I arrived back in...me and Jimmy's room.

I know, I could have just gone back to my own room after that night but- I couldn't. I kept making up excuses. I was too scared to have another nightmare, my room was too hot, things such as that.

But that wasn't the point. I sat down on the edge of the bed, still playing with Xornoth's crystal around my neck. Questions still swirled around my head, but deep down I felt a deep connection I had never noticed before, but it hit me that that was what I had been missing these years. My connection to the gods.

A thought that had somewhat plagued me years earlier after I found out I was the champion, came back. So, I thought I might try summoning Aeor. It had been done before in the legends, why not now? "A-Aeor?" I asked into the empty room, looking around.

One second, two seconds, three- A bright light suddenly flashed in front of me, and I screwed my eyes shut, throwing my arms in front of my face to shield myself from it.

I opened my eyes slowly, lowering my arms. There stood Aeor, just as he had less than an hour previously in the apothecary. "Yes?" he asked, raising an eyebrow at me expectantly.

"I...didn't actually expect that to work." I muttered the last part under my breath to myself, before looking back up at the god. "I- I have a question."

"Well then, ask away." Aeor replied, folding his hands behind his back.

I blinked, trying to find a way to string the words together for it to make sense. Finally, I asked the question that had been nagging at me since I discovered the prophecy. "Why don't I feel any connection to Alinar?"

Aeor raised both eyebrows at this, his eyes alight with a sort of curiosity at my question. "And why do you ask that?"

"Just...in the prophecy, it claimed I was Alinar's reincarnation. I've read on it that it was a superstition created by the followers of Mystique, but I hadn't thought it real till I found the prophecy. I researched more and found that if you attempted or tried hard enough, you could contact your past lives but...I haven't been able to." I explained, rubbing the back of my neck with the hand I wasn't holding the crystal with.

"Ah. Well, as you may now, the writer of the prophecy was elven." Aeor stated. "One that did not speak the language of the humans I might add. It had to be translated. You are your own person Scott, not a version of Alinar."

"What?" I asked, looking back up in surprise at his answer.

"It was lost in translations. You are not a reincarnation of my first champion, but a descendant." Aeor told me, and I was shocked.

"But...how?" I asked, realizing I was asking a bunch of questions, and swallowing a few more.

"Despite the pieces of the battle with his brother being cut out of history, do you by any chance remember the rest of Alinar's life? He was still an important figure in your history." Aeor said, now asking me a question.

I nodded slowly. "I think...?"

Aeor took a deep breath, only slightly exasperated with me and my queries. "Well, after reinstating a new set of laws to follow for the elves after all the chaos that ensued after Conal, Alinar settled down. Now, little know this, but Alinar's last name was Major. Now, also a small fact not many know, Alinar had a son named-"

"Avery Major..." I cut off in a hushed tone. "The first king of Rivendale."

"Exactly. You are not a reincarnation of Alinar, but a direct descendant considering that the Elven Empire is one of the only two which have never overthrown their rulers." Aeor said with a small nod.

I looked back down at the bed, eyes wide as I processed this. For the longest time I had been trying to be the person I thought I was, the person who I thought to be me. But I was wrong. I really was my own person.

"Is that all?" Aeor asked after a moment, and I glanced up at him, still holding Xornoth's crystal.

"No actually... I have another question." I said slowly. "About Erin."

"What about them?" Aeor asked, raising an eyebrow at my new question.

"You said your brother has a tight grip on Erin. But why do you need to wait for her to wake up to release her?" I asked.

To my surprise, Aeor sighed. "My brother and I are almost equally matched in strength, as you know. But he has access to your sister's power while in control of her body. Which, unfortunately, limits the number of ways I can help Phoenix. Once she wakes however, if we can get her to cooperate, she can assist me. It is sad for me to admit, but I need her help." A look of disgust flitted across Aeor's face for just a moment at that word, so quick it could have been mistaken for a trick of the light.

I blinked in surprise. "Then- then can you help him?" I asked, trying to hide the desperation from my voice, holding the crystal out towards Aeor. 'Puppet' Echoed in my head in Exor's voice, and I shook it to try and get it out of my mind.

Aeor stared down at the crystal for a moment. "I am afraid not."

"What? Why not?" I asked. "If you can help Erin surely you can help him."

Aeor shook his head again. "I cannot."

My desperation began to pour into my expression. "Why not-? Certainly, he doesn't want that-"

"Maybe not anymore. But before he did. He made a choice and there's no turning back." Aeor replied, narrowing his eyes slightly.

"What choice!?" I asked, getting to me feet, anger began to boil in the pits of my stomach, rising towards my chest, quick and hot. "I know nothing of my brother, and you refuse to tell me anything! What was he like before he was forced away? How did he find Exor? I know NOTHING!" I didn't know where I found the nerves to yell at the god, but I did. I glared at him with anger that I had pent up through the years I've known about Xornoth.

