Chapter 19

ARTHUR LEYWIN POV:

My mind calmed down and my body slowly relaxed as ambient aether rushed into my pores, to fill my core. I no longer felt drained and my injuries finally started to heal away.

Using the god rune was a risky move, but I had to take it, given the situation we were pushed into.

I squeezed my eyes tight and blinked away the horrific sight of seeing Caera—bloodied and bruised—the rage that took over me from seeing her that way, pushing me so far as to use the destructive flames.

Then, the memory—or rather, Caera's voice—that pulled me back just when I felt myself losing—giving-in to the power of destruction, came to my mind.

My body relaxed and I calmed down.

I was grateful that I had her by my side...despite the surprise effect she seemingly had on me, I couldn't help but feel the need to embrace her, to protect her inside my arms.

She's special...

My mind echoed those words, making my body resonate as an after-effect...and, I reflexively stroked her hair, pulled her close to me.

The feeling wasn't so odd, in fact it was very natural, yet, it felt somehow wrong to have it?

Shaking away the thoughts, I focused my gaze on Ion. He wasn't what I expected. For one, his body was composed full of aether. Just like Regis, who ha—

'Hey! Don't you dare compare—me, a majestic weapon—to some weird kid. Besides I'm still pissed that you made me carry that little psycho.' Regis started his usual ramblings, which I ignored.

"Be on guard. Ion says that the area should be empty, but still..." I spoke out loud, for Caera to hear who was walking by my side.

She nodded wordlessly, as we strolled forward. The insides of the cave structure were very crude in design, with little to no details to identify just what type of function it was used for.

By now it was very clear that there aren't any living Djinns inside the zone, atleast from what Ion had told me. I thought back to the information he had given me so far, though unbelievable, it looked to be the truth.

[ "Ion, is it? Can you tell me if there are others living here like you?"

"No. Everyone else is dead. M-My father...h-he is dead. And left me alone."

His words struck me and clawed at my insides, bringing up several old memories that I had kept locked. Shaking myself out of it, I composed myself to perform the task at hand.

"H-How exactly did they all...die?" I asked in hesitation. Talking to a child about death, didn't sit well with me.

'But he's the only hope if we ever wish to get an answer—and to get out of this zone.' I thought resolutely.

Ion looked at me with the same expressionless face as his mental answer came once again. "Father never told me. Everyone died before he made me. And father protected me. Protected me from beasts and monsters from taking me. I was alone and afraid. Till you saved me."

'How are you still alive?' I wanted to ask but held myself back.

Looking back at him, his—what should have been a grave wound—looked more like a crack on a surface, than an injury. It was fairly obvious that he wasn't exactly living. Yet he seemed to have a physical body and communicate with others—in a way, albeit using aether—which made me feel intrigued about what he really is.

"Did you and your father live inside this cave?" I asked, changing the heavy topic.

He answered in a monotone. "Yes. He died there. I lived here till I ran from the big beast you killed." ]

The cave structure was deep with multiple levels to it. Ion led us to the core of the structure where he and his father supposedly spent their days hiding from the creatures of this zone.

After walking for a few minutes in the dark, motes of shining purple greeted my eyes. There was a large metal door at the end of the corridor we were walking in. Through the holes and the joints, purple light leaked out.

I noticed aether around the door slowly moving in and out, in a cyclic manner.

Something inside must be attracting the aether, I thought as doubt and excitement rose inside me.

Increasing the speed of my footsteps I closed in on the door. It was a deep-black in colour, devoid of any notable details. It had a large circular handle hanging from it.

Looking back at the kid, with a nod, I pushed the door open.

My body immediately felt the air around me change in an instant. It was as if a switch had been flipped, as all the ambient aether rushed and swirled around me, grazing my skin...as if studying me curiously.

Then, my body absorbed the ambient aether.

I tensed up at the sudden rush of energy unlike any I've ever experienced. It felt like I was absorbing aether using my armour. But only at a much rapid rate.

I felt my core brimming with power as aether pulsed visibly around my skin. 'Can I possibly create my third layer?' I pondered excitedly.

Just as my mind started spinning around with wild ideas on how to form a new layer, I felt a tug at my arm.

