章 93: Chapter 93 - Arthur's Truth
[Arthur Leywin POV]
I was annoyed, mildly irritated, and even a little upset and worried. Luz arrived at the academy only to tell me that he and I should go with Tess's family, urgently, because of some vision Rinia had. We had barely gotten back from a big problem, and now we were leaving Xyrus City again.
"Why are we never quiet?" my mother said, hugging Ellie tightly in her lap.
We were now in a royal carriage, heading towards one of the main portals. Me, Ellie and my parents on one side, while on the other was Alduin, Merial and Tess. Luz and Virion decided to follow us out of the carriage, along with Alea and Aya, possibly to have one more of their ultra private conversations. Sylvie was there too, sitting on Tess's lap, who kept cuddling her like a stuffed animal.
'Mama!~' The happiness in my daughter's mind was constantly entering mine, forcing me to keep a slight smile on my face.
"I know how you feel, Alice. Things have been pretty busy for everyone lately." Merial said with a slight giggle. "And thanks for coming with us. It's always nice to have other people to talk to."
"I thank you for allowing us to come, Queen Merial. My heart could not bear to see my baby leaving town so soon after that huge problem." My mother said smiling, but one of her hands went to my back, starting to pinch me, as if I was to blame for attracting so much trouble. I contained the moans of pain that caused me.
"You don't need to call us with those honorifics. After all, soon we'll be one family. Isn't that right?" Alduin said with a soft smile in my direction, I couldn't help the slight blush in my cheeks, while Tess was red up to the tips of her ears.
'Mama is really Mama now!! YEY!' Sylvie reacted to that sentence, curling up happily in Tess's lap, now looking like a fluffy white ball.
"If you say so… Then it's an honor to have people like you in our family, Alduin." My father, due to his silly way, managed to relax much faster than my mother on that issue.
"I still can't believe my baby wanted to propose to her during a dungeon tour." My mother's voice echoed inside the carriage and everyone, even my sister sighed in unison.
"That's so Arthur." They said it at the same time, even Tess said it, but in her case, it was pure embarrassment.
"Hey! Don't say that like it's so obvious!" I exclaimed, but that only made everyone look at me as if they doubted that was the absolute truth about me.
But after that, everyone started laughing, even me. It was as if any stress in our heads was released in our laughter, but it was cut short by that familiar uneasy feeling. We had passed through a portal.
"It looks like we've already arrived in Elenoir… From now on, the journey will be smoother, but a little longer… I recommend that the children try to get some sleep." Merial commented, as she glanced at the window beside her.
I sighed, agreeing with that, after all I still felt like I hadn't slept well, so I did, closing my eyes softly. But I felt a kind of sudden tremor, making me get up at once.
I was no longer in the carriage, instead I was sitting on a lawn in a landscape that gave off a strange nostalgia. Even though there were grass and a few trees around, the place looked like a Roman arena with several people in the seats, most being silhouettes and others were recognizable to me.
"What the fuck…" I whispered to myself, seeing people like Clive and Lucas in the middle of the audience, with bizarre smiles on their faces, plus the other people I could recognize were with evil smiles, watching me with looks of pure thirst for pleasure. blood.
Looking closer, I saw something that nearly made me puke. In those nearby trees, there were bodies hanging, with the branches going through their torsos, necks and impaling them. The disturbing part of it was the owners of those bodies.
"G-guys…" I stammered, seeing the bodies of my family, the Eraliths, and even the disciplinary committee members, but Tess wasn't there to be seen. Everyone was in that terrible state, almost putrid, it made me strain my eyes forward, and there I found something else, not pleasant.
In front of me was that figure with big horns and a face so frightening that it was possibly some kind of mask. The one who attacked Sylvia, forcing her to separate from me. He was walking slowly towards me, without any weapons in hand, but they seemed to deform into huge claws.
Even though I was in an impossible situation, my mind was already lost in that sudden fear and despair. With that, real anger surged through my body, and I charged towards the monster, with Dawn's Ballade magically appearing in my hand, as if it and I were one.
I traded blows with that monster, not being able to feel mana coming from him or myself, but that wasn't necessary, I felt something more nostalgic in my body... Ki.
The blows became more intense and faster, but the creature did not stop defending itself, until, at an absurd speed, it grabbed my face firmly and put me with everything against the ground. I felt that pain, I felt the blood coming out of my mouth...
