When Ae opened his eyes, there was no dull, silver ceiling above him. At first, it didn’t bother him, even though he was fully aware of the knowledge that he went to sleep in his room last night. The fact that long branches, adorned with a myriad of leaves, swayed overhead did not bother him. But the more that he stared at the shafts of sunlight filtering through the leaves, the more the realization of his unknown whereabouts gnawed at the back of his mind.

Where am I?

With his enhanced hearing, he could hear a cart or a wagon in the distance. It’s round wooden wheels bounced off tiny pebbles strewn across the padded dirt roads. In the Citadel, there were no wagons or carts, even more than that, all the roads were paved.

Ae ran a hand through his hair and then slowly sat up. He was in a light forest, and in the distance, to his right, he saw houses that littered the outskirts of a city.

He recognized this place. At first, it was faint due to his damaged memory but that could not stop the process of remembering it: This was his home.

He jumped to his feet and stared at the houses intently. He refused to blink, as if fearing that doing so might break the illusion and that they would vanish. But they remained, even after he was forced to blink by the dryness invading his eyes.

“Big bro, are you coming?” Ae heard a voice speak behind him. He turned and saw a kid he could not recognize. The kid was talking to Ae, offering a hand to him.

Confused at first, Ae just stared at the kid.

Did I have a brother?

There was a nostalgic feeling in that thought.

“Big bro?” the kid asked, lowering his hand slightly. “Are you ok?”

“I am fine, Emil,” Ae said, taking his hand. “Let’s go home.”

The kid laughed merrily as they walked towards the houses. They walked in silence. There was no sound, even when they stepped on branches and snapped them. There was a surreal feeling in the air.

Is this a dream? Am I dead?

After several steps, Ae realized he was not alone. Mirroring his movements perfectly was a girl to his left. She had black hair and blue eyes, just like him, and she was the most beautiful girl Ae had ever seen. Her perfect, ideal form was not something mortals should be allowed to behold.

“That girl is so pretty, big bro,” Emil said, looking at the girl just a few paces away from them. When Ae stopped walking, so did she. They weren’t merely synchronized, she perfectly mirrored Ae’s movements.

As if to test the theory, Ae twisted his hand just a bit, and to his alarm found that the girl did the same thing.

It was so surreal, that Ae was about to chuckle. But the girl’s actions stopped him; she turned to face him.

“You need to let go, Ae,” she said.

“Wha—“ A loud crack coming from the sky above cut Ae off, and he looked up. The sky was broken. A large crack ran through the sky, as if it was made out of glass. As the pieces of the sky fell down, it revealed an infinite blackness behind it.

“Big bro, why did she call you Ae?” Emil asked, seemingly unaware of the sky.

Ae looked down at the kid, and then back to the girl, but she was gone.

“I… don’t…” the words Ae wanted to speak evaded his consciousness. He knew what he wanted to say—the feeling and meaning of the words were there—but he couldn’t summon the sounds.

“Ataraxia is a strange one, isn’t she?” Emil said.

“What did you say?” Ae asked, looking at his kid brother, who was now taller than before. He seemed older as well.

“Is that the end, brother?” Emil asked, looking towards the sky.

Ae followed his gaze. Stars were falling from the sky, red-tailed like violence itself. A black tail burned around the corona of world-ending entities falling to the earth.

“You need to let go, brother,” Emil said.

“What are you talking about?” Ae asked with a smile. A great confusion blanketed Ae’s rational mind, suppressing his reason and logic.

“You need to let go of my hand, brother,” Emil said once more, lifting his hand which was tightly held on to by Ae.

“I…” Ae said, trailing off. He let go of Emil’s hand.

Once more, he looked towards the falling stars and some of the confusion lifted. Or perhaps it was the anger which was driving it away. “I don’t want to see this happen again. I don’t want to lose everything again.”

“It’s all right, brother,” Emil said with a calm tone. “We are not going to disappear.”

“You are!” Ae shouted. “We are all going to disappear!”

Emil flashed an apologetic smile. “Do you want to see mother?”

Ae blinked, “She is… alive?”

“Of course, she is.” Emil laughed. “What’s wrong with you today?”

