Chapter 35– Immortalized

  A dark pit of nothingness.

  Existence was void in this realm beside a single organism— a man whose eyes bolted awake.

  His pupils turned left and right, up and down, but it was not for nothing. A single ray of light shined down upon his body. He moved his hands in line with his vision, seeing the violent trembles and shakes that followed.

  *My body is actively responding to the memory.* The man had thought.

  A flash of short, brief memories—

  A man holding the knife. His mother. A child watching in horror.

  A voice whispered his name.

  “Lloyd..”

  Lloyd’s face had transitioned from expressionless to one of defeat.

  “It seems like after all I’ve done— I still can’t forgive myself, no, rather my mother cannot forgive me.” He slowly smiled.

  “One day I will die— maybe I’ll be forgotten.” Lloyd chuckled. “But I’ll never forget you, Mom.”

  The defeated face had soon turned calm and one of joy.

  “For as long as I live— you are immortal.” Lloyd’s eyes closed.

  A world had been shattered.

  The sound of a bird chirping.

  His eyes were closed but the light still shined through.

  “Damn… it’s so bright!” Lloyd groaned.

  *Wait… bright?* Lloyd bolted his eyes open.

  Surrounding him was the calmness of the hospital room. Lloyd had been wearing a gown, his arm attached to an IV tube. He looked to his right to see a window. The sun’s warmth shining through and the birds singing.

  “So calm.”

  *But what is this feeling..?* Lloyd eyes darted to his chest.

  This pain wasn’t coming from his chest, nor anything physical. Rather— his soul.

  “Mmmg…” Lloyd had tried to suppress his pain. Perhaps he had gotten up too quickly?

  His hazelnut colored eyes had soon turned white, his body began contracting.

  Eventually… he went unconscious.

  …

  Inside of a living quarter, three people sat down on a sofa. Their faces varied in emotion but one common description unified their collective feelings— anxiousness.

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  Marie’s foot had been shaking nonstop. Falcon’s lips quivered. Naomi’s eyes stared blankly at a portrait as she bit her finger.

  Silence had filled the room.

  Falcon’s eyes were devoid of any feeling— in contrast, his mind was rife with thoughts.

  *How did this even occur..?* The loudest voice in Falcon’s head overlapped the other dozens of thoughts he had.

  He remembered his days training, tales and stories from Artemis, fooling around in the Temple, Naomi’s smile.

  All thoughts of fun and happiness.

  *I’ve trained for this moment, but have I ever prepared for it?* Falcon moved his hands to his face and started moving them up and down. He couldn’t just sit around, he was inclined to do something.

  “Fuck this…” Falcon mumbled to himself. He sat up from the sofa and grabbed a coat.

  He looked at the two sitting down. “I’m going to go check on Lloyd and the Reaper-“ His words were cut short.

  “Imaez… his name is Imaez.” Marie spoke nonchalantly as she didn’t even spare time to turn her head to face him.

  “Right.. Imaez— the descendant of Austeci.” Falcon replied. “You guys want to tag along?”

  “Sure.” Naomi stood up from the couch and grabbed gloves.

  Marie nodded and went to grab a coat.

  Soon enough, everyone went to the lobby of the hotel.

  The Deathslingers awaited for a carriage to arrive to the entrance of the hotel.

  Marie’s eyes focused onto a window. She blankly stared out as her mind was only focused on her two older brothers. Naomi shared the same expression, her eyebrows low and her mouth straight as a ruler. The only one with a hint of life in their face would be Falcon— although it may be artificial, the thought counts. A whistle could be heard outside of the hotel.

  whistle whistle! “Ey, kids! You need a carriage?” A carriage driver yelled out with a hint of braggadocio in his tone.

  Falcon jogged out the hotel. “Yeah, we could really use one.” He walked up to the window of the carriage about to hand the driver 20 copper.

  “Nuh uh, can’t do 20– it’s 45 now.” The carriage driver picked his ear, flicking his earwax off his finger. “Lord Emperor put out a tax yesterday, apparently the tax goes into the military so I have to up my prices. Glory to the Empire of course.”