He soon removed his hand from my face, to reveal that we were no longer in that arena, but in that bizarre cave that we found after the accident in Widow's Crypt, and not only that, the monster's form changed, now it was that bizarre corpse, that being who almost killed Alea but was killed by my brother. He was smiling broadly but hollowly, almost as if he was pitying me and mocking me at the same time.
I tried to lift my sword, but it no longer existed in my hand, in its place there was a purple stone stuck in my palm, and it seemed to suck my vital energy, because I felt more and more tired. With that, I got up myself and tried to run away from the monster.
After turning a few corridors, I strangely saw the starting zone of Widow's Crypt, and waiting for me there was Tess, holding Sylvie, in her miniature draconic form. She was smiling, waving at me, dressed in something that was very reminiscent of Merial's ceremonial clothes.
I was relieved to see them, but an angry scream left my mouth. Seeing them being pierced by black thorns. Tess was completely impaled, with the point of the thorn protruding from her forehead, while Sylv had numerous thorns piercing her body, with some having taken over her eyes.
What I managed to do was scream, scream over and over at the top of my lungs. The fear, the dread, everything filling my being...
I wish it would stop... I want it to stop so badly…
I ended up kneeling on the ground, voices I recognized, all telling me how weak I was, how much I couldn't save people. I just wanted it all to stop, so I hit my head hard on the floor.
Finally, I woke up from my nightmare, being back in the carriage, my mother being beside me, sleeping with Ellie snuggled in her lap, Merial sleeping a little too, cuddling Tess. My dad and Sylvie weren't there to be seen, and Alduin was awake, looking at me, a little scared.
"Is everything okay, Arthur?" He asked, concern creeping into his voice.
I was going to ask why the concern, but then I noticed that I was quite sweaty. Possibly that bizarre nightmare really hit me hard... But it wasn't surprising, after all really... I ended up going through a lot, one after another, if I didn't have one or two nightmares like that, then I would be worried about my sanity.
"I am, I just had... a strange dream, that's all..." Even saying that, Alduin's look showed concern, but I soon questioned him. "And my dad? He's not here."
"Oh… that. Well strangely some mana beasts started attacking, for our protection Aya and Alea were working but your father and brother seemed to want to do it themselves and I allow it…"
"So they both are actually just watching while they work?"
"Reynolds looked like he really wanted to stretch his legs to try something out, and your brother also wanted to see how his skills were doing." When Alduin explained it to me, I ended up sighing, already imagining that in fact he is testing the beast will that we gave him during our adventuring period, and Luz is there just to evaluate him.
As for Sylvie, she must be with both of them too, but why doesn't she seem to mentally answer my calls? Maybe she slept again, only with them this time.
"Arthur..." After a period of silence, Alduin started talking again. "You've been through a lot recently, I can understand just by looking into your eyes, that dream you had, it must have been something very intense…"
I remained silent, just listening to him. "We already had cases like this in Elenoir's royal guard, some of them couldn't stop having grotesque nightmares, after seeing the enslaved elves they couldn't save… to reduce stress, we created a rehabilitation center, where they could all talk to each other and take the problems from inside the chest…"
"Are you telling me that it's best to talk to someone about what's bothering me?" He just agreed with my question, I sighed tiredly, already having something in mind. "We can do that when we get to Rinia, the way she can predict the future, I bet she already has a specific room prepared for us to have this… conversation."
"Really, Rinia is full of mysteries, but she has a kind heart to know when to embrace those who are heavy-hearted…" Alduin's voice seemed to trail off a bit, as if he was thinking about something else.
"I see that you will also be someone who must get something off your chest." I said, giving a light and soft laugh.
"I don't know if I should or not, but like you said, depending on the future Rinia saw, to have called you, possibly we can have this conversation."
"As expected of my future father-in-law." That comment from me made him give a soft smile, as if Alduin's feelings had been softened.
"I'm glad it was you, Arthur… You are extremely protective, can be serious and strict at times, but so sweet and kind to my daughter… I hope our family can be happier and more united with your coming."
"My coming to your family had already started almost 8 years ago, Father." My sentence made him give an endearing and quite genuine laugh, almost waking the girls, but it seems that they remained in a deep sleep due to the tiredness.
