The revelation of Nikolae’s true identity left Hektor in shock. No wonder he never heard anything about her after leaving for Tethys. Originally, Nikolae would be sent away to live the rest of her life in obscurity, safe from the prying eyes of the magistrate’s rivals, but now things will change. With Peter’s irredeemable nature revealed to the magistrate and the prediction of a potential attack from his rivals, Nikolae would be better protected under the status of a noble heir. Hektor didn’t know for sure whether this was the right move. It seemed to only further the magistrate’s interests.

The magistrate concluded the conversation with a single clap of his hands.

“Theo, you may take your leave to make the necessary preparations.”

“Very well, sir. Will you need an escort later?”

“I can very well handle myself. Besides, I’d like to be able to spend more time with Nikolae. It’s been a while since I could see her smile.”

Theo bowed and left Hektor’s home. The magistrate turns to the young boy.

“Are you okay, Hektor? I didn’t mean to tell you my entire past, and I understand if you’re still mulling over my story.”

Hektor shook his head. “I’m fine. It’s just I didn’t expect Nikolae to be a girl.”

“Indeed, with her hair cut short like that and being as young as she is, one could hardly tell.”

“Do you think she will be okay in the future?”

“I hope so. Perhaps she will grow into a better person without Peter around. On that note, I have a bit of a selfish request, but perhaps we can talk about it another day.”

Another day, huh. Hektor looked to the door.

“I think I will go out behind the house. Do let my parents know if they ask.”

The magistrate gives Hektor a blank stare before breaking into a chuckle.

“You could ask me all sorts of favors, but you simply want me to pass a message?”

“I don’t mean to offend—”

“I’m kidding, boy. I’ll let your parents know.”

“...Thank you, my lord.”

The magistrate walked over to speak to his parents before joining his daughter at the dinner table to eat. Now given time to himself, Hektor walked back behind his home and lay down on the soft grass. He looked at the starry sky.

So much has happened since he awoke in the water. Defeating Jason with abilities from his past life. Saving Nikolae and running into Selena. A surprise birthday party he would have never expected. Receiving an apology from the magistrate himself.

Speaking of Magistrate Tavros, Hektor didn’t know what to do with the information regarding Nikolae and the magistrate’s past. Based on the direction of their conversation, he could guess the direction their conversation would lead to a request regarding the protection of Nikolae. The last thing he wanted to do was to get involved with something dangerous again.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

“I thought you’d be back here.”

Hektor jumped up to see Selena behind him.

“Sorry. I noticed you went outside, and I wanted to see if you were okay. You did get hurt earlier, after all.”

Selena sat down next to Hektor.

“I’m fine. I do have regenerative abilities since my Anima powers are active. I’m just out here to think.”

Selena bit her lip. After a few seconds, she asked, “Does it have to do with what you talked about with the magistrate?”

“You heard?”

Selena nodded. “I wanted to test if my power was active too. I didn’t catch all of it since my control over my power is a bit weak right now, so I didn’t catch all of it.”

So just like him, Selena retained her abilities.

“Skillful as usual, Selena. Not that your enhanced hearing isn’t something anyone could notice anyways.”

“Enough about me,” said Selena. “He’s going to banish Peter, right? What’s that all about?”

“Might want to sit down. This might be a lot.”

Slowly, Hektor began to present the information the magistrate had given him, everything from the status of Jason and Peter to the reveal of the magistrate’s past.

“Nikolae was a girl? And all the things we heard about the magistrate in our past life were true?”

“Indeed. Given the way he sounded, he had big plans for Nikolae in the future. Already, things seem to be diverging from our history at a frightening pace.”

“So, what will you do?”

“I…I don't know.”

“What?”

Selena responded with shock, to Hektor’s surprise.

“What do you mean, what?”

“Why would we not want to support her?”

“It’s not that,” He clenched his shaking hands. “I just don’t want us to get involved with anything dangerous again.”

“Dangerous?”

Selena stared at Hektor and reached out to grab his fists, coaxing him to relax so she could properly grasp them.

“You’re shivering. Not because of the cold, but because you’re afraid of something, right?”

Hektor turned his face away.

“It’s embarrassing, but I don’t want to keep fighting if it means losing you someday. I just…I don’t want to lose you like that again. ”

Selena gasped and pulled Hektor in for a hug.

“You idiot.”

“What?”

“You don’t think I worry about losing you too?”

Hektor couldn’t say anything in response. He didn’t think about what Selena had to say about their current situation yet. Nor had he asked for her opinion about the problems now facing him.

The words of Selena’s mother came back to him. “Whatever it is, I’m sure you can overcome it with the trust you have in each other.”

Hektor shook his head and pulled himself away from the hug with a resolute smile.

“I’m sorry, Selena. I didn’t consider your feelings in the matter.”

“Huh?”

“Let me say this now. If we follow the same path as our past selves to become warriors, we’ll be exposed to the same dangers as before.”

“Then we’ll have to be more prepared and train harder than before. Having our powers this early allows us to build up our strength. That reminds me, we still need to talk about what happened to us later.”

“All in due time. This isn’t the time to talk about matters like this.”

Hektor stands up, pulling up Selena as he does so.

“We should return to the party. After all, it’s still our special day.”

END OF PILOT ARC