CHAPTER 72: THE MEETING

Fact:

Truth is the property of being in accord with fact or reality. In everyday language, truth is typically ascribed to things that aim to represent reality or otherwise correspond to it, such as beliefs, propositions, and declarative sentences.

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In a black dimension, Ed was standing alone, surrounded by the void. He felt his feet wet, like the floor had a puddle on it. The he walked forward, not knowing what to do in the situation. He walked, he walked, and he walked, but nothing. He was only surrounded by blackness as far as his eyes could 'see', and there was no one in the vicinity.

"What the hell is happening now." Ed grumbled, he's really annoyed by the constant visions and dreams. "Even when I'm passed out, he won't let me rest!" Ed roared, cursing the guardian of knowledge for doing this to him. "What do you want from me now?! I've done what you ask!"

"Indeed you have young one." A voice echoed through the dimension, causing Ed's very soul to shook.

"Then why am I here?!" He's not even scared from the voice anymore. "Just let me rest!"

"You are here to meet her." The voice echoed once again, "You are here to change her destiny."

Ed went silent when he heard the statement. "Why me?" said Ed, now calm.

Yet the voice didn't come, which made Ed sighed. "Am I only entertainment to you!?"

"You are my family young one." The voice finally spoke again.

"Bullshit!" Ed refuted, "Your actions almost killed me many times!"

"For you to grow… that is your reason too, for the young chosen one, is it not?"

Ed went silent again, calming himself down. "It was." He answered, "But that's different."

"Different how?" The voice questioned. "Your power grew exponentially in a year; you accepted your death last year, and you've grown to love because of my involvement."

"That's… true…" Ed whispered. "But why the hassle?"

"You are family."

"Truly?" Ed raised his eyebrow, questioning the voice. "Or are you just using me for entertainment?"

"I do not need any entertainment young one; my son exaggerates me."

"Then why are you doing this? Don't say that 'You are family' again."

The dimension went silent again, and after a few minutes, the voice answered, "I simply pity you."

"Pity me? I do not need pity."

The voice ignored Ed's comment. "You are thrusted to a fight that doesn't even belong to you… and you die for it."

"Yet you did the same to me just now; that was Ciri's fight, not mine."

"It is hers…" The voice said, "But if you help her, she will help you."

"And what can she help me with? Finding my parents? I can do that myself."

The dimension went silent again, and the voice answered after a couple of minutes. "The pitiful council had just agreed to young Alan's request."

Ed hummed, "So I can freely travel now?"

"Not quite." The voice said, "Ciri will have to come to the city first to be introduced; then, and only then you are truly allowed to travel."

Ed ruffled his hair in annoyance. "Are you kidding me?! Then why can't you do something?!"

"I maybe helping you, young one." The voice echoed. "But I am not your babysitter."

"Using my reasons of not interfering with Harry now?" Ed asked in annoyance.

The voice once again ignored Ed's comment and continued to speak. "Ashen-haired one." It said.

Ed then turned around, and saw Ciri, standing straight, confused on what's going on.

"W-Who are you!?" she said, as she tried to grab her sword from behind, but her sword was gone. "Where's my sword?! And why do you keep appearing in my dreams!?"

"Calm down, bearer of the elder blood." The voice echoed, scaring Ciri even more.

"Wha- Who is that!?" Ciri freaked out.

"Bloody hell, calm down." Ed said, "Nothing to worry about."

"And why should I trust you!? I've seen you in my dreams; you lie a lot!"

"I am?"

"Yes! That was one time you lied to your round glasses friend about the suitcase; you made some stuff about the 7th floor!"

"How- Explain this old man!" Ed shouted, creeped out that she saw Ed.

"You saw visions of her, and she saw visions of you." The voice simply said, "Is that not fair?"

"Wait, you saw me as well?! What did you see?!" she said as she grabbed Ed's collar.

Ed didn't buy the threat and shrugged. "You fighting Eredin on the boat. And you're standing in a pile of bones."

"W-What? I never fought Eredin on a boat… and what pile of bones?!"

