AETHER MIDNIGHT

The Workshop at the Edge of Memory

Noctis Reach's rain masked my tracks as I returned through the secret drainage path. Touching the lead-lined concrete floor of the basement, my exhausted legs nearly gave out. My right palm felt as if roasting over live coals. I threw off my cloak's hood, ravenously inhaling the cold air of the isolation room.

The Arcblade hilt in my hand vibrated so violently the black metal began to crack. Blood-red light radiated from its seams, no longer stable, pulsing like a dying heart. The Veil Shard inside refused to be quieted. Robbed of the chance to drink its opponent's fear and death, it was furious and demanded release.

If it detonated here, the dark side radiation would tear through the lead lining and roast The Garage above me. Kael, Grox, Jax, and the others would be wiped out because of my past's ego.

I dropped cross-legged onto the steel floor. With trembling hands, I used the Veil to strip my weapon's components. Emitter, magnetic ring, and metal casing floated apart. In the center hovered the jagged Veil Shard, glowing blindingly red, its cracked surface emitting vision-blurring heat.

To heal a "bleeding" Shard, a Veil user cannot force their will. While the dark side operates through domination and anger, the light side demands surrender, empathy, and acceptance. I had to widen my perception, embrace the crystal's pain, and channel peace into it.

I closed my eyes and extended my consciousness to touch the crystal. The pain hit instantly like a supernova. The Shard didn't just scream; it violently threw me back into the past, forcing me to swallow the origin of my hatred. The basement walls faded, replaced by the scent of red dust, cheap lubricant, and a binary sun's heat.

[The Past]

The planet Maxis was just an ocean of metal scrap where orphans like me either starved or were sold into slavery. I was just a skinny kid sleeping under rotting transport ships—until he found me.

His name was Ryen. Sturdy, his face covered in oil dust, his hair turning white. He wasn't a hero, just the owner of a junk workshop. Ryen pulled me off the streets, gave me thick clothes, and provided my first real hot meal. "If you eat here, you work, kid," he said with a warm smile.

Ryen taught me everything about machines—how to read compressor circuits, listen to broken engines, and rebuild the destroyed. I found a true family. I didn't know who he truly was until the accident.

While removing a hydraulic support from a Cruiser engine, the retaining bolt snapped. The two-ton engine plummeted toward me. I screamed for help, throwing my hands up. But the impact never came. When I opened my eyes, the giant machine floated inches from my face. Across the workshop, Ryen stood with outstretched hands, sweat soaking his forehead. Shifting his hand, the engine crashed into the corner.

That night, under flickering neon, Ryen opened a worn floorboard box and pulled out a silver Arcblade. "I was a Veilbound, before the Imperium burned it all," he said, eyes radiating sorrow. "The flow of the Veil in your blood is immense. That engine stopped because you held it back with me."

From then on, everything changed. By day, we repaired pirate engines; by night, Ryen trained me to be a guardian. He taught me to feel the Veil's flow in the wind and the life around us, nurturing a spark of light in a dark era.

However, the Imperium always needed fuel and hunted using fear. They came during a muddy rainstorm without warning. The roar of a Sentinel drop ship tore through our roof. Our steel doors were battered down as dozens of Nexus Troopers stormed in with blazing laser rifles, destroying everything. Behind them, an Eclipse Agent stepped forward, plummeting the temperature.

His silver mask was adorned with jagged engravings, his black armor absorbing the light. "Veilbound," the Agent hissed like grinding metal, igniting dual, blood-red blades. "The Emperor sends his regards.

"Ryen pushed me behind cargo. With absolute resolution, he ignited his bright blue Arcblade. "Run, Leo! Get into the disposal chute and never let hatred consume you."

"Ryen, no!" I screamed.

Ryen dashed forward as blue and red flashes clashed. He moved gracefully, reflecting laser blasts while holding off the Agent's brutal attacks. I ran through the dark chute, but couldn't stop myself from looking back through a grate. I saw the Agent hurl a plasma reactor at Ryen. The red blade pierced through Ryen's chest.

The blue light of his weapon died, rolling onto the dirty floor. Ryen collapsed, his eyes looking toward the vent where I was hiding. Even in his final seconds, he radiated peace, pleading for me to stay in the light.

Then, the silver-helmeted Eclipse Agent stepped on his chest, looking directly at the vent where I was, as if he could smell my fear. He laughed—a laugh that would haunt every one of my nights.

[The Present]

Inside The Garage's basement, I gasped. My breathing was ragged and heavy.

The Veil Shard in front of me emitted a blinding red light, its resonance slamming into my chest like a sledgehammer. The pain of losing Ryen gaped open again, as fresh as if it had happened yesterday. Hot tears streamed from the corners of my eyes, mixing with cold sweat.

The dark side whispered sweetly, offering power from that pain. Offering justification.

In the past, inside the dark tunnels of that junk planet, I let that pain turn into hatred. That was the point where the light inside me died, and the shadow of the Nexus Imperium's slaughterer was born.

"It's not over!" the crystal whispered inside my head. "Remember what you did after. Remember the blood you spilled for him."

The basement of The Garage faded again, forcefully pulled by a second memory—the memory of how I began hunting the entire Imperium fleet, stepping far away from Ryen's teachings, and embracing the darkness for the sake of revenge.