Ae’s head was spinning. The world was ending, yet Emil seemed so calm about it, as if he didn’t even realize it. But he must’ve. He mentioned the end of the world.

Ae wanted to ask Emil what was wrong with him, but the impending doom changed his priorities.

“Let’s go see mother,” Ae said.

Emil nodded.

Casually, they walked towards the houses. Ae wanted to hurry, but Emil could neither be persuaded nor forced to walk faster. Each step felt like an eternity, but eventually, they reached a small house.

“Mother, we are home,” Emil called out.

“Oh, come in, come in. Your friend is here too,” Ae heard a voice call out from the living room. Dead memories resurrected in Ae’s mind as he set foot into his home. The air had a nostalgic scent to it.

Ae followed Emil into the living room. The moment Ae rounded the corner, he stopped in his tracks. The beautiful girl from before was there, sitting on a chair at the dinner table.

“Oh, have you come to see my brother off, …” When Emil spoke her name, static entered Ae’s ears—it was so deafening, it nearly knocked him off his feet.

The girl didn’t react to the words, but in Ae’s mind, a feeling of deja vu invaded his heart. He saw this scene before. She looked past Emil and focused on Ae’s eyes. “You need to let go, Ae. Accept things as they are. What is done is done.”

Emil paused in his steps. His brilliant smile faded, and the glimmer of happiness in his eyes was gone. It was like he was a different person all of a sudden.

“Don’t interfere, Ataraxia,” Emil said with a tone that was vastly different from Emil’s.

The girl looked towards Emil now, as if finally acknowledging his existence. She didn’t say anything to him, instead she focused on Ae once more. “Please, Ae. You have to let go.”

The ground suddenly shook and a roaring shockwave passed through the house. One of the falling stars must have landed nearby.

Emil turned to look at Ae, seemingly unaffected by the sound or the violent shaking. He steadied Ae by placing a hand on Ae’s shoulder. “Brother, do you remember who sat in that seat?” Emil asked, gesturing to the girl.

Ae tilted his head slightly, looking from Emil to the girl. Slowly, Ae shook his head.

“Come on, now. Surely you must remember with whom you spent your final days,” Emil insisted. “When Asivos’ star fell on the capital, you took her hand and ran out, leaving mother and I to die here.”

A spark of pain shot through Ae’s being. It was the same feeling he had as when he spoke his mortal name and was punished by the Heavens. Could it be that just remembering it could cause that terrible death?

“Don’t be afraid. I’ll protect you from the Root. Go on, remember her face. What was her name, brother?” Emil’s smile grew wider.

The girl at the table just shook her head and sighed.

Then his mother appeared in the doorway of the kitchen. She was just the way Ae remembered her. Her black hair was long and silky. Ae never even realized before, but his mother had brown eyes. Mentally, he wanted to kick himself for not knowing such a trivial fact. Just seeing her again overwhelmed his mind to the point that tears wanted to rush out, held back by nothing more than a man’s pride.

“Ah, you were out playing in the woods again? You are so dirty, …” When his mother spoke his name, Ae could only hear static. It was so overpowering that it forced Ae to his knees, helplessly covering his ears.

“What is the matter? Are you hurt?” his mother asked.

The pain in his chest grew by several magnitudes. It felt as if his entire being was on fire. It was more painful than any death he had suffered.

Emil placed a hand on Ae’s shoulder again and said, “Brother, stand up.” The moment Emil’s hand touched Ae’s shoulder, some of the pain was gone. “I’ll protect you from the Root, didn’t I tell you?”

Ae looked up at him. Emil’s words suddenly connected in Ae’s mind. The part of the pain that was gone was the pain he endures when the Heavens are punishing him, for remembering his mortal self. The pain in his heart that remained now was the tragedy of losing his family.

Then, the girl patted Ae on the head, and even the heartbreak disappeared. “Don’t listen to him, Ae. You have to come with me.”

Before Ae could respond, suddenly, the entire house was blown away by a blastwave. Everything was gone in an instant. In the final moment, he saw his mother’s skin and flesh turn to dust, and then even her bones became ash. There was nothing left of her, or the house. Beneath his feet was no longer the solid hardwood, but blasted, semi-molten dirt.

