Chapter -54: From Then to Now
The past is always the first to die in the wake of the future.
But without the past, we'd never exist in the present, nor live to see the future.
Our lives are founded on the successes and failures of those who stood before us. The specters who fade away, thankless and forgotten.
And when you're gone, you'll be one of them.
So struggle and fight to make a good impression on the present so the good you brought to the world will be remembered for centuries to come.
That is where Justek finds himself now.
His free time had been put to good use in recent years, becoming a balancing act of testing and maintaining discipline over his foreign powers, on top of attending to the needs of his children.
They were starting to shed their adolescence and begin the long march towards early adulthood, and with that came more pronounced personalities.
Thanks to the interference of Vermilion, Solaris had settled into the role of a rowdy, roughhousing teen with a sharp tongue and lack of patience for the things he used to enjoy.
But it wasn't a full death of the kind boy Justek raised. He hadn't forgotten the love the boy still had for his father, rare though it may be shown nowadays, and thus kept that love nurtured by appealing to the fondness he had towards his time with Vermilion.
And despite Lilith's best efforts, the demoness of light could not snuff out Lunis' rampant curiosity towards the world around her. She was finding her voice again, and became more open towards discussing and questioning the things she read up on with her dad.
Justek had Auris to thank in part for this. Lilith's attempts to turn Lunis into a killer could not be completely staved off, but the proper counterbalance of love and respect towards the person Lunis wished to be did much to salvage the glimmer in her eyes.
Today was a day of routine, much as he's grown accustomed to the idea. But with it came a feeling of looseness in his body instead of the heavy stiffness that shackled his bones.
Solaris was the first to rise from his bed and toss the sheets to the ground. He was going to head off before dawn had cracked over the horizon.
Justek had seen his scarred skin throughout the course of his visions, but all of them were mere paper scratches upon his muscular frame.
He was starting to remind him a lot of Ezekiel, and a brief slip into nostalgia made Justek sigh and wonder how his old friend was faring.
"Off to meet with your teacher?" He whispered, stalling his son as he pulled his charred robes tightly over his body.
"Yeah, what about it?" Solaris said, trying to sound gruff like Vermilion.
"Can't ask you to stay for breakfast, I suppose?"
"Pffft, why? The food here is crap! I'd rather hunt meat."
Justek closed his eyes and chuckled, "Can't say I disagree."
He then wiggled his hand behind his cape and with a little concentration, plucked a large, tube-shaped orange fruit through a rift.
"But don't neglect yourself, my son," He then tossed the fruit through the air just in time for his son to snatch it in one hand, "A little nature will keep your body strong."
Solaris bit his teeth down and with a wobbly mouth trying to keep his tough guy act up, he growled in haste, "S-Shut up, dad!"
He left out the door with the fruit.
Justek smiled and then turned to the child left behind. She had already awoken and was staring at him with a suspicion born of innocence.
He felt her gaze pointed towards behind his cape. He rose in such a way that the corner of his cape concealed the fading rift, all while Lunis mumbled through her remaining dreariness, "F-Father, that fruit was..."
Justek pressed a finger to his lips and continued to smile, pushing the topic towards a natural road, "Looks like it'll just be me and you for breakfast again."
After she got up and dressed, they went to get their meal for the day.
Justek couldn't take his eyes off her. Even hanging her head slightly out of a sense of frailty in her confidence, she was standing level with his shoulder.
"You're growing so beautiful, Lunis. No matter how much that wretch has tried, none can spoil the light of the moon. As a father I can only be proud of how you've grown...Someday though, I wish you will find someone who will be able to appreciate your best qualities in a way I cannot."
It was a day that could arrive, but as of now, was closed off to her...
The early morning meal time tended to be filled with silence as Lunis was still trying to wake up, but today, she seemed to present a little more energy in her motions.
Midway through their plates, she lifted her head and stared at the unfilled seat to their left and from there, her thoughts formed into a question, "I wonder if Solaris will ever eat with us again...?"
"Probably not," Justek found himself a little saddened to admit, "He has found his own path to walk down."
"You mean he was forced down it." Lunis said, a rare display of spite towards a person.
And Justek couldn't argue against it. Even he wondered when his venom towards that one-eyed demon dulled...
He briefly put his fork down and cupped his hands upon the table, looking at his daughter with a matter worthy of discussion, "Do you hate what your brother has become?"
Lunis' face looked like she had been caught in the act of thievery and she tried to shake it off, guilt rising in its place when she caught the shame forming on her father's face.
She then dropped her fork and remarked, "It feels like I should hate him, but I can't."
