STAGE FORTY EIGHT: Underwater

Freyja can't feel anything.

But it seemed like she is floating in mid-air, with clothing, no body, nothing. Just emptiness, oblivion. Freyja can't see anything, nor could she hear or talk.

Drifting aimlessly, she somehow knows that she's moving somewhere, but can't figure how or to where. Strangely, she's felt no panic nor fear. She remember anything, not even her own name.

All of a sudden, a faint voice reached her. The voice sounded exhausted, like it's been desperately chasing after and working to death for her for so long. Strain, tension, loneliness, longing and guilt. She can tell.

"Freyja."

Hearing that name triggered something in her. Memories started flowing in her little by little. "That's right." She thought, "I am Freyja. That's me."

The dark oblivion started to crack. A ray of light penetrated the shell. The more she remembered, the more cracks appeared. And soon, she found herself bathing in bright white light. "Ah! I remember! I'm dead." Coming to terms with what happened, she asked, "So, are you God?"

"Unfortunately... no."

"You mean, I'm in hell?"

The voice didn't answer.

"I'm joking. I haven't heard your voice before, so you must be someone I just met. I think. I'm guessing, you're a guardian of Celestia, aren't you?"

"Aneurin killed you. Your body is dead. But your core is very much alive."

"I see. The Celestial core fused within me is probably keeping me alive."

"But a celestial's core won't last long without a vessel. Even one as powerful as yours."

Freyja sighed. "Kirin, Alaric and Keon... Mother, Father... Astrid, Aria... I failed them all. But, I did my best. It's all up to them now. I'm finished"

"Are you sure you want to leave things like this?"

"If fate allows me to, I'd like to see this through to the end."

Again, the voice had a long pause, before continuing. "Freyja Lenfiare Leafen of Celestia, command me."

"I... I..." Freyja knew the answer all along. Finally, Freyja heard her own voice. "I want to live."

"I understand, Freyja Lenfiare."

Freyja felt pain! From the comfort of nothingness, she felt the weight of her limbs, her body. She's suddenly wrapped in excruciating pain like no other, she almost regretted having wished for life. The pain crept from the tips of her fingers up to each and every single muscle in her body. "ARGH!" She shouted, she could barely breathe.

She felt her heart beat. She felt her muscles twitch, her lungs pump air in and out. Freyja embraced the pain with an ecstatic smile, as if it's a whole new sensation that came into her. "So this is it... the feeling of being alive." For the first time, she cherished pain.

"This is not enough to pay the price of my sin. Still, I hope someday you'll come to forgive me."

Soon, the voice completely disappeared. Its presence, everything about it disappeared.

As the voice faded away, so as the oblivion surrounding Freyja. The girl suddenly felt lethargic, so sleepy and weak. Slowly, she closed her eyes, and left everything behind to enter a long and peaceful slumber.

The dark aura barrier enclosing the entire manor mysteriously disappeared all of a sudden. Along with the disappearance of Aneurin's mysterious power source, was the disappearance of Freyja's severed hand and pool of blood. Before Kirin's eyes, they started vanishing into thin air! He grabbed her hand and embraced it, but it continued vanishing until there's nothing left.

"Kirin!"

No voice could reach him. Except for one distant, faint voice. "Kirin!" No one else could hear it, except for him. "Wake up." It said.

The raging black aura shrouding Kirin started to mellow down. Kirin fell onto his knees, feeling something suppress the black aura that was close to consuming his entire being. Kirin felt a familiar warmth around him. It felt like Freyja was embracing him tightly.

"Freyja! Freyja! Where are you!?" He tried to embrace it back, but felt nothing. Tears streamed from his eyes, as he wrapped his arms around himself.

Soon enough, Kirin's aura returned to normal. But the strain on his body was serious. He fell on the floor unconscious, beside the heavily mutilated corpse of his father.

"Freyja! Kirin!" Keon barged into the room and found an unconscious Kirin. He ran to him and at once, lifted his brother up. He clearly saw that his father is dead, but he couldn't care less. He can't celebrate yet. He looked around, but there's no trace of Freyja. Except that around Kirin's neck is Freyja's celestial medallion.

Not feeling her presence, Keon dragged Kirin out of the room, leaving his dead father behind.

Outside of the room however, the eldest Aethelmaer brother stood before them, still ready for a fight. "Are you rebelling too, Keon?" He asked, with arms crossed.

Keon, without hesitation, replied. "Yes."

Now that Aneurin's mysterious power source is gone, the barrier around the Aethelmaer manor disappeared, as well as the sudden surge of dark aura in their soldiers. For the first time, Keon glared at Ahrin, prepared to throw his life away to defeat his elder brother. Ahrin was stunned, not expecting that his submissive little brother just challenged him with such confidence. Taken aback, Ahrin couldn't move a step away from where he's standing. He could only watch Keon leave with Kirin.

To make things worse for the eldest Aethelmaer, the rune master he failed to defeat came running towards them, prepared to go for another round of bout. "You recovered, Alaric?" Keon made sure he's still okay. "Yeah. Well rested."

Ahrin knew that it's pointless to stop them now. He knows very well that in his current state, fighting both Alaric and Keon together is suicide. And that isn't even counting the possibility of Kirin waking up to help them. Ahrin surrendered. Without a word, he went inside Aneurin's chambers and found his father's corpse bathing in his own blood. Ahrin stepped on his father's corpse, on the way to his empty throne. There, he sat.

Ahrin locked himself in the chambers. Summoned layers after layers of rune barriers, no live being could come in.

Kirin, Alaric and Keon escaped the manor.

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