"Give me a sign, sing the words of innocence and broken pride,
Make my conclusions fail.
Send me a sign, heal this broken melody.
'Cuz each night I die in hell." -Kamelot
"She blew up, you say?"
"I really don't see how someone so feeble could pull off such a thing. I don't believe it!"
"Now Tharma, are you really starting to doubt our son's credibility?"
"Indeed mother, you hurt me so," Valtor feigned distress at his youngest caretaker's comment. He looked up at her with a slight pleading look in his grey eyes, which caused the woman coated in red to fidget uncomfortably where she stood before him.
"I...I didn't mean it like that! She...just didn't seem to be capable of smashing rocks from Obsidian into smithereens." she said, and frowned. Tharma really couldn't believe that the petite witch who had been in their presence merely several hours earlier, had caused mass destruction within a realm of pure evil.
"If the state of my attire is any indication as to how powerful the blast was," Valtor said, and motioned to his charred cuffs and dusty suit. "Not to mention my hair," he grumbled, as he continued to pick out rubble from its long strands.
"Where did such a force come from?" Lysslis inquired, as she floated down to attend to her sons disheveled appearance.
"I'm not quite sure. Although, it did seem to be triggered after I had begun belittling her," he said, and thanked Lysslis once he was back to his former glory. "You did mention earlier, however, that she is somewhat based on her emotions, or at least her ability to control her powers is."
"Yes, I did," Tharma interjected. "But wouldn't you have solved this problem by now, what with all the training you three have been doing?"
"I sincerely doubt that something so primal could ever fully be erased," Valtor said, to which Belladona nodded her head in agreement.
"Indeed. Most magical folk exhibit this sort of behavior, Aerona is not an outlier. Nevertheless, the intensity of such an outburst is quite uncommon. You must have truly filled her with rage in order to experience that reaction."
Valtor smirked, a bit too pleased at her comment. "She was quite upset with what I was saying. Still, it seems that more practice is going to be needed with Aerona if she is going to accompany us to Domino. We can't have her performing such a stunt again in the heat of battle, she could easily injure or kill many of our forces."
"Agreed. The three of us have planned to move out shortly, so I expect that this little hiccup be sorted out quickly," Belladona stated.
Valtor bowed before her. "As you wish,"
With that final salute, the three mothers had vanished back within their caskets, leaving Valtor alone inside the crypt. He sighed, and adjusted his gloves. "This is going to be more tedious than I had initially planned," he mumbled, and decided the next best course of action was to find Aerona.
He knew that there was only one other place she could be, so he created a portal and hopped inside. Within several seconds, he had arrived inside Aerona's tiny dormitory. Valtor glanced around and noticed that the room was quite dark, but despite the lack of light, he could easily make out the form of a figure sitting up in their bed.
"Aerona," he said, casually, as he walked up towards her.
The woman in question whirled around, her eyes wide and her mouth poised for a scream, but Valtor quickly silenced her before the entire hall heard the possile disturbance.
Aerona narrowed her eyes, and once she recognized who it was she shoved his hand away. "What the hell is wrong with you?" she seethed, and flicked on a nearby lamp.
"I was merely coming up to talk with you," Valtor replied, and sat down beside her on the bed.
"Talk…? You understand that the common courtesy is to knock, correct?" she snapped, and readjusted herself so that they were sitting side-by-side.
"Yes, I understand. However, do you understand how easily it could have been for another student to spot me making my way up here? Now that wouldn't have raised any alarms, would it? Just a male wizard walking through an all female witch academy."
Aerona flinched, because she knew he was right. Dammit. "Well, you still could have knocked." she huffed, and rubbed her sore eyes. She really wasn't planning on interacting with anyone for the rest of the day. "What do you want anyways?"
"My mothers wanted me to discuss something with you," he began, which immediately set her on edge. "Nothing too serious, so don't worry your little head too much. It's merely over what transpired on Obsidian."
Aerona let out a long exhale, slightly relieved that the topic of conversation wasn't over something more significant. "Oh, that. What's the big deal? So what, I blew up a couple of rocks. You can nullify any attack that gets thrown at you with your bare hands, why is it such an issue for me to...explode?"
"I was created by pure energy. My entire being was carved around the powerful dark force that was born from the essence of life. It is expected for me to have incredible abilities beyond the comprehension of most magical minds. You, however, only started training with Griffin and I several weeks ago, and yet you've already managed to release a spell strong enough to knock me out." He explained, calmly, not one emotion seeping through his cool facade.
"I-I don't really see how this is a problem. Shouldn't you all be happy that I'm this strong?" Aerona asked. She clearly didn't understand why this was an issue. If she was more powerful, she would be able to accomplish the mission much quicker.
Wait, mission?
I...I'm not a soldier...am I?
"The attack was strong, yes, but you were only able to harness it after I triggered an emotional response from you. We cannot rely on you if you're powered by your emotions, it makes you unpredictable, and a sloppy warrior."
"But...I-I'm not a warrior," Aerona said, and stared at Valtor straight on.
He chuckled, slightly baffled at her comment. "Of course you are. You're going to be fighting in perhaps one of the most monumental wars, how are you not a warrior?"
"B-because I'm not! I...I just don't kill people! I've never killed anyone, I swear!"
Valtor frowned, not really sure where all of these comments were coming from. "I never said that you have."
"But you did though! You said I was a warrior, and a warrior kills people!" Aerona stated, her voice shaken, laced with fear and anxiety.
"A warrior fights for the greater good and what they believe they deserve," Valtor retaliated. The way Aerona was portraying herself...he had never seen her like this before. Was it all the added stress? Is that what was affecting her?
