I Awakened A Divine Curse

Auren, for reasons he couldn't quite fathom, loved the journey back to the Night Temple. The road proved easy to navigate, and walking with his friends—if he could call them that—held an unexpected charm.

To be honest, Auren doubted they truly were friends. Jasper. He'd never warmed to Jasper, had disliked him from the moment they met, but today Jasper was playing the part of the good student.

He was eager to learn about the sword, and that alone impressed Auren.

As they talked, diving deeper into discussions of swordplay and combat styles, Jasper would sometimes drift off, worry creasing his brow as thoughts of Meredith being alone crept in. It irritated Auren, but only slightly. That was their only hiccup.

Eventually, Auren led them to the Night Temple. Both companions stopped dead in their tracks, awestruck by the building before them.

Jasper seemed particularly mesmerized—probably because he'd spent a lot of time studying things like this due to his obsession with old writings and stuff.

Auren watched him gaze at the dark, foreboding but undeniably magnificent temple, starlight dancing in his eyes.

He sighed and broke the silence:

"Jasper."

Called by name, Jasper turned immediately, his voice dripping with politeness.

"Yes, Master Auren?"

"I've been doing all the talking. Since you clearly adore these places, why don't you tell us what these temples actually are? And why they're scattered across the Black Desert, are they some sort of ancient sentinels?"

Jasper's smile bloomed sweet and genuine.

"You don't need to extend the kind gesture, Master Auren."

Auren's voice flattened as he responded:

"I want to know."

Jasper caught the flat edge in Auren's voice. He paused, then let out a slow breath.

"When Lady Merr and I met Priestess Aynesa, she lived in an underground channel. We'd been hunted by a creature that brings earthquakes to catch its prey."

Auren's brow arched at the mention of such a beast, but he held his tongue.

"We fell through the ground, but Lady Merr—thank the archons—stayed conscious. She outran the creatures, carrying me on her back."

Auren's expression shifted. He shot a glance at Meredith, whose face remained a stone mask.

They'd started walking again, the Night Temple shrinking behind them with each step, its dark silhouette fading into the distance.

Jasper's smile turned rueful.

"I owe Lady Merr my life."

He took a breath before continuing.

"Down in those tunnels, I first saw the murals. They were strange, cryptic. I couldn't make heads or tails of them at first. But then we stumbled upon an underground temple—figured we could rest there. Turns out, a priestess had made it her home."

He paused, breathing softly as they pressed forward.

"Aynesa was strange—really strange. She wielded power unlike anything we'd seen, called us 'rotten light particles.' Lady Merr figured it was just her devotion to some God of Darkness.

"At first, she wanted us gone. But leaving wasn't an option—the underground temple had some complex mechanism locking us in. Aynesa kept stalling, refusing to help. So we lived together. Awkwardly.

"The underground temple was called Lost Aviscles. It was a sanctuary built by humans fleeing some ancient war—one so brutal nothing could breathe the air, thick with blood and death."

"Some built the sanctuary to serve as a fortress that could sink into the earth or rise up at will, like a massive stone creature burrowing and surfacing. They even built it with channels connecting it to hundreds of places across the land. But those earthquake-spawning beasts destroyed most of the passages."

Jasper's smile warmed, as if tasting the memory again.

"The murals everywhere—they held centuries of history. With Aynesa's help, I decoded them, and slowly, we grew closer to her. Close enough to make the fatal mistake of trusting her."

His gaze dropped, shadows settling across his face.

"I persuaded Lady Merr we could reason with Aynesa. Maybe desperation clouded my judgment. Either way, that decision led us straight into our nightmare."

Auren's expression remained carved from stone, his voice equally flat.

"What bargain were you trying to strike? What help did you need that you couldn't handle yourselves?"

Jasper glanced at Meredith, then met Auren's unblinking stare.

"...To save you."

Auren stopped dead, recoiling as if struck, disbelief twisting his features.

"To save me? Why?"

Jasper blinked, clearly confused by the question.

"Everything happened so fast—we had to run, no idea if you were dead or alive. But we knew we had to come back for you. The problem was, we were too weak to face that Paladin head-on."