  Marie and Naomi walked out the hotel, looking at the carriage.

  “What’s the hold up?” Marie looked at Falcon.

  “The guy is saying it’s 45 copper now, that’s all it is.”

  Marie pulled out two handfuls of copper coins— “This is probably 60, should be enough.” She poured it into the window of the carriage and got into the back seat. “You coming?” She looked at the two.

  …

  Inside of a military dormitory—

  knock knock.

  Aurelian got up from his desk— wearing a T-shirt and a pair of sweatpants.

  *The hell…? It’s our day off.* Aurelian walked to the door and twisted the knob open. In front of him— Romulus stood wearing what Aurelian would describe as very informal clothing. Romulus had a tank top and shorts on.

  *In this weather..?! We may be indoors yet the temperature is still cold in the hallways. Come on, Romulus!* Aurelian was stuck in his head until Romulus had cleared his throat.

  “Ahem! So, not tryna get in between you and your off day A, but Lord Emperor wants to see you at the top floor. He says and I quote..”

  “You don’t need to dress up, come to me as you are, I wish to speak with you.”

  “End quote, anyway, go to the top floor.” Romulus patted his shoulder and walked off.

  Aurelian’s face was in surprise. In his 6 years of servitude, only the Upper High Command could sit with the Emperor.

  Aurelian put on slippers and rushed his way out the dormitory, running through the hallways to get to the staircases.

  “Damn it! I need to get there fast…” He whispered under his breath. He had bolted through the door leading to the stairways, running up the stairs reading off the number of stories.

  “22..24…25…27…29….30!”

  The thirtieth floor being the highest floor of them all, he walked into the hallway and seen a large wooden door in front of him.

  “Pretty short hallway… not what I thought it was.” Aurelian had only heard of the thirtieth floor in stories from General Romulus and Guri. He took steps until he had faced the very door leading to the Lord Emperor. He wiped sweat, checked his breath, checked his armpits until— he twisted the door open. Walking into the room.

  “Marvelous..” Aurelian had seen a beautiful rug, covered in floral decorations. Gold and ruby jewelry on the walls and a painting of a snow white wolf.

  A desk clear of any paperwork, only water and a notebook is what Aurelian seen at the end of the room.

  A calm and soothing voice spoke.

  “Hello, High Command Aurelian.” Lord Emperor had been seated with his back turned to Aurelian, looking out the window.

  “Y-Your Highness.” Aurelian stammered.

  The Emperor’s hair perfectly slicked back, with the back strands touching his neck. Dressed up in beautiful attire— as if he was at a noble ball.

  The Emperor had turned his face slightly— revealing a bright red colored eye, before he turned it back.

  “So, Aurelian, have you heard of Cupiditas?”

  Aurelian answered hastily. “No… he’s disappeared.”

  “No, it was suicide. He hung himself in his dorm.” The Emperor’s voice turned serious. “It’s shameful, an ability that powerful yet the user is fragile like paper.”

  “Aurelian, I’m tasking you with one of my specially trained units, her name is Jasmine Urame.”

  Aurelian knelt. “I greatly appreciate this honor, your Excellency. I will not fail you!” He spoke with great passion.

  “Oh, and— I grant you rank Grand Strategist of Laveton, you are dismissed.” Lord Emperor spoke.

  Aurelian’s eyes widened, his face with an uncontrollable smile.

  “Y..Uh-Uhm… Yes…Lord Emperor, thank you!” He stammered over his words and left the room.

  In the hallway, he had breathed in and out, quickly regaining his composure.

  *WHAT THE HELLL?! Grand Strategist..? ME? Aurelian Schmidt?!* Aurelian’s face was red due to excitement.

  *No, never mind that.. I forgot. Jasmine Urame. The house of Urame is pretty rich, so they paid good money to get her that high in status. But the name.. Jasmine. That’s pretty rare among Lavetonian names.* Aurelian ran a hand through his hair.

  *Where have I heard it before..?*

  …

  In a hospital room, an unconscious man was seen in a bed.

  His hair blond and shiny, his skin clear of any impurities.

  His finger twitched.