brought the jar to his face and gave it a good shake. Yet, nothing happened except the emerald shining brighter than it was earlier.

"Sigh, I guess some things just can't be helped… welp, you will have to find that one out on your own, brother as I must depart for now, but before I go... could you stay still for a moment," Noctis said as he shortened the distance between them and tapped Rin's forehead consecutively three times.

Transferring a flood of memories into his mind after temporarily freezing Rin in place for a few minutes, allowing him to finally begin the revival process.

This led to Rin falling into a state of madness as he could not differentiate between what was real and fake causing him to hold his head in agony as he repeatedly shouted for help.

Yet no one could hear his cries for salvation, and this went on for a few more minutes. Until he finally just slumped to the ground with a thud and fell unconscious, causing the jar he was holding onto a while ago to shatter.

'Well, my job here is done... hopefully, the next time we meet Rin you'll remember the past you try so hard to forget and the vow you have yet to uphold, my dear brother.' Noctis chucked as he could not wait to see what the future had in store for them as he teleported back to Tera.

Leaving his dear brother to get out of this on his own as some things can only be learned the hard way… as no one is above nor below the heavens. So, it would be for the best if he would just accept his fate and fulfill his duty as countless have tried to escape its control.

But how many have truly managed to rid themselves of Heaven's rule? And that is where our story begins as from birth, he was cursed to die young, yet he managed to escape death.

Not once but twice… but at what cost? Was it the loss of his humanity in Genesis Mountain when he stumbled upon the corpse of some prince and swore to avenge him? Not aware of the karmic ties his choice would have on both him and his family.

Or was it within the hallways of Nevada, a city in Barcelona that was deemed the den of crouching tigers and hidden dragons? Where a prophet claimed he would find riches beyond his wildest dreams if he could survive to see tomorrow.

Where he nearly died at the hands of some nameless Divine God's clone, who could wield the apocalyptic power of Ragnarök?

But while these incidents may have shaped and forged him into a heartless yet compassionate butcher, who many deemed an abomination to humanity and a disgrace to his family's name.

It was not until Leon met Angeles that he would discover the light once again, which was on the verge of evaporating. A light that helped cleanse his blackened and twisted soul and helped tame the darkness that festered within him, without end like the Bubonic Plague. 

Which reaped millions upon millions of lives, yet nothing is due to last forever and so our hero's peaceful days ended... not at the hands of his enemies, but the person he least expected.