The moment Aether met the thing behind Lyria's eyes, he understood why every lectured about Witches ended in terror.
The pressure hit like a tidal wave, crushing any thought and breath in him. Frost spread across the walls as something vast and inhuman turned its attention toward him.
But then Lyria screamed. "No! I won't! Let-"
It's then an otherworldly gaze was being pulled back.
Just as more cracks started appearing around. They spread out in thin lines and soon gray water seeped through as the air grew colder making it harder to breath.
Something was being restrained, something awful.
But Lyria faced it alone, her whole body shaking as she fought to keep it contained. Her knuckles turned white around the handle of her sword as she locked eyes with him.
"Please… Leave…I don't want to hurt you..." She begged in a soft whisper.
Aether eyes shone at how she was trying to protect him. To restrain her madness so he could escape. Such a sight left a warm feeling in him, far better than those bastards.
He stood up before stepping forward. Even as the pressure pressed over him as he moved closer.
"Lyria." Aether said softly as he reached out, ignoring the chilling aura that made his skin prickle and gently cradled her face. She flinched as her eyes widened in shock. "What will happen if this continues? Tell me."
Lyria trembled violently under his touch. "N-nothing… I'll recover… Just go…" She stammered as she tried to twist her face away.
Hoping to hide the spreading darkness in her eyes and downplay the issue unfolding in her.
Aether expression softened, and a look of awe appeared on his face as he saw it clearly. She wasn't just holding back her madness. But she was fighting to keep him from seeing her break and worrying him.
She is willing to suffer for me, how could I back down now?
Aether recalled the words of the golden orbs. They told him through the shackles he would be able to suppress the madness in the witches.
But in exchange.
They would fall under his control and be his prisoners. Similar to him being the warden and them being the inmates.
The plan was to make them pay for their sins. To force them to work and throw them away like the tools they were.
I really do hope you bastards are watching from wherever you are. Because I am about to start the journey. One of me embracing all Witches.
Aether gently caressed her cheek and his gaze softened. He felt something tremble deep within him. The trembling instantly created a bridge. And across it, through the connection of the Shackle he felt it.
The aching chill of Lyria isolation, and a stillness that froze him. But beneath that, fainter than a heartbeat, he could feel the buried spark of a hope, waiting to be helped.
"Then I will guide you until one day you can tell me your wish." Aether words swept through the cracking space between them, louder than the groan of the buckling floor. "But before that, will you trust me, Lyria?"
He moved forward.
Lyria's eyes went wide and she stood frozen, unable to react.
"I will stop the madness." Aether eyes stared at her. "Will you let me?."
Lyria's lips trembled. "…If this doesn't work." She whispered. "Then you must run… Promise me."
"Okay." He closed the distance between them and his lips pressed against hers. A feeling of pleasure swept through his body. While the world stopped and Lyria's entire body froze.
Then the symbols appeared.
They erupted across her skin like fire. Intricate patterns, ancient and complex, blazed to life along her entire body. Blue lines intertwined, weaving together in designs that Aether saw before.
The same symbols flared on Aether's skin but in the color of gold. They mirrored hers, answering her patterns with his own. Where gold met blue, the light intensified and then crimson-black chains of the Shackle began to form.
They rushed out from the hands holding Lyria's face. Before moving around her neck, arms, waist, and legs. They seeped into her body and began creating pathway to her madness.
And through it, everything she had held back came flooding into him.
The terrible deep came crashing into him. He saw gray waves swirling around him before descending over him.
It would have destroyed a lesser person. But Aether welcomed it even as his knees trembled.
He felt it all.
The pain felt like he was being stabbed. Her guilt that made his stomach hurt and filled him with anxiety. And even her emotions that were being slowly stripped away.
Then he saw a swirling grey ocean taking Lyria place before shifting back to her. He knew instantly, that was the source of her madness that had grown. That was causing her so much pain, scaring her, and wishing to pull everything inside of it.
He couldn't let it stay.
For a second, his body threatened to give out under the magnitude of what was pouring into him. But his arms tightened around her instead as he pulled her closer even as something inside screamed.
He kissed her deeper.
Soon Lyria's stiff body began to relax. Her tight shoulders fell, her grip on the sword loosened until it clattered to the floor. While the madness inside of him began fading away. He could feel something stirring inside beginning to break it down and disperse it.
And then soon pleasure began to overtake both of them.
The vault around them began changing.
The gray water that had flooded the floor started pulling back. It flowed back into the cracks in the stone like a tide going out.
The heavy feeling in the air lifted. The room grew warmer again. The blackness in her eyes washed away and returned to their original white.
Aether pulled back slowly while feeling a surge of energy rushing through him and his lips left hers.
But his hands remained on her shoulders. He ignored the rush of energy through him and the trembling of his body before it settled down.
His gaze was on Lyria's face, his golden eyes searched her face. He knew it wasn't everything, the madness was still bubbling deep in her. But it was enough to pull her from the brink and push that thing back.
Aether smiled. "You seemed better. That's good."
"Chief…" Lyria stared at him as her voice trembled.
It wasn't in fear but instead relief.