The air was cold, stifling any and all sense of purpose. A place that seemed stuck between the rational world of the outside and the irrational world of Magna. A gulf, separating the two worlds. Like the boundary of the living and the dead, or the boundary of the real and fictional. That was the shack in the woods, the place Aion awoke once more.
At first, Aion was confused. Of course he was. One moment he was leaving the Magnatium Manor after the humiliation Alphonse had given him, and the next he was back in this shack he had found himself in a week ago.
Looking down, he found himself in the clothing he was wearing the time he had woken up. Looking at the room, it also seemed the same from a cursory glance.
Then…did he perhaps loop back in time?
He's had several dreams that seemed to "loop" from his memory, so it's not entirely out of the question. And even looking at it from the perspective that he was in the world instead of it being a nightmare, time loops were common in works of fiction. He's read and watched several, in fact. Some of them being works he held dearly to his heart.
Of course, he had no way of knowing for sure it was a time loop. However, based on the current premises and his own personal feelings and biases in the matter, a time loop seemed much more favorable.
Aion stood from the bed and decided to glance at the mirror again. Like before, his face was different from the one he'd had before entering this fictional nightmare. An alien person stood before him, different than anyone he's ever met. He'd never even seen a character look like this. Although, there were definitely some similarities to characters he's seen. Just none matching the exact look. Which was certainly strange. After all, it didn't seem like it would be that hard. And yet, for some reason, something was off. Like it was the same and not the same simultaneously. Living in both worlds without any distinctive true place to call home.
And of course, the most prominent feature was those blue eyes. This time, though, Aion looked away before being sucked into them again. It wasn't something he particularly wished to do again.
So instead, Aion opened the door to the shack and found the same weather as that first day. Shivering, he remembered to grab the clothing he'd found his first time here and put it on.
Truly, all the details seemed identical. The layout of everything, the weather, the housing of the clothes, even the—
"Huh?" Aion stopped and stared at the glass casing where he'd found the butterfly struggling to escape previously.
This time, it was different.
Inside the glass casing, a second butterfly had been pinned and was struggling to escape. Its wings flapped violently as it tried to attain the sweet freedom of flight. But that wasn't all. The first butterfly was now completely still. It almost looked like it was dead. No, it probably was dead. Wings drooping—the butterfly was a sad sight.
But then, perhaps this wasn't a loop? After all, there was a clear and distinctive difference from before.
It was a thought Aion knew he should consider. Unfortunately, he couldn't stick with his easy explanation of it just being a time loop back to the beginning. After all, a single detail was out of place now. Throwing everything else into shambles.
Although, realistically, it probably wasn't that big of a deal.
Ultimately, there was one way to confirm whether this was a loop or not: through Luna.
Luna apparently walked out here every day except the Festival's Eve and probably the Winter Solstice as well. So, he should be fine.
When Luna shows up, her reaction should tell him all he needs. And if she doesn't show up at all, time would've needed to pass.
Aion nodded, convincing himself that this was certainly the way.
So, after getting dressed in more suitable clothing, Aion stood in the doorway like he'd done so before.
He waited and waited, and eventually, he heard footsteps. Stepping out, he saw Luna walking with the same downcast gaze as when he first met her.
Then, she looked up and let out an "Ah!"
"Ah…" Aion reacted the same way he did before.
It wasn't out of some wish to preserve the same events; rather, seeing Luna again stirred some strange emotion in him.
A mix of relief and guilt because of their last interaction. But, was this truly a loop?
"Sorry," Luna began, "I just didn't expect to see you out of the shack is all."
Aion laughed, which caused Luna's eyebrows to furrow in confusion. It was the same. It was the exact same. That meant he really did loop back. That meant all of it, all of it was undone!
Sam was alive again.
His and Luna's fight never happened.
And Aira never died so tragically.
Those terrible incidents were gone.
Aion felt like he was about to cry. But he couldn't.
If he did, he was sure Luna would just be weirded out.
So instead, he smiled.
"Sorry, sorry, I just got hit with a sense of déjà vu," Aion said with a smile filled with numerous emotions..
"Dé…jà vu…?" Luna asked, her expression a little lost.
"Yeah," Aion said. "You see, I just woke up in this shack, and I have no idea how I got here," Aion lied.
"You woke up not knowing how you got there?" Luna asked.
"Yeah, on top of that my head's all fuzzy."
"Really?" Luna asked and smiled. "Well, I'm Luna Amaryllis; it's a pleasure to meet you!"
Even her greeting was basically identical. Giving Aion a wave of nostalgia. It was kind of sad, though. After all, only a week had passed. And yet, for some reason, that week felt like an eternity.
"I'm Aion Belial," Aion introduced himself to Luna once more.
"Hm…" Luna made a hum of interest before saying, "Since you woke up out here in the middle of nowhere, why don't you stay in Magna until you can get back home?"
"Magna? Is that where you live?" Aion asked.
He figured that it was best to act like he wasn't familiar with Magna. It would only weird Luna out if he just knew all this stuff, plus his story would make no sense.
