The sounds of footsteps rushing to the door. Seraphina was the first to come through and attend to Aric. She placed her palm on his forehead to see if anything had changed within him.
"Aric. Are you waking up? Why is your hair changing colour…?"
Lira arrived shortly and stared from a distance. Her eyes glowed a bright green and analysed the inner workings of the body.
"He's going through stress. An extremely absurd amount of it. Something most humans would not be able to handle."
Seraphina turned her face to Lira. "Stress? But how can that be? Isn't he asleep?"
Lira approached her. "It appears he's caught in something deeper than sleep, a dream, perhaps. Traumatic…like war, heartbreak or pain too great to bear, that his body could no longer handle the stress."
"I've never encountered anything like this, but from what I can tell, it has something to do with the mind. He's experiencing an event so severe and overwhelming that it's altering him from both within himself and outside."
She laid her hand on Aric's chest with a white glowing hand.
"Hmmm."
She took off her hand, "We elves have ways of detecting life force. If someone is close to death, their soul becomes fragile. Like a thread ready to snap. In this case…"
"Aric is not dying…but he is going through the stress."
Thorin crossed his arms. "Can he wake up?"
"It's difficult to say. His body is stable, but his mind… It's as if part of him is trapped somewhere else. Whether he wakes up or not depends on his will and whatever battles he may be fighting within."
She put a finger on her chin. "My best guess is that…his soul may be fighting with Vayne… or he has experienced something traumatic. Either way…it seems like he will wake up if he finishes the battle."
*****************************************************************
Aric floated in a black and blue background that was constantly moving at the speed of light. He was experiencing more pain in an attempt to wake up.
"You're my toy. I will fuck you senseless if you disobey me, you fucking pet."
Callista spits on the floor.
"Lick it."
THUMP
"I defended you for years, and yet you turned out to be a disappointment. I'm ashamed to be your mother."
THUMP. THUMP.
"You are a disgrace to this bloodline." as Vayne's father smashes his face into the floor.
"You cry like a peasant boy, you think like a street rat, and you move like a drunk."
THUMP. THUMP. THUMP.
"I trained you to be a king, not some trembling halfwit who flinches at failure. You think tears will bring you glory? Will weakness earn you respect?"
THUMP. THUMP. THUMP.
"Speak, Vayne! Say you are worthless. Say it like a man with no spine, no future, no legacy! SAY IT LIKE THE LOSER YOU ARE!"
THUMP. THUMP. THUMP. THUMP.
"You are not my son. You are a worthless human pretending to be noble. The only thing royal about you is how royally you've fucked up. I hate you. Never come back here anymore."
THUMP. THUMP. THUMP. THUMP. THUMP. THUMP. THUMP. THUMP.
"HAH HAH HAH HAH." Aric was panting heavily.
"Aric. You have to calm down and accept these memories. You already have live through them which is the hardest part. But to wake up from this nightmare, you have to accept them."
"HAH...HAH...HAH...HAH."
Ivy hugged him and placed a spell on his forehead,
"I know it's hard to accept them. I know you never want to be Vayne but you have inherited everything from him now. I know you are going through so much pain but it's more painful to me if you don't wake up. You are strong, Aric. You can accept them."
Aric breathing and heartbeat was through the roof.
"Don't you want to see what Narxuia has to offer? Don't you want to see more interesting things?"
She hugged him tighter and increased the spell intensity,
"You won't remember this part. I won't let you. But I need you to know…"
She leaned in and Aric could see a faint smile curved her lips but he couldn't hear her.
"I chose you because you are everything I once believed humanity could be. I chose you to carry the flame of humanity to challenge ********. I chose you to become my Administrator, because…"
She looked into his eyes and Aric saw her mouth moving. Forming a final sentence Aric would never recall.
There was now a bright light penetrating through his eyelids. He could see little floating things through his eyelids.
What…? What did Ivy say…?
Aric breathed in and for the first time, he can consciously feel the oxygen entering his nose.
Am…I back? I can smell the air…it smells…like roses and lavender…
It smells like the soap she wears.
Aric kept breathing in and trying to open his eyes.
I can feel the light. I can feel how dry my mouth feels. I can hear people talking in the background.
He moved his fingers.
There's softness underneath me. Am I on a bed? I want to wake up.
Slowly, his eye began to flutter open. He was immediately blinded by the light from the window.
Ugh…it's so bright…Where am I?
[Oh good, you're not dead yet!]
Ivy…? Where are you?
[Just beside you. Don't worry, being in a coma for a month does that to you. Your eyes will adjust soon enough. I am beside you okay? Don't worry about it. Let's have you awake now, pretty boy.]
He focused all his strength on opening his eyes while trying to adjust to the brightness. Each attempt met with resistance as though his eyelids were weighted down by invisible hands. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, his eyes were finally open and adjusted.
He could see the familiar ceiling of the Golden Griffin Inn's luxurious suite. The same room where he'd spent countless nights during his stay with Seraphina.
"Ah…"
His ears had adjusted and he can hear the background noises now.
"Aric…you're awake…"
"Wait, Seraphina. We don't know if that is Aric or not. It could be Vayne…he has…changed after all."
Aric blinked rapidly, startled by Thorin's accusation.
"What...do...you mean?" he said hoarsely.
Thorin was infront of his bed with crossed arms,
"Your left eye is still grey." he explained carefully, gesturing toward his face.
"But your right eye… it's different. It looks brown."
Aric was in disbelief when he heard that. He tried to sat up but his body had no strength.
