Chapter 29: The Astral Light Part 2

Some minutes before the transporter showed up, Lenora looked up after hearing her name from Orson’s friend. She looked up to hear the last part of the conversation.

Wait, Aeron was going as well.

Orson looked back up at Lenora before asking, "So I realize I should have asked you before making plans."

"Yes, you should have."

Lenora was a bit angry, but she did not know why. I mean, you can’t just make plans for someone.

Orson was taken aback by her anger but tried to calm her down, although to tell the truth, the guy was failing badly at it. "Look, that is why I said I’m sorry. I mean, you haven’t really done anything in the house since, except mess the place up, and looking at you, I’m sure you have no plans. And I didn’t want to leave you at home alone, okay? So that’s why I made those plans."

Lenora just looked at Orson, dumbfounded. "Did you just call me a lazy pig?"

"In which part of what I just said did I call you a pig?"

"Oh, I don’t know. Maybe because I mess up everything in the house?"

And so Orson shot back, " Yes, that’s what I said. Wow, now you’re saying it to my face."

Orson just looked at her, speechless. "Stop twisting my words."

"Oh, I’m sorry. Was I too smart not to have caught the double meaning in your words?"

"There was no double meaning there," Orson shouted back.

"Then please enlighten me on what you mean."

"I’m done with this conversation."

Lenora just watched Orson get up with his plate and hers to wash, leaving the fuming Lenora, who just rolled her dinner chair away.

---

Lenora had not realized how much Orson’s words would sting. Lazy, messy and useless. He had not said those words exactly, but that was what she heard. That was what her mind translated his careless observations into. And the worst part—the part that made her blood boil—was that he was not entirely wrong.

She had been useless. She had spent the past few days wallowing in her own misery, drinking herself to sleep, leaving bottles and takeaway containers scattered across the floor like evidence of her failure. She had not cleaned or cooked. She had not even tried to move beyond the bedroom.

But that did not give him the right to point it out.

Orson, for his part, had not meant to insult her. He had simply been stating facts. She had been inactive. She had no plans. He was trying to include her. That was all. But the moment he saw her face twist with anger, he knew he had miscalculated. He just did not know how to fix it.

So he just walked away.

Lenora watched him go, her hands gripping the wheels of her chair so tightly her knuckles turned white. She wanted to scream. She wanted to throw something at his big head.

---

A while later, a small transport landed in front of their house.

The fuming Orson, with the help of Julian and Corvin, took the angry Lenora into the transport. Aeron, who was in casual clothes and glasses, greeted both Orson and Lenora.

Weird, Julian thought as he looked at Aeron and Lenora. They did not even act weird around each other. Normally, the famous Storm Saint was not part of their group, so it was weird for Julian to see her, but Corvin and Aeron did not look weirded out. Instead, Corvin was launching into a speech about how great General Elias was.

"I mean, Orson, you should have been there. General Elias’s ability deals with weapons, so you know when he showcases his weapon, especially the Deathbringer, no foe goes unpunished."

Orson just listened as Corvin jumped into the last fight General Elias had with rank eight.

"I mean, Orson, that fight was epic. Noversell stood no chance."

Julian was in the driver’s seat, flying them to District 5. Aeron was meanwhile looking at Orson, who was lost talking to Corvin. And Lenora was looking at them both, still fuming because of what Orson had said to her. And worst of all, he was not apologetic about it.

After a while on the flying transport, Lenora moved toward Aeron and asked, "So, Aeron, how is it going?"

Aeron looked at her, his easygoing aura gone when Lenora looked at him. Her face was still as beautiful as he remembered, before he pulled his glasses off and said, "What about it?"

So she moved her hands toward him and asked, "I want to know what happens to me."

Aeron’s smile vanished as he looked at her before asking, "Was this why you agreed to join?"

Lenora looked away.

Aeron just smiled. "Let me guess. He doesn’t know, does he?"

"Know what?"

"What type of person you are, Lenora."

"I did not ask you to judge me. Just tell me what I want to know."

Aeron looked down at his hands. "It has always been about what you wanted. You know, I thought after everything and the breach and you losing your legs, you would give up."

Lenora smiled at Julian, who looked back at everyone, saying, "We are about to arrive, so everyone get ready, okay?"

Lenora looked back at Aeron, but her voice turned colder. "Look, I did not burden you with their deaths, Aeron. And besides, you owe me this time. You are a saint now, are you not? Or wait, don’t tell me you believed that the Hens family was really going to give you a key. No, they wouldn’t give you one. So you owe me, alright?"

Aeron sighed before pulling off his gloves. Then his eyes turned gold as he looked into Lenora’s eyes. Then he held her hands.

Some time later, Lenora was shocked by what she saw, and Aeron was looking around strangely.

"We have arrived."

