The two reappeared at the crystal room and made their way to the waiting room that Sophia had been sitting at. Sitting beside the Royal Knight was Hilda, waiting patiently for her father's return. The four of them filled one another in on their situations.
RK Sophia: [Heirloom is refusing to return your memories, Ruby.]
Ruby curiously raised an eyebrow.
RK Sophia: [I tried everything, and he wouldn't budge.]
King Didus: [That'll be a problem.]
RK Sophia: [Yeah. Maybe Queen Ruby would like a chance to talk to him? I get the feeling that he would only listen to her.]
Ruby slowly nodded her head and began thinking about what Sophia could be planning.
RK Sophia: [As for his punishment?]
King Didus: [Death.]
Sophia shut her eyes and let out a small breath.
King Didus: [The punishment will be executed in two days, at dawn.]
RK Sophia: [Alright. That leaves us plenty of time.]
She walked towards the locked steel door and opened it without laying a hand on it. A strand of her hair glew as the door slid open.
RK Sophia: [Don't mention his trial and you should be fine. You have a time limit of forty-eight hours. Go get your memories back!]
Ruby: [Right!]
She walked through the door and was greeted by a dark, unlit room, with no visible sign of life and was large enough to hear her own echo. As Sophia shut the door behind Ruby, she flinched forward and let out a squeak. To her surprise, a man's sharp breath could be heard further in the room. A tingle ran down her spine the moment she began to think that a monster of some kind was sitting in there.
Ruby nervously: [H... hello?]
Silence followed. Ruby took a step forward and the cold fog that the floor was releasing tickled her ankle. She looked passed it and continued to walk forward.
Ruby: [Is... anyone there? It's queen–]
Chains rattling came from the same direction that the breath from earlier did. Ruby's heart stopped the moment she heard them. She took a step back and raised her guard.
Heirloom curiously: [Queen? Ruby, is that you?!]
Ruby frightened: [Yeah. I came to talk to you.]
Heirloom: [What was that?! I can't hear well anymore.]
As a result of the lightning strike, Heirloom had lost his strong hearing. He would need hearing aids if he wanted to live a normal life.
Ruby: [I CAME TO TALK TO YOU!]
A moment of silence passed.
Heirloom: [Oh... it's about your memories, isn't it?]
Ruby walked towards Heirloom's voice as he spoke.
Heirloom: [You don't really care about me.]
She felt a punch in her chest when he finished his sentence.
Ruby: [That isn't true...]
She found Heirloom sitting on the cold floor with Blackstone chains holding him in place. She sat in front of him and looked into his pale white eyes.
Ruby: [I want to talk to you... about what happened earlier.]
Heirloom: [You mean when you tried to sell me out?]
Ruby's eyes widened slightly. Heirloom chuckled.
Heirloom: [You're funny if you think I'm going to give everything up to be fair and square with a bunch of wealthy barbarians.]
Ruby: [If you don't want to be on even terms with them... what do you want?]
Heirloom: [I told you when you started getting used to living with us, don't you remember?]
Ruby: [I do... but it makes no sense. The royals haven't done anything wrong ever since they told me about you! It's always been the other way around... you're the only corrupted one!]
Heirloom began to laugh out of the top of his lungs.
Heirloom cheerfully: [Kings really have a way with words!]
Ruby flinched.
Heirloom: [You know, back when you were a kid you wouldn't stop complaining about how unjust the Northeastern Alliance was.]
He lowered his voice and his head while softly smiling towards the ground.
Heirloom: [You and I were close friends until the Dragon Age came to an end.]
Ruby: [What Dragon Age?]
Heirloom: [Months before the formation of the Northeastern alliance, dragons and wyverns lived in harmony amongst the humans and demis. They have a long and rich history with the humans in the Northeast that has been erased after the formation of the alliance. The time before the alliance is called the Dragon Age among historians.]
Ruby concerned: [What happened to them?]
