"We're just sleeping together, right...?" Aric asked suddenly, breaking the silence.
"Mhm." Seraphina said nonchalantly. She opened one eye to see him,
"Just sleep with unless...you can't do it." She paused, letting the weight of her words settle before continuing.
"In which case, I can't believe in you anymore—or your whole 'amnesia bullshit,' or the fact that 'you're not Vayne' as you so conveniently put it."
Her tone wasn't harsh, but there was a sharpness to it. It was clear she had no patience for excuses.
Aric exhaled slowly and nodded, "Okay... I can do it."
His response seed to satisfy her—for now. She closed her eyes again, reclining further into the seat, leaving him alone with his thoughts once more.
Well I got nothing to do now except wait. I will probably continue the car blueprint in my head, for now...a nap sounds good.
Leaning his head back, he let the gentle rocking of the carriage lull him toward rest.
As his eyes fluttered shut, sleep claid him—or at least, he thought it did. It could've been seconds, minutes, or hours. He couldn't tell.
All he knew was that the mont his eyes closed, he was no longer lying down. He was standing in an endless, pitch-black void.
The darkness was oppressive, yet strangely familiar. No light pierced the infinite expanse, yet sohow, Aric could see perfectly—as if the absence of illumination sharpened his senses rather than dulling them.
His heart pounded uneasily as he scanned the emptiness around him, searching for any sign of life or movent.
Then ca the voice—a haunting echo that sent chills coursing through his spine. It sounded eerily similar to Ivy's tone but carried a darker, more sinister edge. There was no body attached to it, just words reverberating through the void like whispers from another dinsion.
"Do you see yourself as a saviour, Aric Lawson?"
Aric froze, startled by the use of his full na—sothing even Ivy rarely did.
"No." he replied cautiously,
"I'm not a saviour. Just a man trying to fix things."
The voice chuckled softly,
"Ah, yes. A 'man trying to fix things.' Let remind you who you are, Aric Lawson. Once upon a ti, you were a philosopher—a thinker who believed ideas could shape the world. Then war happened. Drafted, ripped away from your comfortable lecture halls, thrust into chaos and reshape your way of thinking too. And when you finally ca ho with all the baggage like PTSD, trauma? The world had already moved on without you."
As the voice recounted his past, mories played back in Aric's head. The blood-soaked battlefields, comrades screaming in agony, the tallic tang of fear in the air.
Each word struck like a blade, forcing him to confront the person he used to be—and the fragnts of that identity still lingering within him.
"You lost everything." the voice continued rcilessly.
"Your job, your wife, your children. You beca nothing more than a cleaner, scrubbing blood off floors so others wouldn't have to face the ugliness of reality. Tell , Aric… do you think redemption is possible after such loss?"
Before Aric could respond, the scene shifted abruptly, pulling him into a vivid premonition.
Aric stood amidst the ruins of a burning town—Ashwick. The once-thriving community now lay engulfed in flas, smoke choking the sky above. Buildings collapsed under the inferno's relentless assault, their charred remains littering the streets.
People scread in terror as shadowy figures erged from the chaos, wielding fire magic with cruel precision.
He realized quickly that he wasn't truly there; he existed as a ghostly observer, invisible to those around him. Yet the devastation unfolding before his eyes felt painfully real.
In the center of the carnage stood Vayne Arkwright—powerless, unard, and visibly terrified. Beside him fought Evelyn, her daggers flashing weakly against the overwhelming tide of enemies. And there was Seraphina, her shadow tendrils lashing out with terrifying ferocity, cutting down anyone foolish enough to approach.
The source of the destruction was clear: a figure cloaked in flas, surrounded by people in shadows. Their combined forces ravaged Ashwick, leaving death and despair in their wake.
Aric watched helplessly as Evelyn fell first, a fiery blast striking her squarely in the chest. Her body crumpled to the ground, lifeless, while Vayne scread her na in anguish. But Seraphina didn't falter.
If anything, her rage intensified, her powers erupting with unchecked aggression. Shadow tendrils tore through the enemy ranks, slaughtering indiscriminately until only she and Vayne remained standing among the ashes of Ashwick.
The town burned entirely, its people wiped out. Only silence lingered afterward, broken only by the crackling of embers and the occasional groan of collapsing structures.
As the vision faded, Aric returned to the void, trembling with shock and disbelief. Before he could process what he'd seen, the voice resud, colder and harsher than before.
"This is the reality you're headed toward, Aric Lawson. Your decisions—whether made consciously or not—will lead to this outco. Do not delude yourself into thinking you can save everyone or redeem yourself.
The voice continued mockingly,
"Every act of kindness, every attempt to help these people, will invite betrayal and violence. They will turn on you. And when they do, this will inevitably happen."
Aric's jaw tightened, anger bubbling beneath the surface.
"What am I supposed to do then?" he demanded,
"Sit back and watch innocent people die? That's not who I am!"
The voice responded calmly,
"Don't save the people, Aric. Don't repent for the sins Vayne committed. Don't be a saviour. The mont you start helping them, you paint a target on your back—and theirs. This path ends in ruin, regardless of how noble your intentions may seem."
Fury surged through Aric, and he snapped back,
"So I'm just supposed to abandon them? Let them suffer because of sothing he did?!"
The voice sighed, as though expecting his defiance.
"It is inevitable, Aric. You cannot stop it. No matter what choice you make, this future will co to pass. The question isn't whether you can prevent it—it's whether you'll survive long enough to endure the aftermath. The mont you help Ashwick, this will co true."
