The Beginning of the End


Aether woke on a cold floor, consciousness drifting in and out. His mind was far away, yet he can still recognize that empty and neutral feeling flooding him. Every now and then, he could pick up pieces of conversation somewhere in the room.

"Think he'll wake anytime soon?" A dark, yet familiar voice asked.

"It's possible that his body may be rejec-"

He passed out again in the middle of the response.

When he woke a second time, the conversation was a hell of a lot darker. Aether would've been terrified if he could've been. He had not yet regained use of his eyes, while the world around him would be rich with sound, he was blind to it. He didn't know if his eyes were open or not, but at the moment it didn't matter.

"You said he wouldn't be a problem!" Aether could hear something slam down.

"I thought he would be absolutely terrified now that the three of us are on the opposing side!"

"Well, obviously you were wrong! Now we must convert Jason as well, and we're low on supplies to do it with. There's only so much that-"

Aether had no thoughts regarding this, not even a sliver of sadness. It was his reaction that triggered a thought.

What have they done to me? They're going to turn another one of my friends, and I'm not even caring! But wait, they turned me too. Why should I care?

Great. Now his thought processes were having a petty squabble with each other. He started clawing at his head, trying to empty his thoughts when he noticed something in the conversation. It had stopped.

"He's waking." It was a whisper, but somehow he could hear it.

"Get him up, now." He recognized who it was this time. Enderlox.

Footsteps echoed through the room as someone, probably Sky, neared him. Rough hands grabbed his shirt and lifted him. "Open your eyes."

Remembering the darkness the last time he tried, he opened them and was blinded by light. After blinking several times, the room came into focus. It was a musty, stone room. Decorated to look like a boss's office, Enderlox sat in a chair the opposite side of the room while Sky was holding him so close to the roof of the room that his hair brushed the cold stone bricks.

"Good." Sky said darkly, setting Aether down.

Aether observed what the vial of purple liquid had done to Sky. Those black lines had spread across his skin just like it had done himself and Enderlox, his eyes were purple with the whites red. His wings were a fraction of an inch smaller than Enderlox's.

Sky's amulet had turned completely black, gem and all. Aether remembered how it once was, gold with a purple gem. He didn't miss it like he'd expected he would.

"Come here, Aether." The cold voice across the room had spoken up and Aether had side-stepped Sky to walk over to Enderlox.

"Hello, old friend." Enderlox had greeted him.

"I would say the same if it weren't under these strange circumstances." Aether replied, gazing around the room before meeting Enderlox's gaze.

"Ah yes, but at least you had the privilege of waking in my office. You're the first of my recruits to have done so, and most probably the last." The once good friend of his grinned up at him. "And you get another privilege that no one else has had..."

Confusion, another feeling that should've swept him but didn't as it had been removed by that purple liquid that had changed him in so many ways. He couldn't help but pick up something from Enderlox's tone and the way that sentence had ended.

"Which would be?" He questioned.

"Converting our dear friend TrueMU to our side. Your own special mission with a special reward." There was the tone again and suggestive sentence end. "You'll receive a few vials in thirty minutes along with a sword should there be any trouble."

Aether nodded slowly, and took a seat as Enderlox left to fetch the items. Sky leaned against the wall, staring at the ceiling. "Think I'd be able to help you?"

Aether turned to look at Sky, whose gaze had turned from the ceiling to him. "If Enderlox doesn't mind, I'd like the company."

A faint smile showed on Sky's face before turning into one of terror, which should've surprised Aether but just raised questions. "Don't do it! Please, don't! The three of us have fallen, don't be responsible for Jason's too!"

Sky fell into a heap on the floor immediately after finishing. Thoughts emerged into Aether's mind.

The liquid removes our emotion and switches over our allegiance. I don't mind any of this, but why - how- did Sky manage to regain his old self if only just for a moment? I just hope he doesn't do this in front of Enderlox or he may end up dead.

Enderlox chose then to re-enter the room, vials and sword in hand. His gaze found the unconscious Sky. "What happened?"

Aether shrugged, not wanting to tell Ty what had really happened. "He asked if I'd mind if he asked you to tag along on converting Jason, then passed out."

Enderlox gave Sky one last glance, then handed Aether the gear. "Alright, attach this vial belt to your chest under your shirt."

Aether did as instructed and was handed a sword sheath that he fastened to his pants and put away the sword. Enderlox led him outside, for Aether had no idea how to leave the maze of an HQ. He got several mean looks from other recruits, which were fended off by Enderlox.

Once outside, Enderlox gave him a short goodbye and a few instructions, "Should he pass out like you did, just fly him back and we'll put him in a cell until he wakes up.", then walked back inside, leaving Aether to complete his task.

Aether breathed in the fresh air for a moment and looked around at the greenery around him. He barely recognized the area, but knew he'd be able to traverse it quickly from overhead.

I don't know where you are right now, but I'm coming for you Jason. And you had better be ready for it.

Aether spread his wings with determination, and took to the skies.

Because it won't take me long to find you, and when I do, all hell will break loose for you.


A/N: Didn't think I'd update this quick. Huh. Well, this chapter was written to "Fallen Kingdom" by CaptainSparklez. The song pretty much explains what has happened to the Sky Army and at the same time, what is happening in Sky right now in the story. A battle between his Ender Possessed self, and his normal, butter-loving self. Also, if you read the end of the description, then you probably already guessed what Enderlox was implying in the dialogue above that Aether was wondering about. Anyway, see you guys in the next chapter which probably won't come as quick as this one did.