Ae fell to his knees. He was alone once more, in the wake of the blastwave that seemingly just passed through him, without causing him any harm. Of course, Ae realized, it made sense. This was a memory, it wasn’t real. He was just a ghost in this world.

A ghost observing the dead.

Then his heartbroke, for a second time. The one thing he did not want to remember, he ended up reliving.

For what?

The question burned in his mind like glowing embers. It pierced into his thoughts like needles, ever-present and painful.

He looked up at the sky where the stars were still falling. Within each one of those was an entity like the one that stole everything from him.

Your Origin is changing.

“Ae,” the ephemeral words blew away the scenery before his eyes. It all disappeared. There was only an infinite blackness.

“Ae,” the words flowed into his ears once more, and he opened his eyes. His head was in the beautiful girl’s lap, and she looked down on Ae with her icy blue eyes. Over her head was a blue, clear sky, with no falling stars. Leaves rustled in the distance.

She shook her head, “Ae, you cannot go with Retribution,” she said, stroking his hair. “If you go there, one day you will become something terrible and there will be no way out.”

Ae stared at her for a long moment, and then said, “I don’t really care. I want to punish them.”

She smiled, “Punish the Planars? That will never happen if you go with Retribution.”

“Why not?”

She pressed her lips together. There was an apologetic glimmer in her eyes, like the sparkling essence of unshed tears.

After a moment of silence, she said, “Ae, Retribution just wants vengeance like you do. If you go with him, he will lead you down the path of Corruption. Today, you might think that what you saw earlier is the worst thing that ever happened to you, but if you go with Retribution, far worse things will happen to you.”

Ae shrugged, “I don’t care.”

“You say that, but I know it is not true. You are in pain and full of anger. Let me help you, Ae. I can bring peace to your heart,” she said. “I can give you the serenity to face this, and to overcome it.”

Ae thought about her words for a moment and then frowned. She was so pretty. Her smile had a nature of goodness within it, and her eyes sparkled with the promise of hope.

Hope, however, was painful.

“No, thanks,” Ae said, climbing to his feet.

The girl frowned as Ae looked down on her. “Begone, Ataraxia. I don’t need you.”

The girl nodded, her frown deepening.

Ae looked towards the sky and took a deep breath. He placed a hand over his heart that seemed to thrash about inside his chest, filled with anger and fury. As he closed his eyes, he could almost hear the whisper of an oath to vengeance resonating within his being.

Your Origin is now: [Oath to Rebellion].

You have gained a new Aspect: [Retribution].

A great weight lifted off his mind as he accepted Retribution and his Origin changed. He never realized it before, but its absence was obvious; the oppressive feeling of the Root suppressing his mortal memories was gone.

In that instant, Ae understood that he was meant to defy the Heavens—the Root that is. Not just the Root, but the Planars as well, and destiny itself.

Remember her name, Ae.

A foreign thought entered his mind. It was Emil’s voice—or rather, it was Retribution’s voice, who took the form of Emil.

Whose nam—

Ae realized it then. He remembered. The one person he could not afford to lose. He abandoned his family for her—ran to the end of the world with her, trying to save her. Back then, he thought that as long as he still had her, not all was lost.

Then the realization hit him. Retribution looked like Emil, because his family, his brother especially, signified his desire for vengeance.

Ae turned on his heel, suddenly all too aware of Ataraxia’s disguise. Or rather, the lack of disguise. In his memory, the girl he saved from the destruction of his hometown looked like… Ataraxia!

Ae was almost startled when he found Ataraxia standing right behind him. Tears glimmered in the corners of her eyes.

All the words Ae wanted to say evaporated from his mind.

Ataraxia pressed her hand against Ae’s cheek and smiled. “Ae,” she whispered. “Now, more than before, you need to learn to let go.”

She took a step back. “I hope that you will stay away from the Corruption, while still finding success in your quest for vengeance. Farewell.”

Her form shimmered away, the final words hanging in the air as a blackness approached once more, devouring the scenery.

What… have I done?

Your Origin has become Corrupted.

Your Origin is now: [Midnight Sun of the End].