"By the way," Krishna informed the trio while walking through the second-floor hallways of the former's mansion. Pristine walls arrayed with golden linings; large vases filed up with a pillar dividing them each. Huge arch windows on the other side give out a dazzling display of the garden view below: flowers of different colors can be seen in lines of bushes, forming a large circle. Surrounding these bushes is a huge fountain that can be served as a relaxing place: gardeners of various races take a break and sit on its benches. The marble floor of the hallway is shining like crystals basking in the sun; servants and butlers bowed to their master as they came across him. "My father wanted to meet you."
Sephiram, Anissa, and Lena stopped in their tracks. "WHAT?!" was Lena's response.
"Yes. " Krishna repeated himself with a bemusing look. "The reason why I invited you is that he wanted to confirm his suspicions."
"His...suspicions?" Sephiram repeated, not knowing what was going on in Krishna's mind.
"You will know soon when we reach our destination." Was his answer.
A dozen walking later (with additional stopovers to greet the servants wherever they were passing by) the quartet stopped at a large door. Krishna turned on the doorknob and opened the door.
The room is surrounded by beautiful emerald, green walls, with a fireplace on the left and two beautifully designed sofas facing each other in the middle; a coffee table is set between them. Several bookshelves were placed on the right corner and in the centre is a large mahogany office desk. Behind is a huge window with white curtains tied on each side.
Krishna's father sat at one of the sofas, drinking his tea; porcelain teacups and teapots with blue cloud designs lying down on the table. His secretary is standing vigilantly beside him.
"Father. I have returned." Krishna announced and his father stopped drinking, putting down his teacup and standing up; half of the tea being drank off.
"Welcome home, my dear son." He said as he looked at Sephiram and his company. "Thank you for bringing our guests here."
"It's my pleasure." Krishna bowed.
"Thank you very much for inviting us here." Sephiram bowed as a sign of respect to the nobility. He gestured to Anissa to do the same.
"Pleasure is all mine. Please raise your head." Mr. Sliversnow reassures Sephiram as he and Anissa raise their heads. "You must be Sephiram Davis, right? My son told me all about you."
"Y-yes sir."
"Please, have a seat. We'll have something to discuss." He gestured to his secretary to assist the visitors. "I will have the maids prepare some tea."
"Pardon milord, but" Lena raised her hand to catch the lord's attention. "I will be going if the discussion is something important."
"Ah, I never thought that you were here Lena." Mr. Sliversnow noticed Lena. "You may also stay here. I want you to know this as well. After all," he proceeds to wear a face akin to a father wanting a daughter in the family. "As your future father-in-law, I want to see you very badly~"
"SHUT UP, OLD MAN! THAT FACE DOESN'T SUIT YOU!" Lena snapped, face red in both anger and embarrassment as Sephiram asked Krishna: "Wait, future father-in-law? Then that means you and Lena are-"
"Yup. Betrothed." Krishna smirked while watching Lena struggling to let go of Mr. Sliversnow's hug. "We never announced it to the general public, so we act as if we are a Master and Subordinate outside."
"Um, is that a bit...awkward to Lena?" Anissa asked as she saw Lena pushing the man's face away from her.
Krishna cleared his throat. "Father, we're not here to discuss my future marriage. We are here for something important to discuss."
"Oh," He lets Lena go while the latter sighs in relief. He straightened up. "Where are my manners?" He cleared out his throat. "Have a seat. (Head turns to his secretary) Kindly prepare the tea for them."
The secretary bowed in response.
*
"The reason that I invited you here is that I want to confirm my theory about you." Mr Sliversnow spoke in a serious tone. Sephiram and Anissa sat on the sofa, facing the elder man, Krishna and Lena. "My son said that you have experienced headaches whether you see certain events. Is that right?"
"Yes," Sephiram replied, twirling his thumbs. "Ever before I entered the academy, I was already experiencing flashbacks whether I was having a headache. My mother tried to suppress it with her medicine, but it only got worse day by day. Not only that, I also dreamed that I was in the middle of a battle or I was in a castle." He clutched his head, confused. "I don't know what happened to me, especially now the government found out that I was the one that the Vampire God sought after."
"Did your left shoulder hurt when you are experiencing these flashbacks?"
"Sometimes it glows soft light all the time."
