Sitting in a hotel room with her legs crossed and her fingertip on her soft lips the Mage pondered. Her eyes were staring into the morning sun and her mind was running on maximal efficiency. She pushed a sugar cube into her mouth and continued to ponder.
"This must be researched further, I will put my plans on the replication of The Aeon of Breakage on hold. We have an even more interesting specimen to test."
Solci snapped her fingers and the Aeon of Conservation sprouted on the palm of her hand. She manifested a talisman of Conservation and threw it against her hotel door.
Exhausted from thinking she plunged into the soft comfort of her bed but the thoughts of how The Aeon of Guilt tore a hole in the Aeon of Conservation's barrier were vexing enough to keep her awake.
How does one destroy something that is
indestructible? She snapped her fingers again and the Aeon of Ember emerged onto her cheek. She conjured a beam of energy and fired it at her hotel door just for it to be completely nullified by the barrier.
"This property… this is only a hypothesis but Guilt's main ability may be to bifurcate the space dimension, ignoring defences entirely. This Aeon of mystery… now this is exhilarating!" She bared her vampire fangs and smiled being happy that she got something new to indulge herself in.
The orange morning sun rose yet again and the eyes of Desire had yet to be opened for another day. Aylin was powerless, Aeonless at this current moment, she had no more purpose for me anymore but when those eyes met the body of whom I had lied to, I didn't want to abandon her.
For the first time in my relationship, I finally saw Aylin for Aylin and looking at her who had sacrificed so much for me made me feel guilty. This time, I will help her without expecting anything in return; this was my debt to her.
But how should I even save Aylin when I don't even know what happened to her? Last night, those words the King muttered, The Aeon of Desire. Her soul had been offered to Desire in exchange for the King's wife.
My will grew more resolute as I realised what I needed to accomplish. Find the Aeon of Desire and tear her from the jaws of the Gods.
I needed answers, I needed someone to guide me to the right answer. My cheek started to swell as I thought of ways to get to The Aeon of Desire.
"If only Devina were here to help…"
A spark of yellow flashed inside my head. An eerie familiar voice spoke out.
"Use me."
I held onto my cheek as it started to burn. My body contorted in pain as something took root on my cheek.
After the pain had subsided I stumbled towards the bathroom mirror and looked at my own reflection. The Aeon of Dexterity had been reborn.
With the Aeon of Dexterity, I should be able to boost my cognitive function right? I looked into the mirror staring at the flower of Dexterity. I felt no different from before, I didn't seem to be able to think of any super complex math theory or anything difficult.
What was it that this Aeon did? How did Devina even use this Aeon? She was born with superhuman intelligence therefore she got this Aeon right? Why am I holding it when I am not as gifted as she is?
"Use me," someone said in a pleading tone.
Was that Devina's voice? She sounded as if she was seriously hurt and suffering.
If that is really Devina, what is she trying to tell me? And why is it that I bear the mark of Dexterity? Then I remembered that horrible tale Devina had once told me. A tale about a man consuming the flesh of an Aeon, and once he had eaten the heart of the Aeon, he had gained the powers of that Aeon.
"So does that mean… I ate Devina's heart…" I was so taken aback by this revelation that I bent over the sink and thought about it. My teeth sinking into Devina's beating heart. Just the thought of that made me gag and hunch over the toilet.
"Aeon Acclimation."
I activated Freedom's acclimation and shut off all the Aeons in the area. The voices inside my head also stopped. I tried to slow my breathing and relax my body. My mom came into the bathroom patting my shoulder trying to offer some comfort as I tried to calm myself down while salivating as if I was about to puke.
She saw the black flower on my cheek but said nothing, she just continued patting until I felt strong enough to rise.
"Vivshi, are you alright?"
"I just feel a little sick."
"How about we get you some water and you lie down for a bit?" She gently guided me to bed and handed me a glass of water when I had put the covers over me.
I slowly sipped the water trying not to gag as I felt how the cold liquid flowed down my throat.
What happened to Devina that day? I never got the answers to what happened to her, the only eyewitnesses during the time I blacked out were Devina, Sekito, Zyo and Aylin. Devina is nowhere to be found, Sekito can't be found either, Zyo is probably hiding in the underground city and Aylin is unconscious. How am I supposed to get the answers now?
As the Aeon acclimation wore off, the voices started to come back. Telling me to use the Aeon of Dexterity. I didn't know how to use such an Aeon.
"Close your eyes."
I obliged and shut my eyes, and I saw nothing. But then I opened my eyes again and saw that I was in an empty void. I could see my own hands and feet and move around. But no matter how long I walked in the darkness, I never seemed to find anything.
The walk continued for what felt like hours until I met her again. Standing there in the pitch black void. The blonde genius, and Aeon of Dexterity, Devina.
A gentle smile formed on her face as she saw me. She gestured to me to move closer with her hand and I ran up to her. She grabbed onto my hand and we were transported into another void. This time it was in outer space, my eyes widened as I tried to absorb all the beauty the universe had to offer me. The stars glimmering in the distance and the galactic dust paint beautiful and elegant patterns onto this empty canvas.
Devina let go of my hand and turned her back.
"I think there are several things you want to ask me."
"Di…"
"You are probably gonna ask me if you ate me and my answer to that question is no. You didn't consume my heart."
"As for what actually transpired that day, I will need another day to explain that, but for now just rely on me. I will now be one with you from now forth."
"Devina…"
"What is even going on anymore?"
"I don't know. I wouldn't know the answer to that. That's up to you to uncover now."
"This will most likely be the last time we will see each other like this," Devina said solemnly.
"I just wanted to tell you before you go out there into the world that if you ever feel like you are in a pinch, just rely on me. That's it."
"Before I go, how about you try it yourself Vivshi, activate the Aeon of Dexterity's acclimation?"
"But, I have never used the Aeon of Dexterity before," I said nervously.
"We are already in the void, you should be able to access it with a breeze. Just repeat after me, Connaissance de l'inconnu."
I stiffly chanted the words to activate the acclimation of Dexterity and before me an endless scope of information appeared in front of me. Devina grabbed onto my hand and we flew across trillions of pieces of information in the universe.
All world history, scientific knowledge, everyday conversation, the date of when the stars formed, everything.
"What I want you to do is imagine that you wanna know, and you should be guided to what you are seeking."
Closing my eyes, I thought about how to find the Aeon of Desire, I also wished to find out what happened on the day Devina vanished.
But only one answer came up. The Aeon mage Solci. No information about what happened on that day Devina was gone was found. It was as if that day had been completely wiped out, there was a giant gap in information between those days. But before I could say why that was, the void suddenly started to pull from all corners.
"Aha… it seems like time has run out for me. I will be watching over you Vivshi. Let's see each other soon."