An Old Friend

"I see, so that's why she's been acting weird lately." Arthur muttered after hearing Fayden's explanation.

Fayden sighed, "I don't blame her, it was rather terrifying."

"I'll see if I can help." Arthur was determined to fix their relationship.

Fayden shook his head, "Thank you, but what she needs right now is time."

"What about you? Are you alright?"

Fayden stared into the distance, "I have to be, if what I think is true and our enemy is indeed a deity, we'll need to get much stronger."

Arthur felt bad for Fayden, but he was right. Their mental health didn't matter anymore, not when literal gods were their enemies.

The doors to the training room opened, a familiar silver haired figure walking in. She stopped in her tracks when her eyes fell on her brother.

Fayden sighed, "Goodnight Arthur, I'll see you tomorrow."

Before Tessia could react, he void stepped away.

"WHAT THE-" Elijah nearly walked into Fayden as he appeared in front of him.

"Huh? Oh hey there Elijah."

"How did you do that?!" He exclaimed, shocked.

"Uh, sound magic?"

Elijah scoffed, "Yeah right, what is it that you guys refuse to tell me? Is it like Arthur's integrate phase?"

"Something like that." Fayden was surprised he knew about that.

Elijah sighed, "Anyways, have you seen Arthur?"

Fayden furrowed his brows, "Arthur? He's in the training room, but I'd recommend not going there."

A look of confusion washed over Elijah's face, "Why?"

"Let's just say he's with a certain Elf princess right now."

A tick appeared on Elijah's forehead, "That little- He's fast, I'll give him that."

Fayden laughed, patting his back, "As if, the guys denser than a rock."

Elijah didn't respond, his eyes widening as his mind delved into an emotional turmoil he was unfamiliar with.

"GAHHHH!" He grabbed his head with both hands, screaming in the agony of his mind being ripped apart.

"What in the- Elijah!" Fayden knelt down beside him, placing a finger on his nape as a burst of sound magic rendered him unconscious.

'Father, something's wrong with his head.'

'No shit sherlock,' Fayden thought back, hoisting Elijah's unconscious body on his back.

'I'm serious, there's a dam in his memories, a major part of them have been blocked by someone.'

'What…'

'And father, this seal has the same feel as the one on Cynthia.'

Fayden stood still, 'Zeke, approximately how many years of memories have been locked?'

'Let me check.' Zeke said, focusing on Elijahs shattering mind. 'This…this can't be right.'

'What is it?'

'How can he have that many memories, how old is he?!'

'Ezekiel!'

That seemed to bring Zeke out of his thought process, 'Father, there's four decades of locked memories in his mind.'

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Fayden wasted no time in taking Elijah to an isolated place, far from the city. A dome of Nacht formed around them as Fayden entered his Integrate Phase.

Placing his palm over Elijah's head, he concentrated, soon he was in Elijah's inner world. To say it was in shambles would be generous.

"Oh Elijah, I had no idea you had it this bad." Fayden muttered as he roamed the lands.

His eyes locked in on something in the distance, he narrowed them as he prepared for the jump.

In a flash of black, he was there; right in front of him stood a wall so high it seemed to touch the sky. Although, it was different from the traditional wall. This was, but a thin sheet of stormy grey matter. It rippled on Fayden's touch.

Releasing just a little bit of nacht, a hole appeared, and as Fayden passed through, his appearance vastly changed. His hair, now a lighter shade of black, was now short enough that it didn't even reach his eyebrows. His normally red and turquoise eyes transformed into a deep forest green. A futuristic armor appeared over his body, a sword sheathed on both his waist and his back.

Fayden looked down at his new appearance, "Ah, it's been a while since I've last looked like this."

He knew where he was, the country of Etharia. Nostalgia pulsed through him as he saw his home country for the first time in eighteen years.

He shook his head, he was there for a reason. He began looking around, he had an inkling of an idea of who it was.

It didn't take him long to find him, he had expected him to be there.

A bespectacled boy watched in a mix of rage and sorrow as Grey pushed his sword deep into Cecilia's chest, a malicious grin on his face. As Cecilia's lifeless body slid out of his blade, he turned to look at him, grinning like a madman.

"Aw, you poor boy, you had to watch your little girlfriend die! Shall I reunite you?"

Fayden narrowed his eyes, "That's not how it happened."

Nico spun around, not expecting to see another soul there, he thought he was trapped forever in this hell.

But he stopped when he saw who it was. "You!"

Fayden smiled sadly. "Hello, Nico."

"What are you doing here?" He demanded, "Wait if you're here then that means…"

Nico began laughing, "Hahahahahahahaha, I suppose karma does exist."

Fayden watched silently, allowing him to vent.

"Even then, why are you here? Isn't this supposed to be my hell?"

Fayden furrowed his eyebrows, "What are you talking about?"

Nico scoffed, "Do I need to dumb it down for that hopeless brain of yours? You're dead, we're in hell."

"No, we're not." Fayden's face remained steeled.

Nico looked at him as if he was mad, "Whatever, what did you mean when you said this is not how it went?"

Fayden sighed, moving forward faster than Nico would react, and tapped his forehead.

Instantly their surroundings changed, yet the dark undertone stuck.

"This is what truly happened." Fayden pointed at the arena.

