In a repeating dream of a certain man, it always starts with a scene of turning gears, accompanied by the sounds of ticking clocks. Then it all shifted to a sunset. The only difference here is that the sounds were replaced by huge bells that chime along to the sounds of the ocean’s waves. This man never understood what any of this meant, nor did he know the person who kept appearing in these strange dreams: a woman with long golden hair, eyes that were blue as sapphire, and a voice that sounded so calming. She seemed very familiar, and yet... the memory of having met her was never there.
At the beginning of every appearance, she would say: "Ah, we meet again. It has been a long time..."
But this time, things seemed to be different, despite the man's confusion.
"Unlike before, the chances of us meeting are much higher now. It makes me happy to talk to you again like this…" With a smile, the woman said.
"I don't know what you're saying. I don't even know who you—"
"Ah, that is unfortunate…" She interrupted. "You do not remember me. Despite how you were the one who said that you would not forget me…" Her last words echoed as she said these.
Another change of scenery occurred. The man then found himself sitting on a floor made of glass with the same woman who stood beside him. Below the transparent floor were turning gears and the two hands of a clock slowly ticking.
Eventually, everywhere else in sight turned into an empty void. His confusion had vanished... because sorrow had taken its place, a sorrowful feeling of having lost something, or perhaps someone.
"Do not worry, I am sure that you will soon remember them bit by bit…" The woman said in a cheerful tone.
The man closed his eyes and applied her words to his own understanding. Flashing images popped up in his mind as he began to see different people. Each of them were in different places, all of which seemed familiar... until the last person came into view. A gentle breeze blew as white rose petals danced over a cliffside, where a woman appeared to be standing. Her back was turned and covered with a white hooded cloak. It was as if she had jumped herself, flinching for reasons unknown. His presence, perhaps... so much so that she turned around and let off her hood. He finally saw her face. She was smiling at him with those emerald eyes of hers. Lots went on in his mind as he struggled to process all of it, so in the end, he opened his eyes.
"Are you starting to slowly remember everything now? In any case, let us take this time to talk some more. I'll tell you our story, of how we all first met a long, long time ago." She said as she looked down at him.
He took a silent deep breath as he clutched onto his old pocket watch before soon having his eyes closed. Everything went silent. Then he opened them up once more. The first thing he saw was the ceiling of his room. He then turned his head around a bit and looked through the window.
"Ah, it's already morning... I should probably get going soon," he said as he got up from his bed and took out his pocket watch to check it.
Every morning he wore dark attire and a hooded cloak to hide his head whenever he visited a certain abandoned house in the middle of a forest to read that one book on the bookshelves. He had already lost count of how many times he had visited the place just to read the same book for hours on end.
He didn’t know why this was his routine, or why tears always streamed down his face whenever he got to the end of the story. He doesn’t know why he kept holding the book so tightly against his chest with a strong feeling of pain and regret.
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One night, he came home with the old book and a couple of white lilies. Putting his worries and fear aside, he decided to finally share the story with his one and only relative. His precious niece, who he took care of throughout the years.
She was excited, despite how he warned her that the story was no fairy tale and how all of it was based on true events that happened in their past, a long, long time ago. Forgotten by many but remembered by few. Seeing how nothing seemed to change her mind, he then began telling her the story...
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"It all started in the world of Somiar. There were once two kingdoms living in harmony. The kingdom of Ivory Moon, the land of serenity, was inhabited by impressive mages and well-known knights, wielders of the elements of water, wind, and darkness. The kingdom of Helio Vermillion, on the other hand, had the greatest assassins and warriors, wielders of the elements of fire, earth, and light."
"Setting their differences aside, the rulers of both kingdoms were able to keep the peace... until that day when they met a mysterious Sorceress. The one who gifted humankind with elemental powers by using one of the six stones of the realm. There were even rumors that said the stones were living, breathing objects. powerful, beautiful, and oftentimes cruel…
"Control an entire army, bring the dead back to life, bend space and time to one’s will, and even turn everything in sight into nothingness. With such power and knowledge, it opened the minds of the rulers. And hence, the Sorceress and the six stones were no longer free from jeopardy. One of the rulers sought out its powers for their dark and selfish desires, which led to one hunting the Sorceress down. But as the other ruler disagreed with their plans, the two wound up arguing, until it led the two kingdoms to war."
"The Sorceress couldn’t relay her disappointment in humanity enough, seeing what it had become. Before she disappeared, she cast a curse on the six stones, then hid five of them separately, but kept one with her for her own reasons. "
"She continued co-existing in hiding for years during the ceaseless war. At midnight, on the highest floor of the clocktower, there she sat once more. Despite the fact that an assailant is on her tail, she smiles. But she already expected it, and she already knew who sent them to kill her. Before they plunged their dagger into her chest, without any regrets, and not even a light of sanity in her eyes left, her final words were: "Even if I am no longer living in this world, in this universe of Creation, no one can escape from their hands— heed my words— everyone’s Fate is already set in stone!…""
"With the Sorceress gone, mankind was stripped of their opportunity to seek out and abuse these six stones. Perhaps it would have been for the best that they remain elusive, but then this story would not have been written now, wouldn’t it?"
"No one would have known or remembered what truly happened in the past, but this being written proves that wrong in an instant… Like a certain man never failed to tell himself:"
Fate always has tricks up its sleeves to show off its cruel sense of humor…
Fate… How very funny.
A scream of anger brought me back to my senses. All this time, I’ve been standing my ground as my blade lodged itself into the lifeless body of my enemy. I took a cold, deep breath to calm myself down and regain my focus. I drew my sword out as enemies charged at me. Their faces, filled with rage, as they came running at me with pitchforks and big pikes.
"Traitor! Traitor! Here comes the Bloody Traitor!" One of the many strings of words I heard the people of the village throwing at me, shouting at me, cursing at the top of their lungs as they charged forward with their weapons with murderous intent. They never fazed me as I struck them down, nevertheless. Their screams of pain, cries of momentary death followed. Blood spilled all over the scene, staining the cold, white, snowy battlegrounds.
That's right. This was the result of my past choices. The path that I wish I had never taken... but still did. The path that turned me to this so-called ‘Bloody Traitor’ of my homeland, but on the other hand, they knew me as General Alessio Amaryllis, the branded Head General of the king of Ivory Moon…
While secretly being the Guardian of the Stone of Time…
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