Chapter 525: A Bet With a Harbinger

"Who are you?" The girl said, leaning forward, to which Aether quickly responded by backing away as fast as he could. She tilted her head at him, frowning.

"You aren’t just anyone. Keres wouldn’t be... this interested in you. First at the lighthouse, then in his tent at night, what is your guy’s relationship?" She knew about that? It was unexpected news; after all, he had tried his very best not to let anyone see him wondering at night.

Aether didn’t respond to Sofia; he just shrugged his shoulders. But she didn’t seem very happy about it.

"You’re really annoying me, you know? First, you stare and follow me when I visit the Blue Rose, and then I learn you are also in this exploration, only to find you almost dead. I bring you to the doctor in critical condition, and he isn’t very sure you will survive, yet you do, and quite easily so..."

If there was one thing he didn’t like, it was her starting to connect the dots. She already knew he was the person from before, the one who Keres had said she was going to regret killing, and who had followed her, so she knew he had some connection to the Harbinger, but now with Keres taking him, and importantly, only him, to the lighthouse, and them meeting up at night, it all was starting to be more and more confusing for her.

It couldn’t just be because he was from the Blue Rose, since the majority in their group were, even high nobles, and yet, the person he talked to the most, and seemed the most himself around, was a... someone who didn’t even speak... well, at least to her.

She squinted her eyes. "Does Keres know who you are? Speak truthfully."

Aether bit his lip under the hood, but tried to remain calm; this was... a hard decision to make. After all, who knew what it might lead to; if he said no, she could find out he was lying. If she just asked Keres, he didn’t think it was something the Harbinger would lie about.

And he didn’t know what she would do to him if she found out he was lying.

But if he said yes, she could try to convince Keres to tell her, since he knew her curiosity was making her mad; she wanted to know who was behind that hood of his, and he knew that.

’Well, I guess... either way, it’s going to lead to the same thing.’ He hesitated, but nodded.

Seeing this, Sofia sighed, crossing her arms. "Good, at least you won’t lie to me. It was a trick question, of course; Keres knows who you are; she wouldn’t have given me that warning back in the castle if he didn’t know who you were.

Now, since I know you want to tell the truth. I won’t waste my time trying to play detective. Are you going to speak to me? Tell me your identity?"

Aether clenched his fists, staring into his sister’s eyes. He wanted to speak out, and he tried, yet when he did, nothing came out; as much as he forced himself to speak, it was as if his body was going against his own will.

He tried to take his mantle off, and yet it remained. His will seemed crushed, not even close to the chains that bound him from just saying his name. The will that had carried him through the worst times was failing him now.

He sighed quietly, and with a heavy heart, he shook his head.

He regretted it; it was almost instantaneous. It was impressive how fast it washed over him. He wanted to forget about it and speak, but he just couldn’t. Sofia nodded, accepting his decision, before getting out of his tent, leaving him alone to regret his decision.

Aether stopped still for a second before falling to the ground, looking at the space where she used to be. "I’m such a fucking loser."

He cursed before closing his eyes.

...

...

...

And yet he couldn’t seem to be able to sleep; not even a small bit. His eyes just never closed for more than two seconds; he couldn’t stop but curse himself; he was this close, and has been this close, and yet has never been able to say those four words. ’I am Aether Moirai... if only I could say it out loud and not only in my mind.’

If not for his own good, then for her, to stop her suffering, her grief over his death.

Getting up, he stood still for a second, thinking, before walking outside. No one was around; all had gone back into their tents, most probably sleeping, while some night owls were still awake...

He took a deep breath, feeling the cold of the air flow through his body, making him shiver just so slightly. The night sky was beautiful at this hour, with the full moon in the sky and the many stars all shining; you could stare for hours, especially if you knew sleep wasn’t on the schedule.

Aether stared for a moment before looking at his hands. ’... With so much going on, it makes you wonder: when will it all be over?

Will it ever even stop, or has humanity finally found its predator? Our world has been without any danger for a long time... so is this what this is? The punishment for our sloth?

If so, will we even survive? Will we ever have our peace back? I feel bad for the generations that are to come, those that will be raised in this danger, and will never experience the world’s peace, the world we’ve lived in, where we didn’t need to worry for tomorrow.’

Whenever he thought about it... he got a weird aching feeling; he didn’t know why, or what it was for, though. After all, he wasn’t the hero type.

Letting his hands fall to his sides, Aether turned towards Keres’s tent, taking a deep breath before walking inside it. The Harbinger seemed awake, tidying the place. He turned to him, surprised. "Are you here for another therapy session or something?" He joked, continuing to clean the place up.

...

"Yeah... I am." Aether said, smiling, as he scratched the back of his head.

Keres turned back to him, more serious this time, as if he hadn’t expected such a... sincere, and rather... vulnerable answer. He stopped cleaning, getting in his seat. "Alright, come on, what’s on your mind?"

Aether didn’t hesitate to get in his seat; he also didn’t take long to speak. "Sofia came into my tent today; she figured some things out between you and me and wanted to know my identity... I’ve been wanting to bring myself to tell her, but I can’t, and I don’t know why." After finishing, he looked at Keres, waiting for an answer.

Seeing that he stopped talking, Keres’s eyes widened, confused. "Wait, so you expect me to tell you why you can’t tell her? How the heck am I supposed to know? No one except you can figure that out. I mean, It’s impossible for me to know what you are feeling.

Humans are very subjective creatures. As hard as we try to put ourselves in the position of others, to try to feel what they think and feel what they feel, we will never be able to fully mimic them; every human is unique when it comes to these things."

Aether nodded; he had expected this answer. He just wished he was wrong; after all, an answer here would have helped him a lot. Sighing, he was about to get up and leave, but before he could, Keres added one more thing.

"I guess the only thing I could help you with is this.

If by the end of our journey in the mountains, not even a single person is dead, then you will rethink everything: the curse and showing yourself to your sister. But if one person dies, just one, I will personally apologise to you, and acknowledge that evil thing that is supposedly placed on you, and whatever else you want me to do."

He smirked, chuckling. "How does that sound to you? Fun, eh?"

Aether smiled. "So betting with human lives is fun now? What kind of leader are you?" He mocked Keres, who rolled his eyes. "No one’s perfect, Aether. We all have our defects; it’s more about trying our best to take care of them."

...

"I’ll do it, the deal." He said as he got up from his seat, preparing to leave. Keres laughed as he waved him off.

...

Really, this... bet was very one-sided, as much as he knew Keres’ ability to fight and lead, protecting every single person was going to be impossible in these conditions.

There was no way at least one person didn’t die. There were way too many ways to die to save everyone: exhaustion, hunger, thirst, cold, monsters, even themselves; who knew what was going to happen later, when resources started getting dimmer.

This deal of theirs... it was highly in his favour... at least, that was his opinion on it.

For now.