by Arantes
Aleister’s body was badly hurt as he was trying to get up. He started dripping blood and his skin looked as if it was coming off. Albedo, with both of his hands, used his flare against Aleister while on the ground. Aleister teleported fast, leaving him with marks of burnt flesh, but worst, his Reawakening was gone. Damn this teleportation ability! I can’t use it properly while in my Reawakening stage without it disturbing my concentration flow!
Albedo stopped firing after noticing Aleister had teleported. He came at Aleister fast now, but Aleister was not going to run. He took his short sword and launched at Albedo, but Albedo was too fast thanks to the Reawakening. He grabbed Aleister’s left hand and connected his right fist in Aleister’s stomach. Water sprung out of Aleister’s mouth. Without the Reawakening Aleister had become slow. Albedo continued on his assault to Aleister’s gut. With each punch you could hear a bone breaking in his body.
Damn this power, why won’t you work?! For the first time in years, Aleister was actually thinking he was going to die. I have to go inside his mind now before he kills me!
“Shattered!”
Being inside of Albedo’s mind was something that Aleister was used to doing. Through Albedo’s nightmares he had gone inside his mind, in the hopes of awakening his memories. Time and time again, Aleister had failed to do so; the memories were just too complex for Aleister to solve. It was like a puzzle in some way. Having the ability to go inside someone’s mind was easy for him to do, depending on the person’s mind, but finding what you were looking for was the hard part. Memories and memories were sitting on top of each other, and even some memories had memory locks within them. Out of all of Aleister’s abilities, this was the one he hated the most. He had used that same ability against Sonia to bring fear into her eyes. It wasn’t till she came back to Inferno, after her mission in Odeon, that Albedo had somehow removed the grip of fear that he had on her. He had wondered time and time again if Albedo somehow had awakened this ability, the ability to put fear inside your opponents mind. Maybe Albedo had awakened it and that would explain a lot when the bear had come to kill him. He had remembered telling Albedo to wake up, to awaken before the bear could get to him. Albedo somehow had awakened this ability of his, putting the fear inside the bear’s mind. The bear had become so afraid of him that she grabbed her cub and left.
Aleister was now inside of Albedo’s mind, surrounded in water as if it was air. This water felt different, he could actually breath in it. He was walking through the vast region of light red water. He looked around and wondered if this water had an end to it. Today he had no plan to go inside of Albedo’s mind, but Albedo was so deep in the darkness that he had no other alternative. If this was someone else, then Aleister would have been done by now, but Albedo was different, his memories were locked away. Aleister knew he had to go deeper in the water. In his left hand he had on a sand-watch, tracking how long he could stay inside of Albedo’s mind. Aleister sank deeper in the water; he could see a giant shadow figure. When the figure came closer, it was a giant black bird. The bird was at least fifty times his size, but of course seeing a giant bird wasn’t unorthodox for Aleister. He had gone inside different minds using this ability of his, and each mind was unique and exquisite in their own way. Albedo’s mind however was different; it was truly out of the ordinary. He could breathe under the water as if breathing air itself. The deeper Aleister went in the water, the weirder this place became. He saw a giant lion swimming as if it was a fish. Aleister of course was ready if these animals tried to attack him, but they paid no mind to him. At first he thought they were guardians, protecting Albedo’s memories, but they simply paid no mind to him. Each mind was different, in some the weird figures would attack him and he would have to defend himself. It’s been so long since he had gone this deep inside of Albedo’s mind. He had gone inside of Albedo’s mind before, before he found him, but being so far away from him put a leash on his range to go deeper. Albedo was here now; closer to him, so that means his ability can go further inside his mind.
Aleister moved fast like a fish as he went deeper. After a minute or two he could see light now, good, he was getting close to Albedo’s memories. Aleister landed softly on a glass, it was at least twenty-five feet in height and width. He looked under his feet to see the pictures moving on the screen. He could see Albedo sitting in by the cherry blossoms. All around Aleister were thousands of glasses playing different types of pictures, Albedo’s memories. They were scattered all over in the immensity of water. Around Aleister were two different types of glass, the ones playing the pictures were red, and the others were black, but weren’t playing any pictures at all, blank.
