It happened three days later at dusk. But was it dusk? One who had woken up then wouldn't be able to tell.
Clouds of black smoke filled the sky, sunlight barely piercing through them. The smell in the air was pungent and thick.
He sat there by the wall of a collapsed building atop a hill. It was so hot that he could barely breathe.
Looking out at the surroundings from where he sat made him feel like throwing up.
The embers of numerous flames colored the air bright orange, the screams gave off a chill amidst the heat, and the sounds of buildings collapsing echoed through his mind.
He felt someone shake his body from the front, so he turned his face to see his father kneeling before him.
Once their eyes met, he couldn't hold back his tears.
"It's mother," he blurted amidst his sobs. "She threw me out of the window on the first floor and the building collapsed."
He grabbed onto his chest plate hard and yelled, "We have to go and save her!"
His father only gritted his teeth and turned away.
It was with a low voice that he said, "I'm sorry, but the tower has already been swept away by the lava."
"Why did you only save me then?" he yelled furiously as he sobbed into his chest. "Why didn't we go back for her?"
He didn't answer, and so Lloyd kept crying.
"Why did it have to happen today of all days?" Aaron thought unconsciously. "Why did the volcano have to erupt today?"
"We won't be able to evacuate everyone in time, especially with those attackers here. How did they even know it would erupt today?"
He grabbed onto Lloyd to shield him from falling debris and turned his head to the side.
From that point, through a hole in the wall, he could see it all. The streets of Argon were quickly being flooded with lava, and he watched helplessly as it swept away several people who were trying to escape too.
It was no different from the group of Djinn who were attacking them. Everyone was in a state of confusion. Some fled, others fought, only to fall into the rising pools.
It was hell on earth.
Leaving that building that stood at the top of the hill would be suicide, and he knew that, but if they didn't find a way out, the heat would kill them long before the lava could ever reach them.
"Lloyd, look at me," he said as he turned his head down to him. "This isn't the time for you to shed any tears."
He felt the grip of his small hands tighten on his sleeve.
"It's their fault!" he said, his voice low and deep, almost like a grunt. "I'll kill them! I'll kill them all!"
A ringing sound followed in his ears after Aaron slapped him across the face.
Lloyd, with one hand on his cheek, only said one word.
"Why?"
"Don't lose your mind in the heat of the moment," his father said in a cold yet calm voice. "Kill. What would that solve?"
"Are you saying that we should just walk away and forget about this?!" Lloyd yelled. "How can we after they've burnt our home!"
"It is only natural to find a target for your anger, but don't let it consume you," Aaron replied.
"You haven't answered me!" Lloyd kept yelling. "Do you really want me to run away!"
"And so what if I do!" Aaron shot back, suddenly breaking his calm demeanor. "I want you to run away and not look back."
"But I can't," Lloyd said, his voice calmer from the shock.
"Why not! Who do you think will be left to judge you if you run away!" he yelled again.
Then he stopped for a moment.
"I have to stay," Lloyd said, shaking as he broke the silence, "because I'm a Nova Knight. I won't aban-abandon our ho-home."
"Don't lie to me," Aaron replied, his voice lowered. "You've never wanted to be a Nova Knight to begin with."
Lloyd's eyes widened in shock.
"I've seen it hundreds of times," Aaron continued, "how you shake when you pick up your wooden sword, how you look away whenever you see blood, how you fake a smile whenever people tell you that you're going to be the next best knight in Novaria."
"Our people were almost wiped out before, all those years ago, because they kept up that stubborn lie. Rushing into battle after battle, masking their fear under the guise of valor."
He grabbed Lloyd by the shoulders and, with a soft look in his eye, said,
"You don't have to lie to me. You don't have to lie to anyone else anymore about who you are."
"Think clearly about what it is that you want, Lloyd," he continued. "Don't burden yourself with the cries of the dead who are clawing at your back."
"How can you say that?" Lloyd said, with tears still streaming down his cheeks. "How can you tell me to forget them like that?"
"Don't waste your life chasing after the cries of people who are already dead. When you see them again, what will you say that you used your life for? Do you think they will be happy when they hear that you wasted the chance at life that they lost?"