Snapping out of my daze, I noticed Caera's warm hand on mine. She was clearly mesmerised by the visible aether clinging onto my skin; just as she touched it, the purple energy dispersed as they moved away my skin and slowly faded away.

"W-What's happening?" She asked in a contained excitement. It was quite good to see this side of hers, which I could never get tired of.

I open my mouth to answer her but immediately stopped—when I realised she was standing close...too close to me. Our bodies practically touching.

Her eyes studied me for an answer, uncaring to our close proximity. While I looked back at her face—her exposed neck which was only inches away.

I felt her scent wafting off to my position, as it brought all the memories associated with it. The memories of when we would get physically close enough—albeit for the purpose of teleporting. But, it didn't stop me from feeling warm inside my stomach, as my heart skipped a few beats.

She then noticed my gaze was on her exposed neck as her eyes widened.

My face reddened as I quickly turned it away in embarrassment at getting caught. I could see her face and neck turn red...till the exact place where I was unknowingly looking at.

Great! Now she's going to think that I'm a creep. I cursed myself.

The air around us started to get heavy. Not wanting to let it settle, I coughed a few times before speaking up to break the obvious tension. "L-Let's go explore the place."

Caera nodded back mutely, not meeting my eyes. She looked shy and embarrassed, but not angry...so I breathed out a sigh of relief and let her be.

I shifted my gaze to Ion who was blankly staring at a spot inside the aether rich, but otherwise empty room.

'Where next?' I asked him mentally. Without replying back, he lifted his hand and pointed at the archway at the other end of the room. A bright mixture of white and purple was radiating from the other side.

I was surprised at how I missed that. Shaking my head, Caera and I walked towards the opening while Ion closely followed.

When I stepped closer to the archway, my heart started beating faster as a familiar sensation rose up inside me—inside my core. I could feel the amount of aether contained on the other side of the room, slowly pulling me inside its grasp.

Surprised, I gave in to the sensation and moved in haste.

Just as I crossed the archway, my vision was filled with motes of purple and swirling whites...it took me a few good seconds for my eyes to adjust to the scenery on the other side.

And when I saw it, I froze.

My whole body stiffened and my throat went dry as I dazedly stared at the humongous tree in front of my eyes.

Regis leapt out wordlessly, as if he was under a spell.

My eyes—our, eyes—fixed on the large round fruits hanging from the tree. It's glowing purple colour lighting the entire circular room with bright amethyst tint.

A-Aether...fruits.

Just as I took a step forward, a warm hand pulled me out of my temptations. I soon felt my cheeks hurt.

"Grey, look! It's the portal!" Caera's soft voice brought me back to normality as I practically peeled my gaze off the aether fruits and looked at Caera. Her hand was poking my cheeks as she tried to gain my attention.

Ignoring her odd action, I followed her other hand to where she was pointing at.

It wasn't anywhere else. It was under the tree. There stood a large portal archway, but it wasn't active.

"There's no power source." I said out loud for Caera to hear. She walked forward and stopped as she touched the portal frame to study it.

There were few rune symbols etched on its surface, much like the ones we had found in the Dragon's zone. But, I could see the runic pathways—similar to the ones we have been following—connect to the portal frame. There was a circular cavity at the bottom of the portal which was empty. "This empty cavity must have held the power source."

"Don't tell me that we have to go search for it." Caera said in a tired tone. I knew she must be exhausted after the fight. My eyes studied her form, her previously glittering eyes now a dull red...yet they looked beautiful nonetheless. I thought as my eyes subconsciously trailed down at her body—her posture, which was now slightly hunched.

I stopped—when I noticed her looking back at me with a curious gaze. "What are you looking at?" She asked hoarsely, as if she was holding onto her breath. Her eyes peered into mine, drilling deep for an answer.

My lips formed a faint smile while I shook my head. "You look tired. Take some rest." I replied and walked over to one of the tree branches and plucked out a fruit. Just as my hand touched the surface, I felt a prickle on my skin as the aether started to slowly seep into my body.

Resisting the urge to take a bite, I handed the fruit to Caera, who was now sitting down on the ground, her hands hugging her knees as she kept eyeing me curiously.

"Eat this. It contains aether...but it should be good enough for you as well."

