[A song that should have been sung a long time ago.]
[A poem that should have been recited.]
[An oath that should have been sworn.]
[A harboring feeling that should have been confessed.]
[A promise that should have been fulfilled.]
[A memory that should have returned.]
[I thought I was already dying while casting that spell. It was ******* suggestion that I need to activate it while all of us are on the verge of death. The kingdom, now in ruins, has its citizens flee to the other land to start anew as the war has reached its conclusion.]
[We have won, but at what cost?]
[The Beast Lord has been sealed, and along with it are his ideals and dreams. But that war ended four months ago.]
[This is different.]
[General ****** both betrayed us and the kingdom. He became what Lena called it? A vampire and sets out an attack alongside his creations.]
[But we have no choice but to seal him as well, as our current power has no match for him.]
[I was worried about my younger brother ********. He is far too young to lead the kingdom, but I know that he can persevere with the help of the remaining knights.]
[To my foster brother...*******]
[I'm sorry.]
[I haven't saved you from his hands and it is my fault that you've died-]
[Wait...]
[Is that my past life?]
[The last thing I remember is I have touched the handle of the rapier that belonged to the prince-]
[No.]
[I remember now.]
[Everything, including the piece of memories that once belonged to grandma.]
[But the rest of the memories are still hazy.]
[Must be the side effect of 'Memoria'.]
[For now, I must focus on how to fix the mess that caused General ****** to transform into 'that.']
[And find out the reason why he betrayed us.]
*
Sephiram opened his eyes and was greeted with a sleeping Anissa at his side. He looked around at his surroundings and he guessed that he had been brought to the guest room. He shuffled to the side of the bed to rise when Anissa rose from her slumber.
"Big brother, you're awake!" She jolted when she saw her brother rising. "Are you okay?"
"I'm okay now, Anissa. There is nothing to worry about." Sephiram felt...relief when he realized that his headaches were gone now like he was floating in the air without interruptions. "This is the first time that I woke up from a dream."
"A dream. So, you remember everything now?"
"Yes. At first, the memories that I had were all dreams, but when I touched that rapier, I realized that it was a part of me all along.
"The war, the times we spent together with our family and friends, our hardships, everything was flooding back to me.
"But not all of it. There are still memories that are hazy to me until now."
"It must be the side effect of 'Memoria'. May I ask you something, big brother?"
"Yes?"
"Do you remember now who you are? And can you still live in the present as Sephiram Davis?"
He looked at the sunset through the window. He doesn't know the answers at first. Now, that everything has been cleared to him, he knows the answer. "Yes, ******, I am Prince ******** in the past, but I am still Sephiram Davis, a cadet of the Libertas Academy. I can still live both identities, the past and the present."
"Big brother..."
"By the way, how on earth did the Sliversnow clan get their hands on the half of Briar Rose?"
*
"Briar Rose?"
"It is one of the Royal Arms that the royal family held four hundred years ago." Mr. Sliversnow explained to his future daughter-in-law while the latter was munching on snacks. "It belonged to the crown prince. According to our ancestors' notes, the one in our possession is half of the rapier itself."
"And where is the other half of the rapier?" this time, Krishna asked.
"I don't know. From what I have read in the notes, the first King has had this rapier ever since he came here into this world."
"Whoa! He got teleported here?" Lena spit at her meal in shock.
"Yes."
"You mean, he's not a native of this world?"
"Yes."
"But how?"
The elder Sliversnow took out a four-century-old journal and placed it on the table. The journal has been worn out due to the passage of time. "This journal has been passed to our clan for generations. It belonged to the progenitor of the Mufulla technology and the Solaria weapons, Lena Smee."
"Lena Smee? As in, THE Lena Smee, one of the Crown Prince's elite soldiers?"
"She has the same name as me, but I'm not as smart as her." Lena pouted.
"You're dumb and a klutz."
"Hey!"
"Lena Smee, the progenitor of these technologies that we are using today, was with the first King of Lilitus Kingdom when they were whisked away from their original world." The elder man continued, ignoring the bickering in front of him. "However, they only got separated in the middle of their journey. The King arrived first in our world when the kingdom was not yet established."
The two stopped bickering, able to process what the old man had said. "And Lena Smee?"
"She wrote in this journal that she only arrived in our world four hundred years ago. At that time, the kingdom of Lilitus was established, and she was shocked that her companion had been the first King and had already passed on. Fortunately, she was able to bring her technology from her old world and presented it to the king at that time."
"And the rest is history, huh." Krishna took the journal from the table and carefully flipped its pages and was shocked that one of the pages had been smudged out. "Some of the pages have been smudged out, father."
"Lemme see." Lena peeked at the journal. "You're right, Krinny. (Flipping some of the pages) Some of them are unreadable!"
"Time has passed and the writings of the journal have faded out. But don't worry." He snapped at the secretary, and he took out a journal from his possession. The journal is a recent book and judged by its cover, it is brand new. "This is the journal that I have ordered the scholars to revise. This contains the complete set of Royal Arms that Lena Smee created throughout her career."
Krishna set down the old journal then took the other one and flipped its pages. He was amazed at what he saw. "This is..."
"Wait? 'Cinderella'? What kind of name is placed on a weapon, let alone a staff?"
"Not only that. (Flips more pages) 'Red Riding Hood', 'Snow White', 'Hansel and Gretel', and more. Father, how on earth has this journal not been handed over to the Government?"
"I have already sent a copy to them, and they were pleased. That journal is our copy so that when the time comes, the crown prince's reincarnation must read everything from that journal."
"By the way, if you guys were able to hold the crown prince's Royal Arms, where are the rest of them?"
The elder Sliversnow sighed. "Unfortunately, we were only able to salvage the prince's Royal Arm. There is a possibility that the Vampire God has the rest of the weapons and worse, those weapons have probably been used by his elite military."
"The Dark Stars," Krishna muttered. "We have no choice but to retrieve them when the time comes."
*
"Your Lordship, now and forevermore."
The Vampire God, hands behind his back, only averted his eyes toward the guard who was kneeling behind him, without turning his head. He was looking at the scene of the city's nightlife through the window of the throne room.
"General Elgafar's messenger arrived this evening and is now requesting your audience."
The man waved his hand in response, motioning the guards to open the throne room. The guards stepped back as the Messenger arrived in a hurried motion then stopped and kneeled in front of him. "Your Lordship, now and forevermore. I have an urgent message from Great General Elgafar."
He turned around and looked at the messenger. "Elaborate."
"It turns out that the uninhabited island that was used as a concentration camp has humans living with it." He reported. "Also," he took out an envelope from his breast pocket and presented it to his king. "He wants me to send this letter to you. He wants the letter to be in your eyes only."
The Vampire God took the envelope from the messenger's hands, tore its side, and took out the folded piece of paper inside it. He opened and read the contents of the letter. His eyes were wide open in shock at what was written in the letter.
"I see," he said smiling as he finished reading its contents. "Guard," he called the same guard earlier. The guard stepped in and kneeled at him.
"Summon Great General Aldebaran and Great General Spica immediately."