Zaphion looked at Willow seriously before he began to explain “breaking his magic was harder than I thought, my soul could dissipate after you leave this world,” he sighed dejectedly “although I don’t regret what I did, I’d rather you choose a body for me than be reincarnated in a world under his control once again,” he stated “you want me to choose your body?” Willow stated incredulously “of course ... I would like to come along with you to lend you my strength since I was unable to get rid of all that ring’s power,” when he said that he looked disappointed in himself, Willow was also affected by the original’s feelings and so could only reply with “fine I’ll come back for you,” Willow promised without the slightest hesitation, nodding in satisfaction Zaphion entered the magic circle below his feat “until the veil on this world is lifted ... here is where I’ll stay,” he whispered “fine,” Willow sighed before he remembered something from the past and began spacing out as his mind ran to catch up with the three-hundred year old memory.

He was a young blond haired noble called Adrian Grove, it was strange that he had golden blond hair and electric blue eyes as he almost always had black hair and purple eyes but what was stranger was his role in this world’s plot. He was nothing more than a wrongly accused cannon fodder and tool to boost the lead’s love towards one another, he wasn’t mentioned much and only after he was ‘killed’ did it turn out he was the protagonist’s half brother and the villain’s half brother which effectively made the two enemies brothers as well. He was a quiet boy and the task’s issued to Willow at the time were few and far between giving him too much free time which he spent getting to know Zaphion who at the time was a young wizard aspiring to become a God, one day he was taken and thrown in jail where it was reported to his brother’s that he had died. It was the female lead’s plan to destroy the protagonist’s would be good brotherly relationship with the villain, she succeeded and whilst their younger brother rot away in the imperial prison where he was tortured and starved they fought amongst themselves until the villain was also thrown into the prison. When the villain saw his younger brother on the verge of death he cursed their older brother and successfully derailed the plot and world’s fate, this was also the lifetime Willow learned how to escape the God’s control and also the lifetime Zaphion gained most of his powers.

Quickly snapping out of his thoughts he pulled out a black dagger then cut the tip of his finger and dripped the blood onto the magic circle "we are now connected with blood," an amused whisper sounded "you did not use my summoning blood on your personal matters," not really shocked at the irresponsible God in front of him he cut the now healed finger once again this time succeeding in summoning his tome. The red blood dropped onto the golden circle and out came a leather bound tome; it was thick and had the symbol of a rose on the front looking very ordinary compared to what he was used to. He picked it up and hid it within his robe "see you later," he called over his shoulder as he was leaving "haha yeh," a quiet laugh responded as a beep sounded in his head, his ring began flashing again [train in the Dark Arts, 3 years] when he saw the time limit he was over the moon 'wow 3 whole years to do with as I please, my plan will work' he was so excited as he headed to his room that he didn't notice his brother glaring at his retreating figure nor the huge smile on his face, even if he did notice he wouldn’t have cared. Once back in his room he took the tome from his robe and hid it under the bed, he removed the robe and washed up before sliding into the worn out bed and finally getting some rest.

The next day he got out of bed and changed his clothes before putting his robe back on and fastening the rose pin to it not noticing the small habit he’d picked up already, he walked leisurely out to the old garden not too far from his own room. No one had visited the garden in many years so he had claimed it as his when he read the original’s memories, he sat beside the large pond and even though no one visits it anymore it was very well kept and utterly beautiful 'stage one begins now' he let the mask slip hoping someone would see the calm and sweet face of the child Willow really is, Willow was only 14 when his brother met Lily and was about 18 when he died so the childish personality seeping through was something to expect 'truly sad' he thought to himself how awful Shawn was to the original Willow despite them being brothers. Not long after arriving he noticed someone's presence in the garden with him but he didn't bother turning to see who it was, this was what he wanted after all.

