It was the same valley of weapons, from his dreams.

But unlike the hazy feeling that allowed him to know that this truly was a dream was no longer present and instead it was replaced with a sense of hyper awareness.

He can feel the lifeless ground from his feet

He can smell the thin air around him.

He can hear the gusts of wind that flew by him.

This can’t be real right? Those were his thoughts as he looked around and found him. Andras Desper, siting atop a rock as he glanced at the side.

“I suspect you have questions,” Andras simply said as Thomas walked towards him and sat next to him.

“I have one,” Thomas spoke as he took a deep breath and sigh. “Why am I connected with you?”

“You’re my son,” Andras said in a low voice, Thomas gave him a skeptical look. “Your mother is Thalia Pryce, who was at the time one of my superiors.”

“Am I now?” Thomas asked in mild disbelief. “Then why did she left me for adoption?”

“Legacy,” Andras lowered his head. “Get the child of a war hero to support you and they will no doubt win the support of the people of Axis. And since Arios and I have done a lot of exploits it was natural that both of us would become almost venerated for our history.”

“But what do I know?” Andras said in a low voice. “I was long dead when you were born, the only reason they made you touch this was to more or less prove that yes you are indeed my flesh and blood.”

He materialized the Crimson Edge on his hands. Unlike the ones featured within the war museum, this version was restored to it’s former glory, it made Thomas wonder what was the sword like when it was still at it’s apex and not into the shattered form it was now on.

“Beautiful isn’t it?” He smiled as he placed it next to him. “It was forged with a magical property that makes it semi sentient. Because of this, it has rejected everyone unless the weapon deems it worthy.”

“Is that why it hasn’t been rebuilt?” Thomas asked.

“For the most part. Though it does has its times where it would grant authority for a brief period, when this was transferred out of the Museum and was recovered.” Andras nodded as he handed the sword to Thomas who continued to admire it. “It was temporarily wielded by one of your seniors. He was a good swordsman but he had the tendency to be brutal in his executions.”

He looked at his own reflection on the surface of the sword. The young man staring before him was gaunt, his eyes had a cold dead look on them and had a permanent frown on his face. Which was a far cry from the same young man who entered the Academy with bright eyes and an sense of optimism within him.

It was clear that he had started to change for the worse since the Embassy Attack.

“Even if I knew from the start, what do you think I should do?” Thomas asked setting down the sword and looked at Andras. "I've started to obsess on the idea of hunting down these extremists that I honestly began to lose sight of why I joined in the first place."

"Then why did you join in the first place?" He asked, Thomas pondered on this question.

For the longest time his reason to was to initially become an Officer as thanks for his step parents who took him. But as mentioned before with the Embassy attack, it made him realize that he took his reason so lightly that it made him forget the gravity of the situation he had placed it. It took two dead classmates and the ire of their family and friends for him to realize that.

And so he made sure to become a better student and to an extent a better soldier. But deep down it was more or less a coping mechanism for him to forget and set aside his own grief from their deaths, and then he discovered the Axis Liberation Front. It had slowly become a first priority for him to take them down using the logic of 'stopping them before they can do more harm' to the point that he had thought of using extreme measures to hunt them down.

"To give thanks to those that took care of me." Thomas answered. "But I had long lost my way."

"And Lissa?" He asked, Thomas gave him a confused look. "I had a feeling that she could have been a factor into this.”

If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

“I guess she does has a factor into it,” Thomas said finally chuckled. “But I don’t want to pursue a relationship with her, it was clear that the path we are both taking would be two different paths altogether. And I don’t want to get in the way of her own journey. Perhaps someday, if fate says it.”

“I understand,” Andras nodded, Thomas looked at his hands as they began to fade away. “Hmm, so it’s time for you to return. I want you to remember something.”

He placed his hand on Thomas’ shoulder and gave him a smile. “Regardless of whichever path you’ve taken, I am proud to see you grow into a young man, my sole regret is to never have been able to be a part of it.”

“Thank you.” Thomas smile as he returned to reality. “Father.”

[Axis:Legacy]

At the same time, Lissa also woke up within the same plane, but rather in a different part of it. She quietly sat down and closed her eyes, remembering her past as she did so.

Young Lissa sat quietly as she watched her two step siblings play outside while she remained inside, on her lap contained a Book telling the life of Arios Elpis. She turned for a moment as she found one of the maids walk towards her with Tea and Cookies.

“Why am I not allowed to play with my siblings? She asked with a sad look on her face as she turned her gaze.

The Main frowned, as if unable to answer her question. Instead she remained silent and left. Eventually Lissa just sighed as she returned her attention to her book.

Those were the daily routine of Lissa, because of the circumstances of her birth she cannot even enjoy the basic things of life. This led to her living an isolated and lonely childhood, this even led her to develop a deep resentment to not only her family who treated her as such but to her life in general.

Lissa kept a wistful look at the sky within that plane of existence that she found herself in, almost forgetting the figure walking towards her.

“So you’re involved with my life huh?” Lissa said with a scornful smile at Arios who had an uncomfortable look on his face. But he kept quiet, which further infuriated her as a whole.

“At a loss of words?” Lissa continued. “Or just couldn’t think of an excuse?”

“The former.” Arios finally said walking towards her. “You have to...understand that there are certain factors that such action was necessary.”

“That’s the best you can think of?” Lissa said giving him a dry laugh, this was probably her first and only chance to finally let it all out. The isolation and stigma that she had to endure just to learn that her father was a very influential figure.

And to think she even admired him and Andras only to learn that these two were more or less the equivalent of a deadbeat father.

“You, and I assume my real mother, thought it would be a good idea to just give me away to a family and pass me off as an illegitimate daughter?” She asked him sarcastically. “If this is some kind of prank then I am not laughing.”

“I know,” Arios said avoiding her gaze. “I wish I could have done something to at the very least let your mother be with you, but with my standing within the nations of Axis, Jorouse and Exavis. There was no other choice.”

“There was always a chocie,” Lissa said standing up and walking around for a bit, mostly to prevent him from seeing her cry. "For the longest time I wanted to know who are you but now that we've seen each other, I don't have anything else to say to you."

"I know, I am a failure of a Father." Arios said as he lowered his head in defeat. "That is one of my only regrets."

Lissa paused for a while and took several deep breaths to calm herself. And once more turned to Arios with a scowl.

"I suppose there are still some that I can thank you for," She continued crossing her arms in disapproval. "Thanks to the life you gave me, it has become a reason for me to enroll into this academy and grow out of the curse if a life you've given me."

"What about Thomas?" He inquired.

Lissa remained silent. It was true that she and Thomas were in love with one another but it was something they had both casted aside in hopes of reaching their goals, but the feelings are still there.

"When the time comes, maybe that will happen." Lissa finally said as she woke up.

[Axis:Legacy]

Thomas and Lissa sat along the staircase just outside leading to the Headmaster's Office. Their processing the information they were told after allowing themselves to be excused by Professors.

"So what's the point in telling us all that?" Thomas asked as he let out an exasperated sigh.

"I don't even know what should I do with all that information." Lissa said. "What's the point of telling me all this? Was all that to give me comfort that I'm not a bastard but rather I'm the daughter of some War Hero that's been revered?"

"I have an idea." Thomas smiled. "The way I see it, we don't need to be held back from their past. I mean it's not like the public will know that we're both their kids so why not surpass their own legacy rather than be shadowed by it."

"Like use it as a bar to success?"

"That's right," Thomas said with a nod. "We don't have to forget who they were but at the very least acknowledge them for what it's worth."

"Then let's make the most of it then," Lissa smiled at him.