The rock that stood the test of time

Seth asked Dream to lend him a room, where he carried Aleena, followed closely by Elise, Pearl, and Meg.

After reaching the small and simple room, Seth placed Aleena on the bed and lifted her shirt just slightly to reveal her belly.

The lust mark was still there, but the connection he used to share with her was barely noticeable now. He didn’t know if it was because his lust source was still dormant or because of the time changes, but he needed that connection if he ever hoped to bring her back.

“Will she be alright?” asked Pearl from the side, looking at Aleena’s face with a slight frown.

“I don’t know…” said Seth moving his hand through Aleena’s long hair. “She’s been through a lot. Probably more than all of us could imagine.”

Pearl sighed and lowered her head. Waiting on the side, Elise intervened. “How about we let Seth deal with this? There’s nothing we can do anyway.”

Meg was already feeling like a third wheel, and, despite wishing she could speak to Seth alone, Pearl also understood where Elise was coming from, agreeing to leave Seth and Aleena alone.

Seth gave Elise a grateful look as she led the others outside before turning back to Aleena, placing his hand on her chest, slowly closing his eyes, and trying to feel the link between them.

His lust source began spinning quickly, lust energy gathering in the palm of his hand and transferring into the mark on Aleena’s belly. It took Seth a few minutes, but he could finally grasp a weak link between his source and Aleena’s soul.

With no hesitation, Seth allowed his consciousness to follow the link, his body falling lifelessly over Aleena’s while his consciousness drifted along the link, entering her soul.

A bleak world greeted Seth as soon as he reached the end of the link. The world seemed to resemble the Oath capital while still under the Oath family’s control.

Seth walked the black and white street filled with frozen people until he reached the library. He knew that if Aleena’s consciousness were to hide somewhere in an imaginary Oath, that would be the best place to look for her.

After opening the large library doors, Seth noticed the books filling the library shelves were the only thing that still maintained their colors and continued deeper inside, full of hope.

However, his hope soon faded as he could not find a trace of Aleena even after touring the library twice.

He continued roaming the streets of the Oath capital for what felt like days, but no matter where he looked, everything remained bleak and frozen in time, even the academy.

While confused about where her consciousness could have hidden itself, Seth felt a tug from the depths of his soul, and his gaze turned towards the south. A moment later, Seth allowed himself to drift through Aleena’s soul, his vision changing again.

Seth arrived at Endora’s capital, right before the Imperial Quarters.

“Thank you, Lust,” muttered Seth, already aware of who lent him a helping hand, and made his way to Aleena’s room, but Aleena was not there either.

Endora’s capital was a much more colorful place, but time was once more frozen, just as it was in Oath.

After searching the Imperial Quarters for hours, Seth opened the door to his room, and his anxiousness finally went away.

Aleena was curled up in his bed with her head stuck between her thighs and her arms tightly hugging her legs.

Heaving a relieved sigh, Seth closed the door behind him and slowly went to the bed, sitting by Aleena’s side.

“Hey…”

Seth tried calling out to her, hoping for a reaction, but she continued burying her head in her knees, not reacting at all. Unable to contain himself, Seth pulled Aleena into his arms, hugging her tightly to his chest while whispering in her ear.

“I’m sorry…”

“Thank you…”

“I love you…”

“Come back to me…”

“I need you…”

With each word, Seth’s voice began cracking, the memories of Aleena’s torture slowly passing through his mind. He had no idea for how long the time will tortured her, but with its power, despite a few minutes passing for the rest of the world, years or maybe eons could have passed for Aleena.

Despite his cracked voice, Seth continued repeating the same words, hugging Aleena even tighter, even praying to Lust for her to help if she could.

Seth didn’t know for how long he held onto Aleena, repeating the same words over and over with no reactions, but his efforts eventually paid off as Aleena shook into his arms.

Finally getting a reaction, Seth wanted to pull back and speak to her, but Aleena moved her hands swiftly around his body, squeezing him tight enough that the link between their souls almost broke.

“Waaah…” a loud wail left Aleena’s lips, which seemed to pierce through Seth’s soul, making him forget any thought of letting go and holding back to her even tighter.

“It’s alright. Everything is alright now.”

Seth tried to console her, but Aleena didn’t stop crying, the world around them shattering with her anguished wails, everything turning into an empty white space.

Seth gave up on trying to console her, holding her tightly in his arms, letting her cry her sorrows away. After hours of crying, Seth could no longer bear the pressure the link put on his soul, getting pushed out of Aleena’s and back into the real world.

Quickly sitting up, he grabbed Aleena’s hand and waited anxiously to see if her condition would change.

After a few minutes, Aleena’s eyelids trembled ever so slightly, and her eyes opened again.

