Chapter 309: Revelations

Time continued to pass, yet the young Aiden couldn't properly process the true meaning behind the ghost's words. How could he relate to these people?! They are of ages past, vanished from the face of the continent and probably the entire globe long ago.

"T-that's impossible." After a long while, Aiden muttered, meekly voicing his dubious thoughts. "You have died centuries, millennia ago. How could you and I have any sort of relation to each other? I didn't even know about you before coming here!"

Although due to the blurry, fuzzy visage, it went unseen, the Lord Spirit smiled warmly at the young one's skepticism. It was perfectly understandable. In fact, it would have been weird if he would have just simply accepted his words as fact.

"You doubt is understandable, do not worry, little one." He spoke with the same warmth, familial love as before. However, what was strange and unfamiliar to Aiden just moments ago, now had a meaning behind it. He felt and understood the feeling full well; after all, he had a family in his past life, a loving mother and caring father that he loved as well. 

No, they weren't related. He tragically died in his past life and was transferred to this new world to fulfill a role assigned to him by that strange globe of light, the one Enya referred to as, the 'Great One, Ioris'.

Before he could voice his concerns further, the lord continued his explanation.

"You see, your mother was special." As he spoke, his tone cracked, he was clearly forcing himself to remember the past. Yet, he continued to explain. "She was beautiful, I can still remember her smiles that could melt the coldest of hearts and soothe the weariest of souls."

He gave a light-hearted, single chuckle before heaving a long sigh and continuing.

"You know, she loved you very much. I can still remember those peaceful days… She always made sure you woke up in time to have time for your breakfast before you had to visit Master Dor'Kalatha. 

"She loved you so deeply that she did something that should not have been possible… Although the cost was great, she never regretted it. Her pleas were answered, and you were safe, away from the hands of those so-called 'gods' of this world."

The revelations that were rapidly explained to Aiden shocked him to the core. His eyes became hazy due to the rapidly gathering tears, his lips quivered.

Still, he could not accept this fact. No. This was not plausible. He had his own life in another world. He had his own parents. He was a simple human, going to school, living the life of a teenager. Well, at least until that fateful night.

He clenched his hands, forming two balls of fists, his eyes lit up glowing in a mixture of scarlet and gold. The gathered tears began to escape from the corners. 

"NO!!! THAT IS NOT POSSIBLE! STOP LYING! AAAAAAAARGH!!" His words roared across the endless void, causing the very fabric of this small dimension to shake.

His emotions raging a tumultuous new-found peak, all of his auras merged together, violently exploding from within the depth of his soul, his core of existence. The blast carried great power with it, transforming the endless darkness into a bright golden luster for a single moment before everything returned to its previous state. 

Although everything that transpired lasted only for a few mere moments, it still took its toll on the young boy. His knees crumbled under the pressure of his aching heart, he fell down on the invisible ground.

His fists hit the magical, transparent floor, causing shockwaves to spread from each of his hits, causing further rumbles, quakes in the void. 

Despite all that, the lord spirit did not say a single word, he calmly stood still, waiting for the young boy to process his words.

Several minutes have passed as Aiden silently sobbed. He knew that what he was told had to be the truth. He could feel it. Still, he just couldn't accept it. How could it be possible?!

Eventually, he murmured into space, his whispers reaching the lordly spirit of his supposed father.

"H-how can this be possible?! I had a life in the other world. I… I had a family, a life there…"

"I know." The spirit warmly answered, causing further confusion with his curt response to the already confused boy.

"How could you know?! How?! I had a family, a life there! I… only came here because I died and…" He wanted to explain the circumstances of his supposed 'awakening', however before he could another pain suddenly surged, causing another wave of havoc and torment in his soul. Under the second wave of unbearable pain, he helplessly cried out. 

Yet, he struggled to keep going on. The torment, adding further strain to his mind back in the real world, he didn't care. He needed to understand what was going on. If there was the slightest, tiniest chance that what this being told him could be possibly true, then… 

'No. This is not possible.' He shook his head, slowly forcing himself up from the ground. His still-lit, shining eyes glowered at the creature with defiance. His emotions already running rampant, his aura was continuously pulsating causing visible ripples, distortions in the space around them.

"We knew it would be hard for you. We are sorry, but please try to understand… this was the only way to keep you safe, my son. We had to do it, even if the consequences were irreversible."

The spirit continued with his explanation, however, the only thing that stuck to Aiden at this moment was a particular way he phrased his words.

"We? We? You and who?"

As if waiting for this question for a while now, the tone of the man revealed a hidden smile, a gentle gesture as he responded.

"Your mother and I, of course. She was the one that made sure you would come back here, to the place where a sliver of my soul remained, just for this moment."

Before Aiden could continue asking, the spirit waved his right hand, causing the entire space to begin to quake and rapidly change. From the depths of the void, a single speck of light lit up, followed by another and another. The darkness was rapidly expelled, causing the world to change, revealing the very same-looking, golden room where Aiden's body should be sitting in a meditating pose.

"Now, to answer your third question…" The spirit continued, startling Aiden, forcing his attention back on himself. "We are in one of the hidden sanctums, places existing behind the fabric of the worlds, a space that we call the 'In-Between'. These places hold our legacies, that we hid from the world and the gods. These are the places where their veil of lies will be lifted, and you can gain insight into the truth."

The figure snapped his fingers, causing the space around them to shatter, expelling their spirits in the process.

In the next moment, back in the 'real' world, Aiden's eyelids fluttered, slowly parting revealing the very same glowing gradient golden-red eyes of his. His newly formed aura however was not present any more.

He looked towards the altar, not surprised to see the transparent and blurry figure of the lordly spirit, his supposed father.

He stood beside the stone altar, his arms spread wide in a welcoming posture, he greeted the youngster as if they met for the first time after a long while.

"Welcome back, Aiden. This is the Voragon Sanctum, the last bastion of our once-great family."

Although he spoke in a grand, majestic manner, probably due to the role enforced upon him, there was an unmistakable sorrow behind his tone. It clearly pained him to show such a decrepit, run-down, and carefully hidden place to the boy. 

Although he was much calmer now than before, Aiden still couldn't fully accept the words of this being. After all, he was still kept in the dark about the circumstances of his supposed escape, and the reason behind his return to this world. 

If what the spirit said was true, how come that he wasn't told this when he was transferred? He was just told that he has a great destiny and that his spirit was unique. If all of this was true, why did Enya never tell him any of this?

Still, he couldn't deny the feelings inside his heart. He couldn't deny the pain, the aching sensations whenever he was reminded of the past. 

Unbeknownst to him, his hands were once again, balled into tightly formed fists. His body was slightly shaking, afraid of the truth, the dreaded answer to the question he was about to ask.

"If what you said is true…" He paused for a single moment, taking a deep breath, preparing himself for an answer he might not be ready to hear. "What happened to my mother? Where is she?" 

The spirit didn't respond at first but simply pointed towards the boy. 

"The cost to the ritual, the price she paid to keep you safe, was her own life." He responded, however, there was no sadness in his words. On the contrary, as if he was proud, happy to be asked this dreary inquiry… 

However, his next words, caused Aiden to almost lose his mind.

"She never left you Aiden. Her sole purpose is to keep you safe and guide you toward your inevitable destiny."

He pointed to his chest as he spoke the next, incredibly heavy words.

"My dear wife, your mother never left you for a single moment."