"I SAID STOP IT!!!" Aether roared, his voice filled with desperation and fury. Flas erupted from his hands, engulfing the room in a shimring blaze of blue fire.
The visions that tornted him flickered in the heat..... but they did not disappear.
His heart pounded, the rage boiling within him threatening to consu everything.
[Oh, co now, Gentleman Aether. You can't solve everything with violence, no matter how much you want to.]
The words appeared, taunting him with their calmness, floating before Aether's wild, bloodshot eyes. His entire body trembled with barely contained wrath as he glared at the words.
"Stop this... Stop it all... Now!" His voice dropped to a dangerous growl.
[Oh my~ Are you really trying to threaten ?
How adorable, like a child throwing a tantrum.
But since we've arrived at the place I wanted to show you, let ask you sothing...
You despised your mother's marriage, didn't you? You hated every mont of it, yet you never spoke up.
Why?
Why did you stay silent when it mattered most?]
Aether's breath caught in his throat as the words struck deep, triggering the reel of mories he wished he could forget.
The visions shifted, displaying his mother's wedding day. It was a grand affair, the kind that made headlines. A union between a beloved top actress and a powerful high-level politician. The kind of wedding that glittered with perfection.
As he watched, his mother's radiant smile after so many years cut through his anger, leaving only a hollow ache, "I... I wanted her to be happy," he whispered, the words tasting bitter on his tongue. "Just like my father found happiness in his new life..."
[Hmm... Interesting. You've seen too many dramas at a young age if you truly believe such naive things.]
Aether's mind drifted back to his childhood, the mories of countless dramas his parents used to watch. Despite his neurological issues, he had always been a curious child, absorbing everything around him like a sponge.
The stories, the fantasies, Even acting... they all beca a part of him, a way to escape the harsh reality he was too young to fully understand.
[But tell , Aether... Were you happy? Truly happy?]
The vision twisted, the bright wedding scene replaced by a much darker mory.
His stepfather's cold, disdainful gaze bore into him. Whenever his mother wasn't ho, the man would order him around, treating him like a servant rather than a son.
The little boy would bite his lip, agreeing to every demand, hoping it would gain his affection and make his mother's life easier... but,
Slap!
The sound echoed in Aether's ears, as sharp and stinging as it had been all those years ago.
"Tsk, useless, just like your worthless father," his stepfather sneered. Aether, still too young to fight back, this ti spilling tea on the man's expensive clothes. "Next ti you stain my clothes, You will be sleeping on the road!"
As ti passed, the man's cruelty grew. He began hurting Aether whenever his mother was away, finding joy in the boy's pain. When Aether could no longer bear it, he finally told his mother, his voice shaking with fear and hope.
But her reaction shattered him.
"If you hate your new father, just say so," she snapped, her eyes cold, her love suddenly distant, "He's the best man I've ever t, unlike your bastard father who couldn't even control—" She cut herself off, her voice rising. "Tsk, next ti you speak ill of your father, don't make hate you more than I already do!"
Aether's vision blurred with tears as he stared at the mory, his focus narrowing to his mother's face, etched with anger and disappointnt.
The woman who had once been his world now seed like a stranger.
[It all began because you didn't voice your true emotions...]
The scene suddenly froze, leaving Aether suspended in a dark void. The words shimred in front of him, twisting and changing...
[If only you had shown who you really were... the outco could have been so different...]
The vision shifted again, showing an alternate reality—a 'What if?' that Aether had never allowed himself to imagine.
"No, Mommy! Please don't marry him! I don't want to lose you!" A younger version of himself cried out, his voice filled with desperation as he clung to his mother's leg.
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"N-No..." Aether stamred, his heart pounding in disbelief as he watched the mory warp before his eyes. This wasn't how it happened... and yet, it was everything he had ever wanted.
What if he had been brave enough to express his true feelings?
What if he had ignored his mother's smile and told her the truth?
