"That was tiring." Dan said as he picked up his knives from the bodies, Clarence helped him in doing so as well as Herra.
–
Back over at the wagons, they were still cleaning up their armour while Caesar spoke with Heimer.
Caesar looked pressed to say something, Heimer caught wind of this.
"Speak Cee" Heimer said to Caesar.
Caesar looked up at him while hesitant to speak at first.
"...
I've been meaning to ask you, it's been bordering on my mind for a while…" Caesar said.
He and his uncle conversed for a while until he left, Leo then came along to speak with Heimer.
He explained to him about the dark energy.
" So that's how it is…
You've done well kid, the more we know the better" Heimer said to Leo.
"For "the eyes that see all" it seems to miss a lot of things.
At least this isn't something really serious." Heimer thought.
"Aren't you going to put off your armour, you haven't done so since that day." Leo asked.
"Would be wasteful
My inners are tattered." Heimer replied.
"Then take one from the reserves, doesn't get easier than that." Leo advised.
Heimer proceeded to sit at the back of the wagon wobbling it, then he resumed speaking.
"It's a waste, as long as It's in contact with me I can keep it on indefinitely, and on top of healing it also recovers my stamina and fatigue.
It's better to leave the reserves for those who will need it later.
Talking about reserves…" Heimer said to Leo.
–
Heimer opened each wagon one after the other, then removed the tarpaulin covering the supplies that consisted of small drums, boxes and other useables.
"Six days worth of food and water…" Heimer muttered as he left the wagon and looked towards the pillar of light.
"I don't know how large that light is, so I can't tell how long it will take us.
And we're down by two more horses." Heimer thought as he rubbed the back of his right palm.
–
They set off to the true boundary with more changes to the formation.
Rud had to give up his horse for Heimer whom led them.
Then Rud boarded Saul's wagon, while Ren sat beside Paul.
–
Leo sat behind the wagon alone as he gazed at the carcasses of the serpents.
[Ugh] He held his stomach softly.
They soon got into the trees before the true boundary, but their advance came to a stop nearly immediately.
–
They all gathered as they had a look at what was beside the path to the left.
"Are those eggshells?" Clarence asked.
"What else do they look like." Dan replied while rubbing her hair lightly.
What they stood before was truly unnerving, thousands of broken eggshells, each about half the size of a person.
"It couldn't be could it…" Gustev said to Heimer in a low tone.
Heimer's mind was far from present as he walked into the woods.
His gaze locked upon the only unbroken egg.
"Sometimes I wonder what gods I offended in my past life." Heimer thought as he raised his foot.
[Crack!
Splat!] He stomped on the egg crushing it.
Something wriggled from beneath his feet, it was a blue snake, similar to the ones they just finished slaying.
His stomp had broken its spine causing it to wriggle uncontrollably.
Heimer stepped on it one more time to end its misery.
He sighed.
"Argh!" Heimlich slammed his hand against a tree with a defeated look.
Nearly everyone there looked defeated, as Heimer peered into the trees, but he was in fact looking at nothing, just staring through empty space.
"Goodness gracious, it feels like the world is against mankind." Gustev thought as a cold sweat ran through his face.
"(Hey, why does everyone look dejected?)" Herra whispered to Karius in an innocent tone.
He looked at her stunned by her ignorance.
"You…do you truly not understand!" Karius grit his teeth while speaking.
"Hmmm...no." She stared at him and rolled her eyes diagonally upwards to left then right.
"Tsk." Karius shoved her aside, walking to Dan.
Rud stood between Laura and Paul.
"If what we fought were mere hatchlings, then what would the one who laid them look like." Rud thought.
"Laura, can you sense anything?" he asked.
She shook her head.
"Then why don't you use aether and increase the range." Cera requested.
Laura frowned, looking at Cera disgustingly.
"Shut up." She said to Cera as she clenched her fist.
Cera frowned as well, turning around then walking away.
"These two…
I second that idea as well." Rud said to the furious Laura.
She nodded and did as requested but the results were the same.
Heimer finally turned around, walking to the wagon.
He was remembering the conversation he had with Caesar;
***
"....The numbers on the back of our hand are in the order in which we awakened.
No matter how I look at it that's what it is, and you must have noticed that as well haven't you uncle?" Caesar asked his uncle.
Heimer closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
"Yes they are." Heimer responded.
"Leo is an oddity with the number zero, and you are number one, Fiona is three,and I am four, Karius is five and Herra six.