I took advantage of my lack of sleep to enjoy the landscape of where we were going. The forest seemed quite confused now, it gave the impression that we were traveling on some coastal edge due to the soil that was sandy, but still had a lot of grass, even so, there was a large concentration of trees. If I didn't know how this immense forest works, I would say that it's actually the people outside the carriage who are making way for us in the environment.
My mind was trapped in thoughts opposite to that dream, now, imagining what my life would be like with Tess, with my family and the Eralith family together. Maybe there was a chance we could all move to Elenoir? Or perhaps the families continued in separate places, with periodic visits to each other? It made me mentally laugh at the idea of my father and Virion always training together and sharing stories, Rey commenting on her former life as an adventurer leader, while Virion would talk about the training situations he always had with the guards of his time.
This even made me think about the status of my family, after all, as long as I know, my name came from my great-grandfather on my father's side, Arthur, and at the time, the Leywins were considered nobles who ended up being demoted and forgotten, with all, without exception, becoming great adventurers who never really sought recognition. I've never been one to ask my parents what they know about our family back then, but I feel it's best not to bring it up unless they, or others, start talking about it.
"We arrived in the area allowed by the carriage, now it will be on foot." Alea's voice snapped me out of my thoughts, seeing that my dad was in a visible area, opening the door so we could get out. Apparently, I ended up traveling in my thoughts for a considerable amount of time. After waking up the girls, we all got off the carriage to continue on our way.
Now it was possible to see that my father had some bright red lines under his eyes, in addition to his arms having an aspect of magma due to the various paths of fire that formed up to his shoulders. His hair, which is normally an ash brown, was now more alive, looking more red than the brown itself, other than that, there were no apparent changes in his body.
"Looks like the Lava Serpent's Will is doing wonders for you." I commented, making my old man burst out laughing.
"I know! This Beast Will you gave me is really amazing. Every time I train it, it seems to adapt to my body more."
"That's how it works, Rey." Luz said, standing further ahead of us, with Virion and Aya next to him.
"Anyway, the walk is going to be pretty dense, so I want you to be careful. By the way, Luz, Reynolds, Aya and Alea, please continue to walk around us very carefully." With Virion's orders, the four agreed with the idea and so we began our walk.
The landscape was really quite dense, more so than before when we were in the carriage. There were even times when we needed to use magic and swords to cut through the vast amount of foliage that blocked our way. Tess, Luz, and Alea could use their plant affinity to make the trees move away, but there were so many of them that it didn't really change the situation that much.
"Lava Fang!" "Fire Claw!"
My father and brother, both started to use that specific technique to go devouring the plants and clearing the path more quickly. My father seemed to make a movement with his hands vertically, as if the fingers were the fangs of an animal, thus making his nails longer and giving cuts that resembled a large animal biting its prey. Meanwhile, Luz just activated the Gauntlet form of his mutable equipment, and created claws on them, slicing through the plants smoothly and quickly.
The incredible agility of their spells, made the plants not really catch fire, just giving a light burnt aspect to the bushes and trees. That was even better, so that the path would become more durable.
After a while, Tess gave a rather strange scream, causing everyone to look at her. "T-there's something here! I felt something moving fast through the trees!"
"Arthur! Reynolds!"
With Luz calling our names aloud, my father quickly cast a spell, creating gauntlets made purely from fire mana, while I drew Dawn's Ballade from within my dimensional ring. Aya and Alea also gripped the swords that were at their waists, and Tess took her sword staff out of her dimensional ring. My mother, along with Merial, Alduin and Ellie were in the center of the formation we created, with Sylvie standing over Ellie's head, and Virion looking very calm, not making too many moves.
A few seconds passed, with the leaves of the trees moving more actively around us, and soon, Luz deactivated his gauntlet, giving a deep sigh and saying. "Rinia, stop these games."
What he said left us confused, with Virion chuckling as a familiar figure stepped out of the trees. It was Rinia, wearing a classic and simple elven outfit, and with a rustic wooden cane in hand.
"I just wanted to see if you guys were really aware of your surroundings. It's good to see you're all here…" She said softly, now watching me and Tess. "And it's great to see the couple being together like this." Tess ended up blushing immensely, while I got that characteristic slight blush again.
