Fireflies lit up the misty moonlit night as they both looked away. Silence crept between them.
Only the song of the crickets and rustling sound of the wind could be heard. Ae turned to Darwin and
playfully blew his hair off with his breath. He looked back to him with an annoyed look. His gray eye lit
up in the ashy moonlight as his hair flows like streaks of velvet in the soft evening breeze.
"Tell me more", Darwin smiled at him.
"It's gonna be really tragic", Ae replied with a smack on his forehead.
"What's more tragic than mine?", Darwin boasted with a wink.
"Alright", Ae gave a weak smile before the room warped again. This time they dropped into a
dark and misty woodland. Where they saw a man in his 20's running like a deer chased by lions, bruising
and covered with wounds.
"So as planned. I trained for months to become stronger enough to run away from everyone. I
did. I battled with the garrisons of the Strikerealm fortress on my way out, with only half of my life
running through my body. Ran away, as fast as I can and as far as I can go. The only thing flashing in
front of my eyes is the sight of my family. It didn't matter if I reach their arms dead or alive for as long I
can go back home, everything will be alright" Ae looked away from his own image.
"I saw a light when I reached the last trail going home. Even in the misty night, I could really say
that it was our house. Life bounced back and hope resurfaced. It's like a light at the end of a dark tunnel.
I took a pace and ran like there's no tomorrow, but something odd meets my eye as I came closer to our
front yard", He added.
"I regarded that light as a symbol of hope and death at the same time. When I reached our the
gate, my heard was shattered into pieces. Tears ran down like streams as I covered my mouth not to
weep and scream as I saw a very horrific sight in front of me. Both my parents were decapitated and
crucified brutally. So harsh that their organs scattered everywhere and they died with their eyes wide
open", Ae's voice almost cracked in despair and bitterness.
"Looks like the two of us suffered the same fate", Darwin whispered behind him.
"My spirit broke. From that moment, It felt like the world completely scourged me for
something that I didn't do. A sudden surge of magic ran through my nerves as I clenched my fist in fury. I
pulled myself together and turned to the Incanto Knights behind me. A look of pride and
remorselessness marked their faces as they looked down on me. But little they knew I was about to
wipe them entirely in the face of this world", Ae continued.
"What did you do then? You looked powerless in that state?", Darwin looked at him and then
back to the image in front of him.
"Every good magic has a dark secret. And it was their fault that I discovered something like that.
With that I let them have a taste of their own medicine. I learned the technique of wiping an entire
existence in a pain of death the same way you've caused to the last person you've killed. Or if you
haven't, the same agony of death the same way you will inflict to someone you might kill in the future.
And by wiping an existence, it means completely burning you're your soul and spirit down like you were
never. Every result of your decisions back when you still live will be altered in such ways that it might
have gone if you haven't existed. These, along with the all the people's memory of you. I could never
think of a better revenge", Ae said with a hint of anger and fury.
"Guess you weren't powerless at all. But that magic was absolutely evil beyond any explanation.
It's much worse than that of Hubert's Death Harvest. At least if you die with it, you'll just die and have a
merry way to the other world but that thing you just made was far worse…probably the worst", Darwin
complimented with a hesitated smile.
Ae laughed at his face and pinched his ear.
"It's called Death Enchant, there are other versions to this spell but it is lesser evil and not
potent. It's a type of first magic, which means I could only use it once. It comes with a great price
though. After using that spell I have lost one of my magic chambers, my enchanter abilities. That's the
thing about first magic, you use it you lose it. Then it will years or even decades to spring back. In my
case, I just trained its arts for another few years until it grew inside me again, a little bit of it. But not the
same as before", Ae explained.
"But that wasn't the best part of the story", He added.
"Go ahead", Darwin turned to him.
"A year after that, I met this woman named Kianna. She had white locks, velvet skin, rosy red
lips and a very stunning moonlit gray eyes. Actually, you remind me of her. She's an enchanter", Ae
laughed and then gestured his hands.
"She looks like a goddess", Darwin commended as he looked closer to the image.
"We eventually fell in love and lived together for four years. We had a baby, a baby boy and we
named him Keiron. Just like me, he was born with three magic chambers. He inherited all my magic
power but I sealed it with a crescent mark in his nape. I made sure he never discovers his true potential
until he reached a certain age and until he showered in the tears of the crying sun", An image of a young
boy appeared before their eyes. He had brown hair and slightly tanned skin.
"One day when we were on our way back home from our family day. The sky suddenly warped
above us, like a storm just landed to where we are. The world turned gray and gloomy. The wind
whispered an eerie vibe as we get close to protect each other. All of a sudden, an attack launched
behind us sending me and my baby flying towards a rock wall. Kianna stood in front of us taking the
responsibility to fight for us because I've decided not to be who I used to be. I couldn't fight with the
smallest amount of magic power that I have", Sadness marked Ae's voice as he virtually caressed his
child's face.
