>>Amber

NO!!!

NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO!!!

NO!!!!

This can't happen! I can't lose him!!

Placing my trembling hands over Hael's body that was infused with miasma, I felt something inside of me wake up.

Desperation surged within me, a fierce and unrelenting force. Panic clawed at my heart and without thinking, I poured all of my power into him, channeling every ounce of my strength into a single, desperate act of healing.

"HEAL!" I screamed, my voice echoing through the silent courtroom.

A blinding light erupted from me and from beneath me. Most of the light made its way to Hael while the light that spread from beneath me spread outwards in a radiant wave that covered the entire floor. The energy surged through me, more intense than anything I had ever felt before. It flowed from my hands into Hael's body, illuminating the room with a brilliant, otherworldly glow.

I heard gasps from the room but none of them got registered in my mind.

I had my full focus on the Tower Master, I watched as Hael's body began to respond. First the miasma cleared away, then the gaping wounds started to close, the torn flesh knitting together seamlessly. His organs, which had been grievously damaged, began to heal, their natural structure reasserting itself with remarkable speed.

Oh

The blood stopped flowing, the ghastly injuries fading as new, healthy tissue replaced the old.

The light continued to pulse around us. I could feel it coursing through Hael, mending what had been broken, restoring what had been lost. His fingers twitched, a faint sign of life that filled me with hope.

!!!

"Please, Hael," I murmured, tears streaming down my face. "Come back," The idea of him not being here anymore was far beyond dreadful for me. I never thought it would be possible for him to get this injured, so I never thought about his death.

But now that I've seen him dying, I can't stop myself from shaking. My heart was still trembling even though I was seeing him get healed.

His chest rose and fell with more strength, his breathing becoming steadier. The color slowly returned to his skin which made me happy but I couldn't relax.

I didn't stop the healing, not till all of him was back to how I remembered. Eventually the light faded out, I placed my hands on his chest and felt him breathe.

OH! Thank God!!

"Hael!" I called his name but he didn't wake up, "Hael!" I shook his body but he didn't respond. On the contrary, I felt like the world began to swirl around me but I shook my head and focused on Hael again.

Why wasn't he waking up?

It scared the hell out of me so I bent down and placed my ear next to his chest to check his heart.

I heard it beating.

lub dub

lub dub

lub dub

It was steady. I slowly backed away and sat up again, then looked at his face. He looked like he was peaceful, but why isn't he waking up?

Then I felt another attack. Everything around me seemed to melt away and I blacked out in an instant.

***

>>Hael

Over the years suffering has marked my life.

It was an endless series of betrayals that kept pushing me towards eventual hatred for everything and the inability to get attached to anything. I remember the day my mother abandoned me, leaving me to fend for myself in that isolated hut.

When I went to live with the elves, hoping that being the same kind as them would make them extend kindness to a wretched child like me. But they turned me away, their eyes cold and distant, as they isolated me in a world full of people.

I never knew it was possible to be so alone when there were always people around you.

From there, my life only spiraled further into a nightmare. My mother abandoned me a second time, this time far worse than the first. I was enslaved, and exploited in ways that left scars deeper than any wound. I was forced to labor until my body was broken, my spirit crushed under the weight of endless toil. No one cared about me; no one saw me as anything more than a tool to be used and discarded.

Even when I was able to leave the hounds that would eat me at night in the battlefields, life wasn't much different as a slave under the noblemen. It was easier in some ways, but never any less appaling.

It would often make me wonder if that was what I was meant to me.

Maybe all of that happened to me because I was a wretched child, one that wasn't even liked by his own mother. One that was left by his father before he got to memorize his face.

I would have lived quietly if I was asked to.

I wouldn't have bothered anyone.

I wouldn't have bothered Mom either, if she had told me to keep my mouth shut and stay in some corner, I would have done that too.

I never asked for anything extravagant, I just wanted to live like normal people.

But the world just didn't want that for me.

Was suffering my whole life and then dying a brutal death was all I was meant for?

From rags, I made my way to the highest position I could manage. People could no longer exploit me and it was peaceful. Yet I felt dead inside

My chest felt like it had a gaping hole in it. I was still in the same isolated situation, surrounded by people.

The hole came into being when my Mother stopped talking to me when I was a little boy.

And from then it just kept growing.

