Dora did not simply remain inside her academy while everyone else struggled and risked their lives to bring back Aether and Delphine.
She had sensed it the mont Aether and Delphine sounded from her cabin.
She should have looked at them.
At least once.
Instead, she had turned her back and listened to the old nurse.
Because of that single mont of ignorance, she had lost them.
Lost them inside her own territory.
How disgusting.
Aether already called her useless. He said it without rage, which sohow made it worse. If he added this failure to that silent list he carried, she knew it would not end with disappointnt.
He would look down on her, which was way worse.
So she got the details from Liora about what’s happening in... Pyra Empire.
That was all Dora needed.
She prepared more than necessary. Far more. She knew she was not ant to involve herself in the trial, yet this had nothing to do with rules or standings or divine observation.
This was a rescue.
Delphine did not belong to the trial. And Aether had already suffered enough.
The Origin Pillars seed to agree... They did not warn her back.
So Dora advanced.
She tore through every monster in her path without pause or rcy, ripping Origin Crystals from their bodies, gathering them.
By the ti she stopped, she carried nearly three tis the amount gathered by everyone else combined.
When she arrived in Pyra, Drakhairs was the first to notice.
With his help and a thunderous sweep of wings, he carried her toward the Palace.
And no, Drakhairs did know what was going on with their ruler, and he just accepted Dora’s words, considering she was a friend to Aether and also a Sovereign!
He simply hovered above the palace as he opened his mouth and released a deluge of Origin Crystals that Dora gave to him.
They poured down like luminous rain, crashing into the magic circle below, which devoured them instantly before they could strike stone, Nyx, or anyone else.
"Sovereign?"
Xara’s brows lifted as Dora landed, dust swirling around her boots. Her lips curved into a smirk, "Is that enough?"
Xara turned toward the portal.
She exhaled and shrugged.
"Maybe..."
Dora stepped closer, her gaze moving from Nyx to the portal, then stopping on Sandra.
Their eyes t.
Sandra held the look for a long mont before slowly shaking her head.
No words passed between them, yet sothing unspoken settled.
Dora released a quiet breath and turned back to the portal.
The chains trembled violently, pulled forward, dragged back, shaking as if resisting an unseen force.
But still, no sign of Aether.
What is happening in there?
"Should I jump in?"
Aqualina stood at the edge, already leaning forward as if her body had decided before her mind.
Xara caught her wrist and shook her head firmly.
"If you enter, it might not send you to him. It might tear you apart or throw you sowhere you cannot return from. or even reject you!"
She released her grip slowly.
"It’s too risky."
All they could do was wait.
Back inside the Eternal Prison,
Delphine clung to Aether’s shoulder, trembling, bracing herself for the inevitable.
The head-twisting pain she expected never ca.
Still, she refused to open her eyes.
She did not want her last sight to be Aether dying for her.
Then a voice reached her.
"Del... a portal appeared."
Slowly, fearfully, she opened her eyes.
The first thing she saw was Aether’s face.
Her heart finally found relief, a fragile calm spreading through her chest as a gentle, exhausted smile touched her lips. She followed the direction of his gaze, slowly easing herself from his embrace.
What she saw made her breath hitch sharply in her throat.
A portal stood before them.
White and black light intertwined, rippling softly as if reality itself struggled to hold the shape. It shimred, unstable, yet undeniably real, tearing its way into existence within the prison.
Her eyes widened, disbelief locking her in place for a heartbeat before hope burst free,
"Aether... It’s a portal! Let’s go!"
She did not wait for his response. She grabbed his hand tightly and dragged him forward, toward the light.
She did not care where it led.
None of it mattered as long as she could leave this place with him.
As long as Aether was beside her.
As they drew closer... they noticed.
Black and golden chains protruded from the edges of the portal, half-erged, frozen as if caught mid-motion. They did not lash or move, only screeched faintly, scraping against the air like tal dragged across glass.
Sothing was resisting them.
"Weird..."
Aether frowned, eyes narrowing as he studied the portal closely.
"What are you waiting for? Let’s enter!"
Delphine tightened her grip on his hand. Together, they stepped forward.
The mont their feet crossed the threshold.
BOOM!!
"AARRH!!"
A violent force erupted outward.
The instant they tried to enter, both were blasted away from the portal, their bodies hurled violently into darkness.
"Arh... D-Del?"
Aether groaned, pain ripping through his body as he struggled to move. The portal’s glow no longer reached them.
Darkness swallowed everything.
No answer.
"Delphine?"
"Arh..."
He turned toward it instantly. He crawled through the darkness, hands scraping against the ground until his fingers brushed fabric.
"Del? Are you alright? Answer ."
"I... I think I am...?"
Her voice was weak and unfocused. She had struck her head hard, consciousness barely holding together.
....h.
Aether froze.