Shawn was walking towards the abandoned east wing of the mansion "I'm sure I saw Willow head this way," he mumbled but didn't stop walking as he walked down the dusty corridor he passed a slightly opened door, peeking inside he saw a small relatively clean room consisting of a bed, wardrobe and bucket of water the window was covered in a thick layer of grime blocking out most of the light. At first he was clearly surprised but then thought it was a servant’s room after inspecting the wardrobe which only consisted of one set of clothes, he went over to the bed and noticed a name scratched into the headboard along with a large amount of dried blood but what really shocked him was the name "Willow?" he traced the name engraved with hate and unwillingness and somehow those feelings were transmitted to him making a tear escape his eyes, wiping it quickly at the thought of Willow blaming Lily he trudged out of the room. He continued along the corridor but it stopped not long after the door to the bedroom, this door was also open but it led outside instead. He pushed it open to see a beautiful garden that was well looked after yet slightly overgrown, quiet and not a person in sight. Well that was to be expected after all the east wing is the servants quarters, they didn't have many servants as it is. Then he spotted a person sat by the pond who wore a worn out black robe, his face was beautiful and felt familiar but he couldn't put his finger on it as he stood there in a trance, he felt attracted to this serene person who had long black hair and a peaceful smile on their beautiful face. That was until they turned their head towards his direction, he came face to face with his younger brother Willow. After a moment of staring at Shawn he returned his ice cold indifferent expression and stood up from his spot on the grass, Shawn was still dazed as he walked passed him.

Willow headed to his room and shortly after Shawn followed suit, pretending he didn't notice his older brother Willow stepped into the bare room and sat by the window, rubbing away some of the dirt with his robe he looked out at a cherry blossom tree. He returned his calm slight smile look as Shawn stood by the door not wanting to disturb the beautiful scene again, to say seeing his brother look at something with a different expression was beautiful would be an understatement and to say he wasn’t jealous would be a lie. Realising his own thoughts Shawn sneered in disgust and walked away, he headed back to the main building with quick steps and resolution.

Back in the room Willow had a deep sinister smirk plastered on his face 'just realised how your brother has been living Shawn?' his thoughts settled down and his face turned icy again as he got up and closed the door, he retrieved the book from under his bed and sat down to read it's contents. When he opened the book his ring flashed [level up to at least 3 within the time limit] it had no time limit so he assumed it was the one from the other task he hadn't completed yet, this world made magic training so hard it actually takes close to two years for the average person to level up from two to three. He sighed again but continued reading for about two hours before giving up and putting the book back under his bed, he’d already memorised it anyway 'this world seems too easy and carefree' he began to think deeply as he sat on the window with a carefree expression masking his real expression 'could it be because of Zaphion?' he reached a logical conclusion and dumped all of the blame onto Zaphion and his magic despite the nagging feeling in the back of his mind, the magic Zaphion used to weaken the rings control wasn’t as strong as he originally thought.

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Then it occurred to him that he’d agreed to take Zaphion’s soul with him "Hmpf," he fell off of the window seat onto the floor as he barely held in his laughter at the thought of a God’s soul being held within the palm of his hand, just as luck would have it he continued giggling like a child and genuinely didn't realise Shawn and his father had entered the room "what are you laughing at, your stupidity?" Shawn spat venomously making Willow notice them and immediately stopped laughing; replacing his emotions with a cold lifeless look he stood up and turned to face the two of them. Shawn couldn't believe such dead looking eyes belonged to someone still alive, he remembered Willow was four years younger than him and still just a child of no more than 14. The icy look in his eyes was worse than any of the veteran soldiers he had fought and lost against before, he’d once asked them why they never so much as smiled let alone let up on the cold ice within their eyes ‘betrayal’ is what they answered him with, even Shawn knew a human’s truest emotions were revealed in their eyes. Their father also saw Willow’s dead look and guessed the same thing, his heart clenching painfully in his chest. This was the first time either of them had seen Willow’s eyes so unguarded and raw with true emotion, they were slightly startled but didn’t let it show.

"Shawn, General," Willow politely greeted his brother and father "Willow is what Shawn told me true?" his father asked confusing him slightly although he didn’t let it show on his face "is what true sir?" he asked back coldly shooting a glare at Shawn who glared back "that you are implicating Lily in things she didn't do," finally figuring it out Willow hardened his expression further and clenched his fists so hard his nails drew blood, his father noticed but didn’t say anything "my only son and his fiancé are being implicated by a mere servant," he was angry at Willow’s lack of respect and couldn’t care less at the boys bleeding hands, he didn’t notice the slight flash of pain in Willow’s eyes but Shawn did. Even though he wasn’t the original he took it upon himself to become the original, their shared memories and the emotions suppressing his original personality caused pain deep in his heart, Shawn realised what was wrong with his fathers words and tried to intervene "father what you are saying is out of order ... Willow is my younger brother and your son, how could you say that?" Shawn didn’t like Willow because of Lily but if their father knew Willow was his son but still said these words it was the same as disowning Willow and even Shawn didn’t want that, deep down he knew Willow was just an innocent child whose methods at trying to get his attention were infuriating.