Rud is seven, Paul and Saul are eight and nine respectively, Laura is ten, Clarence eleven, Cera is twelve, Zefroth thirteen and Luka is fourteen.
...
Then who is number two?" Caesar asked Heimer.
"I had the same worries as you did, and I even searched around the empire yet to no avail." Heimer responded.
***
"There is only so much a man can worry about." Heimer thought as he kept walking to the wagon towering over everyone else.
He took long strides with a straight posture that showed no weakness.
[Knock! knock!!] Gustev knocked on Heimer's armour whilst matching his pace.
Heimer shifted his gaze to him.
"You're doing it again." He said to Heimer.
"Doing what exactly?" Heimer asked Gustev.
"It's an annoying habit of yours.
You always act like the world is on your shoulders, as if you should take responsibility for every single thing.
The world is no small thing...
You have yourself to blame if your shoulders begin to crack." Gustev spoke with thoughtfulness.
–
Minutes later and they were heading straight for the boundary, they would pass it in at most, twenty minutes.
What more was there to say about it, it was the most mysterious part of the empire, many knew of it yet none had gone past it.
It had led to many questions, since the dawn of the empire no one had passed it, even Heimer had tried many years back.
"This is the place I hate the most." Heimer said to Gustev.
"I'm starting to believe that ludicrous story of yours.
Years ago it sounded stupid, but now…well now it looks like something that would fit into this current world." Gustev said to Heimer.
"I may have told many lies during this my lifetime, but this is one I never told.
Yes I chose to venture the lands, my final goal was to cross the boundary.
My reason at that time was not for something as pointless as an achievement of being the first man to do so.
It was to see with my very eyes; the reason these very walls were built."
Heimer recollected the way the events played out with a frown on his face.
***
– More than thirty years ago –
Heimer rode on a horse past the false boundary, it was one of the few times his royal blood's influence had helped him overcome a problem.
He wasn't particularly upset that it did, he would have been stuck at the guard settlement without that.
This place was the same as it was even in the present, he rode through the very forest with no hold ups.
As he reached the gate pathway of the short wall, his horse reared up and refused to move, he did not understand its sudden change of behaviour.
After much resistance Heimer came down from the horse and decided to take things into his own hands.
He walked towards the the pathway and took a step outside it.
!
He was pushed back by an unknown force before his leg could reach the ground, it felt as though he had hit a wall.
When he pushed his hand against it, it couldn't get past a certain point….
***
– Present –
Leo sat at the back of the wagon with Caesar he stretched his head to get a peek at the boundary.
"Is it that exciting?" Caesar asked.
Leo stopped what he was doing.
"It isn't?" Leo replied with a question, he was in utter bewilderment from Caesar's question.
"Not really, and I'm not even sure if we will be able to go past it." Caesar said.
Leo put his hand on the jaw pondering.
"If it wasn't going to be possible why was the king about to resume reconstruction of the wall." Leo stated casually.
Caesar's facial expression changed for the worst, his eyes glowed as his halo appeared.
"What?!" Leo was shocked.
He was held by the neck by Caesar and dragged down into the wagon.
"Who told you that?!" He asked with fierce eyes.
Leo was choking, he tried resisting Caesar's grip by holding his arm but at that point his body was already weakening from the lack of air flow.
"What's wrong with you?!" Dan attempted breaking them off, by holding Caesar back.
"That's something not even Uncle knows, so answer me Leo.
How do you!" Caesar said still furious.
[Kugh] Leo could not muster up words, neither could he draw his aether in that situation.
Karius and Clarence finally joined Dan as they pulled Caesar away from Leo.
"What gives?!" Karius asked whilst holding Caesar tightly.
"He just said something that can't make me trust him.
leave me be!" Caesar yelled overcome by anger.
Dan let him go consequently letting Caesar overcome the others, after all his aether was released and theirs wasn't.
"Dan why did you…?" Clarence was confused as was Karius as well.
"Yes, go ahead and kill him Caesar, but you'll be sure to tell us what he said wouldn't you?
I'm sure the supreme would be overcome from joy if you killed Leo.
Would he Caesar?" Dan asked in an uncaring tone, his green hair swayed from the wind coming through the back of the wagon as his eyes reflected no light.
[Cough! Cough] Caesar loosened his grip on Leo's neck although not completely as Leo began to cough.
"Everything okay there?" Ren asked from the front of the wagon.
"Caesar, is everything okay?" Dan asked.
"Tch!" Caesar finally let go of Leo's neck, dismissing his aether and going to sit at the back of the wagon once more.