Vane threw his arms around his mother's neck as if the entire world had stopped for a split second. He buried his face in her neck, breathing in her scent that always smelled of fresh daisies, and dug his fingers into the fabric of her worn linen dress.
"M-Mom... You... How is this possible?" his voice trembled.
"Vane, what's wrong, sweetie?" Elara pulled back with concern, taking her son's face in her delicate hands. She wiped the tears streaming down his cheekbones with her thumb. "Did you have a bad nightmare?"
Vane looked around. His mind was foggy, as if someone had hidden his brain behind a thick veil of mist. "I was just... Where was I?" His eyes were wide open; he desperately tried to recall that dark arena, the metallic stench of blood, and Kravitz's pitch-black eyes, but the images slipped through his fingers like grains of sand.
Elara gently led her son out of the barn. The setting sun on the horizon painted the farm's lands in the warmest shades of orange. "You're at the farm, my boy, you're right here with us. Where else would you be?"
Right then, Kael turned the corner with a creaking wheelbarrow in his hands. The old man had that usual foolish, fatherly grin plastered on his face. "Young Master Vane! How many times have we told you not to use the barn as a bedroom just to slack off from work!"
"KAEL!"
A feral hiss ripped from Vane's throat. Instinctively, he thrust his right hand forward, trying to summon that rusty dagger from the very depths of his soul. His muscles tensed, his mind expected that familiar weight, but... Nothing happened. Emptiness.
It felt as though something was supposed to happen, as if a deadly steel should have materialized in his grip. As Vane's fingers clawed at the empty air, his face twisted into a mask of pure hatred.
Old Kael paused, completely bewildered by Vane's sudden, violent aggression. "Y-Young Master Vane? Are you alright? You look pale as a ghost."
Vane slowly lowered his hand. His heart was beating erratically against his ribcage. "I'm sorry, Kael... I don't understand what's happening to me. There are... vague, dark things in my head. I guess it was just a momentary hallucination. Anyway," he said, trying his best to hide the tremor in his voice. "Mom, what's for dinner? I'm starving."
Kael and Elara looked at each other and chuckled lightly. Vane began walking toward the house with them, desperately trying to cling to that warm and peaceful energy. But right behind him, the shadow of the barn stretched out like an open maw, silently calling him back.
"YOU IDIOT, VANE! YOU THREW YOURSELF RIGHT INTO THE ARMS OF AN AETHER CRISIS!"
Inside the shadow dome, Lysandra's voice boomed like thunder. Vane's body was kneeling in the middle of the arena, trembling violently, his eyes rolled back and glowing with a blinding purple light. Meanwhile, Kravitz was slowly beginning to regain control over his shadows. Vane's soul had devoured so much aether that the young man's body had reached a critical flashpoint. If this energy wasn't released, within seconds, not just Vane, but the entire arena would be wiped off the map in a colossal explosion.
"There is no other choice," Lysandra whispered. That noble tone in her voice had been replaced by an ancient, terrifying resolve. "I didn't want to do this to you, Vane, but I cannot let you be destroyed."
With a string of mystic, forgotten words spilling from her lips, Lysandra claimed the dark throne of Vane's emptied consciousness. The entranced body went completely rigid for a split second, and then Vane opened his eyes with an entirely different, overwhelming aura.
"Damn it!" Lysandra spoke, using Vane's mouth. The voice was deeper now, resonating with a chilling echo. "It has been so long since I've been inside a vessel of flesh... This weight is seriously annoying."
Vane's (Lysandra's) face contorted with the pain of the feral energy coursing through his veins. Lysandra had to vent the excess aether from the body in a controlled manner. She raised her free hand; dense clusters of aether shot from her fingertips, crashing into the walls of the shadow dome and detonating in rapid succession. Every single explosion shook the stone floor of the arena.
"I need to puke out more of this... Just how much did this moron devour? Back in my era, this much aether would have been enough to feed ten witches!" she grumbled, purple sparks flying from between her clenched teeth.
Finally, instead of wasting the excess energy with mere aether bombs, she thrust her left hand forward. The pure aether bursting from her palm erupted outward like a massive flamethrower. The torrent of energy scorched and incinerated the shadows Kravitz had created, while the heir had already begun spinning his daggers in the air once more.
Lysandra looked at the foaming, black-eyed heir with utter disgust. "What a pity... Your family taught you absolutely no manners, little pup. One does not stand drooling like that in the presence of an Empress."
She cut off the flow from her left hand like a blade. "That's enough. The rest will serve as fuel for me... Besides, I should leave a few crumbs for Vane when he wakes up."
With a guttural snarl, Kravitz lunged. Aether claws launched from the tips of his daggers, tearing through the air straight toward Lysandra. Lysandra didn't even lift a finger to dodge these strikes. She simply coated Vane's entire body in a thin, impenetrable aether armor.
"You are not facing a rookie, you rabid dog!" Lysandra roared. Vane's voice, heavily distorted by Lysandra's ancient authority, echoed in every dark corner of the arena.
Suddenly, dozens of aether spears erupted from the air right behind Vane's back. Each one was sealed with a lethal purple glow. The spears arced through the air and rained down directly upon Kravitz. Because of the feral trance he was in, Kravitz didn't even think to defend himself, he only attacked; but the barrage of spears raining down on him was far too dense for even a sane person to evade.
"Hahaha!"
Lysandra's laughter echoed like a terrifying, twisted symphony within the shadow dome. "This... Oh, how I missed dominating!" She spread Vane's arms wide, feeling the raw power seeping from the vessel. This boy's body... is truly incredible. It harbors an endless potential within.
Kravitz was pinned to the ground by the crushing impact of the heavy spear rain. He wheezed, nailed to the cold stone floor by his shoulders and legs. With heavy, aristocratic steps, Lysandra walked over to the boy lying on the ground. She leaned down, grabbed him roughly by the chin, and forced his head up.
"Poor rabid dog... Who knows what storms are raging inside that shallow mind of yours. But believe me, I couldn't care less."
Lysandra wrapped her fingers around Kravitz's throat; she could have snapped his neck right there, in that exact second. But just then, the reality that Vane hadn't returned yet crossed her mind. If this heir dies here, Vane will never see the light of day in this palace or the academy. Furthermore, if Kravitz dies, this shadow dome collapses, and everything will be exposed.
Lysandra let out a bored sigh and pulled her hand away. She waved her hand in the air once, conjuring a majestic, terrifying throne out of pure aether. She sat upon this throne, right next to Kravitz's bleeding body, with immense arrogance. She crossed one leg over the other and rested her chin on her hand.
"Come on, Vane... I handled the hard part. Now wake up from that little dream of yours and get back to your duty as my pawn."