Within the arena, a tattered and bruised Grey fought an unharmed Cecilia. They felt, rather than saw, Grey using up the last of his ki for a final attack at the shadowy figure that was Cecilia.

Nico's eyes widened when he saw Cecilia not even attempt to raise a shield, and smile as she was impaled.

Very quiet, her breath ragged and bubbling, she said, "I'm sorry, Grey. This…was the…only way."

Grey let his sword go, grabbing Cecilia's body, "W-what–Why?"

"As long as…I live…Nico will be…imprisoned…used against me."

Nico gasped, "What…"

Grey stumbled, losing his balance as Cecilia fell on top of him, his sword pushing deeper into her.

"No… no, this can't be…" Grey sputtered, unable to form a coherent sentence as he chocked back sobs.

A tear fell down from Fayden's eyes, no matter how many times he thought of this moment, it always managed to make him cry.

"This…this is not how it happened!"

"Nico." Fayden said, his tone sombre. "Do you really think I'd work for Grey if he had intentionally killed Cecilia, arguably the one I was closest to in our group and considered an older sister?"

Nico could not deny that; even he knew of the bond they had shared. "No…no, you wouldn't."

"Exactly, do you know how much her death affected him? He had nightmares about that incident for most of his life. Only during the end did I see him recover, even if only a bit."

"I suppose that makes the slightest bit of sense." Nico muttered. "But why are you telling me this? It's not like it will change anything."

"That's where you are wrong," Fayden grinned, "have you ever heard of reincarnation?"

Nico's eyes widened as he realised what Fayden was implying, "Are you saying-" He stopped to inhale deeply as he processed Fayden's words. "We get a second chance?"

"You bet we do."

A ghost of a smile began creeping up Nico's face, but then he frowned, "No."

Fayden blinked. "What?"

"If anyone deserves a second chance, it's her."

Fayden knew exactly who he meant by 'her.' He placed an arm on Nico's shoulder, "Nico, if the three of us made it into this world, what are the chances Cecilia would too?"

Nico furrowed his brows, "The sheer chances of us making it here in itself is absurd, but if you want to consider fate as a variable…"

Fayden smiled, he had forgotten how Nico was before the headmistress died.

Nico sighed, "The probability is up there, but too low to my liking."

"I swear this to you Nico, if Cecilia has reincarnated, I'll do my damndest to find her."

Nico looked at him warily, "And what if she wasn't reincarnated?"

Fayden stared at him dead serious, "Then I'll pull her soul from the depths of hell and force her to reincarnate."

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It took Nico a few hours to wake up, the memories of Elijah mixing with his own. He groaned as he got up; his head felt like it had been run over.

"You're finally awake."

He snapped his neck towards the voice, recognizing the look in the boy's eyes, "Ah, so this is how you look now. Fayden, was it?"

He nodded, "Yeah, and you'd better get used to Elijah too."

Nico sighed, "I suppose it isn't half bad of a name, but I had a question."

"Ask away."

"Back there, you mentioned there being three of us. Is… Is Grey here too?" He had an unreadable expression on his face.

"Why, I believe he's your best friend."

Images of a red haired boy flashed by his vision, "Does…does he know of us?"

Fayden shook his head, "No, and I'd like to keep it like that."

"Why?"

Fayden explained, "After coming into this world, Arthur has been slowly improving; he's no longer a husk of a man. What do you think would happen if he were to realize two of his closest friends were people from his last life?"

"He could potentially relapse into being Grey again." Nico realized. "Alright. I understand, I'll keep my identity hidden from him."

"Why do you want to know about him though? Didn't you hate him?"

Nico winced, "Now that I've realized how much of an asshole I was, I need to atone. This is my penance."

Fayden's eyes narrowed. "We never blamed you for it Nico, you had half the story and all the anger. You thought Grey had murdered the love of your life, honestly I'd probably react worse than you if that happened to me."

Nico laughed, "Hah, you were never one to go for romance, I suppose that changed since coming to this world?"

Fayden shook his head in exasperation, "I haven't been in a relationship here either."

Now Nico was genuinely confused, "Why? If I remember right you're a prince, I'm sure you've had your share of suitors."

"It's not a lack of suitors that prevents me." Fayden said somberly. "It's…Nico, I've done things, terrible, terrible things. If these people knew about the atrocities I've committed…"

"You don't believe you're worthy of love." Nico laughed without mirth. "I suppose that's one thing we have in common."

Fayden sighed, "Come on, we should go back."

"Right."

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"Remember, as far as everyone knows, you're Elijah Knight, a thirteen year old boy from Darv, who-"

"Who prefers to ogle at girls rather than do anything productive." Nico spat out in disgust. "I can't believe I ended up like that without my memories."

Fayden chuckled at his experience, "You weren't all bad, at least you didn't peek at them changing, or try to grope them."

"I was a love crazed fool, not a pervert."

"Fair enough, but do remember to keep up the act."

Nico rolled his eyes, "Yes, I may look like a child but I'm far from one. I can understand basic instructions quite well."

"Just making sure," Fayden shrugged, "Good night."

"Likewise, I suppose." Elijah muttered under his breath as he walked away from Fayden, and to his own shared room.

Fayden sighed. "Three of us were reborn huh."

He looked up at the starlit sky, a mix of longing and sadness in his eyes, "I do wonder if you're really out there, Cecil."