Re: Timeless Apocalypse

"What was that about?"

The duo walked through an empty street, the wooden buildings lining the path having their curtains closed and chimneys blowing smoke.

A light breeze swept through the dormant city, and the silver radiance of the moon, backed by a scintillating dark blue sky of stars, did its best to illuminate the way.

"...!"

Samael, who’d been rushing as he pulled Uriel as far away as possible from the inn, walked with his chest heaving, a metallic taste lingering in his mouth from the exertion.

His expression was pale, his forehead slick with sweat.

He wasn’t very athletic to begin with, and pulling Uriel away had felt like dragging an entire building with him. To say it’d been tiring would be an understatement.

But now that they were away from the inn, it was safe.

After a couple more moments, Samael managed to regain his breath. He slicked his hair back—a gesture that made Uriel chuckle—then exhaled.

"So? Are you going to explain? That was strange." Uriel asked again, his curiosity clearly overflowing.

Usually, he could guess what defined the bonds between people and, from that, easily gain context. But here, he was absolutely stumped.

He couldn’t see the link between Korynth and Samael at all.

"Explain what?" Samael feigned ignorance as he led Uriel toward the stands.

But Uriel simply didn’t speak, smiling as he gave him a knowing look.

Under the pressure of that expectant gaze, Samael sighed and eventually relented. "Fine."

"I—..." His face twisted into a frown as he gathered his thoughts. "She knew my brother."

"Or rather, she knows him. I don’t know why I speak of him as if he’s dead." He paused. "He is alive."

Seeing that Uriel didn’t utter a word, Samael frowned.

"He is alive." He repeated, his voice underlined by a flicker of rage.

Uriel threw his hands in the air and nodded. "I don’t doubt it."

Samael was about to snap, but realizing he was still unstable from his awakening, he decided to calm down.

He took a deep breath in, sighed, then continued.

"She knows my brother. When we first fell into the Wilderlands, my brother was very injured. She healed him and helped me get my...network going."

’Fell?’ Uriel found the use of the word in this context quite peculiar.

Now that he thought about it, when Samael talked about the spire and their way out of the Wilderlands, he seemed to use the word ’ascend’ very literally.

’That’s strange. Wait...’ his thoughts drifted back to a discussion he’d had with his mage tool not too long ago.

’She’d said that worlds can develop different planes to accommodate the essence of different pioneers... Is he simply from a different plane of this world?’

’That would mean this place has nothing to do with Ithuril. But... why is it so weak then?’

He was quite confused.

’Since I’m the first Pioneer of Ithuril, I’m sure that our world didn’t have any other planar lands before the awakening—but... actually, no, maybe not.’

The Brightlag Sphere, the place where Sentinels were from, had existed before the awakening, and though it was said to be in the core of the planet, Uriel assumed it to be a separate dimension.

His thoughts were getting even blurrier.

’Where the hell am I going with this...’

"When my brother had his battle against the Guardians, she protected me and took me in, and helped me survive."

Samael continued to talk, not having noticed the intensity of thought reflected across Uriel’s gaze.

"Is that so?" Uriel finally said. "So why are you so scared of her? She’s your savior, isn’t she?"

"She also didn’t seem particularly warm toward you. In fact, I’d say she isn’t very fond of you."

Samael grimaced as he weakly nodded. "Yeah, I know."

"Before my brother was imprisoned, they had a fight, and that fight... ended badly. So she doesn’t like me much. The only reason she helped is because my brother didn’t give her much of a choice."

"He did something to her that massively weakened her and kind of forced her to become my protector."

Uriel hummed in understanding. ’So the "chains" she was talking about were made by his brother... that’s interesting.’

"Your brother becomes more impressive the more I hear about him." He laughed.

His laughter and praise seemed to brighten Samael’s mood as he flashed a slight smile.

"Yeah, he is." he practically muttered, pride oozing from his voice.

For a beat, silence settled, and they continued to make their way deeper and deeper into the city’s core, more and more people appearing despite the late hour.

They passed by entertainment districts, loud bars, and all kinds of attractions. Amidst the crowds, they stood out a bit due to their age and looks, but none paid too much attention.

The two looked like a pair of young nobles finally discovering the world. None wanted any of the trouble that came with that.

"Say," Uriel said, "did your brother ever tell you how powerful Korynth was?"

"I’m really curious."

Samael remained quiet. As they moved through the crowds, a tinge of nervousness colored his gaze, and his heartbeat picked up pace.

He was anxious.

Uriel noticed it and found it as odd as it was amusing. "You okay?"

He wrapped an arm around Samael’s shoulder and pulled him in. Then, he ruffled his hair as he smiled. "Hey, it’s okay."

"You’re with me. You’re fine." Uriel extended his Veil to Samael, and suddenly, none were able to sense them.

"Is that better?" he asked.

Samael seemed a bit embarrassed, but still, he nodded.

"Thanks." In a rush to change the topic, he focused on Uriel’s earlier question.

"Her power level?"

He slipped out of Uriel’s hold and straightened his tunic.

"I’m not sure. But my brother always said she was a sort of cripple that relied on... Will? Something like that. He said it made her as strong as a thousand crimson guardians."

He slipped his hands into his pockets and yawned.

"Makes you wonder how strong she’d be if she wasn’t crippled, hm?"

Uriel absentmindedly nodded. "It really does."