Feeling Beneath The Numbness (Kayn x Aphelios)

Feeling Beneath The Numbness

"Phel... your body, despite it's strength, can only push so far... You must rest, Aphelios." Her quiet, soft voice was a mere whisper in his head, whom none other but himself could hear.

Aphelios had arrived in Ionia no more than a day ago, with a moonstone-carved vase secured tightly against his waist (that of which, was filled to the brim with Noctum essence), Aphelios, from the minute his feet had collided with the Ionian soil, had begun his restless search for the Aspect of the Moon, Diana. As far as Phel knew, Diana had fled Mount Targon to these lands moons ago for a reason he did not yet know. With the help of his beloved Sister, Aphelios was able to envision Diana and without completely understanding why yet, has sought out to find her.

It didn't take long for Aphelios to realise that this foreign land, Ionia, spoke in a tongue he was oblivious to, as so was his sister, Alune, whom was very displeased with his reluctance to rest. He had been travelling across Valoran, pushing himself hard, desperate to complete his sister and his duty.. Deep down, Aphelios prayed that perhaps if he pushed himself hard enough, if he rushed to accomplish all their goals, he might someday be rewarded a reunion with his sister. Gosh, how he missed her.. his closest companion, his only true friend, his twin...

Why must it be them who had to suffer whilst fighting for the safety of everyone else? He fought desperately against his own emotions, attempting to force himself to cry, to feel, anything at all. But all he could feel was the pain of longing desperately for his sister... How it must feel to wrap his strong, scarred arms around her, to see her beautiful face, as pale as the moon...

The time came for him to push these agonising thoughts aside as he focused on his search across Ionia. His gaze fixated on the path that lay ahead of him.

As the first few nights had passed since he had arrived in Ionia, he had long been stuck with little to no information on where their Aspect might be, nor why she might have come to this distant land. To Alune's relief, Phel had spent an entire day resting in a small cave on the outskirts of a local village before taking a painful gulp of noctum essence as the sun set and the moon's light soon coated the now quiet first lands. He gasped and coughed aloud, the unbearably, indescribable pain choking him mercilessly whilst Alune's spirit travelled far through the veil to collide with his. Each time they had been opened up to each other, their soul uniting in a near impossible way, whilst Aphelios choked through the pain Alune couldn't help but cry out his name from her fortress in the spirit realm. She too wanted to reach out to him, to feel her brother once more and embrace him.. But they both knew that, that day would have to wait, perhaps it may never come...  luckily, they were both thankful that their damned orbits still guided them down their paths together.

Phel straightened himself up, squeezing his fingers around the moonstone Chakram Alune called out to be Crescendum. Aphelios' entire body was now completely numbed, as so were his emotions which he fought desperately to feel.. The only thing he could feel, was his everlasting longing for his beloved and greatly missed sister.

Aphelios followed whatever orders Alune gave him, travelling whichever path her voice lead him down. Like most nights since arriving in Ionia, nothing interesting had happened, nor was there any hints, signs, or clues as to where the rebellious Aspect might be.. But without warning, from far across the veil, Alune's voice reached him in a panic.

"Phel!" Her usually quiet and calm voice had echoed louder in his mind as a he heard the whistling of an arrow approach, though he was near close to dodging, the arrow pierced his arm as he quickly attempted to jump out of the way. Her voice had startled him so much so, that he had taken a few extra seconds to process what was happening. A group of what seemed to be Ionian rebels were approaching him from all sides.