"Hmmm..." Justek found that interesting, "Of course, you two were once a whole being."
He then closed his eyes and took in her feelings with great regard, "I think I understand the source of your frustration. It is because he has been allowed to taste what lies beyond these walls."
"...It is not wrong to envy another, or curse the circumstances that hold you down. What matters is how you act on your feelings."
Lunis then blushed as she murmured, "I wonder if Solaris still considers us his family."
"Of course he does." Justek spoke without hesitation.
This brought a smile back to her face, "Ok, if you say so, I believe you, father."
She then pulled the topic back a little, her eyes wide with that curious gleam, "D-Do you...have someone you're jealous of?"
Justek paused, looked at her with a smile, and continued to keep his lips pursed until they lost their vigor and began to sink.
He then picked his fork back up and while contemplating his next bite, asked another question, "If you had the freedom to go wherever you wish, what would you want to do?"
She looked up and nearly fumbled her fork out of her hand again, "I would probably see what other stuff there is to read out there."
It pulled at his heart to hear her say that with confidence. This was a girl who had been sheltered from life. Her world was only as large as hundreds of pages full of ink.
She couldn't imagine a life beyond that, and it made her happy in the moment, but left him, as her father, disappointed in himself.
"You can't walk across sandy beaches, as the sun beats down upon your face...You can't rest under trees with a companion, as the spring breeze rolls over you."
"You haven't been given a chance. Even once."
"What good is it for me to protect you from that wretch of a woman if I'm only gifting you an eternal life trapped in this cage?"
His mind wandered, he began to raise his right hand adjacent to their table. His fingers twitched, he hesitated to manifest a means of escape...
The rift hardly got to form the shape of a dot. He closed his hand, sighed, and came to terms with the limitations of his selflessness...
"Not now..." He told himself.
All he could offer in this place were the consoling words of a father, born of a lifetime of experience, "There's more to this world than what you can find in books."
His voice started to crack, as he wanted his daughter to feel the sincerity of his smile at this moment, "And I swear upon my name, you will see it."
It's true in all worlds. Someone will always suffer for the sake of others.
Children will be forgotten so the grown-ups can squander their knowledge on settling petty grudges or perpetuating hatred.
Parents will take the pain they learned from and try to mold that into their children with their bare hands.
And so kindness is killed.
Exploration of hope and ideals is denied.
Borealis Aurora's solution to that is to stifle one's ability to learn and grow, confiding knowledge only to what he wishes to be seen. This was the cruelest of the answers.
Part of Lilith's ideals remain unknown, but could be interpreted to be one where the greater whole is made to abandon their individuality and embrace the guidance of the all-encompassing one. It was the most selfish of the answers.
Then there was Sarajin. He held the key to reawakening the dormant kindness in people's hearts. He was still fighting, his progress gradual but continuous even in the face of merciless denial.
It was the ideal answer, worthy of Justek's attention.
So long as Sarajin has a chance of success, then so too does Lunis have one to see the world.
But Justek had already discarded the notion of leaving his dear friend to solve all his problems anymore.
And his exploration of his powers is what has allowed him to start walking his own path not away from his friend, but alongside him, down his own road.
The stress of his daughter's morning inquiries left him exhausted and in need of meditation. There, he would review the aspects of his clairvoyance to reassert his confidence going forward.
Dim lights, a room all to himself, and the all encompassing silence that followed. This was the atmosphere that set the mood for his training, a feeling that once traumatized him, requiring a mindset that he would need even greater mental fortitude to defeat...
"The key to mastering clairvoyance is focus..." He concentrated on the road towards the future, a tangled bundle of separate strands, each representing a different person important to him.
"Let yourself be led astray and you'll only see what the power wants you to see. Cruel, twisted futures, meant to deprive you of any sense of hope..."
He vaguely recalled the sight of his children, forged to be the weapons of the Ten Sages. Now, it was little more than fog in the back of his mind, feeding into the vagueness his blindness brought upon the future visions.
"It is best to treat this power like one would the index to a book. If you seek a specific outcome, you look it up. Or in this case, make it manifest in the form of a question..."
With a wry smirk he inputted one such question into his mind, "For example 'What shall my son be up to today'?"
And just like that, his clairvoyance took him towards that future, giving him access to the sight of his son and his teacher stripping down ready to dive into the tainted seas beyond Aquamoria to fight the cruelest of sealife.
The sight of the one-eyed demon's grotesque, scarred body laid bare probably could and should have been avoided if possible...
But it continued to solidify his theory about the nature of his powers, and gave him greater confidence that he could use this to greater effect in the future.
