An Illusion??

-The NARRATOR'S POV-

Here we go!

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The sky above them was a dull canvas of ash and cloud, the afternoon sun veiled behind layers of winter gloom. The snow had stopped, but the cold still clung to the earth like a breathless whisper. Two figures walked through the silent forest trail—Kael with steady footsteps and arms crossed, and beside him, Agnirasva, silent as always, his presence calm but commanding.

The crimson stains of battle still clung to their cloaks, though the battlefield had been left far behind.

Kael broke the silence first. His voice held the same curiosity that had haunted his thoughts since the strange aftermath of the skirmish.

"Why did you go through all that trouble?"

Agira's golden eyes flicked toward him, faintly glowing in the grey light.

Kael continued. "You could have talked to them—reasoned with them. Why such theatrics? Why use such a method just to make them kneel?"

Agira didn't answer immediately. He looked ahead at the castle's silhouette far in the distance, barely visible beyond the mist and trees.

"What do you think is allegiance, Kael?" he asked at last, his voice quiet, measured, like a teacher quizzing a student.

Kael blinked. "Loyalty towards someone. Isn't that what allegiance means? If you're willing to serve someone wholeheartedly, that's allegiance, right?"

Agira nodded slowly. "And where do you think it emerges from?"

Kael furrowed his brow. "From the heart...?"

Agira exhaled a soft chuckle—barely a sound. "No. Not just from the heart. It emerges from the conscience."

Kael glanced at him. "What do you mean?"

Agira paused beneath the arch of an ancient tree, its bark cracked like weathered bone. He turned slightly, facing Kael, his cloak trailing against the snow.

"A loyal person," Agira said, "is not someone who simply feels affection or admiration. It's someone who believes. Loyalty is not a byproduct of emotion. It's the result of clarity—of understanding."

Kael tilted his head. "Understanding of what?"

"Of values," Agira replied. "Of righteousness. Of responsibility. You need a compassionate heart, yes—but without a strong will and moral compass, that compassion turns to blind emotion. That's not loyalty. That's dependence."

Kael absorbed his words, and Agira continued, his voice deepening like thunder beneath the surface.

"Those rebels were not evil, Kael. But they were clouded. Righteousness, twisted by pain and misinformation, becomes cruelty. They thought they were fighting for justice. But they never paused to ask—whose justice?"

His eyes glowed faintly beneath his hood.

"A person in that state cannot tell right from wrong. Talking to them would not have worked. Words bounce off a mind gripped by conviction. So I gave them something else."

Kael's breath fogged in the cold air. "What?"

"The one thing that purifies fear. That strips illusions from the soul. I gave them... death."

Kael stopped in his tracks.

"What...?" he whispered.

Agira kept walking as if the words didn't weigh heavily at all. "Or rather, the illusion of it."

Kael blinked, his pace quickening to catch up. "Wait. What do you mean?"

Agira looked at him now, not with amusement, but with calm honesty.

"Do you think I am a god, Kael?" he asked. "How could I revive the dead—especially vampires? We don't pass on like humans. Our souls do not return once torn. I simply made you believe they died. Made them believe they died."

Kael stared. "The blood... the bodies... the way they were shredded—"

"All of it was real. The pain, the wounds—they suffered, and so did I. But in the moment of their supposed death, I formed a Reality Field—a domain where everything is seen and felt is illusion layered over truth. I made them live through their deaths. I let them taste the fear they had caused others. Made them face their darkest selves."

His gaze grew colder, but not cruel. "Only when they saw what it felt like to die, thinking they were right, did their beliefs begin to crumble. Only then did their conscience awaken."

Kael was stunned into silence. He remembered the way those vampires had wept, the way they knelt, not out of fear but deep remorse. Their faces haunted him.

"You were never trying to dominate them," Kael murmured.

"No," Agira said. "I was trying to wake them."

They walked in silence again, the snow crunching beneath their boots. The trees swayed in the wind, the forest whispering ancient truths between the branches.

After a moment, Kael spoke, softer now. "You carry so much, brother."

Agira's expression didn't change. "We all do. Mine just weighs heavier because I know what it means to be mistaken... and what it takes to forgive myself for it."

Kael lowered his gaze, the weight of his brother's words settling on his shoulders. He had always seen Agira as distant, emotionless, a ghost of nobility. But now, he understood that beneath that quiet strength was someone who chose understanding over obedience. Someone who would bear hatred if it meant leading others to the truth.

"I envy you sometimes," Kael admitted, smiling faintly.

Agira gave a small laugh. "Don't. I'm the cursed half-blood, remember? The anomaly no one wanted."

Kael shook his head. "And yet... you're the only one they would die for now."

Agira didn't answer.

But as they approached the castle gates, the sun finally pierced through the clouds—and for a moment, just a brief second—the golden eyes of the Silent Anomaly reflected not power or pain... but peace.

.

.

.

Suddenly, a movement made them alert.

"Who's there?"

-To Be Continued-

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See you in the Comments.

-P.S. CONSTRUCTIVE ADVICE WOULD BE APPRECIATED. REFRAIN FROM SPREADING HATE.-