Aric stood up to face his military counterpart. "What did you just say?"
"You heard me." Military Aric said, shrugging his shoulders casually.
"Listen, I don't have some fucking Stockholm syndrome where I start liking Seraphina just because she eventually accepted me. My memories must be screwing with me, forcing this one into my head just to mess with me."
"Hell, the fucking projector malfunctioned until I gave it a good smack."
He pointed an accusing finger at himself. "She hit me until I bled, bruised me all over and left scars all over my body. She didn't even offer ointment sincerely, didn't even bother to say sorry and was bitchy about it as well. She has called me every name under the sun and the only fucking reason I put up with it was because I didn't want to make things worse for myself or burden her further."
Military Aric raised an eyebrow. "But she's here. As a core memory. I wonder what that says about you? Well technically, us."
"You know what?" Aric growled, flipping himself off. "Fuck you."
Military Aric crossed his arms, "Oh, come on. You can flip me off all you want but we both know you're dodging the real issue here. Why is she a core memory?"
Aric kept pointing the middle finger at him, "I don't know genius. You tell me."
He scoffed, "Simple. She changed."
"Changed? Are you kidding me?"
"I really am not." Military Aric countered sharply.
"But when someone learns something life-altering like, oh I don't know, realizing a man is stuck inside their husband's body after reincarnating and treated him like absolute garbage most of the time, they tend to re-evaluate their actions."
Military Aric tap a finger to his temple, "Like think about it. When did she stop treating you like shit?"
Aric hesitated for abit before answering, "...After she found out I wasn't Vayne. After she realized I was trapped in there against my will."
"Exactly. And not only did she stop hurting you, but she started protecting you as well. Remember how she shielded you from those attacks from Lilith? Or how she risked her own life using that teleporting move to save you from being stabbed to death?"
Aric clenched his fists, "That doesn't excuse what she did before! I refuse to accept she is apart of my core memories. That's fucking messed up!"
Military Aric sighed, "Haih. Let's break it down. Why are our kids and Natasha core memories for us?"
Before Aric could answer that, military Aric continued,
"Because they brought meaning to our life. They gave us purpose...until the divorce."
"But for Seraphina? Well, she gave us something different. She gave us acceptance when all we had was Ivy...and Thorin if you want to really stretch it. But, Ivy accepted us because she knew from the start while Thorin isn't here as much as Seraphina."
"He never has to deal with us while Seraphina has to all the time."
"She asked us to sleep with her, talk to her, have dinner with her and spend time with her. She started trusting us even before telling we were reincarnated. Well, trust is a big thing to say before then but you get the point."
"The more she spent time with us, the more she realised that we are not Vayne. Do you not see why she became a core memory for us?"
Aric stared at him, "But that doesn't explain why she is a core memory. She can accept me all she wants but that doesn't change the fact that she treated me like shit."
Military Aric looked frustrated, "What the fuck are you even saying anymore? Do you even hear yourself? You're arguing with a projection of your own damn mind because you're too stubborn to admit that maybe, just maybe, that you care about her too."
"That maybe, if she truly, truly hates us and never differentiate between me and vayne, then she would never have treated us in a good way."
"Look, I'm not saying forget the pain or pretend it didn't happen. But ask yourself this: if she hadn't changed, would you still be standing here talking about her? Would you have fought alongside her? Trusted her?"
"Would you have open up about our life to her? All the bad and good about our life, would you?"
Aric opened his mouth to argue, then closed it again. He couldn't deny it. Despite everything, Seraphina had become someone he relied on. A reluctant ally who had grown into so much more.
"And besides," Military Aric added with a smirk, "you know damn well you wouldn't have laughed at that story about the duke being gay if you didn't feel comfortable around her. Admit it. You like her. Maybe not romantically but you like her."
Aric groaned, covering his face with his hands. "This is ridiculous. Why is my own subconscious arguing with me when I am dead anyways?"
"Says alot about us. But...you're wrong about being dead."
Aric put his hand away and looked confused, "Please explain how am I not dead? I literally got donut'd. Like I'm ace or something. Rengoku even."
"Watch."
The infinite white void dissolved into a vivid image of Seraphina kneeling while hugging his lifeless body. Her veins were blackened and her entire body was covered in them.
Her voice trembled as she spoke, "Please...Please come back..."
Evelyn was visibly shaken as she watch Seraphina still trying to revive him,
"Your Grace, please stop. He's dead...We can't fix his mana core..."
Seraphina's hands with pure black mana was still entering his dead heart,
"I was supposed to bring him around the kingdom..."
Her tears soaked his torn up shirt, "I haven't earn your forgiveness...But you...You gave me so much joy in such a short time..."
"So much laughter..."
Aric who was watching from the inside started to feel the sting in his heart. Every familiar face like Borin, Penelope, Adam, Mira, Beth and even Evelyn was crying over him.
"...Why are they crying?"
Military Aric gripped Aric's shoulder firmly and watched the scene together,
"Because, we've done well."
"...Done well?"
"Yep." He squeezed harder while his voice cracked a little, "We have..."
Aric looked at his shoulder and saw the trembling hand. He wanted to change the subject,
"But how does this explain that we're not dead yet?"
"You'll see. I just know."
The pure dark mana began forming a sigil in his heart. Driven by Seraphina's overwhelming emotions and her desire to bring him back to life, the sigil became an original spell born from it. The air around Seraphina started to crackle with unstable energy.
