Chronicles of Forgotten Extra

"Draven is not your real family."

The words echoed through the silent room like a stone shattering glass.

Alden blinked once.

He didn't have any visible reaction.

Just silence.

A long, thoughtful pause.

His mind was anything but silent.

What does she mean by that?

He felt like the world had tilted sideways. A strange stillness filled his chest, too quiet to be calm—it was more like the eye of a storm.

His voice came out low. "What do you mean?"

He didn't know if the echo – the projection of his mother – heard him or if she anticipated such a question… but she responded.

Her voice carried warmth.

"I'm sorry," she said. "But there was no other way."

Alden stared at the figure.

Caera didn't say anything. She didn't even know what they were talking about.

The projection continued. "Alden. You were never Alaric's child."

Alden's fingers twitched at the revelation.

Still, he stayed silent. He let her continue.

"I altered the memories of everyone around him. I forged documents and planted a storage ring with fabricated images and letters."

"Just enough to convince him you were his blood."

"I suppressed your real bloodline… to make you seem like his son."

"Why?" Alden asked. His voice was flat. Eerily so. Without any emotions.

"To keep you safe," she replied. "Alaric was destined to become one of the most powerful people. If he thought you were his son, he would protect you."

"Even if he didn't care."

A hollow sound escaped Alden's throat.

It wasn't a laugh. Not quite.

"Protect me?" He scoffed.

For the first time since his arrival here, he took a step forward.

"I was the bastard everyone despised. The concubine's ghost son." His words were raw with emotions. "Even Alaric kept me at arm's length. All I ever got from that house was silence, humiliation and pain."

"And",

He took a pause.

"And you call that protection? What a fucking joke."

"I know," she said.

"No," Alden whispered. "you don't."

"You fucking don't know anything."

"You left me there. And made sure I would never belong. You could have made me a legitimate heir. You could have given me a name."

"You forged so much… Why stop short of that?"

Again, as if she had anticipated his question, the projection was ready with an answer.

"I couldn't. Fate has laws. I pushed them further than I should have. If I had gone further… the world would've noticed. You would've died before you ever awakened."

Alden scoffed. "So instead, I got to live a slow death. A quiet one. Years of being reminded I wasn't wanted."

At this moment, Alden felt immense anger.

He recalled all of Cedric's beatings.

All the pleas of old Alden… only to be ignored.

How he had begged for help.

How he was ignored.

The voices calling him 'stain'. Rodrick's mocking gaze.

Even the servants ignoring him like filth.

He recalled every single thing.

They all made his anger lash out more than needed.

He knew Caera – his supposed sister must have suffered more than him.

But he couldn't feel her pain. Only his own.

So, when his mother… no, the stranger woman in front of him tried to say it was some fate bullshit. He couldn't hold it anymore.

Caera tried to reach for his shoulder, but he stepped aside.

His gaze returned to the illusion. "Why even leave me with them at all?"

"It was the only way to keep you safe."

The illusion of the woman answered all his questions. He didn't know how she knew he would ask these same questions.

Honestly, he didn't care.

He didn't fucking care about anything.

He closed his eyes for a moment. He tried to calm his mind… really tried.

But even with [Voidheart] increasing his rationality… he couldn't calm down.

He finally opened his mouth after a long pause.

"You made every decision." He said.

"EVERY FUCKING DECISION… Without ever asking what we wanted. What we would suffer."

"I did what I had to," the echo replied.

"You did what was convenient."

"No," she said. "I did what fate allowed."

Alden's fists clenched. "Then fate is a cowardly excuse."

The illusion dimmed slightly, but her voice stayed steady. "I know what I left behind. I won't ask for forgiveness. I don't deserve it."

Caera stepped forward. "You don't."

Her voice shook, but her eyes didn't.

"You chose to disappear. You chose to scatter us. I don't care about your excuses. I wanted a mother. Not a plan."

"I know," the projection whispered. "And I'm sorry."