His sobs didn't cease.
"Don't cry," he said, patting his head. "You have something that most people never will. The freedom to carve out a life that you want with your own hands. There is nothing left to tie you down to us but yourself."
The spark of a presence caught his attention, and he turned his head.
Along with the falling rubble, he heard footsteps, so he quickly stood up and turned to face them.
When he finally appeared from around the corner, his clothes were covered in dust and burns marked across his skin.
He panted repeatedly but still managed to stand upright.
Just looking at him, one could tell that he was young, young enough to be in his late teens or early twenties, so why was he here?
"Has the Empire stooped so low that they sent a band of children to attack the heart of Novaria by themselves?" Aaron asked.
"Hardly," the boy replied. "We are here of our own volition to claim this nation and your head, Lord Aaron Iris."
"So you know my name," Aaron replied, "but of what consequence is it to you?"
"You can stop with the act!" the boy yelled. "I got one of your subordinates to tell me everything I needed to know, Knight General."
"Bringing back the head of the Knight General of the Nova Knights will earn me a spot in the chronicles of history. Warriors will sing my name for generations to come as the one who finally destroyed Novaria."
"And what is the name of our supposed destroyer?" Aaron asked as he stepped back, hiding Lloyd behind his frame.
"I'm Emios Volgard!" the boy yelled. "Remember it nice and well and let it echo through your mind as I slice you to pieces."
"Do tell, Emios, how do you plan on escaping this pit of fire even if you do kill me?" Aaron asked.
"I can always worry about that after you're dead," he replied.
Aaron sighed and said,
"Has the pursuit of a lie driven you to such insanity? Throwing your life away in a gambit for your reputation."
"When was it that you began to value your impression on others more than your own life?" he continued. "Or is it that you were cast away from the Empire and are looking for a way to be accepted again?"
"Do you think I need your pity, you bastard!" Emios yelled. "Even if I have to bare my wings, I will escape from this inferno with your head skewered onto my claws."
"What makes you think you could ever soar when you weigh yourself down with such delusions?" Aaron said as he unsheathed the double-edged sword at his waist.
Its black blade with its purple edges contrasted heavily with the bright embers filling the air.
"The dragon can never soar if it is still tethered to the earth," he continued. "Isn't that the philosophy that you of the Dragon Djinn believe in?"
"Shut your mouth!" he yelled. "Who are you to speak to me like that? I am a dragon, and it is through the flames of victory that I will break away from my tether."
The blood on his body began to pulsate with a crimson energy before it hardened into a black coat all over the skin of his body.
Aaron closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Once he opened them again, his jet-black eyes had turned into a shade of deep purple.
From his black pupils, four streaks of black spread out to the ends of his irises in the shape of sectors.
He pointed his black sword at him and said,
"Then I will make sure you never see what is beyond those clouds."
Emios took a step back as he said,
"So those are the Rebel Eyes. The eyes that can pierce into the darkness. They're quite the sight to behold."
"It doesn't matter," he continued. "In the end, you are just my stepping stone."
He took a stance, but instead of matching his, Aaron lowered his chin slightly and said,
"Lloyd, can you hear me?"
"Yes, I can," he replied.
A part of the ceiling above them collapsed, and through a gap in the clouds, a beam of sunlight shone on him, casting a shadow over Lloyd.
"Whatever you do," he said in a soft tone, "make sure you don't lose yourself. Seek out that glimmering star of hope in the distance."
"With it, you can finally overcome your fear."
"What are you saying, Father?" Lloyd asked, tugging at the back of his armored boot.
He turned his head back to him. Enough for him to see it, but not fully.
The purple shade of his eyes glistened in the sunlight, along with the tear that was running down his cheek.
He only said one thing before turning away.
"I'm sorry."
Lloyd felt the ground beneath him begin to feel hollow. He looked down to see his body sinking into the shadow cast by his father.
His right hand was already caught in it, so he reached out with his left hand and yelled,
"No!!"
But his father never turned back.
And so Lloyd watched his frame begin to vanish from sight as he slowly sank into it.
With his hand still reaching out, he watched as the last of the sunlight faded away along with him.