In the blink of an eye weeks passed.
Ironically, Nephis started avoiding Aelon like the pest, as if he's cursed.
Until one day... eight days short of the winter solstice to be exact.
These past few days Lyra had been inseparable from Aelon, constantly sticking to his side, so that now his flaw didn't trigger in the slightest around her.
Her actions seemed weird. There was no hint of the compassionate girl he grew up with. It seemed as if she was entirely stripped of her sympathy and compassion in general. She quite literally only acted in self interest, which made the fact that Lyra stuck around Aelon constantly even more weird.
Obviously Aelon did not voice his apprehensions to her, but the constant attention was getting quite tiring to a point.
Nephis.
She stood in front of the frail boy, towering over him. Immediately a familiar, but no less uncomfortable tremble washed over him. Lyra who lingered next to the boy, simply looked Nephis in the eyes–– unlike Aelon who was just staring at the floor like always.
"Y-yes Nephis?"
"I need to speak alone with you." Her gaze turned towards Lyra, seemingly burning into her. "It's about your bracelet."
Seeing that she no longer was welcome, Lyra didn't seem to care in the slightest, but since Nephis made it apparent that she would not speak until the purple-eyed girl left, she finally parted from Aelon.
Right when she was out of sight, Aelon felt a strong grip close in around his wrist, and drag him off to the... girls dormitories.
Since his hair was decently long, and his frame not the most developed, he actually got no weird looks when entering it, a few because people were wondering why Changing Star was dragging a person along, but none because it was curious that he was a boy.
'At this point I'll just inject testosterone ethanate intramuscular.'
Now in Nephis room, which was just as devoid of any belongings as his, he found himself sitting on the bed across from her.
She pulled out a picture, specifically of a girl with black hair, and grey eyes, just like him. Her features were also eerily similar to his.
It was Nephis, but with black hair, and less refined features.
"This was me before entering my first nightmare. My hair turned white when I gained my aspect."
Connections were starting to form in Aelon's head. Connections he did not want to think of. Because if they were true, they'd bring inconvenience, and if they were false, he'd be overestimating himself.
"I am from the Immortal Flame clan, specifically the heiress, because I am the only descendant. Thirteen years ago, when I was four, my mother carried a second child. I was told that he had died at birth."
Nephis' grey eyes, whose similarity to his now became eerily apparent to him, stared deep into his grey eyes.
Then she brought her own arm forwards, and pulled the sleeve down.
There... a bracelet rest too.
Identical to his.
'You don't mean...'
But when her bracelet revealed itself, it started to glow, and specifically the glow emanating from it traveled through the air, and entered Aelon's bracelet.
[You have received a new memory, Father's Blessing].
Aelon looked up in disbelief.
Quickly he summoned his runes, and there awaited something... that he could have never expected, specifically the memory description.
[My son,
If these words have reached you, then the enchantment upon this bracelet has finally awakened. That could only happen if your bracelet came into contact with another identical to it. Which means you have found Nephis… and, if fate has shown us even this small mercy, she has found you.
First, allow me to ask your forgiveness. I was never there to hold you when you were born, nor to watch you grow, nor to teach you what every father should teach his son. By the time you hear my voice, there is a great chance that I have already returned to Shadow's embrace. That regret will remain mine alone.
There is something you deserve to know. You are not an orphan. You never were.
One of the enchantments woven into this bracelet ensured that, no matter what became of you, one thing could never be taken away. Your name. Even if the world forgot you, even if every record of your existence vanished, you would always know who you are.
You are Aelon.
You are my son.
You are a child of the Immortal Flame Clan.
You may wonder why your own father would abandon you to such a cruel fate. The answer is neither simple nor kind. When you were born, I already knew that the balance between the great clans would not remain peaceful forever. Valor and Song had grown too ambitious, too powerful, and too fearful of what another heir of the Immortal Flame bloodline might one day become.
Nephis could not be hidden. She had already been seen by the world. But you... you still could. So I made the cruelest choice a father can make. I allowed the world to believe that my son had died before taking his first breath. I entrusted your life to obscurity, hoping anonymity would protect you where my sword no longer could.
If that decision caused you suffering... then I ask your forgiveness once more. Every lonely day, every hungry night, every hardship you endured because of my choice is a burden I willingly accepted upon my own conscience. If there had been another path, I would have taken it without hesitation.
Do not resent Nephis. She was never told the truth. She mourned you just as we did.
Nor should you resent yourself. None of this was ever your fault.
You are not receiving this message because I expect anything from you. You will not inherit my responsibilities, nor carry the weight of leading our clan. That burden belongs to your sister alone, should she choose to accept it. I ask only one thing of you. Live freely. Live as Aelon, not as the son of Broken Sword. Let your own choices define you, rather than my name.
If Nephis stands beside you as you read these words, then I entrust my son to her.
And if you are reading this alone... then know that I have always believed you strong enough to walk your own path.
Perhaps, by the time this reaches you, my companions will have attempted to free me from mortality by conquering the Fourth Nightmare. I knew the risks long before I chose to challenge it. Should I fall, do not waste your life grieving for me. A warrior who fears death has already been defeated.
Your mother loved you with every part of her soul. So did I. We never abandoned you. We only chose the one road that gave you the greatest chance to survive, no matter how much it broke our hearts.
If there is one regret I carry beyond all others, it is that I was never allowed to watch the man you would become.
Even so... I am proud of you.
Wherever you are... whatever path you choose... whatever name the world comes to know you by... you will always be my son.
I love you Aelon.
Your Father.]