Heirloom: [The previous king of Leviere, Siris, had an evolving fear of the species, including the subspecies- a crossbreeding of dragons and humans. The Dragon Tamers.]
Ruby was beginning to feel uneasy while listening to Heirloom's tale.
Heirloom: [Siris forced them out after a whole month of brutal war. The hundreds of thousands of dragons, wyverns, and Dragon Tamers had to migrate to the nearest kingdom, which was Penn... where I met you.]
Ruby held onto her chest.
Heirloom: [We were both young. At six years of age, we got along well and became close friends not long after we first met. Your parents and siblings were fond of me, and treated me a lot like family.]
Ruby: [So what lead you to believe the kingdoms were corrupted?]
Heirloom silently: [After the formation of the alliance, Siris forced all of the allied kingdoms to evict their dragons and dragon tamers from the Northeast. Once again, we fought for our right to live peacefully amongst the people, and lost. All of the remaining dragons and wyverns were thrown into southern territory, all history books of the species were burned and erased, and a select few of the young dragon tamers were allowed to live within the allied kingdoms. I was included with them.]
Ruby: [I don't mean to be asking so many questions, but why do you hate all of the kingdoms if it was only the late King Siris' fault?]
A moment went by in utter silence.
Heirloom sniffing: [After winning the war, everyone and their babies deemed Siris as the Savior of the Kingdoms. The entire time, everyone had a problem with the dragons, but refused to admit to it. They kept their hatred and fear of us bottled up for centuries.]
Ruby lowered her gaze. She could hear Heirloom trying to keep his tears from coming out, but she couldn't really see him. The pitch black room and echoing walls made it more obvious.
Heirloom: [I wasn't the only one that believed this either. Believe it or not... you were on my side back then.] Ruby widened her eyes.
Ruby: [I was only five years old. I couldn't even comprehend the idea of war or consequences.]
She heard Heirloom take a large, wet breath. He continued to answer her question like he never had shed a tear.
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
Heirloom: [But you did... you were truly the heir to the throne. You and I formed a squadron with the remaining Dragon Tamers. You created emblems and stuck them onto jackets, and gave us shirts that corresponded with our eye color...]
He felt the awkward silence after not feeling any emotion come from Ruby.
Heirloom: [Y'know what... it would be easier if I just gave you your memories back.]
He opened his inventory and navigated around it using his memory. Heirloom pulled out a glowing red book with Ruby's name written in gold, and handed it to her with a kick across the floor. The book was fairly large and had several color coded bookmarks scattered across the top. Ruby picked the book up and stared at it's light in awe for a moment. The book she had in her hands contained everything about the life she just learned she had.
Heirloom: [Once you open the book, everything about your life before the wipe will return to you.]
Ruby raised her head and looked at Heirloom.
Heirloom: [It'll be overwhelming at first, but you won't die.]
Ruby: [I thought-]
Heirloom: [Open it before I change my mind.]
Ruby flinched from the sudden interruption, then turned back to the book. Ruby took a large breath of cold air and stuck her thumb in between the hardcover and the first page. She didn't want to skip to a certain part of her life, she wanted to see everything. From the very beginning, the life of a noble; queen of a kingdom.
As soon as she pulled the two pages apart, she saw a tiny orb made of light fly out of the book and hover above it. Ruby stared at it as the light illuminated the dark room and revealed most of everything around them. The cold stone floors, brick walls, and the pitch black chains that had Heirloom's hands and feet tied. The orb levitated to the tip of Ruby's nose and hovered there for a moment. Ruby stared at it as if it were a mystical item.
The orb suddenly shot into Ruby's head, physically pushing her head back and forcing her eyes to stare up at the ceiling. The light from the orb began to seep out of every hole on Ruby's body. Her head looked like a disco ball as the light beamed out of her eyes, nose holes, mouth, and ears. Her body rose up from the ground and began to float midair with her arms down and head up.