Auren's jaw dropped. He still couldn't believe them—but their words rang true.

They had no reason to lie.

Their deal with Aynesa had thrown them into Highrise's dungeons, nearly killed them, led to their "rescue," then dumped them in the Kingdom of Heart with its false hospitality.

They'd been pawns twice over, and it all began because they tried to save him?

Auren ground his teeth, his face darkening.

"I told you both to run. What made you think you could come back for me?"

Meredith met his blazing glare with ice-cold indifference.

"You would have done the same for us."

She resumed walking, her words hanging in the air.

Auren's scowl deepened.

"No, I wouldn't. I barely gave you two a thought once you were gone. I had my own problems—why would I risk my neck for you?"

Meredith shrugged, her voice matter-of-fact.

"I did what felt right. And I don't regret it."

Auren shook his head, watching Meredith stride ahead. He should have known—he'd already suspected she was the reckless type, thinking she could save everyone.

He dragged his palm across his face and sighed.

"Why even bother?"

He had nothing against such people, but this was exactly how Archons spread their poisonous influence—through humans who couldn't learn to mind their own business.

Worse yet, they were usually strong enough to back up their heroic bluffs and acts of valor. More than half the time, they pulled it off.

Either way, Auren despised it. He remembered warning his brother countless times before he left for the outpost: never put others' lives before your own.

Though whether his gullible brother would heed that advice remained a mystery.

Auren finally trudged forward, eyes lingering on Meredith's back until Jasper's voice cut through his thoughts.

"Don't let it anger you. I agree with Lady Merr—you would have done the same for me. Hell, you already saved me once."

Auren turned, squinting at him.

"Did all that torture scramble your brain?"

"No! I actually gained something from it—lessons, experience, a will forged in fire!"

Auren's lips twitched into a smile.

"Indeed. I'm happy for you."

The smile died as quickly as it came, leaving his face blank as slate.

He frowned as they walked, turning over what they'd done again and again, but it still didn't add up.

It was mind-boggling—these people had risked their lives to rescue him, endured torture and manipulation because of it.

Why? They could have just walked away.

He didn't know them. They didn't know him. They'd met for the first time just yesterday, and hadn't even spent a full night together before everything went to hell.

The whole thing made his head spin.

Jasper's voice jolted him from his thoughts.

"Most sanctuaries you'll find scattered across these lands were built by an ancient civilization—one trying to survive a catastrophic age, long before our time. Some still have people living in them; others stand empty. But Aynesa told me there are countless scavengers out there, scouring these ruins for artifacts. She was one herself—that's how she found the relic that brought down Dawn."

Auren exhaled. They had truly been through hell and back. He faced forward, and for a while, all three trekked in silence.

While Auren might call it a miracle they hadn't encountered a single Cursed Creature, he'd hesitate to call it that.

Ever since his first visit to the Night Temple, he'd noticed Cursed Creatures were oddly scarce in the area, though they swarmed elsewhere. He'd wait to confirm his theory before asking Asenya why.

'I wonder what she's up to? Going on a rampage?'

Auren hadn't known Asenya long, but he knew her well enough to feel comfortable around her. Their dynamic was strange, yet he liked it.

Maybe one day he'd call her something other than "mother". Since mother was a word he'd only ever speak to one soul, and she was long dead.

Besides, Asenya hardly fit the role of motherly figure. She looked anything but.

'Asenya…'

Auren frowned as her name echoed in his mind. Something about that echo felt off.

'Asenya…'

It repeated itself.

'Aynesa…'

Auren stopped, thinking deeper. Then his frown deepened.

'Wait. Why is Aynesa just Asenya spelled backwards?'

He froze in his tracks at the realization.

At the same moment, Jasper lifted his head skyward, pointing at a black speck in the distance.

From Auren's position, it looked like a crumbling building suspended in mid-air. Except it wasn't falling—at least, not as far as they could tell.

Though it was too distant to be certain. But Jasper was sure, his voice exploding with excitement.

"There it is! There it is! That's the Sundered Spire!"