Chapter 26:ACHING EMPTINESS

The sun had surrendered, replaced by a cloak of darkness woven from twilight's fading threads. A forest creature, a lonely thrush perhaps, sang a melancholy tune, heralding the night's arrival. Aether lay unconscious, his body slick with sweat and restless tremors. A gentle touch brushed his cheek, a whisper of comfort in the vast darkness.

He surfaced from unconsciousness slowly, struggling to focus his eyes on the shifting shadows cast by towering trees. Moonlight filtered through the dense canopy, illuminating a small clearing where he lay. Warmth, a welcome contrast to the night's chill, caressed his face. He turned towards the source, heart stuttering in his chest.

Mary

.She knelt beside him, bathed in the ethereal moonlight. Her touch, usually so soft and reassuring, now sent shivers down his spine.

Blood, a cruel reminder of the carnage, stained her lips a terrifying crimson. His memories came flooding back – the burning village, the lifeless bodies, Ana...

Aether flinched, his mind rebelling against the horrific images. This couldn't be real. But the pain, a dull ache that bloomed in his chest with every ragged breath, confirmed the nightmare. As if sensing his turmoil, Mary offered him a weak smile, her voice raspy as she whispered, "My love..."But the word tasted like ash on her tongue.

The warmth of her hand felt like a fleeting ember in the encroaching darkness. Aether tried to speak, desperately clawing for words, but his throat remained raw and useless. The weight of their shared grief hung in the air, a suffocating silence heavier than any scream.

Aether's world tilted on its axis. His gaze plummeted to his mother's chest, time stalling in a macabre tableau. A gaping wound marred her skin, a crimson blossom where Cedric's claymore had found its mark. It defied logic that she was still alive. Her skin was the desolate grey of ash, and the once-golden strands of her hair were succumbing to a chilling blackness."Aether, listen to me," Mary rasped, her voice a fragile thread in the suffocating silence. Recognition flickered in his eyes – she knew he was drowning in shock. But time, a luxury they no longer possessed, demanded harsh truths. Secrets she'd shielded him from, a chance for a life cloaked in normalcy, all spilled forth from her pale lips."Mom, I can fix this," Aether choked out, a desperate plea. The warmth of her hand, his first true haven in both worlds, was slipping away. Mary struggled to speak, but his frantic pleas drowned her out. "Lumi!" he bellowed, the name of the ever-present Apostle echoing pathetically through the clearing. But the voice that had guided him through countless perils remained stubbornly silent."Damit !....Lumi answer me."A curse ripped from Aether's throat, a guttural expression of helplessness. Despair threatened to consume him, the bitter aftertaste of failure clinging to his tongue. In that moment, under the unforgiving gaze of the moon, the weight of his inadequacies became a crushing burden. He couldn't heal her, couldn't summon the aid of a silent guardian. All he could do was watch, a helpless witness to the fading light in his mother's eyes."I have to do this," Aether rasped, conviction hardening his voice despite the tremor in his hands. Creation magic, the unpredictable art that danced with chaos itself, surged in his mind. Memories flickered – days of grueling training, pushing the boundaries of magic beyond its established parameters. He recalled coaxing roots to writhe, stems to stretch, transforming mundane fruit into blooming flowers with sheer willpower. Creation magic. Volatile, unpredictable, but now, his only hope.Aether squeezed his eyes shut, visualizing a vessel mending itself, new tissues blossoming in defiance of nature's laws. If he could conjure a flower from thin air, surely he could replicate the miracle within the human body.But the world seemed to resist. A monumental amount of mana that of an ocean was needed to weave such a volatile spell but his weak mana vessel could not Syphon such power. A searing pain erupted in his chest, his mana core screaming under the strain."[Regeneration protocols unavailable. Forcing mana transfer to compromised vessels poses high risk to the host. Recommendation: Terminate procedure immediately.]" Lumi's icy voice echoed in his mind, a desperate plea ignored. This was his mother. He couldn't fail. He wouldn't.Mary, her pale gaze fixed on his face, recognized the frantic determination in Aether's eyes. She understood. Acceptance flickered, a quiet resignation settling over her features."Stop, Aether," she rasped, a tremor in her voice betraying the pain. Her hand weakly grasped his arm, a desperate plea. "Stop... I'm dying, please, listen..."Aether's world fragmented. The mother he'd clung to, the anchor in this storm, was slipping away. The realization hit him like a physical blow. His arms, outstretched in a futile attempt to defy fate, fell limply to his sides. Despair, a bitter tide, threatened to engulf him. He had failed. Creation magic, his desperate gamble, had yielded nothing but searing pain and the crushing weight of his limitations.Mary's hand, ghostly pale, reached out to stroke Aether's hair. It sparked a fresh torrent of sobs, his body wracked with grief. As tears streamed down his face, she managed a weak smile. "There, there, little one," she croaked, her voice a mere whisper. Taking in his handsome features – the twilight hair, the lean build – a surge of pride filled her. "You've become such a strong man, my darling," she rasped, her words a precious gift. "There's something... I need to tell you, Aether. Please, listen..." Her voice trailed off, a plea etched on her face. It was a goodbye, a mother's final words, and Aether, his heart shattering, knew he had no choice but to listen.