The wind outside howled louder, and the manor creaked under the pressure. The walls seemed to groan, as if they too sensed the approaching tempest. Nigel's thoughts were a whirlwind of confusion and dread. He felt a sudden urge to seek solace in Helena's old room, the place where he had always felt safe.
Stumbling through the dark corridors, he made his way to her room. The door creaked open covered in darkness he could not see a thing but the familiar scent of his mother still lingered in her room. Making his way to the bed he sat down, As he sat on the edge of the bed, memories of Helena flooded his mind. He could almost hear her soothing voice, feel her gentle touch. But the comfort he sought was overshadowed by the intensifying storm outside.
Suddenly, a deafening roar filled the air. The windows shattered, and the room was flooded with the blinding light of lightning. Nigel clung to the bedpost, his eyes wide with terror. The tempest had arrived. The manor shook violently as the storm's fury descended upon delin, trees were uprooted and the ground seemed to tremble under the might of the storm. But how? Why did the storm arrive so suddenly? He was outside just now and it seems like the storm was still a few days away, he could hear the screams of the wind, the screams of destruction, his death had come but here he was smiling, he tried to stand but the force of the storm was to great.
Throught the broken window he saw the city below covered in chaos, some people who had not heed the warnings and those who were late to react to the warnings were now desperately running for cover but there was nowhere to hide, the storm showed no mercy. The spire of the church of the seven toppled, crashing down in a cloud of debris.the streets were rivers of rain and rubble.
But despite all the chaos he felt a strange sensation, it was as if deep in the storm there was something or someone calling out to him. He could hear fleeting voices in the wind, tempting him to come to the eye of the storm.
"Come my son."
"Be one with the storm." Different voices called out to him and for a moment he thought he was still hallucinating but the voices only got louder until he heard helena's voice amongst the countless
"Walk with me." His eyes widened and a pained expression appeared on his face,
"Mom?" Driven by an unknown force he somehow stood up and began taking shaky steps towards the balcony, his weak body moved against the strong force of storm. wind whipped around him, threatening to hurl him into the abyss. But he stood firm, his deep blue eyes staring into the heart of the storm.
And then, amidst the chaos, he saw it—a figure in the storm, ethereal and radiant. It was a woman, her form shifting and flickering like the lightning that illuminated her. She reached out a hand, her eyes locking onto his.
"Mom?" Nigel whispered, though the wind drowned out his voice.
The figure nodded, a sad smile on her lips. She gestured for him to come closer.feeling an overwhelming urge to step forward, to embrace the figure.
But as he took a step, the balcony gave way. He fell, tumbling through the air, the storm's fury wrapping around him. Time seemed to slow down as he fell and in those final moments, Nigel felt a strange sense of peace.
The tempest had come, his death had come and he would now rest. Smiling as he fell, he knew he was going to die soon. For him, this was his destiny and he would have died even without the arrival of the tempest as he had always been destined to. And as he fell, for a moment he thought he could see the figure in the storm embrace him, and becoming one with the chaos, the eye of the storm. Smiling, he closed his eyes and he disappeared into the abyss below.
Darkness covered him and in the darkness he felt like he was home, a familiar scent hit his nostrils opening his eyes quickly his eyes couldn't believe it, right infront of him Helena stood with a warm smile, the darkness slowly faded and in its place was a garden that eerily resembled the manor's garden looking closely he saw the familiar peach tree and the wooden bench beside it, it was really their garden. Looking at Helena again he took a step forward thinking he would fall without his cane but surprisingly his leg stood firm. Surprised at the new strength of his body Nigel took another step forward confirming his doubts
"But how?"his question was directed at both Helena and himself, how was it possible? Was he dead? Was this the holy garden?, his deep blue eyes stared at Helena in both shock and disbelief
"Mom, you are-" before he continued Helena spoke "Walk with me." She turned around and began walking towards the peach tree, following behind with saying a word Nigel stared at helena's back with uncertainty.
"I can feel your gaze on me, and trust me when I say i know you need answers but that is not the reason why I'm here." She paused a bit peeking glance at him before resuming " I am here to tell you about your mother, your real mother; mother tempest." Nigel's thoughts were on his mother, how nice it was to hear her voice again but doubts still lingered in his mind when he suddenly heard her mention his mother "real mother, mother tempest."
Feeling confused and dumbfounded he wanted to ask what she was talking about but then he remembered that she said she was not here to answer questions. Being an obedient child Nigel suppressed his feelings and listened quietly
"Charlotte may be the one that gave birth to you, but you were never her son. You are a son of the tempest, your soul was molded out of her essence you are the youngest son of mother tempest and her last gift to humanity. Your birth drained her of all of her life force and she is now no more, mother tempest was the only one out of "THEM" all that helped us fight against the fallen and now she has trusted you with her power. Embrace the storm, find the tempest and become the storm." Helena paused as they now stood under the peach tree .
"I am happy I was the one chosen to speak to you, make me proud my son save humanity from both the fallen and itself, do not harbor hatred against your family, your father did what he thought was best for you, so I hope that one day you may find it in your heart to forgive them and possibly help them regain their former glory, but as of now you have to focus on hiding, the church and the Royal Family will both send people to look for you. So far now hide and keep a low profile, and lastly try to have fun life is not all about books and stars,make friends, find a girl that makes you happy, enjoy what life has to offer and do not dwell on the past." Helena spoke lovingly to her son with a smile, on the other hand the information he was getting wss slightly overwhelming and he could not even understand some words his mother spoke
Looking at helena's soft smile his heart ached and he murmured "I missed you so much mom." A tear ran down his cheek, Helena wiped off the tear and gave him a peck on the forehead
"I missed you too my pale knight in shining armor." She responded with a light giggle reminding him of the time when she would tease him. Suddenly the garden became darker and darker until the only thing visible was Helena who stood before him with a soft smile
"It is time for you to return to the land of the living, and I also have a ffinal message and a request for you. Be wary of the church, and also if you ever end up in the royal city please search for a Nigel Madison, he is your uncle and also my younger brother. Goodbye my pale knight, I will love you always."With that helena's figure also started fading away leaving him all alone in the darkness, staring blankly at where his mother was he whispered "till infinity."
The darkness began swirling and rain drops fell, thunder roared and lightning flashed, heavy winds picked up but he stood still not even moving a bit, in his silence he saw it—the figure in the storm again , ethereal and radiant. Her form shifting and flickering like the lightning that illuminated her, this time she had a smile on her face and she seemed to be holding something in her hands. She took a step toward him and with each step thunder roared louder and louder, blinding lightning flashed and the wind became heavier but still he remained unshaken.
When she reached him her smile dimmed down a bit and so did the thunder and the frequency of lightning flashes, even the wind slowed down. Openingn her hands and revealing a small dark cloud that had little lightnings flashing inside it and a small gust of wind, she handed it to him, Nigel hesitated at first but he reached out his hands to receive the small stormy cloud. The cloud floated off her palms and towards Nigel but instead of landing in his palms it went directly to his left eye, at first nothing happened but then a huge lightning bolt hit him out of nowhere and thunder roared once more, the figure infront of him silently watched him screaming in pain. Lightning danced all around his body leaving visible inscriptions from his left eye downwards, the inscriptions seemed to be alive pulsating with an otherworldly light.
Nigel who was covered in lightning arcs passed out from the pain and he did not end up hearing the figure speak. The figure disappeared and all that was left in the darkness was him, with lightning arcs dancing around his body.