Music for today:
At least we're under the same sky..🌌
https://youtu.be/hPGdAn9UpJg
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Chapter 482: To Draw Another Breath
Mid Evening - Early Summer : Year 39 : Poseidon | Draconic Continent
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*Woooowowommm* The storm of mana intensified as I stepped in—the stale, oaky scent of the old wood-lined walls circulating as I rounded the central stone column into a grand rotunda, with a single, large bed akin to an altar at its center...
The room was dim, the air was cold, and with the intensifying rampage of mana, the air glistened with frost.
But as I stepped from the darkness of the entrance into the moonlight of the room, I recognized none of it.
Stepping past Krystallo and Father, both unable to take their eyes off Mother as her rampaging mana tore apart her bandages and exposed the dread-inducing scars that laid beneath, the world itself had gone dark... Outside of that moon-lit body, I saw nothing.. heard nothing.. and felt nothing...
In that moment, my mind had simply tunnel-visioned as if having shifted from a sphere of light into a focused laser.
...A laser I pointed into a maze of mirrors so endless, I felt my mind scatter before even finding the direction of progress.
"Hoooh..." Letting out a long, slow breath that burst the frosted air into steam, I sat beside that altar-like bed with my eyes blanketed with calculation—my tail still, and wings clasped.
But.. that dragon sleep was unsurvivable no matter how I looked at it... No amount of soul lilies would hold her soul together.. and no amount of mana or elixirs would keep her reserve attached to her body...
To try was simply a losing battle, and watching me sit there, staring at her in silence only nailed that hopelessness into Krystallo and Father like I was shutting her coffin with a screw.
And it broke them.
Krystallo, upon seeing the reality of Mother's condition as her bandages were torn and tattered, was the first to collapse. Like a dog with its ears slicked back and tail tucked, her eyes were filled with a mix of despair, regret, and incomprehension...
Her final thread of hope had snapped, and it carved a canyon through her heart deeper than anything else ever could, and Father wasn't much different. While remaining on his paws, his eyes were wide with disbelief—his brows tented with realization.
He was breaking...
The idea that I could save her kept him standing.. it gave him the strength to greet me with a smile at the door, and take care of her even when he knew it was helpless...
And yet now.. that unfathomable being he used as a crutch to keep living.. was out of ideas.
It made cracks spread through him like a glass figure shattering on the ground.
Until finally.. he collapsed... His alerted posture fell, and his eyes drained... Words, questions, and pleas ripped through his brain.. but in that moment, his mouth had been frozen shut...
Not by the cold.. but by his guilt and regret...
With every continuous, excruciating second that passed, his eyes analyzed every tiny twitch and glint within mine, searching for even the faintest glimmer of hope that had yet to surface.
But after what felt like an eternity.. I had to simply close them...
"N..no..." Father muttered with a shake. "P..please..." His eyes were pleading.. his tone quivering...
But, finally turning to match his gaze, my usually indomitable demeanor simply softened. "I.. don't see a way out..."
I.. had considered every option my mind could muster.. not simply weighing my options, but simply looking for the slimmest chance...
The slimmest opportunity...
But I couldn't find it...
Seeing me turn back, the distraught in his eyes began washing with anger so intense he had to bite his tongue with restraint.
He wanted to lash out. He wanted to vent his anger at me for not being there to save her when the attacks originally happened.. I could see it in his eyes...
But rather than exploding, as blood began gushing from his mouth where his razor sharp teeth pierced his tongue, he reigned it in with a wince.
For the following moment, only the turbulence of Mother's mana gave the air sound... No breaths.. and no words managed to make an echo...
Until... "Vasilias..." Muttering my name with a quiver, he dug his claws into the ground with such force they splintered with strain. "I.. know you don't see a clear way out, but.. you need to try..." Finally looking into my eyes again, finding them still locked on Mother, he grit his teeth with a spurt of blood. "If it was truly fruitless, you wouldn't still be thinking about it."
But.. he misunderstood. "Father... I'm just desperate..." Lowering my gaze to the ground, I gave him a burdened glance before pulling it away, knowing it'd just spread the fire.
But it was too late...
The blaze had already reached him.. and with every passing moment, his will burned...
I didn't want it... I wanted to give him the hope he was looking for, but.. I was out of options... "Nothing I can think of would work... Her soul is too fragile from holding on this long, her reserve is so brittle it could burst at any moment, and her body is.. not recoverable..." No matter what I tried, it was going to end with the same outcome...
No matter what desperate approach I gave thought.. the same, hopeless outcome greeted me.
Until finally.. Father forced out the word that held his sanity together. "Then just.. try something that you aren't sure the outcome will be..." Hanging his head, he grit his teeth as if clinging to a rope over a canyon. "Krystallo and I will accept whatever comes of it..."