"I can't be too certain yet though. The future isn't solidified in one direction, the manifest of my second power proved as much. My vision is limited though...I have to figure out a way to see other timelines...leave no possibility left unexplored."
It seemed the key to this wasn't to keep using this power and pray for an evolution to occur. The limitation placed on him was solely born of circumstance.
It was a miracle he COULD even see the future with his blindness.
For now, his efforts were better focused elsewhere. He would spend the next couple of hours meditating over the actions he saw from other crucial figures.
He tried to see what he could gather from the Ten Sages' activities, but it proved difficulty if not suicidal to attempt and discern what Borealis was up to.
He had tried once, and the man looked back.
It was the closest Justek had come to feeling his soul leave his body.
Lilith was another difficult subject of observation. Because at times his attempts to focus on her led to him observing the demon disguised as a loyal Sage. Other times, he would observe the demon disguised as a holy priest.
Neither wore the facial scar that would give away her connection between both identities.
"There's a trick at play here, and I suspect it has something to do with the Titan of Light's absence..." A lack of concrete evidence made pursuing this matter difficult. But he knew his old friends were hard at work trying to uncover the truth.
"Hmm..." When it seemed like there was nothing else of interest to observe throughout this day, he stood and took a deep breath.
"So Auris is home today, tending to their young boy."
He clasped his staff and thought long and hard about his next move, his idea reliant on suspicions growing over time, "Mayhaps it's time I paid her a visit to discuss...her own clairvoyance."
"...It could be too risky though. One misstep and it would expose both of our secrets. And at worst, that spider could overhear us."
"But her experience with this power could open the way to furthering the reach of my own. Is it too soon to take this risk...?"
Perhaps not, but he didn't feel comfortable trying regardless. There was too much either side could lose if he acted immaturely, and the last thing he needed was to grant Lilith an advantage back over them.
"Still, I should pay her a visit. I've not repaid her for the help she's provided recently..."
It was safe to leave the palace today. No risk of being observed since he's played the role of obedient slave to perfection.
Lunis was at the library, taking recommendations from Stonestein no doubt.
It was a quick walk to Auris' place of residence and from there, he tapped his staff against the side of the door and remarked, "May I come in?"
A few seconds later Auris parted the cloth door and stood beneath the doorway to greet him. A tender look of surprise flashed from her eyes as she commented on his appearance, "It's rare that you come to visit us here. Is something the matter?"
"Can't a neighbor just greet a neighbor?" He spoke with some dry wit.
Auris raised a brow with her arms crossed under her chest and then gestured to the inside of the house, "Please, come in. Zeno just went down for his afternoon nap."
Justek bowed and then followed her inside. She had built a perfect, homely atmosphere around the simple frivolities allowed to her.
The texture of her couch was soft and grew accustomed to his weight in moments. She offered a steamy beverage brewed from leaves in Tanglefae steeped in hot water.
It had a minty smell and a slightly bitter aftertaste, but settled the stomach down much like a good night's rest tended to.
After they had their first sip they finally stopped looking at each other like two strangers and remembered that for all intents and purposes, they were still friends...
It was her silky voice that led the conversation, gracing him with her keen eye for details, "Are you finally ready to discuss what is going on with Lunis?"
Justek slowly brought his cup to rest on his lap and gave a humble chuckle, "I can imagine you've pieced together most of what is going on. Can we talk about other matters?"
"...Ok. Like what?" She was a little on edge, for reasons he couldn't pick up on why...
He narrowed his gaze and fanned his hand before his chest, telling her in a deep, hypnotic tone of generosity, "Thank you...for all you've done for me these past few years."
She widened her eyes and for a moment, regressed to that flustered child who forced herself to journey with him and Sarajin.
"W-Where did this come from all of a sudden?"
"It's been a long time coming, and frankly, I'm disgusted at myself for letting this take so long..." Justek then bowed his head and stated, "But I had not been myself for quite some time, and only recently am I starting to reclaim bits of the man I used to be."
"If it wasn't for you, and Sarajin, reminding me that there's still a cause worth fighting for even in the utmost depths of despair, I may have surrendered myself to the worst possible desires..."
"So thank you, Auris. I sincerely appreciate everything you've done to protect Lunis, and for your eternal loyalty standing at Sarajin's side."
Auris was stunned, lingering on this pause with a hint of reclusiveness in her expression. She hung back against the back of the couch and slowly brought her tea cup down in one hand.
"...Haaa," She then closed her eyes and remarked, "I suppose in a way I was repaying you for bringing me out of the darkness years ago."
"It's felt like a long time since that happened." Justek remarked.
"But it was only less than ten years ago." Auris added.
