Serina still chose not to believe that her son took the stab for her, she couldn't fathom the thought of it so she tried to convince herself that the person in front of her wasn't her son..... he was probably a doppelganger.
Her son didn't know where she was, even though he begged her not to go, she made sure that he didn't follow her by any chance and he didn't know which realm she was going to, so the probability for him to get here is one in probably a thousand!.
'It couldn't be him right?'. She thought as she decided to take a look at the face of the person in front of her.
With shaky hands she held on to his shoulders and her heart skipped a beat but she stubbornly chose not to believe that it was her son so she walked forward to face him slowly with shaky legs to identify who it was. Every step she took felt like a thousand needles were piercing through her heart and the pain in her heart felt so unbearable.
Her son was her life and her heartbeat if something happened to him....she won't... No she can't be able to survive in any way.
As she faced him, she felt tears drop from her eyes but her eyes had been looking straight and could only see his chest since he was taller than her. She saw the sword still in his chest, she felt like it went straight through his heart but she refused to believe that her savior was her son but she couldn't stop herself from looking up to confirm her doubts so she slowly raised her head up just to meet her lovely son's pale face. She felt her darkened heart break into pieces.
"Da...Darin" She called out as she felt like her heart was being pulled out clowly but painfully out of her chest.
"Is that really you?" She asked as she raised her shaky hands and placed it on his cheeks ever so softly in fear that his delicate face would break ifshe applied too much force to it.
Darin, who had his eyes closed due to the pain he felt in his heart opened his mesmerizing sapphire blue eyes when he heard his mother's confident voice but this time the confidence she always had was nowhere to be found, her voice was filled with pain, grief and sorrow. He felt her warm hands hold his face delicately but they weren't firm, they were shaking in fear. He wondered why she felt that way cause all he could remember was secretly following his mom over here just to stop her from committing more heinous sins but he was a little too late as she already did that but he knew his mother wouldn't be going scotfree.
He knew he had to take drastic measures to make sure that not even a single strand on his mother would be gone. He was too late to react to Aaron's attack so the only thing he could do was to take the brunt of his mother's misdeeds so he jumped in front of her immediately the blade was about to plunge into her.
Serina looked at Darin's face and hoped that the person in front of her turns out to be someone else but immediately he opened his eyes..... Reality hit her so hard in the face that she was sure that it would leave a mark..... No a scar.
The person was her son, he sacrificed himself for her without much thought to it at the risk of his won life. She felt tears fall out of her eyes.....Tears. It's been years since she shed a single tear as she bowed not to shed tears as they were signs of weakness and she wasn't weak in any way but now losing her son felt little by little felt like her whole world was collapsing one after the other and she couldn't do a single thing about it.
Serina felt like it would have been better if she was the one who was stabbed at least then she could die peacefully knowing her son was still out there but seeing her son in such a state was even worst than death.
But she still felt there was a way to save her son, she couldn't let him die like that so she turned her head to observe everything around her and found out that all her demons were dead and the Lords were paralyzed and it was all caused by Aaron. Aaron was still in a confused state of mind on how this young man who had a striking resemblance to Serina appeared in front of him suddenly and sacrificed himseof for the sake of Serina.
'How exactly did Serina win this man's loyalty that he could sacrifice himself for her without thinking twice' He wondered but he couldn't just figure it out.
He was still deep in thought when he heard the sound of blade forced out of the flesh and that immediately jerked him back to reality as he watched Serina slowly remove the sword from the unknown man's chest.
Serina felt very certain that she could still save her dear son as long as she removed the sword and healed him but immediately she removed the sword.... Darin coughed out blood.
Serina looked aghast as she stood there seemingly in a daze with droplets of blood around her pale white skin but that wasn't what was on her mind, she was concerned about the person who coughed out the blood not her, who had blood splattered all over her body.
Serina refocused her attention on her son as she placed her palm on the hole with her eyes closed. Black miasma came forth from her hand as it enveloped her son in a very gentle manner. In others eyes it looked like the dark energy itself knew and cared for Darin so it enveloped him gently but.... 'How's that possible? Dark energy only follows the Master's wishes right?'.
Serina quickly sat on the floor as she prepared herself to perform a forbidden ritual to save her son even if it means ending her life. The dark miasma gently placed Darin on the floor with his head on Serina's lap. Serina decided to start the ritual and cut off her hand when she felt a warm hand hold on to the hand she was about to use to cut herself. She opened her eyes and saw her son smiling weakly at her.
"Mom?" he called out.
"It is too late" he replied weakly without waiting for his mother's reply. "I told you not to go ahead with your plans but you did not pay heed to me.... You're a very stubborn woman but you forgot that you also have a son who is as extremely stubborn as you are, probably even more" he said and chuckled but ended up coughing out more blood..... But he still carried on with his speech as Serina watched in despair.
"Mom, I hope my death teaches you and helps you understand the pain of losing someone you love, so don't do that to other people anymore." he placed his hands on her cheeks and wiped off her tears.
"Don't cry mom, I don't like seeing you cry so please don't cry. I want you to live your best life without me but never forget me" he said in a teasig tone even though he was on the brink of death.
"Mom, I want you to know that even though you may not have been the Best person, woman, daughter, sister or wife, You've always and will always remain the best mother ever and nothing can change that fact.... Ever! So don't give up cause I'll be back so make sure you find me but for now.... I'm going to meet her there" He said as he plastered a sweet reminisce smile on his face and closed his eyes, as if awaiting death's warm embrace.
Serina couldn't fully swallow all her son said as tears flowed non stop from her eyes before she realized that she stopped healing him so she continued but then she felt Darin's hand leave her cheek and fall limply at his side.
She couldn't bear it so she looked at his face and noticed he had a smile on his face. He died happily protecting the one he loved and that was satisfying for him. But Serina refused to understand.....she decided to raise her son from the dead as she made the dark miasma swallow his body as she chanted spells nonstop but it wasn't working.
She was giving up little by little,
She tried the ritual six times but none worked out. It felt like he couldn't come back no matter what she did. Her heart was shattered to pieces as she feel in the cold hard ground and crawled towards her son as she started sobbing quietly. The rituals Serina did, had drained her so much that she couldn't even stand properly not to think of casting another spell but she still refused to give up....she was about to try again when Darin held her hand weakly but it was enough to stop her. She stared at him as her lips trembled in fear and she decided to still go on with the ritual.
"Mom, you can't anymore..... it's just too late" Darin said to her as he coughed out blood. "I begged you not to continue this but you didn't listen to me and I couldn't just sit and watch so I decided to come and stop you from wiping out the realm but I didn't know that I'd have to sacrifice my life just to stop you".
He closed his eyes as a tear trickled down his eyes, he sighed and opened his eyes and stared affectionately at her "I love you mom, and I promise I'll be back for you so make sure to live well and wait....for me"
And his eyes slowly closed on their own and his heartbeat stopped, Serina was too depressed to notice until she opened her eyes to look at her son, her face turned pale immediately she noticed that he was..... turning to dust.