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32. Time's almost up

"Hanju.... right."
Aeithalis let out a low chuckle and his gaze swept over Fharan before it drifted off into the distance. "Very fitting considering...."
He stopped abruptly and shook his head. "There is no time for that.", he said, seemingly reminding himself.
Fharan did not know how he did it, but from one second to another Aeithalis held a knife in his hand.
Fharan raised a brow.

"You know,", Aeithalis spoke once more and played with the blade in his hand. It seemed to greatly amuse him. "You are not the first in the imperial line to be born without its fire. But you were the first to be abandoned. Makes one wonder, no?
Why you?"

Fharan just stared at him, slightly confused. "What does that have to do with the Hanju?"
Aeithalis ignored him. "And then it just so happens that the unwanted son gets kidnapped, practically disappearing from the face of the earth. A interesting coincidence, right?"
Fharan narrowed his eyes. "What are you implying?"
"Don't play dumb with me, princeling. That's one of your reasons for returning to the capital, isn't it?!
To find out how deep all this really goes. If the imperial family itself was involved in your abduction..."

From one second to another, the anger and confusion disappeared from Fharans features, his face now impassive and calm.
"So it's true?", he asked.
Aeithalis looked at him. "Yes. Through I do not know about the true extend of things."

"Then let me repeat myself once more: Why am I here?"
"Because you have managed to awaken your power.
I cannot say exactly when you did, but you would probably not have survived otherwise. Not until now." "Pray tell, what is it that you are talking about?"
"You do not only carry the inheritance of the Hanju. You are a seer."
Fharan went still. He seemed to even have stopped breathing.

"My guess would be that your abilities awakened before you were kidnapped. They probably didn't even realize it. Years spent trying to find a way to awaken you. To draw something out that had been there all along.
Quite hilarious if one thinks about it.
Instead of breaking you, they gave you powers that lay even beyond their own imagination.
But do not worry. Not many know of your little secret and the ones who know will try to keep it that way."

The redhead stayed silent when Aeithalis form suddenly flickered. The other seemed not to notice though.

"Well, to be frank, we hoped for you to appear someday. Or to be more specific: We knew that something would. Some kind of anomaly.
From the moment you were born there were only two options. Either you would die before reaching the age of five or you were going to save the world."
Fharan lifted a brow. "Safe the world?", he asked sarcastically.
"Yes. Or destroy it, depending on who you ask.
It's very simple actually. You'll just have to free the stars."

Fharan just stared at him. "So you decided to bet you soul on a whim of nature in the hope that that would make it come true?"
Aeithalis smiled at him. "Stars do not posses what you call souls. They either exist or they don't, there is nothing in between that connects these two planes."

"Never mind that. Why do you believe I would want to free your kind?"
Aeithalis smiled at him. "Because you are one of us.", he replied calmly.
Fharan blinked. "What?"
Aeithalis smile widened.
"You are one of us. The first new star since the beginning of time. Born as human at that. Born with a soul.
Would you have been anything else, you would not have survived our little journey down here. You seem to suppress your power though.
And even though I pointed out that you are a seer, I have no knowledge of how exactly that manifested.
Whatever it might be, the ring in your hand will help you control it."

"That is still no reason to risk my life for yours, blue star of Erestrera."
The other's eyes widened slightly as Fharan mentioned his real name.
"Well, it appears as if I was right about you. They have no clue what's coming for them."
Aeithalis laughed before turning serious again.
"But I didn't bring the topic up just to force you to make a decision. How pretentious that might sound. We simply wanted to meet you."

There was a rumble and this time it was not only Aeithalis that flickered in and out of existence, but space itself. It had barely stabilized when it started once more.
The blue haired man sight.
Fharan could feel how everything around him seemed to twist and squirm, as if trying to break free from invisible shackles.

"It appears that our time is up." Aeithalis voice was strangely faint.
The crypt slowly started to lose its colours, the stones their form and even light and darkness seemed distorted.

Fharan did not know how Aeithalis did it, but from one second to another he was standing right in front of him and plunged his knife into the younger ones chest. Fharan could not feel any pain though, just coldness.
"Until next time.", Aeithalis whispered with a grin.

There was a sudden and violent tuck at his soul and Fharan closed his eyes as he felt himself fade away.

Reality

It was in the middle of the night when Afrit jolted awake from his dozing and immediately got off his bed. The bond connecting him to Fharan was violently pulsing, pulling at his very core.
He took a moment to check his surroundings before spinning around to run out of his rooms.
There was no time to hesitate.

With every step he took the feeling within his chest grew stronger.
He knew what had happened even before he sidestepped Rasha, causing her to yell out in surprise as she stumbled back and pushed open the door. There was no doubt.
His bond was awake.

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Slow updates at the moment...
My apologies.