Aether was gasping for breath as he sprinted through the forest. Silently, he was cursing his stupidity for underestimating the enemy.
It didn't take long for another attack, but this time it had come from the shadows above their heads. The hooded figures had been waiting in the trees. Their attacks were silent and deadly. Arrows covered in fire and light slashed at their unexpected figures. Mina and the guard were quick to respond. Mina threw herself into the cover of branches while using her knife to cut down any that came her way. The guard on the other hand, was carrying Aether. A task that proved to dull one's responses when it came to battle.
The guard did not follow in Mina's footsteps. Instead he opted in using his ability to try and deflect the arrows. It would have worked if not for one of the hooded figures jumping down from the tree and attacking them from the side. The guard had to deflect his focus from maintaining his barrier to deflecting the oncoming attack, giving enough time for another hooded figure to shoot an arrow at the guard's leg.
The guard, now crippled, situated Aether into his arms while he kneeled on one knee. Using his ability he created an earth barrier around him and began to direct sharp vines towards the attackers. While the attackers were busy, the guard hoisted Aether up and threw him backwards and into Mina's arms.
He landed with a thud, though softer with Mina's help, it still hurt. Ignoring the dull pain radiating through his body, he gazed up at the guard who was holding his own against the attackers.
'He won't last long.' clicking his tongue he turned back towards Mina, "We need to-wait, Mina?"
Mina cut him off by grabbing his arm and hoisting him up. Aether watched in dread as the guards turned around and nodded to Mina. That was all Mina needed before she dragged Aether deeper into the forest.
Aether hated leaving another person behind. Not knowing what their fate would be was killing him, but he knew that in the end finding his siblings or the princes was a greater priority.
The forest was dense to the point where it was almost impossible to see what was in front of them. Mina was slashing away at the branches and bushes that were in their way. Feeling rather useless in this situation, Aether tried to make himself useful.
If they couldnt see then perhaps they could hear. He listened intently for any noise of battle, but despite the loud noises coming from the many demonic creatures littering the forest, he could not hear the sounds of them being killed. It was almost as if there was no one around them.
He shook his head. It was impossible. The forest was only so big and so many students had entered it. There was no way they wouldn't have come across someone by now.
"Look out!" Mina yelled. She stopped in her tracks and pushed Aether into the bushes beside her. Aether hissed in pain, but the clanging of metal caught his attention.
The prince and Mina were in a deadlock. Mina's arms were shaking as she gritted her teeth and desperately tried to push back. Flames began to form around her, coming off her hair in waves like a spark getting ready to ignite.
The prince let out a maddening laugh, "Oh? I didn't know the maid was so capable." With a wide grin he pushed her back just as her flames rushed towards his face.
Mina let out a small gasp and pounced towards him. Without a care if he got injured from Mina's attack, the Prince laughed as he slashed his knife right down on her face. The unexpecting Mina hissed in pain as the knife embedded itself into her cheek. She barely got a scratch on the Prince before she jumped backwards. A stream of blood dribbled down her cheek and dripped onto the ground.
"Mina?" Aether hesitantly called out.
Mina glanced over at him. She stood tall as she wiped the blood off her face, "Young Master." She took a deep breath, "Run."
"But-"
"Run! Get out of here! Survive!" Her eyes were wide as she yelled at him. Aether froze. There were tears in her eyes.
"Oh?" The Prince butt into their conversation, "Now, why would you go and encourage him?" His piercing gaze zoned in on Aether and without breaking eye contact he licked the blood off his blade.
Aether paled at the sight.
Mina clicked her tongue, reaching into her skirt she pulled out another knife and held both in front of her.
The Prince smiled, "Hmm, oh well." he shrugged his shoulders, "This will be fun."
"Young Master, run!"
Aether reluctantly stood up and ran away. Faintly he could hear the clanging of metal and shouts, but the longer he ran the fainter it got. He wheezed as he pushed through the shrubs. Fear swelled within him at the thought of Mina not winning the fight, but he couldn't think that way. Now was not the time.
CLANG.
Aether's head snapped up. 'Was that…'
CLANG.
Without waiting another second he bolted to the sound. He ignored the stinging pain as branches and thorns dug into his skin, his mind focused on following the sound. His hopes were high. Perhaps it was his siblings or maybe even one of the Princes.
