Transmigrated into Fractured Dawn as the Awakened Cinder
Chapter 22: Rejection

Chapter 22: Chapter 22: Rejection

Someone he wasn’t expecting to see stepped out of the darkness, leaving him standing there in shock.

"T-that’s not possible," he stammered, staring at the figure.

When the figure fully came to light, he could now see it clearly. "Mom?!"

Veyla stood there, noticing his reaction. "She’s your mother?" she asked.

He nodded slowly. "Yes, but how’s it possible, Veyla?"

She sighed, then answered, "Grace sometimes appears as someone close to you so you can feel comfortable and not panic," she explained.

"Why would it do that? It just reminded me of something I wanted to forget," he said, gritting his teeth.

She just tapped on his back. "Let’s hear what it’s got to say."

The figure walked in front of them and stopped. "What do you seek in this temple?"

"Nothing, I’m only here for refuge," he answered, still holding onto Veyla.

"You have no right to take refuge here. Turn back and leave immediately, and do not return," it said.

"But what wrong did I commit?" he asked.

"I do not perceive Grace from you, and we do not nurture those without Grace," it said, staring at him intently.

"Why do you say that? What has Grace done for me that requires me to carry it around?" he asked, staring at the figure like he wanted to rip it apart.

The figure stared at him for a while without saying anything. Then said,

"You’re an empty shell without Grace."

Veyla stiffened beside him. "We should go," she whispered. "Before it decides you’re a threat."

He turned back and stared intently at the figure, his eyes still not believing what he was seeing.

"I didn’t ask for any of this, alright?" he muttered. "But I’m still surviving."

"Survival is not the same as belonging," it said coldly. "This temple belongs to chosen Cinders, not to strays."

He looked back at it as Veyla tried to carry him out of the entrance, but he refused to budge.

"Come on, Riven. We don’t have time for this. We have to leave before things get ugly," she murmured as she tried dragging him.

As minutes passed, roots began erupting from the ground and walls, smashing everything in their path regardless.

Veyla yanked Riven out of the place he stood as a vine broke the surface.

"I told you we have no time for this!" she shouted as she pulled him out of the temple.

Riven snapped back to reality as he noticed the temple had started crumbling, and they were still in it.

He turned toward Veyla, who was still trying to help him out of the temple.

"Sorry," he murmured. "It’s just hard seeing that face again, especially with those words."

"Sure, but can we talk about this when we’ve left this place??" she said as she strained to pull him out.

With his consciousness back, he helped her by limping forward to speed up their movement.

Just at the last minute, as the temple almost collapsed, he stared back one last time, and the lips of the figure said, "You do not belong."

They both made a jump for it and made it out alive.

Veyla landed some feet away from him, gasping for air.

"You really need to pull your shit together. We almost got killed in there because you couldn’t control your emotions!" she shouted, still laying on the ground from exhaustion.

He continued laying, staring up at the grey sky that never seemed to lighten up.

"It’s just... a rush of emotions and memories flooded me at that moment, and I couldn’t contain it, so I unknowingly acted it out," he said, crossing his hands behind his head.

"Yeah... I know," she said, her voice now softer than before.

"Sometimes I wish I could go back to my world and spend some time with her one more time," he whispered.

Veyla turned her face in his direction but didn’t say anything.

"Just see that smile one more time, hear that sweet voice, that cheerful laugh," he muttered, tears rolling down his eyes.

"I wish I could tell her how much I love her and cherish her," his voice was now hoarse, more tears rolling down his cheeks.

"It’s alright, Riven. I fully understand your pain. It was wrong of me to take you in there despite knowing the outcome," she responded, slowly standing up from where she lay.

"But we mustn’t forget the whole purpose of this journey. We have to get to that point where we don’t need Grace to survive anymore and we can be better," she reminded him.

His mind rolled back to his promise. "Yeah, I remember why we’re on this journey. And don’t worry, I’m not planning on backing down any time soon," he muttered.

"That’s good. But we have to subtly forget our pain and past so we can move forward and that includes your mom, Riven," she said slowly. "Anything that would slow you down shouldn’t be part of this journey, or we wouldn’t make it past the first checkpoint," she reminded.

He turned his face toward her. "But it’s not so easy forgetting her," he said.

"Even if I do manage to forget her, one day I’ll definitely be reminded of her again, and I’ll fall weak all over again," he muttered.

"That’s true, but the least you can do right now is get rid of any emotions that will slow you down—even if it’s just until this journey is over. Alright?" she said, drawing her hand out to help him up.

"Nah, it’s fine. I think I’ll lay here for a while," he said, tiredness evident in his voice.

"True. I’ll go venture into the wild and see if I can find any shelter for us to rest for the night," she said, pulling her hand back and picking up her blade.

"Wait, don’t go yet. Stay for a while before you go," he pleaded—not because he was scared, but because he wanted to talk a bit more.

"Don’t stress it now, Riven. If I stay here any longer, then we won’t find any shelter tonight. You just have to trust your gut and believe in yourself," she said as she rose up and hopped onto one of the tree branches.

"Don’t stay too long then. Be back as soon as you can," he said as he watched her vanish into the forest.

He was now left alone with no protector, his body still aching from the continuous walks and the crashing temple.

He turned his head toward the temple. "I’ll show you what strays can do without Grace," he murmured to himself.

After a while, Veyla came back with a smile. "I’ve found something," she delivered the news.

"I hope it’s better than this," he said, gesturing to the temple as he tried to balance his step.

"That’s one way to say it but yeah, it’s cool," she said, and she helped him up.

"Alright then, let’s go," he muttered.

Just as they set foot into the territory of their refuge camp, they started hearing soft whispers like little fairies.

Veyla glanced around the forest, with a slight appearance of fear in her eyes, "I hope it’s not what I think it is" she said drawing her blade.