CHAPTER 43 —
Start of Arc 4 — THE AGE OF EXCEPTIONS
The gates of Aetheria did not open with celebration.
They opened slowly.
Stone groaned against stone as ancient mechanisms awakened, the sound carrying across the quiet city like a cautious breath drawn after a long illness. Dust slid from the upper arches. Light spilled inward, hesitant at first, then steady, as the doors parted just enough to allow two figures to step through.
Haruto crossed the threshold first.
The moment his boots touched the inner stone, he felt it.
Not danger.
Not hostility.
Expectation.
It clung to the air like static before a storm, thick enough to press against his chest. The city was watching. Not loudly. Not openly. But completely.
Airi followed half a step behind him.
Her fingers were wrapped around the sleeve of his coat without her realizing it, her grip tight enough that the fabric creased beneath her knuckles. The Eclipse staff was gone, dismissed the instant reality had stabilized, but the warmth beneath her skin had not faded. It lingered in her chest, quiet and deep, like an ember buried under ash.
She looked around slowly.
The walls were the same pale stone.
The banners still hung from balconies and towers, their colors slightly faded from exposure but intact.
The central spire still caught the sun at the same angle as always, casting its familiar shadow across the plaza.
Everything looked right.
And yet nothing felt the same.
"Onii Chan…" Airi whispered.
Her voice sounded small in the open space.
Haruto did not answer immediately.
He was listening.
Not with his ears, but with the part of himself that had learned to read the shape of a place. The city's mana flowed smoothly again, no longer twisted or suppressed. The lingering residue of the dark dome had vanished completely. No cracks. No scars. No corruption.
Aetheria had survived.
But survival had left marks no spell could erase.
Soldiers lined the streets ahead.
Not in rigid battle formation, but not relaxed either. Shields rested against boots. Spears were held upright, tips lowered in respect rather than threat. Their armor bore the crest of Aetheria, but many pieces were mismatched, repaired hastily, scratched and worn from a month of readiness that never erupted into battle.
Their eyes followed Haruto and Airi as they walked.
Some widened.
Some softened.
Some flickered with something close to disbelief.
No one spoke.
Airi felt it more sharply than Haruto did.
She shrank a little closer to him, her shoulder brushing his arm.
"Why are they looking at us like that…?" she murmured.
Haruto answered quietly.
"Because they thought they lost us."
That made her chest tighten.
They moved deeper into the city.
Doors creaked open.
Faces appeared.
Shopkeepers leaned out from behind counters that had remained closed far too long. Parents stepped into the street with children half hidden behind their legs. Elder elves watched from balconies with hands clasped tightly at their chests.
No cheers rose.
No cries of victory.
There was relief, yes.
But there was also something else.
Distance.
As if everyone could see the space that had opened between them and these two figures who had walked into darkness and returned changed.
Airi's fingers curled tighter.
"Onii Chan… did we… do something wrong…?"
Haruto shook his head.
"No."
Before he could say more, footsteps approached from ahead.
Measured. Disciplined. Multiple.
A group of officers stepped forward, their armor unmistakably foreign. Four different designs. Four different insignias. Each one instantly recognizable.
Allied empires.
The lead officer removed his helmet as he stopped several paces away. His hair was streaked with gray that had not been there the last time Haruto had seen him. His face looked drawn, eyes shadowed by exhaustion that came from vigilance rather than battle.
He went to one knee.
The other officers followed.
"Prince Haruto," he said, voice steady but heavy with something unspoken.
"Princess Airi."
Airi flinched at the title.
Haruto inclined his head slightly.
"Report."
The officer hesitated.
That alone sent a ripple of unease through Haruto's chest.
"We were dispatched one month ago to observe the phenomenon surrounding Aetheria," the officer said carefully. "The dark dome that manifested without warning."
Airi blinked.
"One month…?" she echoed faintly.
Haruto's gaze sharpened.
"How long," he asked, "did the dome persist?"
The officer lifted his eyes to meet Haruto's.
"Thirty two days."
The world did not shatter.
No thunder rolled.