---

As Orson looked out, he was a bit surprised by what he saw. I guess seeing it in memory is different from face to face. As he looked out at it, from high above, the Colosseum looked like a colossal, glowing circuit board embedded in the earth—a perfect ring of dark composite and pulsing blue energy. Its hexagonal floor constantly morphed below, shifting terrain like a living tapestry, while a floating spherical megascreen beamed sharp 3D visuals straight up. Standing at the peak, you looked down past tiers of glowing crowds and anti-gravity VIP pods floating in mid-air, all locked beneath the shimmering, neon-stained sheen of the skyward energy shield.

Julian smiled and said, "Welcome to the Astral Light Martial Hall."

Corvin was buzzing in his seat. "General Elias. I can’t wait to see him."

Julian just sighed as the transporter touched down with multiple transporters. "Again with General Elias. He is not even a Resonant yet. Why do you care about someone who hasn’t even made it to the second rank? I mean, Aeron is even stronger than the guy."

Corvin frowned. "Hey, come on, Julian. I thought you were on the General train."

"I was when I thought he was cool, but there are cooler fighters out there. I mean, what about Seraphina? She’s cool."

Corvin shot back, "You mean the girl who doesn’t even show her face?"

As the friends talked, the doors opened as everyone moved toward the Colosseum.

As they all got out, they were greeted by hundreds of clones of a handsome warrior—General Elias. From gaudy posters to kitschy mugs to cheesy bobbleheads, Elias’s face was plastered all across the stadium for the one-day event. Young fans dressed from head to toe in Elias’s monochrome to show their support for their favorite Awakened.

As Julian led them through the growing crowd of General fans, Orson could hear Lenora laughing in front of him as Aeron wheeled her with him.

"I can’t believe how popular Elias has gotten in just a few years. How many times has he won the Astral Ring?" she said as they dodged people selling General merchandise.

Julian, who was also behind Lenora and Aeron, raised his voice. "Not enough to call for this commotion. This all feels like a bit much if you ask me."

Corvin rolled his eyes. "Hey, I’m not going to stand any General Elias slander today. Elias chooses to not challenge the trials like me because he doesn’t want to advance until he completely masters his ability as an Awakened. Now how can you be against a guy who is determined to fully explore the extent of his power?"

"Should we go inside?" Orson asked, fully knowing how long Corvin’s rants could go. "I don’t want to miss the opening."

Corvin just huffed. "Yeah, let’s go in. The sooner we get to the match, the sooner I can prove to you all just how incredible General Elias is."

Eager to see the fight, Julian led the way as he handed each of them a ticket before scanning it to enter.

As they stepped into the Colosseum, they were greeted by a massive stone pillar—the tallest thing in the Colosseum. It was hard to avoid the structure. And across many sides, there were names on it, showing winners of each year, the top ten winners of the martial hall, to memorialize the fighters for years to come.

"There is nothing I want more than to have my name alongside General Elias on the sacred pillar."

As they walked past it, Corvin let out a long sigh. "Unfortunately, that is not in the cards for me, since I have no plans to awaken."

Julian shot back, "Nothing is stopping you, so why?"

"As I said, my life gate is too low."

So Aeron said, his voice calm, "I know many people who are Eclipser and still have Crimson gates."

"Easy for you to say. You have a Gold life gate."

Just then, they heard a horn.

The match was about to start. Lenora told the rest to go, that she needed to use the bathroom, still reeling from what Aeron had told her.

Meanwhile, Aeron watched her go with Orson as Orson looked at him. "What did you tell her?"

Aeron smiled. "The truth, you know."

Orson looked at him. "I don’t know."

Aeron sighed, removing the gloves. "I am not sure what I told her as well. But I will show you yours, so you can protect her this time. I hope."

"What are you talking about?"

Aeron smiled and looked at Orson. "My ability allows me to see people’s futures, and I told her. Her future."

Orson was shocked. "Wait, what? How is that even possible?"

"Well, it is. But how come you do not know what you told her?"

"Oh, it’s my burden. I forget whatever happened in the last ten minutes of memories before I used my power, even the vision I saw. And since I cannot remember and you are her husband, I am sure your future may be linked—"

But before Orson could protest, Aeron’s eyes turned gold as he looked into Orson’s eyes.

And visions flashed in his mind. First, a burning city flashed in his eyes, then a burning titan with five burning life gates in its chest condensing to create a sixth one. And then the whole city burning. And the last one was a lightning blade that pierced Orson from behind as dark blood was rushing from his mouth.

Aeron released Orson and looked at him.

Orson also looked back at Aeron, having seen the visions in Aeron’s eyes.

Aeron looked shocked before his expression changed as he looked at Orson. "Oh, hi, Orson. What are you still doing here?" He looked around. "Looks like the match is about to start."

Orson just watched him walk away.

What did I just see? A girl killed me with lightning.

He thought as Lenora stepped out of the toilet after coming to terms with her future.