"As Sunlight fades and shadow sings, we welcome the return of the black winged king."
As sunlight streamed through the window of the old castle, young Yohan stirred. Upon opening his eyes, he thought for a moment that he got transported to another realm again. The dark rocky landscape he saw when he first arrived, was now replaced by a still rocky but more tropical setting with a sun in the sky, though the star filled backdrop still existed faintly against the new sunny sky.
He watched in amazement as the vision of rolling waves soaring seagulls and even a whale leaping out in the distance all came together. He could even smell the scent of flowers and the salty sea.
The previous night, after seeing Yohan's resolve, something unexpected happened: one of her shackles, more specifically her neck shackle broke, and with that a huge surge of power erupted between them, an explosion of violet light that left Solaria looking at Yohan in amazement. This further solidified it in her heart that him being here with her was a good thing.
"Thank y-" But before she could finish her sentence, her eyes rolled up and she fell but Yohan was able to catch her before she hit the ground with great speed. He was worried at first but soon noticed that she was just sleeping, possibly overwhelmed by the sudden shift, so cradling her gently he put her on the bed she had once laid him on and covered her up.
He took a moment to admire her sleeping form. Her pure white lashes formed crescents against her dark cheeks, matching her hair that pooled around her head, against the pillows. Her lips were parted slightly as she slept on and truly… Yohan's chest tightened.
She was a breathtaking beauty. He clenched his fist over his heart. She was an amazing person. It made him all the more determined to free her and make her happy. The release of her neck shackles was proof of that. He could help, and he would. He watched her for a moment longer, then he yawned. "
What time was it?" He looked out the nearest window and thought of all the wonders he had experienced so far. Did time even exist here? Still, he was tired. He supposed it's been a long day…or time. He wasn't sure what measure of time to use if he should. He hesitated then glanced at Solaria as she slept more specifically, the space next to her. "Surely she wouldn't mind if…"
He debated with himself for a while longer before he climbed into the space and slid under the sheets, ensuring that he gave her as much space as he could on the bed except, that didn't quite work out. Solaria had stirred and came closer to him, wrapping an arm around his waist and burying herself into his chest, all while he laid there frozen. Silence stretched for a while before he peeked down at her. She was still fast asleep.
"Should I pull away? I might wake her if I do… I'd better not." With that, he resigned himself to be her cuddle partner and his eyes soon began to droop shut.
"She's…. really warm…"
Now, Yohan almost deliriously wondered if he was back on earth at the sights and smells around them but his thoughts were interrupted by a soft rustle and a yawn.
"Good morning Yohan. Did you sleep wel-" She paused as she looked outside, barely able to believe her eyes.
It was… Sunlight… It was the first she had seen it in years… Her senses worked double time to take in all the new stimuli. The heat of the sun she could feel from the bed, the smell of the salty air, the calls of birds and even the echoing song of her favourite animal, the whale. She jumped out of the bed, leaving Yohan to yelp as he was pushed off in her rush…...Solaria hadn't noticed at all.
Standing by the window now with tear filled eyes. She didn't hesitate anymore and hopped out, her bare feet touching the hot sand that flowed between her toes. She took a moment to bask, to process, to experience. She never thought she would get to experience this anymore. The sights, sounds, feels, smells of her home.
The tears flowed faster and she gave a watery laugh of disbelief. It was all here, all read. Excitement overtook her disbelief and she ran atop the water and leapt from tree to tree, taking in the textures of the branches beneath her feet, the wind against her skin, the open skies.
She then took to her dragon form and soared high, pounding her wings faster and faster, as if she aimed for the sky. She looked at the sun in all its warmth as it bathed her in its rays and felt her heart soar with her. She stilled her wings, letting herself fall towards the ocean.
She turned over mid fall, watching the vibrant, sparkling blue water rush up towards her and landed with a large splash into its cool depths. Yohan on the other hand, had gathered himself from the ground and was watching her from the window, in awe of their new surroundings at first. Then with genuine happiness at her excitement.