Ed sighed again, "Explain that old man." He shouted. "I want to know too, what the fuck is going on here?!"

"It didn't happen yet in her eyes." The voice said, "Technically, this is the first time she's met you."

"But I just met her?"

"That was the present her in your eyes, in her eyes, this is now the present."

"That is confusing…" Ed said. "So you mean, she already knew me when we locked eyes in the forest?"

"Precisely." The voice said.

"What are you talking about?!" Ciri shouted.

Ed sighed at this. "You're technically talking to the future me now." Ed explained. "You will meet me again for a brief time, that is your current me."

Ciri was confused, but she acted like she knew what Ed was talking about.

"Now," the voice echoes once more. "Bearer of the elder blood, I will speak to you alone."

Ed didn't get a warning; instead he was pushed back, and when he woke up, he saw that no one was here again. "Are you kidding me?" Ed groaned.

He then stood up, looking around again. He then suddenly had an idea. He tried his spatial sensing, looking for some interesting things, but was quickly disappointed as there was literally nothing there.

"Well… what to do now…" Ed whispered to himself.

"You can speak to me." A voice sounded again.

Ed jumped, startled by the sudden voice. "What the hell! I thought you're talking to Ciri!?"

"I'm omnipresence in this place, young one, or any place at that matter…"

Ed sighed, "You know what, I'm not going to question it any further, you owls of knowledge are a weird bunch."

Ed then sat down on the wet floor, not caring about the puddle, "I want to ask you some questions…"

"I know what you're going to ask, young one, but do say it."

Ed's eyebrows twitched; this old man is getting annoying. "Why the dreams? Why the visions?"

"The dreams or nightmares are your own doing." The voice said, "You had deep trauma when I revived you."

"Then why revived me? I should've died in that place; in my opinion, I was careless, like always."

"You are the only Aldrich that is young. If you die, the family will die."

"But there's my parents? There's Alan? There's a bunch of other Aldrich's…"

"You have the same mindset as the first Aldrich young one. And you will enforce it again in the future for your children and their children."

"And what is that mindset?"

"Freedom. A strong sense of freedom. You singlehandedly fought an entire organization for the sake of your family's freedom. And Knowledge. You have a huge thirst for knowledge, and yet you share it with your friends and family."

Ed hummed, "What about the visions? Why are you giving me those? I almost died as well."

"The past is a lesson, young one." The voice said, "And you must learn it to change the future."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

The voice then turned silent, refusing to answer any longer. After that, the voice spoke. "Help the bearer of the elder blood, and she will help you in your journeys to come."

"But I already helped her?!"

"No." The voice sounded. "Not enough. Help her hide, if she comes back to you, help her hide."

"Are you kidding me?"

"The Dearg Ruadhri will continue to chase her; their king is afraid of your power, hide her, and help her end it once and for all."

Ed scowled in annoyance. "What about my parents?! Where are they?"

"They are safe. For now."

"For now? What do you mean for now?!"

"A quest for another time."

"Wait what?! What the hell!"

Then silence.

The voice disappeared.

"Hello?" Ed heard a female voice from his back.

Ed turned and saw the ashen-haired girl. "Ciri?"

"Um… Ed right?" She said.

"Yes, Edgart, Edgart Aldrich, call me Ed."

Ciri nodded, "The voice just now told me to talk to you…"

"Oh yeah. What did he say?"

"He told me that if I ever needed a sanctuary, I should come to you."

"Oh great…" Ed whispered, but then he made a forced smile. "Do you trust the voice?"

"I mean, it felt like he meant no harm… But I still don't quite trust him."

"Well, just follow your instinct Ciri."

"What did he tell you?"

"He told me I should help you, and you would help me too."

"Equivalent exchange…" Ciri whispered. "Alright, I'll try to trust his words."

"Really? Why?"

"At this point… I need all the help I can get…" she said. "But, I won't go to you right now or in the near future. I need some matters that I need to settle."

Ed hummed, "Right, you do you. I do me. No problem."

