When I woke up, it wasn't the pain that hit first. It was the silence. My head felt like it had been split open and stitched together with barbed wire. Every breath felt like inhaling glass dust.
I groaned, half in pain, half in disbelief that I was even alive. My eyelids twitched open and I realized the entire upper half of my body was wrapped in bandages, tight enough to remind me that I probably shouldn't try standing yet.
Then I saw the ceiling. It was a concrete ceiling, carved with gold tracings and an old chandelier that hummed faintly with light. My stomach sank. I turned my head slowly, and the scent hit me. It was the faint lilac from the incense my mother... Phasnovterich's mother always used in the east wing.
I was back in the Argemenes estate. This was my room where I first woke up in Phasnovterich's body after transmigrating from my old world.
For a second, I wondered if I died again. Maybe this was some cruel afterlife loop but then, something shifted beside me.
There was… a child?
A tiny figure curled up next to me under the blanket, her small frame rising and falling softly with each sleepy breath. Her long, wavy pink hair spilled over her shoulders, glowing faintly under the sunlight that seeped through the half-drawn curtains. When she stirred, her lashes fluttered open, revealing silver eyes that were way too clear for this world.
She blinked at me then smiled.
"Big brother's awake."
And that's when it hit me. My entire chest ached with a sudden, piercing realization.
Pink hair, silver eyes, pale skin and the faint rose tattoo on her left cheek.
September Vecria Argemenes, my little sister. Because now that I'd fully integrated with his memories, I wasn't some outsider wearing his skin anymore. I was him and he was me.
I felt my throat tighten. I'd seen her once before in his memories always smiling and trying to follow him around the halls despite being only five. And now, she was here, clinging to me like she'd been guarding my body for days.
She giggled and hugged me tight.
"You've been asleep for three days, you know. Mommy said you were resting, but I knew you'd wake up soon!"
I couldn't help it. I smiled. My lips cracked from how dry they were, but it didn't matter.
"Three days, huh?"
She nodded proudly. "Mm-hm! It's June 8th now!"
June 8th.
I let that sink in. The last thing I remembered… was that fight, the vines. The screaming, Hinesia's voice and my mother's hand breaking through my Flux. My gaze softened as I looked down at her. She was still hugging me like I'd disappear if she let go. I reached out slowly and pinched her cheeks.
She squeaked. "Heeey! Don't!"
"You've gotten cuter since I last saw you."
Her cheeks puffed up immediately. "I'm not cute!"
I laughed harder, which made my ribs ache like hell, but it was worth it.
"Oh, you definitely are."
She crossed her arms, huffing like a tiny thundercloud. "Big brother's mean. And brother… Mommy said you… um… hurt a lot of people."
My chest went cold.
"Hurt," huh? What an innocent word for what actually happened.
"She said you fell down in an African city and that… 357 people didn't wake up."
Three hundred and fifty-seven. I stared at her, and for a second, I couldn't breathe. The way I drained everything around me living or dead came in my memories. I'm a serial killer now, huh.
"Yeah. That's what happens when you lose control."
She blinked, confused. "Lose control?"
I sighed and leaned back against the pillow, feeling the dull throb in my chest.
"Let's just say… my power didn't like me almost dying."
She frowned, processing that like a little kid does when she knows something's bad but can't understand how bad. Then she quietly climbed back onto the bed and curled against my arm again.
"Mommy said you were hurting too much. That's why it happened. So… it's okay. You're safe now."
I looked down at her, my throat tightening again. I reached out and brushed her hair gently, letting my fingers sink into the soft pink waves.
"You shouldn't have to worry about stuff like that, Septi."
"But I do. You're my big brother."
She yawned and laid her head against my arm. Within seconds, she was asleep again. I sat there for a while, watching her breathe.
I remembered my mother's last words before everything went dark.
"You made your Concept Flux more powerful… why, Phaser? You were already unstable as is…"
Unstable.
She was right.
I'd pushed too far, trying to control something that was never meant to be controlled by will alone. I took one more look at September. Her tiny hand was resting against mine.
The door creaked open.
I turned my head, sluggishly, and when I saw him, I forgot how to breathe for a second. He looked almost ethereal.
His soft but disheveled pink hair cascaded to his shoulders. His eyes were a matching shade of rose quart. He was still wearing that same long white coat I'd seen in the memories of Phasnovterich's life, though now it hung off him like it was too heavy for his body. His skin looked faintly pale, the way porcelain does right before it cracks. He smiled weakly when he saw me.
