Postscript and Volume Preview

This is the end for Children of Elisium's first volume. Thank you all so much for sharing this journey with me and for staying with me until the end. I hope the first volume/part of this story moved you in some way, and that you'll stay with me in the next part of this novel.

To all the people who encouraged me, left comments, and reviewed my work, you have my gratitude! I am not an author, not a native English speaker, and I definitely do not have a degree in English or Literature. There were multiple times when I felt I wasn't going anywhere - that my writing was awful - but your words gave me confidence to continue writing. So for that, I thank you.

Now that I've reached the end of this volume, I have to rethink the plot and the direction of where the rest of the story is going to go. Because of this, I'll be going on a hiatus to write and plan the next volume of this story. I'll try to be back after a month or two. I usually stock up on chapters so that I can maintain a daily release schedule.

The next arc will focus on Leon and Aria's days in Luminae Academy, and their path to becoming stronger. Jeorge Marcus Grin will be making a reappearance and new characters will be added to the mix. I promise I'll be back. I hope you look forward to this new installment.

Also, if you want to re-read Children of Elisium and would like a bit of background music while reading it, I'm uploading the story in Tapas! Some of the chapters will have background music to add to the overall feel of the novel. I have 5 chapters out in Tapas - two of which have bg music. Alternatively, if you want a "Long" chapter read/version of the novel, you can read it on Inkitt!

I'm in ko-fi.com (http://ko-fi.com/littlehera) but I'm also planning on starting a Patreon and creating a pdf version of this novel. However, I'm kind of busy with work (I'm a slave of the economy. I have bills. T_T), I don't know when I'll be able to set up everything.

Weird question: Do you want to stay with the current format (1000-2000 word chapters) or would you prefer "Long" chapters (like an actual novel, approximately 3000-4000+ words each)?

Anyway, that's enough from me. :D If you have any comments/questions/requests, feel free to post them as a comment. I'll get back to you as soon as I can.

As promised, here's a chapter preview for the second volume of Children of Elisium: Playing with the Gods.

***

Aria stared at the night sky that blanketed the city of Myron in a film of black. It was a quiet night. There were no screams of pain, no scent of blood. There were no researchers, no rankings, no periodic sparring matches to test her skill. It was different – too different, from the fake paradise of Elisium.

Six years.

Aria had lived peacefully for six years under a real sky and real trees. In those six years, she had learned a lot about the world. She had gotten to know things she had never learned in Elisium.

She had turned fifteen. She was a far cry from the small introverted girl Neart Ironcrest had taken out of Ara desert. In those six years, she had found herself a family. She had never starved, never had to sleep in a billowing storm, never had to cry in pain, never had to fight for her life. But the darkness in her eyes didn't soften. The flame that burned in her chest still remained.

Obsidian orbs stared at the shadows that stretched outside her room through her window. If she concentrated hard enough, she would be able to feel Neart and Camilla Ironcrest's energy signatures inside the house. Even without using her Talent, she could hear the hissing of a cat from the house right beside theirs and smell the scent of caramelizing onions coming from across the street.

However, the things Aria wanted to know were beyond the things she could experience in her body. The things she wanted to know were hidden from ordinary eyes. These things were well-guarded secrets that involved powerful figures in the world. And these things were intricately woven with her past and with the events that had happened in Elisium.

The shadows beside her stirred. Black wings unfurled and concealed the night sky from her sight. A tall man endowed with an ethereal body appeared before her. A melodic voice echoed in her head.

'Reminiscing again, pueri?'

The girl remained silent. She walked away from the window and sat on top of her bed. She listened for any kind of movement coming from inside the house. When she was sure there was none, Aria closed her eyes and whispered, "Wake me if something happens."

Astaroth looked at her, his perfectly shaped eyebrow rising by an inch. 'You have done this before and have been met with the same results. Is it not madness when you do something over and over again yet expect something different?'

One obsidian orb opened before closing again. Instead of heeding the demon's words, she pretended not to hear him and used her Talent.

The silence turned into noise. The darkness turned into light. Aria was no longer in her bedroom but was in a brightly lit kitchen with a knife in her hand. Ruby red droplets flowed from a long yet pale fingertip. Aria could feel the pain on her hand even when the wound was not hers.

The scene changed. Her hands were empty. Her body was warm. Blankets were wrapped around her snugly and a single stuffed bear was inside her arms. With a breath, she was in a different place. The cold wind buffeted her body and she could see her house from the eyes of a stranger. A dog was barking from the street ahead and Aria could taste the faint traces of nicotine on her tongue.

The Talent over Memories was a peculiar thing. Not only could she see into the pasts of a person, she could also experience memories that were currently being created. Whether it was a person's thoughts, his secrets, or feelings long forgotten, Aria could see and feel them all. And with the Talent over Memories she could choose to change them, erase them, or pass them on to someone else.