Aric's physical and subconscious chest started to glow as his heart has been fully enveloped with pure dark mana. Seraphina felt the glow through her eyelids and opened her eyes to see a soft, violet glow beneath his skin
"Huh? What?"
Seraphina didn't know that her mana was making his chest glow but she instinctively reached her hand onto his chest, praying to Lysandra to make his heart beat.
...
There's still no heartbeat...
But Seraphina took a deep breathe and focused herself,
No. I'll get you back. This didn't happen in the hour I tried. That must mean something is going on right now.
I have to try one more time.
"Evelyn! You see this glow right? I have a feeling we can bring him back!"
Evelyn looked concerned as she thought Seraphina was just coping but the glow made her heart think otherwise.
...It's worth a shot.
"...What do you need, Your Grace?" She said with renewed determination.
"Supply me with mana. Extract the corruption from me as well."
Then, Borin stepped forward and extended his hand,
"Aye... let me help too. I've still got mana t' spare. An' if this is what'll bring ye back, lad... then by stone and steel, I'll give ye every last drop."
Seraphina nodded and started to supply his body with more refined mana, all catered towards healing. Seraphina was now absorbing from three sources while Evelyn was taking out the corrupted mana and shooting out corrupted icicle from the other hand.
Everyone around started to pray, hoping that this will work.
"Dear Lysandra, please listen to this humble servant. Please. Let this man be alive." Penelope said while on her knees,
"He has done so much without asking anything in return...He has taught me so many things...He made me more confident, more comfortable with myself...please...make him alive again."
Adam said a prayer as well, "Before, I had nothing to live for but because of him, I now have something to wake up to everyday. He gave me purpose and taught me about this electrical stuff... Because of him, I build so many interesting things and I can provide food for my family."
"Please. Let him be alive."
Mira was on her knees, "I can bake cakes because of him. My family is happy again because of that man. He put food on our tables, gave us jobs and fixed Ashwick even though we all were so hard on him."
"I don't care about about the past anymore God. I'll let that go when you give back Lord Vayne. He's done everything he could to not only fix it but give back even more."
"Please, don't let Lady Seraphina cry anymore..."
THUMP...
Aric watching from the screen started to cry again,
"Why...you guys...I am just a man..."
The touch from his military counterpart felt a little light now,
"We did good didn't we?"
Military Aric let go of his shoulder, "But, you know you won't be awake right?"
Aric turned back to see his counterpart fading away,
"...yeah. My brain didn't get oxygen for an hour so, I am still dead even if I wake up. I'll need to somehow fight my way through deep coma."
"Hmm, well, you're not wrong. But have faith in these people. Trust them. Seraphina risked her life to get us back. So, we have to give everything we have to be awake again."
"We got this." as his counterpart finally fade.
Aric smiled faintly as he felt a yank back from behind, "Yeah...I got this. I'll fight my way."
THUMP THUMP THUMP THUMP THUMP
Aric's body had formed a new mana core. It was dark in colour as it was created by fusing with his old mana core and the pure dark mana from Seraphina. The mana core was now beside his heart and was receiving the mana from Seraphina.
Aric's physical body had his chest rising again. His body was healing again as it was closing off the gaping hole in the abdomen.
"It's working, Your Grace!" Evelyn shouted in surprise.
Seraphina's trembling hands rested on Aric's chest as she felt the steady rhythm of his heartbeat.
"Oh...thank god...Thank you Lysandra..."
Evelyn, still extracting corrupted mana from Seraphina's body, looked up in awe.
"This shouldn't be possible… But somehow, your mana, this pure dark energy has created a new core within him. It's giving him life again."
Borin grunted as sweat dripping from his brow as he poured more of his own mana into Seraphina,
"Aye, lad's got fight in 'im yet. Never thought I'd see the day someone came back from death itself."
Penelope was the first to shout, "LORD VAYNE IS ALIVE! HE'S ALIVE"
"AHHHHHHH! YES!" as the people of Ashwick all cheered for this news.
Adam pushed his way through the crowd who wanted to see and knelt down,
"Your grace, we must put Lord Vayne into a safe space! We are still in the open. Who knows what creatures are here still."
Seraphina tried to carry Aric but she had no more strength left,
"I can't leave him...he still needs my mana."
Evelyn grabbed her by the waist and helped her get up, "I'm here, Your Grace. I'm here."
Evelyn grabbed Seraphina by the waist and helped her up. "I'm here, Your Grace. I'm here."
Evelyn's other hand continued siphoning out the corrupted mana as she supported Seraphina to walk. Meanwhile, Borin steadied Aric's limp body, with Penelope helping as well. They carried Aric close beside Seraphina, so he could still receive healing magic.
"He's still unconscious…" Penelope said as she carried him.
Seraphina scoffed lightly. "We got him back… it's up to him now."
Evelyn gave her a gentle smile. "Yes we did, Your Grace. It's up to Aric now."
The others around them felt relief that their hero had returned. Yet confusion lingered as they walked back toward Ashwick. It was Mira who finally spoke up:
"Forgive me, Your Grace, for asking this."
"Go on, Mira."
"Who… is this Aric? You keep referring to Lord Vayne as Aric."
(AI SCENE OF ARIC FLIPPING OFF TO HIMSELF on patreon/rr)