Chapter 74: Original Vessel

"Why can't I come with him?" Pieffer retorted after Guardian Aika opened the door to the dungeon for Aries only.

"You can ask your father about it later," the guardian replied then pulled Aries inside the dungeon. "See you later, Princess."

She hurriedly closed the door and Aries found himself facing two towering figures.

One was Beast Tamer Kiel and the other was probably the King of Serestral.

His eyes were similar to the eyes of the royal siblings but his stare was more commanding. He was taller than Master Kiel by a few inches. His long black hair was neatly ponytailed. Instead of a crown, a golden band was tied around his forehead. It had a sapphire rose ornament in the middle. He was wearing a knee-length blue overcoat and black boots. His posture was graceful. And like Master Kiel, the king was probably older than he looks.

Aries dropped to his knees and said, "Greetings, King Astra."

"How can you be so reckless?" the king asked and his voice felt like it was thundering all over the dungeon. "This is my second time saving your body."

"Second time?" Aries looked up at the king with confusion.

"The first time was ten years ago," the king casually replied. "How do you think your body survived a fatal stab wound in your chest?"

"W-Why me?" Aries was grateful but he could not stop himself from asking.

"After all that you've been through, I thought the answer to that is already obvious," the king smiled.

"But I… already died twice…"

"Are you trying to tell me that you are tired?" the king furrowed his brows. "Do you want me to stop resurrecting your body?"

"I'm not!" Aries exclaimed. "I want to live! I want to save as many people as I can!"

"Then why are you hesitating?" the king asked with a wider smile.

"I'm… I'm not hesitating!" Aries yelled with a blush. "Let's get this ritual started!"

"There is no ritual," the king reached out a hand to him. "Just take my hand and you will instantly return to your body."

He pointed at the couch where the lifeless body of Aries was lying.

Aries took a deep breath before grabbing the hand of King Astra and, as he had been told, his soul was instantly transported to the room filled with glass enclosures that contained all the corrupted souls he previously absorbed. But, unlike the last time, all the glass containers in there had been shattered and corrupted souls were trying to break out of that dark abyss. Except for two. 

Venera in the form of a whip and Alternate-World-Pieffer in the form of a dagger were waiting for his return. Of course, it was not to welcome him but to make sure that he would never reclaim his original body.

"It's been a long time, Aries."

The silver dagger hovering in front of him transformed into Alternate-World-Pieffer. Her dark-brown hair was neatly ponytailed. She was wearing her favorite blouse, jeans, and sneakers. All had the same color. Black. She loved that color. It was one of the many things Aries liked about her.

"You should stay in your current vessel," Alternate-World-Pieffer smiled. "Let me take care of this body."

Her previous form, the silver dagger with an intricate hilt, had manifested in her right hand.

"I'm sorry," he sincerely apologized as he called Vermillion in his hands. "I need this body."

"Pursuing that stupid heroic act will get you killed."

She was now talking like Cari.

"Whatever it is that you heard from Sunrei, I will not let it come to pass. I will not die while saving Serestral."

Alternate-World-Pieffer laughed and told him, "Your death is the salvation of this kingdom. You should listen to us. Run as far as you can from this cursed kingdom while there is still time."

"This time will be different," Aries tightened the grip on his dual swords. "Please, Pieffer, just let me return to this body. We should not be fighting."

"How can you make a difference in this lifetime if your choices remain the same?" Alternate-World-Pieffer attacked.

Aries was astonished. It was his first time seeing her fight but her movements were awfully similar to the princess.

"Surprised?" Alternate-World-Pieffer grazed his cheek but it felt like he had been deeply wounded. The pain made him stagger.

"You still can't get it?" she smiled ominously while relentlessly slashing her dagger at Aries. "Me and that princess have the same name, appearance, and movements. That could only mean one thing, right?"

Aries dodged but his cheek had been slashed one more time. It was another shallow wound but the pain was excruciating. He swayed and nearly slumped on the dark ground.

Alternate-World-Pieffer vanished in front of him and reappeared behind him.

"The princess and I," she whispered to his ear. "We are one."

Aries winced as the dagger cut the back of his right shoulder. He nearly dropped Vermillion as his wound burned with intense pain.

"Believe me, Aries. I wanted to save you," Alternate-World-Pieffer knelt in front of him. "If at that time you made a different choice, we will not be suffering this hateful situation."

"I deserve this for killing you," Aries dropped one of his dual swords to hold Alternate-World-Pieffer's hand. "But as I said before, I cannot allow your soul to get tainted by my blood…"

Alternate-World-Pieffer laughed and pricked his chest.

"Your life ends with my blade," she coldly revealed. "It is always like that."

"No," Aries tightened his grip on her hand. "You are not her. You are a different person."

"I also wished for the same thing!" Alternate-World-Pieffer furiously slashed the silver blade at his wrist that it was nearly severed.

Aries collapsed on the ground while writhing in pain. He never felt such agony. It was reverberating all throughout his body.

"I am Pieffer Celestine! I am created by Darkness! My sole purpose is to kill you! This is my destiny!" she knelt over Aries and stabbed his left shoulder. "But why do you have to taint me?!" Tears poured from her eyes. "Why do you have to confuse me?! Why do I have to fall in love with you?! My soul had been ripped apart because of that stupid emotion! I had to hate a part of myself and cast it away just to protect you! But whatever I do, it will always end with your blood in my hands. If you will not defy your destiny, then I also won't do it. Why prolong the agony? Let's end it now."

Alternate-World-Pieffer raised her silver dagger and stabbed it at Aries but the latter had grabbed the blade with his unscathed hand.

