White Strings

Episode 19 - Memories

The Lumen Temple's academy had halted all sessions. Skyr didn't want to believe it when the watchers had reported that his father needed immediate rescue. He never thought he would hear such a thing, it sounded almost surreal. He didn't even know that Elem had left the Temple. Skyr had to turn back, leaving Maydena with Aste and her familiar. He wasn't sure what he expected, but it was nothing close to what he saw when he barged into the healer's room.

"Who did this?" his voice trembled as he could finally speak.

The room was empty, only Blanc and Lumens were allowed inside. Blanc concentrated on the empty space where Elem's calves were supposed to be, her eyes squinting with effort. Skyr tried to contain himself, waiting for her to look at him and tell him his father was alright.

"I haven't seen this cursed technique in ages," Blanc opened her eyes. "A Viu strong enough to disconnect a living thing from physicality and store it away inside their void."

"Who is it?" Skyr demanded to know. "Did my father say?"

Blanc shook her head. "He is in excruciating pain, I put him to sleep right when the scouts brought him back."

Skyr felt his blood boil, he couldn't bear to look at the unnerving sight anymore. Why couldn't he see any traces of the aura? If this was something so powerful even Blanc acknowledged it, it should have been emitting a stench just as potent. But there was nothing. It made no sense.

Something clicked, and Kaon surfaced inside Skyr's mind. It was a far stretch but to Skyr it seemed like it was the only answer that made sense. But, wasn't Kaon a Manus? Why would he have high levels of Viu techniques? Even so, how could he possibly cause such harm to his father, the master of the Lumen household? Kaon wasn't that powerful.

No, he was. Skyr remembered he overheard the conversation between Kaon and the Fides woman. Kaon had an imprint bond, and Skyr had wanted to report everything before it would be too late. If only Kaon didn't stop him, everything would have been so much different now.

Suddenly, Skyr realized what he had been recalling. That night, he finally remembered it. How? He remembered, yes, that time he followed Kaon. It was too suspicious how strong his aura had become, and Skyr's sharp senses were alarmed. So he started tailing him secretly, and saw him meet with some white haired girl. They seemed close, affectionate, but it answered nothing. Only after he managed to hear the conversation with that older woman, he could put the pieces together. As a Lumen, he was taught privately about the taboo subjects in history, and he knew exactly what a Fides was.

Silk. That white haired girl was her, he was certain of it. Did she know? She was the Fides they were talking about, she was the one Kaon had made an imprint bond with. Skyr couldn't stop the memories from making sense of the hundreds of questions he had in his mind. Silk was the Veran descendant, she was the reason the abomination traces were revealed! And that old woman was her protector. Back then, he planned to immediately return to the Temple. Kaon had picked on his scent somehow and tracked him down, and Skyr never managed to warn anyone.

Kaon was the one who killed his bodyguard. He remembered the horrifying sound of the raw energy that almost exploded his eardrums. He remembered the body being obliterated by the distortion, he remembered it all. He could recall Kaon's face through the aching even though at that time his vision was blurry. He remembered Kaon contemplating out loud.

"If I kill you, the realm would lose even more time," he said at that time. Skyr remembered the cold tone in Kaon's voice, clear as day. "I told you following me would bear consequences."

That time, Skyr had wished for death. He remembered the pain, the countless holes inside his body. The feeling that parts of him were missing. And then, he felt as if he was whole again. Even though the pain was still deep and raw, it was no longer clawing at his mind and eating away at his sanity.