“Prophecy?” Lakshman asked in puzzlement, raising an eyebrow in surprise. “What do you mean by that?”
Alestor looked like he was thinking about what he should say before muttering, “You won’t get it like this. I suppose starting from the beginning is the best idea.”
He turned his attention to Lakshman and began explaining from the start of the whole story.
“You see, in our world, each and every individual has this unique trait, an element that they are good at comparatively from the rest of what they do. Take me for instance. I am good at discerning the truth, seeing through the disguises, and knowing about one’s true self although there are limitations.”
He added the last statement with a wry smile, causing Lakshman to shrug his shoulders, looking sympathetically at him.
“I take it your M.E.D.s were designed to incorporate those abilities that which you are referring to?” Lakshman asked, trying to better understand what he was hearing.
The older man nodded and said, “That’s right, which is why they are incorporated with our D.N.A. so that they function only when used by us.”
“Wow. I didn’t hear about this,” replied the Solaris Hero, looking surprised.
“You haven’t reached the stage where you can learn all about these things,” stated Alestor with a light chuckle. “Anyway, due to that, each of us are able to use magic freely but we are more proficient in using magic that’s related to our ability or element if that makes sense to you.”
“Element, as in fire, water, earth and the rest, right?” Lakshman asked, just to make sure he was understanding this correctly.
“Pretty much. For example, the royal family are comprised of Fire Magicians because they are good at using fire more than the other elements.”
“Right, and how does that relate to this prophecy regarding Erza?”
Alestor suddenly looked sad as he explained, “It was a prophecy that was prophecied by her own mother, Zera.”
“Z-Zera?” Lakshman asked, finding the name somewhat familiar. It took him only a moment to realize the significance and ask, “Wait. Isn’t that simply rearranging Erza to spell Zera?”
This time, Alestor laughed at the quick thinking of the young man and said, “You’re right, but it’s the other way around. They decided to name Erza after her mother for good fortune.”
“Good fortune…” muttered Lakshman, having mixed feelings about the way she was named.
He felt happy knowing that his wife’s name came from her mother and felt sad that she never once had good fortune until she met him. This made him, once again, feel the shame of not knowing anything about the backstory of his wife.
“So, Zera possessed Clairvoyance as her ability?” Lakshman asked, forcing himself to focus on the topic at hand.
Alestor nodded and replied, “Yes. It’s a very rare ability that one in a million for every century or so.”
“I believe so,” said Lakshman, nodding his head in understanding.
He remembered from his past of meeting several of these rarely known Clairvoyance ability users, but he never believed them as they all turned out to be fake. The only time he met the real thing was when the Emperor of the World vanished, and the prophet that served by his side left him a dire warning, which was in the life before the current one.
“The world will burn, the land will die with blood, and the seas will take over. Be wary, young warrior, of the coming war that will destroy that which is around you. Action must be taken, but a great price must be paid in return.”
Soon enough, a year after the Emperor of the World’s disappearance, wars broke out across the world and, soon, he found himself facing off against the Calamity Titan. After successfully defeating him and, having lost connection to the past Phoenix Titans, he resorted to summoning the World Guardians to restore balance to the world in exchange for his life. Having experienced the prophet’s prophecy come to fruition, Lakshman knew not to take this lightly.
“It was incredible how she was able to correctly predict what was going to happen, but she had no control over her ability. Often, she would have this crazy flash of Clairvoyance, and she rambles about the future that we had difficulty understanding until it actually occurred. The World War Three, the Nuclear Bombing of the West, the World Reformation, and the Alien Invasion.”
Lakshman understood three of the four of what he said, and asked, “The Nuclear Bombing of the West? What happened?”
Alestor sighed and said, “It was a stupid decision, but these crazy headed scientists tried to experiment in creating solar energy using a nuclear reactor as its core. However, the experiment went out of control due to the mechanism heating past the contained point, and erupted into a massive explosion. Due to that, a lot of the land was destroyed and the rest was covered was contaminated because of the nuclear energy floating around, making it difficult for anything to live there.”
He sighed again and declared, “In one night, an entire country was wiped out from the map. It’ll probably take around 300 years for all that waste to subside.”
Lakshman appeared to be stricken with shock at the unbelievable story he just heard as he could not believe people would risk doing something so dangerous. Even if they had taken precautions on securing the mechanism, he felt they should have expected the worst and stopped it when it looked like something was going wrong.
“So, we believed in her ability to see the future, but we also knew it was sapping her life because each and every time she had this vision, she wouldn’t wake up for several days,” said Alestor, looking sadly down at his desk as he remembered the past. “No medicine could help her, and no amount of healing magic could recover her rapidly degrading health.”
He looked up at Lakshman and said, “The final prophecy she made was on her deathbed about her own daughter, and since then Erza had been confined to being hidden from society while also forcing her to wear that mask to conceal her presence.”
“But how did they manage to replicate her? I didn’t sense any magic or the kind at work.”
“It’s a device that changes the characteristics of the wearer to resemble the chosen target, and it’s known as the Mask of Disguise. The royal family funded the project, and developed it in secret until it was ready for use, which they had people don to disguise themselves as Erza.”