"You're awake."
Richer Nivarea Argemenes.
My... no, Phasnovterich's father.
Even after everything I'd seen, I wasn't prepared for how fragile he looked in person. The man who was supposed to be one of the most brilliant Flux researchers on the planet, and yet right now, he looked like he could shatter if someone whispered too loud.
"Father…"
He stepped closer to the bed. His breathing was shallow, like every inhale cost him something. He sat down beside me, his hand resting on his knee, his gaze softening as it landed on September. She was still asleep, clutching the edge of my blanket.
"She's been like that since you were brought back. Wouldn't leave your side for even a minute."
"She's a stubborn one."
"She gets that from your mother."
We both chuckled softly, but there was a heaviness behind it. For a few moments, silence filled the room again. It wasn't awkward, it was just… quiet, like both of us were too tired to fill it with words. Then he spoke.
"How do you feel?"
I exhaled slowly. "I am in extreme pain."
"I can imagine."
I stared down at my hands, flexing my fingers. The bandages were tight, but underneath, I could feel the faint pulsing of my Concept Flux still lingering in my veins. Then I said the part that I couldn't avoid, no matter how much I wanted to.
"Also… I'm apparently a serial killer now, so there's that."
He didn't even flinch. He just looked at me for a long, measured second before sighing. "So I've heard."
There was no disappointment in his voice.
"A lot has happened since you left for the University, hasn't it?"
"Yeah. You could say that."
"You've changed."
"Guess nearly dying and massacring half a city will do that to you."
His smile faded at that, replaced by something quieter. Something that hurt to look at. When he spoke again, his voice trembled slightly, though he tried to hide it.
"You know, when you left for the University, you were barely holding on to your Flux. You couldn't even surpass your First Awakening. I remember how frustrated you were. Breaking equipment, skipping meals, yelling at yourself and such. You used to say you're not powerful to be the next Ruler of Argemenes."
He paused, coughing lightly into his hand. A thin streak of pale blue residue stained his palm before he quickly wiped it away with a cloth.
Right. He has Fluve Syndrome. I'd read about it in the MoDS storyline, but seeing it like this in person was brutal. It wasn't just an illness. It was like watching someone dissolve slowly from the inside out.
Fluve Syndrome is the cancer of Fluxers, caused by excessive exposure to Xana. The body's natural barrier breaks down and the Flux begins eating the host alive.
There are four stages to it just like cancer and he was at the third.
I felt my jaw tighten as I watched him steady his breathing. His hand shook slightly before he hid it under his coat. He noticed me staring and smiled weakly.
"Don't give me that look, Phaser. I'm not a corpse yet."
"That's not funny."
"I wasn't trying to be."
I looked away, clenching my fists under the blanket.
"Mom joined the World Forces because of you, remember? She's trying to find a cure for this, isn't she?"
"She always was too stubborn to accept fate. Said she'd burn the world if it meant I'd live long enough to see September start school."
That… sounded like her. Anastelle Argemenes wasn't a woman who feared gods. She made gods fear her.
"Of course, she's also the only one who can yell at a council of House Rulers and walk away without losing her head. You have no idea how much paperwork that woman causes me."
I smiled faintly despite myself. "Sounds about right."
Then his tone changed. His expression, too. The faint warmth in his face dimmed, replaced by that look parents get when they're about to ask the question they've been dreading.
"Phasnovterich…"
I met his eyes.
"Tell me everything."
"Everything?"
He nodded slowly. "I want to hear what happened. From the moment you left the University until… this."
He gestured faintly toward me, toward the bandages, toward the empty air that still hummed with faint traces of my Concept Flux.
I hesitated.
Part of me didn't even know where to start. How do you explain that? How do you tell your dying father that his son became something he doesn't even understand anymore? However, the way he looked at me was the same way he looked at September when she asked him why the stars moved differently every night.
So I took a deep breath and started talking.
I told him about my time in the university, about the Fluve Field where we were trapped for seven days, the corrupted Fluxers and killing a lecturer who had planned to kill the students in there. I didn't tell him about the Outers at all. There's no need because I'm not going back. I told him about my training in the House of Rameses and the tournaments I had in the spring CATF. I also told him how I ended up being like this.
I told him everything. And he just sat there, listening. And honestly, I wanted to talk about it. At least I could narrow down what I experienced and figure out what to do next.