The Petals of A Dream - II

Truth ((Chapter 10))

I cleared my throat as I took a deep breath.

"Here's the deal. I don't know everything. I'll only tell you what deemed necessary. WE don't have all day to have a nice chitchat."

"As long as you tell me something," she agreed. She clasped her hands together and closed her eyes, waiting for me to start.

"Okay... so maybe I should explain your heritage first.

The House of Leone was an ancient noble family. They used to be very powerful, but they fell into ruins roughly two decades ago. During the Last War, they were completely wiped out. No survivors were reported."

"Wait, so how come I'm a Leone?" She interrupted.

"Can you let me finish first?" I said impatiently.

"Sorry." She bit her lip and tucked her head in between her knees.

"Then," I continued. " It was only nine years ago when the war ended. But it caused a catastrophe to all inhabitants of Celes. Crime and poverty manifested itself in all forms.

It was around that time when we met you. Yhuelle and I are best of friends. His father was the Mage Lord, and mine was the High Priest so we were always together.

During one of our rounds, a dirty ragged child attacked us and demanded our money. Of course the guards reacted and the child was taken to the castle. It was a capital offense to defile a noble. He was tied but that child was very tough. No crying, no begging for his life. When he was presented to the Mage Lord, do you know what he said?"

She shook her head in response.

"In a calm voice, he said, 'You can take my life. You can take my freedom. But remember, I did not take any from you. While you sit here, dilly-dallying, my friends are dying from hunger. You can punish me, I can't argue. I don't hold any power. But it was no crime to feed oneself and survive.'

Everyone was surprised. Lord Fard simply laughed.

'That was a touching speech, young one. What is your name?' he asked.

'Yolan Rynvard, my Mage Lord.'

'Yolan, you're quite skilled. Why don't you release your spell, and relax a bit? We will not hurt you.'

To my surprise, the child smirked and shape shifted. He was actually a girl of my age!

'That's better,' Lord Fard smiled. 'It seem like you misunderstood something. You are not here to be punished. In fact, I would like you to take the food here and share it to your friends.'

That was the start.

Since then, you usually visit the castle, and the three of us became friends. We learned magic together. But something unsuspected occurred.

The Dark Earl, our enemy, launched his final attack. He prepared a great battalion of spell casters who used black magic. Everything was in chaos. During that time, I lost communication with Yhuelle and you.

Four years later, I met you again. You were working as an apprentice to the Alphas, the council of the strongest mages. You then told me that you wanted to be an Alpha yourself. You worked hard, and actually became one three years ago.

For some reasons, two years ago, you disappeared when Lord Fard died. You then appeared several months later with Yhuelle. How the two of you met, I do not know. I joined in as a spy in the castle. Together, we revealed the anomaly among the Alphas. They were the reason behind Lord Fard's death. They lost their position and were ordered to be exiled. We thought then that everything's finished.

Well... "

She lifted her head when I stopped talking.

"What's wrong?" she asked as tears rolled down her face. She immediately wiped them dry. She didn't want me to see them.

"I.. why were you crying?" I asked worriedly. I moved closer to her and gave her a big warm hug. She shuddered beside me.

"Nothing," she murmured so softly. I would have missed it if my ears were not this close to her. "Please continue."

It took me a couple of heartbeats before I cleared the haze in my mind. I leaned my head on hers, my lips touching her ears.

Here comes the part I hated the most. I sighed.

"We discovered your lineage.That you are the lone survivor of your clan. That it was the Alphas who ordered the death of your family. That they feared your House's power.

Nothing went well. There was a big battle. We had some good magicians on our side, but they were still stronger...

At the end, a lot died. Both on our and their side. Well, they were wiped out. But that's what caused the greater problem. The huge amount of magic unleashed that time caused imbalance on our world. The Core's light is fading. The Spirits are disappearing and nature is defiling itself.

Our world will reach its end. "

"And to stop that from happening, I needed to be sacrificed. They learned that I'm a Leone. That my magic was strong enough to support Celes. I.. I was chosen to replace the Core," she sobbed. I caressed her head and hushed her.

"So.. can you remember now?"

"Yes, but not all. Not that clearly either. My memory was returning in a backward manner. "

"So this is why Yhuelle kept on hiding you..." I dried her tears with the back of my hand. "The reason why he told me to take care of you."

I knew now why he took her to the other world. There, he could easily use magic on her and hide her.

But here in Celes, Abrielle's magic could manifest itself tenfold and undo Yhuelle's magic. Because here, she was stronger. That's why her memories were returning, because the spell on her was weakening.

"This must be part of their plan," I told her. "They knew if they get him, you'll come for him."

I must bring her back to the other Realm. I mentally ordered Karr to bring us to the Gate at once.

"No," she replied, obviously reading my thoughts. "I'm not leaving Yhuelle behind, even if it costs me my life."