"I wonder how much that time will mean in the grand span of our lives." Justek's comment left the conversation at a standstill for a bit.
Auris propped herself upright and said in a more dour tone, "I wish I could do more for you than I have, I swear, I haven't abandoned you in my thoughts."
"I know, but there's only so much your strength can accomplish against the curse that binds me to this cage."
"...Yes, but that doesn't make my lack of trying any less damning."
"We all have our roles to play, Auris. It just so happens that out of all of us, I'm the one who is stuck as the damsel in distress." He said this with a close-eyed smile.
Auris crossed her arms and struggled to smile back, "You're OUR friend, Justek. It's no trouble to us if you ever need our help."
"Again, there's only so much you can do. And I'd hate to be a burden upon Sarajin's shoulders."
"...R-Right." Auris' response came with a feeling of unease from her demeanor that Justek found suspect.
And without pause, he looked her dead in the eyes and forced the topic to light, "...Where IS Sarajin anyways?"
Auris nibbled at her bottom lip and hastened to answer, "He's busy helping the other Tribes. As always."
"Naturally," Justek uttered with a subtle drop of smugness to precede the addendum to his question, "...Auris, are there actually any pressing matters that need to be attended to with the Tribes at the moment?"
The sudden shift in the sturdiness of her gaze, however brief, exposed the predicament she found herself in. She huddled her arms under her chest and stood tall, trying to keep her response brief and mature in tone, "You said you don't want to be a burden to him. I think he would want the same for you."
Justek looked at her out of the corner of his eyes and whispered, "And that's all you'll say on the matter?"
"T-That's all you need to hear." Auris pressed her teeth together at the end and looked shook up as she made her way to the stairs.
"..." Justek took a deep breath in through his nostrils and then stood, leaving his tea half-full on the table as he exited the house.
"I knew something was wrong..." Justek flashed back to a few months ago, how Sarajin seemed to be acting differently in subtle but noticeable ways.
"Ever since he returned with the new sword...Something affected him on a deeper level than he's letting on."
"Hmmm..." He closed his eyes and gripped his staff tighter, "Show me the future. Where is Sarajin right now?"
He was guided to his answer and the destination both surprised him and made his heart quiver...
With a heavy look in his eyes he made a hard swerve to the right and began to march through the city towards the barrier.
"Borealis' senses cover almost the whole city, while the eight towers guard the outer perimeter of the barrier."
"However, therein lies an unaccountable blindspot within the city. The area directly at the backside of the towers are where both their senses just barely fail to overlap."
"And that..." He made his gaze firm and then brushed his cape off from his back with his staff, which he then extended towards the backside of the tower ahead of him.
He created a rift large enough for him to walk through and smiled, nudging his glasses back up into place, "Is where I take my leave."
He stepped into the rift like it was any other hallway and wound up walking into the wastelands, specifically, on the western side of the planet.
The sun was out, but no amount of golden light could shine beauty upon the ruins of his old home. It had fallen further and further into decay and someday, its stench would be more foul than any scent on the planet.
With no one to tend to it, the Rot Walkers now thrived, instinct driving them to make the place their home.
Justek had long since cast his sorrows towards this place to the emptiness in the back of his mind but being here now, so many years later, brought some of it back to the surface.
That demon clawed at his eyes. Blood screeching through his ears...
But he marched through these painful memories like the fog. He had better things to do.
Sarajin was there. At that spot. Or at least, where it used to be.
That day. Their first meeting. It seemed like such an unassuming event, even looking back.
But what is life if not a string of those unassuming moments guiding you towards a planned destiny?
Still, Justek knew he was never planned to be standing here, at this moment, at this time.
Maybe he was becoming a Rot Walker in his own right, standing here in defilement of fate and its omniscient course.
Sarajin was worth this selfish act. Damn the consequences.
Approaching as a friend with a quietness akin to the wind, Justek could feel his friend's agitation spiking out from around his body.
They were more like subconscious attempts at warding off company than any outright hostility.
His head was nodding off and a flurry of subtle mumbles revealed he was struggling to keep himself awake.
His skin was pale, the strength of it illuminated by the sunlight. And his eyes were layered with bags, ruining the luster of his headstrong determination.
He just sat there, staring at the remnants of oblivion.
Justek sat down and put his staff on his lap, looking at his friend from the side.
"Go home, Sarajin. Your wife is worried sick about you."
"N-Not yet. I have to keep going forward." He said, his voice showing a struggle to take in air.
"Until when?" Justek wondered.
"Until that..." Sarajin waved forward, "Can never happen again..."
"..." Justek looked at his old home and closed his eyes gently, "And will you be able to enjoy that peace when it arrives?"