She smiled back warmly, as she took a bite. As soon as she did, her face gained a few shades of colour and her complexion visibly soften. I could see her posture relax as she slowly started to look like her usual self.

Satisfied with the outcome, I went back to grab a few more of the fruits.

"Can you eat it already. I dying to taste the aether!" Regis grumbled with an urgent tone.

I plucked a fruit and, ate it. The taste was sweet to the mouth, but what made me surprised was the potency of the aether it contained. It was undoubtedly the most potent fruit I have ever tasted.

My aether core audibly churned as I felt it trying to absorb the pure aether like an addict. It kept absorbing as I felt it shiver, making my senses uneasy.

It felt painful as much as pleasurable.

'Damn masochist, and you called me an addict!' Regis's mental voice seeped inside our link, but I zoned it off to focus on the sensation.

I was sure either my core would break or it would grow. My eyes squeezed tight as I focused on my core. It's smooth surface started to form small residue of aether as it started to leak out from the core. The aether slowly settled on the second layer.

Just as the feeling elation crept up on me, everything stopped at an instance.

My eyes opened wide in shock and panic as I studied my insides. The fruit is fully consumed, I thought in a slight disappointment. But it quickly went away when I turned my gaze to look at the rest of the fruits hanging from the tree.

A grin formed on my face as I activated my God Step to not waste any more time. But just as I was about to move, the Djinn kid, Ion who was playing with Regis, suddenly ran away from the room.

I felt Regis panic through our link, who was babysitting the kid.

'Regis, go and keep an eye on him' I ordered before returning my gaze to the fruits. With a series of curses, he ran out following the kid.

Four more of the fruits appeared on my hands after I teleported and plucked them out. A large grin appeared back on my face at what more I'd be able to do with these fruits.

Suddenly a soft laughter made me turn to my side. I saw Caera, looking at me as she laughed.

"What's funny?" I asked curiously.

"Nothing it's just that... I've never seen you so happy before." She smiled widely, as if it made her happy too. And she continued. "You look like a child who's gotten a toffee for breakfast." She said, tapping her lips while studying my face.

I felt flustered under her gaze as my heart fluttered. "S-Stop looking at me like that. You're weird." I blurted out before turning away from her sight. My heart still beating loudly that I was afraid she'd hear it clearly.

Her soft giggling reached my ears but I kept my face away from her direction.

Suddenly a voice cut-in through our awkward conversation. "Oh don't mind him. He's just shy. He gets like that when he's around someone he likes."

Caera's laughter suddenly stopped, making me turn. And her, blushing.

My body stiffened as I turned to glare at the shadow wolf. But, he just ignored it as he spoke. "The kid here has found something, and he's eager to show it to you."

Still glaring daggers at the wolf, I moved close to the kid. I noticed he had an orb in his hand, much similar to the ones I've seen before in the Djinn room. I also noticed a necklace around his neck, which wasn't there before. 'Where did you get that?' I asked him through our mental link.

I was interested in it due to the amount of aether it seemed to contain inside it. "It's a gift from father. I put it on when I want to talk to him." Ion answered...this time verbally, not mentally. My eyes widened at him while I heard Caera gasp, in surprise, I presumed.

"H-How can you s-speak now?" Caera asked the obvious question, making Ion turn to look at her. I was hoping that he would answer, but he just wordlessly walked towards me and stopped within an arm's reach.

His purple eyes suddenly had tears rolling down from it, while his face showed...emotions—for the first time ever since we saved him.

He was crying.

I knelt down to meet his teary eyes and patted his head, wordlessly, letting him cry it out.

It took a while before he calmed down.

By now Caera had come closer and softly ruffled his short purple hair. It was surprising that he didn't swat away her hands. She gave him a motherly smile, which made me look at her surprised.

"Watch this. My father is here." Ion's sad voice came out, breaking me out of my thoughts I saw him push the shining orb towards my hand.

Taking a glance at Caera, I grabbed the orb. Just as I did that, it started to shine brightly as aether from my core got absorbed into the orb.

Panic rose up inside me at the sudden reaction from the orb, as I tried to throw it away. But the orb didn't fall down, instead, it started to hover in the air.

Suddenly a bright light radiated from the crystal as it slowly moved in circles to form—a humanoid figure.

