Call for Help

Prince Sunrei tapped Aries on the shoulder and said, "Tauren is like a brother to Pieffer. You don't have to worry. His heart already belongs to another wonderful lady."

"I'm not worrying," Aries shrugged the hand of the prince away from his shoulder.

"I'm glad that you are all fine, Princess," Tauren embraced Princess Pieffer back and gave her a light tap on the head. "Congratulations on saving the House of Lion. You finally made it here. It's been a while and I missed you."

"Hey!" Pines yelled in annoyance before Aries could clear his throat. "Should we head straight to the House of Maiden while the sun is still up?"

"Pines, as impatient as always. You can leave after you hear what I have to say," Tauren finally let go of Princess Pieffer and gracefully marched towards Aries. "I was worried when I heard that you nearly died because of that axe wielder Gains. I had also been informed that you have lost most of your memories. I thought the mission to save the House of Lion will fail again because of what happened to you. I'm glad that you have succeeded despite all the drawbacks."

"It would have been easier if your cousin didn't come. He made things hard for us," Aries honestly stated, causing a smile on the lips of Pines and worry in the eyes of the royal siblings.

"What happened, Tauren?" Prince Sunrei had asked. "I thought we made it clear that he cannot leave your house."

"You didn't tell me that he had been possessed by a Celestial Knight," Tauren suddenly looked serious. "He nearly killed my people."

"He is also one of your people," Aries reminded the green-haired house leader.

"And back then no one knows that he had been possessed," Princess Pieffer added.

"Your holy water will not work on him," Aries said. "As my ability to absorb corrupted souls had been useless against him."

"You've changed," Tauren was carefully examining Aries. "You are more confident now. Is it because you can now wield Vermillion and you acquired your legendary ability?"

"What are you talking about?" Aries curiously asked back. "What legendary ability?"

"That ability to absorb corrupted souls," Tauren calmly replied. "You are gaining your true self faster than the rest of us. That's good."

"True self?" Aries was getting more confused.

"It is the same with what Master Kiel had told you," Princess Pieffer answered. "When he told you that we will always be reborn as we are, it means that we will eventually acquire our true self and the memories of our rebirths."

"None of you had done it yet?"

"Just the weapons," Pines answered with annoyance. "We can regain it soon. Don't be so proud of yourself."

"How can you know things about our true selves if you haven't fully regained it?"

"You really did lose most of your memories," Tauren sadly affirmed with a shake of his head. "It is in the Book of The Legendary Knights. You can read it if The King is in the mood to have an audience. Or you can borrow it from Master Kiel. I think he had a copy."

"I think I will focus first on helping you reinstate the barriers," Aries sighed.

The royal siblings smiled and gave him a light tap on the shoulder.

"Father will surely want to see you after we save our kingdom," Princess Pieffer promised.

Of course, he had to see us after that. We saved an entire kingdom. 'His' Kingdom.

"What is it that you wanted to tell us? Say it now so we can proceed to the House of Maiden," Pines impatiently demanded.

"Pines!"

"Let him be, Princess," Tauren walked towards the beautiful ancient tree and momentarily basked in its shade. "Pines is right. This matter cannot wait. I need your help."

"What is wrong, Tauren?" Prince Sunrei asked.

"When you brought Merrick back to my house, I should have brought him to the dungeon instead of confining him in the highest room of the Bull Tower," the green-haired house leader glanced up at the tower where he came from. His eyes were filled with regret. "I hoped that Merrick will stay as he is."

"What do you mean?"

Tauren gazed at the prince with a sad smile as he answered, "You and Merrick had been close friends when you were little. And you were always doing naughty things especially to…"

"Tauren, you don't have to bring the past up," Princess Pieffer quickly interrupted, obviously concerned about her dearest brother. "Just… tell us why you need our help."

"Back then, I thought that Prince Sunrei is the reincarnation of Celestial Knight Sunrei and Merrick is the new body of Mercielle," Tauren went on. "I'm glad to have been wrong."

"Maybe you should stop assuming things since you are wrong most of the time," Pines glared at the green-haired house leader.

Tauren smiled calmly before saying, "Merrick is Mercielle."

"What?!" Pines was overly shocked. "That… that female knight is now a man?! How can that happen?"

"I thought they can never be reborn as humans?" Princess Pieffer was anxious.

"All I can guess is that Mercielle took over Merrick's body when he was only an infant," Tauren looked away and turned to face the ancient tree. "Merrick was always getting sick. He nearly died when he turned one year old. He survived that and became a healthy child. We all thought that it was a miracle. But as he aged, he became too attached to Prince Sunrei. He wanted them to be best of friends. They did become close until Prince Sunrei got into an accident and nearly died. From a naughty child, the prince became a responsible knight, son, and brother. We were confused yet grateful," he turned to look at Prince Sunrei with eyes that seemed to be diving deep into the soul. "You do look like the Celestial Knight Sunrei in the Book of Legendary Knights. But you are not him. Celestial Knight Sunrei is inside the body of Merrick. That witch Mercielle had found a way to tie their souls inside the body of Merrick. As Aries had said, holy water is not working on them. We have to find another way, and maybe we can still save Merrick's soul."

"But… we don't have other ways in saving a possessed person aside from the holy water and the ability of Aries," Princess Pieffer sadly admitted. "We cannot help you right now."

"Quaria and I will keep on looking for various ways to save the possessed people," Tauren said. "I need you to help me find the corrupted souls Mercielle had released while escaping the tower. I think that Aries can absorb those souls."

"How many corrupted souls did Merrick release?" Aries asked.

"Ten," Tauren answered with an exhausted sigh, "I already found seven and had them thrown out of my house. But the three were too elusive to be found. They were killing the people they possessed. Fear is spreading in my house like a wildfire. If this continues, it will invite more corrupted souls. My people will be easily possessed. And the barriers around my house will shatter. Help me find those three corrupted souls before it becomes too late."

"Let's divide into three groups," Prince Sunrei said. "Pieffer, you go with Aries."

"Hey! I also want to be with my princess!" Pines furiously yelled.

"You go with me," Prince Sunrei insisted.

"No!" Pines stubbornly refused. "I will go with my princess."

"I will go with Aries," Princess Pieffer seriously stated. "I promised to help him recall his past. Working together might help him remember. Please, Pines, go with my brother and keep him safe."

"Fine," Pines said even though he was still irritated. "This is for you, my princess. Don't fall in love with that man!"

Princess Pieffer only smiled but it was enough to satisfy Pines.

"Here," Tauren had given each of them a bracelet with a white crystal ornament. "Wear it and we can easily come to the aid of one another."

"This is a transport bracelet, right?" Princess Pieffer inquired. "How is this different?"

"You need to transfer energy on it," the green-haired house leader had answered. "All the people you want to find using that bracelet need to transfer their energy on it. But for now, it can only hold the energy of three people. I already transferred my energy to those bracelets. You only need to call my name and I will instantly come to you."

"Is it the same as what we did to fix the lion statue?"

"Yes, Aries," the princess kindly answered, and using her weapon, she transferred a bit of her energy on the bracelets of her brother, Pines, and Tauren.

Aries did the same.

Afterward, Prince Sunrei and Pines transferred their energy to the bracelets of Aries, Princess Pieffer, and Tauren.

"Aries and I will check near the southern border," Pieffer declared after they were done with the energy transfer.

"Your brother and I will check on the east," Pines stated.

"I will cover the rest of my borders. Let's meet here by nightfall if the corrupted souls remained elusive," Tauren said and then they temporarily parted ways.

^##############^