Rinia didn't even say anything else, instead she started walking into the woods and we followed her. Ending up arriving at a kind of creek with a huge waterfall nearby, with a soft tap of her cane on one of the rocks near the waterfall, it opened, revealing a passage between the waters. I could hear noises of surprise coming from my family when they saw a passage like that, I would do the same, if I didn't expect something of that level coming from the elven prophet.
"I hope my shelter is to your liking…" She said walking into that area, which turned out to be a large cave.
In the background I could see a kind of hut glued to one of the walls of the cave, with a fire, stone benches and what appeared to be kitchen equipment a little ahead. I watched everything closely as Luz walked beside Rinia, his hands behind his back. As I got closer, I noticed that the fireplace had a kind of pot of resistant material on top, boiling something that I assumed was tea.
"You can sit around here. I feel that the trip you had was very boring, sitting on padded seats might made you uncomfortable." Rinia said that with a laugh, looking at me and my brother.
We did as she asked, but since there weren't enough seats for everyone to be around the fire, my dad and the Lances decided to stand, leaning their backs against a nearby wall, while Tess stood behind me, giving me a warm hug around my neck, with her chin resting on my shoulder, watching the fire in front of us. Luz was another one who was left without a place, but he decided to sit on the ground, next to the fire.
"Well, would you like some tea?" Rinia asked, as she offered a jar full of cookies to all of us.
We each got a cookie without a hitch, but before Rinia actually went to get us tea, Luz made a comment that made my mind go away. "Of course, but without the sleeping plants, please."
Saying that made everyone look at him strangely, while Rinia just stared at my brother. Her look seemed to be one of disappointment, pain, sadness, and most of all, mild irritation.
Taking a deep breath, she ended up talking to herself, but unfortunately externalizing. "Sometimes I don't like how you interfere with things, you know?..."
"But you see the future, you should have been waiting for it…" Luz commented matter-of-factly.
"Actually, I saw two versions of our conversation… I just didn't expect this to be the one that happened." Rinia sat in her seat.
"Wait, what is he talking about, Rinia?" Virion questioned. "What does he mean 'sleeping plants'?"
Rinia sighed deeply, looking at her friend. "I just wanted to talk to Arthur about something… My plan was for none of you to hear this, but since it's come like this, it seems like a snake wants the blunt truths to come out, even though they might hurt." Her gaze went to my brother, who just smiled softly.
"So… You called us here just for this? A conversation with them that even we can't hear?" My father commented, shaking his head. "I know my son loves to hide things from us to protect us, but someone else doing this for him? I think that's already overkill."
His comment hit me a bit, but that's what I expected, they know me so well that they know when I hide something, but they also know that there is a reason for me to hide these things...
Well… There's also a reason I tell them now…
"Okay, if you're that worried, Mister Leywin, I don't think you're going to like what you're going to hear here…" Rinia said dryly, sighing and looking at me now. "Arthur… The reason I called you here is to let you know something very important…"
"In the near future… Your life will be intertwined with something too big to describe without striking fear into people's hearts… Of course, you'll do just fine if you keep going like this, being a boy who knows when to stop and knows when it's time to wait and build up for victory…" Her voice grew tired as she said that, my mother's eyes clearly focused and scared for my safety, while the Eralith family stared at Rinia and me over and over again, as if they knew exactly what she was talking about.
"But, the most important part I must tell you, the one essential thing for you to be in your mind from my revelation… is that you must embrace your past…" My eyes widened a little at what she said. "Your greatest enemies will not be those who command troops and annihilate lives, not those who sit on a throne of gold and conquest, but those who are alone, lonely, without love or anything to hold them back… Those you should fear are the people who have nothing to lose… unlike you…"
There were no words to describe what I heard, she knew about me, about my past, and that's why she said all that...
"And as for you…" Rinia looked at Luz.
"To the one who is present… Do not blindly seek your revenge… It will only do more harm than good to your goal, make it difficult for you to get the love you seek so badly… She will accept you, of course… but it will take so long that you won't be able to feel anything else…" Luz's eyes looked at the floor after hearing that, with the yellow pupils lit up being fluttering, as if he was holding back from crying.
Ellie noticed this and went towards our adopted brother, hugging him tightly in one arm, but the tears finally managed to escape. That scared everyone, even me, as it was extremely rare to see him cry due to his resilient mindset.
