“Brother… help me! Help! Help!”, a loud voice called out to Zachariel.
“Amelia, where are you?!”, he shouted, turning his head all around in the darkness.
He ran, and turned, and ran again, searching for Amelia.
Her voice was far, yet close at the same time.
`Damn it, where is she?!`
A childish chuckle entered his ears.
“Who are you? Bring back Amelia right this time!”, Zachariel pleaded.
The chuckle continued, and a tall masked figure walked out of the dark.
“You won’t be getting her any time now, young boy.”, the figure grinned.
Zachariel saw it and charged.
“I said… BRING HER BACK!”, he held his polearm and thrusted it to the figure’s heart.
He raised the figure high and the mask fell. Zachariel couldn’t believe the face he saw hidden behind the mask.
“Bro…ther… why would you… do this to… me?”
It was Amelia, with blood pouring out of her mouth and chest.
Zachariel stammered, “No… Amelia… I-I didn’t-!”
Her eyes enraged suddenly and held the base of his polearm, “Why would you kill me?!”
“Hah!”, Zachariel opened his eyes, panting.
He recovered for a short moment and realized that he woke up in the same room yesterday.
`Am I… back?`
He turned his head to the left side. The window was wide open with Solus’s red light beaming past through it.
`Wait, what about Amelia?!`
“If you’re looking for her, she’s been taken away.”, a middle-aged voice spoke beside Zachariel.
`This voice, it’s that senior!`
Von had a dark expression on his face.
“You must be confused about what happened yesterday, but it’s real, Zachariel Strom. Your cousin, Amelia Strom, was taken away, and not just by some hired thugs by the emperor, but someone far worse and stronger than him.”
Zachariel gulped.
“Senior, I thought that…”
“It was a ploy from the emperor, right?”, Von snorted, “That was what I thought so at first, not until I saw those captor’s faces.”
Von turned serious, “The Templars. Zachariel, you know them on the surface. One of the dark underground factions that work for the demon beasts.”
“They made use of me and Amelia to bait you out. Fortunately, their plan didn’t work, but also, unfortunately, Amelia and Joey were taken away. I don’t know why they’re targeting you, but should they get a hold of you, this world’s not going to end well.”, Von emphasized.
“You and Amelia were only a part of their plan?”, Zachariel was worried.
“Yes. If my premonitions are right, this started during the school selection process a month ago. Once you’ve shown your talent on that day, someone took an interest in you and ascertained your relationship with your two cousins, Hal and Amelia, by killing Hal first.”
Zachariel jumped out of the bed and held Von’s arms, “What?! So it really wasn’t Prince Kane that killed Hal?”
`Just as I thought! It was too weird for him to kill Hal that early!`
Von snorted and waved Zachariel’s hands away, “You think Emperor Marcus would be that impatient to deal with you?”, looking at Zachariel as if he was an idiot and sighed.
Von patted his shoulders, “Zachariel, I advise you to do one thing for now.”
“Remember, and think carefully of the events that happened this past month. If you’ve arrived at an answer, approach me and tell me. If you surprise me, hehe…”, Von waved his hands and went to the door.
“Oh, I almost forgot-“
‘Bang!’
The door was abruptly opened, hitting Von in the head.
A little girl with blonde hair intimately ran towards Zachariel.
“Brother, your little sister is here to see you!”
“A-Anastasia!”, Zachariel didn’t expect her to be here.
Anastasia giggled, hugging Zachariel.
“Senior, what’s this all about?”, he asked.
Von was scratching his head, “Well, I’ve figured out it’s better for your family and our family to ally with one another during these hard times.”
“An alliance? And hard times?”, Zachariel murmured.
`I think senior is referring to His Imperial Majesty, and the Templars. They want to target my family as well. Damn it, why is this happening?`
Zachariel didn’t feel happy at all.
His gritted expression satisfied Von, `Hmm, he has seen the underlying circumstances of this alliance. Good.`
Fools would think that this was a happy occasion for the Strom Household.
“Senior, why would you go this far to help me?”
