Age of Heroes

Then a voice answers from behind the door.

'You, father. I'm afraid of you.' And hearing this Arial feel hurt.

'You're afraid of me. Why?' Arial ask.

'All the killings father….do you not dream of it? Do you not hear of it? The screams and the cries? The pleading and the begging?' Ariadne did not answer the question and instead turned to other topics.

Arial expression turned hard

'I'm still your father. And I did it for your mother. What I did is in the name of love'

'I know you think that way father. But let's not deceive yourself. You did not do it in the name of mother, you did it for yourself father. You did it because you were angry and hurt. You could not find Liselle, so you use Zettel. A kingdom razed to the ground. The destruction!'

'It is my sins not yours.' Arial said, his tone is slightly higher than he intended

'The sins of the father, the burdens are on his children.' 

Arial silence himself for a while, balling his fist and blood dripped from his clenched hands.

'You're afraid of me then Aria. Maybe it's better that way.' He said. 

'If that is the reason, then that's good.' 

Ariadne listening to this is puzzled. What does her father means? She only said that because she wants her father to leave. 

She is actually afraid of herself. Fear that she would keep blaming her father. Fear that someday her father would blame her. 

Fearing that…look she could not take a step forward

'That is good. A week from now, I will depart to a journey Beyond the Dark Sea. If it's me you're afraid of, then next week, go outside and play with your peers. I will not be here. But my love will always be you.'

'Father wai-' Ariadne was about to say something when she heard the footsteps moving away. She opens the door and her father was not there anymore.

And she sighed.

'Father…. you never waited for me do you?' she asked to the wind

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IN THE THRONE ROOM.

'You sure about this Leander?' Arial said.

'Yes, we got good intelligence that a woman matching the appearance of Liselle asks a sailor of Venicia, a great ship of Captain Romano, to sail the Wavering Sea beyond the Dark Sea and drop her of at the Great Island Triangle in Deriga, one of the Three Islands of the Triangle.' 

'Anything else?' 

'She mentioned the Land of Shadows.'

'Again' Arial mused. It is like the Land of Shadows is calling out to him. 

Arial nodded.

'I will get my revenge. Did you send more spies?' 

'Yes, Your Imperial Majesty.' Leander nodded

'Good. Prepare to embark in a week. Pack up the supplies, call the sailors. Make sure this is a secret.' 

'Your Imperial Majesty, let us send someone to scouts to-'

'No, this is my quest.' Leander at first hesitated but people do not defy the Emperor if they value their lives.

Leander nodded and bowed.

'As Imperial Majesty commanded.' And quickly Leander leaves the throne room

Tonight Arial has to ask Mikael to explain again about the Land of Shadows. He will go there and his vengeance will be fulfilled. 

Three years without any good intelligence and finally now…. he suddenly got a credible information?

It's suspicious. Very suspicious. 

But Arial has determined to venture to the Land of Shadows. Maybe with him gone, her daughter would go out of the tower, and maybe even Rhysa would think of the matter of the marriage. 

Of course when he returns back to Eden after his journey is over…he still has to think about other things. 

But for now he decided that the Council would rule in his place when he is gone. To the masses the Empire will announce that Arial is resting in one of his villas in the Empire.

His objective includes capturing Liselle and asking her of the true mastermind, Order of Death. She is just a pawn in a bigger game. 

Arial has been investigating about Order of Death for three years now and he got to the conclusion that many high profile assassination has always been in the hands of the Order, creating conflict, an existence that has long been established, shrouded in secrecy and dark magic.

They need to be annihilated. This time it is not only for his wife. This time it is for peace. Order of Death invites chaos wherever they go.

They worship the God of Death, Askenael, the Reaper of Souls, one of the Thirteen Gods of the Thirteen Tribes.

Even without knowing that Liselle is there, he still needs to go to the Land of Shadows. Seek me the voice once again echoes.

'I shall seek you. And when I found you, you better give me the answer' Arial thought. As he decided he stands up from his golden throne and walk to the library.

Land of Shadows, the dragon is coming.

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RHYSSA ROOM

The candle flickered and Rhyssa ears caught some noise.

'It is me, Your Grace,' a man clothed in black clothing appear from the curtains. He hides himself well, Rhysa mused.

Rhysa then light another candle and then quickly ask.

'What did you find out?'

'We have investigated and we have reason to believe that the Dragon is preparing on a journey.'

'Where?' 

'Your Servant doesn't know, Your Grace.' Rhysa is clearly disappointed. She thinks a bit and said

'Alright. Get me more information.'

The hooded man then disappears without a trace, disappearing stealthily like a shadow.

Rhyssa then turned to her bed once again. Recently her intelligence squad got a news that said Silas will be returning to Eden. 

Years and years he stayed at Venicia, and suddenly he is returning to the Imperial Capital? Why? There is something afoot here.

Her marriage with the Emperor is not yet finalized but their engagement is. Rhysa will not let Arial push her away.

The more she sees of Arial the more she become annoyed and the more, she falls for her. He is hurt and for some reason Rhysa wanted to be the one to become the cure.

She wanted to touch his face, kiss his lips and tell him everything is going to be alright. 

Of course rejected by Arial did a dent on her pride but…. there will be no man like him ever again. 

Like there is no woman like her ever again, there will be no man like him again. 

She is confident if Arial fall in love with him, then surely he would become the man Rhysa believes him to be.

He just needed someone to believe him the way she was. 

Her family trusted her, her friend trusted her and all the while she was loved, more than she deserves.

But Arial, she believes is alone in his quest. She looks at the ceiling and said

'Wherever you're going, I'm going to. You will open your heart to me, Arial. And I will have the happy ending I deserve. Fate is after all, what we make of it'

Saying this she smiled. Rhysa is different than Arial in the fact, while she has pride, she will not cheat herself out of love.

She would fight for what she wants by tooth and nail

She loves him. 

A long time ago, her heart has spoken. He was her first love, forever and always. And while she has her responsibilities who says she couldn't have both?

Love and power.

Lesser men will not think of such. But Rhysa is not some lesser men. She is great woman, powerful and she never gives up on what she wanted.

And she wanted her happy ending, the moment she fell in love with that white haired boy

To cheat oneself out of love is the most terrible deception; it is an eternal loss for which there is no reparation, either in time or in eternity. 

So she will love him, until he loves her back or until the pain is so much that she could no longer bear it. 

But until that day come, she will love him, because if there is one thing about love she understand, it is that, sometimes people couldn't choose who they fall in love with. 

Arial fall in love with Rhysa the moment he sees her entering the ball and tries to deny it, but Rhyssa fall in love with him the day he defeated her, all those years ago and her heart had not changed even one bit. 

She has been curious of him, heartbroken when she heard that Arial was married, and secretly happy when her mother match her with Arial. 

And she knows someday, he will love her back. There is chemistry between them even with their barbed words and playful glances.

And there is an illogical confidence that somehow Arial would find his way to her.

'One day' Rhysa said.

'One day, you will fall crazily in love with me, like the love story in love songs.' And she smiles again.

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