AN: This chapter is going to be a short one, but it will explain a lot about the previous chapter and the questions it presented.
Also this chapter is a good example on which to say that the chapter lengths will be very erratic depending on the subject matter.
Answers.
Aero was unconscious lying on his side and in total darkness, and yet he was illuminated as if he was lying in the sun on its brightest day.
Aero slowly and groggily woke up; seeing the darkness surround and yet still able to see his hands in front of his face puzzled him greatly. He shakily pushed himself up onto his feet and his vision span intensely as soon as he stood that he thought that he would collapse unconscious right then and there. He quickly held his hands tightly to his aching temples to try and steady himself and to stop his vision from spinning, not that he could tell if it was or wasn't being in this black oblivion.
Looking around Aero couldn't see any landmarks or anything and even then he didn't know exactly where he was in the first place. His vision soon focused and he no longer felt like he was going to vomit up a lung if he tried to take a step forward. He picked a random direction and set off walking at an even pace; He didn't know where he was going or even if he was actually moving due to the deceptiveness of this place, but in his mind it does no good just to sit around doing nothing and waiting for something to happen.
Aero walked for hours or what he perceived to be hours at least. "There's no end." He muttered taking a second's repose.
Then suddenly something shone out of the corner of his eye and he turned to see what it was. A pinprick of light was floating a few feet in front of him in the emptiness, but it did nothing to actually illuminate anything around it. Aero hesitantly reached out to it and took a step towards it as he did.
Aero stopped just an inch shy of it before actually taking a moment to think this through. "For all I know this could be another one of those nightmares and this is just another trick." Aero thought as he turned away from the speck of light. "Then again, it's not like I have anything left to lose and if I'm stuck here, then I might as well go down fighting whatever has been so keen to have at me." He turned back to face the sparkling iota.
Aero unceremoniously grabbed the light in front of him and it instantly blasted him back whilst emitting a loud booming noise with him landing on his front a short distance away from it. He looked at it with both wonder at what this anomaly was and what it was actually doing, but also with dread at the thought that this was another ruse brought on by the venom or something much worse.
The light itself was fluctuating wildly and pulses of light shot out from it sporadically momentarily blinding Aero every time it did so. A grey dust started to seep out of the light and began to swirl around in front of it. The dust started to form the shape of humanoid figure and not long after formed the beginnings of what looked like a human skeleton. The skeleton was floating a few a feet off the ground and moved like it was actually alive. Not a moment later it suddenly convulsed, and a red substance poured out of the light before going into the skeletal body and formed what looked like a nervous system. The half-formed body seemed to relax slightly once the nervous completely developed, until it suddenly convulsed again and Aero could actually see the nerves move and twitch as it did so. The light now partially obscured by the body, fluctuated violently before releasing more of the same red substance from before; only this time in a more vast quantity. This time it formed the organs and not long after that lengthy task it began to form the muscles and ligaments around every inch of the body.
It was only then that Aero noticed by how the muscles had formed that this was a woman's body. The body seemed to relax again before it rather predictably and violently convulsed again; only this time it let a painful and tormented grunts and screams this time that threatened to blow out Aero's eardrums if he wasn't careful. Aero squeezed his eyes shut and covered his ears in pain from the skull splitting noise until the shrieking died down before stopping altogether.
Aero slowly opened his eyes to see the form of someone he thought that he would never see ever again, his mother. The same clothes and equipment she was wearing the last time he saw her quickly materialized on her, minus her sword.
The speck of light behind Zafina disappeared before she fell to the ground on her knees and fell forward onto her face. There was utter silence; Aero looked on in both curiosity and bewilderment, until his mother groaned and pushed herself over onto her back. Aero, thinking this was another trick quickly rose to his feet and fumbled for his hunting knife that miraculously was still with him on his belt. He clumsily caught the knife in a reverse grip after yanking it from its sheath in a panic.
"Well, that sucked." Zafina exclaimed throwing her arms out to her sides and taking in deep breaths.
Aero stood there, fear and defiance both very evident on his facial expression whilst holding the knife out in front of him still in a reverse grip.
Zafina rolled back over and pushed herself up and onto her feet. She took a moment to straighten herself out and looked around for a second before homing in on Aero.
She smiles at him. "Heya Aero!" She sashayed towards him. "It's good to see you."
"Stay away from me!" Aero growled taking a more purposeful stance.