The black ones must be Dawson’s memories, and the red must be Albedo’s. Since I was so far away from him before, it was hard for me to reach the memory-glasses. When I was trying to find Albedo, I used some of my memories to go inside of his mind and fed him some of mine. I was hoping that memories of him and I would somehow trigger his power. It’s been so long since I‘ve been so deep inside of his mind. I hope I still remember how to work this ability. Before he started he stopped and looked around, admiring the place. Your mind is truly beautiful, Dawson. You were always the one who appreciated beauty. Your mind is filled with wonders and prosperity. Dawson, you have to wake up! When the others awaken, I don’t know what they will do old friend. All I can do right now is tried to bring you back.
Aleister jumped to a different glass, this one was playing a memory of the first time he met Sonia. That girl Sonia had woke him up; let’s hope she can do it again. Aleister hated Sonia, that witch. He wanted to be the one to bring Albedo out of his darkness. Somehow this wicked girl had stopped Albedo from transforming when he fought against Michael. Aleister had it all figured out, he was inside of Albedo’s mind when he was transforming, he was going to use that opportunity to teach him how to control the Reawakening. Well, I guess it’s time for a new strategy. Aleister placed his hands on the glass, and closed his eyes, concentrating. He opened his eyes and said, “Shattered!” the glass broke into a thousand pieces and turned into bubbles. The bubbles made their way to the surface, to reach Albedo’s mind and somehow triggered him out of this stage of madness.
The bubbles reached the top and the memories played in Albedo’s mind…. Aleister waited but nothing happened, if it had worked then Aleister would have felt it, but everything was the same. He looked at his sand-watch and saw he didn’t have much time. He knew that if he stayed for too long, then Albedo’s mind would swallow his mind forever. This was the curse of this ability; he would be stuck here for eternity. He went to a different memory of Sonia and shattered it…. Nothing, he tried again but nothing happened. He looked at his sand-watch and saw that it was almost empty, the sand will run out soon. Aleister needed to hurry up; he tried and tried again, still nothing. Finally he screamed in frustration and anger. He had to find a way to bring Albedo back, just like the Reawakening he couldn’t use this ability whenever he pleased, it needed time for it to recharge after using it. If he failed, this ability would take too long for it to recharge itself, by that time Albedo would have pounded him to death. It was a good thing that thanks to this sand-watch time moved much faster in here, one second outside was five minutes in here. But if the last grain of sand dropped, and he’s still inside of someone’s mind, then time from the outside world and inside of the mind will go back in sync with each other, leaving your body as a doll in the outside world and trapping you here for eternity.
Aleister sat on one of the glass-memories, watching the sand almost reaching its last grain. He was frustrated with himself; this should have been so easy to do. He had a feeling in his gut that he was missing something, but what. It had been so long since he had gone this deep inside someone’s mind that he forgot some of the secrets of this ability. The clock was ticking down and he had to leave. He got up. He knew when he went back to his body he was going to be taking a pounding from Albedo. Aleister wasn’t going to die; today wasn’t the day fo
r him to. Once he’s out in the real world, he’s going to move away from Albedo and try to use the Reawakening to fight back. His body was in bad shape, and the instant regeneration from the Reawakening only worked once until it can be recharged. If you’re hurt in a battle and you’re hoping to keep using the Reawakening to regenerate every time, then you have a surprise coming. Aleister jumped up, heading for the surface, he had failed.
Wait, what am I doing, the door of consciousness! I need to find it! He suddenly remembered something important.