He gasped for breath as he ran out of the forest and into a small clearing. A student with bright red hair was stabbing a demonic creature's body. Blood splattered everywhere as he pierced the demonic creature over and over again until the horrid screams coming from the creature came to an eerie silence. He stood up, he was heaving as he caught his breath. Wiping his forehead of sweat he lifted the bloodied sword out of the demonic creature's body and took a step back.
Aether took a step forward, ready to call out, but it was not needed; the student already knew he was there. His head snapped up as he twisted on his heel. Holding his sword in front of him he yelled, "Stop where you are!"
Aether stopped in his tracks. He took a deep breath and then glanced behind him. He couldn't see anything, but that didn't mean someone wasn't there.
He turned back to the student, but for a moment he hesitated to speak. The student looked familiar, but where had he seen him before? He shook his head, that didn't matter right now, what mattered was getting help.
"Listen, we don't have time. We need to find my brother and sister, Leon and Aria Frenzel or the Princes. It may be hard to believe, but there is a-" Aether took a step forward, but the student gnashed his teeth and held up his sword.
"Stay back! Why should I listen to what you say, huh?" his eyes narrowed, "Asking me to go and find those monsters is like a death sentence out here. Are you trying to kill me?" he hissed.
Aether pursed his lips and shook his head, "No, no, that's not…it. Listen, we don't have much time-"
"Wait, I know you. Ha!" The student lowered his sword and barked out a laugh, "Your Aether, little weak Aether." Brushing back his red hair with his hand he sighed, "Why the hell are you out here? Trying to prove yourself? Hm?" He mocked.
Aether clenched his fists. His lip twitched at the familiar voice. 'Ah, so it was this asshole.' He rolled his eyes and rubbed his forehead, 'Great. Out of all the people I could have come across, It just had to be this asshole.'
Aether only had one interaction from this jerk and it was right when he had transmigrated. After being injured by him and vowing revenge for the other Aether, he never saw the boy again. Perhaps it was because he was in a lower section of the Academy, but still Aether expected to see the boy at least once.
'It would have been nice to show him what I had gained with just my intelligence.' A missed opportunity, yes, but one he could live without.
The red haired student ignored Aether blatant disgust and continued on spotting nonsense after nonsense.
"You know I thought you had died, after all you just woosh, disappeared." He made a motion with his hand and leaned forward, his face mocking.
Aether rolled his eyes.
"You should be dead." He mumbled as he placed a hand on Aether's shoulder.Aether didn't miss the flash of confusion in his eyes before he started laughing. "So you didn't disappear, what the hell have you been up to, huh?"
Aether frowned at the other. The first part obviously was not meant to be heard, but in such close proximity how couldn't he hear. He hadn't thought much about this student when he first met him. Just another asshole that liked to bully the weak. Originally he thought nothing of it. He thought it was just an asshole student who was taking a chance in killing another student, but now?
Something was off.
He looked so confused. Like he was supposed to be looking at a dead man. Aether narrowed his eyes. 'What did he say again?'
[You should have died when you were supposed to]
Aether nodded at the voice, 'Yeah, that's what he said…wait.' Aether flinched. He knew that voice. He had been hearing it every now and then that it was impossible not to know who it was. He took a deep breath.
'He knew I didn't die from that damn poison when he saw me, but why does he look so shocked now?' He voiced his questions in his head for the voice to hear, 'It's almost as if he thought I was gonna die after seeing me survive the poison and is confused on why I'm still alive.'
[You should have died when you were supposed to]
Aether frowned at the previous Aether, 'Stop repeating what he said! Wait. what if the poison he gave me wasn't poison.' If the previous Aether's memories were anything to go by then obviously he didn't die by poison. He was killed by a stab wound. Aether touched his chest where the stab wound would have been. A chill ran down his spine.
Then what did he drink?
A horrid thought entered his mind and he paled.
"Who gave you the poison?" He mumbled.
"Huh? What did you say?"
"Oh, don't act stupid." Aether snarled, "The poison you fed me, who gave it to you."
He put up his hands, taking a step back as he did so, "Hey, I-"
Aether was shaking as he grabbed hold of the student shirt and pulled him down so they were face to face, "I don't have time for this! Tell me, who-who gave you the bottle of poison?"
The student shook his head, "I-I don't know. I didn't see their face."
[He's lying.]
"How could you not see his face?" Aether's fingers were turning pale with how strong he was gripping the students shirt, "You had to have seen his face. You got the poison from them, you had to have seen them, you had to!"
The red haired student pursed his lips. His eyebrows were furrowed and he clenched his hands. He avoided Aether's eyes like the plague.
