The next morning, Arthur woke up from a restless sleep, struggling to distinguish between the dreams and memories that had been haunting him all night. He got out of bed with renewed determination, his earlier hesitation replaced by a firm conviction that it was finally time for him to uncover the mystery surrounding his situation, or at least part of it. Wasting no time, he decided to skip breakfast altogether to avoid the servants and caretakers who had been relentlessly questioning him since his return to the present time about the noticeable changes in his behavior compared to the way he had actually behaved during this time in his first childhood. Instead, he headed straight for the library.
The palace was still quiet, and the morning light streamed through the high windows, reflecting off the shiny marble floors. His measured steps filled the long corridors, while inside, his heart was beating fast, as if sharing his sense of awe mixed with hope. When he pushed open the door of the ancient library, he was greeted by cold air scented with the smell of old paper and aged wood.
Arthur's goal today was not really any of those towering shelves or the treasures of knowledge stored within the pages of the countless books in this majestic library. His real goal, in the end, was something else entirely... Specifically, it was that small door at the far eastern end of the library, the locked door that had remained closed ever since that fateful day when his parents disappeared... Alistair Leonharth's study, the very room that had always been shrouded in mystery and remained, for Arthur, an unhealed wound, a question that had been put off for long enough by him, and for which it was now time to get some answers.
He approached it slowly and cautiously, staring at it as if he were gazing upon an ancient secret that dared him to uncover it. As he reached for the handle, he felt the air around him grow heavier, as if the entire place were watching him expectantly.
Arthur gripped the handle tightly, feeling its metallic coldness spread through his palm like an echo from the past itself, before deliberately turning it slowly, as if the moment itself were a test of his patience. With a faint creak, the door finally opened to reveal the interior... his father's study.
It was not what he had imagined; there was no thick mystery or visible secrets on the walls, just an elegant and realistic simplicity that almost concealed the weight of history and mystery within its folds. And in the middle of the study stood a luxurious, dark black wooden desk made of rare ebony wood, decorated with the finest hand-carved engravings, which made it as much of a work of art as it was a tool for work. On top of it lay scattered drafts, carefully arranged, and piles of open books, placed as if waiting for someone to finish reading them.
As for the furniture around it, it was sparse, limited, and did not overwhelm the solemn atmosphere of the place. The walls were lined with tall wooden shelves laden with books, most of which were literary works and mystery novels, which almost seemed to embrace the domed glass ceiling. That transparent glass ceiling allowed natural light to flow in, flooding the room with soft rays of light, giving the place an atmosphere that was closer to the sanctity of a temple of knowledge.
When Arthur took his first steps inside, he felt as if his feet were crossing the threshold into another world. In this mysterious and majestic realm, he was destined to uncover the secrets of the past and perhaps even the mysteries of the future.
His gaze wandered around the study, moving between the bookshelves that stretched like silent walls, holding countless stories and secrets that no one knew, and the ebony desk that seemed to be the faithful guardian of those secrets. He moved slowly, each step echoing throughout the room as if to remind him that he was an intruder in a world not meant to be easily opened or entered.
He reached for one of the books lying on the desk, covered in a light dust that did not match the meticulous order of the room, as if someone had left it there in a hurry. As soon as his fingers touched the cover, he was overcome by a strange sensation, as if the coldness that crept into his skin was more than just the effect of dust... but an echo of something deeper, something that had been waiting for him for a long time.
The moment Arthur's fingers brushed against the dusty surface of the book, he felt a hidden echo, or rather a mysterious resonance, between himself and the book. An overwhelming surge of power flowed through him, penetrating his very being, an echo of the intense sensation he had once experienced during his last moments in his "previous life" before he had been sent back to the present time. As this feeling washed over him, Arthur's amber eyes underwent a subtle yet distinct transformation as they began to glow with a strange light that shimmered in multiple colors, reminiscent of the seven hues of a rainbow. At the same time, mysterious symbols danced within his previously golden irises, as if the book had awakened just to reveal Arthur's deepest secrets—secrets that even he himself was unaware of.
Just for Arthur to suddenly find himself in an extraordinary and strange space, which resembled a sky adorned with countless scattered stars, seemingly broken and shattered, like the surface of a fractured mirror reflecting a mysterious light from every direction. Above his head, a harsh black sun loomed, more like a black hole than a sun, alongside a golden moon shining in majestic silence, while an endless "water" stretched out before him as far as the eye could see, forming a mysterious ocean containing every possible color, mixed as if it were a kaleidoscope or a living mosaic, creating a scene charged with magical, chaotic and breathtaking atmosphere, evoking feelings that were both awe-inspiring and terrifying at the same time.
