Deviant: No Longer Human

"They would adopt habits from their parents, and since their parents are not very successful, those habits are likely not the ones that foster success."

"All in all, it\'s a paradox of the blind leading the blind."

Aurora nodded, absorbing his thoughts without disagreement before probing further, a spark of curiosity in her gaze. "What about you? Do you consider yourself a success or a... failure?" she asked, her eyes locked intently on his.

Wang Xiao responded with a dismissive shrug. "Doesn\'t matter."

Aurora, puzzled by his evasiveness, pressed, "Huh?"

Wang Xiao exhaled, his tone tinged with self-deprecation. "I would never want a son like me. That would be my worst nightmare—fighting another me. One of me is enough for this world."

Aurora remained silent, digesting his stark honesty.

Wang Xiao continued, his voice softening, "...though daughters are acceptable," he muttered, his eyes briefly drifting to the squirming girl in Aurora\'s lap, a hint of a smile touching his lips.

Aurora couldn\'t help but think, \'Freak!\'

The thought bubbled up inside her, laced with a mix of amusement and disbelief, though she kept it unspoken.

If Wang Xiao, knew he had made this women call himself as \'Freak\' he would have added this on his list of achievements already.

Somehow, Wang Xiao felt no urge or curiosity to discuss Maliketh at this moment—it seemed utterly fruitless.

Nor did he care about Gabrial, his presence, or anything else.

The only thing that captivated him was the tunnel to heaven.

Initially, it had barely made an impression, but now, each time he glimpsed it, he felt a profound calling.

This call grew stronger and clearer with every passing moment.

To the extent that with each breath he drew and each heartbeat that echoed in his chest, he could hear it calling to him.

Thump...

Thump...

Mystical forces permeated this place, and with each sweeping glance, Wang Xiao reassured himself of its magic.

Gabrial and everything else faded into irrelevance. Wang Xiao no longer considered them his concerns.

At this moment, the only thing he sought was—

"Are you alright?" Aurora asked, her voice laced with a note of alarm as she observed him abruptly fall silent, his gaze fixed on something unseen.

"Hm? Yeah, do you not hear it?" Wang Xiao murmured, shaking his head gently, his brows furrowing in surprise.

A thick, swirling red mist had begun to envelop the surroundings, glowing eerily in the dim light.

Within its depths, it seemed to morph and twist, forming a spectral hand that reached out to him, beckoning.

He squinted, trying to discern details in the misty shapes, and could just make out the ethereal outline of a face, its features blurred but somehow compelling.

Then, a whisper broke through the silence, ancient and cryptic.

"ᛏᚺᚢ Ξύπνα!" — "Har-thu Xypna!"

The words seemed to curl around him like the mist itself, pulling at the edges of his consciousness.

"Hear what?" Aurora blinked, her face a portrait of confusion.

As Wang Xiao struggled to respond, another phrase wove through the chilling air, deeper and more commanding:

"ᚹᛖᛊ Αίθερ!" — "Ba-sen Kha Wes Aither!"

"That... Can you see that?" Wang Xiao pointed toward the mist, his voice filled with a mix of fascination and unease.

??

Aurora turned toward the direction he indicated, but her eyes met only the usual scenery; everything appeared serene and untouched.

She neither saw the ghostly phenomena nor heard the whispering echoes that seemed so clear to Wang Xiao.

A frown creased her forehead as her expression crumbled into one of deep concern and bewilderment.

As the mist seemed to become denser, another whisper emerged, haunting and relentless.

"ᚨᛉᚱ Ἄνεμος!" — "Djed-Sen Azr Anemos!"

"!"

Wang Xiao\'s breath hitched as the words surrounded him, each syllable a ghostly caress against his skin.

Aurora watched him, her concern deepening into fear, as she realized something profound and unseen was communicating with him.

Finally, a soft but firm voice commanded from within the mist, calling him deeper into its secrets:

"ᛁᚾᚷᚹᚨᛉ Ὁρα!" — "Ankh-mer Ingwaz Hora!"

"!"

Once again, Wang Xiao felt goosebumps marching across his skin, accompanied by a cold shiver that seemed to echo through his very bones.

Watching him, Aurora\'s unease deepened. Something inexplicable was happening right before her eyes, and she was powerless to see or understand it.

"What did you hear?" she finally asked, her voice tinged with both curiosity and apprehension.

"Write it on the ground," she instructed, gesturing towards the thick blanket of snow at their feet, urging him to inscribe the eerie words he had heard into the pristine white canvas.

Wang Xiao nodded slowly, his breath visible in the chilly air as he reached out, his fingers tracing the ancient symbols he had heard whispered to him.

Each character was etched deliberately, carving a path through the snow to reveal the dark earth beneath.

Aurora leaned in closer, her eyes wide as she tried to make sense of the cryptic letters that formed under his touch.

The symbols seemed to pulse with an unseen energy, almost as if they were alive, resonating with the whispers that still echoed in Wang Xiao\'s mind.

"Har-thu Xypna!" Wang Xiao murmured, his voice barely a whisper as he inscribed each symbol.

The words seemed to rise from the ground, carried by a breeze that hadn\'t been there a moment ago.

He continued, his hand moving to the next sequence, driven by a force he could barely understand. "Ba-sen Kha Wes Aither!"

As he formed the words, the air around them grew perceptibly colder, and Aurora wrapped her arms around herself, shivering.

"What does it mean?" Wang Xiao asked, his voice barely above a whisper, his gaze fixed on the mysterious inscriptions.

\'ᛏᚺᚢ Ξύπνα!—ᚹᛖᛊ Αίθερ\'

However, as they watched, the inscription began to morph before their eyes, the characters twisting into forms far more ancient and arcane.

This sudden transformation etched a frown onto both Wang Xiao\'s and Aurora\'s faces, though each wore the expression for vastly different reasons.

"!"

Aurora\'s eyes widened in shock, a flicker of recognition flashing through them.

Her face turned ghostly pale, the blood seemingly draining away as she stared, transfixed by the eerie, changing script.