"Why do you come to visit me?" His aunt had asked him this question once.
"I'm not really sure," Aion had replied.
"You know getting close to me now will only hurt, right?"
"I'm aware."
"So…why…?"
Aion could hear her voice shaking when she asked.
"When I was younger, we got along nicely, I'd like to say."
"You were just a kid."
"Yeah, I was."
"So what does it matter if we got along like that in the past? I was just humoring a kid."
Aion smiled bitterly and said, "Perhaps."
"You know, I'm probably not even going to remember this…or any of your visits…"
"I know."
"I don't understand you…"
Aion laughed a little and said, "Yeah, I don't even understand myself…"
* * *
The memory played through Aion's head as he stood in the hall with an exhausted expression.
"Fuck…" Aion mumbled.
Why did he have to remember that now?
Of course, that was a stupid question. He knew full well why he remembered his aunt.
But still, he didn't like it.
And now, his mood was even worse than before. Because of that, he didn't feel like moving. He knew what he should do, of course. He knew that standing here in this manor by himself wasn't what he ought to do. But finding the motivation to move was hard.
He hadn't expected the murders in this place to affect him so deeply. It was a shock that only added to his pathetic state.
He truly didn't understand himself.
And that, that hurt more than anything else.
Eventually, Aion trudged his way to Esme's room and attempted to lock the room from the outside. And of course, it couldn't be.
Everything in this manor seemed to be designed in a way to make a murder mystery, with all practicality completely out the window.
It truly fits a detective novel.
A place where it would be nothing but puzzles and mind-bending insanity.
Then, Aion found himself standing in front of the ballroom door. It was the same door he'd seen several times at this point.
But the person entering it was different every time.
He was like a malleable piece of metal. He thought he would be tough, hardened, and completely focused. Instead, he bent every which way the nightmare hit him.
And this time was no different. Aion entered through the door bent out of shape, a new person, an unrecognizable person.
Inside, he saw that there was a commotion.
"Aion! There you are!" Aria rushed over. "You were gone for a while, and, well, something happened! So—hm?"
Aria stopped when she got close enough to see his face.
"...Aion…?" Aria whispered. "Where's…where's Aira…?"
Aion's lip quivered, and he had an expression full of guilt.
"...Aira is…dead…" Aion said quietly.
His voice was barely audible. But it was audible enough—enough for Aria to hear.
Aria's eyes shook violently, and she clenched her teeth. "Aira…is dead…?"
She asked. She asked as if asking would change things, like maybe, just maybe, asking it that way, suddenly everything would change.
But Aion nodded, and Aria immediately ran out of the ballroom.
Aion moved toward the source of the commotion and saw the reason immediately.
Under a chandelier, Sebastian and Alphonse's father were both crushed brutally.
"Aion, you've arrived," Alphonse addressed Aion.
Aion only responded with a glance and a "yeah."
"They aren't the only dead, though," Alphonse said.
"Huh?" Aion looked up, a little interest sparking in his eyes.
"Mother, Mrs. Solon, Mr. and Mrs. Astra, Mr. and Mrs. Cornelius, and Agarus—they're all dead."
Aion's mouth fell open, and he looked at the remaining survivors: Juno, her mother, Sam's brother, the religious figure, a nobleman, Cassie, and Dorothy.
"Where are the other bodies?" Aion asked.
"Locked rooms," Alphonse said matter-of-factly.
"Yeah…I'm not too surprised…"
"We were just discussing leaving for the garden. That way we're away from all this death."
"Yeah…that's fine…" Aion agreed.
"Their deaths, all of them, were chosen to move on by Lunalis," Alphonse started. "They were chosen to be redeemed tonight. Isn't that wonderful?"
Alphonse said this with a smile while they all walked to the garden, but at this point, it didn't seem like anyone was interested in talking.
"What about Aria? Shouldn't we go get her?" Aion asked.
"No, she's probably already moved on," Alphonse said bluntly.
Aion's jaw tensed, but he didn't say anything.
He should've.
He absolutely should've.
But Aion didn't want to return to the scene of Aira's death.
He didn't want to see it.
And soon, when they reached the first, they entered a glass hallway that could see the outside.
"Hey, can't we break through the glass here?" Aion asked.
"Hm? No, not at all. You can try, of course, but that stuff is built to resist huge amounts of damage. A tree could fall on it, and it wouldn't shatter."
"Why would you have that installed?"
"Ah, well…" Alphonse seemed hesitant to explain, so Aion dropped it.
Then, they entered the large glass dome that housed the Magnatium garden. It was beautiful under the blood-red light of the moon.
The place had a vast array of flowers that were all taken care of beautifully. Under the blood-red night, they took on the color of red, making them all look like red roses at a glance. Someway, somehow, the red moon seemed to seep its very essence into the field, making a field of crimson.
In the center of the garden that converged as an intersection, at the center, there was a stone-paved pattern that depicted the moon. Further in the back, along the trail Aion and the others were going, was a gazebo.
"Until the night passes," Alphonse began. "We will stay in this garden dedicated to Lunalis."
"Dedicated?" Aion asked.
"Ah, yes, you aren't aware. It's said that the mortal body of Lunalis died at that very spot in the center of the intersection. Her blessed body gave rise to this beautiful field that the Magnatium family cares for every day."
"..."
Aion saw a few of the remaining people walk to the gazebo to take seats, their faces exhausted from the hellish night.
Alphonse stopped in the center of the garden, at the midpoint of the intersection, and gazed into the moon.
"Aion," Alphonse decided to start speaking with Aion for some unknown reason. "You do not believe in Lunalis, and I find that to be rather sad."