It-It's a Djinn! I exclaimed inside my mind when the humanoid figure fully formed. With his purple eyes and hair, runes etched all over his body, stood a middle-aged man covered in a pristine white robe.

Despite the fact that he wasn't real, I couldn't help but gawk at the sight. He radiated a subtle pressure that felt so familiar.

Aetheric force, I realised.

From the corner of my eyes I saw Caera taking out her sword ready to attack, but I stopped her with my hand.

"It-It's alright. He's not real, is he?" I asked the Djinn kid. He shook his head and turned back to look at the Djinn man in front of us.

Caera looked at me with a questioning gaze but slowly lowered her weapon as we both focused on the Djinn man.

The Djinn man was floating above the air, his eyes staring blankly at a single point, neither reacting to our presence, or to Ion. It was very different from the Djinn projections I had met before. They still had the remnants of their past self, giving them a sort of 'sentience' to speak, and communicate with the ascenders coming to their zones, which is me.

But...the man in front of us, though he looked similar in appearance, he didn't look like he was about to fight me or give me a relic.

'Let's hear him out first', Regis spoke up through our mental link.

Nodding inwardly, I opened my mouth to speak but Ion stopped me. Turning my gaze down to him, I saw him grabbing his necklace as it started shining. "This is father. He will tell you everything." Ion said in a soft tone, unlike his monotonous voice from earlier.

The pendant must be having some reaction to his physical and mental behaviour. I noted inwardly.

Then the Djinn man's floating body started to move for the first time.

He lifted his hands to his eyes and placed his palms against the sockets. His lips moved as he muttered inaudibly. When his hands lowered down, his purple eyes were shining brilliantly as they started to project a beam—of aether.

Caera and I quickly moved to the side, fearing that the man was attacking us. But, the beam seemed to be harmless as it landed against the white wall in front of the man.

The light started to slowly form images which soon turned into a moving image—a video.

A soft gasp escaped my mouth. The Djinn man was projecting a video. Just as it happened, he spoke up gaining our attention.

"Greetings. My name is Zaci. If you already doesn't know, I'm one of the Djinns. And if you have found this recording that means two things. Firstly, I am finally dead just as my people who have fallen before me." He stopped as his eyes started to tear up and he smiled sadly. "Secondly, it means that my son, Ion is all alone. My son, I am truly sorry that I couldn't keep you safe." He closed his eyes and composed himself. With a deep breath, he continued with a serious voice. "Fine. This recording is my final will to whoever comes to the zone and finds it. But I must warn you, it won't be pretty."

"Let me tell you our story.

Ever since the fall of our race at the hands of the asuras, the few remaining survivors took refuge inside our training grounds.

What many didn't realise at that time was the danger in doing so.

A group of survivors was lead by our leader who brought us here. This zone was once mapped as a 'safe zone', which acted as a training ground for 'starter' combatants.

But what we didn't realise what how the zone had reacted to the presence of the creatures over the time. It was mainly due to the our negligence and the miscalculation due to uncertainty over the 'time difference' between the physical realm and the aether realm." He stopped and sighed.

I perked up my ears to hear his story; and how this zone became desolate; and what happened to the survivors.

"During the first few years, the creatures weren't a problem. Due to the option of always exiting the zone whenever we wished, our people used up all the resources we had brought with us—to create the settlement.

The power sources of this zone was left untouched as it maintained the entry and exit portals. We used the smaller aether crystals we had brought to build the defenses.

But everything changed when the humans—the outsiders—started to come into our portals, hunting for power and resources. They hurt us in the process, took many of the innocents as hostages, tried to steal, kill even."  Zaci stopped as he gritted his teeth. He was clearly angry at the ascenders who had started to enter the zone.

Calming himself, he continued. His eyes still in tears as they rolled down his cheeks. "An unforeseen accident happened when a group of outsiders entered the zone at once. Those greedy bastards—they tried to take away the tree—the life-force—of this zone away.

We had no other option but to fight back.

By the end we defeated the outsiders, but the decision we took that day—we didn't know it would be the downfall of the survivors."

It wasn't a surprise that the outsiders—the ascenders—entered the portal. But I was surprised that many were able to enter this specific portal zone. Clearing my thoughts, I focused back on the Djinns words and what decision had made their downfall.

