Moonbound: Reincarnated as a Moon Elf-Chapter 35: Sanctum (2)

Noctis opened his eyes once again to a hazy space of pink and ethereal clouds in the void.

His body was just as cold and painful as he went through all that went about in the strange space that he was thrown into.

Looking towards his hands, they were entirely black from the tips of his fingers, frostbitten, as he figured his body was submerged in the same freezing cold sea.

His body was entirely numb without an ounce of energy coursing in his veins.

With a sombre expression on his face, he lay supine on the forest floor, looking towards the void, reaching out to infinity.

’You shun, not accept.’

’No space for rebels in order.’

’Accept this, accept that... What has this acceptance given me in all these years? Just pain, suffering, and forlorn spurned longing.’

The more Noctis thought about it, the more his heart constricted with strange emotions.

Unable to express his anger on his face or through his body, his emotions were mirrored by the ethereal space he was in.

As Noctis went through the memories again and again, the ebbs and flow of the semiliquid, semigaseous space accelerated as if stirred by a heavenly force.

The lands rose and fell as if turned into a raging storm as swirling waves and wild winds surrounded the position where Noctis lay.

Unbeknownst to him, however, as all he had in his mind was the sheer madness he felt borne of his circumstances.

Consumed in this flurry of emotions, his eyes caught a bright, concentrated point of light in his vision.

A scene familiar yet strange at the same time.

In the cascading darkness akin to a void, a bright point beckoned him towards itself.

As the feeling tugged onto his heart, Noctis gave in without much resistance as he realised death knocking on his consciousness.

With the silver light in his eyes, Noctis accepted the harbinger of the underworld in the form of cold stillness, borne of the same essence.

***

In a tower reaching towards the cloud, gilded with richly ordained artisanry and stonemasonry on every floor wall, a simple room lay in stark contrast on the topmost floor, filled with various scrolls and books everywhere, with an old man in white and saffron robes sitting at a simple desk scribbling something in the light of a candle.

As he was focused on his work, he suddenly felt a cold chill in his spine, alerting him awake as he stood up with a shake of his head.

His breathing quickened as his heart thumped in his chest as the old man closed his eyes in an effort to look for the source of this strange phenomenon.

Soon his brows furrowed as he went towards the balcony attached to his room.

Looking at the bright silver moon in the sky, his expression became more and more grave.

***

In a cave nestled in the heart of a desert far in the south stood many women of all ages meditating in a circle inscribed with a totem in the middle.

As they were about to finish their ritual, they suddenly felt the totem in the middle shaking and shining all of a sudden.

The women in the cave panicked, kneeling on the ground while murmuring something beneath their breaths in low voices, and many simultaneously looked towards the old woman a little further on in the dark cave, supervising them.

The old woman looked at the totem carefully as her expression stilled at a little frown and slitted eyes so as to not worry the students.

Her heart was anything but still as she went through the reason for such development.

She instructed the students to rest for the night along with a word to alleviate their unwarranted worries that it might’ve been to do with their ritual.

As she went out and towards the tall rocky structure, she paused as a certain figure came into view.

A small child with a crimson robe and a white mask stood a little to the side of the road leading towards, looking towards the northern sky.

The old woman went towards her and stood a little behind before bowing a little and saying,

"There’s something you need to-" 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

"I’m aware. Fret not. It will pass in a few minutes, I believe."

She replied doenhwag gleeful without taking her eyes away from the clear night sky.

"Is it what I think it is?"

"I believe so."

"Then how is it not a matter to fret?"

"It is not.... I believe. Why worry about change? It is but the inevitability of nature, is it not?"

The old woman opened her mouth to say something, but nothing came to her. Indeed it is, however...

"This era, would it... will it bring...?"

"Why would you believe otherwise?"

"It’s just... this is the era of the unprophesied, after all."

A chuckle sounded from the small figure up ahead before she skipped ahead towards the rocky structure in the distance, leaving a small reply in her wake.

"Believe Mariam. It is all we have; it is all we can do. Leave the rest to {$[¢×|}."

***

A man with long black hair and a handsome, youthful face sat at a translucent platform floating silently on the expansive dark ocean, looking towards the numerous shooting stars gracing the night sky.

"Wow. Quite a few this time, don’t you think?"

A moment of silence passed before a deep voice resonated throughout the space.

"They are."

"Are you happy? Maybe some of your friends would be among them."

Nothing came this time after a few minutes of waiting.

"Shy."

A few minutes passed, and the shower not only continued but also became denser and denser.

The ocean started swirling too as tall spires of water started churning towards the night sky.

"What’s going on?"

Asked the young man a little seriously this time around as his translucent platform floated up, suspended in the air rather than on the surface of the water.

"Varāha?"

"Heir to the fourth is here."

A slight goosebump made its mark on the young man as he looked towards a certain direction with a surprised expression.

"Things got a lot more interesting all of a sudden."