Aether's breath caught as he saw the alternate outco unfold. His mother, moved by his outburst, cancelled the marriage. Slowly, they grew closer, forging the bond he had always dread of, the connection he had longed for every day of his life.
[See... it wasn't so hard, was it? If only you had been true to yourself... But...]
Aether's eyes filled with a mix of despair and longing as he watched the vision. The boy grew up happily by his mother's side, loved and cherished—a life Aether had never known. It was like staring into a mirror that showed everything he had ever wanted, everything he had lost.
[There's no changing the past... You ignored your own feelings and sacrificed your happiness for others...]
"I... I..." Aether's voice cracked, the words caught in his throat, suffocating him with their weight.
[A child should have been selfish... That's what it ans to be a child. You should have fought for your happiness, for yourself.]
As the room plunged into darkness, a deep, unsettling silence enveloped Aether. Two ominous doors materialized before him, one pure white, the other a swirling mix of white and a small quantity of black.
[Now choose.... If you believe what you did in the past was right, then choose the white door. But... if you think the vision you saw represents the true outco of your actions, then choose the other one...]
Aether's mind was already a tangled ss, lost in a labyrinth of doubt and confusion.
He stared at the two doors.... Slowly, almost chanically, he began to move toward the white door.
His lifeless eyes reflected his inner turmoil, and his hands trembled uncontrollably.
Was he made a mistake?.... Or was this twisted ga playing with his emotions, distorting his sense of reality?
Just as his fingers brushed against the cold surface of the white door, the words appeared once more, hovering before him like a silent judge.
[Are you sure...? Are you going to choose the path you've already taken, that miserable decision that changed your life for the worse?]
Aether's hand hesitated, hovering inches from the doorknob. His gaze locked onto the words, his voice barely a whisper as he replied, "Y-Yeah... It's because I... I loved her more than I loved myself... I chose her happiness over mine." His voice quivered, the conviction in his words wavering. Just as he was about to turn the knob, the words appeared again, stopping him in his tracks.
[Even if I told you... You could change your past, would you still choose the sa path?]
"...."
The level bar fluctuated wildly...
anwhile, in another part of the ga chamber,
[Are you sure about this... Lady Raven Noir?]
"Y-Yes... I do," Raven panted, her breath ragged and uneven. Sweat dripped from her brow, her entire body trembling as she fought to maintain her sanity. Her hands clenched into fists as she forced herself forward, every step toward the white door a battle against the madness clawing at her mind.
Raven stepped through the door, only to be t with the sa reels of her mories, playing out before her once again. Her eyes narrowed in frustration and anger.
She knew this ga would continue, tornting her, until she fully accepted herself—until she embraced the choices she had made.
This ga was designed to break those who couldn't reconcile with their past, to shatter them until there was nothing left but despair.... And Raven was no exception.
Suddenly, the words appeared, mocking her resolve.
[This is your second ti here, isn't it?]
Raven's lips pressed into a thin line, refusing to give the voice the satisfaction of a response.
[Fu~Fu~ I see... I'm sorry, it's 'her' second ti, not yours!]
Raven's hands clenched tighter, her nails digging into her palms as she fought to contain her rage.
[Since both of you are here... Why don't we see 'Her' mories too?]
Raven's face went pale. She had expected this, but the dread still seeped into her bones, 'I knew these bastards wouldn't let get through this unscathed...' she thought.
Without hesitation, she threw several sparkling crystal balls into the air, scattering them around the room.
Spark!!
Spark!!!!
The crystal balls emitted violent sparks, crackling with energy, their light flashing chaotically in the dark room.
[Violence is not the answer~]
A smirk played on Raven's lips as she nudged her sunglasses, her eyes gleaming, "This isn't violence... This is sothing else entirely. Rather...
Activate System Code: 232476."
The words froze in midair, their glow flickering before a new ssage appeared,
[..... Activating]
Raven's smirk widened, "Bypass the system," she ordered, her voice steady, laced with satisfaction.
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