It kept eating me inside.

Was there anything in my life that made me feel different? People always treated me like a pretty doll. I knew I charmed people.

Even my master was like that.

...

Right, My master, My Lady, Corvina. The woman who was obsessed with me.

***

"My Lady," I whispered, my voice barely audible as I opened my eyes.

I blinked and then looked around as I sat up. I was in an extravagant room. I let out a soft breath as I realized I must be in one of the Palace guest rooms.

I placed my hand on my chest, then softly scoffed.

I was sure I was dead. I brought my hand down and looked at my palm. The only reason I'm alive is because of My Lady. Because she called out to me.

It created a link between us and I used that to get back to where she was, in a reversal method, I used her mana too.

I let out another soft breath

Corvina was different from the rest of the people.

She did hurt me, she even confined me for stupid reasons, but she didn't force herself on me. What she wanted was my attention. As a kid she always followed me around. The way her eyes sparkled whenever she was with me would make me uncomfortable. No one was ever that happy to see me.

But she was. And I never knew how to deal with that. I didn't understand it.

I closed my hand.

As we grew though, her obsession did grow toxic. She started doing the things other people did which disappointed me. It seemed like she wasn't much different than the rest. She even used the heart stone on me, but after using it twice she stopped.

All of her changed after that.

And she apologized. All of the sudden she became a new person. And the only person who put in the effort to care for me. I found that weird as well. I couldn't understand that either.

Yet there was something about her and only her,

There was a knock on the door and I turned my head to look at it,

When she changed, something about her drew me in. Her obsessive behavior stopped. I didn't find the look in her eyes either but it was replaced by something else-

"Master Hael, have you woken up?" It must be a butler from the palace.

-Guilt

If I don't answer, he's going to come inside anyway, "Come in," I ordered and the door opened. A butler came rushing in

"Oh!" He came to the bedside and gave me a bow, "Thank Heavens you are up, Master Hael," He looked towards me but didn't meet my gaze, "Is there anything I can get you?"

"Saint Amber," I asked,

"Yes?" He looked at me in confusion.

"Where is Saint Amber?" She was the first thing on my mind.

"Oh," His gaze dropped, "The Saint is being held in the dungeon."

What?

***

>>Amber

I huddled next to the wall, feeling the cold stone floor seep into my bones. The air was thick and damp, smelling like mold and rot. The walls around me were slick with moisture, and it felt like they were closing in, making the already tiny cell even smaller.

A sliver of light came through a tiny barred window way up high, barely enough to pierce the gloom. The rough stone floor was uneven, littered with dirt and who knows what else. Dark patches of wet moss grew in the corners, adding to the gross, neglected vibe of the place.

There was a narrow wooden bench on one side of the cell, but it looked like it would give more splinters than comfort. It was cold and hard, not a spot to find any kind of relief. In the opposite corner was a rusty old bucket, the dungeon's version of a toilet, and it reeked, the smell mixing unpleasantly with the already foul air.

I can't believe they still put me in here after I saved the life of the Magic Master. Not only did I bring him back from the brink of death, which is practically a miracle since the miasma had seeped into his blood as well. My power ended up covering the entire palace grounds, or so I heard.

No wonders I fainted after that, I was out of mana. But when I woke up, I was already in this cell.

I let out a sigh

I'm just glad I was able to save Hael.

I wonder if he's okay though? When is he gonna wake up?

I fiddled with my thumbs. Ever since I was thrown in here I've been thinking.

About Illaris and Hael.

What happened to her. Even if I hadn't touched her, she would have fainted anyway with how bad she looked. This is just my deduction, but I'm positive about it.

And she still hasn't woken up.

On the other hand, How did Hael get so brutally injured?

My heart rate was higher than usual. Because what I was actually thinking about, was my first life here. I died when I turned eighteen but the world must have kept going.

So if the events played out in similar ways if not the same. Illaris must have been in the same situation right? Did she pass out in my first life as well? I feel like she had a reaction to her powers.

And I'm sure Hael was still sent on that investigation. But then if he went and got injured, what did he do then? Those injuries can not be healed by anyone else but a Saint.

With Illaris in a coma, did Hael die in my first life?

A shudder went down my spine and I recalled something.

Is that why he wasn't in his room in my dream when the miasma clouds ate everything in its way?

Because he was dead?