Chapter 482: Trailing through memories

"Are you sure about this Master? You could come with me… I'm sure Lily would be very excited to meet you again…"

Standing in front of the very same ziggurat, the now quasi-holy site for the Guptans, Aiden was looking rather distraught, rather lugubrious, sorrowful. Looking at the calm, resolved expression of the black-haired woman, Number 3 in front of him, Aiden was trying his best to convince her to change her mind. Unfortunately, like him, she herself was rather stubborn, once her mind was set, and resolved on a direction, it was nigh impossible to divert it from the path. 

Shaking his head, she gave away a gentle, warmth-filled thin smile, she reached out for the boy, pulling him into her loving embrace. The two hugged in silence for several seconds before she whispered into his ears.

"You know that I need to stay here, I cannot go back to the other world, at least, not yet. Believe me when I say I really want to go with you, but if I do, He will sense me… and once he does…"

"He will send his hound… the one you called the 'Reaper'. I know, I know… It's just…" Aiden sighed, his muffled voice came whilst his face was buried inside Number 3's right shoulder. 

Raising his head, he separated from her, only taking a single step so they could speak, whilst holding into each other by the shoulders.

"You know…" He sighed, donning a wry smile as he gazed atop the sky. "It's quite funny how that figure, the famous 'Number 0, the First of the Grandmaster's Executors', is named…" 

"Well… Like with the Grandmaster, his origin is also shrouded in mystery. The only thing that's clear is that he is probably as old as the Grandmaster himself. From what I know, they both came from the same origin. Yet, he is very rarely seen, usually spokes to us in a way that's roughly similar to this mental channel we also share now." 

Number 3 explained, following her boy's gaze as he turned his exotic golden eyes towards the distant stars of the universe. Their enhanced sight easily penetrated the invisible dome that protected this seedling of a true world, hidden from the outside world's threats.

Their gaze swayed from one sparkling star to the next as they silently enjoyed the endless blanket of the void that stretched all around them. 

"Do you think they are connected to me… to us?" Breaking the ensuing several minute-long silence Aiden suddenly asked the question, keeping his gaze focused on the sky above.

"Hmm?" Her contemplation abruptly broken, Number 3 lowered her eyes, returning it to the curious boy in front of her. "What do you mean?" She couldn't help but ask, though she somewhat understood the question. After all, even without discussing it in length, after her awakening, some of the knowledge Aiden held dear to his heart was subconsciously shared with her.

As she evolved, integrating his essence, his powers into her own core, faint images, visions of a distant past, HIS past were revealed before her very eyes. Though she has yet to reveal this strange peculiarity, this new ability, she somewhat felt that he was already aware.

Images, memories of a strange settlement, a pair of a husband and wife with unknown origins… a newborn baby, with a stump of black hair and beautiful, golden bright wide eyes as he curiously looked at the world around him…

Then, the scenes changed, shifting into something much worse. The skies were painted with vermilion with the blood of countless slain innocents used as mere pawns by the games of the greedy, few powerful lords. 

Nations, races uniting under the same shady cause, supported and empowered by the very gods that the masses support and worship even to this day… 

The same family men from the previous memory now donned in full-body clad armor, holding onto the dragon-shaped hilt of an ebony blade, standing alone atop a hill. Below him, an endless swarm of vile demons in human skin, hungering for his flesh, thirsty for his blood.

Yet he refused to give in. Each of his swipes cost dozens if not hundreds of lives shattering the very fabric of space. 

Even that proved to be not enough. Like all the others behind and around him, his brethren now gone forever, he was barely holding on, kneeling, supporting his body with the very same blood-drenched blade. 

Around him, twelve humanoid figures, each radiating a power, that clearly transcended the limits their mortal bodies could carry. Each donning a vicious smile, a hideous, cruel, twisted, dark expression as each gripped their weapons tighter, closing in on the fearsome, but wounded and now faltering warrior.

As they slowly inched closer to the heaving figure above them, the memory was cut off, faded. She couldn't glean into more. 

Despite that, she understood most of it. She didn't know who that man was, or that woman from before, but she recognized the boy clearly. Those facial features, those unique eyes were unmistakable. Yet, if that was true, it made no sense! It would mean that this young man, this youngster that's still a teenager rather than a full-blown adult, was hundreds… Nay, Thousands, or maybe even several millennia old! 

But that's clearly not the case… So if not, then what was going on? Was he somehow frozen, and was forcefully awoken just now? Did he survive that calamity that had befallen them, or maybe these are the memories of a life before the one he is living?

She didn't know… Only that he held even more importance to her, she wanted to learn more about this boy that she now fully accepted. She could no longer deny the feelings when he looked at her. Like the always cheery Lily, Aiden was now part of her, they were her family. 

"I mean…" Breaking her lines of thought, Aiden's voice came. "If the Grandmaster and his servant, his right-hand man, the so-called 'Reaper'… have some sort of shared history with me, my origin?" 

Averting his gaze, he matched Number 3's surprised look with a gentle smile of his own, as he continued.

"I know, don't worry." He said, looking relaxed and collected as he continued. "I am aware that you have seen some of my memories, and that you are feeling perplexed, confused even…" He spoke, shocking Number 3 with his revelation. 

"H-how?" She asked stutteringly, disbelief with utter shock painted on her visage. 

Smiling, Aiden shook his head refusing to answer, instead, he pried even deeper.

"What do you think? Does anything you have seen, feels familiar? You are the only one that can compare the two… Can you feel the Grandmaster's presence in any of the scenes, visions I have shared with you?"

"I…" Number 3 stammered at the sudden question, closing her eyes and using her breathing technique, repeating it several times to collect herself. Her shock slowly faded, replaced by sheer determination as she recalled the scenes once again, focusing on the small glimmers she was gifted, the scraps of scenes she could filter through in search…

Though it seemed that his questions were way too much to ask, she pushed on, trying to find a familiar sight, whatever she could connect with her own experiences from her experiences…

Suddenly, her eyes snapped open with shock, she turned towards Aiden.

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