A gray figure quickly materialized in the main hall.
"Feyr!" Aiden tensed as he jumped over the guardrail at the very bottom of the stairs, and in the main room he ran into a strange figure. A very tall and slim man looked down on him, his hair as long as his body and his red eyes, which had no pupils, seemingly staring straight into Aiden's soul.
"Well, I'd introduce myself, but it seems we're acquainted already." Aiden jumped at Feyr, trying to punch him, and Feyr dodged making Aiden fall onto the floor. "I'm afraid it won't work like that. Don't you know where we are, Aiden? We're inside of your mind. You couldn't harm me even if you wanted to."
"Wait, if were in my mind, then where is my body?" Aiden's last memories before passing out was the door blowing up, and he was afraid his body would get slain by the intruders because of Feyr.
"You're laying unconscious on the basement floor, but don't worry, you had a sacrificial shield placed around you. You're safe." Feyr chuckled, trying his best to seem polite and calm. "But never did I guess it would end like this. Me, having to negotiate with a mere Vessel to take control of what was rightfully given to me." Feyr's voice exuded a tone of pride.
"So, come on, Aiden. Make this easier for the both of us. Don't fight against it." Feyr crossed his legs and sat on the floor. "Come on, I'll give you 5 minutes to decide. Otherwise, I'll push this body into a coma that you won't be able to wake from without me."
As Aiden and Feyr were vying for control, the rageful combat around his body kept going, although the tides had substantially shifted in the Oracle's favor. Only Clara, Cassius and a few lower ranked cultists remained alive.
"Clara, surrender. You're outnumbered, and I was told to avoid killing you and Cassius, so you can be captured." she returned her wakizashi to its sheath, and raised her hands in the air. "Come on, you're wounded, and so is he. Would you rather die now, or live to see tomorrow?"
"Damn it, I always hated it when you're right." Clara dismissed her Construct, and threw herself on the floor next to Cassius. "Can you at least let us heal and sleep before you interrogate us?"
"Considering you willingly surrendered, it can be arranged." Khiara now walked over to Aiden, attempting to wake him up, but was repelled the second she touched him. Her mind immediately jumped to some sort of protective Essence cover. "W- What did you do, Clara?!"
"It wasn't me, that dude with the cane. He sacrificed himself to put a shield on Aiden, I doubt it will fade away until either Feyr awakens, or his Essence runs out." Clara now stood up, trying to pull Cassius up, but being unable to. "Hey, you Oracle weirdos, get a move on. This man is seriously injured." Her and other soldiers took Cassius and the remaining alive cultists out, took them out of the forest and prepared them for transport to Dawnvale. But, Khiara purposefully stayed behind.
"Aiden… I can only imagine what you're going through right now." she took a blanket out of Cassius' room upstairs, and threw it over Aiden. "There. If nothing else, at least you won't be cold. Don't worry, I'll be back. For your sake, and for Aldegar's."
Back in Aiden's mindscape, he was still revolting against letting Feyr have control.
"Well, five minutes have passed, and I will now induce a coma onto you. I hope you enjoy dying of hunger and thirst soon." Feyr smirked, thinking that this would break Aiden, but it didn't move him in the slightest. His stance was still strong, and he was still not going to submit.
"Are you sure you want to do this, Feyr?" Aiden provoked, trying to see if he would react. "All the members of your Cult either died or got captured. If you lose me, you'll never again come close to your goal, the one Cassius tried so hard to fulfill."
"Do not think you can force my hand, child. I am the one in control here." Feyr got up, and began walking away from Aiden. This was nothing more than psychological warfare between the two of them, both trying to force a reaction out of the other, both trying to grasp their goals. But, Aiden's was much simpler, and easier…
Although time was difficult to track in the mindscape, Feyr was kind enough to constantly kept alerting him of how long had passed. He thought that this would trigger in Aiden a fear of death, but that did not exist within the young Silvius boy. All that he cared about right now was suppressing Feyr, keeping him away from Astarea, even if that meant losing his life. Because, he knew however much evil Cassius did, Feyr would be infinite times worse.
After around two and a half days of waiting, Feyr's nervousness began to show. Aiden's body was nearing the point of complete dehydration and risked dying, but he still pushed forward.
"See, I told you, you don't want to do this." laughed Aiden at Feyr's face. "I have nothing to lose, knowing I gave my life for a noble cause."
