Independent Author's Note on the Writing of Aion's Key

IF YOU HAVEN'T READ THE STORY YET AND SIMPLY CLICKED THIS PAGE FIRST TO SEE WHAT'S UP, GO BACK TO THE BEGINNING – NOW. HEAVY SPOILER ALERT!

Beginning inspiration

I can't remember when exactly I stopped playing Aion, but I know it was after one of the updates which changed a lot of the main storyline; Abyssal access was no longer at level 25, but at level 65 or something instead, and you then had this best friend character following you around. That was when I stopped playing. Years ago.

But I remembered much of the original storyline because it was so fascinating. I was obsessed with the Empyrean Lords (the Shedim Lords most of all), and of reading all the various passages in the libraries of both Sanctum and Pandemonium. Seriously, no other game out there had such in-depth lore and a more beautifully designed world. The creators had woven it all together so well.

Because it was an MMORPG though, I knew I would never finish the game. I never end up getting far in multiplayer games. Never enough time to actively game and remember what spell did what in what combo, nor keep up with the multitude of quests. It was easy to forget where I was in the storyline. Resultantly, subconsciously, I started weaving a story within the world which matched its history and filled in all the gaps. It was just my own fantasising at the time.

But then the new updates came and changed a lot of the game I was familiar with, including the new classes like Musicians and Engineers. I couldn't access the Abyss anymore because my level wasn't high enough; some of the maps I loved – like Brusthonin – were removed, and Ereshkigal suddenly became a female Dragon Lord, when originally he was male. Also, Apsu didn't exist in the lore in those days either. Ironically, that creation in-game came after I had already planned for Amaurea in my head.

I felt irritated, as well as upset to see the storyline of the game change from a potential great mystery story, to something I barely recognised.Therefore I created Aion's Key as my version of the Aion game story, but still within the limits and lore of the original game. The lore had too much potential to let it go down the drain.

I needed a proper beginning, middle and end for the history of Atreia to satisfy my need and craving to put a proper story in such a beautiful world. One which made sense from start to finish without any changes to the original history and lore, one which shows how the Tower gets put back together.

I started writing up the notes for my story while I was in university and on placement. Such a long time ago now! I had the rough idea from start to finish within the first few months and I instantly fell in love, especially imagining what the Cataclysm scene would be like, and the final battle. It tugged at the heartstrings instantly.

Of course, I added a lot of my own ideas as well, such as Purebloods and Weavers etc. None of that exists in the Aion universe, we all know, but it fit in well enough for me to be able to tell this love story. More than well enough. I surprised myself at how easily it all slotted in with the page from the Book of prophecy. It all fit. Even the broken moon fit in. It's assumed the moon shattered with the Tower. It would have worked just fine like that. But it was more dramatic to relate it to Julius instead, so when you read back through the first arc and even play the game, you can look up at the broken fragments of that moon and know in this cannon universe who ACTUALLY destroyed it. Delicious bit of hidden history there.

Problems with writing

Because I never got that far in game, I didn't realise until much later that Triniel and Nezekan had a son (Kahrun), therefore unfortunately I had no space to slot him in anywhere, nor the time to go more in depth into their relationship. When I do my eventual repurposing, I'll write more for them as well.

Ironically, I also didn't know that Lephar was Israphel and I didn't know Israphel betrayed everyone until I had finished writing the first couple of chapters. Another player told me about Israphel on one of my previous attempts at getting back into the game. Luckily it was early days so I managed to weave his role in remarkably well. He was one of my favourite characters as a result, besides Julius, Beralin and Azphel. It really made my stomach twist to know he would end up turning on them all, because the personality trait I gave him in this story was one I absolutely loved. If Julius hadn't existed in this story, I think Israphel would have been the main love interest.