The lost look inside them faded, and her gaze focused on Seth’s face. Tears welled up inside them not long after as she lifted her hand to touch his cheek to confirm she was not dreaming.

Once the warmth of his face passed through the tip of her fingers, she muttered weakly: “You… came… back… thank… you….”

“I did,” said Seth, pursing his lips to stop himself from crying, holding her hand tight. “Thank you for not leaving me.”

“I… didn’t… tell… him… anything…”

Seth’s heart broke again when he heard her words, remembering her constant “I know nothing…” mumbling despite enduring years of torture.

“I know you didn’t. I know,” said Seth, bending forward and kissing her lips softly, afraid any sudden more might break her.

Aleena’s tears kept falling down her cheeks as she tried to lift her arms and hug Seth, but she had barely any strength left. Seth quickly noticed her intention and slowly pulled her up, hugging her instead.

“I promise never to allow anything like that to happen ever again. If I am to break this vow, may my soul and will shatter and - “before he could finish his words, Aleena pushed against her exhaustion and stopped him from speaking with her lips.

With Seth looking at her in surprise, Aleena said softly: “I… don’t… need… that.”

Seth said nothing and hugged her again, rubbing her back gently. The two remained in each other arms for hours, content to finally be reunited after such a long time, with none of them saying a single word back.

Their silent hug continued until a knock on the door made them separate and turn toward the sound.

“Enter,” said Seth.

The door cracked open, and Pearl peeked inside. “Can I come in?”

Seth and Aleena both nodded; her strength had somewhat returned to her during this entire time. Pearl opened the door wide and came to join the two, looking at Aleena up and down and asking: “How are you feeling?”

“I’m fine. Good to see you, Pearl.”

“Did anything happen?” asked Seth, noticing the hesitation in Pearl’s eyes.

“The thing is… the others are here.”

“Huh?” asked Seth in surprise.

“They all felt your return through their marks a while ago, and Henrietta teleported everyone here, but Elise and Dream delayed them as much as possible, telling them you’re busy.” Pearl’s expression turned awkward as she continued: “The others are manageable, but Maya is going a little crazy….”

Seth nodded and turned at Aleena, asking with a soft smile: “Do you want to come? I can carry you if you can’t walk.”

Aleena looked between Pearl and Seth before shaking her head and removing her hands from around Seth’s body. “It’s alright. I want to get some rest, and even if I don’t know what happened, I know you also want to meet with them. Come back to me later, alright?”

Seth moved his hand through Aleena’s green hair and nodded, kissing her softly on the forehead. “Alright. I’ll spend some time with the others and then return here.”

After Aleena nodded and laid back down, Seth turned towards Pearl.

“Do you mind keeping Aleena company and ensuring she doesn’t need anything?”

Pearl nodded hesitantly, but just as Seth was about to leave the room, she grabbed his hand, making him turn back to face her.

Looking into his puzzle eyes, Pearl lowered her head and said: “I know what you meant back then, but you were also wrong. I was scared of doing that, but it was not because of you. I was generally scared. I wanted to be with you. As both your knight and your lover.”

“I understand why you said what you said, but I wanted you to know that… that… that I love you. As my lord, my emperor, and… hopefully, if you are willing to accept me, as your… lover.”

Seth sighed when he saw her shy and hesitant face, turning around and kissing her on the lips.

While Pearl froze completely, not expecting Seth to kiss her suddenly, he let go of her and continued walking outside, his words echoing throughout the small room.

“It was never you being my lover that I had a problem with. It was your rigid way of thinking like a slave while calling yourself a knight. We’ll speak later after I make sure Maya doesn’t destroy this mountain, but I hope that was enough of an answer for now.”

Pearl’s hand unconsciously traveled up to her lips after Seth was already long gone, and her face started blushing uncontrollably.

“He does that…”

The sudden voice from the back embarrassed Pearl, and she quickly turned towards Aleena, waving her hand frantically, unable to think of a way to explain herself.

“Wha.. What do you mean?”

Aleena smiled at her innocent behavior.

“He comes and does something like that suddenly, sweeping you off your feet in one move. He got me the same way, and I wonder how many others. What’s there to be so embarrassed about? Please take advantage of it while you can. Time can be cruel even to ascended like us.”

Pearl lowered her head, finding Aleena’s words impossible to refute.

“Come and tell me what happened ever since I went missing,” added Aleena, moving her body back to make space on the bed for Pearl and patting her side.

“But you said that you wanted to rest….”

“I lied. I knew Seth wanted to see the others and needed to know what happened while I was missing. Bring me up to speed.”

Pearl found Aleena’s behavior strange and different from the always happy-go-lucky one she usually displayed.

Remembering what Seth told her about what happened to her, Pearl nodded and sat down next to Aleena, telling her everything she knew.