The Smell of War:
The feast hall was now a brutal, dazzling kaleidoscope of light and shadow. The Dark Embracers, cloaked in charcoal armor, moved with swift, focused cruelty, their dark-blades seeking vital spots. The Light Embracers, protected by their shimmering FATHIUM armor, met them with equal ferocity.
Cristino was thrown into the fray. The white FATHIUM suit felt like a second skin, boosting his reflexes, allowing him to dodge and parry movements that would have been impossible two months prior. But Cemin had not lied; he had barely any raw power. He was able to block the Dark Embracers' strikes, but he couldn't unleash the explosive energy of his veteran comrades.
He saw Comm, a blur of golden light, blow out a powerful sonic wave that disintegrated a third of the advancing Dark Embracers. Cemin's strikes were more precise, isolating and incapacitating targets before they could retaliate.
Cristino, fueled by the desperate memory of his parents, charged toward a Dark Embracer leader. He focused every ounce of willpower, trying to summon the FATHIUM from his palms. A weak, blue spark erupted—nothing more than a flicker. The leader laughed, a chilling, echoing sound, and struck Cristino across the face, sending him sprawling across the marble floor.
The Battlefield of Regret:
Cemin saw Cristino fall and unleashed a concentrated beam of white energy that blasted the Dark Embracer leader backward, saving Cristino's life. Cemin's eyes were filled with disappointment. "Focus, Cristino! Control the anger!" he yelled.
Cristino scrambled back up, humiliated and enraged. He blindly attacked Cemin, mistaking him in his fury for the dark figure that took his parents. He was quickly subdued by Cemin's overwhelming skill. As the fighting subsided, the remaining Dark Embracers, seeing their leaders fall, retreated, disappearing into shadows just as quickly as they arrived.
Safe, but trembling, Cristino felt a crushing shame.
That night, he slept fitfully. He was plunged into a nightmare so real it felt like a memory. He was back in his childhood home, but Aries—the supreme leader of the Dark Embracers—was there, looming over him.
Aries spoke with the voice of the man who killed his parents: "You are responsible for their death, Cristino. Your power brought us here. If you had none, they would still be alive. You have tainted yourself with blood, and that darkness is ours now."
The dream made him move, more upset, more furious. When he awoke, the nightmare had poisoned his mind. His grief morphed into blind, destructive rage, energy he couldn't control.
The Confrontation:
Later that morning, Cristino, still reeling from the dream's insidious logic, saw a figure in the Light Realm village who looked exactly like the Dark Embracer that had tortured him just weeks before—the one Cemin had saved him from.
"What is wrong with you, Cristino?" Cemin asked, seeing the volatile change in the boy.
"You guys are just hidden wolves clothed in white cloth!" Cristino shouted, lunging at the figure. "What do you mean? You treat the Dark Embracers like slaves! That is the only reason why they are like that! You are the reason for their behaviors!"
Cemin was stunned by the outburst. Cristino explained his dream, the words flowing out in a frantic, unhinged torrent. He repeated Aries' insidious suggestion that the Light Embracers' strict hierarchy and cruelty were the cause of the Dark Embracers' existence.
Cemin's face was stone. "I know Aries told you that. He uses dreams and sorrow as a weapon, Cristino. That is his power, to twist truth."
Cemin took a deep, steadying breath. He explained the history again, detailing how Aries, born of the same pure creation, had willingly chosen darkness and rebellion, not because of mistreatment, but because he craved ultimate, undisputed power.
"You think they are slaves? They are followers who thrive on the suffering of others, Cristino. They chose to fall," Cemin insisted, his voice unwavering.
Cristino understood the logic now, but the seed of doubt Aries had planted had taken root. He was still too unstable, too dangerous. He had attacked his own mentor.
For this reason, Comm stepped forward and made a terrible decision.
"Cristino, you are locked up for three days," Comm commanded, his voice heavy with regret. "You need to find peace, or you will turn into the very thing we fight. You will remain here until you can separate the lies of Aries from the truth of the FATHIUM."
Cristino was furious, but he offered no resistance. He was too exhausted, too ashamed. He was escorted to a secure room, his powers temporarily dampened by a strong restraint. Three days of silence. Three days to reconcile the brutal truth of the Light Realm with the burning, corrosive lie of the Dark.