The atmosphere suddenly changed after Ae revealed that part. Things became heavy as mixed
emotions stirred them at the moment.
"The enemy showed himself before us. Launching his fatal blow against Kianna. All she can do
was dodge it and counter attack but we were greatly outnumbered. Another troop of magic knights
from the ruling Western families made their way to hunt us. We were hopeless. I could see our
imminent death flashing before my eyes", Ae added.
"At one fatal blow, my wife met her demise. I whimpered in pain as I saw her body rotting in a
very vile spell that dries up your life and turns you into ashes. I held my child so tight in my arms. Before
they could even come for me I drew a magic script around us, just enough to protect us for a short
period of time and just enough for me to cast a global diversion spell. And so before my magic script
expires, I kissed my child goodbye in the forehead and let one drop of my tear be his remembrance of
our love to him. A cloud of purple smoke engulfed his body and in a blink of an eye he was gone. I wiped
the tears in my eyes and pulled myself together. I already ran out of the smallest drop of magic that I
have. I faced them with all the fury and rage in my heart. With all those years of suffering in their hands
because of their greed of power", Both of them turned around and another scene popped up in front of
them.
"And so I was defeated. My bones slowly pulverizing in their blows. My body covered in blood",
Ae gestured his hand, "But before they could hit their death whip on me, the ground suddenly trembled
and the sky turned red. A very evil vibe lingered the open air as I saw the people around me started
going insane and attacking each other. I looked around in absolute confusion and terror for I've never
seen such malicious magic before", Ae described.
"Death Preying?', Darwin asked.
"Devil Preying", Ae answered with a smile. "It was the original form", he added.
"I see. Another creepy magic. Part of me feels glad I didn't get to live in that era", Darwin rubbed
his temple.
"You are lucky though. You didn't get to live in my shoes", Ae turned to him before gesturing for
another scene.
"My life was about to bid farewell with me when the ground suddenly cracked open behind me.
My eyes went wide as fire stormed around me like a whirlpool of molten rocks. I felt a hand grabbed my
ankle and another one in the wrist then followed by another one. One turned to five then ten then a
hundred and then almost a thousand. The fire touched my skin but it didn't burn my flesh. In a moment,
I was dragged down to the deepest pits of the world", Ae showed another horrifying scene.
"I thought I was up for another round of miserable light. But when I opened my eyes after falling
unconscious for what seemed like a month, I saw a very beautiful world. Something the universe never
introduced to the world on the surface. The Mystic Land of the Dead Sun. This is where we are now", A
majestic aerial view of a world Darwin never seen before popped before his eyes.
"Who brought you here then? I mean that thing that dragged you down here", Darwin went on
for another question.
"It was the kraken, Father Benzor's Pet", Ae laughed at it.
"Eh? A what? A cricket?", Darwin frowned at him.
"Kraken. The Million Hand Devil", Ae shrugged his shoulder.
"Can we see it?", Darwin's eyes glint in excitement.
"We can but not now", Ae smacked his forehead.
"That's so sad. Well. So after you dropped here you became the king in this realm?", Darwin
asked once again.
"It wasn't that easy, idiot", Ae mocked his expression , "It didn't go well in the beginning. King
Roman, the ruler of the Myst intentionally abducted me to inherit the throne of the Moonray Kingdon.
It's a very long story. The Moonray family fell into conflicts after the King's decision to appoint me as the
new ruler. Something I refused to in the beginning because I can't afford another tragedy again. But he
referred me as the beacon of the Moonray Kingdom's glory and power and he wants me to take on
something. He offered me a condition. He can revive my powers as a tribrid, but it is tainted with
malevolent arts. He wanted me to capture the Eclipse Eye so I can resurrect my wife and reunite with
my child and be the next King of the Myst. I accepted his offer. He gave me powers. I was reborn as an
absolute devil bearing malevolent magic, dark enchant, black summoning and necromancy. All sorts of
inverted magic from my former magical abilities. My looks changed. My eyes and the way I see things. I
became bold, sinister, and a little greedy of power to the point that I surpassed everyone in the family,
except the king himself. As the family conflicts with the decision of the king, some took my side and
some went down against me", He added with another dome of images and flashbacks.
"Does he love you, the King?", Darwin questioned.
"Of course, he took me in and embraced me like his own. He's evil born but he never did such
evil things to me. That's the best lesson he taught me as I grew up to be someone that I am now. You
can't judge someone based on their looks, color and origin. You do it with their actions", Ae replied with
a smile.
Another flickering light engulfed them and they transcended through space and time again.
"Remember when I told you about how I jumped in and joined the first civil war? The Bloodbath
Eclipse?", Ae asked and Darwin nodded. This time they were above a raging war between clans.