"Our leader ordered us to destroy the entry and exit portals so that no outsiders will be able to arrive in this zone. We knew this would take away the freedom we had and tie us to this zone. But, we didn't have other choice and thought this would be able to secure our safety. Oh how short sighted we were...." He stopped and shook his head, as if he was still in regret.

"Few of the followers of our leaders took down the exit portal and they moved to do the same to the entry portal. But...what they didn't expect was that people would oppose to this decision, as some of the followers who didn't agree with the leader, gathered their own men, to stop the leader's men from deactivating the entry portal.

Fight broke out as both sides tried to gain control over the zone. Many lost their lives, uncaring to why we were here in the first place.

It's funny what fear can do to a person, to a Djinn, no less.

At the end, it was decided that the entry portal will be kept open...to capture the 'outsiders' and take away their possessions to use it for our community. 

It was a selfish act. But we had to survive.

We knew we were on a lifeline since there was no way of exiting the zone. This prompted us as a last attempt to finally take the 'power source' of the deactivated 'exit portal' and to use it for boosting our defences. But it was done to only protect the shrine where our life-tree was located.

Time went by this way, but soon the dark creatures started to gain more strength over the years...while the resources we had stolen from the 'outsiders'...started to dwindle.

We could no longer use the small aether crystals we brought to power the entire settlement with lights and other defences, hence we had to use more of the 'power source' for the entire settlement." He stopped and looked thoughtful.

Then he spoke in a grim voice. "But it wasn't an easy task, as we needed to create new pathways to redirect the source of power. Hence our leader created a team of scientists, those who were well versed in technology to find a way to use the power source of the zone to boost our entire settlement's defences. To keep the remaining Djinns safe.

In the meantime, a rebellion was forming right under over noses, due to the dissatisfaction of the people living in the zone. Our leader was oblivious to this, ofcourse.

A group of rebels attacked the shrine where the exit portal was and finally killed our leader and his men.

They took the scientists as hostages and stole all the aether crystal from the settlement and ordered us to fix the exit portal.

Having no other choice we worked on fixing the exit portal. But it wasn't so easy. With low resources and no motivation, the task was close to being impossible.

In the upcoming years, the dark creatures started to attack more frequently as the aether crystals powering the settlement slowly ran out.

Soon during one dark cycle, a new beast came to the settlement. It was never seen before and probably a mutated dark creature.

The dark creatures of this zone usually suck out the mana and aether from the living creatures to survive..."

He stopped and lowered his head as soft sobs escaped his mouth.

After a few minutes of that, he spoke again.

"With that they killed all the survivors of the settlement. My son, his mother. Everyone in the zone.

Except for one, me.

I was one of the scientists tasked to create the defences—to reactivate the exit portal. But after my son's death...my hope was lost.

With no purpose to live, I tried to kill myself but I couldn't.

Then a new hope came to me, albeit accidentally. My son, Ion Chio, who was killed in the beast attack...I tried to bring him back to life. Maybe I felt lonely, I didn't know, but I focused all my mind to find a way to bring him back.

I was able to save all his memories in the memory orb before his death. I used the power source to find a way to bring him back.

It was no easy task but I had no other reason to survive. So I worked on this for years, how many, only the god knows.

But everything didn't go as planned, as was the cursed existence of us, dear Djinns.

An accident happened. But this time it wasn't so regrettable.

One day, while I was working with the power source, it somehow accidentally absorbed my son's memory orb." He stopped as his face turned nostalgic. With a sad smile, he continued.

"Soon, he—my son—came to life. But not in a way you—a father—would want to. He was physically similar to my son. But he lacked the emotions.

I should've been happier with what I had gotten. But I was greedy, just as my people....

With the help of the 'relic-key' that was used to control the zone portals, I tried to make him talk to me—to communicate with me. Be my son again.

And it worked.

I was able to talk to my son again. With few changes to the 'key-relic' I was able to alter its spatium features to mimic a physical body that can be altered based on the user's need. All you need is to let the 'relic-key' know what you need—I'm sorry, I apologise, I'll not go into the detail.

With the newly altered 'key-relic', I was able to let the user to create their own physical body and a mental state. To make a real living being.