Alden crossed his arms. "You know what the worst part is?"

The illusion said nothing.

"I didn't even feel betrayed when Alaric exiled me." He continued. "I felt… nothing. Because I already knew I didn't belong. And now? Turns out, my instincts were just early."

A pause.

"I hated that place. But I still clung to the image and the letter. I thought maybe… just maybe there was some truth in it."

He met her gaze.

"There wasn't."

The illusion's voice was quieter now. "I only left behind what I could. I didn't expect it would be enough. Just… enough to keep you alive."

"You made sure we lived," Alden said. "But you didn't make sure if we even wanted to."

The silence stretched again.

Then the projection whispered, "You don't have to forgive me. I wouldn't either."

She looked at them one last time, her eyes dim with a sorrow that couldn't reach across time.

"I hope… one day… the two of you find peace. Not because of me. In spite of me."

The image began to fade.

"I love you. Both of you. That's all I ever carried."

The illusion scattered into threads of golden light.

Alden stood still.

He didn't feel any anger. Any grief.

Or he felt that?

Even he himself didn't know.

But the strongest feeling was numbness.

Caera glanced at him. She looked as if she wanted to say something.

To console him… but didn't know how to do that.

She herself had suffered more… she had been wronged too. But she still wanted to make him feel better.

Alden understood her feelings.

But he didn't have any energy to reciprocate them.

So, neither of them said anything.

The air felt heavier, not with magic—but with everything left unsaid.

The kind of silence that clings long after words fade.

The floor below their feet lit up.

The teleportation spell was activating.

Reality was calling them back.

As the golden light surrounded them,

Alden looked up one last time—at the space where the projection had vanished.

"She wanted to save us," he said. "Fucking bullshit."

And then the dream shattered.

And they were gone.

___

Elsewhere.

In a chamber unmarked by time, deep within the folds of reality itself, a woman bound by glowing chains stirred.

She could barely breathe.

But she felt it.

The slight ripple in threads of destiny.

My children…

They finally met.

A tear slipped down her cheek.

"Alden… Caera…"

Her voice cracked.

It was barely a whisper.

But it echoed through the void like a prayer unspoken for lifetimes.

"You were never meant to be apart."

She remembered it all — the night the fate burned, the day even heaven cried.

Their enemies had found them.

Her husband vanished into the chaos, fighting alone to delay the enemies.

She was injured and too weak to fight at that time, so she made a plan.

Alden was to go with her — he was too young and vulnerable.

Caera, already blooming with potential, was to be taken to safety by her brother — the man she trusted with her life.

But the plan failed.

Something intercepted her brother.

Not death — she would have felt that.

Something worse. Something outside of destiny.

She had waited for a sign.

But the threads were cut.

And she had made her choice.

"I didn't abandon you, Caera…"

Her voice was hoarse now.

"I gambled everything. And I lost."

Did Caera hate her now? Did Alden feel betrayed?

She wouldn't blame them.

"I tried to protect you both. I tried to carry on… after he vanished."

Her thoughts turned to her husband — her strength.

The man who had once terrified the heavens. And smiled like a fool when he held their children.

Where are you, Azereth?

Did you fall?

Or are you still fighting… Somewhere I can't see?

She could still feel his hand brushing her cheek.

His last whisper before he went to battle. "Don't let them take our stars."

And now those stars were alone, burning in separate skies.

The chains pulsed — warning her.

She didn't have long.

But even with her body broken and her soul sealed, she smiled.

"They've found each other. That's all I could hope for."

And then her whisper became a vow:

"Live, my children. Burn through the threads."

"Break every chain… even the ones I placed on you."

Her eyes closed, her strength finally spent.

"One day… I'll find my way back to you."

__

Author's Note

Okay so… emotional damage? Check.

Family drama? Double check.

Now I deserve a cookie.

But since I can't eat cookies through the screen, drop a GT, PS or Gift to feed my soul instead.