Zafina stopped in her tracks. "Aero, calm down. I know all of this must've been hard on you."
"HARD ON ME!" Aero shouted at her. "You try to turn my sister and me against one another! Forcing me to do something that was entirely unforgiveable! Then you have the audacity to come and torment me further using my own mother against me! And you expect me to calm down!" He grips his knife harder, so much so that his knuckles turned white as he gets into a low stance. "Well let me tell you this; you made a big mistake presuming that I would just roll over and give up."
"Aero listen, this is the real me. I'm not one of those imposters brought on by the Wyverns venom." She quickly told him.
He looked her over suspiciously for a moment. "Prove it."
Zafina took a half step towards him. "And how do you expect me to do that, huh?" she asked slightly annoyed and Aero kept his focus on her with a steely gaze. "Look either I'm some fantastical looking psychopomp and just another product of your plagued mind, or I really am your mom and I really am here!" She said staring straight back at him.
"Psychopomp?" Aero questioned in his mind.
Aero casually returned his knife to his belt while his stance and facial expression went back to normal. Zafina looked at him in confusion as this sudden change in behaviour. "Okay, it's you." Aero said with a smile.
"Wait, what?" Zafina responded dumfounded.
"You're definitely my mother, my REAL mother." Aero clarified.
"Well that was easy! What tipped you off?" She asked sounding relieved.
"Only you would use the word 'psychopomp' after probably seeing it in one of dad's books." He retorted.
A wide smile spread across Zafina's face. "Am I that predictable?"
"Only to me mom." Aero responded taking a moment to look around. "Any Idea where we are?"
Zafina's smile faded. "Well we're-" She started.
"Hey, how did you come back like that?" Aero asked sounding excited.
"Aero, listen-" she tried to interject.
"Does that mean that Ishara and dad can come back as well?" He asked with eyes full of hope.
Zafina strode up to him until she was standing right in front of him. "Aero, they're gone okay, both of them!" She callously told him. This silenced him; to have a glimmer of hope presented to you and then have it taken away from you hit him mercilessly like a freight train.
Aero stood there in stunned silence for a solid thirty seconds until he asked, sounding as sincere as possible. "How come you're here then?"
"What, you're not happy to see me?" Zafina said putting on an awkward smile. She cleared her throat before continuing. "Sorry." She took a moment and paced around a little bit. "Well, first off we're sort of in your...subconscious; I guess would be the best word for it, but in a way this is a sort of limbo between life and death as well."
"So I'm dead?!" Aero exclaimed.
Zafina laughed at this. "I don't think you'd let that happen so easily now would you?"
He looked unsure before answered. "No...No, I guess not. Besides then you really would be a psychopomp."
"Yer damn right you wouldn't and in case you didn't notice, ferrying the undead really wouldn't suit me. Now, as for how I came back; that is really difficult to explain, but I'll try." She paced around a little bit more holding a hand to her chin in thought.
It seemed like an age had gone by and Aero was sitting down by the time Zafina finally spoke again. "You know about Aura, right?" She queried looking over her shoulder at Aero, he looked up and nodded. "Good, that'll help a bit." She turned to him as he got up. "Well, basically your father and I used up both of our Aura's to get me here before you, and even with our souls being in this raw state it was rather difficult and a little bit painful as you saw from that display earlier. Speaking of which, you really helped out there."
"Um, how did I help?" he wondered aloud.
"When you touched that light you broke the seal on it with your Aura." She responded.
"But my Aura isn't even unlocked let alone that actively strong." Aero said.
"Until now." She plainly states.
"Come again?" He quickly replies.
"Both yours and your sister's Aura's were fluctuating like crazy in the past few hours and when you touched that anomaly. Your father and I felt it and we knew it was both your Aura's." Zafina explained.
Aero let this information sink in for a moment before a question formed in his head, one that bothered him immensely. "But Ishara is gone like you said and I saw her disappear in that field of light myself. So how did both of our Aura's break the seal on that light from this side?" Aero inquired.
"That's where it get's interesting and very radical." Aero raised an eyebrow to this. "You see, about two years ago I noticed that yours and Ishara's Aura's were very unique, in the sense that both of you are bonded by your Aura."
"I don't understand." Aero said.