Seeing that made me think of what Rinia had said about him... 'to get the love you seek so badly'... What was she referring to? Claire, Kathyln and Lilia, the three of them are girls who are always after him, being affectionate, and he responds with equal affection, always looking out for them... but isn't that the kind of love he's looking for...?
After he finished crying, Rinia offered him some tea and he drank it, stating that it didn't have the sleeping herb he mentioned before. With that, everyone drank some of the tea, now with their thoughts arranging themselves and trying to get an idea of what it all meant. My mother was clearly irritated by that truth that she hated to accept, that I would suffer more in the future, that I would be in something much bigger than all of us…
Seeing how my life is going, I should expect that, even if I try to achieve happiness, something will always make me realize that every moment I'm running towards a series of walls, with each one being heavier, harder and more resistant, that the last one. I hate this feeling but there's nothing I can do, this is my life…
… My life…
"Wait… Elder Rinia…" My father spoke finally breaking that silence. "You said… for my son to embrace his past… but more importantly, he just had his life as an adventurer and his stay with the Eralith royal family… could you explain that to us?"
The situation I feared the most, I didn't even need to start talking about it, I just needed them to realize that little detail Rinia said… It was very possible that she also saw that I would at some point reveal the truth to them, so she opened up a gap for the subject to enter, it was enough for me to accept or not that choice...
"It's just… there was a lot more before that…" I said, not wanting to look at them as I spoke those words.
"More before that? You mean about the period after you parted ways with us and before meeting the elves?" My mom tried to say the most logical thing possible, and I just sighed, shaking my head.
"There was something far beyond that…" My words left everyone confused, with Virion, Luz, and Tess staring at me deeply.
Luz possibly because he knew that now would be the time for that, while Virion was perhaps remembering what I said to him the day after we returned to Xyrus City. Tess, on the other hand, looked like she felt sorry for me, like she wanted me to shut up if it was something that hurt me to say, like she wanted me not to feel bad. Feeling her hand firmly holding mine answered that these were her real wishes… But it gave me a greater pain in my heart…
What would happen to me if I felt her hand let go of me as I speak…?
My mind started to think of the worst possible scenario, but when I looked back at my brother, I saw the determination in his eyes, as if he was telling me that everything would be ok, or that at least he would always be by my side, supporting me for being in the same boat… The feelings of concern that Sylv showed through our mental connection made me have a more decisive thought…
I don't want them to see me as someone different, but I also don't want them to worry too much about me… I must speak the truth, I must show my full potential… I must lessen their concern… Even if they start to hate me after that… I want them to have one less thing to be afraid of losing at least…
"Virion…" He immediately looked at me upon hearing his name, it took a few seconds for me to continue. "… I told you before… that I care about all of you, I care about everyone, regardless of the situation… that if I were to join your family, my life should be an open book to you…"
"Arthur… what does one thing have to do with the other?" The way my mom said it, it was like she was scared…
God… I'll be the worst son in the world, won't I…?
"Well, before I actually answer this question… Can I tell you a story?" Mom looked like she wanted to interrupt me so that I could answer her immediately, but dad intervened, holding her shoulder tightly.
Everyone else present seemed confused and curious about what was going on, so they accepted my speaking. I took a deep breath, my mind organizing my happy memories, so I wouldn't stop in the middle... if I were to do it right, some things should be said so quickly that they wouldn't ask during the story, they would just listen…
"Well, this story takes place in an extremely distant place… in an unknown time in the past… in a realm that none of us have the chance to know… A boy was living in an orphanage… this boy was kind, but his life would go on in the worst ways possible, demonstrating that even the kindest people can have their dark moments... In the beginning, he didn't have anyone, there were no families who wanted him, making his life revolve around the owner of the orphanage, but then two people started to appear in his life, an extremely genius boy and a very adorable and powerful girl, both of them also orphans... the gentle boy was seen as weak, due to the amount of power he could have within himself, but he showed tremendous strength, when using such a minuscule amount of energy effectively enough to people see him as the best of all in technique…"
Everyone was still confused and curious about the reason for my story, but some things didn't change. Like Tess still holding tight to my hand while my dad and Virion got an expression that showed interest in such a person.