“I see. That explains it,” said Lakshman, nodding his head slowly in understanding. Then he looked at Alestor with concern and asked, “But why go so far? Just what was the prophecy about?”
At the question, Alestor looked towards Lakshman and said in a serious voice, “The powers of two worlds collide, and in between the clashes a princess gets involved, and whoever shall hold her will possess unforeseen powers.”
For a moment, Lakshman stared at him with disbelief on his face and then asked, “Huh? Unforeseen powers… just by holding her? Um… I’m sorry to admit but that’s really vague.”
“Have her by our side or have her hold us tight? Which is it?” Asura asked further inside his mind.
Alestor chuckled and said, “We don’t know the details. After all, the prophecy is still vague but we knew it meant that a powerful alien would come to invade our planet and take the princess away because she is, most likely, the key to unlocking his true power.”
“Yes. That does make sense,” replied Lakshman slowly, thinking over what he just heard.
“That prophecy does not make sense. If that were to be true, then I would’ve become really powerful since I did marry Erza in the future, and had a child with her. So, what’s the meaning of this prophecy?”
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“Who knows, but I kind of feel that Alestor is right on the mark,” replied Asura in a serious voice.
“How?”
“Think about it. An alien with powers to be unlocked, it most certainly isn’t that three-eyed freak we know off, but maybe someone else… someone we have yet to face.”
“The so-called Overlord?”
“Maybe… Just maybe that’s what the prophecy is referring to.”
“You might be right, but then who’s the other person? It can’t be me, is it?”
“It could very well mean that it’s definitely you,” replied Asura, appearing to think about it with great seriousness.
Lakshman nodded in agreement and thought, “Yes. That does make sense considering I’m the strongest warrior in this world or our world, and the prophecy did state that ‘the powers of two worlds collide,’ meaning that two warriors from the two worlds will clash in force sometime in the near future.”
“That is indeed something to worry about,” replied Asura in a firm voice.
While they were thinking things through inside their minds, Alestor watched with a look of surprise on his face. He did not expect that the other person would readily take the prophecy so seriously and think with such serious intent on his face.
After having finished through his thoughts, the Solaris Hero looked at Alestor and asked, “Is that why she’s confined to hide her presence, and identity just to avoid that future confrontation?”
He appeared angry, and Alestor did not blame him since he kind of felt a deep attachment the young man had for the princess.
“It couldn’t be helped,” began the older man, causing Lakshman to appear suspicious. “She is the catalysis that would bring the destruction of our world since naturally there’s going to be a massive battle. Make no mistake, the king loves his children very much, but for the greater good of the society, the king ordered her isolation.”
“And Erza went with it because it was orders passed by her own father,” added Lakshman in a sad voice before sighing deeply.
Alestor nodded and stated, “That’s right, but she does not know the real reason behind this, as she continues to believe he just disliked her since part of the blame for her mother’s death was put on her.”
“Scumbags!” Lakshman said sharply, looking very angry when he heard that. “They’ve got a lot of nerve to do that to her!”
“It’s been done and gone over with a long time ago,” replied Alestor, looking serenely at him. “I, for one, want to free her from her current situation but now’s not the time because… you’re here.”
“Huh?”
“Basically, you’re part of the prophecy; a super power from another world. You’re one of the two key players in the prophecy, but I am worried who the other person will be. I really do wonder about that.”
Lakshman stared at him in surprise and asked, “Did you read my mind or something?”
Alestor shook his head and smiled as he replied, “I don’t have such a convenient ability, but it’s easy to guess since all the information on the table points to you. It’s obvious. Even a trained monkey would be able to discern this better than the well-educated fools that call themselves wise, but get drunk on power and lose themselves to their desires.”
He was speaking harshly about the very people that he works with because he was angry with their attitude. This, however, made Lakshman feel as though he did not know the people as much as he should. As such, he made a mental note to observe the people around him and understand that situation because, unlike in his world, his movements are restricted.
After sighing deeply, Alestor looked at Lakshman and said, “Well, if you don’t have anything more important to discuss, it’s getting late, and I’d like to sleep now.”
“Ah,” Lakshman began, looking surprised at the sudden declaration that the older man made. “About that alien—!”
He stopped when Alestor raised a hand in a stopping gesture and said, “Leave that matter to me while you focus on your duties. Believe me, I am not happy to have something like that masquerading around as one of us, but now’s not the time. We’ll wait, bide our time and wait for the right opportunity to take it down, and when that time comes, I’ll let you know. So, please, be patient till then.”
His manner of speech was that of a man imploring the other person, which was Lakshman. The Solaris Hero understood this and nodded in agreement, knowing too well that this was not the time to act rashly.
“Alright. I’ll leave that matter in your care, but what about Erza?”
Alestor appeared to hesitate for a moment, thinking what was the best course of action, before saying, “Let’s see… There’s nothing we can do since the hold over her is tight, and I don’t see how to free her. There’s also that prophecy that’s making things complicated because we know it will happen sooner or later. Your presence is the visible proof of the prophecy beginning its countdown and nobody can stop it."
