As Caelum began to descend backwards into the crater, a scorching heat assaulted his flesh as he burned in agony; his skin began to sizzle and peel off, exposing his bones, and all parts began to burn as his body was covered in flames. Caelum screamed in agony until his lungs gave out.
Before he knew it, he was in another place.
Caelum tried to steady his breathing.
Nothing.
His chest rose and fell, yet no sound came from his lungs.
He swallowed.
Silence.
Unlike the snake encounter and the fiery place he had been in. He was sitting on one of the chairs on a large silver table that stretched out farther than he could see. Still, the chair he was sitting on wasn't at the top of the table but on the side.
Caelum sat frozen in the chair.
His breathing came in ragged bursts.
No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't stand.
After trying to calm down and tell himself what he just experienced wasn't real internally, his body didn't believe him, and neither did his own mind, so he forced himself to at least look around without moving, and then he noticed he could see the stars up above.
The chair beneath him felt warm and almost familiar; his mark even began to glow with calming light.
As though he had sat there countless times before.
The thought terrified him.
The table stretched endlessly into the fog.
Silver with intricate patterns all over it with a shiny surface as if it hadn't seen use.
Yet somehow
Caelum couldn't shake the feeling that people sat here.
Often.
The realization made his stomach tighten.
There were eleven chairs.
He was sitting in one of them
Ten rifts opened.
Ten figures emerged.
One chair remained empty.
Not his.
But the moment he started to stop shaking violently large rifts opened one by one with tall incomprehensible figures stepping out there entire bodies were covered with fog.
The first figure stepped from the rift.
Then stopped.
While it's fog covered face began looking around as though it had noticed something.
The figure turned slowly toward the chair Caelum occupied.
The second did the same.
By the fifth, he realized they had all noticed him.
The only thing visible above the fog was the light hanging over each figure.
The moment Caelum tried to look higher, fear seized him.
His eyes refused to move.
It was only after all the rest had seated that he could see a mark above his own head it was the exact symbol on his chest that appears above his chair he was only able to look at this one without anything happening to him the symbol to him looked like countless starry doors shifting and opening with a veil covering it with intricate writing on the sides of the door.
The symbol had an alluring feel to it but deep down.
That frightened him more than anything else.
As Caelum was lost in thought It was then that the warmth in his chest returned.
Stronger this time.
As these figures began to talk,
One of the figures spoke.
Caelum heard the voice.
Yet no words reached him.
The sounds passed through his ears and emerged as meaningless noise.
Like listening to a language that had never belonged to mankind.
His head began to ache.
The second figure replied.
The pain worsened.
The third spoke.
Blood trickled from his ear.
One of the figures finally rose from his seat in the back.
Slowly approaching him.
The entity emitted some sort of overwhelming presence and an Air of drowsiness that Caelum didn't know whether to shake or fall asleep but he knew the closer it got the more pressure he felt the mark began to crackle with silver energy and created a thin film to protect him,
With every step the figure took, the protective film around Caelum cracked and reformed.
By the time it reached him, the barrier was barely holding together.
The figure extended a hand.
Caelum didn't move.
The mark exploded with purplish energy.
The figure remained where it stood.
Caelum was the one thrown backwards from his chair
It was in that moment that all the attention shifted to Caelum Several figures simply watched.
One slowly leaned forward while another one of them tried approaching him to lend a hand, but in a second his mark flared with violent energy.
The rest that didn't notice him were all looking with piercing gaze, Caelum couldn't dare look any of them as he tried to raise his head and run away he suddenly felt a fast large object hurling towards him only missing by inches towards his eyes.
As he tried to look up to see who out of the ten figures shot the projectile
He noticed more projectiles covered in fog next to the person who first approached him.
The entity raised its arm. Preparing for another attack as the entity flicked his hand countless projectiles came rushing towards him at high speeds before he could process what was happening he noticed a sphere around him glowing with the same cloak symbol on a part of his mark.
As Caelum looked to at least see the symbol of the entity even though he knew instinctively he would die he wanted at least to know something about the entity that shot at him as he looked
Higher and higher forcing his eyes to look up even at the cost of going blind
His eyes finally reached the fog surrounding the figure's head.
Finally, he saw the symbol of the entity that nearly killed him
Immediately, he saw what floated above it.
A skull.
Countless spears.
And something hanging from them.
His mind refused to understand what it was.
The moment he fully glanced at it pain erupted in his eyes, which turned white in pure agony
He tried crawling to get away realizing what he had done was a bad idea but he didn't like it when someone tried to kill him and he knew nothing about the thing.
while crawling on the ground crying and shedding tears uncontrollably, moving anywhere.
As he tried to move he heard a third flying object moving even faster he didn't know if it was the same entity or someone else and he had doubts that the mark would save him again.
It was then his mark began to burn in a bright silver purplish hue and enveloped him.
By the time he woke up again, he saw himself back in his cradle while his heart raced continuously as he finally managed to breathe and sigh of relief caelum said thank God that was a dream but no matter what he thought his infant body couldn't stop shaking.
As he began noticing a searing pain in his side while struggling to stand up he noticed the mark covered in red hot tracings around it and without missing a beat he began to cry out loud at the top of his voice.
It was because of his screaming that nearly all the maids came rushing into his bed at full speed a maid with red hair carried him into her arms trying to appease the young Master crying in her arms caelum looked up to her face and tried using his baby hands to point at something.
As the maid looked at the infant trying to point at something at first she came to the conclusion that maybe he was feeling hot and wanted her to take off his clothes as the maid looked at the cradle and the windows she noticed one of them was closed and called a maid beside her and started to shout at her after doing so she helped Caelum take off his clothes
As the maid began helping Caelum to remove his shirt after his clothes were removed he felt a cool breeze blow against his skin he suddenly began to feel a little better
After a few moments he began to cry out again while pointing to something at the center of his chest the maid looked confused no matter how well he pointed she still gave him a confused look eventually he grabbed her finger and touched the mark that was at the center of his chest still no reaction even though it was still glowing.
It was then that Caelum realized no one could see his mark.
It wasn't that they didn't understand him.
They truly couldn't see it.
He was alone.
No one in the room could even understand what he was afraid of.
Even if he learned their language.
Even if he grew up.
Even if he told someone.
Who would believe him?
In that instance, he burst out into tears while he kept screaming and the maids rushed to try and soothe him they tried giving him a bottle, but he slapped it out of their hands they tried changing his linen diapers because he looked like he had soiled them still nothing.
No matter what they tried he kept crying eventually the mother burst into the room after speaking with them he took Caelum and began to carry him and sing to calm him down internally he was screaming cursing at the mark for the hell it put him through literally.
As Caelum cursed at the entity that put such a thing on him and began to ask, of all the absurd things he expected from reincarnation, this had never been one of them.
While still being a baby after cursing repeatedly for what seemed like eternity he finally stopped crying and fell asleep.
While his mother who was still trying to soothe him for what felt like an hour finally breathed a sigh of relief and tried putting him back to bed because it was getting late the sun had already set.
As she nearly collapsed onto the floor a maide with red hair and clean maids attire with a ponytail style hair prevented her Lady from falling to the ground and she began to steady her master while she began to cough violently she steadied her to the nearest chair while she brought a paper wrapping something and a glass of water for her as Caelums mother drank the contents of the paper she felt better and just fell asleep right where she sat.
As the maid wanted to escort her to her room she decided against it thinking that her young Master had already tried her lady out she just brought a blanket for her and fanned her for some time before she left.