Aether clenched his teeth, 'This bastard knows. He knows and yet he is still refusing to tell me!'
[You know, you could just kill him.]
Aether went rigid. 'What?'
[It's not hard. I've done it before.]
At the side of his eye he saw a flash of darkness as a pale see-through hand reached out and grabbed his hand. Aether fought against the strange sensation, his arm shaking as the hand began to uncurl his fingers.
'Stop! What are you doing?' Aether internally screamed in horror at what was happening.
The boy with red hair watched on in confusion, "Hey, are okay?" He asked, but his voice sounded more like a whisper against the torrent of a voice that was talking in his head.
[It was easy, you know. To kill him. Really simple. All I had to do was put my hands around his throat and push really hard.]
Aether shook his head, 'No! Stop it! This isn't right!'
That seemed to put some sense into the previous Aether, [Why? Why isn't it right?] the hand tightened around his wrist. [What about everything they did? What about all the torment I went through? Was that right?] The voice cracked.
Aether frowned. 'It wasn't, but if I do this, I will become just like them.'
The hand holding his wrist froze and like it was never there it evaporated into thin air.
[You don't understand anything.] The voice whispered. [You don't even know what he fed you and yet you're still allowing him to live!] The voice shouted. [If you knew…if you knew…] the voice faded.
Aether frowned, 'Knew? Knew what? Hey, hey answer me! Do you know what he fed us!' Aether internally screamed in aggravation. This was all becoming too complex for him to grasp and worst of all, he didn't have time to linger on it. He had to keep moving.
"Damn it." He whispered.
"Hey are you listening?" the red hair hit him on his head twice, "Hey, whats wrong with…you." He stopped and Aether noticed his pale complexion. Dread creeped up his spine. Turning around he came face to face with the young prince who had blood splattered all over his body.
The prince smiled, blood dripping from the side of his mouth. "Oh, did you find a friend?" he chuckled, "No matter. One more body will make no difference."
"...Mina…" Aether whispered. 'No it wasn't possible. It can't be.'
The Prince smiled, "Oh, the maid? She didn't last very long." His eyes drifted over to the red haired student, a knowing glint in his eyes. "And neither will he."
The red haired student flinched and immediately grabbed Aether, throwing him behind him as he met the prince head on. Aether yelped as wind erupted from all around them, but unlike his previous experiences the wind attacked the Prince. Like a hurricane and as sharp as a knife, the brutal force it exhibited while aiming for the prince demonstrated how much effort the red haired student was putting forth.
But like an enigma, the prince dodged every single attack. His body, though lean, shouldn't have been able to dodge all the attacks and yet he did. The smile on his face as he danced circles around the red haired student was like he was playing with a puppy that could barely walk.
Aether's nose scrunched up, 'It couldn't be…his unique ability?' Aether's eyes widened and he called out, "Watch out!" But it was too late.
The red haired student was caught unaware as his leg was pierced from behind by a sharp vine. When he staggered the Prince wasted no time in slashing downwards. Blood gushed everywhere as the red haired student fell to the ground. The Prince, seemingly bored with the fight, kicked the student across the clearing. He landed right in front of Aether.
With wide eyes Aether rolled the body over onto his back, "No, no, no." The student's hand landed on the ground with a heavy thud. "Oh god." He hesitantly reached out to the large gash crossing the young man's chest. Blood seeped out like a waterfall. With a shuddering breath he took off his jacket and gently placed it on the wound, applying some pressure in a lame attempt to stop the bleeding.
The wound on his chest wasn't all that was there. He also had wounds littered across his face and even on his neck. 'When did this happen?' Aether watched the short fight, but not once did he see the student get injured on the face and neck.
'Wait.' Aether paused, his shaking hand gently pressed back down on his chest. 'There!' It was there, just barley, but he could feel it. He was still alive!
He clenched his hands and hesitantly backed away while keeping his head lowered. He coudln't show any reactions. After all the prince thinks that he is dead, if he shows otherwise than he really will die.
'I can't let another person die.' Gritting his teeth he made up his mind and took another step back.
The prince stood before him with a smile on his lips as he hummed. "Oh? Where did all your friends go?" he looked around and then let out a laugh, "Oh that's right! I killed them, ha!"
Aether took another step back, his breathing coming out erratic. His eyes unfocused as he gazed in every direction possible. He needed a different option, a way out.
The prince took a step forward, his hand reaching out to Aether. He gazed at it with apprehension, his eyes met the Princes.
Aether wasted no time in fleeing.