I lived the remaining life with my son Ion."

The recording suddenly froze as it faded into nothingness. Not even the shining orb was left.

An empty silence lingered in the—shrine room, following the story of the Djinn.

No one spoke for a while.

I couldn't help but feel bad. I didn't want to feel disappointed, but I couldn't help it.

A soft tug at my arm broke me out of my thoughts. It was Ion, he was looking up at me. Sniffling.

"Father died when the beast came to eat me. I lived alone till I felt the entry portal activate. I ran over to find who was it but the dark cycle came and the creature tried to eat me."

"Grey." Caera's hoarse voice came out. Her eyes were red and her features, soft, I noticed. She must've felt bad for the kid, I thought inwardly. "Do you think we—" she paused and looked at the kid—"...we can bring the child back with us?"

I wasn't surprised by her question as I was pondering the same.

But before I could answer, Ion spoke up with a dismissive shake of his head. "My body was hurt when I was coming to see you earlier." He pointed at his torso. "With this, I will not be able to activate the portal. Even if I am fully healed with time, I don't have enough aether to power up the portal. If I had then my father would have escaped already and not die."

He was right. But what if...

I quickly activated my Aroa's Requiem and placed my hand on Ion's chest. Since he wasn't exactly living, I was hoping it would work.

Soon a gasp escaped from the kid as his injuries—which was more of a crack on a crystal surface—started to heal as it went back to its perfect state.

Ion grinned as he checked his body. He then looked up at me and spoke with sparkling eyes. "You can control aether." I nodded back to his words. He continued. "You can give me aether. Power my core."

My brows furrowed in confusion at his words but it only lasted a second. I understood what he meant. Without hesitating, I pushed my hand against his chest and poured my aether into him.

And he started to absorb it.

Caera watched us wordlessly, as I kept pouring aether into the kid. But soon I stopped when my core churned. I had used up all my aether, emptying my core.

Taking out a fruit that I had kept in my storage, I ate it. Soon, the warm feeling of energy seeped inside me as my core started to replenish.

I performed the same procedure again, pouring more aether into the kid.

Several minutes passed before Ion started to glow. Soon his body started to shiver as he buckled down.

I caught him before he could hit the ground, stopping my aether transfer.

"Are you okay?" I asked in haste. "Y-Yeah I am okay. I think I have enough aether to power the exit portal."

Caera who was watching everything silently from the side, walked close to me and pulled me away from the kid. I followed her as she stopped a few feet away. "How are we going to bring the child with us?" She asked in a soft whisper.

I silently pondered at her question. Ion is the power source to activate the portal. So it is impossible to bring him out of the zone. At least through the exit portal.

"What about the relic we have? We can use it to take him away, right?" Caera asked, mirroring my own thoughts.

"No." I shook my head. "Remember, the relic only activates when the portal is active. Otherwise we won't be needing to power up the portal. We could've exited with ease." I said with a slight disappointment in my voice.

Caera's face darkened as she lowered her head in deep thought.

I opened my mouth to console her when a voice came from the side. It was Ion. "My father was sad and alone. He wanted to leave the zone but, he made me instead. And he died without ever seeing the outside world." He paused as a smile appeared on his face. His first smile. Then he continued. "I want to help you leave this place. I don't want to see others die because of me."

I was taken aback by his words. He was only a kid, who might not be living exactly, but a kid nonetheless.

Caera walked close to him and ruffled his hair. "We will find a way to take you back. We promise. Right Grey?" She turned to look at me.

I nodded at her words as a faint smile appeared on my face. "We will."

He then gave a hug to Caera and then to me. He turned to Regis, who was lying down at the side like none of this concerned him.

I shook my head at his action, while Ion walked close to him. Regis opened his eyes when he felt him approach.

The kid stopped in front of the shadow wolf and spoke, which made me doubt my ears. "Pet, take this relic key. You can use it like I did. You are same as me. I don't have my father so it's useless to me. But you still have yours. So it will be useful." He then took the necklace from his neck and put it around Regis's. 

Regis eyes widened. "Hey kid don't you dare compare me to you. Do you even know who I am? How powerful I am? And he's not my father. And I'm not his PET! I'm his WEAPON!..." my companion kept growling, which, all three of us ignored.

