After that talk, Aether let them rest. He didnât want to disturb them, and surely the ladies were interested in what Selene said about his language and all. They seemed to be going to have mat time talk... well, it was bedtime, but still, they were lying on the mat, so itâs mat-time!
Anyway, Aether stood on the balcony as he stared at the darkening sky. "Auto Mode Engaged," he muttered those words again as his hand clenched the gun.
Itâs not like it was his first time hearing his language, after all. That one book in the Elven Empire did mention his language. At that time, he thought someone from his previous world might have appeared in ancient times and written it. After all, itâs not like itâs impossible, right?
He was the proof!
But then again, to think that the Sixth Empire was speaking this language?
What a coincidence?
But if it was the Sixth Empire, how come he hadnât heard it before? After all, he had been with them once and even fought them, mingled with them to trick them, but he never heard their words.
âWhat if... the voice came from the suit, and since Ravenâs sword pierced its eye piece, maybe the sound leaked from it?â he thought, considering that might be a possibility.
And considering it was monotone and emotionless, he could understand that it came from the metallic suit.
"So after all this time, that Empire was actually Earth?" he muttered with mild shock, thinking it was possible.
"Or... this place actually is Earth?" he muttered as he looked at his own Empireânot just his Empire, his entire world...
He stared into the vastness beyond the balcony, lights flickering in the distant towers.
That actually made sense. After all, the advanced technology in that book was almost similar to the times before his death... Those technologies were there in the book...
"Does that mean something happened to Earth after my death?" he muttered as a cold shiver ran down his spine.
"Something altered its geography and everything?... What the fuck is going on here?" he muttered with a lost and slightly fearful expression.
Not sure why he felt this fear, but... something dreadful was slowly rising in his chest.
All this time, he thought that book was written by someone like him, but now... everything was collapsing.
"Earth... Earth... Origins... Did scientists create all of this?" he muttered with a lost tone, looking around the space and dragons... those were mythological figures in the books.
What if scientists on Earth actually created something after his death and... which led to the current situation here?
Geography changed, humans mutated, a variety of creatures created... so many things!
"Origin... Now that fits their name, doesnât it?" he muttered with a sarcastic tone, thinking Earth humans were the start of everything, so thatâs why they had the name Origin...
Then what about this Mother and Arcane?
"Maybe... just maybe, they were test subjects too?" he muttered, as if connecting invisible threads in the dark.
What if... Mother and Arcane were actually once human, forced to undergo some twisted mutation because of the scientists?
Itâs not like itâs impossible, right?
Even back then, when he was alive, he rememberedâsome scientist had created a fucking virus that wiped out millions of people.
He was there, scraping by, barely surviving each day, never enough food, and always that gnawing fear. He never took the vaccination, afraid it might be just another scheme by the same scientists.
So to his eyes, anything was possible after that!
Those fucked-up scientists and those greedy business emperors couldâve done something monstrous, something that led to the creation of Mother and Arcane.
"After all, the video of that scientist terrified of Arcane... and those gunshots echoing in the dark... sigh, now everything makes sense," Aether sighed, feeling the puzzle pieces slowly snapping together in his mind.
If so... does that mean the people he loved, the ones he used to love, were here once too?
Wait... Arcane and Mother did mention his soul had been brought to another world.
What ifâwhat if it was right here, before everything changed?
After all, he could move through time, right?
Does that mean... his friends, his family... his exâwere they here before?
What happened to them?
Did they die?
Did they suffer?
Aetherâs chest tightened, sweat beading on his brow, a clammy chill running through his veins.
Everything was possible... so maybe this was too.
Manipulation?
But... What if... what if he was the one being manipulated?
A cold chill ran along his spine. He remembered... heâd been kidnapped by organ traffickers, right?
What if theyâd decided to put his brain into some kind of experiment... made him their test subject?
What if none of this was real?
Aetherâs pupils dilated as he stared at his trembling, damp hand. His body shook... For an instant, he felt something shift around him... the air flickered, reality seemed to peel away.
His eyes widened in horror as the world snapped into the harsh, sterile glow of a laboratory.
He couldnât move an inch, but he could see everything.
Figures in white coats, drifting past, their voices muffled, their laughter echoing off tile and glass. They moved between machines, checked charts, poked and prodded as if he wasnât there, as if none of them noticed him trapped inside.
And thenâ
Bubble~
A bubble floated into his vision, strange and clear. He blinked, trying to focus, and as he moved closer, he saw itâthe curved, cold surface of... glass?
He stared into the tank beyond the glass.
He saw... a brain, suspended in a tube of pale, swirling fluid, dozens of wires snaking out from the tissue, pulsing with light, feeding somewhere deep into the shadowy machinery.
Aether felt a suffocating pressure, as if heâd been submerged in that fluid tube for decades. His senses trembled, nerves screamingâpain... suffering... and the terror of being utterly lost.
Suddenly, the room where the people stood was swallowed by red alarm lights. Sirens blared!!
Everyone was panicking, their faces turning toward himâJust then, Aetherâs vision froze in cold fear when he saw... that manâ
[Youâre dreaming a lot, arenât you?]
"GASP!!!"
Aether suddenly gasped, dragging in a breath as if heâd been drowning, holding it for a lifetime... no, for a thousand lifetimes.
He panted, chest heaving, eyes darting aroundâhe was still on the balcony.
Not inside a tube... Not a helpless test subject.
Everything... looked and felt normal!
Yet,
"T-That felt so... vivid." He muttered, voice cold and shaken as he stared at his fear-drenched hand, legs still trembling.
How could he remember that man after all this time?
W-Why?
Whatâs going on here?
[You keep dreaming and soon youâll become a đ€Ąđ«š]
Aether blinked, hearing that voice again in his mind. He shook his head, annoyance flickering across his face. "Look who decided to talk..."
But the voice gave no reply. Aetherâs lips twisted into a smirk. "Log... If you were a real person, I swearâIâd spank your ass until it turned into a peach!" he snapped, half furious, half exasperated.
[đ«°]
Aether snorted, shaking his head. Maybe he was just lost in his thoughts, chasing too many possibilities, too many what-ifs.
He took a deep breath, glancing at his hand, still clenched tight around the gun. "Terra Empire, Void Empire... and Rosavere. All three are connected," he muttered, eyes narrowing with resolve.
He couldnât visit the Void Empire anymore, and Terraâhe still hadnât managed contact.
No choice left except Rosavere.
She was the only key to these endless questions, to all the things heâd lost.
He tightened his grip on the gun. He needed to actâespecially about this woman. But he didnât know her true weakness... except for one possibility.
"Maybe I shouldâve talked to that receptionist," he muttered, a serious edge to his tone, glancing up at the sky where strange changes moved through the clouds, numbers shifting softly in the dusk.
But something deep down told him... this was going to be the fucking countdown for all of them.
Aether drew in a steadying breath before shrugging off the chill. "Letâs put those things aside... Canât have my wives worrying about me all the time," he thought. After all, his anxiety and confusion were starting to show, and that was why his wives always tried to steady him. He needed to control hisâ
"Hmm?" Aether frowned, catching sight of Thalia walking across the yard with a determined, almost grim lookâhauling a punching bag over her shoulder.
"Whatâs she doing out there?" he muttered.