"She looks so happy, I'll do my best to keep it that way." He rested his chin in his palm as he smiled.
He didn't blame her. The place as it was before was a desolate wasteland with nothing but jagged rocks and battle scars, and she had been here for so long, her only company that of her tormentor. Seeing all of this made him feel so relieved and happy. He watched as the large head of her dragon form surfaced from the water, releasing sounds akin to laughter.
He wanted to experience this with her. With that, he climbed up on the window to hop out but paused, looking down at the distance to the sandy beach and worried for a moment of injuring himself.
It hit him then, that despite this place looking like Earth, he had already died and now had some strange abilities himself. He looked at his palm, and clenched it tight.
"Might as well go for it." He jumped out and landed with a crash at the edge of the beach but was perfectly fine, the cool sea water lapping at his toes.
He blinked then looked up and back at the castle. "Oh yeah, I like this." A triumphant yet distorted grin breaks across his face in his excitement.
He then waded into the water marveling at how cool it was despite the heat of the sun. Solaria heard the disturbance in the water and looked towards him before she swam over. He yelped once she lifted him out of the water by her snout, tossing him high up in the air before his screams were cut short by a loud splash. He resurfaced to find Solaria chortling at him in her dragon form and he huffed in amusement while pushing his hair out of his face.
"Ok then, my turn."He laughed up at her as he splashed some water in her direction only to startle when that splash turned out much bigger than he expected, sending a wall of water to wash over Solaria's face.
There was a moment of silence as they both just looked at each other, Yohan himself more startled that he was able to do something like that. Solaria narrowed her eyes with a low but playful growl and Yohan paled.
"Wait, wait wait-" Too late. Solaria had sent a huge tidal wave in his direction with her tail, knocking him away instantly and making him wash up on the beach face down.
He lifted his head, spitting out sand and sea water before he grinned, looking back at her.
"Ok, let's do this then." The next few hours were spent playing in the sand and water, sending tidal force waves at each other and huge clumps of wet sand.
"Hey… Why does everything look so different now when last night everything was so… F***ed?" Asked Yohan as he handed Solaria a sandwich he just made.
"It appears I got some of my power back. Originally each shackle was meant to siphon my magic but last night when you said you'd stay, the shackle broke and some of my strength returned."
She gave a smile that was full of hope. With tears still welling up in her eyes, she continued. "I used to be able to manipulate matter. The things I dreamt would be brought into reality, but I haven't slept in millenia. Last night was the first time in a while I felt safe enough to sleep, to dream again… The sand and sea, it was my favourite place to be when I was a child, and now I can finally see places like this again. Now with some of my powers back I think I've gained some sort of control over the black zone."
Solaria waved her hand and the skies shifted back to its original state, the desolate wasteland full of black stones, with another wave the blue sky and seas were brought back. It seemed that being there for so long had changed her somehow. After all, despite this place being her prison, she had gained the ability to manipulate its insides a bit.
While the rest of her shackles restricted her from physically leaving the black zone, she has gained some form of freedom again.
Looking over at Yohan as he bit thoughtfully into his sandwich, she couldn't help but feel grateful. In a twist of fate, she was able to regain some of herself that she was sure, was lost long ago. Whether it was luck or some sort of intervention, he was here and in that short span of time; has made her happier than she had been in a very long time.
He reminded her so much of her husband passed, and found herself almost calling him by his name so many times during their play. She had no idea if he was really Aurelius returned to life, even with all evidence so far pointing to that conclusion. She decided to not focus on that, as he was here and he was with her and that was all that mattered. But right now, more than anything, she needed to keep him safe.
Ventris must have been alerted when her shackle broke and would soon send apostles to investigate. if they weren't already on their way. She would need to train him so he can fight for himself against an apostle or maybe try to send him to the Asiah. Yohan looked over at her and noticed then that her smiling face had become saddened.
"Something wrong?" He asked while looking around worryingly.
Solaria got up then, her hair covering her expression. "No, but they will come now that a shackle has been broken. They must have felt that and sent someone to investigate. You won't be able to fight an apostle in your current state so I will need to train you. Follow me."