Ciri smiled weakly, she then offered her hand to Ed, looking for a handshake. "I don't know you that much, but let's help each other."

Ed sighed and shook his head in amusement. "I might regret this, but alright." He shook her hand, making a pact between the two.

"Right, I need to tell Horsey about this…" Ciri said. "Where are you again? I don't know where your world is…"

"Oh right." Ed clicked his tongue. "So that's why you teleported to the forbidden forest… I gave you the coordinates…"

"What was that?" Ciri asked, and she didn't hear Ed's words.

"Nothing. Here." Ed then tapped Ciri's forehead, and he transferred the coordinates to her.

"Wow, that's interesting." She whispered. "Is that magic? I've seen anything like it…"

"It is… not from your world, though." Ed said, "Alright, how do we get out of here now?"

Ciri chuckled, "That's the question of the day, isn't it?"

"No matter." The voice popped up again, startling the two. "Bloody hell, stop doing that!" Ed grumbled.

The voice ignored him once again, "The bearer of the elder blood and the blood of mine has met; it is time for you to be apart again."

"You said it like she's my wife, old man. I already have a fiancé, okay?" Ed said in annoyance, causing Ciri to giggle.

The voice once again ignored him, "You will soon meet him bearer of the elder blood, while blood of mine already met you before…" continuing the voice. "Now you two must continue your journey, but you will meet again someday."

"Right…" Ed whispered, "Oh, right, if you ever got chased, just run, stop if someone tried to stall the chasers." He said to Ciri.

"What?" She asked, "Will I get chased?"

Ed hummed, "You'll see soon." Ed said, "You best be going then."

"Okay." She mumbled, "I will see you when I see you."

Ed nodded weakly. "Best of luck."

The girl then disappeared first, her body became black, and slowly, it became one with the dimension.

Ed sighed tiredly, "Why do I have to be the one who hides her again?"

"The Dearg Ruadhri general fears your power, and I will also guard your world so that they can't go here." He said.

"Are you serious? Why need my help then?"

"She's like you." He said, "Burdened by the secrets of her family."

Ed went silent for a while, "In the end, I've become a babysitter, even if she's older than me…"

"You're not a babysitter." The voice said, "You're the powerful stranger that helped the heroes on their way."

"What if I don't want to?"

"But you want to." The voice continued. "It's your instinct. Aldrich's curiosity is not to be reckoned with. You're curious on what this path is going to lead you too."

"Curious, but also scared, nervous, anxious, all those kinds of things." Ed whispered. "I'm not just myself you know, I have Hermione as well."

"You view her as a burden, and that is not okay."

"I know…" Ed sighed, "But what can I do? I just don't want her to fight my battles…"

"Your battle is her battle, and her battle is your battle." The voice echoed. "Once she takes the mark, always remember that."

"She's going to get elemental training if she takes the mark right? I don't know if you know family business really…"

"I always watch over my family." The voice echoed, "Even if you view me as a god, I view you as my grandchildren."

"You have emotions?" Ed snorted.

"Gods have emotions, young one, especially the young ones. Me, as one of the elder gods, still have it, but it becomes… null after so long. Only one survived. The emotions towards the family."

"So that's why Gilligan said that he only felt emotions towards the family; all the owls of knowledge were created by you after all…"

The voice went silent for a while.

"For your question of will she learn the elementals? The usual answer is no." the voice answered, making Ed disappointed.

"But considering the consequences of the death of either of you two, I will make an exception." He continued, "I will tell my son in the library to make an exception."

"Thank you…" Ed said. "Say… what is your true name? Calling you a guardian is too long in my opinion…"

The voice went silent again. It didn't answer for quite a while, but then it spoke after a long time of waiting. "Name… it's been so long since I was asked my name… then call me… Phoros."

"Well…" Ed said. "I guess this is a goodbye for now."

"It's not really a goodbye. As I will always watch over the family."

"Right. Just don't watch me and Hermione do intimate stuff." Ed added. His body slowly disappeared and became one with the void.