"I will change everything," Aries promised. "You don't have to hide here. Return to where you should be. This time, I will not die in your hands."

"That's a lie," Alternate-World-Pieffer cried. "YOU ARE SUCH A HATEFUL LIAR!!!"

Her angry yelling shot paralyzing electricity all throughout that dark abyss. Even Aries had staggered.

"I will kill you the next time we meet," she had coldly uttered before leaving.

A deafening silence floated around the area. Everyone stopped moving and even though the corrupted souls had no eyes, Aries could feel them staring at him.

After a few more heartbeats, the corrupted souls had swarmed in his direction.

You are reading story A Hell Called Serestral at novel35.com

With great effort, Aries rose on his feet and slashed Vermillion at the dark essences gliding towards him.

As his crimson blade hit the corrupted souls, they were instantly returning to the glass containers that were magically reforming.

It took Aries an exhausting eternity before he contained all the corrupted souls inside his body. The last one he imprisoned was Venera. She put up a great fight. His gravely wounded wrist added to his struggle. But he managed to win his body back.

Aries closed his eyes to rest even just for a little while but people had no intention of leaving him in peace.

"Welcome back, Aries," Guardian Aika had spoken. 

When Aries opened his eyes, he was back at the dungeon. He was lying on the couch where he had seen his lifeless body. He quickly sat up and winced as intense pain burned in his wrist.

"You should start taking care of your body," the king seriously told him. "There is a limit to my resurrection skill."

"My wrist…"

"When your soul is harmed, your body also suffers. There will be no physical wound but your wrist will hurt for at least a week and the rest of your body will feel weak for a few days. You should rest."

"Pieffer…" Aries began but faltered. He shook his head and said, "A corrupted soul escaped from my body."

"It happens once in a while since your soul left your body," Guardian Aika explained. "And if you don't have any more questions, you should leave. Pieffer is waiting for so long outside this dungeon."

"You will not see her?" Aries asked the king.

"I will see her after all of this is over," King Astra answered so casually. "We both agreed on it."

Aries feebly moved out of the bed. He swayed and nearly collapsed if the king did not grab his arms and help him stay up on his feet.

It was creeping up on him again and stronger this time. The feeling that he had met the king before was making his head and chest throb with pain.

"Maybe you should rest for a few more hours," King Astra suggested.

"I can walk out of the door," Aries felt a little better after holding on to the king for a few minutes. "Thank you, King Astra."

He bowed low to the king.

"Thank you, Master Kiel," he bent over to the Beast Tamer that was standing quietly behind the king.

"Thank you, Guardian Aika," he was about to bow but the spellcaster guardian put a hand on his forehead and stopped him from doing it.

"Just leave," she impatiently waved a hand at the door that opened for him.

Aries quietly walked out of the dungeon and, as Guardian Aika had said, Pieffer was patiently waiting for him.

"Aries!" 

The princess was smiling so warmly that Aries could not stop himself from wrapping his arms around her. He even rested his forehead on her shoulder.

"You should sleep," Pieffer put her arms around his torso and gently caressed his back.

Aries only nodded.

"Hey! Did you call me here to witness you flirt with one another?"

Aries looked up and glanced behind Pieffer.

"Gani?"

The Celestial Knight waved a hand at him and said, "You finally noticed my presence."

"I cannot carry you to the quadrangle," Pieffer said with a blush.

"Quadrangle?"

"Gust is receiving his verdict," Gani carried Aries in his back.

"His uncle woke up?"

"Yes," Pieffer replied. "Three days ago."

"Three days ago?"

"That's how long you had been hiding in that dungeon," Gani answered while they were heading towards the quadrangle.

Aries thought it was only for a few hours.

"Brother!" Gale was running towards them. He looked excited. The verdict was probably not bad for Gust. "You finally returned to your body!"

"What happened to your twin brother?" Pieffer curiously asked.

"He and Jodien are waiting for us in our sanctuary," Gale had taken Aries from Gani. "We should hurry."

"Why should we hurry?" Pieffer glared suspiciously at Gale. "Did you run away?"

"Of course not!" Gale laughed then explained what happened at the quadrangle. "Gust had been exiled but Uncle had given him one more day to stay wherever he wants here in the House of Twins. He was grateful to my twin brother for saving him and reinstating the barriers but he cannot ignore the call of the people. Most of them are angry. Uncle had to appease them."

"Ungrateful people," Gani shook his head with disappointment.

"Gust wants to be exiled," Gale was smiling happily. "He never wanted to be a house leader. He only did it to preserve our sanctuary. It was mainly because of you Aries. You said that you will return. We have to wait for you. Now that you are back, we can finally let go of the sanctuary and go with you. We are ready. Gust is ready to help you in saving Serestral."

Aries was speechless and he had to hide his watery eyes on the shoulder of Gale.

"Let's not waste more time," Pieffer smiled and grabbed Gani's arm. "Let's go to your sanctuary."

"How about Sunrei, Pines, and Cari?" Aries weakly inquired.

"I will bring them there," Pieffer promised. "We have the bracelet with us. We only have to move the crystal."

"Right," Aries smiled then rested his forehead back to the shoulder of Gale. Lifting his head and blurting out a few words were already draining for him.

"Let's go," Gani nodded and jumped on the vortex that formed behind him and Aries.

Pieffer, on the other hand, had pulled Gani into the shadows.

^#######^

You can find story with these keywords: A Hell Called Serestral, Read A Hell Called Serestral, A Hell Called Serestral novel, A Hell Called Serestral book, A Hell Called Serestral story, A Hell Called Serestral full, A Hell Called Serestral Latest Chapter