Ion's face had went back to being expressionless. He looked at Caera and me, before walking close to the portal.

Soon his body started to shine in bright white light and turned into an orb. The power source. He floated his way into the empty cavity above the exit portal and settled in.

With an uncomfortable blink of a light, the portal frame soon started to shine as its runes activated. A soft hum reverberated inside the shrine room as an Opalescent portal came into existence.

Caera walked towards the tree as I turned towards her. "Where are you going?" I asked curiously. She turned her head to the side and gave a sad smile. "To gather some fruits for you. You must be tired and hungry." She grinned.

I shook my head at her, using my own words against me. "Thank you, Caera." I said with a smile. Regis walked close to me next. "Check this out. Do I look good with this necklace?" He asked excitedly.

Kneeling down, I took the necklace out of his neck. It was a round shaped metal with complex runes etched on its surface. There were multiple translucent crystals embedded on it.

The necklace seems to keep gathering the ambient aether without any hindrance.

It was truly a marvellous creation by the ancient mages. My eyes suddenly widened at an instant realisation.

'Are you thinking what I'm thinking?' I asked Regis, my excitement oozing through our mental link.

Regis suddenly panicked. 'Wait. Why are you looking into my thoughts? I swear I don't like Caera like that. I'll stop thinking about her.'

'Tch. Not—that Regis. This relic. Imagine what we can do with it.' I replied, ignoring his mental thoughts.

'Oh. Ohhhhh—you mean—'

'Yes.' I cut him off as a smirk formed in my face.

'Are you fucking with me? I'll get a human body?' He asked back in doubt. Before I can answer him, he continued...making me groan. 'I can fuck for real? And not just in my mind?'

'You can get a human body and that's what you think first? You're sick Regis. You need help.' I rebuked him, shaking my head.

'Hey! I'm just 'you', remember? And I'm speaking out loud—your deepest thoughts. So if anyone needs help, it's you!' He quipped, giving me a mental equivalent of a wink.

I rolled my eyes at the shadow wolf and unintelligibly grunted.

'What? No comebacks? I guess you've become more softer...due to certain someone. Hahaha.'  He said suddenly making me frown in confusion.

'Ah don't give me that look princess. I can feel all of your conflicting thoughts and emotions—fighting to push itself through our mental link.

My head hurts because of you...'

'Wha-What are you talking about!?' I asked flustered.

He simply turned his eyes towards...Caera.

I blankly stared at him.

But he wasn't finished. 'You might as well be screaming it out loud. Because I can hear everything going through your mind, loud and clear. It's kind of obvious. But...you're barking at the wrong tree here.'—He then looked back at Caera—'If you want to clear your head...then talk to the concerned person.'—He paused and gave a amused smile—'We both know she's into you.'

I felt my heart beat fast. I wanted to scold him for saying such inappropriate things. But...I just couldn't. Wait, was he right? Do I really like Caera? And does she like me—

His voice broke my intense—swirling—thoughts.

'Cause if you don't, then I'll try my hand...since I'm getting myself a human body, it doesn't sound far fetched now does it?' He started laughing.

Suddenly, I felt annoyance grow at his words. 'Shut the hell up, Regis! Stop talking bullshit.' For some reason it angered me as my words came out without my own will.

'Sure, sure. Whatever let's you sleep at night. Keep lying to yourself 'cause that's very healthy.' He causally responded before leaping inside me. 

I felt Caera's curious eyes on me, making me turn to her. She had gathered some fruits for me and was walking back towards us.

My cheeks heated up as Regis's words echoed inside my mind.

I shook my head to clear my mind, before speaking. "Let's go", I said to her, hoping this odd—feeling would settle down quickly. She walked in close as I activated the relic portal. 

With one last look at the power source—Ion—I spoke out loud. "Thank you, Ion. Your father will be proud of you." ... "And we will come back to take you with us, soon." Caera finished.

The power source blinked as if he was sending us a signal. A smile rose up on my face before I finally turned back towards the relic portal.

Grabbing Caera's hand—we finally exited the Djinn hideout zone.

Though we couldn't find any living Djinns, our journey wasn't completely useless. As we found two things that could be helpful for us. And Ion, ofcourse.

