A Lost Soul in the Darkness - Part 1

Meanwhile, as Rin tried to come to terms with who he was it became apparent to him; that his days of idleness and jokes would be ending, following the disappearance of Noctis. Who believed he would be able to see his dear brother once again, one day if everything went as planned...

The same one we left unconscious in a realm of utter darkness and was currently undergoing a transformation that would change him for the better or worse. Both internally and externally, however, only time could tell what effects this would truly have on Rin moving forward as memories of his past and present clashed and meshed like two pieces of a puzzle. 

That did not match yet once put together they created something extraordinary and led to his astral form being split into two different personas. Just as his situation was starting to get better, which could be differentiated by the colors they radiated since one side of Rin's astral form was engulfed in darkness while the other was immersed in light.

The light represents Rin's present self which was still quite pure, and innocent as compared to the darkness which represented chaos and corruption. Yet, as time passed by the two personas began to mix leading to Rin's astral form becoming darker as specks of gray appeared on its surface. 

Almost resembling the stars in the night sky as proof that even darkness cannot survive without light; a result that came about from Rin's continuous efforts to slowly integrate the two.

Simultaneously as Rin continued to delve into the depths of himself, the glass jar now became akin to a wild card of sorts considering, it was initially supposed to be a catalyst for Rin's revival.

But with the Noctis taking matters into his own hands, what was once clear now became blurred, causing the impossible to now be a possibility. Yet that's only if Rin can grasp such an opportunity as time waits for no one...

***

"Hmm, it seems Fate doesn't want to play fair..." Noctis muttered nonchalantly after returning to Tera and losing connection with the soul fragment he initially left with Fred.

Which was originally meant for Rin's revival yet with the recent course of actions, maybe it could lead to something unforeseen and grander than their original plans.

"…" Noctis, 'Yet, even she should know somethings just can't be changed so easily, my dear.'

He smiled as he sat on his throne with an empty chalice in his hand, which was made from the blood and bones of monsters, he once killed in the past and harvested for fun.

Poof.

"Is something the matter, master?" A kid who seemed to be no older than ten asked as he wore a black and white turtle school uniform and sat on a white fluffy cloud with a black cat in his hand.

After sensing his master returned from Venville, the capital of the Dream World and the purest manifestation of Cosmic nightmares & dreams. That was governed by Sofia the Goddess of Nightmares & Pleasant Dreams with the help of her two brothers, Morpheus the King of Dreams, and Dime the Recorder.

"Not to my understanding, yet I guess to some it would seem so my dear boy... sigh, just why must the heavens be so cruel to my kind?" Noctis replied as he glanced at his apostle, Charlie, for a moment before placing down his chalice and walking toward his balcony to see the start of a new day.

"But master, I thought you liked it this way?" The young boy asked with a frown as he followed behind his master, while gently caressing Snowball who purred from time to time in pleasure.

"I once did, Charlie... but times have changed and it seems it'll soon be time for us to return," Noctis stated nostalgically as he stopped and watched as the moon fell and the sun rose.

'Yet, is it truly for the best we returned to where it all began? Hopefully, by that time Rin has grown up and things will be different… but then again, even if we do manage to return that bastard of a God will surely not make things easy for us,' Noctis thought with a sigh as he closed his eyes and enjoyed the breeze of the sunrise.

"Did something happen in Venville?" Charlie muttered with curiosity as he examined his master, who was quite happy yet sad at the same time about something.

'Hmm, while feasible it would not make sense as Master promised to not cause any more problems for the next year or so. If no one makes him angry or does something he deems stupid. Plus was not he~' Charlie thought before shaking his head and muttering something under his breath, "Sigh... hopefully, I'm just overthinking things as it'd be annoying if I had to kill an entire race again for something that could have been easily avoided." 

"Charlie, you do know I can hear you right?! So which race did you have to murder because of my antics? Because last time I checked you could barely even kill an Ancestral Demon, so please do enlighten me."

"M... M-Master, um Emily just called me, so I will see you later and do~"

Poof.

"Sly bastard... just wait until you come home," Noctis laughed as he watched his disciple run off to who knows God where.

***

"It worked... IT FUCKING WORKED!!!" Fred shouted frantically as he kept his gaze glued to the monitor, not wanting to miss even a second of what was about to occur.

Yet, all he could see was darkness as if the Heavens would not permit anyone to gaze upon the secrets of the world, secrets that could lead to its destruction one day.

'Hmm, it seems they didn't need my help after all...' Olivia thought a bit surprised by their success, but only a bit as she was more concerned about why Noctis transferred his memories to Rin instead of following the script he and Fred initially discussed.

This would have led to Rin falling unconscious after he opened the jar, allowing the emerald to dissolve and combine with his soul. Eventually, this would lead to Rin falling into a comatose dream-like state where he relive his past life. Before waking up and repeating the process every night for the next few months.

Nonetheless, knowing Noctis he probably thought that was too long of a period and took matters into his own hands to speed things up.

'Sigh... Noctis just what are you trying to accomplish?' Olivia wondered with curiosity as she tried to decipher Rin's new fate, yet... all she could see was nothingness as if he had no fate.

Something that should not be possible as everything and everyone was bound by fate one way or another.