“Why? Because you look like someone who needs some help.”, Von said bluntly.
“But-“, Zachariel wanted to retort, but Von dismissed it.
“You’re working under the Summer Household now. Madame Lena did this to you because Joey sacrificed his life so that you wouldn’t be taken by the Templars. The Summer Household members won’t be happy if you wouldn’t do something to redeem this loss.”
“Although you’ve saved Madame Lena’s life, that was a different matter compared to now. Joey’s family is grieving. Go talk to them when you have the time.”
“Wait! Is my father also here?”
“Oh, he left a long while after talking with Madame Lena. Don’t worry, leave those matters to them. Just remember the task I’ve said to you earlier. And this will be your room from now on. Your little sister’s going to sleep alongside Hele.”, Von yawned.
“The rest of the Strom Household will remain at Brion City. If you want to eat, go ask the servants down below. They’ll prepare a meal for you, though don’t request for something lavish.”, he closed the door and finally left the room.
“Brother, was it true that sister Amelia was kidnapped by some bad guys? They won’t kidnap me too, right? Brother will protect me, right?”
Zachariel lost all the strength and confidence when Anastasia asked him the last question.
`Protect you, huh? I couldn’t even do that to Amelia, much less to… No, I’ll do it properly this time.`
He gathered the courage to regain himself, hugging Anastasia tighter than before.
“Yes, Anastasia. Brother’s not going to let those people do something bad to you.”, he told her with a determined look on his face.
The tension lessened after a while.
“Have you eaten?”, he asked.
Anastasia shook her head, “I want to eat together with brother.”, she giggled.
Zachariel patted her head, “What if brother won’t be here to eat with you one time?”
“Then I’ll wait for you until you get back!”, Anastasia excitedly replied.
Zachariel smiled, “Alright, let’s go then.”
Time passed until afternoon came. Zachariel and Anastasia played in the garden all this time after taking their brunch.
The little girl narrated the events that happened in Brion City, while Zachariel would listen on in.
“Hey, brother. Did you know? There were two mysterious people that visited our house lately.”, Anastasia recounted, which intrigued Zachariel.
“One’s this kind of tall, and thin, and pointed ears or something. He was fair-skinned as well! I think he was an Elden, an elf, you see!”, she was swinging her arms around, using her fingers to ‘detail’ out what the person looked like.
“Then there was this old man as well, with a very long beard that reached to his waist!”, Anastasia laughed, “I almost used it as a swing when he approached me! That damn old man was really friendly to me though. I miss that old man.”, her expression became downcast.
If only her grandfather was as amiable as that old man, she wouldn’t be living such a boring life.
Zachariel only smiled and patted her head, yet his thoughts were complex on the other hand.
`Are those spies sent in by that damn Emperor? Or by the Templars? No, looking at it, they don’t seem to have ulterior motives based on what Anastasia recounted earlier.`
Zachariel shook his head, `No way, Zachariel. There’s no way to tell until you’ve met them personally.`
He put the matter at the back of his head for now.
Amidst their discussion, a commotion suddenly erupted. There were bouts of arguments and shouts resounding in the distance.
“Jalen, listen to me and calm down! It’s not his entire fault that your brother was taken away!”, a delicate feminine voice pleaded.
“It’s his fault, mother! Why would you listen to that damn old bitch?! Is my brother that dispensable to you?!”, an angry young voice retorted.
‘Slap!’
“You dare talk to Madame Lena like that? Do you want me to disown you, you disobedient child?!”, a middle-aged masculine voice shouted.
“Then disown me, father! I won’t live to this injustice that my older brother has received! You didn’t dare punish that young brat and his family! You only think for-!”
Another slap resounded.
“Get out of this household, now!”, the middle-aged voice ordered.
“You, you dare do this to your child, you monster of a father?!”
“A stupid f***** like you is no child of mine! Get out!”
The young man was thrown to the ground. He scrambled and hurriedly left, “This isn’t the last of me, father! You will regret this!”
His voice trailed along with his existence.