It was his final string... The single thread holding his mind in one piece...
Yet he didn't understand...
There was no such unknown outcome.
No matter where I looked, every single option ended with certainty...
The chances weren't low.
They were zero...
But as I opened my mouth to tell him.. I held my tongue.
I couldn't find the strength to say it... I refused to let out the words I knew would break him.. and I held my breath.
Until eventually.. something changed...
...There was one thing I could try...
It wasn't an option I gave much consideration because of its plain outlandishness, but.. looking back at Krystallo, the glimmer Father had been searching for appeared.. even if so faintly no one noticed.
It was the single, unknown outcome among the infinite...
-I doubt it's even possible, but...- I couldn't give up...
So.. whether to try and fight, or simply avoid telling Father.. I spoke... "Krystallo..."
Jolting from my voice, her eyes snapped to mine.
"I need you to trust me..."
"N-NO!" But it made Father snap. "NOT IF IT INVOLVES HER!"
Krystallo's eyes never budged as he jumped forward.
I simply stuck my wing out to stop him. "It won't put you in any danger, you'll just.. be bored for a while..."
Without the slightest quiver, she stared into my eyes with a clear anxiousness. Her body's shiver refused to stop.. her pounding heart never eased.. and with every breath, her anxiety compounded.
But eventually, her gaze fell, and gentle voice crept out. "I-If.. you can save Mom... I'll.. do anything..."
Forcing himself to his feet, Father began rushing over to stop her, only to get locked in space just short of my back.
Hera had caught him.. yet in that final moment, while I wished to bring some ease to his nerves, chose not to face him.. and dissapeared into the void with Krystallo, and Mother... *Vwoop*
Before he could blink.. the room simply sank into silence. The swirling wind eased.. and Father found himself staring into the space Krystallo and I once stood.
It was.. no longer his choice...
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- Hera ~
"You have to trust him, Osto." I understood what he was feeling... Putting his child at risk for the nearly nonexistent chance of saving his wife.. it wasn't a gamble worth taking to him.
If he lost Krystallo too.. his whole world would collapse...
But... "Vasilias would never let harm come to her."
Gritting his teeth with a strained creak, tears welled in his eyes. "Then.. why was he so hesitant..?"
I gently shook my head, looking out at where Zachari and her bed once laid with a moment of silence.
"I can't risk losing her, Hera..." His tears thickened with a quiver in his voice.
He was crumbling before my eyes.. but I didn't know what to say. -Vasilias would never gamble with his sister's life...- But somehow.. that thought only passed by forcing it through my uncertainty. "We.. can only trust him, Osto..."
"Tch..." Biting his tongue again, blood gushed, dripping off his chin into a pool.
Finally releasing him, finding he had no strength left in his legs, I laid him down gently before walking over and sitting beside him.
To have entered the void and not immediately returned.. it was a concerning sight.. but nonetheless, we waited...
And waited...
Until finally.. after weeks of silence, space warped, and from the black sphere, a dragon of black feathers, with heavily damaged wings was released before us...
Only... -W..What..?-
It couldn't have been Krystallo...
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(Upon entering the void)
- Vasilias ~
*Wowowowooom* The void rippled with my presence as I pushed back its mana with a spacial fabric, and churned my divinity to grant it the flow time.
Almost immediately, Krystallo's eyes twitched with a blink, and after eventually adjusting simply went wide-eyed looking out into the abyss.
It was something simply incomprehensible to a normal being.. but hoping to help her find ease, I spoke as softly as I could. "Krystallo," My tone was gentle, with my volume barely above a whisper. "As soon as you find yourself uncomfortable, tell me." I was firm. "It doesn't matter how badly you wish to stay, the moment you feel any discomfort at all, no matter what kind.. you tell me, okay?"
Her expression washed with confusion, but as if by instinct, she nodded nonetheless.
It was a relieving sight.. but even still, I was anxious...
What was to come would take me centuries, and made me question what I truly knew of life...
But I was hopeful.. even if deeply worried...
At its shortest, I would need Krystallo in the void for several years. Something I had no clue what effects could stem from...
But such was the risk of the gamble.
I was going to have to roll a dozen die and pray for straight sixes.. not for the chance of success.. but at the mere chance of an uncertain outcome...
I didn't know what would come of it.. the disaster, monstrosity, or beauty that would stem from it...
But in this life, I couldn't remain idle as my mother, no different from those of the past who I couldn't save.. was left to die...
For once I had the power to fight.. even if it was a hopeless struggle...
And so, no matter how fruitless it was fated to be.. I wasn't going to let her go without struggling with everything I had...
A test of knowledge.. and a test of love...
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