Exchanging blows and blasting off magic powers.
"Only the one with the blood of three clans can capture the Eclipse Eye. As a viable candidate
that I am, I took the chance to conquer the quest by obliterating everyone in my way. The eclipse above
witnessed how bloody that war was. I destroyed the capital cities and their districts with my rage. Killed
as much as I can, my sanity is getting out of control", Ae narrated.
"In the end, only the tough and the determined won. I captured the Eclipse Eye in the Ocean of
Cries and surrendered my soul in exchange of divinity and power surpassing the normal flow of magic in
the world. But the god of destiny debunked me and hindered my transition on becoming the child of the
eclipse. My blood was tainted with malevolent magic, something which made me not legitimate of
inheriting the Coro Magia of the Three Clans. He cursed me with immortality and banishment from the Golden Dawn Realm through eternity. He removed my ability to wield any types of enchant, summoning
or spells and from that day on, I got to live as a demon with nothing but psychic powers and malevolent
magic. Though I know a few types of magic, new magic and I created some of them", Ae ended the story
with a grin.
"I see you have such story. Who would have thought we were almost in the same fate", Darwin
lay down with his back looking up to the midnight sky as the emerged back to the garden.
"That's just how it goes. Anyways, are you ready?", Ae asked.
"Wait, what? Oh yes, Well I made up my mind", Darwin turned to him with a frown.
"You won't. I see. That's ok though. You have a lifetime to think about it", Ae replied with a tap
on his chest. He dusted himself off and lay down beside him.
"All my life I've been running away from my responsibilities. Stabbing people in the back so I can
take a hold of them. I've buried the pain of humanity so I can go on rampage and be on top of the food
chain. I was on a mission but I met someone on the road and it hindered all my ends. Now I'm
responsible for saving my comrades. Facing the world without a weapon with my humanity half
surfaced. I met you on my own lonely way and I trust you to help me end all of these. Can you really
make me stronger so I can save everyone?", A glint of humane hope marked Darwin's eyes as he pulled
himself up and turned to Ae with a look of determination and hope.
There was a line of silence between them. The wind blew smoothly touching their bodies. Ae
grabbed his face to look straight at him. He took a deep breath. Leaned forward and put his forehead
next to him. A tear streamed down his face.
"I've never completed the Eclipse Eye to resurrect Kianna but you remind me of her. I wanted to
protect you but you are bound to someone. Just like you I buried my past life in the pits of hell, but
when I met you all the memories of love and pain resurfaced and I'm somehow reverted back to my
roots. I was an absolute evil before I met you centuries ago. We've been together like decades. I've
always looked up for you while I was residing inside someone's body. Waited for a very long time so I
can finally be close to you and touch you like this. I wanted you to stay this way but I know you won't
like it coz you have an eternal life to take back what people took from you. You can't live with the pain
of humanity and I just have to let it go and accept the fact that this moment won't last forever. I feel so
drawn to you and I don't know why. And it hurts me somehow that you won't feel the same way", Ae's
voice cracked as it faded into cold whispers creeping down Darwin's ears as he melt down hugging him.
"Is that only because I remind you of someone you loved in the past?", Darwin asked.
"It used to be but it felt different now", Ae's whispers sent shiver to his spine.
"Why are you saying this?", Darwin asked once again.
"Because once I mirror you into someone then you will become different. Though you can
remember all of these and all the good things that we've been through together but it won't matter to
you at all", Ae explained.
"So that means I can go back to my former self?", Darwin questioned.
"No. Not that way. You're just reciprocated. You'll become someone you might could have been
if you weren't locked out of this power. Along with it is the mindset you have if you were born and grew
up that way. Let's see if you'll be powerful enough to take on the enemy with all those dormant
powers", Ae pulled himself back and tapped Darwin's shoulders.
"Alright. Do anything what it takes so I can have the power to take them back", Darwin agreed
with a nod.
Ae pulled him up with him and snapped his fingers. His geomancy skills transported them into a
moonlight lake below the mountain ranges. The Cherry blossom leaves flowing down and riding the
wind like soft velvet snow. The water is so tranquil not even a single thing moving on the surface. The air
smells like fresh countryside with the smooth caress of the wind giving off a very romantic and calming
vibe.
Darwin's jaw hit the ground as he witnessed a mind blowing scenery before his eyes. He looked
at the beautiful moon looking straight back at him as if he's calling his name. Fireflies started swirling
around his head.
"You ready?", Ae's soothing voice broke behind him.
He just nodded and closed his eyes. In his mind, he played flashbacks of memories. Storming like
a kaleidoscope of image and moving pictures. His mind, almost running like a horse in a race track:
memories of both good and bad raging in the back of his head. Faster each seconds passed. So fast until
it stops. And his mind was focused at one point.