Without hesitation, he pulled Delphine into his trembling arms and forced himself upright, moving quickly toward where the portal’s light faintly reached.
The mont they crossed into that dim glow, the presence vanished, swallowed by the darkness behind them.
Aether released a shaky breath he had not realised he was holding, tightening his grip around her.
"Del... are you alright? Look at ."
She nodded slowly, eyes hazy, one hand pressed to her head as if trying to steady the spinning world.
"I-I can stand..."
She tried, stubborn even now, but her legs betrayed her, shaking violently beneath her weight.
He supported her without hesitation, arm firm around her waist, steadying every step as they approached the portal again.
"Why is it not allowing us?"
Delphine whispered with frustration... Aether shook his head slowly.
"I don’t know..."
"Even though we finally got a way out... and yet..."
Delphine clenched her fist, nails biting into her palm as tears threatened to spill.
Aether smiled weakly, "Don’t worry... I’m here. I won’t leave you."
He pulled her into a tight embrace, lips pressing softly against her forehead.
She clung to his torn clothes, fingers curling desperately, afraid that letting go even slightly would take him away.
Aether smiled softly before his eyes slowly moved to the portal... as a pain and disbelief spread across his face... His fingers were passing through the portal.
A single tear slipped from his eye.
Why?
Did the world truly intend for her to remain alone...
Trapped forever in this cursed hell?
Or... was this what the Prophetess truly ant all along?
Loving her ant he would die.
Leaving her ant she would die instead.
Aether’s eyes trembled violently as the realisation crushed him.
He really had to make a choice... didn’t he?
That’s what she said... he had nothing else to choose!
His chest tightened until breathing itself beca painful... Both choices stood before him, cruel and absolute, and neither resembled the future he had ever dread of.
There was no path where both survived.
There was no rcy hidden in fate.
Only loss.
Only sacrifice.
"We should try to find sothing," Delphine said, forcing strength into her voice as she turned back toward him. "Anything that can get us through this. We can’t just stand here."
Aether imdiately yanked his hand away from the portal.
Delphine stared at the portal again, her expression conflicted. She did not understand how it worked, why it rejected them.
Aether clenched his fist, his hand trembling uncontrollably.
If only the portal had appeared a few minutes earlier, before everything shattered.
If only she had accepted the crystal and escaped without him.
If only Grace had not interfered at all.
Then both of them would have survived.
Then this pain would never have existed.
His beloveds had reached him here.
Only to watch him fail to return.
What a fucking cruel fate.
As they continued inspecting the portal, its glow began to weaken. The white and black lights dimd visibly now, flickering like a dying fla struggling to stay alive.
Both of them noticed it at the sa ti.
Fear surged through Delphine before she could even think. Acting on pure instinct, she stepped forward and grabbed Aether’s hand tightly, refusing to let go.
Before Aether could react, she stepped inside the portal.
BOOM!!
***
On the other side of the portal, panic erupted instantly.
The portal trembled violently, its edges collapsing inward as it continued to shrink.
Even as Origin Crystals poured endlessly into the magic circle, the portal refused to stabilise.
"What’s going on here?"
Sera shouted.
Sandra swallowed hard, "I think... the other side is actively trying to close the portal."
"That’s why, no matter how much energy we feed it, it keeps collapsing."
"T-Then why hasn’t he co back yet?" Maelona asked, "Those chains should have caught him and dragged him here no matter what. That’s how it’s supposed to work. Right?"
Silence!
Fear spread across every face as they slowly turned toward Xara, desperate for answers.
Xara said nothing... Sothing had connected in her mind, a truth that made her lose.
"Aether..."
Kaelen stared at all of them without blinking.
Everyone stood on the edge of breaking down.
So did he.
Yet sothing about this scene unsettled him even more than fear.
It felt like watching a family tear itself apart, powerless to stop it.
***
Back on the other side of the portal.
Aether groaned as he forced himself upright,
"Del?"
No response ca back.
"DELPHINE!!"
He scread as his eyes searched blindly. His hands thrashed through the dark, fingers shaking as they searched for her.
....h.
His mind struggled to stay sharp. Exhaustion pressed down on him... Part of him wanted to collapse. To close his eyes and disappear forever.
But he could not.
Not while she needed him.
Not while she was still breathing sowhere in this darkness.
"Cough... cough..."
Aether turned instantly and moved toward it, stumbling and crawling.
"Del? Del, please answer . Are you alright?"
His hands found her cold skin, and he pulled her into his arms with a broken gasp.
She did not respond, but then he felt her heartbeat.
...h...
Aether slowly stood, holding her tightly against his chest. His legs wobbled violently, pain tearing through him as if his body was begging him to stop.
But love forced him forward.
He gritted his teeth, every step dragging agony behind it as he began moving toward the fading light of the portal-
H....!
Flapp~
Chuckkk.
Crack.
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