And with that the vibrant beach scenery had glitched back to a desolate wasteland. She headed in the direction of the castle and as they walked for a bit they came upon a deep crater. In the center was a mound of glowing rocks. The same liquid blue energy he had absorbed before was present in these stones in high concentration. He could feel it, and the closer he got, the more the pressure of the energy weighed down on him.
Despite that, somehow it felt welcoming. As he stepped closer, the energy seemed to follow him, as they neared the rocks it seemed that it wasn't a mound at all but a grave made of the glowing stones shaped like a flat topped pyramid. Standing at about 4 feet tall and 6 feet long, the structure had a powerful but eerie feel to it, Solaria placed her hand on the grave and with somber eyes looked back at Yohan.
"This…is where you– he died." She cleared her throat as Yohan looked at her curiously.. "For the eons I have been in this place, You were my first semblance of peace, thank you for that, but I believe it will only get more dangerous for you from here on out."
"I will have to train you because they will come and if you are seen they will not ask questions or hesitate. They will kill you. So if you want to survive and keep your promise, you will need to be strong enough. That's why I brought you here."
"When we first met, you seemed to be radiating energy, I discovered, is the same as the energy here. His body had never moved from where he fell, his blood soaked into the earth here, bonding with it to form these rocks, but look."
She gestured to the rocks as they glowed and sparked blue, a faint amount of said glow flowing towards him, disappearing into his body.
"Even now in your presence, the energy runs to you like it found a new home. Whatever it may be, I think you can use his power, but you'll have to absorb it all in one go and, being honest, it might destroy your spirit. Still, I believe this is the fastest and more efficient way for you to get stronger. I'll even help regulate the energy as you absorb it. It'll be dangerous but I'll be here with you the whole way!"
She looked at him with such bright eyes and a confident grin, he couldn't help but smile. She had such a sense of "I can do it, I'm stwong." about her. He resisted snickering at the thought.
He knew that she was right though. He would be in danger, and if he was going to keep his promise to her, he needed to be much, much stronger. He also kinda wanted to see just how strong he could get and maybe live out a daring adventure like he always read about but that was more secondary in the face of things. His mind raced excitedly though, at the ideas of how he could apply his abilities, as well as to consider what new abilities he might gain by doing this.
More than anything however, the possibility of freeing Solaria made eagerness burn hopefully in his chest. He looked at the center of the crater, the grave of the fallen king and rested his hand on it. He then recalled the feeling when he had first absorbed the energy from the rocks, trying to recreate the action. He closed his eyes and once he felt the energy beginning to move more strongly, and he welcomed the energy into him but just then an explosion erupted from the crater, hurdling Yohan away and into the wall of the pit. His vision swam and his ears rang as he tried to gather himself over the sudden shock, just barely hearing Solaria's yell of his name over it all.
He struggled for his next breath, realising now that all the wind got knocked out of him, replaced with blood that sprayed from his mouth and nose. He coughed and struggled for his next breath from the deep indentation in the perfect shape of his body he was stuck in. A low growl sounded through the cloud of dust and debris that was kicked up from the explosion and both Yohan and Solaria who was now distracted from her route to Yohan to check on him, noticed a pair of white eyes that shone through the cloud of dust. Solaria furrowed her brows, confused by what that being was and why it felt and looked so… Familiar.
In the blink of an eye, they had disappeared as if they never were, but Solaria had quickly swung her hand heavily, kicking up a great wind that blew the dust away and cleared the scene before her. What they both saw next, sent a shiver down Yohan's spine.
At first, Solaria had thought that the energy had simply and violently rejected him, which didn't seem to make sense when he had some of that power that thrived inside him. She had then thought it had simply been too much for him to handle, which was more plausible… But now? She looked on wide eyed at the bipedal figure that moved from the center of the crater, towards Yohan who was still stuck to the side, then simply stood over where he was.
A sort of chill went down her spine but not in an unpleasant sense. Tears filled her eyes at the hauntingly familiar form.
"Aure?"