LOGINA/N what is that thing actually?
They advanced cautiously, their footsteps echoing in the immense silence. But as they neared the throne, the atmosphere shifted violently. Mira cried out, collapsing to her knees as a wave of pure Khaos washed over her. She fought back, casting a weak healing glow over herself, and turned to Mars. "Mars!" she exclaimed in horror. He was writhing on the floor, a dark, sentient fog pouring from behind the throne and coiling around him, wrapping him in a suffocating, shifting cocoon. Mira dared not approach, the corrupting energy too potent. "Arghhh!" Mars felt his very cells resonating with the fog, a painful, invasive symphony. With sheer grit, he forced himself to one knee, the dark mist adjusting to his movement. He thrust out a hand, and an ice vortex erupted, not repelling the fog, but absorbing it, the black energy merging with his glacial power. "Crap… I really can't be fainting now," he cursed, his breath becoming labored, though not as badly as before. As he foug
Iris had finally arrived, she jumped off her horse and ran to her brother. "You have never called me for help before... is the matter that serious?" She asked, Keith pointed at the closed door and Mira led her in. Mars was still unconscious, though stable. Iris studied his still form confused and then turned to her elder brother, "is this the emergency?" He nodded. "The boy?" He nodded again, "what exactly is the emergency? He's just alseep," she said, even more confused. It had been so long since she had seen her brother seem so scared, she hadn't seen his expression, but for some reason, she could feel it in the letter. "That's the thing, he has been asleep for over a day now. He had Khaos poisoning and suddenly went beserk before passing out," Keith explained, leaving out the part about the goddess and his energy stage. Iris furrowed her brows thinking about it, "we have to wait for him to wake up, then I can run some tests on him," she concluded. ♡♡
Keith crouched beside him and the young man looked up. His eyes puffy and cheeks red, he sniffled as he said, "I… I want to go back home." "Don't worry, I'll take you home," Keith said, not understanding what he was talking about and not really knowing how to comfort a person. But he would, atleast, help him find his way to this 'home'. "Even I don't know how to go home and time moves so fast here. If I go back, so much might happen… I don't want to leave you alone," he rambled, delirious and scared. He clearly wasn't aware of what he was saying. Keith stared at him, surprised at his words. Keith frowned, wiping the tears from his cold cheeks. "What are you talking about?" "Last time, I was only gone for a week, yet two months passed here. I don't want to leave you alone," again, Mars repeated those words and cried all over again. Keith knew now was not the time for an inquisition, all he got from this messy conversation was that Mars was from somewhere else ent
In the snowy desert of his subconscious- his Aethyr space, it was fading, reverting to barren emptiness. The childlike goddess appeared, sighing and shaking her head, "I knew it would come to this, sooner or later," She snapped her fingers. The blizzard returned, but with it came something dark and menacing, "I wanted to wait until he was fully ready, but I can't have him die now, can I?" With a giggle, she let a black fog swallow the sky, turning the sun a bloody red and the world became unbearably, painfully cold. In the cavern, Mars’s eyes flew open, hissing as the light stung his eyes. A thin, crystalline layer of ice sheathed his hands and legs, and cold steam emanated from his body as he slowly, painfully, rose to his feet. Unis, startled, tried to kick him down and stab him again, but Mars willed two swords into existence. One of pure, diamond-like white ice, the other of night-black ice wreathed in crackling Khaos energy. The mindless shifters recoiled,
Keith’s vision began to darken at the edges as he watched the man, he loathed above all others, continue his approach. Keith’s muscles corded, his grip on his sword so tight the flames licking the blades began to singe his own fingers. He wanted to charge, to shove the burning steel through his uncle’s gut and watch him die in agony. But he was frozen, a statue of rage and terror. His powerful frame trembled, not with fury, but with a fear so deep it had become part of his marrow. It wasn't until a gentle hand touched his shoulder that the encroaching blackness receded, and murder wasn't his only conscious thought. Mars was beside him, a solid, grounding presence. His light blue eyes were fixed on the smug man now standing a dozen feet away. "Oh my… why the hostility?" Unis purred, "haven't seen my baby nephew in sixteen years. My, my, you grew up handsome. How are my dear sister's ashes doing?" He laughed, a sound that was like gravel grinding on glass. And Ke
"Oh no! It looks serious! I think he might die!" Charlotte wailed, forcing crocodile tears. "Shit!" Keith cursed, holding Mars tightly as the black hue continued its rapid spread. Mars groaned, a thin trickle of blood escaping his nose. Then, something miraculous happened. The pure, glacial ice he’d been conjuring erupted from his skin once more, but this time, it climbed over the black stain. Where they met, the ice itself set ablaze with a cold, dark fire, slowly solidifying and reshaping into a new form… a jagged, menacing black ice. The three onlookers watched in stunned silence as Mars slowly came to, the blood drying on his upper lip. "Ugh, why do I feel like shit… and why is my ice black now?" He willed it, and a sword, sharp and almost identical to Ember in form, crystallized in his hand.The entire blade was forged of the same opaque, light-devouring black ice. "Woah! Did I hit some next-level awakening or something?" He turned to Keith, who was a portrait of d
"Oh…" his mind reeled at this new, unforeseen variable in his already chaotic life.The runes along the sword's hilt, which only glowed when their a magic user held it, flickered to life with a soft, golden light. He couldn't wield it, of course, but the sword itself recognized the Aethyr flowing th
With a bestial roar, Keith unleashed a wave of pure energy, throwing both Mars and Charlotte across the room. Guards surged forward to subdue their prince, but he moved like a demon, his sword a blur of death. Five of the ten who reached him fell immediately, their armor cleaved open. "Ugh…
Keith finally let Mars stand on his own two feet. The sudden return to solid ground made him stumble, only to be caught once more in the prince’s unyielding arms. The scent of sandalwood and smoke filled his senses, a dizzying, familiar combination. He pushed away in a start, backing up unt
In a flash, he was between the men and the boy, his sword, a whip-like vine of polished, living wood, lashing out to disarm the two men without drawing blood. Mira gasped, rushing to her brothers' side, "Jo, Xavier, Damien! Are you alright?" She then turned a furious glare on Yver, who shea