As the older and loyal readers know, I stopped writing the story after chapter 15 'Seek and Find' (I think). University was incredibly demanding because I was studying a hospital/medical related degree. Placement was very demanding, lots of exams, assignments and a 10,000 word dissertation. And immediately after uni was finished, came work. And working in a hospital leaves almost no time for anything else. Literally, we live in the hospital. That's how it feels. We just go home to sleep and shower. Every other waking hour is spent in the hospital. I also ended up doing a masters degree for my specialisation just before Covid hit as well

Then I ended up getting stuck in two relationships, one short-term and one-long term, both of which demanded huge amounts of time because neither could understand why my work was so exhausting, nor how important writing was to me. So they both crashed and burned.

Once the last relationship was out of the way, I also took a break from work as I'm in the process of making a career change, and during this break, I finally got back into this story. It's lived at the back of my head ever since uni and it never went away because I knew it was a powerful one.

In a way, it's a good thing I waited, because it helped my subconscious slot all the scenes into the perfect places, my writing style has also matured, and as a result, the story has come out quite well . . . I think. It made it very easy to write at the speed which I did, because as I said in the previous author's note, I was completing a chapter a day. I knew exactly where everything was going.

I only wish I could have spent more time detailing the other Empyrean Lords. When I do the repurposing, I'll do this too, because each Lord is fascinating and has their own role to play. Their personality traits and what they represent make for such fascinating potential dialogues and scenes. I wanted to write from their points of view as well. But I avoided doing so here because attention span for a lot of readers is quite limited – I have sadly found over the years – especially when it comes to big and long stories. Ariel for example, is one who definitely needs some more points of views to illustrate how her fear eventually grew and consumed her. Azphel needs a point of view post-Cataclysm to convey the grief of losing his wife and the burden of carrying Asmodae on his shoulders. And definitely Michael, Surion, Seregon and Amia needed more view points at the end! Because those four were such funny idiots to write in the first arc. Their interactions were limitless, so light-hearted and fun.

But I'd like to think and hope, that I have thrown enough crumbs through this story to help you guys fill in the gaps. I've written it in a way which I hope shows my respect for you, because I tried hard not to give too much away, just little clues here and there, so you could work it out yourself throughout the course of the story :)

The Aion game and their wiki sites describe the events reasonably well, kind of like a history lesson. You learn this event happened in this year. This nation attacked that one after this event. But like a lot of history, they never fully explain the why or the how, mainly because people don't know, or it was forgotten, or purposely erased. Therefore, this is what I did for Aion's Key. I have put in my own interpretation of what happened during the major events of Atreia's history.

Time travel

Okay. Time travel. It NEVER works. There's always going to be flaws, left right and centre. I don't like the genre in general because of it, funnily enough. Yet my two best works have – guess what – time travel. I'm such an idiot. BUT, it was the only way I could tell this story, and so I tried to be careful where I could when it came to the time shenanigans.

They key I think was to not change the events in history. And thanks to the game itself never describing what really happened during the Cataclysm or what led up to it, it made it easier to slot my story into the timeline.

The time travel stuff was also why I incorporated the concept of the Weave into the story. The Weave is basically the matrix of space-time. Before Covid, I used to attend yearly astronomy conferences where concepts like space-time, gravitational waves, beyond the horizon line of blackholes, and singularities, were often discussed in lectures. I used a similar concept to ensure Beralin's survival at the end, through her necklace. In the chapter 'Through the Illusion', Julius notes an irregularity surrounding Bera's necklace, in which he notices a voided space, completely devoid of the Weave, surrounding the necklace, which therefore essentially separates the necklace from Atreia's reality. As a result, the oath – and therefore spirit – within, survives the Final Battle because it is separate and doesn't fuse with Julius.

I hope what I did made sense to you, the readers. Otherwise, no worries, and I just hope you enjoyed the story for its love between Julius and Bera, because at the end of the day, that's what Aion's Key was about. This was the epic tale of a love more powerful than anything.

The actual writing experience

This has been the most exciting project I ever undertook. Never have I been so heavily invested with any of my characters before. As glad as I am to see readers return to the fic, I wrote this story as fast as I did because it was so lovely to see them interact and build relationships with each other. They felt so real. I wanted to see more. I wanted to live in this world and see more of it. Bloody hell, I didn't want to leave.

