The First Memory Implantation (2)

Adelasta had prepared herself—or at least, she thought she had. But nothing could have prepared her for the overwhelming force of Vastarael's Memory Implantation. It was a complete and utter obliteration of her sense of reality.

The second Vastarael's glowing fingers touched her temples, her surroundings shattered like glass. The world cracked, split apart in jagged lines, and then imploded into a swirling vortex of light and darkness. Colors she couldn't name twisted and churned around her. The air felt thick, as if she was sinking into a black sea with no bottom.

Her chest tightened. She couldn't breathe.

Adelasta screamed, or at least she thought she did, but no sound came out. Her voice was swallowed by the void. Time itself seemed to disintegrate, stretching and collapsing in on itself, making seconds feel like hours and hours feel like fleeting moments. There was no ground beneath her feet, no sky above her head. Only chaos. Absolute, unrelenting chaos.

A distorted, echoing laugh rang through the darkness. She couldn't tell if it was Vastarael's or her own, or something else entirely. The sound twisted into whispers, dozens of voices overlapping, hissing words she couldn't understand but felt deep in her bones. The whispers became sharp, piercing screams that clawed at her mind.

And then the memories began to hit her.

The first was a flash of blinding, searing heat that burned through her consciousness. She felt Vastarael's fear, his anger, his desperation as he fought against an unseen enemy. Blood sprayed across her vision, though she couldn't tell whose it was. Her chest ached, her heart pounding as if it were about to explode. The sound of shattering bones and tearing flesh filled her ears. She wanted to look away, but there was no escape. She was trapped in his perspective, forced to relive every moment exactly as he had.

It was like being blind and being attacked ruthlessly without any defense.

The next memory was colder, quieter, but no less horrifying. Vastarael was alone, his body broken, his mind teetering on the edge of madness. She could feel his despair, his hopelessness, like a weight pressing down on her soul. She felt the ache of his missing arm, the phantom pain that never left him.

The space around her warped again, stretching and twisting like a living thing. Adelasta was flung through another memory, this one filled with flashes of blood-soaked battlefields, monstrous creatures and faces she didn't recognize. She felt Vastarael's rage, his determination to survive no matter the cost. His willpower was staggering, but it came with a price.

She didn't make what price it was.

Her consciousness spiraled, spinning faster and faster until she thought she would shatter into pieces. And then suddenly, it all stopped.

She gasped, her lungs burning as if she had been holding her breath for hours. The oppressive darkness gave way to a dim, eerie light. She was lying on the ground, her hands sinking into something cold and grainy.

Black sand.

She looked up and saw a vast, endless beach, the dark waves crashing against the shore with a sound that was more like a low growl than a splash. The sky above was a sickly, mottled gray, with no sun, no stars, no moon. Just an endless expanse of emptiness.

Adelasta sat up, her body trembling. She looked around, trying to make sense of where she was, but the landscape was completely alien. And then she saw him.

Vastarael was sitting a few feet away, his long curly white hair cascading over his shoulders. He wasn't wearing a shirt and the dark, intricate peony tattoo on his chest seemed to glow faintly in the dim light. He was leaning back on his hands, staring out at the ocean with a faint smirk on his lips.

"Welcome to my first memory," he said without looking at her, his voice calm and unbothered, as if they were just having a casual conversation. "If you resisted my Memory Implantation, you would have been lost in my subconscious. Believe me, I've experienced it before."

Adelasta blinked, her mind still reeling from the chaos she had just endured.

"W-what...? What is this?"

"This is Memory Implantation," he said, gesturing to the surreal landscape around them. "Turns out, when I hit the First Phase, this skill evolved. Now I can bring people's consciousness directly into my memories. You're not just watching them anymore—you're living in them."

Adelasta stared at him, her mind struggling to process what he was saying. She looked down at the black sand beneath her hands, then back at him.

"This... this is insane. Your skill is absolutely broken."

"You're not wrong," he admitted, leaning forward slightly. "But you agreed to this, remember? You wanted to know what I've been through. So... here we are. This is what Halo Islands used to look like before I killed Permafrost's Grasp."

Adelasta swallowed hard, her heart pounding as she looked around again. The eerie stillness of the place was unsettling, but there was also something hauntingly beautiful about it. The dark waves, the endless beach, the strange glow of the peony tattoo on Vastarael's chest,.it all felt like a dream, or perhaps a nightmare.

"So, are you ready to dive deeper? This is just the beginning, after all."

He stood up, brushing the sand off his pants and held out a hand to her.

Adelasta hesitated for a moment before taking his hand. His grip was firm, steady, and oddly comforting despite the strange situation. As he pulled her to her feet, she couldn't help but feel a mix of anticipation and dread. Whatever she was about to see, it wasn't going to be easy.

"Let's go, then," Vastarael said, turning toward the ocean. "There's a lot to show you... and even more to feel. But first..."