The voice continued with mockery, as if knowing what and who Aric is,
"Even with this warning, you will still help Ashwick. Because that's what broken n do, isn't it? They chase redemption in places where none exists. You're no saviour, Aric. No hero. Just a miserable man who failed in his old life… and now seeks purpose in an irredeemable body that was never yours to begin with"
Aric took a step forward, though there was nowhere to go in the void,
"You're wrong. I've faced worse odds than this. I've been through hell and back and this future is not set in stone. I will change the ending to this bullshit."
The voice fell silent, as if considering his words. When it spoke again, its tone carried a hint of amusent—but also finality.
"Very well, Aric Lawson. But rember this: inevitability waits for no one. You cannot change the ending to this. Evelyn and the people of Ashwick must die."
"NO!!"
Aric scread, bolting upright from his seat. His chest heaved as sweat drenched his skin, plastering strands of raven-black hair to his forehead. The remnants of the vision lingered vividly—flas engulfing Ashwick, Seraphina's shadow tendrils tearing through everyone and Evelyn's lifeless body crumpling to the ground.
He gasped for air, clutching at his chest as though trying to steady his racing heart.
Seraphina caught him with her tendril from falling down and her tone carried a hint of worry,
''Vayne? Are you okay? What the hell did you dream?
Aric blinked rapidly, forcing himself to focus on reality. His hands trembled slightly as he reached up to touch his own cheeks, reassuring himself that he wasn't still trapped in that nightmare.
When his fingers brushed against his skin, he exhaled sharply, relief washing over him montarily.
"What… what ti is it?" he panted,
"It has only been half an hour since you slept. What happened Vayne?" Seraphina replied while pulling back her tendril now
Aric pulled himself together while putting a hand over his face,
How the hell could I explain what I saw this ti? The voice recounted my life like so powerpoint slide and showing the destruction of Ashwick.
Should I even tell it was inevitable? No, she will just think I'm just tired and dismiss it.
But...she was there this ti. Different than the 2nd dream I had about it. The first was just fire when I stayed at Ashwick... then it's connected to the second dream where Ashwick is in flas, confirming the first dream then it added Evelyn's death...
And the last dream was everything in motion with Seraphina losing control with and her being the only survivor in Ashwick. The entire town is gone and everyone died. How the fuck do I even tell her that it felt real and I can't ignore it anymore.
"I…" he began hesitantly,
"It was just… mories. Fragnts of things I don't fully understand."
Seraphina frowned, clearly unconvinced,
"mories?" she echoed skeptically.
"You've were like this just about two weeks ago. You were panting in your sleep and mumbling sothing. Initially I just thought you were tired but..."
She paused, studying him closely. "…this ti felt different. More detailed. Almost like you were reliving sothing."
Her voice softened ever so slightly,
"What did you dream this ti Vayne?"
Aric sighed deeply, dragging his palms down his face.
"I don't know Seraphina." he admitted quietly.
"Maybe it's guilt. Maybe it's stress. Hell, maybe it's punishnt for everything Vayne did—or didn't do."
He glanced at her briefly before looking away,
"All I know is that it felt real. It show things I can't control, outcos I can't prevent. It's like… like soone's trying to warn ."
"Warn you about what?" she pressed on,
"What exactly did you see?"
Aric hesitated, debating how much to reveal,
He wanted to settle for vague honesty, hoping it would satisfy her without exposing too much but, he chose to tell the truth besides the fact he's Aric Lawson.
"It was Ashwick. The sa dream I told you about before but now it was clearer. It was the sa dream with the city on fire, people screaming, shadows attacking them. It was all the sa except..."
He swallowed hard, "You were there too. Fighting alongside . But by the end, everyone else was dead. Just us left standing."
Seraphina stiffened visibly. Her fingers tightened around the armrests of her seat,
"Us?" she repeated, "What do you an 'us'? Who the hell was dead Vayne?"
Aric sighed and put his head down,
"It was Evelyn and the entire town of Ashwick. I saw her die again and I'm not so sure it's just the stress. All I know is that whatever happened in that dream—it felt real. Like it's already written sowhere, waiting to happen."
For several seconds, neither of them spoke. Seraphina looked at him deeply, trying to find anything to see that he was delusional but there was none.
He's being genuine about it. He's telling the truth.
"You're dreaming about bloodshed." she said finally,
"About destruction and loss. Do you think it's coincidence?"
Aric putting his hand on his lap, with his tone filled with resignation,
"I don't know. If you think it's so weird dream, that it is a manifestation of my guilt then sure we can go with that but I don't think I want to see Evelyn dead nor innocent people die."
Seraphina sighed deeply, "Fine." she said curtly, crossing her legs elegantly.
"Let's say it's more than a dream, a premonition. Tell more. What else did you see?"
With that Aric told the full detail about the voice telling him that every action he takes will lead to the destruction of Ashwick, the mages that were there, how the town was in fla.
How Seraphina lost control and how it ended up winning the battle but losing the war.
But Aric left out of one thing, himself.
He didn't tell her about what the voice truly said—about him.
How he wasn't a hero, nor a saviour.
How he was a man from another world, reborn in a body that didn't belong to him.
How all of this, everything, might just be a desperate attempt to redeem a life already squandered.
He left that part out.
Because after everything they had gone through, he didn't want to shatter it with a truth that could undo it all.
So he kept it buried and for now, that was enough.
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