Aiden stood there looking at the guilty-faced Brad. Brad lowered his head and silently watched him.
After a round of intense staring at each other, Brad closed his eyes once again and controlled his emotions well.
A whole new world of darkness opened up in front of him again. The same sparkling orbs hung in the space — some were dancing, some were just floating around. Although they created a mesmerizing sight, the orb that was teasing Brad all along was nowhere to be seen.
Closing his eyes again, Brad tried to sense the orb that was previously pulling him towards itself. He felt a pull from a certain direction. Opening his eyes he saw that a path shrouded by semi-darkness led to the same direction he felt the pull.
Brad decided to follow his instincts since there wasn't much time left for him to save his father. Unless any miracle happens, he won't be able to get to his father soon. So, he needed to leave this goddamn place as fast as he could.
He thought to himself, 'Why did I even delve into this magic stuff? After my father gets cured, I will just visit the Derman mountains, find a cure for Deablo and return to college and try to fulfil my dreams. I don't want to live this life of chasing and being chased."
With that thought in mind, he wandered into the depth of the space following his instinct as well as the pathway in front of him. After a long bout of walking, he found himself in front of a place covered with canopy formed by vines entwined around each other. Petals were scattered on the ground and as he placed his left foot on the petals, they formed a carpet beneath his feet.
He was amazed to see such magic in front of him. Never in his wildest dream did he imagine such a wonderful place. He took another step forward, and parted the twigs and branches hanging in front, he saw another mesmerizing sight.
He saw the same orb floating there peacefully. Beneath it was a stony platform which was adorned with vibrant flowers, which emitted beautiful fragrance. A calmness penetrated his mind, and spread from his heart to his fingertips. It was a surreal feeling for him.
Unlike all the previous time, the orb quietly floated in front of him. He went another step forward, wanting to touch the orb. Before he could do so, he saw the orb floating towards him.
He was so shocked that his mouth popped open into an 'O'. The orb stopped just one-inch short of his face, as if taunting him to come closer. Before Brad could register what was going on, he lifted his hand to touch the orb.
As soon as he touched the orb, it disappeared into nothingness. Not long after, he felt enormous pain inside his chest. A force seemed to tear his chest apart. Sweat formed on his forehead as he clutched his chest in enormous pain.
He squeezed his eyes shut, wrinkled his brows to elevate the pain he was feeling in his chest. His breathing came in deep gasps. The surrounding started to blur, and he fumbled around trying to grab something to support his body, but found nothing in particular. His legs gave way and he fell to the ground.
Unknown scenes of battles flashed in front of his eyes. They were foreign to him. He was pretty sure he had never seen them before yet they felt so close to his heart.
Two people were battling each other. Their faces were blurry, but he could clearly see their outfits. One of them was wearing a red outfit with a golden sun on his chest. The other was wearing a bluish outfit with a white frost feather on his chest. They had swords in their hands.
Before he could see anything else, the scene changed to a beautiful girl sitting by a riverside. Her hair was unkempt, her body was filled with bruises of various kinds. Her clothes were torn and tattered. Her eyes were filled with tears as she asked, "Why?" Her lips quivered. The disbelief in her eyes pricked his heart and made the pain worse.
Before he could make anything out of the situation, the scene changed yet again. This time, he saw a kingly figure sitting on a particular throne. In front of him sat a craftsman crafting a sword. The sword had some runes carved on it.
He wanted to get a close look, but before he could do so, like the previous time, the scene changed yet again.
On a particular hilltop, a tomb was lowered into the ground. But, he couldn't make anything out of the tomb. He tried to look around, and then he noticed that at a distance, there was a lady clad in black, standing all alone. Tears glistened in her eyes. She looked at the tomb with her longing violet eyes.
She rubbed her eyes twice, but tears refused to stop. With her arms crossed over her chest, she saw the entire scene of the burial unmoving. After the tomb was covered with soil and everyone left, she came in front of the tombstone, and kneeled in front of it.
She lifted her hands and moved it in a particular motion. A bouquet of violet flowers formed and stood there suspended in air.
Another teardrop escaped her eyes and fell onto the tombstone. She took the bouquet and placed it on the tombstone. She looked apologetically at it, but didn't utter a single word.
She got up, patted the dust off her dress and then disappeared from sight. The lady looked familiar to Brad. He felt that he had seen her somewhere, but his pain didn't let him recall anything.
The scene in front of him changed yet again, and he saw a cat playing with some koi fishes in the pond, which was very weird to him. He never saw a cat teasing fishes. The fishes were flocking towards the cat, and they enjoyed getting the cat's caress.
This time, the scene lingered for a while before it vanished altogether. Brad could only see a faint outline of a tall man, he knew nothing of. No matter how much he tried, he couldn't open his eyes. The pain was making it even worse.
He fell unconscious from the pain and the darkness. After a while, a tall black shadow exited his body, stood in front of him and said, "My time is over. Now it is your responsibility. You have all my memories, and only certain things will trigger those memories, for you will never remember them without a reason."
Saying that, the faint figure moved back and sat on the stone platform with his legs crossed. A halo soon formed around his whole body which glowed so brightly that it could blind anyone who looked at it. After a blinding flash of light, it became an orb again and floated in the space.
Brad lied there, sweat still dripping from his pale skin. His skin and lips lost its previous lusture. The obb floated in the space, but it lost its previous glow as well.
After a long time did Brad's breathing become a lot even. By the time he opened his eyes, it was completely dark outside. Brad looked around and saw the orb floating in its initial position.
He tried to think what happened earlier and felt everything was blurry. The last thing that he remembered was the orb floating towards him and the fact that he tried to touch it. After that, he couldn't remember a single thing.
He went forward and tried to poke the orb, but nothing happened. It felt slightly cold to touch. But, neither did the orb move, nor did he feel anything abnormal. He looked around the place.. Other than various plants and herbs, he found nothing interesting.
Before he could turn around, he saw white light glowing from the small crevice on the wall opposite to him. He walked towards the wall hoping to receive something. His hand was caught in one of the branches and a cut formed on it. Fresh blood oozed from the wound as he walked on.
The wall seemed so near him but he walked and walked. The wall wasn't within his reach. After a whole night of walking, he could see the various intricate patterns on the wall. As he reached forward to touch the wall, his wound brushed the crevice and his skin stuck to the wall. He felt a suction force which sucked him inside the wall.
Before he could protest, he was thrown out into the attic of the same Firenice Mansion.
Neither was Misha in sight, nor was Aiden and Demetria. He looked around and when he saw no one, he tried to summon Olympia, but noticing that she was in slumber, he decided to exit the attic alone.