"Facilitating the story a little… There were some terrible incidents in the boy's life… The orphanage he lived in was burned down by a terrorist group from another kingdom, the boy, his two friends, and other people managed to survive, but the director of the place, the one that the boy saw as a mother figure... didn't survive... Soon after that, the boy was separating from the other two... His mind was full of hate, wanting to take revenge at all costs for what had happened to him, and the only realistic way to do that was to move up in the world... and for that, he would have to show enough strength, to be seen as the greatest warrior of all... His mind focused on just training and mastering using what little energy he had in the most effectively way possible, like a weapon, while the two friends just saw him going deep into this mad obsession with power so he could get revenge…" Merial and my mother obviously showed a sensitivity to hearing something like that, as I watched the Lances, they were just leaning close by to my dad, never looking at me but obviously listening to every detail.
"The lovely, powerful girl was discovered by a study group of this kingdom… She and the smart boy stayed with them, not knowing that they were actually being used for that group to rise up and dominate others. Meanwhile, another separate group found the special boy full of vengeance in his heart, and did the same with him, giving all the support so that in the end he showed extreme potential that no one had ever seen before… In the end, in a tournament where the winner would be considered the representative of the kingdom… it was the boy and the girl … They were forced to have a fight to the death there… the boy didn't want that, after all, he still saw her as a great friend, but she pretended to hate him for everything, she pretended that she only wanted power, so that the boy would gain hatred again to fight… deliberately allowing herself to be killed by him… and why? Simple… the way the study group treated her, it was almost torture, and in desperation for it to end, this was the only alternative she found…" Upon hearing this, everyone seemed to be surprised and saddened by the story, with Tess squeezing stronger my hand.
"The smart boy saw all this, and swore to take revenge for her death, but he didn't have time to find out the truth that she did it on purpose, as he ended up dying while looking for a group that could kill the new warrior that had arisen... " I sighed deeply. "After years of being the representative of the kingdom, like a king on an empty throne made of swords, he took his revenge, he managed to destroy those who caused the trigger for the destruction of his life, but nothing seemed to matter… He was tired… he was irritated… he couldn't see any more reason to live… everyone praised him and needed him… but deep down… he saw himself as nothing…"
"So, with a life where he has never been able to experience happiness and love since he was 10 years old… almost 40… he just closed his eyes… and it was over… death embraced him in a way that nobody expected, but he didn't even really matter… he had no more motivations…"
"However… he opened his eyes suddenly, and found himself elsewhere… he gained purpose… a real one… one where revenge is not the fuel…" With my words, everyone's eyes seemed to be fixed on me, as if they were waiting for something else… no… they knew there was something else, why on all this would I be saying something like that to them…?
"And what does that… A-all of this have to do with the situation Elder Rinia said?" My mom was the one to ask.
I was silent for a moment, trying to get my mind together again, Tess noticed that I was getting nervous and stroked my hair gently. "A-Art… is everything okay?" Even as she acted like this, she stuttered through the situation being confusing and strange… I was scaring them…
"Well… the boy's name was Grey… and that… was my life…"
Silence reigned again, until my mother began to stutter. "A-Art… what kind of sick joke is this? T-The situation is serious… the E-Elder said that y-you would be in danger… w-why say something so crazy like that now?..."
I sighed, asking everyone a question. "Do you believe in… reincarnation…?"
"Reincarnation…?" Virion had his eyes fixed on me, but with that question, he stroked his own beard, watching the floor for a few seconds.
"So that's why…" My dad spoke in a cold voice, watching me, as if he was analyzing my movements. "Your skill with mana… with a sword… in fighting… all before you were even 5 years old…"
After those words, everyone seemed to get on the same page of understanding, everyone staring at me with wide eyes, while I couldn't bring myself to look at Tess, whose hand was now shaking as she held me... That was my biggest fear…
"Ha…hahaha…" my dad started laughing, leaning against one of the walls. "It was so… obvious that there was something… different… And I was blinded… Blinded by my pride in thinking… that the one who was born because of me… because of Alice… was a… genius!" He punched into the wall, causing a small crater in its place.
I couldn't take it anymore, I couldn't look at any of them anymore, making me stare at the floor. My body starting to shake.
".... So you, were you a person before?..." My mother's voice began to pierce my heart with her next words. "What have you d-done to my son?..."
"Nothing." Luz's voice interrupted her.
That had everyone looking at him now, as I started to get lost in it all, I couldn't really go on… I ended up being the one getting the hand away from Tess', putting it to my face, to my eyes, wanting to be blinded by everything, and starting to cry, but my cries didn't stop me from hearing their voices.
