บท 337: It's Him!

Time passed again, and our days looked peaceful. Until the day, Emperor's death was announced. I saw people mourning their great leader, while the Royal Family announced the funeral. It was supposed to be a public event, for everyone to be able to mourn the Emperor. I wasn't really interested in all that. People died every day, whether it was an Emperor or just a simple villager, a death is death either way.

'I have no attachment to him, nor duty to mourn the late Emperor' I thought. Fox on the other hand wanted to go. It was a public event, and although she wasn't sad that the Emperor passed, she said it would be nice to pay their respects. 'Why would I pay respect to a guy I never met?' I asked myself. Fox insisted that we go, so I agreed.

The funeral was to take place in a few days, during the first day of autumn. I asked Fox, if she met the Emperor, but she replied "Not personally. Father met him a few times, so I should go. Besides, you might see your sword right?". She said that last thing on purpose. Obviously I wanted to get my sword back, or at least verify that it was indeed my sword.

The whole Royal Family should be there at the funeral, therefore it was a good chance to check out that Liana. Fox knew how to convince me. The days quickly passed, and people prepared for the day of the funeral. When we arrived in front of the Royal Palace, the place where the funeral would take place, I saw hordes of people. Fox stopped in her tracks, and said "We can't go any further". 'She and her fear of crowded places again' I thought, and suggested "We are not just some citizens, are we? Why should we stand in the crowd?".

She said "You want to climb the buildings, don't you?". I replied "Do you have a better idea?". She shook her head, and mumbled, "It's actually very good…". I smiled, and said "Then it's decided". I grabbed her, and disappeared from that place. We soon arrived at one of the taller buildings in the area, where I could see the whole stage clearly. Fox said "You know I broke through right?". I laughed, and replied "Sorry, I forgot. Next time, you can go by yourself".

She again mumbled "Not that I complain…", but I didn't pay her attention anymore. I focused on the stage. A sizable wooden coffin, laid on display atop the stage. There were loads of chairs, and some of them were already occupied. The coffin was not covered, and inside laid an old man. I looked at the old man for a while, and exclaimed "IMPOSSIBLE!".

Fox was startled by my shout, and asked "What's wrong!?". I replied absentmindedly "This can't be true. How can this old man be him? How…". She asked again, a bit concerned this time "What's wrong? Who did you see?". I stared into the coffin for a while, and finally replied "That old man in the coffin… is that the Emperor?". Fox nodded, and said "Yes, who else could it be?".

I shook my head in disbelief. 'Is this real?' I asked myself. Fox frantically asked me why was I shouting so much, and why was I so surprised. I said "This old man… You may not believe me, but I know him". She looked at me for a while, and said "You are right, I don't believe you. You never visited the Imperial City, how can you know him?".

I replied "I don't believe this myself… But that old man, I would never forget him". Fox asked "Are you sure it was him? Maybe it was someone who looked similar". I shook my head, and replied "It is him, I'm certain". Fox asked "Where did you meet him?". I laughed, and said "If you don't believe me that I met him, then you won't believe me if I tell you where I met him either". She replied "Try me".

I sighed, and said "All that I have, and who I am now, is thanks to him… at least to a certain degree. I met him in a Village called Freemount. I was homeless at that time, because of that woman who stole my sword. I was a wreck of a man. Homeless, without a job or money. Then I met him". I pointed at the coffin, as I said this.

I continued after a while "He was homeless too. He taught me where I can sleep, get food and all of that. He was a rather quiet type, or maybe I just talked too much. One day, he told me something, I will never forget. Thanks to his words, I began my journey. Now, I stand in front of him, yet he already passed away…".

Fox went quiet for a bit. We stood there in silence, when she said "I believe you. As impossible as this might be, I don't see why you would lie to me about this. So you met the Emperor himself… What was he like?". I replied "I don't really know. Perhaps kind? He was looking after me, maybe he pitied me. After all, he knew about my parents, about that woman, and even about my sword. He probably didn't even know that his daughter, has my sword right now… Well, at least potentially".

She asked "You mentioned something, that Emperor told you. What was it, that he said?". I replied "He told me to explore my life". Fox waited for more, but I only stared at the coffin. 'So, old man. It seems you were not just some simple homeless man after all. I guess it was all truth, what you said to me that time' I thought. The Emperor seemed homeless, but wouldn't that mean, the whole world was his home? To some extent, it was. He was the Emperor of the Endrosian Empire, which meant all the villages and cities were his home.

Fox poked me, and said "Do you miss him?". I woke up from my thoughts, and laughed. "I don't think so. I liked talking with him, and he did help me out. I guess, he was the only person willing to help me, at that time". I turned towards the coffin and said quietly "Thank you". Fox said "But I didn't…". She didn't finish, or maybe I just didn't listen. I just watched as other people paid their respects to my old friend. 'Farewell old friend. I hope you managed to explore your life in the end' I thought, and closed my eyes.

I thought about my whole journey. About the good and the bad moments in my life. I felt more at ease. Perhaps because I learned the identity of that old man, from my days in the Freemount Village. Perhaps because I met that old man again. A person who chased the same ideas, just like me. Perhaps I felt I wasn't alone... My body relaxed, and my energy started flowing through it. There were no obstacles, difficult areas or abandoned places. My energy flowed, just as if it was intended from the beginning.

I woke up, when Fox punched my arm lightly. She asked "You drifted into your dream world again? Why do you keep on doing that?". I smiled, and replied "Perhaps, I have loads of things on my mind… I think I just completed my training". Fox was confused, and asked "What training?". I replied "I wanted to master the control of my energy, I think I succeeded".

She was even more confused, and asked "Why would you even train something like that? I can control my energy no problem". I laughed, and asked "Can you really?". She nodded while replying "Of course I can". I asked "Can you control everything? And I mean everything that your body consists of?". She looked at me for a while, and said "No one can control such things. What are you on about?". I laughed, and said "Maybe no one could, that is until now. I can. I can control my body however I like".

She replied "Bullshit! You're just making stuff up". I was a bit taken aback. After all, Fox never swore like this. A smile creeped up on my face, and I asked "I am? Then let me show you something".

I controlled my energy, and adjusted my heartbeat. My heartbeat was the same as Fox's right now. I asked "Can you hear my heartbeat? It's the same as yours". She listened for a while, and exclaimed "It really is!... I still don't believe you. Matching someone's heartbeat, it could be learned, I'm sure".

I asked "Then how about this?". My energy stopped flowing, and I had no heartbeat, no pulse, no signs of life. She stared at me, and asked "How is this possible?". I stood there unperturbed, and replied "I told you, for me it is. This is just some simple things I can do with it. It's based on what I know from medical knowledge. I just learned this, so I will need time to explore it". When I finished saying that, my body returned to its normal state.

She said "You will be even weirder now… Why would you even train that?". I replied "Not Saying!", and smiled. It was the same reply, I usually got from Fox, when she didn't want to share something. She didn't seem to happy about that, and replied "You won this time". I smiled, and turned towards the stage. I still had to confirm, whether my sword was really on that Liana woman or not.