"Ugh…"
"Aric! Don't force yourself!" Seraphina said in worry while holding his hand.
"Do you want a mirror?"
Aric nodded and she used her tendril to immediately grab a handheld one. She held it for him and when Aric saw his reflection. His heart sank.
His once jet-black hair now bore streaks of white, weaving through the strands like threads of starlight. And there, staring back at him, was the undeniable truth: his right eye was hazel while his left was grey.
This...eye...it's my original colour back on Earth!
The sight was surreal, almost otherworldly and it left him momentarily speechless.
Lowering the mirror slowly, Aric turned his gaze toward Thorin, whose eyes bore into him with unspoken questions. Thorin broke the silence with the question everyone wanted answered.
"So… who won? Are you…Aric? Or are you Vayne?"
The room fell silent, the weight of Thorin's question hanging heavily in the air. All eyes turned to Aric, waiting for his response. Slowly, he pushed himself upright, leaning against the headboard of the bed as he gathered his thoughts.
His gaze swept across the room, taking in the faces of those gathered around him: Lira, Thorin, Evelyn, Kayla, Penelope and Seraphina.
Well, there's two new faces here…I think that was the electric girl before…and there's a tall elf too.
She has a very commanding aura.
Maybe Seraphina knows them? Who brought her here anyways?
"I am Aric Lawson. I am from Earth and I just absorbed Vayne's essence. What that means is…all his memories are now within me."
As the words left his lips, a collective gasp rippled through the room. Seraphina's expression shifted from confusion to shock as she processed his confession.
"I met Vayne within myself. We talked and…I experienced what he did. I lived his life as if it was me. I now carry his memories and his sins."
Aric lowered his head to Seraphina as second hand guilt consumed him,
"I'm sorry. Vayne is dead and I killed him."
For several moments, no one spoke. The silence stretched taut, broken only by the sound of Aric's ragged breathing. Then, finally, Seraphina spoke,
"What… what do you mean? You're Aric but you carry all of Vayne's sins and memories? How is that possible?"
"I absorbed his essence entirely. Everything he ever did… I feel as if I did it myself. It was as if I was the one who hit you. It was as if I was the one who caused chaos. It was as if I did everything."
Before he could elaborate further, Lira stepped forward and placed a gentle hand on Seraphina's shoulder.
"Allow me to explain, Aric. You need to rest and drink some water. Ms Evelyn, can you take some water for him?" she said calmly,
Evelyn rushed across the room to pour water while Lira continued,
"There is a book on souls by the old elves. It talks about dominant souls and minor souls. If such a thing did occur, then the two souls which in this case is Aric and Vayne, battle for control of a single body. While Aric may have emerged as the dominant soul, the essence of the soul that lost cannot simply vanish. Its memories, its feelings, all remain intact and passed to the victor's consciousness."
"But…I didn't fight."
Lira raised an eyebrow, "Okay then, what did happen?"
"We…actually just talk and we argued for abit. He then showed me his life story which afterwards, he stopped at the point when he was young. After some back and forth, we kept talking and eventually, he was gone and I was inside a 1 year old him…I live for 20 years in there…I don't know how much time has passed but considering Seraphina still look young and my body function isn't messed up, I guess something messed up happened in my head."
She hummed in thought and click her finger after a minute,
"Essentially, after Aric's soul claimed victory, he somehow lived 20 years in a matter of minutes. I think that's where the stress comes from. Also, maybe the talking part was Vayne's way of accepting defeat and letting Aric learn his actions and passing his body to him."
"But because of that, the stress caused your body to change. Maybe that would explain your hair colour changing along with your eye."
Her explanation hung heavy in the air, leaving the room eerily quiet. One by one, the others turned their gazes back to Aric, their expressions a mixture of sympathy and confusion.
Thorin scratched his head, "Ahhh, but how do we know it's Aric? For all we know, this could be Vayne deceiving us and using Aric's memories."
Aric chuckled at this and raised his hand to create an energy drink that he gave Thorin before. This drained almost all of his energy but he held firm,
"You still gonna doubt me…bro?"
Thorin grabbed the ice cold tin cautiously and scanned the packaging,
"Well…it really is you."
Seraphina sat on the bed, beside him and looked at him,
"You mean…You remember everything Vayne did to me, to Claire, to Evelyn? To everyone? Every betrayal, every sin?"
Aric nodded solemnly, "Yes and I feel it all. The shame, the regret, the disgust…it's suffocating. But I swear to you, Seraphina, I'm still me. I'm still Aric."
Evelyn gave a water cup to Aric, "Does that mean that you're both Vayne and Aric now?"
"No." Aric replied while grabbing the cup and nodding as thanks,
"I'm Aric. Just Aric. But now, I just have more memories."
Seraphina rose from the bed and the atmosphere in the room changed ever so slightly.
"Everyone," she began softly, "please leave us be. Please. I need to speak with my husband. Alone."
Thorin arched an eyebrow from hearing that.
Wait a minute. She always hated saying that word when I overheard her talking with Evelyn before…
Hah. Would you look at that. You made progress too, friend.
Thorin walked up to him and gave Aric a reassuring pat on the shoulder.
"You've got this, brother."
He gave a thumbs up to him before walking towards the door. Lira followed suit and said,
"Find me after you're done. I need to keep examining you, Seraphina. And I also need to understand your body, Aric."
She waved her hand and walked out with Thorin. Penelope, Evelyn and Kayla bowed, smiled at the both of them and left the room. Seraphina used her tendril to lock the door and she once again sat down on his bed.
"Let's talk. It's been awhile."