Omega's Rebirth

~Somewhere In The Asvarian Stronghold~

’Elle... child...’ A voice called out from within the darkness, reaching right into Estelle’s consciousness and echoing through her mind.

That voice, Estelle knew it. It was the voice that was always filled with warmth and love, a voice that brought comfort to Estelle no matter what burdened her heart.

A voice that could ease all Estelle’s worries with just a few words.

"Father?" Estelle called out, her eyes wide and frantic as her gaze roved around her surrounding.

It was only now Estelle took notice of her environment, and the realization of where she was gave her pause.

Somehow, Estelle was back in the halls of the blazed castle, the halls she ran through as a child and knew like the back of her hand.

Those familiar halls of her home, a place filled with warmth, love and laughter...a place filled with all the most cherished and dearest memories.

"B..but how?... Fort Blazed disappeared! I was out in the forest..." Estelle wondered in bafflement.

She recalled it clearly that just a moment ago, she had been out in the forest with Dante after a week long of riding southwards. 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

How could it be that she was back here? Back home? In the Fort Blazed that had disappeared right before her eyes?

"Could it be...it was all a dream?" Estelle wondered as she reached a hand out to the familiar wall, trailing a hand alongside it.

The warmth exuded from the walls was exactly as Estelle remembered it and the little cracks in the dragon stone were just as they used to be, a rough and raw beauty.

Estelle could not understand it, Jason’s betrayal... the Black Network, the attack on the Blazed Castle, the trap door beneath her mother’s altar and even the treasure entrusted to her, had it all been a dream?

A horrible nightmare where Estelle had made all the wrong decisions and everyone she knew and loved had been taken from her in the blink of an eye.

"But it all felt so real..." Estelle murmured to herself in confusion.

She could still vividly remember all that had happened, she vividly recalled the pain and despair that consumed her mind...the terror that gripped her and chilled her right to the bones.

The excruciating pain that horrible spell had caused her as it took effect and the shame and self loathing she had battled with these past days.

How could all of that have been just a nightmare? How could a nightmare have felt so real?

Estelle could not fathom it, she could not fathom what was happening.

"But if this is home...then that voice..." Estelle thought, recalling the voice she had just heard.

Wasting no time, Estelle dashed down the halls, headed for her father’s study where she knew she could always find him.

Lord Starron would always sit right there, awaiting Estelle’s morning greeting after he returned from a flight patrol and he would be sure to tease Estelle on how she was still so attached to him.

Estelle hastened her steps till she arrived at her father’s study and pushed open the door, stumbling in.

Just as Estelle expected, Lord Starron sat right there and his gaze snapped up to her the moment she stumbled in.

"Father! Scales, you’re here!" Estelle exclaimed in relief, tears slipping out of her eyes without her control.

Estelle dashed towards her father and threw herself in his arms, sobbing loudly as she clung to her father as though her life depended on it... and it did.

It was said one would not know how precious a beloved one was until that person was gone.

Estelle was different, she had always known just how precious her father was... Estelle cherished him more than anything else.

However, what Estelle had not known was just how devastating and unbearable life would be without her father and she had felt this clearly in the past days.

Each day since that night had been more torturous than the former, Estelle could barely find sleep and every meal tasted horrible on her tongue.

Her world had suddenly become an endless abyss and Estelle fell right through it and had just kept on falling, finding no foothold in her path.

Like her world had suddenly become consumed in darkness, Estelle could not see the way ahead no matter how many steps further she took.

Had it not been for Dante... Estelle was certain she would not be able to go any further.

How could anyone understand how her days had been since that night?

"Why? Aren’t you eager to see me? I was gone for a day, Elle...one would think it has been months. Such a cry baby." Lord Starron chided though his lips were stretched into a tender smile.

Estelle only sobbed harder at her father’s words, his familiar deep baritone and the warmth in his voice.

The slow rhythmical pats on her back which was just how Lord Starron comforted Estelle whenever she came to him in a time of despair.

The vibration of his chest as he chuckled in amusement and his scent that was so familiar.

"I thought I had lost you... everyone was gone... I was the only one left..." Estelle sobbed in devastation.

"How could it be that I would leave my precious child? Your are father’s lifeline, you know..." Lord Starron reminded in a reassuring tone.

"But you did...it happened! Everything disappeared, just like the lost isle... everything was gone." Estelle insisted, hugging her father tighter.

"I see you have had a terrible nightmare, my dearest." Lord Starron murmured in concern.

"It was horrible, father! Horrible! The Black Network came... you ordered me to leave with the treasure, to protect it! I snuck out... but it was so hard to get out... I..." Estelle revealed, still trembling, her voice trailed off at the end as her sobs grew heavier.

"I asked you to leave?... Where?" Lord Starron asked.

"To..." Estelle began to respond but then she trailed off.

’When I had a nightmare before this... father would never have me recall it...’ Estelle thought to herself.