"Did you ever feel different when Ishara wasn't around or near you? You didn't think the world seemed like a darker or harsher place without her?" She asked rhetorically. "That was your Aura bond; whenever you two were apart I noticed changes in both of you. To the untrained eye these differences weren't very noticeable, but I noticed it as you two spent more time together after Ish's first day of school. Both of you would seem more docile and passive whenever either of you were on your own."
"But Ishara is gone and the world seems darker than ever before!" Aero yelled.
"Not quite. Now what happened right before she disappeared?" Zafina inquired.
"I-I-I...killed her." Aero choked out as he recalled the horrific instance. "And then...I don't know what happened much after that, other than winding up here."
Zafina rushed up to him and wrapped her arms around him. "I know and believe me when I say that you did the bravest and hardest thing any man has ever done or would ever do in the history of Remnant." She whispered gently stroking his hair as quietly sobbed in her arms. "I'm just sorry that you ever had to do it. But what happened right after that is something that gave you the strength to go on and will change your life forever."
Zafina held him at arm's length and brought her head level with his. "That field of light wasn't an illusion or anything like that." He looked at her still teary eyed and now very puzzled. "That was yours and Ishara's Aura's awakening. As she died her soul and in turn her Aura passed into you. You have two souls in you right this very second."
"What does that mean then?" Aero asked wiping away his tears and inhaling steadily.
She gently squeezed his shoulders. "It means that you can push your Aura beyond the limits of any normal huntsman or huntress." She paused momentarily and her expression turned sombre. "But this'll probably come at a cost."
Aero's expression soon matched hers. "Like what?"
"Well with Ishara's soul being in you, I imagine she would feel everything you feel, but I'm just speculating."
"Wait, with Ish's soul being in me, does that mean she's trapped in me forever?" Aero asked sounding anxious.
"Not exactly. While her soul is with you and it will be indefinitely as far as I can tell; her consciousness is with me and your father." She explained to him.
"That's...that's awful, that's just cruel to have parts of you split up like that."
"Aero, this was her decision and in her final moments she understood full well what she was doing. So don't besmirch her final act."
Aero fought the urge to cry again. He wouldn't have the luxury to stop and cry his eyes out anymore. "I'm sorry." He muttered.
Zafina flicked him on the forehead like she tended to do. "And stop apologising. You wouldn't want Ishara to find out now would you?"
"You heard that?"
"Yes I did and...Hey your eyes are different from before." She said looking at him curiously.
"What do you mean, different how?" He pressed
"They have bits of gold in them." She told him.
Aero stepped away from his mother, flipped out his knife and looked in the reflection of the blade at his eyes. True to what his mother had said his brown eyes now had small flecks of gold in the irises and they seemed to move around as if alive, almost like they were unsettled or unstable.
"Best guess to what that's about." Aero said looking up from his reflection.
Zafina put her finger to her chin in thought. "My guess would be something to do with the whole two soul's thing, but it might a side effect of your Aura unlocking; something in your genes perhaps?"
Aero returned his knife to his belt. "I'll have to look into that further, but right now I have a very important question to ask."
"And what would that be?" Zafina asked waiting patiently as Aero took a moment before he spoke.
"What was happening to Ishara and me in that cave whenever we fell asleep? And that wasn't of our own accord I can tell that much."
"From what I know of the Wyvern which is very little by the way, and from what your father experienced; I'd say that the venom invades your memories, your mind or anything it can use and takes what you love most from those to try and turn it against you. I'd also say it's safe to say that because of your Aura bond with Ish is why you both experienced similar visions, despite you yourself not being physically infected with the venom." A brief silence set in as this new information sank in. "But I'm just speculating here, it may differ from person to person if they ever become infected, Monty forbid that should befall anyone else." Zafina added.
Aero nodded in agreement with her.
"It must have also been forcing the both of you to fall asleep by the sounds of and it also felt like it was getting stronger with every passing moment so it probably wouldn't've been long before you lapsed into a coma." Zafina explained further.
Aero furrowed his eyebrows. "Well by the looks of this place I already have."
Zafina lightly ruffled his hair. "No, you're just taking a nap really, nothing to worry your pretty little head about."
His eyebrows remain furrowed and he's let out a disapproving groan.
"Don't look at me like that. It's just a really heavy nap is all." She said innocently.
But her eyes soon had a grave look about them and she was frowning about something as she stared at nothing in deep thought.
"Mom, what's wrong." Aero asked.