Their father was confused but knew Shawn wouldn’t lie to him like that "I would remember something as important as having another son left to me before your mother died," he rebuked "no father ... Willow is your son, look at the picture of mum and him in her old room if you don’t believe me," Shawn argued "what do you care anyway?" Willow muttered under his breath but both men heard him, realising he had uncovered something troublesome and depressing for the original he pushed passed them and started running towards the main entrance without a second thought "Willow get back here you bastard!" Shawn called angrily after him but he ignored the two sets of footsteps slowly catching up to him, the original’s memories and feelings rushed forwards making tears freely fall from his eyes as he ran trying to escape what made him feel the way he felt at that moment. Their father was quicker than them both and caught up with him before grabbing him by the waist successfully stopping his advance "le ... let go ... let go of me," Willow cried and struggled against the stronger man, Shawn caught up a few seconds later 'that's right shit-bags feel sorry for your mistreated youngest family member' Willow thought as he cried "come with me, prove you did nothing wrong," the general cooed in Willow’s ear and slackened his vice like grip when he felt the familiar throbbing in his heart, the hot breath on his ear caused Willow’s ears to heat up in embarrassment, his heart to skip a beat and pleasant shivers to travel down his spine. He didn’t understand nor want the feelings he was experiencing so chose to ignore them the best he could.

Willow stopped crying at the new feelings running through his body but continued to struggle against his father clearly making him angry "TRASH KEEP STILL!" Shawn was the one who yelled but their father only hardened his grip on him, Shawn’s words made him whimper and cower in fear thanks to the original’s residue feelings but then he tensed up at the pain around his waist 'fucking dickhead hurry and let go before you snap me in half' he thought when his father gripped him tighter yet again but he ultimately stopped struggling "shit I'm sorry," he whispered against the young boys ear slowly loosening his grip clearly noticing the shivers of pain coming from the boy 'I officially hate this dickhead' Willow thought as the man's words made his body react unfamiliarly again. His fathers unusually kind and gentle voice caused Willow to shiver once again as the new feelings in his chest began to grow; he was suddenly picked up bridal style as they headed up the stairs to the second floor then carried to the west wing where their mother used to keep all of her precious items and pictures, struggling anymore than he already had would be troublesome and he was lazy by nature so he lay there calmly.

It was well cleaned and looked after even though she had been dead for around ten years now, Willow was placed down and now walked beside Shawn still sniffling every now and then. They entered the brightly lit room "where did she keep the pictures?" their father asked them, Shawn just strode in carefully and looked in the study table drawer where he found an old journal. He passed it to their father who quickly flipped through it to find what he was looking for; sure enough he found an old portrait of a younger Willow sat with his mother in the garden at east wing. Willow was around three years old and the woman was petite, red haired and had sky blue eyes "Ashleigh left me another son?" it was easy to see the resemblance between the three year old and the fourteen year old, both of them had jet black hair that was longer than normal boys that shone a brilliant red under the midday sun, their smiles were both intoxicating and neither Shawn nor their father could take their eyes off of the picture of the two.

Willow quietly escaped and headed towards the library as quickly as he could before they found him 'well that was something that didn't happen in the original' he seemed amused now more than anything as he wiped his puffy red eyes again "oh my have you been crying?" Zaphion laughed in a whisper as always when he entered "of course I only cried to change the fate of this world and before you asked yes it did, it worked," he answered back coldly returning the usual mask and hiding behind several bookcases next to Zaphion "haha, I knew you'd do it kid," the whispered laugh sounded awfully eerie in the empty library "shut it before they find me, I can't be bothered with them just yet ... and I’m older than you," he also began whispering and after that Zaphion stayed quiet. He picked up a random book from the shelf and began reading; it was about the history of their country and was beginning to bore him more than distract his now wandering mind. He remembered the feeling of constantly being soaked to the bone in a freezing underground cell, the darkness was so thick even the torches placed barely one metre away couldn’t shine on him and the pain biting into his very bones when they whipped him on the snow covered mountain that was the entrance to his prison was unbearable. He remembered someone came to visit him once to ask him how he could try to kill his future king without a second thought, how he could laugh despite being in a cell so dark even magic of the light element couldn’t penetrate it although he didn’t voice these questions it was easy to see them written on his face “well now ... why are you here?” he remembers saying, he once again shook the thoughts from his head and continued reading the boring book before him.