"Yes! It's the only place of residence for a long while. I'm sure you'll love it!"
"Is that so?"
"Yep!" Luna smiled energetically, beaming with happiness.
"Well, I guess you should lead the way," Aion said.
Luna nodded, and they set off.
"So what were you doing before showing up here?" Luna asked.
"College," Aion said.
"College, huh?"
"Yeah, it's a place where you learn."
Luna laughed and said, "Is that so?"
"Yep."
"So, what are you learning?"
"Uh…I can't exactly remember…"
"Oh…that's not good…"
"What an understatement."
"I was just trying to be generous! I'll have you know I am a very kind and generous girl!"
"Hm? I doubt any 'kind and generous' person would brag about that."
Luna puffed her chest out in pride.
"Why do you look so proud of that?"
"Eh? Why not? Shouldn't you show off what you are for others? How else would they see it?"
"Wouldn't they see it through you actually being 'kind and generous' instead of proclaiming it?"
"Eh? Really? Is that how it is?"
Aion scrunched his eyebrows. If he had gone with the flow, he probably would've made fun of her more.
But after the fight they had, Aion couldn't bring himself to do that. More than likely, she's never had anyone looking at her for who she actually is.
Luna Amaryllis was a poor, pitiful girl who knew nothing of true connection. All her connections are strenuous at best. And her love—it was merely a wilted rose waiting to be yanked from the Earth.
"Well, that's generally how it is. Perhaps it's different in Magna," Aion said.
Luna gazed at him for a couple seconds before saying, "Yeah, probably. I guess Magna will probably be very different for you."
"I imagine so," Aion said with a confident expression.
Luna giggled, amused, and said, "Why are you so confident?"
"Different parts of the world all have different cultures, customs, and beliefs. So I expect Magna will be no different."
"How big is the world?"
"It's large, incredibly large. I don't think it's possible for a single person to travel the entire world. Of course, I could be wrong."
"Hm…" Luna seemed slightly interested in the subject, but she didn't pursue it any further.
"Perhaps one day you could travel the world yourself," Aion said.
"Eh…I don't know about that…"
"Do you have apprehensions about it?"
"Ah…well…um…" Luna struggled to put anything into words.
"Well, it's fine if you need time to think about it."
"That's…"
"Even if you decide against it, I'm sure you could still find something in the outside world."
"..."
"It's just a thought, though."
"Yeah…"
Luna seemed a bit down. Normally, Aion would say something, but he wasn't sure how she would react to a complete stranger trying to pry into her private life. He certainly knew how he'd react. So, he decided to err on the side of caution.
"So, what's Magna like?"
"Well…" Luna tried to find the right words.
For some reason or another, she didn't come up with anything.
"I guess describing the place you grew up can be difficult to an outsider; am I right?"
"Yeah! That's it!" Luna said with a smile. "But well, there's actually an important event coming up…"
"Really?" Aion played dumb.
"Well…it's the Winter Solstice. It's a grand celebration, you know."
Luna's eyes had a distant look in them.
"Do you like the Winter Solstice?"
"Huh? Oh, yeah, definitely."
"What exactly happens there?"
"Well, miracles are performed, and performances from the Book of Lunalis occur as well…"
Aion held back from lashing out and said, "Miracles, huh? That sounds unlikely."
"They do happen, you know," Luna said, her eyes filled with some unreadable emotion for Aion.
"I guess if I'm still in Magna by then, I will see for myself. But as I said, that's unlikely. It's most likely just things you don't understand."
"We can check it out together then," Luna said.
"Together? Yeah, we could," Aion said.
He tried his best to hide his melancholic mood as he remembered what had happened once more. If he was going to continue remembering like this, he wasn't sure if he could talk with Luna anymore.
He had never been given the opportunity to apologize, and now he probably never would. He bit his lower lip as guilt clawed at his heart. He'd been given an easy out, one where he could completely escape any semblance of blame. Despite his initial relief, there was one thing he wished wasn't undone. All of his mistakes with Luna—they were all washed away.
It certainly wasn't fair, nor was it something he was entirely pleased about. He had wanted to apologize, to try and understand her more than he already did.
It was like wishing to know the backstory of a character. Learning the complete backstory of a character offers great insight into how they became who they did. It allows for deeper exploration that wouldn't have been possible otherwise.
People change over time—that's undeniable. The person they were in the past, the person they are in the present, and the person they will be in the future—all of them are different in some way. Despite coming from the same origin, each experience changes them.
And that's why characters with explored backstories can be so good. They feel more lifelike—more vibrant than before. The added depth makes for fascinating commentary, and the reader can connect more deeply with the character. And if not connected, they can understand them more.
Aion wished to know.
Perhaps it was because he always read and watched so many works of fiction, but he wished to dive into the depths of Luna's character. Understand her beliefs, her flaws, her emotions, her conflicts, and so on.
But it goes beyond that.
Aion found himself wishing to understand because he had made a presumption. Like he was repenting for a sin, that understanding would grant him forgiveness.
But now, that sin was erased.
And Aion found himself feeling something he didn't want to admit.
He felt relieved.