'What two things?' Regis suddenly asked. Just as I was about to answer him back, I felt a faint pressure emanating behind me—inside from the portal, to be exact.

I quickly turned back to the portal which I had exited.

My eyes widened in disbelief when I saw a figure appearing right next to the zone's exit portal. It's body was of a humanoid form, with red skin and black hair. It moved at a rate equal to that of the asuras, as it disappeared and reappeared next to the power source...next to Ion.

I watched in a daze as the humanoid figure took the power source out of its slot. My eyes widened in shock at what happened next. "Die." It uttered before—crushing—the power source as it burned and turned into pieces and floated away like a dust.

"NO!" I screamed in rage and tried to enter the relic portal which was already deteriorating by the second.

Just as I was about to renter it, the figure said something—something that caught me off-guard and stopped me on my tracks.

"I ship you two together. 'Grey x Caera' all the way!"

Just as he said that, the portal vanished as the relic floated down and settled on my bedroom floor. 

'Wha-What!?' I stared blankly at the vanished portal before realisation sunk in.

My eyes immediately turned towards Caera, to see her reaction. But I saw her hands against her mouth and her eyes wide in surprise.

"D-Did you h-hear what the figure s-said?" I stuttered in nervousness. Losing Ion and then the figure's words...it was too much to take.

Caera furrowed her brows in confusion. "What are you talking about? I-It spoke?!"

I studied her confused face before letting out a sigh of relief. Shaking my head I took the ascension relic portal to activate it when Caera's hand stopped me. "What are you doing?" She asked.

"I'm going to go back and see if I can bring him back!" I said gritting my teeth.

Caera simply eyed me before speaking. "You saw him—the orb—turn into dust and scatter away. Besides it's risky. If you can't revive him then you won't be able to get out the zone." She stepped in front of me all while looking into my eyes. Her warm hand still on mine. "Do you really want to do that? If you're going then I'm going with you." She finished as she squeezed my hand, while her face looked desperate.

She was right. I knew that. And I wasn't sure if I wanted to put her life in danger for my own selfish reason.

Calming down, I looked into her eyes.

I squeezed her hand in return and spoke softly. "I won't go. Okay?"

She smiled. It was warm and sweet. With a nod, she paused while looking at me, before she closed in on our distance and—hugged me.

My body froze but it was only for an instant. Now familiar scent of hers entered my nose, slowly easing the building-up tension...I felt myself relaxing to her touch, as her arms gave me a tight squeeze.

I immediately lifted mine to hug her back, tightly. This ascent has surely changed a lot of things. Some, I was still confused about. While others, I was sure of. But I didn't know where—this—stood. I thought about it as my hand softly stroked her hair. I felt her face bury deep against my chest when her soft voice reached my ears. "I'm here for you, Grey."

My heart fluttered at her words while I tried not to react as her face was next to my heart. "Whatever you do, we do it together. I'm not leaving you." She finished with a soft, yet firm tone.

"Thank you, Caera." I replied with a smile as we broke our long hug.

Her eyes widened as she looked at my face. "What is it?" I asked back in confusion. She kept staring at me before shaking her head. "It's nothing. You look more handsome when you smile, like that." She said softly as her cheeks blushed.

I coughed, clearly taken aback by her words. Fighting myself from mirroring her blush, I quickly spoke as my hand scratched the back of my neck. "T-Thanks..."

She softly chuckled and walked to my bed. Just as she reached, she turned back to look at me. "I'm really tired. Mind if I...sleep in your bed?"

"Y-Yeah, of-course, I don't mind." I answered immediately.

She smiled warmly. "Thank you, Grey. And what are you going to do?"

I thought back to the things that I had planned to do. Two things...to bring back an old friend and create a new layer.

'Don't forget my human form!' Regis added in on my thoughts. Nodding inwardly, I finally answered Caera. "I'm going to eat the fruits and meditate."

Caera nodded back at my words as she plumped down on my bed. Her exhausted face soon crumbled away, as she closed her eyes...before her face turned peaceful.

'Okay stop admiring your new girlfriend and let's go see how I can get my human body!' Regis cut-in on my thoughts making me groan. "Fine! Let's get you a human body so you can stop bothering me."