How could he have forgotten such a crucial part of this ability? If he enters the door of consciousness, then his sand-watch would go back to the beginning, giving him more time; not only that, he could find Albedo there. He needed to find it fast; sleeping for this long was taking its toll on his own memory. The bubbles! Of course, the bubbles go straight to the mind and it must go to the door of consciousness and Aleister could follow it. Finding that place is like being in a maze, only the bubbles could lead me there. He quickly broke one of the memory-glasses, and the bubbles sprung out and moved fast. Aleister followed it; he was running out of time. It was a good thing that the bubbles moved fast, because they led him to the door of consciousness. The door of conscious was a gigantic door painted in deep red floating on a stone pedestal. Huge chains and a lock guarded the door. The bubbles floated inside the keyhole.
A keyhole, this was going to be a problem. Aleister tried to open the door but it would not budge. He kicked it and punched it but nothing happened. He took a quick look at his sand-watch and realized that he only had had about a minute left. Aleister knew there was nothing else he could do, he had to leave or he was going to be trapped here forever. He placed his hands on the door to see if he could shatter the keyhole like the glass-memories. “Shat—“
“Wait! Stop!” Aleister heard a loud voice behind him. When he looked back he could see a boy.
“Please don’t try to open that door; you’ll release the monster inside.”
“Monster, what monster?” Before the boy could answer, Aleister realized what he was talking about. Albedo’s mind was behind the door of conscience, so that means the darkness must be in there. Good, thought Aleister, if he can somehow find a way to get inside of his conscience, then he could bring Albedo back. “Look kid, I know you don’t know who I am, and I know you’re afraid of me. But I’m going to need you to tell me quickly now, where is the key to this door?”
The boy looked at him, “I know who you are, Aleister. You were the one giving me nightmares all the time. Thanks to you this place is filled with weird creatures.”
This wasn’t what Aleister was looking for. Who is this boy, he thought, what is he to this place?
The boy walked up to him and placed his right hand on Aleister’s sand-watch, the sand went back to the beginning. Aleister examined his watch and saw that it was back to the beginning, good, now he had more time.
“How did you do that?”
“I’m sorry mister, but I don’t have the key to this room. And if you shatter it, I don’t know what might happen.”
“Then who has the key?”
“I don’t know.”
This kid was weird, awkward and useless. “Tell me about the black memory-glasses, how do I break them?”
“I don’t know,” he replied emotionless.
Was there anything he knows, or was he holding back answers from Aleister? Aleister thought about grabbing him and demanding the answer, but that would not be such a good idea. This boy had been here longer than Aleister, he might know something essential. Aleister could not recall ever seeing this boy before when he used to enter Albedo’s mind. “Tell me kid, who are you really?”
“I’m nobody, just a figment created from Albedo’s memories that’s all.” He hesitated, but he said, “I can tell you a way to bring Albedo back.”
“Then tell me already. I don’t have much time,” said Aleister rapidly.
“It might not work but, if you shattered all the memory-glass simultaneously. That would put Albedo’s mind into overload, forcing him to wake up.”
All those memories rushing into his mind might be just enough to wake him up from his consciousness. Of course, so simple, why didn’t Aleister think of that? Aleister wasted no time jumping off the cliff back to the bottom of the pit. When he got there he stood in the middle of all the glasses and raised his right hand.
“SHATTERED!”
All the glasses broke into millions of pieces, millions of bubbles rushed to the top. Aleister could feel it; the Reawakening was losing its grip on Albedo’s mind. He quickly took off the sand-watch and Aleister’s body burst into bubbles, sending his mind back into his own body.
When Aleister was out of Albedo’s mind, Albedo’s fist was this close of connecting into his stomach once again. Albedo started to scream, making that sound that Michael made. Aleister was now badly hurt; all those punches to the gut took its toll on him, and using his teleportation while using the Reawakening drains too much energy and had broken his concentration. Blood was coming out of his hands, chest, legs, and back. Albedo’s fireball had nearly killed him. He quickly placed his right hand onto Albedo’s head.
“SHATTERED!”
Albedo fell to the ground and the Reawakening started to lose its strength. Aleister now
fell to the ground and lay beside Albedo, who was now unconscious. Today Aleister had nearly died, lost his mind by trying to bring Dawson back to him. Aleister knows he had failed to do so, if only he was able to enter the door of consciousness, then maybe he could have brought Albedo back from there and teach him the secret to control this power. Without a proper training it was going to dominate his mind. Today he had done a lot and he badly needed to rest, and blood, he needed blood to regenerate. He closed his eyes after a long journey.