"The greater good? You think the greater good entitles killing innocent civilians? You think that's what they deserve? To be murdered right before your very eyes because they were halting the progress of the greater good? Is that what you really think?" she shrieked, and suddenly, she was off of the bed, with tears streaming down her face.
"Aerona-"
"No! That's what you believe! You think I'm going to fall for this? Huh? I knew this was a bad idea. I don't know why I even agreed to help Griffin. Killing off an entire planet? What do I look like to you?"
"A warrior."
Aerona let out a shrill noise, and she clutched either side of her head. "Don't you dare call me that! How can you say that to me?"
Valtor glared at her, and in one swift movement, he had gotten up off the bed and smacked her hard across the face. "What is this nonsense you're spouting?" he growled, and grabbed her by the shoulders. "If you didn't want all of these responsibilities thrust upon you, then why did you even agree to help us?"
"Because of her!" Aerona gasped, and sunk to the floor as tears streamed down her visage like tiny rivers.
Valtor blinked, confused for a split second, before he joined her on the ground. "You mean Griffin?"
Aerona nodded, and wiped away some of the tears with the back of her hand. "I...I couldn't just let her go through this alone. She's all I have here, and if I knew this would lead to her death...and it was avoidable, I would never be able to forgive myself."
"Why are you so adamant on protecting her? Griffin was the one to find the book, Griffin was the one who agreed to help my mothers, and Griffin is the one who dragged you into this whole mess. You must have known the implications of stealing such an intense source of magic, so why go through with it?"
Aerona glared up at him. "You've never had a meaningful relationship once in your life, have you?" she spat, and then laughed lowly to herself, as a twisted grin formed on her lips. "How could you? You were created, like some sort of freak lab experiment. The most human interaction you've received in your entire life is when Griffin finally showed up."
"Do not discuss the details of my history as if you've known me for quite some time, when in reality, it's only been a few weeks," Valtor spat back.
"What, like you've been around that long. Belladona herself stated that you were only created to be the perfect weapon; the leader for your Lords never ending army of darkness."
"That's enough," Valtor snarled, and made to slap her again.
Aerona's eyes narrowed into deadly slits, and with equal speed and accuracy, she blocked his blow, and grabbed a tight hold of his hand. She felt acid burning through her fingertips, and she let the liquid ooze out of her skin, allowing it to bleed into the leather of Valtor's gloves.
"I've had enough of you and your mothers. You all have done nothing but build us up, when, like you said, we'll merely be disposed of once everything has come to an end. My life was perfectly fine until you all showed up. You're just a nuisance."
Valtor growled, and blasted her with a spell, which sent her hurtling into a nearby wall. Aerona collided with it, hard, and she felt as though she had been knocked out for several seconds. When she came to, she found Valtor standing above her, with a deadly look on his face.
"You have agreed to help us, Carborane," he said, and then bent down so they were level to each other. He could easily tell that she had been shaken up, and what she had pulled earlier really pissed him off. Toying with her for a few minutes surely couldn't hurt too much.
Aerona noticed that his features had swiftly softened, which caused her defenses to slowly go down, although she did not want them to. She knew that everyone she would eventually come across in her life would, and could lie to her. Everybody lies, and she could never truly know someone's motives just by their gestures alone. She visibly flinched when Valtor put his hands on her shoulders, and Aerona looked away from his gaze.
"I know that your life must not have been easy," he began, which immediately grabbed her attention. "Despite all that, you have potential, we all see it within us. You're strong now, but just wait till we've completed training. I understand that the idea of tearing a world apart may not be the fondest of legacies to leave behind. Yet, look at me. What you said was true. I'm nothing more than the perfect leader for this massive army. I'm going to be nothing more than the monster that invaded Domino. I sincerely believe that I will be wiped out within the very first wave, and once I'm gone, who will even remember my existence? I was simply a puppet, and nothing more."
Aerona blinked, and feelings of reassurance started to pool within her as Valtor began confessing. Should she really trust everything that he was saying? He did assault her...but...could he understand what she was feeling?
Aerona's nails dug into her thigh, not sure of how to react. He was being so sincere, but this reflection would be sincere only if she believed it to be. Despite knowing that it was wrong to fall for it all...somehow, she wanted to listened and go along with everything that Valtor was saying. She couldn't really explain it. Aerona despised being lied to, but right now...it felt okay to let that rule slide...for now.
"N-no, I…" she started, and sniffled. Her voice sounded so weak, and so foreign. "I shouldn't be blaming you all...Griffin...it wasn't her fault. I should have known better. I just want her to be happy,"
Valtor inwardly smirked, for he had successfully gained some ounce of trust, as Aerona was confiding in him. "Do it for her."
Aerona looked up once he said this, a powerful determination in her eyes that sent a shockwave through him once they made eye contact.
She had to do it for her. She had to become a warrior, she had to help lead the war on Domino, she had to steal the dragon fire, she had to die for her cause.
She had to it for her.
Author's Note: so here we get a more Valtor oriented chapter, where Aerona reveals some of her more deeply rooted issues. I hope her sudden shifts in perceptions don't throw you off too much, but living and dealing with heavy memories can take a serious toll on someone's mental health. I'm happy to see more fans slowly crawling out of the cracks, and Verona-mira has favorited and followed! Always nice to see! If you're another user, besides the two I've mentioned, why don't you leave me a review, or a favorite, or a follow? It always makes my day to get an email reading that someone is enjoying this story. I hope you enjoyed chapter four! I'll catch you in the next chapter.