"What?..." My m-... Alice commented, her voice getting louder and more aggressive. "You say that after finding out about something like this!?! He has betrayed us this whole time! Hiding in the body of MY SON! And you have the nerve to say that?!?" I was crying more listening to that, it was torture that I put myself on purpose, I knew that the situation could be like this, but thinking and doing it really made a huge difference.
"Your son would be dead if it weren't for him, Alice... He's Arthur... there was never another Arthur but him..." Hearing footsteps approaching me and something touching my shoulder, I ended up raising my face with red eyes and wet face, due to my tears. "I'm just like him… no… my situation is much more extreme than his… I know what I'm talking about… And he didn't steal anything…"
"W-What….?" Alice spoke incredulously.
My eyes went to the Eralith family and their Lances, their expressions were serious as they scanned the floor, as if they knew it wasn't good for them to join the conversation now. But I saw Tess, she was looking straight into my face, with a pained expression...
I knew... she would hate me... why would I follow my brother's ide-
Suddenly she hugged me from behind again, firmly as she stroked my hair again, my mind was processing what was happening. But I gradually understood… she didn't hate me… at least… not at the moment…
"Alice... I know it's a lot of information for you... no, for everyone here... But I already had this conversation with him, I analyzed his whole situation... and I understand his case perfectly..."
"You dare say things like that… DO YOU DARE SAY I SHOULD BE THANKFUL THAT A REVENGE OBSESSIVE GOT MY SON?!"
"IF you think he did it BY CHOICE, at least LISTEN the person YOU put in this family BY YOUR OWN CHOICE, ALICE!?! AND SHUT THE FUCK UP!!!" He shouted loud and clear.
Alice looked at Reynolds, as if she expected him to do something, but amazingly, after that punch in the wall, he was quieter than expected. "Reynolds! WHY ARE YOU SILENT! DO NOT SEE THE SITUATIO-"
"Alice, listen to them..." It was the only thing he said, making Alice angrier, with an expression I never thought I'd see her do, but he spoke again. "If we're going to be angry with him, we need to be right about it... If we had every reason to hate him, he would never have spoken about it in the first place..."
"Thank you, Rey…"
"Just explain while I'm patient…" Reynolds replied Luz incredibly dryly.
"Well… From what Arthur told me… and from my experience as a reincarnated one as well… There are four situations for a reincarnations to appear… The first is when they simply appears in a world, with their original body… the second is when they enter someone's body and that someone's consciousness is completely consumed... the third is similar to the second, but the fusion between consciousnesses takes a long time, to the point where the reincarnated and the owner of the body exist at the same time, both being able to talk to each other and if there is a rational decision on both sides, whether they will actually merge or not…" Luz spoke calmly and simply.
"And the fourth is when they enter a body that is destined for them to use, and in cases where the soul of the reincarnated person does not enter that body, It will die for not actually having a soul… And this last case… is the case of Art … Alice, you never had another firstborn child, besides the Arthur who is on our side now… If Grey hadn't become Arthur… the baby would have died possibly after a few days, and while he was alive, he would have looked like a doll, never crying or showing needs…"
"How are you sure the fourth form is really the case? You would have to see other examples for that…" Virion was the one who questioned, still holding his ground.
"It's because, this isn't my second life, nor my tenth… unlike Arthur, who was simply reborn here without understanding how, I'm cursed to be permanently reborn, until I find a way to heal my soul completely… So yes, I am quite knowledgeable on the subject of reincarnation… If you are curious, again unlike Arthur, the form of reincarnation I underwent was the third… You, the royal families Eralith and Glayder, knew Sirius… the original consciousness of that body…"
"So… when that explosion happened… was it because you possessed a child?" Reynolds asked, after hearing all that, while Alice was paralyzed looking at me and Luz repeatedly, with Ellie approaching her and trying to take her attention away from everything there.
"No, the biological father of this body wanted to kill the child with a bomb inside him, while also causing a terrorist attack… That was the explosion… But the fact that it entered the body, made the explosion less intense, besides to keep the body intact, unfortunately, the original consciousness only woke up after a few years and the body itself was too sore to move… If it weren't for you, I feel that I would actually have died because I couldn't move , neither to feed myself… I and the owner of that body thank you immensely for helping, and we owe you no matter what…" Luz sighed and cracked his neck. "As for the exact moment the original consciousness awakened… it was during our time as adventurers, so… you all knew only me as a first impression…"
"But... why say all that now..." Merial's voice was serious and confused about what to feel.