"I'm not from here, so of course I don't believe in her."
"Ah, I suppose so. But Aion, have you not seen the events of tonight? All of this—it was all impossible for humans. Can you not see that?"
"You seem to really be pushing this theory of yours."
"Yes, for I have beheld the truth!" Alphonse spread his arms wide. "No human could ever commit such atrocities against one another, and because of this, it only follows that this must be a test sent by Lunalis! Our faith must not waver! That is the truth!"
Aion's mouth tightened for a second before he said, "Is Lunalis not supposed to be a loving Goddess? Doesn't this test imply she is not?"
"Ah, that's where you're wrong. We mortals cannot comprehend the ways of Lunalis; she knows more than us all as an omniscient being! She sees that this is not evil; thus, she can perform it! To make claims against the divine as a mere mortal is pure heresy!"
Aion was quiet for a couple seconds before saying, "That's fine if you believe that. But I do not. And just like how you find comfort in believing Lunalis is the true Goddess, I find comfort in the fact that only a human could commit such atrocities. An omnibenevolent being, they would never, they should never."
"You dare to encroach upon the divine?"
"If that's what I'm doing, so be it. But Lunalis is simply another god within this mess of a world."
"You completely reject the idea of a higher power, I take it? It sounds like where you come from, other beings like Lunalis exist, but now, you've finally met the true creator! You need not trap yourself any longer!"
"Every religion claims to know the true God, and the followers will all insist that they heard it for themselves. Such a thing can only be explained by mass delusion. There is no way to know the true religion, and to claim there is is tantamount to pure ignorance! What could a random person who only knows of their own well speak for the truth of the entire world?"
"Hoh? Despite seeing things only possible through divine intervention, you still reject it?"
"This was not the work of some god; this was only done by human hands."
"If it was done by human hands, who do you insist did it!?" Alphonse shouted the last part with a crazed look in his eyes.
"The 'who' doesn't matter—it's only the 'how' that actually matters," Aion said.
"Hm?" Alphonse seemed interested. "Then, how?"
"..."
"You don't know, do you? You reject a higher power because it's convenient for you. It aligns with your beliefs! So when you are challenged, you simply make a claim without any basis!"
"Hey, I have a question," Aion said.
"What?"
"You insist that Lunalis did this, and you further claim that we cannot gauge her motives behind such actions. But why? Why do you insist it must be divine?"
"What other answer could there be?"
"Mark, he was killed in the ballroom—that much was obvious. Anyone in the ballroom could've performed the murder; thus, it can be done by humans."
Alphonse narrowed his eyes.
"Then there's the chef. He was killed and locked in a room that appeared to be a closed room. But did you know? That room can actually be locked from the outside. Once again, human means have been achieved."
"What about the situation at the time? How could Sam, James, and Noah all have been killed within such a short span of each other in tandem with Arthur?"
"James and Noah were poisoned; they could've consumed it at any point during the night. And Sam, his body was cold, meaning he had been killed significantly earlier."
Alphonse had a very slight reaction, which did not go unnoticed by Aion.
"Whatever could be the matter, Alphonse?" Aion asked, his tone teetering on accusatory.
"Then how could Arthur be killed when everyone was in the ballroom at the time?"
"A completely foreign individual who was not invited could've been hiding in wait. We can't deny the possibility of their existence."
Alphonse's teeth clenched a bit.
"That's absurd!"
"Then fine, what about during the whole commotion of the letter from Pride? Since apparently another one appeared. I'm sure it took some time to figure out exactly where the body was, and in that confusion, a victim could be taken care of."
"Absolutely not! I know for a fact that isn't the case."
"Humans are subject to folly; what makes you any different? Isn't everyone imperfect in comparison to your Goddess? After all, she is redeeming all of you, right?"
"Then we can ask the others!" Alphonse turned toward the staring eyes from the gazebo.
But none stepped forward. Perhaps it wasn't because they had no idea; rather, what Aion said about human folly seemed to seep into their brains. They could be wrong. They could've easily misremembered; after all, it was very chaotic at the time. And it wasn't like they were focused on who was present.
"Alphonse," Aion started. "You've been denying the idea of it being possible by humans for a while now. Not only that, your behavior tonight has been extremely erratic."
"So what? Of course I'm erratic! Even if Lunalis chose it, my heart is still crushed by the fact that Esme is gone."
"Is that so?"
"Yes!"
Aion went completely silent. A silence that seemed to cause the entire place to be on even higher alert.
It was unnatural, unnerving.
And then, a strange noise started resounding in the garden.
The people in the gazebo weren't sure of what it was at first.
Alphonse, on the other hand, had a look of pure shock on his face.
The noise soon broke into a louder, clearer sound.
"Hahahahahahahahahahaha!"
Laughter.
It was laughter.
Completely detached from everything around it.
This laughter came from Aion, who was looking down, hiding his expression from the others.
Then, he looked up, and a smile was on his face.
A completely unrecognizable smile.
Instead of his usual teasing, warm, or sad smiles he had displayed during his time at Magna, this smile was something different.
It was filled with pure malice.
"What are you laughing and smiling about!?" Alphonse shouted, almost defensively.
"Why?" Aion asked, his tone completely different. "Why indeed? Why do you think so?"
"Huh?"
"Hehehahahaha!" Aion broke into another fit of laughter.
Yeah, Aion thought.
And then, he stopped abruptly and looked Alphonse into the eyes with a dead expression.
I really—
"Alphonse," Aion started, his voice missing all sense of amusement from earlier.
"What?" Alphonse asked.
—don't care anymore.
"You are Pride."