"..."
Justek leaned in closer and whispered into his ear, "We vowed to change the world together, Sarajin, but I never made that promise under the intent that you would overcompensate to the point of self-destruction."
He then spat out bluntly "Stop this", easing back as he slowly begged of him, "You can take a break. The world won't end tomorrow."
"It could...It almost did. Remember?"
"..." Justek pulled away.
"Ha ha...ha ha...!" Sarajin's weary gaze only made his laughter come off as a bout with insanity, "I'm the only one who can do it...I'm the only one who can bring hope back to this world..."
"Haaaaa..." Justek then muttered under his breath, "You've inspired so many people to change the course of their lives and unite under a selfless cause. None have been more inspired than me."
"So I know that man, and right now, you're not him."
"..." Sarajin's mouth hung open.
Justek looked at him and one last time, approached him with a delicate tone, bordering on the verge of begging, "Go home. Get some rest. Take an opportunity to remember who you are."
He then stood and stamped the ground with his staff, "We need you...I...need you."
"...I'll pretend I didn't see this, Sarajin."
He then turned and started to walk back to where he created his lift. His friend stirred, rising from his spot while rubbing the sore muscles on the back of his neck.
"M-Maybe I should go home..."
He then craned his head back and muttered, "Heh, you're still helping me out Justek, even when you're not really here..."
"..."
Justek closed his eyes and slipped away back to Sancturia undetected.
From there he decided to make his way back home and resume his meditation.
The idea that Sarajin could falter seemed equivalent to the impossible but a lifetime of the unexpected proved that anything could happen if one were to get cocky.
So Justek had to make sure. He HAD the power to be...sure.
Closing his eyes, he began to ask the question, "Tell me...where is Sarajin heading-"
Suddenly, a pair of knocks rattled his door, an uncommon gesture of courtesy before the figure entered the room, announcing his presence with a shout.
"Hey! Long time no see, glasses." It was Nimus, carrying himself with that arrogant, unconcerned demeanor.
Something was off...
Justek forced himself to look his way and say with a smile, "So, to what do I owe the pleasure?"
"Heh, well, maaaaybe somebody's been taking my advice to heart a liiiittle too well lately."
"Oh, I can't imagine how a changed dog can be of any significance."
Nimus scoffed at his bite and then rolled his wrist out from his pocket, "I'm not going to force you to spill your secrets but whatever you did to Lilith has had her spooked out of her wits ever since. I can see it. Her brother can see it."
He then tucked his hand back in and dragged out his sigh, "And yeeeeeah, it's not a good look."
"So the wretch is too cowardly to face me, so she sent her rat instead."
"Nope," Nimus' tone got a tad more serious and pinched the sides of his goggles, "I'm here of my volition."
"..."
"I'm going to make this quick. I want to take samples of your blood to test a theory," He then smirked, "You're a smart guy, I'm sure you can piece together what I'm after."
"Hrrrmmm..." Justek stirred with outright distaste for this man's presence, "And if I don't?"
"What? You'll evade me through one of those fancy rifts?" The exact moment Justek's confidence wavered the Sage closed his eyes and chuckled, "What'd I tell you about keeping your advantages close to your chest?"
He then opened his eyes and whipped his pointer finger forward, drawing out a single blade from the bag on his back and aiming it at Justek's arm.
"Don't make this difficult on yourself, glasses. Just give me the blood, I'll heal your wound, and we'll all walk away from this feeling better about ourselves."
Justek slanted his brows and with a cold sweat forming beside his brows he muttered, "You're fighting a losing battle."
"Nah the way I see it I'm winning, and this next move? It's gonna be my big checkmate," Nimus impatiently bit his teeth down and pleaded with Justek with a little desperation and regret, "C'mon, I don't want the next move to be that I have to threaten your kids."
"Oh, because you've shown so much restraint hurting a child before."
"Tsk...!" Nimus drew out another blade and narrowed his gaze, "Last chance, kid."
Justek glared back harder and then stood with his arm swung before his chest, the grip of his muscles as tight as mountain rock.
"Sarajin will stop you."
Nimus smiled and let his blades drift closer, "I hope he'll put up a good fight. But I'm going to win. Cause I'm the hero who is going to save this world."
Justek let the pain of the blades digging into his flesh come over him, because he knew this was the sacrifice he had to make to help Sarajin get closer to his dream.
"Your time in the spotlight is coming to an end, Ten Sages. One by one, you will fall."
He then flared his eyes wide open, setting his sights on the man who held his leash, "But Borealis' head shall be MINE."
Next Time: The Child Named Zeno