***
When Angelione finally decided it was time to approach the two, he did it calmly and carefully. Aleister and Albedo were lying there unconscious, he could do it, kill two of the world’s most powerful enemies. He stood in the middle of them and took out his sword from his back.
“I was wondering when you would show up.”
Angelione looked at Aleister who could barely move. Angelione said nothing and stared at him.
“You may be able to hide yourself from Albedo’s power, but you cannot hide from me.”
“So you knew I was following Albedo, I did well concealing my presence,” said Angelione.
Aleister gave a faint laugh, “Well of course. With that power of yours it’s easy for you to hide from someone like Albedo. But not only did I sense you coming, I foresaw it.”
So he does know about it, thought Angelione.
“Out of all of your teammates, you’re the only one who truly understands what’s taking place. You knew that I only wanted Albedo, and you knew I was making you all run in circles trying to find me. At first I anticipated Sonia to be the one to come and find Albedo, but she is too irrational. Then I saw you, I knew you were going to follow Albedo eventually when the time came for me to lead him to me.”
“I have bad news for you, Aleister. I didn’t come here to help, and I came here to kill you and… Albedo,” Angelione hesitantly paused.
Aleister laughed, “So is that the decision you came up with? I once held your life in my hands, and now you hold Albedo’s in your hand.”
“Don’t be too cocky, I can kill you too right now!”
“Perhaps, and perhaps not,” said Aleister with a sardonic smile. “I once held your life and looked into your eyes, you say I’m a monster, but no my friend, it is you.”
Angelione now looked furious, “You know nothing!”
“You haven’t told any member of your team about your true past. That day when I looked into your eyes, I went inside and saw all your filthy secrets.” Aleister laughed loudly now. “How could you have committed such a heinous crime? Does the king know? Does your old master know?” Angelione looked angry, “By that look on your face they do,
but as for the rest of your teammates, that’s a different story.”
“You don’t know anything! I had no other choice! But to---”
“--- no choice,” finishing Angelione’s sentence. “Is that why you ask your brother for forgiveness whenever you used that ability of yours?”
Angelione held his sword tight with his hands trembling, wanting to kill Aleister. “You’re a fool, you cannot kill me with that weak sword; it will never reach my flesh,” said Aleister.
“So I was right, your sword wasn’t made from metal, but titanium. But that’s impossible; your white flame cannot melt titanium for you to craft a sword.”
“That is true,” responded Aleister. The Blue Crimson flame is not the only mean in
melting titanium. “I’d love to stay and chat, but I must take my leave.” He looked at Albedo, “He broke almost every bone in my body.” He snorted, “But it’s alright though, I can always grow new ones.”
“You’re not going anywhere!” Angelione was about to swing his sword at Aleister, but Aleister simply looked him in the eye and memories of Angelione’s past started rushing through his mind. He screamed for Aleister to stop, and when Aleister finally did, he was gone.
***
Albedo woke up slowly; just barely, to find Angelione staring into his eyes, a sword on his throat. Albedo did not move, his body was aching, and he had lost all his energy. He was exhausted and half asleep. He looked at Angelione and the man looked as if he had just seen a ghost.
Aleister had put fear into his eyes, showing memories he had tried to block away for so long. “You and the others have killed so many in your lifetime. If I kill you now, we can have a better chance against Aleister and the others. Your death would save a lot of suffering in this world,” said Angelione. He could save millions of lives if he kills Albedo. To do what King Victor and the others could not do. Angelione stared into his eyes, his hands trembling and he start thinking about Sonia. “But then again, if I do kill you, I think I will cause more pain by doing so. I want to believe that you’re different from the others, Albedo. When I look into your eyes, I see you are good. So I won’t kill you for now, I want you to prove to me you are different from the other ones.”