I clenched my fists for a moment, watching Aeor's expression and slowly realizing the horrible mistake I had made. But Aeor did not get angry, instead he sighed. "I suppose considering he is your brother you should know..." he said slowly.

I blinked in surprise. Every fiber of my body was ready for Aeor to lash out at me, scold me, disown me again. They were known to have short patience. But here he was, willing to answer my questions. I just nodded, sitting back down, every second feeling like an hour as I waited for him to start speaking.

"From what I know, after living in Mythland for over a decade, Xornoth had begun to get bitter, and angry. There were many...regrettable things he managed to do, even before he found Exor. When he did, after turning nineteen, Exor twisted the truth, telling him lies to feed his fury. He made a deal with my brother, in promise for power to unleash his anger on those who had wronged him. But Exor tricked him, taking control of his body against his will and using him like they are now."

"Then why can't you help him?" I asked.

"There's nothing left of your brother, Scott." Aeor said, his expression shifting into a look of pity.

"What?"

"He's gone. Exor destroyed him from the inside out. Like they said, Xornoth's a shell they use for their bidding." Aeor stated.

I dropped my hands into my lap in defeat, staring down at the floor. There really was nothing I could do...

"I'm sorry." Aeor finally said after a few moments of silence. He actually sounded genuine, and when I looked up, I saw the same look of pity on his face. "I know how it feels."

I opened my mouth to answer, about to say he didn't, when I realized he knew exactly what it was like. He had lost his brother too. But Exor had betrayed Aeor, it was different. I never knew, Xornoth. He never had a chance to scar me like Exor must have done the God of Light.

I sighed but nodded slowly, twisting the crystal in my hand. "I just wish I got the chance to know him-"

"Trust me. Its better you lose someone you didn't know, then lose someone you did." Aeor cut off with a knowing, and stern expression. "Now is that all?"

I thought for a moment, before a nodded. "That's all. Thank you for...actually coming."

"Of course. I am always here if you need me." Aeor replied, giving me a short and formal nod, before disappearing in another flash of bright light.

I shielded my eyes again, to avoid getting blinded from it. He really needs to work on his entrances and exits.

That night...I had another dream.

My eyes shot open. I was lying on my back, cold piercing my shoulders and spine like small knives being repeatedly stabbed into my back. I inhaled a sharp breath of air, the piercing cold stinging my nose. I was lying in a bed of frost and snow, and I slowly sat up, looking around in every direction.

I seemed to be in an evergreen forest. Snow fell gently from the sky, twinkling from the light being reflected from the stars above me and the moon. The snow itself seemed to glow, a white that could hardly be short of magic.

I jumped as I heard a rustling, someone running through the woods. I watched as a shadow darted through the trees, unrecognizable. I scrambled to my feet, going to grab my sword. But my sheathe was empty.

I whipped around, the cold stinging my face like needles as I watched again for the shadow. I heard it again, the snow crunching quickly as if the person in question was running, and my head snapped in its direction. I saw a flash of blue before the figure disappeared, heading deeper into the forest.

Without thinking, I followed, sprinting after the mysterious figure, winding between trees, and leaping over fallen trees and rocks. The frigid air whipped my skin, snapping my cloak behind me. I was used to this sort of unbearable cold, so I took no notice at it biting at the tips of my ears and nose like before.

I was gaining, and I saw the trail of an elegant blue and white robe for a moment before they disappeared around a patch of trees, out of sight. I sprinted around after them and skidded to a halt. Hidden by the trees and shrubbery was a large, iced-over lake, and a waterfall, seemingly frozen in time as the ripples in the water had been crystalized. The snow seemed to halt here, floating in midair around the hypnotic, yet mysterious scene. 

But standing in front of me was a beautiful elf. She couldn't have been much shorter than me. She was wearing a gorgeous robe-like dress, draped around her arms, her shoulders bare in the freezing weather. She walked barefoot in the snow, the dress reaching halfway down her shins. She was incredibly pale, patches of her skin covered in frost shaped like snowflakes. Her hair was white, not like Erin's, but pure as snow and practically glowing. Her eyes were a piercing, icy blue, and on her face were blue markings in the shape of triangles, forming geometric edges of snowflakes. Her cheeks were bright red from cold, her lips the color of blood.

The elf let out a small laugh that sounded like bells jingling on a sleigh, or stars twinkling if that were a sound. "I wish you luck in the days to come." She said, her voice smooth and calming, but at the same time soft and encouraging. A strong wind suddenly hit the clearing, causing the snow to raise off the ground. It swirled around the elven woman for a moment, before she disappeared in the white haze, leaving me alone.

And then I awoke.

***

Sorry this chapter is shorter- I couldn't find a way to blend it with the next part of the story 😅 (yes I've discovered how to do emojis on a computer, y'all should be worried /hj)

Now, now, I know what some of you will ask why i chose the boring name Avery for the first king when i coulda done something cool. Well the name Avery is actually an English and French name that means Ruler of Elves. So, I thought that was a cool detail-

Anyways, next chapter hopefully coming soon!