As her eyes stared at the ceiling, memories began to flood her mind. For a moment she felt nothing, but after a year of memories forced their way into her brain, her head began to ache. She tried holding back her screams, but that didn't last long. She let out winces that later turned into cries. Heirloom stared her direction as the room echoed her screams. Everything from the life of Princess Ruby stormed her, from her first breath to the time she was taken from her family. As soon as all of her memories came to an end, she collapsed to the ground and the light emitting from her body faded away. She laid cold on the floor beneath her, unconscious; almost lifeless. Heirloom sat patiently beside her for a few hours.
Ruby's clothes rustled against the floor and she let out a small groan. As she rose with her palm against her forehead, Heirloom quickly called for her.
Heirloom: [Do you remember everything?]
Ruby sighed painfully.
Ruby: [Every little detail.]
Heirloom: [Then the revolution-]
Queen Ruby: [It isn't going to happen.]
Heirloom flinched.
Queen Ruby: [What happened to the dragon tamers is heart wrenching, and I feel terribly sorry for your losses... but, I realize now that the deportation of dragonkind was the only logical response to prevent their terrible plot against the kingdoms.]
Heirloom frustrated: [Terrible plot?! WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?!]
Queen Ruby: [You lied about the harmony between the dragons and the kingdoms, and you have been for the past century. You've been feeding me lies when I didn't know any better.]
Heirloom sat speechless.
Queen Ruby: [Your hatred towards the kingdoms has nothing to do with how they treated your family. Just like the dragons, you starve for power.]
Heirloom: [You're feeding into the lies your father told you! History was altered to fight against the dragons!]
Queen Ruby: [No... I know everything. The dragons were greedy creatures that would do anything, even collateral damage, just to get what they want. I can't emphasize the struggles that the dragons put my mom up against, or the countless times my sisters feared for my life as they watched me playing with the Dragon Tamers. The dragons have always been a phobia that the kingdoms feared to fight off. Everyday we lived in fear that your people would suddenly decide to kill everyone off. Luckily for us, King Siris changed everything.]
Heirloom: [You used to be on my side. Why are you turning against me?]
Ruby stood silently in the darkness while she thought of an answer. With her head lowered and eyes narrowed, she thought hard.
Queen Ruby confidently: [To take back the kingdom you stole.]
She let an arm out and a large white oval that released white mist formed out of thin air. Though the room was completely dark, seeing the oval sucking in the oxygen was as obvious as daylight. The portal was thinner than a sheet of paper. The glow from the portal revealed Heirloom sitting on the cold ground with his hands and legs chained. He had his head lowered and a regretful expression on his face. Looking at him made Ruby's chest ache.
Queen Ruby: [I still have something to try out.]
Ruby took the arm she used to form the portal, and rested her hands above Heirloom's black hair.
Regaining her memories seemed to have also unlocked a couple abilities she didn't know she had. Along with the controlled portal creation, she had a whole plethora of abilities and skills that branched off of them. Because her mother and eldest sister maintained control of the kingdom of Penn, Ruby and her sister spent a lot of their time with their father, who was a high class mage. Their insane mana banks from their mom's half-elf side, and magic control from daily practice came in handy whenever she needed it.
She closed her eyes then began to feel a strange ticklish sensation stream through tubes within her body, and come to an end at the tip of her fingertips. Though she couldn't see it, a green light formed around her hands, and released green particles that seeped into Heirloom's head.
Heirloom could feel what Ruby was doing to him, but decided not to react. He felt his memories fading, and new ones appearing out of nowhere. As he patiently waited for her to clear his memory, he lost all sense of understanding. Once Ruby could no longer feel the sensation, she pulled her hands back and opened her eyes. She watched as Heirloom slowly opened his slit, crimson eyes, and hoped her assumptions were true.
Heirloom confused: [What the?]
The first thing he saw was a human-sized oval floating above ground behind a girl that looked familiar. The room was dark and left plenty of room for questions. Heirloom tried raising his hands to clear his vision, but wasn't able to. He began to silently freak out and continuously pulled on his hands.