Honest to God, they felt like real friends. They were my real friends and family. Their happy moments made me grin like a fool for days on end. Their sad moments tightened my chest and brought tears to my eyes. And the most tragic of moments had my stomach churning so much with dread that I would feel sick and nauseous for days until I had finished writing the event.

'The Cataclysm' chapter was the hardest one for me to write, because it was basically where everything came together and the realisation of the goodbyes had to be made. Seriously, I cannot stress enough how emotionally HARD it was for me to write it. The icing on the cake was the end of the 'Final Battle' and beginning of the 'God of Atreia', where I listened to Mass Effect 3's ending piano piece (because I recently just finished playing the legendary edition and the music was perfect) while writing it. I would have to stop every now and then, walk around the house sighing and huffing and puffing, because my chest was so tight! Felt like a hand was gripped around my heart because I loved Julius the most. I couldn't believe how mean I was to write what he had to go through!

My happiest and most fun chapter would have to be 'Israphel's Ball', because that's when the love was finally realised, and who can say no to such extravagant ballroom scenes! I never wanted it to end.

And the sweetest chapter for me would be 'Julius the Scholar'. So simple, yet it was just so, so sweet and lovely. I read back over these happy scenes a lot while I was advancing with the story, because the happiness helped counteract the heaviness which I knew was coming.

Now, with the story complete, I find it quite difficult actually, to read back over the beginning when Bera was still in the post-Cataclysm era before she disappeared into the past. Because at the beginning, we all think Bera is the main character, when in reality, it's Julius. And Julius carried the heaviest burden of all. He had the most tragic story, and it's absolutely heartbreaking to read the beginning arc and now realise what's really going through his head that entire time.

Which is why the epilogue was so important, not just for the readers, but for me as well. It's the only way to get the closure we all need. Julius and Bera went through so much. They had to have the ending they deserved. They all did.

Ending Note

It is very sad, to see Fanfiction itself slowly dying. But I guess that's just how things go. Things come, and then they leave. I'm surprised people still read this fic here on this website. And it makes me very happy to see some people still read it.

It is also incredibly sad to see Aion the game fade into memory as well. I listened to a lot of Aion soundtracks while writing this story to help reimmerse myself back into the world, and it was a very bittersweet feeling - like coming home.

I had to use an Aion wiki site for maps and plant names, because I haven't had access to the game for 7 years now, I think. A lot of the regions in the story, like Vengar, Cygnea and Levinshor, I've never actually been to in-game, same with the Divine Fortress and Norsvold. Never got to a high enough level for it. Resultantly, a lot of it I had to imagine. It was not too difficult, because the majority of the story was set before the Cataclysm anyway, so everything would have looked different to what we all know from the game itself post-Cataclysm.

The rest though, I did remember. The world of Atreia and its lore was too beautiful for me to forget. And now, at least for me, it has been immortalised within the story of Aion's Key. I understand a lot of people won't like this. Fanfics have a mix between those who like and those who hate, and I totally get it and respect that, because I am the same sometimes, hehe. We only like what we like.

But I hope the readers who have read this story from start to finish, enjoyed it nonetheless, because I have loved writing it. I hope it brought moments where you smiled, maybe laughed, cried and so much more. I hope you came to love these characters and their bonds of friendship.

I wonder now, if you mourn, as I am. Because with the ending of this story, I feel is the ending of Aion. But it is not the sad kind of mourning. It is yet another bittersweet sense, of parting ways at the end of a long journey which has spanned many years. Friends were made, friends were lost.

However, at the end, is peace at last. Through all the trials of blood, suffering, pain, rage and hate, there is forgiveness at the end. Love has remained a constant. Love prevailed.

And so at long last, I bid you all farewell. Farewell to Aion and Atreia, and ALL the characters within. Farewell to the game. And farewell to you, the best readers of them all. Thank you for your support, your love and encouragement. It means more than you can ever know, and I hope Aion's Key is the best gift I can give you in return for staying with me all these years.

Goodbye, my fellow Daevas. May we meet one day in the Aether.