Vastarael stepped back into the room, buttoning up a simple white shirt that clung perfectly to his form that materialized in thin air.

The fabric, though plain, somehow accentuated the sharp lines of his dark bronze chest and shoulders, and as he tucked it into his trousers, the smooth motion made it seem as though he was modeling in some kind of celestial fashion show. His incredibly long, curly white hair, still damp from his shower, (surprisingly) cascaded like liquid moonlight down his back, some stray strands sticking to his dark, bronze-toned skin. Even dressed, his presence was electrifying.

Adelasta's face was passive, but her resolve was melting fast. She had thought she'd seen everything there was to Vastarael's appearance after his arrival, but seeing him now, casually pulling the cuffs of his sleeves down, a hint of his tattoo still visible above the collar of his shirt, was a different story altogether. Her eyes traced his movements, unwillingly lingering on the way his muscles shifted beneath the fabric, the way the dampness of his hair gave him an almost untamed look.

She cleared her throat, trying to act unaffected, but her inner thoughts betrayed her completely.

'How in the hell does he manage to look this good in something so basic?'

Her gaze slipped lower, her pulse quickening at the sharp cut of his jaw and the almost effortless allure he exuded, the kind of beauty that should have been illegal.

"Adelasta. You're staring."

Adelasta snapped her gaze up to meet his, her cheeks reddening slightly.

"I wasn't staring," she lied, straightening her posture and crossing her arms tighter over her chest. "Just... noticing how ridiculous you look with hair that long."

"Ridiculous?" Vastarael chuckled. "I think it suits me. You, however, look like you're about to pass out. Something wrong?"

She huffed, trying desperately to wrestle her thoughts into submission.

"N-No, nothing's wrong," she said a little too quickly.

'Gods, get a grip, Adelasta!'

She scolded herself internally but the way he stood there, so casually, the curve of his neck visible as he turned, his sleeves rolled up just enough to show the veins running along his forearms...

'...damn it.'

Before she could spiral any further, Vastarael turned away and gazed out at the sky, his expression suddenly shifting from playful to serious.

"There he comes."

Adelasta blinked, startled by the sudden change in his tone.

"Who's coming?"

Her flustered thoughts began to fade as she stepped up beside him, looking up into the sky.

The air seemed to shimmer as a massive bioluminescent manta ray glided gracefully toward them, its glowing, translucent form illuminating the dark horizon. Its body pulsed with hues of soft golden and blues, like a living star descending from the heavens. The sheer size of the creature was breathtaking, its wings spanning so wide they seemed to blot out the dim night behind it.

Adelasta's jaw tightened as she tried to process what she was seeing. But then her eyes widened further, spotting the figures standing on its back.

"Is that...?" she started, but Vastarael answered her unspoken question.

"Yeah. That's me," he said with a wry smile, nodding toward the manta ray. "Or at least, the version of me from months ago."

His tone was light, but there was an underlying current of something deeper. Nostalgia, perhaps.

Adelasta narrowed her eyes, focusing on the group standing with the younger Vastarael. There was Phaenora, her teasing grin visible even from this distance, and Siranna standing beside her, graceful as ever. Siranna's two daughters flanked her as they gazed around. Narisva, with her signature cocky smirk, was perched toward the front, her hands on her hips, while Farrynelle stood beside Xander, her usual fiery demeanor softened slightly by the dazzling glow of the manta ray beneath them. Runner and Shimmer, Vastarael's 'daughters,' darted around the group.

The younger Vastarael, with his shorter curls and golden eyes that hadn't yet gained their sapphire glow, stood in the center of the group. Even from this distance, his charisma was palpable. He was laughing at something Phaenora had said, his posture relaxed but commanding. The differences between the young man on the manta ray and the one standing beside Adelasta were subtle but striking.

The older Vastarael carried an air of maturity, a weight of experience and power that the younger version hadn't yet gained.

Adelasta inhaled deeply, trying to reconcile the surreal sight before her.

"That's... so strange," she muttered. "To see you like that. To see all of them like that."

Vastarael chuckled softly, his gaze fixed on the descending manta ray.

"Yeah, it's strange for me too. But it's also... comforting, in a way. To see where I started. This is after we escaped the Island Of Peony and came to Halo Islands."

Adelasta glanced at him, her earlier frustration with her own thoughts fading as she caught a glimpse of the vulnerability behind his words. This wasn't just a memory for him. It was a reminder of how far he had come.

The manta ray landed gracefully on the black sand, its glow casting an otherworldly light across the beach. The younger Vastarael and his companions stepped off, their voices carrying faintly on the wind.

Adelasta looked between the two Vastaraels—the younger, bright and carefree, and the older, standing beside her with a quiet strength that spoke of battles fought and scars earned. And for the first time in a long time, she felt a deep sense of admiration for the man beside her.