Seqina and Cadell spent their entire day hoping to find Elalios’s whereabouts. They weren’t successful, so they decided to return to the castle, defeated for losing Kael, and losing two of their fellow servants. They blamed their weaknesses for allowing bad things to happen as soon as the Earl left. There’s still more time to fix the problem, but they couldn’t see how they would do that.
The next day, their predicament reached its peak. While inside the castle, thinking about what they should do next, they heard the frantic preparation of the guards outside. The Earl returned earlier than he should be.
“Cadell..”
“We can’t escape this, Seqina”, Cadell said, convincing Seqina to stay inside the castle. “We must face Lord Gideon”
The guards opened the door, and gave way to the Earl. The Earl looked around, and saw that only Seqina and Osbert greeted him.
“We awaited your return, Lord Gideon”
“There are people missing”, Earl Gideon said.
The two servants didn’t say a word. Earl Gideon looked at them in silence, and realized that something was amiss.
“I want to have a rest”, Earl Gideon said. “Prepare yourself”
The Earl left the two servants. Seqina and Osbert stayed in place anxious, as the Earl didn’t walk towards his own room. They waited for the Earl to return, which after a while, came back to them.
“Where is Kael?”
“My lord..”, Cadell couldn’t continue what he was going to say.
The Earl commanded his guards to leave them in the great hall. “Lead the way”
Cadell marched underground, leading Seqina and the Earl to the secret room. The old man wanted to slow down his pace, but he was discouraged by the heavy steps of the Earl. The servants positioned themselves in front of the Earl at the moment they arrived in the secret underground room.
“Cadell,”, the Earl said, his voice deeper than normal. “Speak”
“My lord, I apologize”, Cadell paused. “Kael is missing”
The Earl clenched his fist. His face was beginning to lose its calm composure. His eyes darted towards Seqina.
“But my lord, Kael is alive”, Seqina said. “In the village of Lucien believers”
“You didn’t get him?”
“My lord, if I may..”, Cadell said evading the Earl’s gaze, looking down.
“Speak Cadell”
“A demon went to the village. We co–”
The servants heard a burst of flame. They saw the raging fire engulfing the right hand of the Earl. They didn’t have the courage to see what emotion the Earl expressed on his face.
The fire get stronger that they could feel the painful heat, but they tolerated it. They closed their eyes and ready themselves to receive what’s coming. But…
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It didn’t arrive.
“Let’s go”
The Earl said his command. And although the servants were surprised about what didn’t happen, they knew that they shouldn’t make the Earl wait for their obedience.
At once, the Earl was outside the castle along with his two servants. The servants readied the carriage, but the Earl stopped them.
“Come with me, quick”, the Earl said.
The Earl held their hands.
[Full Boost]
Afterwards, only the gust of intense wind was felt by the town of Cleron. The Earl and his servants disappeared in an instant.
----------------------------------------
Kael and Elalios agreed to talk inside the hut made for worship. Inside, Kael narrated the experiences he went through after gaining his body, and some of the experiences he had when he was Lucien.
Kael said many things that he thought he will never have to say to anyone. It kind of relieved him to release some of his secrets, but he felt guilty that he exposed himself to someone that just looked like his friend from the past.
“You’re a god”, Elalios said after the revelation that Kael made him know.
At this point in time, Elalios believed everything that Kael said. However absurd, after witnessing the things Kael can do, he knew that the child will not lie to him.
“It’s a coincidence that I have the same name as what my grandparents worship”, Kael said.
“No.. no, no, no, no, no. You are Lucien, the person they were waiting for all this time”, Elalios said.
“I didn’t say any of those things you preach”
“I invented most of it”
“I didn’t claim that I will return”
Elalios refused to listen to Kael’s attempts to distance himself from the god of Lucienean faith. He was sure that Kael, or rather, the soul that gained the child’s body, is the Lucien that he thought didn’t exist. The story of the child matched the authentic teachings of the said faith. Kael may deny it, but Elalios was assured of his truth.
Kael could only shook his head seeing that Elalios was too stubborn to listen to him. He did, at one point, considered that he was the Lucien of Lucieneans, but he threw that thought away.
Elalios had many questions to him, many of which were about the things he did in the past. He realized during Elalios’s questioning that there are people that attempted to taint his reputation. Unfortunately for him, the attempt of those people succeeded.
“What will you do now?”, Elalios asked, eager for Kael to answer.
“I need to get stronger”
Elalios was reminded of all that happened to the child. “I apologize”
“You already did, I forgive you”, Kael assured Elalios.
“Can I help you in any way?”
Kael was confused hearing Elalios’s question. He wasn’t sure if the man suddenly switched to support him, or Elalios have some ulterior motive.
“Why would you help me?”
Elalios jolted slightly. He forgot for a moment that Kael knew his connection with the Earl. He is one of the servants of the man that captured the vulnerable Kael.
“You don’t trust me?”, Elalios asked.
“I will be honest, it’s hard to trust you”
Elalios showed a smile. “I see”
“I can only trust myself”, Kael said. “Especially now, that demons still exist”
“I will help you with that”, Elalios stated. Kael looked at him as if to reject his offer. “Let me prove to you that you can trust me”
Elalios offered his hand to Kael. Kael was reluctant, but he slowly moved his hand towards Elalios’s. But before they managed to establish their agreement, a strong gust of wind disturbed the whole village.
“What was that?”, Kael asked.
“Stay here, let me see it”, Elalios said as he rushed outside to check the cause of the disturbance.