[A/N: read the an at the bottom, very important!]
Arthur finally moved from his prone position an unknown amount of time later. He had finally achieved the ability in theory. Now was the true test.
Arthur extended one of his arms to the sky, fist clenched.
He would use the arm as a medium to limit the range of his ability. Then Arthur poured aether into the arm, filling it completely up to his shoulder.
Then his mind sharpened, mapping out the area and focusing the aether to its slimmest possible shape.
It poured out in a wide circle.
In a moment, everything around him was in a bright violet sphere, even underground.
Then he spread out the sphere, searching for the balance of thinness and structure.
A difficult yet manageable task.
Arthur stood like this, not daring to tense a muscle for a few moments. Suddenly, he found the margin of perfection.
A smile graced Arthur's face, but he did not dare celebrate too quickly.
Now came the hard part.
He focused godstep, or rather the mechanism behind it that allowed it to work.
Using the spell on his very being, his very soul.
Then when he finally managed to surround a part of his own soul sea. He willed it to take shape in the real world.
Immediately, Arthur felt a resistance, pain blooming throughout his entire body. Yet he did not falter, his goal singular and dire, he could not fail.
And so he continued to use his meager authority in the real world and his own soul, commanding both to obey him.
Until suddenly, there was no pressure. And instead of shape-shifting ground, there was fire. Violet fire, Arthur looked up, a violet volcano spewing destruction before his very eyes.
At once, all the focus vanished, a grin appearing on his face.
Then suddenly, everything collapsed, yet he wasn't in the same place. Instead, he was in a long marbled hallway, with statues every few meters, a single long red carpet with golden markings stretching across the floor.
And in front of him stood Grey, not the emotionless divine being. But the man who looked far too similar to Arthur himself.
And instead of a frown or a scowl on Grey's face, it was amazement, happiness even.
Grey clapped his hands twice, his hair swaying each time.
"Well done, well done indeed."
Arthur was lying on his back, inside the spell once again.
He silently lay there, emotionless.
Grey had taught him what was happening and of course, he dutifully explained how aether worked in its entirety.
Spatium for space, Aevum for time, Vivum for existence.
And two unknown ones. What abilities did Grey possess? Grey had still not figured out where King's gambit was born. And Fate? It seemed to be an ability only Grey himself could wield. A truly Divine instrument.
Finally, the spell's monotone voice sounded out through the world.
Yet instead of the appraisal, something shifted.
Arthur felt it, another presence. He recognized it at once, Grey. How had he managed to break in?
The spell didn't seem to notice, or perhaps it just didn't care.
[Your nightmare is over.]
Yet instead of anything else, there was nothing.
No summary, no kills confirmations, no abilities, nothing.
Then Arthur felt it, his soul seemingly awakening.
Arthur realized it at once, it was his dormant powers Awakening. It was the same wonderful feeling he remembered. Even greater than all the other ones combined.
And then Arthur's body broke. Bones snapped, muscles tore. Then it healed. Better, stronger. It was an incredibly painful experience. Yet Arthur did not scream, he was accustomed to feeling his very soul being torn apart. Compared to that? It was nothing.
A few minutes passed, Arthur's gaze focused on the void filled with stars, strings, and something greater, far eerier without the voice of the spell.
The next moment Arthur woke up, his breath steady, eyes cold. He looked around where he was, a cave of some sort. A strange, yet unexplainable safe feeling base.
The air was warm, and a neatly made campfire made from mud and bricks was on the left side. A table sat close by, two chairs facing it. Strangely, there was no person in the cave, other than himself.
[A/n: OK so basically, I had this chapter done the same day as I released the last one, but it didint reach the 1k word mark. And so I started thinking, where the fuck in the timeline does Arthur wake up?
1:
Arthur wakes up after falcon scott has fallen.
2:
Arthur wakes up after the war.
3:
Arthur wakes up before falcon scott gets erased.
Each option is decent, each viable.
I'll state my own opinion on each one.
On the first option, I think it's a good idea, this would also include Arthur himself perhaps getting involved in the war.
On the second day option, this would skip basically everything, which I wouldn't be annoyed at, but I continued this fic just because people wanted antarctica, and I haven't really delivered on that.
On the third option: I don't really like this, just because of a single reason, Arthur would definitely be able to hold back the winter beast, maybe even kill it. Which I don't really want to do, since that would kind of ruin Sunny's character development in my eyes. However, I could still do this, and just change Sunny a bit.
Yall decide, I won't post anything until you, the readers will state your own opinions!
Thanks for reading and support!