“That damn stupid c***! Can’t he see that it was Joey who decided to do that?”, the middle-aged man snorted, “It’s not like I wanted this to happen either. Damn it.”
The woman beside him knelt on the ground, weeping.
“Hey, you, you little brat!”, the middle-aged man pointed at Zachariel.
“I don’t know why Joey decided to sacrifice his life for your sake, but you better make it worthy of his life, do you understand?”, he stared menacingly at Zachariel as if he was holding himself back from doing something.
“I don’t want s*** stakes like you in here who could only make promises with words, but not with their actions!”, he sermoned.
The middle-aged man didn’t wait for his reply and helped the woman, “Jastifa, let’s go. It’s been hard for the two of us, and our family.”, he said in a caring tone.
It was at this moment that Helena and Victoria arrived in the garden.
“Uncle Jolden…”, Helena looked at the middle-aged man.
“Young mistress.”, Jolden nodded and left without saying anything to her.
“Brother, who was that person? Why was he shouting at you like you have done something bad?”, Anastasia innocently asked.
“Nothing, Anastasia. He’s just drunk and mad.”, he replied.
“Okay. Eh, who are these two beautiful ladies, brother? Are they your girlfriends?”, she pointed.
Helena was triggered by this, “Little brat, you think your brother is worthy for me?”
Victoria blushed.
Anastasia tilted her head in ignorance. Zachariel sighed, “They’re Helena and Victoria, Anastasia, acquaintances of mine.”
Victoria was disappointed, while Helena was satisfied.
“Zachariel, is she your little sister?”, Victoria asked.
“Yes! I am brother’s little sister!”, Anastasia replied.
“Why are you two here, by the way?”, Zachariel interjected.
“Oh, we came over to see how you’ve been. My family and your family are allies now if you still haven’t known yet.”, Helena domineeringly said.
Zachariel noticed the slight hostility in her voice, “You have a problem with me?”
`Oh, this guy’s not bad.`, Helena raised her eyes.
“Yeah, I have a problem with you. First of all, how dare you play with Victoria’s feelings and act like nothing had happened! Second, you also dare to hide things from her when she is confused about her identity! Third-!”
Victoria held Helena’s arms, “Helena, stop! We’ll take this matter between us!”
Zachariel snorted, “Why should her problem be mine?”
“And why should your problem be ours? Joey’s been taken by the Templars because of you. Now, we have to babysit a bastard like you!”, Helena retorted.
“Suit yourself then.”, Zachariel left the area, losing the mood to talk with anyone.
Anastasia followed behind him.
“Anastasia, go find someplace to play for a while. Your brother has somewhere else to go right now.”, Zachariel told her.
“Brother, where are you going?”
“Finding a solution to this problem, myself.”
He trailed towards the training ground, east of the garden.
Above the tree branches, Von and Lena invisibly stalked the interaction of the three young children.
“Are you sure about this plan, Von?”, Lena was worried.
Helena was very aggressive towards Zachariel, while Zachariel acted indifferently towards her aggressiveness.
“Yes. It’s to delay the inevitable, Madame Lena. We’re just giving him time to grow up.”, Von replied.
“All of Zachariel’s enemies will find a way with him soon, but when the time arrives, he will be ready to face them head-on.”
Lena doubted Von’s decision, “Are you sure you can train him in just two short weeks? Even the best Elden out there wasn’t able to do that.”
“Then I’ll make it so that he will be the first to do that.”, Von was determined to help Zachariel. After all, he had the other plan to ready the young lad to become a Knight of Solus in the future.
“I’ll be going now, Madame. That young boy’s looking for me.”
…
Zachariel arrived at a large training ground surrounded by 3-meter-high stone walls with wires on top.
There was nothing inside but a flat cemented ground.
“Looking for me?”, Von’s voice resounded beside him.
Zachariel turned his head to the left and saw the middle-aged man leaning over the wall like a stalker.
“You’re going to give me your answer now?”, Von inquired.
Zachariel nodded.
“Good, let’s hear it then.”