"What… the fact that we are talking about a truth that blows your minds?… I had no reason to reveal myself, I am only doing this to help a companion like him, who suffered in his first life, and now in this new chance, he wants to at least to focus on being happy…" Now he made the Eralith family have their eyes directed towards me again, with Tess still hugging me tightly from behind, not wanting to let go.
"I-I just wish there was nothing to hide… I really love her… If it's to really be one with her… if it's really… to… become a part of it… I wanted to do it right… I love her… to the point of sacrificing the way people see me… to show her, that for her… I will always be an open book… and… I also love so much… My family… I adore you all… I would feel dirty… if only she knew about it …" My tears were coming back with more intensity now. "I… just want to have a life… I just want to finally protect those I care about… I can't stand being… this weak…"
"W-weak…?" Tess's voice was also tearful, she had hidden during that hug, that she was crying for me. "You're strong… Art… and yet… that's not why I love you…" She kissed my forehead softly.
"None of this changes why I love you… I heard your voice… I heard your heart… And I know that everything you do for me… is really for love and nothing more… you say you hid a truth, but none of that changes the fact that everything we went through together was very true…" Her voice entered my ears, calming me more and more, so I hugged her tightly, burying my face in her clothes, while she caressed my hair more .
"I would like to ask you something…" Alduin finally spoke. "But what about his age?"
"We don't talk about it." Luz's voice was so serious and dominating that it even sounded like an S Class Mana Beast. "I've lived so much that I know that thinking about this kind of thing will only screw with the person's mentality on a level… Astronomical… so, a rule among reincarnates… is that we only look at the physical age of the body they are in… understand? "
"But is-"
"Do you understand, Alduin?" Luz spoke more seriously. "It took fucking time to get him to understand that, which is common sense for people like us… so… don't fuck with this…"
"A-a-a.."
"Your daughter is happy with him, isn't she?... She said she doesn't care and loves him above all else, doesn't she?... Want to screw up her personal life?"
"I-I-I…"
"Luz… stop it…" Even in a situation like that, Tess ended up laughing at the way he was acting.
"What was it? I promised you a long time ago that I would help you make this relationship work, didn't I? I never fail at it." He said with a wide smile on his face.
"Hm…" When I went to look in other directions, I realized that my family wasn't there.
"They went inside the hut… we'd better give them some time…" Rinia commented and I just nodded.
"So… the two brats I've been training were actually quite combat experienced already? Good to know… Now I don't feel bad for being so hard on you guys! HA!" Virion gave an infectious laugh, which ended up spreading among the rest of the people there. "Wait a minute… returning to Rinia's revelations… The reason she didn't see Luz's future would be because…"
"She was seeing Sirius's future, not mine... meaning he's going to be in some trouble while controlling the body, hopefully not for as long as last time… due to his little emotional problems." Luz replied Virion.
"And when was the last time?" Merial questioned.
"He was controlling the body since the incident in the dungeons until just now, in the middle of the story Arthur was telling…" He said this, scratching the back of his head.
So he was the one who faced the monster and saved the Disciplinary Committee...? Uhm... that's been a really long time... I knew there was something off about him, but I never thought that was it.
"So he's the one who saved me and had the meeting?… I-I'd like to than-…" Alea started to speak, but stopped when Luz raised her hand.
"You already thanked him… and well, I was conscious at that moment too, it's just that the fight was so intense, and we did a hell lot before that, that I sacrificed the fact that I was conscious to recharge our mana core and thus kill that hybrid…"
"Oh…" We all made a sound of understanding…
So there was a chance he would have died if not for this kind of 'sacrifice?'
What chaos would have ensued if he didn't have these advantages?... I can hardly imagine… Most of my thoughts were now about how to continue with all that, after seeing how Alice and Rey reacted…
Like... Rey, as a former leader of adventurer group, was able to hold part of his emotions, I feel it... And Ellie probably didnt understand most of this, it's possible that she will be influenced by their choices....
but Alice... Mom...
I hope that at least they can still see me as part of the family…
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