"That's healthy. Try connecting your mind with the waters of the lake. Then move your thoughts
along with its tranquility", Ae whispered smoothly that it almost felt just like a ghost in the air.
For a moment, Darwin opened his eyes and he felt relaxed and calm. Ae walked beside him and
gave him a hug.
"Take off your clothes", He whispered.
The sound of his voice melted Darwin's soul that he moved his hands unwillingly and stripped
down in front of him. He saw how Ae's eyes melted with the flames of affection burning inside him. He
turned around hiding his blushing.
"I remember you saying you never wanted to see this", Darwin bit his lips and turned around.
"It used to be but it felt different now", Ae smiled back.
The moonlight touched Darwin's delicate skin as he dipped himself to the pearl smooth waters.
He breaking reflections of the light bounced back around and into Ae's face as he looked Darwin from
behind. He let Darwin reached the deeper points of the lake before stripping his clothes and following
him. He stood a few meters away from Darwin and they both shared a look.
"The water may heat up a bit and burn your skin but it won't last long. As long as you are in the
bathe of the moonlight, you will be fine", Ae gave a reassuring smile.
Darwin just nodded and smiled back.
Ae performed a Time Rift spell and commanded the time and space they were in to move faster
without distorting their reality. The time forwarded instantly to 11:58, just two minutes before it hits
midnight. Ae threw his arms sideward and a hue of black and purple magic circle appeared above him.
His body glitches like a disrupted view and his eyes turned pitch black. His voice suddenly became raspy
as he chanted some word unknown to Darwin.
All of a sudden the water beamed red from below them. The temperature started rising as a
tremendous amount of magic power keeps flowing out of Ae's body. He looked at Darwin with his pitch
black eyes and veiny face. His expression suddenly shifted from being soft to absolutely evil and
malicious.
"Mirror", His modulated voice broke off like whispers coming from the heavens.
The water suddenly rose up and twirled like a pillow around Darwin. For a second it froze mid-
air encasing him inside. His body trembled from an odd feeling of both freezing and heating at the same
time. Runes suddenly appeared behind his skin all over his body. Beaming like dimmed stars under his
snow like complexion. He felt something odd moved around his body and under the water. He looked up
to see a giant snake biting Ae in his neck and his face expresses absolute pain. He was about to move to
break through the encasement when a ghostly figure of his own image appeared in front of him.
The man in front of him depicts a very stunningly dangerous look. Giving off an aura more
chilling and dreadful than what he could. His red stripped hair dancing smoothly in the touch of the wind
as he looked straight to him with his glowing ocean blue eyes. His smile sending chills to Darwin's spine.
He was looking straight to a person of himself surpassing the look and the vibe he thought no one
would.
"Don't resist", Ae's blood-curled voice reached him.
In a blink of an eye, the man in front of him opened his mouth and dug his fang deep into his
neck. An incredible pain shot him to the core for a few seconds and he shut his eyes. A blinding light
exploded in his mind, so bright that he lost vision of the world for seconds and then went back to
normal. Suddenly, an overwhelming amount of magic power started permeating through his body and
eventually he felt a great amount of piercing pain burning all over his body. He screamed so loud at the
painful sensation, his eyes beaming bluish white as crimson orbs started getting inside his body. His
bloody screams filled the air. The moon suddenly turned blue. A sign of time distortion in the universe.
"Hold on…", Ae fought back the pain of the snake's fangs digging deep beneath his skins as he
held into the transition.
The commotion suddenly stopped and Darwin stopped screaming. The snake vanished in the air
and the water calmed down. Ae hissed at the sore on his neck. The spell has already been lifted up. He
looked around to see Darwin but he's nowhere to be found. He turned around confused once again and
he heard a very sinister snicker behind him.
He turned around to see Darwin, smiling at him. His hair looked a lot different. With two colors,
red and gray contrasting each other as it falls divided above his head. A small beaming crescent moon In
his forehead and his eyes turned crimson and blue. His jaws now perfectly carved giving off a more mature look and his body buffed up beautifully. His malicious facial expression could be seen even in the
shadows of his silhouette cover his entire naked body.
Shocked by the sudden unexpected results, Ae moved backward a bit. He shook his head in
disbelief but he wasn't afraid at all. He was just surprised and terrified at the amount of magic power he
has at the same.
"Do you wanna hurt me?", A shot of pain hit his heart as he said those words.
"That could wait", Even Darwin's voice changes. Now it has become more breathy and
seductive.
"You weren't supposed to end up like this", Ae looked away.
"Supposed to what? It feels good though", Darwin playfully gestured his hands and the weather
suddenly changed.
"You became Hybrid instead. That means someone might have disrupted the universal time flow
of your past life. It was altered and mixed altogether", Ae revealed.