"What... what's going on...? Everything around me... this place... what is this place? It's unlike anything I've ever seen before... even the light... The air... Something is wrong... Very wrong with this place, as if it were an error in the very fabric of reality itself!" Arthur breathed heavily, thinking to himself in a voice broken by panic, his eyes taking in every strange detail of this mysterious space.
Suddenly, Arthur heard a majestic sound echoing in the void around him, a sound like the roar of tremendous thunder reverberating like a storm in his ears, its echoes shaking the very space around him, which began to tremble violently as if it were about to collapse on itself at any moment. The voice spoke in a strange language he could not recognize. Despite his fluency in more than fifteen languages and his ability to understand or recognize most other languages to varying degrees, he was unable to identify this mysterious language at all.
But despite this, and despite his inability to identify or understand it logically, he was still somehow able to grasp its underlying meaning with strange clarity, as if the essence and intent of these words had been transmitted directly into the depths of his consciousness. The voice, like the roar of thunder, said, "The aether is the key that will help you open the door to your reality, and then the six paths of destiny are the way that will guide you to the source, where the original truth lies."
"The aether? The key to my reality? And the six paths of destiny... are the way that will lead me to the source where the original truth lies? What does all this mean? Answer me, what do you mean by all of this? What is this place, and why did you bring me here?" Arthur shouted in response to the strange voice, wondering after hearing all these unfamiliar terms, which he had never encountered before.
And then there was the fact that he was in such a strange space, which he had never heard of or seen anything like before, so it was only natural for Arthur to be a little panicked by this, especially considering that his first and only experience with the mysterious and supernatural side of this world had not been such a pleasant one that he would rather not to repeat again anytime soon, at the very least.
"The realm beyond the boundaries of space and time... the world of eternal dreams! Beware of the taboos, and beware of the trials of fate, for fate will not be kind to you, bearer of the golden blood. But at the same time, be sure to take advantage of its gifts to you, for your eyes, and your insight will be the key that leads you to the light amid the darkness that will surround you!"
In response, the same majestic voice, like the roar of thunder, began to echo again in Arthur's mind, in the same mysterious language that he had once again been able somehow to understand the meaning and intention behind each word.
Then, as soon as Arthur had finished listening to the mysterious voice's warning, he found himself back in the real world, inside his father's study, his hand still touching the cover of the mysterious book that had led him into the "eternal dream space." Arthur muttered to himself as he looked around the study, "The eternal dream world... Beware of the taboos, and once again with the golden blood thing... And then the gifts and trials of fate... And something about my eyes..." Before adding sarcastically, "Great... Really great. What are you going to tell me next? Is this world about to collapse, and I am the chosen one who will save it from destruction? Or something equally ridiculous like that?"
"But, once again, unexpectedly, the gains this time were really good... But aether, huh... From what I remember reading about it, in Greek mythology, aether was mentioned as a fundamental element in the structure of the universe, alongside the four basic elements. It was then mentioned in modern physics, when scientists in the 19th century believed that aether was the medium through which light traveled, as they thought at the time that light needed a medium to travel in, similar to how sound waves travel through air. It was believed that aether extended throughout the universe, invisible and intangible. However, the theory of aether was later disproved by Albert Einstein, the creator of the theory of relativity, which posits that time and space are relative. As a result, aether is no longer considered a fundamental element; therefore, as there is no need for a medium for light to travel through, because light is capable of traveling in an absolute vacuum without any intermediate matter.
However, aether may indeed exist and may even be closely related to the supernatural side of this world. Therefore, perhaps I should start researching about it, and possibly starting with mythology would be a good idea, since, after all, as they say, "there is no smoke without fire." Then, I will have to look into the Six Paths of Destiny thing, and what that mysterious voice meant when it said that the aether is the key to my reality, whatever that means, and how these Six Paths of Destiny represent the path to the source, the original truth. Ah... It's all so complicated! Why can't things be simple for once when it comes to me?"
Arthur's thoughts raced as he gathered and connected all the clues and hints he had obtained so far from the mysterious voice, trying to understand what it really meant.
"Oh... So, I was right after all. You discovered the mystical side of this world... Huh."
Hearing this, Arthur had frozen in place before slowly turning his gaze toward the source of the voice, which came from the study door. Someone was standing there, their features obscured by shadows, before sighing deeply, as if exhaling a weight they had been carrying for a long time.