Chapter 8:

Cradled in Zayne's arms, the girl lies still, her cold warmth lingering. The body he's holding cannot be considered one that belongs to a mortal.

Under her clothes, blues lines manifest at an alarming rate. Astra warns the Foreseer in the form of an eerie indigo gleam from the Creatio Protocore on his scepter.

The Foreseer is forbidden from peeking into his own destiny.

Or else Astra shall give unto him the sweetness of Death's embrace.

Even so, the Foreseer must see the future of this girl whose fate is deeply interwined with his.

Following destiny's golden thread, he unveils truths hidden in enigmatic mist.

Along his long journey, he has met this girl time and time again. He falls in love with her, becomes a witness to her changing fate, and watches her die.

Astra's tools can never fall in love.

And so Astra manipulates his memories of her, plunging them into an incomprehensible mystery: a jasmine bud that never blooms and is out of reach.

----------

I slowly open my eyes.

MC: (...Why am I here?)

Before fainting, I remember a flash of indigo light and Zayne's concerned expression...

MC: (Did Zayne put me here? How long was I sleeping?)

I struggle to stand up before staggering out of the room.

MC: "Zayne..."

----------

I search evegy path of the Tower, but Zayne is nowhere to be seen.

I manage to find a hidden staircase. I climb each step and find a door at the end. I can hear noises from inside the room.

----------

Pushing open the heavy door, I see Zayne shackled to the wall in the corner of the room... This is a prison.

From the walls, the floor, the ceiling... The ice approaches, hounding like a living, ravenous beast.

Black as night, its glow is ominous.

MC: "Zayne? What happened to you?!"

With not a tinge of emotion, Zayne's eyes are scarlet.

His hand emits a white glow, and as he clenches it, the black ice suddenly elongates and stabs his body.

Zayne: "..."

MC: "Why are you hurting yourself?"

Zayne: "Astra's... punishment..."

I realize his body is moving on its own.

I remember when I accidentally appeared in Zayne's bedchamber. Once he came out of the bath, scars covered his body. Were those a result of his "self-inflicted" injuries?

----------

Foreseer: "Ugh..."

MC: (I need to do something so he can stop the ice!)

*Call his name

Foreseer: "..."

Foreseer: "...It's too dangerous. I won't be able to control... Leave. Now."

*Touch his face

Foreseer: "I cannot die. This agony I've experienced before."

MC: "You being tortured is worse than death itself!"

*Look at the ice on his chest

MC: (Is there a way to remove it?)

*Touch it

Foreseer: "I can't stop the ice... You'll get injured..."

*Remove it

Foreseer: "Ahhh...!"

MC: "Does it still hurt?"

Foreseer: "The ice will not relent... Leave this place. Please."

MC: "We have to stop it."

*Hug him

Foreseer: "Why didn't you leave... Compared to the previous trespassers of the Tower... You truly are the most audacious."

----------

The black ice has ceased its movements, but the prison is still cold.

I unshackle Zayne's hand. Seeing his bloodied wrist, sorrow wells up in my heart.

MC: "Zayne... I approached you so I could take the Creatio Protocore, but..."

Zayne: "I know."

Zayne: "While you were inconscious, I divined your fate and the reason you visited the Tower."

MC: "But why did He punish you?"

Zayne's gaze is calm.

Zayne: "Our fate are interwined."

MC: "...What?"

Zayne: "I bear the name of Foreseer. So, Astra punished me for defying my own fate."

My hand is held in his palm stained with blood.

Zayne: "Come, then."