Heirloom: [Who are you?! Where am I?!]
Ruby stared at him in confusion.
Queen Ruby: [Heirloom... do you recognize me?]
Heirloom gave her another long stare before getting more confused.
Heirloom frantically: [Where the hell are we? We aren't being interrogated, are we?]
Ruby raised a smile as Heirloom looked like he was going to panic.
Heirloom: [So do you know where we are?! Is that a portal behind you?]
Ruby got down to her knees and stared Heirloom in the eyes.
Queen Ruby softly: [Looks like your vision was restored.]
Heirloom: [What?]
Queen Ruby smiling: [I'm going to try and fix everything now that you don't recall your evil days.]
She got up and turned to the portal.
Queen Ruby: [I'll see you tomorrow!]
Ruby jumped through the portal and reappeared on the other side of the door she entered.
Successfully using the portal made her smile and remember the moments she would struggle whenever it was part of the weekly exams.
RK Sophia: [I take it everything went well?]
Ruby kept her soft smile as she turned to Sophia. Her expression was enough of a signal for Sophia to understand.
Ruby: [How long have I been in there?]
Hilda: [Longer than a whole day.]
Ruby couldn't believe what she was told.
Hilda: [Honestly, I'm surprised getting years of memories back only knocked you out for a day. Normally, people are out cold for days, depending on how many memories are being relived.]
RK Sophia: [Her father was an extremely talented wizard. I'm not even slightly surprised she woke up earlier than expected. That only gives us a few more to prepare for Heirloom's execution.]
Queen Ruby: [Oh, about that...]
Sophia turned to her.
Queen Ruby: [I wiped Heirloom's memory clean, and got the same result as with what happened to Musa and Abdimalik.]
RK Sophia: [You're saying he had other-dimensional memories too?]
Ruby nodded.
RK Sophia: [Are there others you suspect to be the same?]
Queen Ruby: [One of his teammates named Vijan... and the other kings, their Paladins, and you, Sophia.]
Sophia stared at Ruby like she had gone mad.
Queen Ruby: [I don't want to try right now, considering the state that Leviere is in... but let me give it a shot afterwards.]
A moment of silence passed as the two stared at one another. Ruby had adorable puppy dog eyes while Sophia looked disturbed. As much as she didn't want to abide by her suggestion, she agreed.
RK Sophia: [What do we do about his execution then?]
She turned to King Didus.
King Didus: [A decision has already been finalized. Just because his memory has been wiped, doesn't mean he hasn't committed his crimes.]
Ruby narrowed her eyes towards him.
Queen Ruby calmly: [He's a completely different person now.]
King Didus: [So what? He still killed thousands.]
Queen Ruby agitated: [Blaming the current Heirloom for the creation of Hydra and slaughter of thousands is wrong!]
She swung her hand in between herself and the king.
Queen Ruby: [He has no recollection of doing so, and is basically a whole different being! You can't hold him against it anymore.]
Didus raised his chin and narrowed his eyes.
King Didus: [Don't you dare talk to me like that.]
Queen Ruby softly: [Oh? What are you gonna do about it?]
The atmosphere became dense as the two stared at each other. A stand of Sophia's hair glew up and allowed her to enter Ruby's mind.
RK Sophia: [The Queen has a point, your highness.]
Shocked, Didus turned to his Royal Knight.
RK Sophia: [He deserves a second chance.]
With his eyes narrowed, Didus lowered his head and took a large sigh.
King Didus: [Very well. He gets a second chance, but the moment he messes up even once, the execution will be initiated.]
Ruby stepped back and smiled with her arms crossed.
King Didus: [We need to let the other kings know about this change. Too bad Jamison was murdered.]
RK Sophia: [While you figure that out, Ruby and I will inform the others about everything.]
Ruby nodded and walked her way ahead of Sophia. After raising a hand, a portal identical to the previous appeared out of thin air, and the two jumped right in after receiving a time warning from the king, and best of luck from Hilda.