Without putting too much effort, Aria used her Talent to envelope the entire house and the streets that surrounded it. However, the female wasn't satisfied with the results.

The girl's eyebrows knit together as she concentrated and pushed the boundaries of her Talent further.

A thousand images assaulted her.

A couple was fighting. Someone was shouting in her ear. Sharp fingernails drove into the skin of her back and left a searing pain that burned into her muscles.

A dog snuggled beside its blind owner. A boiling kettle whistled in the distance. Chlorine wafted into her nostrils along with the putrid smell of smoke.

A million thoughts invaded her mind. Secrets echoed in the confines of her head. A thousand sensations overwhelmed her entire being. And with them, her senses tingled and swam until her world began to tilt on its axis.

Delicate lashes fluttered. Her black flew open. She silenced the gasp escaping her throat and muffled it with her hands. Sweat poured from her skin and made her shirt cling to her back. Her world spun and she resisted the urge to gag and puke. When the female's vision returned to normal, she realized she was back in her room. Her reflection was staring back at her from her closet's full-length mirror and her face looked completely lifeless even in the darkness of her bedroom.

'Well?' The Duke of Hell stared at her from across the room. 'Have you learned something new, child?'

Aria didn't respond. Astartoth's golden orbs studied the girl silently. She was calmer and exuded a more mature aura than she usually did. Her demeanor had changed ever-so-slightly, yet it was enough for the demon to know that something had happened. 'Ah. It's you.'

The girl narrowed her eyes. She stood and unsteadily made her way to her cabinet to get a fresh set of clothes and changed into them. Astaroth changed into a puddle of Darkness before choosing to materialize a few steps away from the girl. His velvety tenor escaped his lips as his arms crossed around his midsection.

'If you continue to control her consciousness like this you will disappear before you see your beloved Michael Caelum again.'

'I wouldn't have to if you stopped her,' she thought back to him. Aria shot him a glare and put away the shirt that was drenched with sweat.

'The servant does not dare stop his master,' he replied. 'Nevertheless, I did warn her. However, she simply chose not to listen to me.'

The petite female inhaled and released a long sigh. Her black orbs gazed longingly at the horizon. 'The cost for overusing this Talent is too high. If you don't stop her, she'll end up like me.'

'You can simply tell her yourself -Ah, apologies. The two of you cannot exist at the same time, can you?' Astaroth said. She glared at him. Astaroth leisurely made his way to sit on her bed and crossed his legs. 'Is that why you made her accept my contract? So that I can watch over her in your stead?'

Her gaze grew more scathing the more he talked. The demon couldn't help but notice how the two Arias were similar in how they both hated talking and how the look in their eyes could say volumes. The female in front of her closed the cabinet and straightened her clothes. When she was satisfied, she nodded her head once and gave Astaroth a look that could cut through the hardest rock.

'Next time, before she overuses her talent, stop her.'

Golden orbs blinked. 'Leaving so soon?'

'As you said, I still want to last long enough to see Michael again.' The girl crawled into bed and curled into her covers. 'Goodnight.'

She closed her eyes. A few seconds later, she opened them again. The space between her eyebrows creased. Her head turned from left to right before she decided to sit up and stare at the demon sitting at the foot of her bed.

"Did something happen?" Aria whispered.

A playful emotion washed over her and the Duke of Hell gave the girl a smirk.

He hummed. It was a pleasant sound. However, Aria only found that it irritated her more than it should.

"I wonder," he said, his eyes glimmering in mirth.

Aria tried to search her thoughts and the thoughts Astaroth shared with her. She found nothing that answered why she was suddenly in her bed with a fresh set of clothing.

Fatigue washed over her body. Her eyes felt heavier than they should. She reasoned that it was probably because of her Talent and how she had forced it to its limit. She didn't fight against the warmth of her covers and sank into the comfort of her bed. But her brows remained furrowed even when her breathing evened out. Her expression remained confused even as she slept.

The demon changed into wisps of shadow before materializing at her bedside. He studied her face and at her small form.

"For memories to turn into a personality fragment – the Talent over Memories is an oddly frightening thing," he muttered into the silence of the room. "You influenced her decisions and sealed a portion of her Talent. But in the end, you were powerless to do anything at the time Michael Caelum and Aria were struggling to survive."

"Pitiful," Astaroth remarked. "Truly pitiful."

His golden orbs traced Aria's silhouette and stopped at the slightly parted lips that trembled as she muttered in her sleep. A slender hand reached out to touch her face only to stop a few centimeters away from her cheek. The demon pulled his hand away. He stared intently at his fingertips.

His gaze fell on the sleeping female, fell to his hand, before returning to the girl again.

The Duke of Hell's lips curved up. "Interesting. Very…Interesting."

***