Lakshman was surprised at seeing Alestor give up and was about to protest when the older man suddenly suggested, “Instead, why don’t you focus on spending some quality time with her and cheer her up? I get the feeling she is very important to you, that I think, even her mother would appreciate that.”
Lakshman chuckled and said, “Sure. Leave that to me,” and rose to his feet.
The older man also rose to his feet, and the two shook hands firmly as a gesture of alliance with smiles on their faces. A moment later, they broke from the handshake, and Lakshman left the room while flying through the air silently with Alestor watching him from behind.
While flying through the air, Asura suddenly spoke to him inside his mind.
“You know… this man is something else. He was able to speak to us and see you despite Silencer and Hidden being active.”
That small fact made Lakshman widen his eyes in shock as the realization finally dawned on him. All this time, both the magic spells Silencer and Hidden were active, yet the older man was able to see through it and even converse with him. This fact made him realize, once again, that having Alestor as an ally was a great help.
“Making an enemy out of him would be a bad idea,” he muttered with a wry smile on his face. “Anyway, it’s sad about the life that Erza led before meeting me. It’s hard to think she’s so energetic and helpful in our world when thinking about what she went through here.”
“Emilia had the most difficult life out of all of them,” stated Asura as a reminder to him.
“Hey now. They’re my wives and it’s not nice to compare them to each other. That’ll be like comparing my left hand with my right hand,” replied Lakshman firmly, causing Asura to chuckle. “I’m only saying that Erza had a difficult life that she never wanted to discuss with me.”
“Well, now you know, so what will you do?”
“Do what any loving husband would do; treat her nicely, and make her happy.”
“That’s vague.”
“Perhaps, but no one really knows what they’ll do until they get there, so let’s think about this later,” replied Lakshman with a grin on his face, flying through the night sky with the stars twinkling high above him. “But it’s been a while since we came to this world, hasn’t it?”
“It sure has been. More than two weeks, I believe?” Asura asked, sounding a little doubtful about their duration.
Lakshman nodded and said, “It has been a while, and I wonder how everyone’s doing back home.” He appeared to ponder for a moment before breaking into a smile and saying, “They’ll be fine! They’re my wives after all!”
Thinking happily, he continued to fly towards his room with Asura silently agreeing with him. They did not know that at a place far, far away, across both time and space, nine women sneezed at the same time.
“Wow!” Venezuella said, looking surprised while rubbing her nose while holding her baby daughter. “We all sneezed at the same time.”
“We sure did!” Cantia said, looking amazed as she glanced around at her fellow sisters while cuddling her baby daughter.
“It sure did surprise me,” admitted Sumara, grinning sheepishly while letting her baby daughter sit on her lap.
“Why did that happen though?” Sonia asked, who was holding and patting her sleeping baby daughter on the back.
“I think someone was thinking about us very passionately,” stated Erza, doing a similar action of putting her baby daughter to sleep like Sonia.
“Passionately?” Silvera asked, looking doubtfully at Erza while hugging her daughter. “Couldn’t it have been a coincidence?”
“Coincidences doesn’t just happen so randomly, Silvera,” said Tetra with a smile on her face while cuddling her baby daughter. “Every action, every meaning, every decision has a reason behind it. We just have to search and find it. That’s what Lucky always told me anyway.”
As Silvera nodded her head in agreement, Emilia was surprised by her words and asked, “Lucky…? Wait…! What if… it was Lucky?”
Hope was glimmering in her eyes when she asked them for their opinion, realizing that she must be right. Sure enough, everyone seemed to think the same because they glanced around and smiled happily at her.
“It probably was Lucky thinking about us,” said Ondine, playing with her baby daughter and smiling at Emilia. “I mean, who else in this world or any other world out there that care about us as much as he does?”
“Good point,” agreed Tetra with a smile, remembering back to the many times their husband came to save them. “It wouldn’t be a surprise if he’s fine now and is thinking about us.”
They all started smiling at each other at those words while playing with their own children and felt a sudden surge of warmth and love for their husband. He had been gone for a while with no clue whether he would return or not, nothing to keep their hopes up except for the promise he made. But they knew, he would return as promised for it is what their husband is: strong, brave, courageous and, most of all, honorable.
There were a few seconds of silence in which they smiled at each other before Emilia asked, “You know what we should do now?”
Wordlessly, they nodded in return, and their smiles widened. They placed their hands together in front of them, closed their eyes, and began praying for the wellbeing of their husband.
“Wherever you are, I hope you are well. We are fine, so please be safe, happy, and come home soon.”
They remained like that, silent and still while continuing to pray for their husband. In the meantime, Lakshman sneezed much to his surprise. Rubbing his nose while flying towards his room, he glanced around and wondered whether it was because of the chilly night. Then he felt this strange sensation wash over him, a warm sensation that he remembers fondly feeling when he was together with his family.
“I suppose they’re thinking about me,” he muttered, forming a fond smile on his face. “It’s good to be loved.”
Feeling happier than he felt that day, he continued flying towards his room under the starlit night, where they were twinkling beautifully as a reflection of the happiness he felt inside.