"I'm worried what having two souls rattling around in there will do to you and what toll it will take on your body." She turned back around to look at Aero. "At your age and such a tyro stage in your understanding of your own Aura it might not be too much of a problem right now, but as you mature and become more proficient there's no telling what effect it would have had on you by then or what it will continue to do to you. You need to be prepared for it and know your own limitations with it when that does occur."
"So it might kill me if I push too hard, is what your trying to say." Aero surmised
Zafina sighed. "Hopefully not, but I can't help but think of it as a possibility."
A confident smile spread across Aero's face. "Don't worry mom. It's like you said to me once, sometimes you just gotta let the chips fall where they may and you just have to roll with the punches."
Zafina grinned hearing this. "Hmm, probably not my best quote, but I reckon it'll suit you just fine."
"Well, until I think of something better that is." Aero added.
Zafina looked around seemingly at nothing but it was like she had sensed something. "I think our time's up here."
Aero was about to question her on what she meant, when something sent a chill down his spine. In the time he had been in this void he hadn't felt any gauge of temperature, either. No, this was something else.
Zafina gently pressed a hand to Aero's chest, but when it made contact it was anything but gentle. It felt like a sledgehammer had crashed straight into his heart; the pain was making all his senses go haywire with every painful sensation at once, causing him to fall to his knees and shake uncontrollably. The whole experience felt like he was underwater and any sound became extremely muffled.
"Alright, I'm gonna try and sum up all of life lesson's into one neat little package!" Zafina yelled knowing Aero would have a hard time hearing with what he was experiencing at the moment. "Wanted to try and teach these to you in little chunks, but that kinda went out the window!" She grabbed Aero by the shoulder, pulled him up to his feet and steadied him. "You're gonna have a lot of anger swelling inside of you but you gotta channel it and fight the boundaries of the beings that live and thrive off of our greatest fears 'till you break through, because there is a wildfire inside of you and it's a burning desire you can't extinguish." She took another quick look around at the darkness around them. "Time's running out." She muttered.
"Will I ever see you again?" Aero grunted out through gritted teeth.
Zafina looked into his eyes that were fluctuating between his normal brown eyes, a powerful blue glow and a brilliant green shine simultaneously. "I don't know kiddo, but I know with a soul like yours you'll do just fine without me. Deep in that soul there is no hesitation, just like mine and you're gonna be the one that all evil fears."
Aero cracked a weak smile while his face was still grimaced in pain.
"Now, final thought of the day!" Zafina exclaimed with a smile. "Despite everything I've just told you and this may be a bit confusing or may not make a whole lotta sense, but you're gonna have to figure it out on your own. Here it is; Hatred must never be used to fight hatred, okay?" He nodded in a panic before his mother continued. "That anger inside of you, if you let it that is, will consume you and then in turn, Ishara as well." She looked over Aero's shoulder at something. "Time for you to go." She added with a gentle nod. "I understand this is a lot for you to take in and you probably won't remember it all right away when you wake up, but you will, trust me."
Aero felt something slowly begin to pull him backwards and he planted his feet as firmly as he could just trying to stay upright. It proved futile though as he was violent yanked backwards and into the darkness.
"Oh, and get my sword would ya. I don't want just anyone getting their hands on it!" Zafina shouted up at him and waved. "See ya around kiddo, love ya!"
With that he was taken up into the black abyss and his mother's formed faded as he went.
Aero's eyes snapped open with a gasp. His eyes took a moment to adjust, but he could tell he was in a very unfamiliar environment and he had no idea how he got here. He slowly sat up with a groan and took a better look at his surroundings. He was in a hovel of sorts as far as he could tell and not a very well built one at that. It looked like it would serve the purpose of keeping the wind out but not much else. He was lying on a flat rock and he had draped over him some kind of animal pelt, what kind of animal he couldn't make out at this point. There's was small fire pit dug in the centre of the hovel and it offering only the smallest bit of illumination.
However it provided another light to allow Aero to see something glimmer out of the corner of his eye. This glimmer immediately flew towards him at a great speed. The eerie thing he quickly realised about this was that shining object was his own knife.
He quickly threw his hands out in front of him and squeezed his eyes shut expecting the worst.
To be continued...
AN: So hopefully that explained a little bit.
Other than that, y'know do the usual, drop a review with your thoughts and such.