Chapter 205: Comfort, Conflict, and a Hundred Worlds

Arianna smiled slightly and her voice softened.

“Everyone here cares about Innis,” she said. “But truthfully, most of them don’t know her that well. You’re the one who spends the most time with her, so it makes sense that you’d feel her absence more than anyone else.”

She paused and met his eyes. “That doesn’t mean they’ve forgotten.”

Kayden’s shoulders dropped slightly and he let out a long breath and ran one hand through his hair before turning to face her properly.

“I know,” he admitted. “I just needed to say something. It felt wrong sitting there while everyone laughed and no one mentioned her name.”

Arianna nodded. “I understand.”

A silence stretched between them for a moment before Kayden spoke again. “For what it’s worth, I’m sorry too.”

Arianna tilted her head slightly. “Sorry for what?”

“Your Father, I know he’s part of those missing too.” Kayden said.

Arianna’s expression shifted and a sadness crept into her eyes. She looked down briefly before nodding. “Yeah.”

Kayden continued, trying to sound reassuring. “Don’t worry. I’m sure Aiden will come up with something soon to find them, and then we can get them all back.”

Arianna nodded again, though the sadness lingered. “Yeah.”

There was another quiet pause before Kayden added, “You know, I never got to congratulate you properly on that.” He gestured to the engagement ring on her finger.

Arianna smiled faintly as she looked at it and rubbed her thumb over the band.

Kayden smiled a little as well. “Aiden’s a great guy. And he’s practically the strongest mage in the world. I’m sure you and Laela will be happy with him.”

Arianna looked up at him with surprise and a genuine smile spread across her face. “Thank you, Kayden.”

Kayden’s expression shifted immediately and he pointed one finger at her with a stern look. “Don’t ever tell him I said that.”

Arianna laughed and nodded. “Your secret is safe with me.”

She stretched her hand out toward him and asked, “Ready to go back downstairs now?”

Kayden looked at her hand for a moment before a small smile tugged at the corner of his lips. He reached out and took it and together they walked out of the training room.

—

Meanwhile in the main room below, Aiden sat at the table with a faint smile on his face. With his enhanced hearing, he had been listening to the entire conversation upstairs.

Hearing Kayden’s words about him being a great guy had been unexpected but not unwelcome.

Then suddenly his senses tingled sharply and the smile faded from his expression. He let out a sigh and pushed himself up from his seat.

Laela had just stepped out of the kitchen after dropping off the large pot she’d used for the stew.

She noticed immediately that his food had barely been touched and now he was already moving toward the exit.

She reached out and held his hand gently. “Hey,” she said calmly. “Where are you going?”

Aiden turned toward her briefly. “I’ll be back in a bit,” he said simply.

Laela studied his face for a moment before nodding and releasing his hand.

Aiden walked through the main room and pushed open the front door of the guild building.

Right there, standing on the opposite side was Lucina. She waved at him with that same devious smirk playing on her lips.

Then she turned as if expecting him to follow behind her. But the moment she turned, Aiden appeared directly in front of her without warning.

Lucina’s eyes widened for a second at the sudden displacement, then her lips curled upward again and she placed one hand lightly over her mouth as if amused by how fast he moved.

Aiden’s expression remained flat as he spoke. “Are you by any chance posing yourself as a threat?”

“Oh no,” she said sweetly. “I’m only here to know if you’ve considered my proposition.”

Aiden stared at her for a moment before responding. “I assumed my silence was enough of an answer,” he said. “But given that I have to spell it out, then right here and now I’m telling you no such deal is going to be made between us.”

Something flickered in Lucina’s eyes and her fist clenched subtly at her side. For a brief moment, her face contorted with irritation that she couldn’t fully hide.

Then just as quickly, her demeanor returned to normal and she tilted her head. “You’re making the wrong decision,” she said.

“Whether you decide to help or not is your concern,” Aiden replied. “But should Samael ever get past us dragons, he would have a regular day with you gods.”

He paused, then added. “Don’t hover around here again.”

Without waiting for a response he turned and walked back toward the guild building.

Lucina stood frozen in place as she watched him leave. Her golden eyes glowed, and you could see the fury in her eyes.

Then her gaze shifted and landed on a figure standing near the guild building at a distance.

Aeris.

The Amazon had been watching them from afar. A smile slowly spread across Lucina’s face and in the next instant she vanished in a brilliant flash of golden light.

Aiden approached the entrance of the guild and as he did Aeris called out, “Hello Aiden.”

He turned his head slightly toward her and gave a single nod before walking past and stepping back into the building without another word.

Aeris turned her gaze toward the spot where Lucina and Aiden had just been speaking. Her expression shifted into something frantic and uneasy.

She had been returning from a brief walk outside the guild when she sensed the presence of a god nearby. That sensation had made her stop immediately and turn toward its source.

Amazons could always sense when a deity was close. It was part of their nature given how deeply their existence was tied to the gods.

Aeris may not have heard the content of their conversation but she knew one thing for certain.

Nothing good ever came from dealings with Lucina.

She stood there for amoment staring at the empty space where the goddess had disappeared, before finally turning and walking back into the guild with that unsettled feeling still weighing heavily on her chest.

———

Later that day, Aiden stood shirtless in his room within the guild building. He decided it was time to try the dimensional sight again.

Laela and Arianna sat on the bed behind him and watched quietly as he prepared himself.

The slits in his red eyes narrowed and he activated the dimensional sight.

This time he saw it all.

Layers upon layers of reality stacked beside one another like thin sheets of glass placed in a row.

Each layer was a complete world unto itself and they stretched endlessly in every direction.

Some appeared faint while others looked more solid and each one existed parallel to the next without ever touching.

It was now that he realized there could be a problem.

He stopped the sight and turned back toward his women. His expression had shifted into something more serious.

Laela noticed immediately. “What happened?” she asked.

Aiden let out a slow breath before answering. “I’ve found a way to reach the other dimension,” he said. “But the problem is that it isn’t just one parallel dimension. There are too many.”

Arianna leaned forward slightly. “How many?”

“The way it’s looking,” Aiden replied, “it seems to be over a hundred parallel dimensions. And our possessed friends along with the other affected mages could be in any of them.”

Laela’s expression grew more concerned. “Or worse, they could be scattered between them.”

Aiden nodded. “Exactly, and my sight isn’t improved enough to see how far these dimensions stretch either.”

Arianna looked at him with concern across her face as well. “What are you going to do now?”

Aiden stayed silent for a moment, thinking, until an idea clicked into place.

He lifted one hand slightly to the left. “Ursula used her celestial magic to try finding Oberon’s wife

Then he raised the other hand to the right. “And on my end, I discovered a parallel dimension around us.”

He turned fully toward them. “I’ve already copied the magic she used for that divination. If I cast it myself and combine it with my sight and heightened supernatural awareness, I should be able to pinpoint which specific dimension they’re in.”

He brought both hands together, with the decision already made.

Laela and Arianna exchanged a glance and nodded.

Aiden nodded back and then said, “I’ll need their personal items.”

—-

A few moments later Aiden stood in the main room of the guild. Everyone had gathered around him.

He held Oliver’s linen shirt in his hand. Elena stood nearby holding Innis’s hairbrush and Rick had Bernard’s special spoon. It was a much larger spoon than normal and Bernard had always loved eating with it.

Aiden was going to use the celestial magic divination spell he had copied from Ursula. Her version was far more potent than the regular divination supplementary spell.

Regular divination would not have been able to even tell that the king’s wife still existed somewhere. It would have come up with absolutely nothing.

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