For the last 48 hours, Feyr kept trying to torment Aiden into submission, replaying traumatic events from his childhood - trying to prove he is nothing without powers, how he would live life as a stain on his family's legacy forever like this. But, the powerlessness was something he'd gotten used to over these last few months, even accepting it, all thanks to Midori and his newfound friends. His tactic was failing, and that made him feel uneasy. He wasn't sure whether he should be scared or offended that a mere mortal is outwitting him. After all, he was severely egotistical.
"You truly are a fool, child. Don't sit here and try to tell me you would reject godhood." Feyr was trying his hardest to make it seem like he was not afraid. "Well, then, I guess that's that. Your body will die of dehydration and I will go back to my home realm. You're the one who has lost."
"I am the one who has lost? You seem to be mistaken." Aiden got up from the chair he was sitting on, instantly stopping all of the memories surging around him. He went up to Feyr and slapped him. " If you're so high and mighty, why didn't you just take control already? Why is it that you need me to submit?"
Feyr was just about to speak but Aiden and stopped him before he even had a chance to.
"You know why? Because this is my mind, not yours. The ritual failed, and I'm still the one behind the wheel." Aiden now turned his back to the Deity. With just a wave of his hand, the entire walls of the Manor collapsed as he saw fit."
"I must commend you, child. You've seen through my ruse." Feyr's presence slowly began to fade, beginning from the bottom up. He placed his hand on Aiden's shoulder and tensed. "But do not consider this a victory in the slightest. This means war, and I will come back. Remember that."
"Now that we share a body, you'll get a remnant of my power, however much that proposition disgusts me." And with nothing more than his floating head remaining, Feyr gently whispered. "Inherit. You'll get the powers of those you kill. Wear my Soul Mark with pride."
As the mindscape collapsed around him, his conscious faded back into the real world. Not bothered by what just happened in the slightest, Aiden got up and walked away, as if he woke up from bed. Thankfully, Khiara figured he'd need it, and so she left a large bottle of water by Aiden's side.
The Silvius boy was now shaping up to be a man. After being lied to, manipulated and tossed to the side by Cassius like nothing more than a used rag, Aiden's heart now beat with nothing more than pure resentment and hatred. There was no fear, and that's something Feyr never expected, and something he could've never defeated.
"Inherit, huh? So, until I kill someone, it's still like I have no power. Great." Aiden walked out of the basement while downing the water bottle Khiara left him. He was considerably worn out by this coma, but he couldn't possibly stay here, he had to get back home, so he began to walk. But, then he noticed a note stuck to the back of the bottle.
"Hey, Aiden, it's Khiara. Remember, Aldegar's co-worker? I know you're tired, so I left a flare in front of Cassius' house, by the bushes. Light it, and we'll come pick you up."
And so without a second thought, Aiden went up and lit the flare with a matchbox they left alongside it. He wasn't sure how to thank Khiara enough for thinking about this, because the walk to Sylvanwood would have actually killed him. He sat down on the grass, holding the flare in his hand, and around five minutes later, Khiara and Aldegar showed up.
"Dad, I-" Aiden was going to apologize to Aldegar for getting himself caught up in this mess, but Aldegar just ran up to him and hugged him as hard as he could.
"Aiden, I'm so glad." Aldegar shed a few tears, which flowed down onto Aiden's face. "When Khiara came to report the mission, I couldn't believe what I heard. I thought you were as good as gone." Aiden tried hugging Aldegar back with all his might, but he was too weak to even hold him properly.
"Sorry to interrupt the family moment, but, you were used as a Vessel for Feyr. What happened with that?" Khiara chimed in, trying her best not to seem rude. "Is he… there? You seem like yourself, if nothing."
"Yeah, he's here, but he's tucked away in some corner of my mind." Aiden hit himself across the head, laughing. "I'm hoping he's stuck as far back as possible. Also, he told me that I'll now get a power? He called it Inherit, told me I can take the powers of those I defeat."
"You… got a power? Hilda's going to be ecstatic!" Aldegar's face now boomed with joy, and Aiden didn't want to ruin his newfound happiness by mentioning Hilda's true opinion on him. "We need to take you to Dawnvale to check you out, to make sure the failed ritual didn't leave you with an incomplete Soul Mark. But for now, you need rest. Let's go to the Manor, this a great chance for you to meet Emilia."
"Emilia?" Aiden never heard that name in his life. "Who is that?"
"Your new adopted sister, the one from Corvus." Aldegar roughly pointed in the direction of Corvus and Dawnvale with his finger. "But we'll talk about that later. You're way too weak to keep talking…"