Determined to take control of their fates, Arjen and Arien escape Derolina Castle at the age of sixteen after their cruel mother dies. They adopt new names and find a home in the city of Aramore, while the Emperor of Yuriana searches for his missing...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
He was certain they had died again. He felt nothing, heard nothing, saw nothing, trapped in an all-encompassing void, both somehow comforting and despairing. He waited for that pinpoint of light, the arrival of his next life, just like last time.
Where was Arien? He reached out for her but found only a yawning emptiness, silent and dark. His soul retracted and withered.
It just wasn't fair. They never did anything wrong. Why did they have to suffer like this?
A beam of light appeared in the darkness.
He didn't want to live again, not without his sister, not alone.
Something warm against his cheek. A touch.
"...niel."
Who was that?
"Daniel."
Arjen opened his eyes. Stars winked between the treetops. He blinked to clear the fog from his mind, wondering if he had been reborn somewhere outside.
Someone squeezed his shoulder. "Daniel, can you hear me?"
He saw the white hair and worried pale blue eyes. Arjen's heart could've burst with joy. "Marcus!" He sat up and threw his arms around him.
Marcus jumped. He settled into the hug, patting Arjen's back. "It's alright. You're safe now."
Tears stung Arjen's eyes. "How did you get here? Why are you here?"
"Why else would I be here? Those brutes took you. I had to come get you, didn't I?"
"But what about—"
There was a groan beside him and Arien stirred. "Uuugh... My head hurts..." She sat up, but when she saw Marcus, her eyes went wide. "M-Marcus?"
"He came for us," said Arjen. A smile broke out across his lips, but then he saw the small flames licking at the grass around them and the acrid smoke that curled up from the ground. Were they still in the cemetery? They sat on the ruins of the mausoleum. Arjen tried not to look at the coffins that lay half-exposed in the broken walls, some of the lids having slid off partway. The headstones had been knocked flat and some of the nearby trees were broken to pieces. The ground had been completely charred. It reminded him of the time Arien blew away those bandits two years ago.
"I chased it away," said Marcus. "It was tough, but I think it was more surprised than scared. Your mana should almost be fully restored by now."
"It? You mean that thing?" Arjen said. He looked around again. "You did all this?"
Arien wrung her hands, glancing between Arjen and Marcus.
"What's wrong, Arien?" When she touched her hair, his whole body froze. Blond. Still blond! They never changed it back! His hands went to his head. "Ah! Shit!"