"I came from the mainland," Anissa said. "I also experienced the same phenomenon as my big brother before all of my memories returned to me at once."
"Anissa!" Sephiram was shocked. He didn't know that his adopted sister experienced the same symptoms as him, yet she didn't tell him or Augustus. This is more complicated to him than it is now. "Why didn't you tell me this?!"
Anissa hung her head. "I'm sorry. The reason why I didn't tell this you is that I keep this a secret. I only give an amount of information about the mainland's current situation to the government, and I never told them about my true identity." She stands up and takes off her jacket, then pulls off the collar of her clothes exposing her left shoulder; the mark of the lilies engraved on its place. "I have had this ever since I was born but my real parents hide this by applying mud all over it." She turned to Sephiram while placing her clothes back in the proper place. "Ever since I can remember, I always experienced a strange headache following a brief flashback. I thought it was only a waking dream, until..."
"Until?"
"I accidentally touched one of the weapons that was hidden in the Vampire God's castle," Anissa remembers the day when she stumbled on the Armory by accident. She was curious about the weapons displayed on each table and wall. "It was a gauntlet resembling gloves that was lying on one of the tables with no glass on it. Curious, I touched the weapon and suddenly, I experienced a painful headache that was greater than I expected. From what my senior told me, I was found lying on the floor unconscious and they took me to the slave infirmary. When I woke up, all of my memories somehow returned, and I decided to escape the place. At that time, a rebellion between slaves broke out and so I took that opportunity to escape but the vampires subdued the rebellion, and they began to pursue me."
"And the rest is history," Sephiram concluded.
The elder Sliversnow thinks thoroughly. With the recent information given to him, he has already confirmed his theory. He looks at his son, who is his only confidant in this situation, and thinks the same.
Krishna looked at his father and nodded at him.
He turned his gaze to the siblings. "I see." He spoke. "Thank you for the information. What you both have experienced is a spell called 'Memoria'."
"Memoria?"
"It's a time memory spell that was cast by its user to reincarnate and seal its memories upon its death." He explained. "According to the ancient text, the reincarnated user will experience flashbacks of their past life during their episode of headaches. Most of the reincarnated users usually don't recover their past lives unless they interact with certain items that belonged to them in the past. That would break the spell itself."
"So that means-"
"What you touched is a weapon that belonged to you in the past. Strange that the Vampire God kept it in his armory."
"But what about me?" Sephiram spoke this time. He thought that if a certain item that belonged to him in the past was somewhere here in Libertas, he assumed that his headache would go away. "I don't know if there is an item that belonged to me in the past here in Libertas. Maybe I should look for it?"
"Don't bother looking for it." The elder Sliversnow gestured to the secretary to bring him an item. The secretary took a rapier that was wrapped in cloth and placed it on the center of the table. The old man unwrapped the cloth and its place is a beautifully crafted rapier, with a symbol of the Fleur-de-lis on its hilt. "This is the weapon that belonged to the prince of the royal family four centuries ago. We brought this along with us when we were fleeing from the Vampire God three centuries ago."
He looks at Sephiram with a serious demeanor. "I want you to touch the weapon."
Sephiram was confused.
"If you are the man that was sought after by the Vampire God, touch the weapon, and your memories will return."
Sephiram hesitated at first.
He knew all his life that he was Sephiram Davis, an ordinary boy who wanted to become a proud soldier of Libertas, surrounded by his family and friends, and wanted to live a normal life; If it wasn't for the headaches and strange dreams that plague him.
Now a solution was lying in front of him, he knew that touching the weapon meant that he would never return to the life he once knew. He wanted to refuse but what about his occasional headaches? He cannot forever rely on his mother to make his medicine and his brother is worried for his welfare.
But what about the people who suffered under the Vampire God? If he doesn't touch the weapon now, more innocent people will be added to the never-ending pile of corpses by the villain; for the sake of the man, he sought for three centuries.
What to do? What life does he choose? This is a point of no return for him. He must sacrifice his one cherished memory for the sake of the other.
Having made his firm decision, he touched the handle of the rapier and felt a painful throb on his head; so painful that the head would split apart.
He howled in pain, making all the people surrounding him panicking not knowing what to do, while his adopted sister and classmate leaned on him, supporting his body not to fall. The painful headache lasted for ten minutes and before he knew it, he lost consciousness.