Chapter 83: Not My Place

Chapter 83: Not My Place When Aramith came to, he wasn’t where he remembered being. Where was the mirror? Where am- He froze when he saw several faces- familiar and unfamiliar, all staring at him. Most were confused, but he could see anger in a few. What was going on? How did I get here? "Is there a reason why you are here, Aramith?" Henndar asked him with such a serious expression, it made Aramith step back. He remembered the mirror. And the shadow looming behind him. But then... he was suddenly here? Wait, isn’t this the meeting room? Maybe the attacker... "Someone is coming to attack you. It’s not safe here." Aramith realized this was his chance to warn them. The voices had gone silent, but he still knew danger was lurking somewhere. "And what is the meaning of this?" Someone spoke. Aramith didn’t know who it was, but he could feel immense displeasure from the person. "Aren’t you the prince? Is it your job to come warning of threats?" He heard another speak, but couldn’t identify who it was. Henndar had to deal with this immediately without making things escalate, but looking at how disoriented the boy was, he could tell Aramith had lost control again. But what could trigger him as such? Aramith felt this was all wrong. He’d felt like he needed to come here, but after rushing here, he didn’t know what to do anymore. He shook his head, but the faces, the judgment—they were still there. He looked at the several faces. Henndar was still looking calm. Kesha, who was standing beside him, hadn’t said a word, but she looked like she wanted to speak. The only problem was that she didn’t think she needed to say anything. He suddenly felt a strong gaze, then saw the other girl in the bone mask. Her eyes shimmered gold, unblinking. He felt flayed beneath that gaze, like she wasn’t looking at him, but through him. It was as if she were dissecting him with her eyes. Henndar took a calm step forward. Aramith felt a burn in his chest, like something bad was about to happen. Why is he looking at me like that? Aramith thought. Like I’ve broken something I never asked to hold. "Everyone, calm down," Henndar’s voice commanded, but they were anything but calm. This meeting was getting more and more difficult to deal with. Something was wrong. He knew he had to come here; he felt the urge, but now that he’d made it there, he didn’t know what he was supposed to do. That urgency had disappeared. The eyes on him were intimidating. He felt the same way he did during his awakening ceremony. Henndar had told him all would be well, that he just had to pretend his attribute manifested as damned. HE did, but the way the people looked at him changed right after. All he could feel in that moment was the gazes of all the people present. That was the feeling he was getting now. He wasn’t supposed to be there, he suddenly realized. He had to leave, had to vanish. SAVE HER! The voice that had gone silent in his mind suddenly struck again. He immediately looked for Kesha. Was she in danger? Their eyes met and he felt like stepping towardherm, but he couldn’t. He oculdn’t understand why Kesha looked so conflicted, almost as if she didn’t have full control of her emotions or expressions. HELP HER! KEEP THEM AWAY! That sudden urge that came with the voice returned. He felt his blood rush; his body was itching. But what was he supposed to do? Why did he need to save Kesha? And who was he supposed to keep away from her? None of it made sense now that he thought of it. What about the voice he was hearing in his mind? It didn’t make sense that he did what he heard, too. He felt...controlled. No, I have to leave. He stepped back, wanting to vanish from the room, but then he suddenly noticed one figure he hadn’t seen earlier. It was a masked person standing beside Henndar. The person’s eyes felt like a deep abyss, swallowing him. He had to leave. He took another step back and bumped into someone. They were behind me now? But what he saw when he turned confused him deeply. "Lynnor?" She smiled her usual smile at him, but the person holding her didn’t leave room for her to even move. What was going on? I thought this was just a meeting. He turned to his father, who was frowning deeply. Henndar snapped his finger, and the one with the crossbow raised it again. Why was he aiming at me? Aramith felt true fear in that moment, but as he tried to step back again, he realized the weapon wasn’t raised at him. Lynnor was the target. "But why..." GO! His body moved on its own, putting him between Lynnor and Henndar. This time, he felt it was more of his own internal decision. SAVE HER BEFORE THEY KILL HER! He didn’t understand why Lynnor was being targeted to be killed, but he didn’t see it to be the right thing to do. Lynnor wasn’t a bad person, right? "Aramith, what is the meaning of this?" Henndar sounded different. His voice had more authority than usual, a tone he’d never used when speaking to Aramith. Aramith trembled, his breath coming in short gasps. A drop of sweat trickled down. "I... I know her," he said, his voice cracking. "She’s not like that. She’s not a monster." Aramith finally found his voice, and he was sure he’d gotten through to Henndar. Lynnor wasn’t a bad person. She wouldn’t do anything to deserve death. This was all just a misunderstanding. "Aramith, stop being childish. Step aside." But the boy didn’t move. He couldn’t move. He planted his feet firmer, arms outstretched. The whispers were loud. "His son doesn’t even respect him." "What kind of person is this?" "And why is his son defending that woman?" "I thought she was a threat." "Did you see how the boy entered?" "Yes, I find it odd too. What is his attribute?" "He’s a damned, but which animal does that?" "I think it’s a crow, or maybe a bat." Aramith was starting to feel panic crawling under his skin. And he could see Henndar’s expression turning dark. Henndar let out a deep sigh, then, looking deep into Aramith’s eyes, he snapped his finger. Immediately, all color drained from the room, the air folded in on itself, and movement stilled mid-breath. Even sound vanished, swallowed by a silence so heavy it felt like gravity. Aramith looked around, and everyone was frozen like perfectly detailed monochrome statues. Henndar stepped forward, the only person who could move except him. "Aramith." His voice reverberated in his bones. Aramith didn’t know how to respond. Henndar didn’t look angry, but he looked angry. He looked away, unsure of what he was even doing. But he didn’t understand how everyone had suddenly stopped moving and how all color disappeared. Henndar noticed that and answered his question before he could even ask. "I stopped time for everything and everyone in this room except the two of us. I need to let you be aware of what you are doing before whatever happens." Aramith’s eyes widened. His father could stop time? How did he even manage to do that? Aramith had read about it before, but space attribute users who could stop time were those who focused on time alone, for time existed as a space that could be altered- another dimension to be used if one was powerful enough. But Henndar didn’t seem to focus on cultivating that much, and he didn’t even stop time for everything around him like Aramith had read. Henndar stopped time selectively. This was even greater. The people he’d frozen were also powerful. They couldn’t be low-ranked people. The weakest would probably be at the dark gate or the transcending gate. He could kill someone by stopping time for their heart. He suddenly felt another fear. Henndar wouldn’t kill his son, but now Aramith understood that Henndar was extremely powerful, way more than he’d ever imagined. "Aramith," he spoke more calmly this time, standing right in front of the boy, "You know very little about Zero, or should I say Lynnor. She was banished for good reason, and agreed to never return here, or it would be her death. She was aware of the consequences, but decided to come here anyway. so why do you think it is your duty to protect someone who you barely know? And she is also way more powerful than you are." "But I don’t think she would ever do anything terrible," Aramith tried to explain. Henndar frowned slightly. "You are aware she killed a few dozen soldiers before getting here, right? Some of them had families, but she still ended their lives." "No...she’s not..." "You’re defending a murderer, Aramith. That’s not bravery. That’s ignorance with a conscience." But what about what she told him about her banishment? She didn’t lie about that. "I’m sure-" "She’s a killer, Aramith. And if you want to get in serious trouble, stand there and defend this stranger." He turned around and walked back to where he was standing before he stopped time. "I will resume time. Don’t do anything you will regret. You’ve already caused trouble by appearing here with your attribute. Don’t make things more difficult." Henndar could have ended this, ended her. But he paused for Aramith’s sake. SNAP!