No mana surged.
Silence simply expanded, swallowing the street whole.
Airi let out a small laugh.
It slipped from her lips before she could stop it, light and confused.
"That's not funny," she said quickly. "It was eight days. We counted."
No one laughed with her.
Her smile faltered.
Haruto felt something cold settle behind his eyes.
"We entered the Void eight days ago," he said slowly. "We returned just now."
The officer swallowed.
"With respect," he replied, "the dome formed thirty two days ago. No signal passed through it. No spell pierced it. Every scout that attempted entry vanished."
Airi's breath hitched.
"Vanished…?"
She looked up at Haruto, panic flickering in her aqua eyes.
"Onii Chan… we were there for eight days. I know we were. We slept. We fought. We trained. We counted."
"I know," Haruto said firmly.
He turned back to the officer.
"Confirm your records."
The officer gestured.
Another soldier stepped forward, opening a reinforced case. Inside were sealed logs, reports stamped with dates, emergency notices, patrol rotations, supply depletion charts.
Airi stared at the pages.
The dates did not align.
Her fingers trembled as she reached out, stopping just short of touching the ink.
"That's…" Her voice cracked. "That's impossible…"
Eight days.
That was how long they had endured.
Eight days of constant pressure.
Eight days of fighting entities that bent reality.
Eight days of never letting go of each other.
But outside?
Aetheria had waited.
A full month.
Airi's knees buckled.
Haruto caught her instantly, pulling her against his chest before she could fall.
"Onii Chan…" she whispered, fingers curling into his coat. "People were waiting… for a whole month…"
Her shoulders shook.
"They thought we were gone…"
Haruto held her firmly.
"They believed you would come back," he said quietly.
The officer spoke again, softer now.
"During the second week, neighboring territories assumed collapse was inevitable. Some prepared evacuation routes. Others reinforced their borders."
He paused.
"But none advanced."
Haruto looked up sharply.
"Why?"
The officer straightened.
"Because the four allied empires declared joint protection of Aetheria. Any movement toward these lands would be treated as an act of war."
Airi's eyes widened.
"They did that… without knowing if we were alive…?"
The officer nodded.
"They said this." He hesitated, then continued. "If the siblings still live, they will return. And if they do not… then Aetheria will be honored as a fallen ally, not prey."
Airi's tears finally fell.
Not loud.
Not dramatic.
They simply slid down her cheeks and soaked into Haruto's coat.
Haruto closed his eyes briefly.
A month.
An entire month of fear, silence, and waiting.
And they had never known.
They were escorted into the inner halls soon after.
Healers insisted on examinations. Clerics hovered nervously, unsure whether their magic would even function properly on beings who had walked out of a collapsing realm. Officials stood at a distance, whispering urgently to one another, but none dared approach without permission.
Haruto dismissed most of them.
Airi sat quietly on a stone bench near the high windows, her feet dangling above the floor. She stared out at the city below, eyes unfocused.
"Onii Chan…" she said after a long while.
"Yes."
"…Did everyone think we were dead…?"
Haruto leaned against the wall beside her.
"They hoped we weren't."
She nodded slowly.
"That's worse…"
He did not argue.
Sunlight spilled through the tall windows, warm and ordinary. Below, the city moved again. People walking. Bells beginning to ring. Life resuming cautiously, like a wounded animal testing its legs.
Airi hugged her knees.
"If time moved differently there…" she whispered, "what if next time it's longer here…?"
Haruto knelt in front of her and took her hands gently.
"Then we make sure there isn't a next time like that."
She looked at him.
"…Can we promise that…?"
He met her gaze.
"I can promise that I will never let you face it alone."
That was enough.
She leaned forward, resting her forehead against his.
Outside the hall, beyond the walls of Aetheria, the world adjusted its understanding.
The darkness was gone.
The dome had vanished.
The siblings had returned.
And time itself had revealed that it did not obey the same rules around them anymore.
Far away, unseen eyes observed.
But for now, Aetheria breathed.
And its rulers stood within it once more.
END OF Chapter 43