His mind was a jumble of fragmented memories. He remembered the battle, the fierce struggle with Rael, the pain of having his soul orb shattered. But none of it made sense now. He looked completely fine. His soul orb remained intact too.
Had it all been a dream?
No, it felt too real to be one.
Then, was he trapped in some kind of illusion? He couldn't help but wonder whether it was the work of Rael. After all, the last thing he knew was that something invisible pierced into his body like a ghost and struck his heart, and then his mind went blank for a long time. Now, he found himself in a familiar location, although instead of noon, it was midnight.
His hand instinctively went to his chest, where the pain had been. The spot where his soul orb had been broken. But now there was no pain. No injury. No trace of the torment he'd suffered.
He stared at his hands, flexing his fingers, confused and shaken. What happened? He questioned himself again and again until suddenly he remembered his Arcana spirit and questioned it.
"Astralith, you remember what happened?"
A voice responded in his head. "I remember returning to the mindscape for a brief hibernation (cooldown timer), and then the whole mindscape disintegrated. I'm sure that I found myself in the spirit realm for a brief period before reviving back into your body. It doesn't seem like there was any alteration of the timeline. If I consider time reversal, the nighttime proves it false. It would only make sense if someone used Reversis on you before dumping you here."
"On my body?" Raphael wondered aloud. "What's Reversis by the way?"
Before his Arcana spirit gave any explanation, he felt spatial distortion nearby. Raphael raised his head to look at the sky, where a portal opened. And then, in the next instant, Aurelius walked out with a pyramid-shaped artifact in his hand. He looked at the surroundings for a second before locking onto him. "Got him."
Raphael raised his head, his eyes widening in surprise. "Father?"
The early morning light filtered softly through the curtains of Garcia Manor, casting a gentle glow across the room. Rael lay in bed, his hand still tightly clutching Eon's, his fingers intertwined with hers. She remained still, her gentle breath the only sign of life besides his own.
Rael stirred awake, the peaceful silence of the room broken by the soft groan of his body as he adjusted to the waking world. He blinked groggily, his mind still hazy from sleep. His eyes caught something unusual. Raphael was sitting in a chair nearby, looking as if he'd spent the night there.
"Raphael?" Rael murmured, his voice thick with sleep.
At the sound of his name, Raphael's eyes snapped open, and he stood up quickly, an awkward tension in the air. "Uhh… Good morning," he greeted, his voice strained, as if unsure of what to say.
Rael squinted at him, still not fully awake, his mind processing the situation with some confusion. "What do you want?" he asked coldly, his usual indifference creeping back.
Raphael hesitated before taking a deep breath. "I... I wanted to thank you," he began, his words awkward but sincere. "For bringing back my soul orb... and you know… my life as an Arcana master."
Rael stared at him for a moment, his expression unwavering, his heart hardening once again. "You should thank Eon," he replied bluntly. "She was the one who pleaded with me to save you, putting aside the fact that you nearly killed her. Oh, and before you thank her, I hope you will give an apology."
Raphael seemed taken aback, but he nodded in understanding. "I will... when she wakes up." His voice softened slightly as if trying to offer some peace between them. He got up from his seat and was about to leave but halted his footsteps at the door, remembering something. "And… I'm relieved that you didn't go blind, like Father feared it to be."
Rael's eyes narrowed slightly, but he said nothing as Raphael turned to leave. As his brother exited the room, Rael's mind lingered on the comment.
"Hmm? My blindness?"
Rael's eyes widened in surprise, his drowsiness disappearing instantly. "That's right. By now, I should have gone blind, right? Or maybe, I have a few more hours to spare?"
The air grew heavy with an unsettling thought, and before Rael could calm his racing mind, a chuckle echoed through his head, sending a chill down his spine.
"You're very naive... as expected of an 8-year-old," the voice teased, its tone cold and mocking.
Rael stiffened, his breath catching in his throat. "Chronos?"
The voice continued, "If Raphael's soul orb could be fully revived by the Hourglass, why would you think it wouldn't apply the same condition to your eyes?"
Rael's chest tightened, his pulse quickening as he processed the Reaper's words. It made sense, in a twisted way. If the Hourglass had the power to restore Raphael's soul orb completely, then it could just as easily reverse the damage done to his sight. He hadn't even considered the possibility.
Rael clenched his teeth, frustration mounting inside him. "So... you knew that I wouldn't go blind at all. You played with me."
"It was a test to see your determination, Azrael." The Reaper replied. After a brief pause, the voice continued. "I spoke to Eon while you slept. She used the same soul skill on you under my guidance. She reverted your eyesight back to the time of noon when you were done with absorbing the full extent of your ocular powers. That is why the knowledge of your ocular powers was still in your memory."
Rael's eyes widened in shock. "What?"
He lay there for a moment, speechless, processing the revelation. "Wait a second."
A rush of excitement flooded his chest. The potential now before him was limitless. "If I could simply allow Eon to revert my eyes to their previous state whenever possible needed it, I could use ocular powers to its fullest extent."
The idea thrilled him. The very thought of it made him feel invincible.
The Reaper's voice, calm and detached, continued. "Yes, you can do that. Your eyes were not permanently damaged. Eon can keep using her soul skills to revert them back before you use your powers again. But, I advise you not to depend on your ocular powers too much."
"Yeah, I know. But I was just thrilled about the possibilities." Rael's excitement grew. "Just as I believed it my whole life, once again, it has been proved that as long as Eon is by my side, we have nothing to worry about." The thought echoed in his mind, and a grin slowly spread across his face.
He glanced over at his sister, still sleeping peacefully beside him, unaware of the conversation taking place in his head. His hand brushed against Eon's and a whisper escaped under his breath. "I promise you that I won't let such harm befall on you, ever again."