Reunion of the Lost

"Get out of my way Edmund, would you rather stop me than preventing your sister from committing more sins than she already has?". Nicolas yelled trying to convince Edmund, but the man did not care.

Running his palm on the blade, he replied with his sword, "I don't care, as long as I can bring you to master."

"Master, Old man. Whatever you call that man he'll always be scum" Nicolas countered Edmund's blade.

He dodged, "If not only for your soul I gladly take your head for your insolence."

"What the hell is going on with these souls talk, I don't have a plan of joining your cult", Nicolas scooped some of the rocks then threw it to Edmund.

Edmund did not give him any answers, they exchanged blows back and forth until they could taste their own sweat. He tried slashing his legs but Nicolas evaded it with a simple backwards step.

"Didn't you learn to not go for the leg?", Nicolas rejoiced, attacking from above. It was a sure win as his sword hurdled down but another blade shouldered the impact.

"Darius?", Nicolas retreated.

"Stop right there Darius, I'll take it from here", another young man about his age presented himself, prepared with his own pitch-black sword while Edmund and Darius helped the others at war.

"And who could you be?", Nicolas raised his guard upon feeling an unearthly presence that he never felt since he encountered that bearded man from years ago.

"Matthew Terradin at your service", he said charging in without notice.

Nicolas was both startled and confused. He almost thought that he's looking at his own reflection. From the way Matthew stood, walked, and demeanor it reminded him of his self. They are a spitting image if not for the sharper look in the boy's eyes, pointed eyebrows, and blonde hair.

"Just who are you?"

"Me? I'm the one who'll take you down", Matthew thrusted his sword which Nicolas barely shouldered.

"As if I would go down without a fight", he said returning the blow.

The others around them was also busy with their own businesses, some grouped themselves into vanguard and marksmen at the back, while those who got separated are barely managing on their own. Blood dripping everywhere, bodies floating on the river, it was a war and those who lose their will to fight will surely die, skewered by a sword or bleeding to death.

But although it might seem chaotic, suddenly everyone had stopped on their tracks. They stared like statues on a museum keeping watch to those who pass, but it was a different sight for them.

They can feel each and every blow Matthew and Nicolas exchanged. It felt like a shockwave shaking their souls as if heaven and hell collides into each other.

One open chance and Nicolas managed to punch Matthew with the dirty trick he learned from Meriane, pinning him to the ground with only an option to block with his sword. Nicolas madly hammered his blade repeatedly like a bull on a rampage forcing the boy to protect himself with his blade.

Little by little Matthew's sword began to creak and crack and the terrified look on his face shows that he had lose the will to fight. Finally, after a few more clash, his soul wavered, broke, and dissolved into the air. This gave the chance for Nicolas to slash the newcomer right in the neck.

But by the time his sword was about to chop the young man's head, his sword stopped a few inches from the target as if they were repelled like two similar sides of a magnet trying to touch each other. He kept the forced on, giving it all her might to plunge, his sword's bright blue light flashed into the surroundings that it replaced the sun as it finally went down.

Before he knew it, he was flying into the air, landing 5 meters into the rocky riverside, rendering him immobile, and Matthew, unconscious.

"That you can't do, Prince of Gregoria", said the man with a familiar voice as he carried Matthew on his back, laughing as he watched Nicolas recollect himself.

"What's this? You can switch bodies now? You might have a younger, stronger body now but you still reeks the foul rotten smell, old man"

"Well, not that old now. Good to see nothings changed, you still have that sharp gaze and tongue"

"As if I would ever forgive what you did", Nicolas uttered, feeling a severe headache as he used his blade for balance. "And what's the deal with that boy? You tried doing charity work for an orphanage?"

"Ah… no, this boy is special, maybe not as special as you but close enough. We have a connection after all"

"Special or not, now that you're here, I'll kill you", Nicolas prepared to charge in when he heard Meriane screaming.

"They're trying to kill me", she cried as she reached the man's side.

A familiar face in a horse back behind her comes to view, together with dozen armored men, donning a flag of Gregoria. Anton led their ranks, although not that much of battalion, their numbers were enough to even out the battlefield.

"You humans really do like postponing my entertainment and ruining my plans", the man said. "I'm sure you know, but the next time we meet, your soul is mine", he gazed at Nicolas before they finally disappeared into the veil of night.

Nicolas tried following them but he's body protested, together with Anton's firm grip on his arm.

"Enough, Nicolas, you are in no state to even defend yourself moreover fight"

"What are you saying, he's right there, I can finally kill him", he angrily yelled at Anton as he tried to break free.

Anton tightened his grip even more, "So you're just going to hand yourself to the enemy? would the Queen want that?"

"Why the hell do you even care. Why are you even here? did my father sent you, then, go back and tell him that'll I'll be fine. Not that he really cares. LET ME GO"

"Nicolas"

"ANTON, LET ME GO—"

"NICOLAS", his former butler slapped him with full force, hoping that with the pain he'll calm down, "We came with a bad news", Anton let him go, letting him fall to the ground. "You might want to sit down first".

Nicolas could only ball his fist, sitting up was too much to ask to him by now, the adrenaline already wearied off so he just laid there. Watching the night sky as Anton filled him with the details together with the surviving members of Alice's group.

"We were attacked by those men led by the princess and princes of Algernon. We fought with all we could but the tragedy from almost 10 years ago… no, what happened was incomparable to that. We lost half of the population, most from the knights and the volunteers but sadly some children, woman and elderly lost their life too. And since Meriane is here, I think you already know that the King and Queen was also one of the casualties"

Nicolas silently listened by the bonfire as he processed every word he heard. "Deaths… my fault… they're dead and it's my fault…", he thought as the knights and Donnor's men surveyed the cave under the waterfall where the temple stood.

"I don't know you, but nonetheless, thank you for your help. Even though we lost some of our comrades, most will still get the chance to see another daybreak", Donnor extended his gratitude as he sat opposite Anton.

"No worries, we did not do much anyways and don't worry, we have every reason to help your people"

"Why should we trust them", Nicolas blurted. "They tried to kill me twice… thrice if you'll count the one this morning".

"That was a misunderstanding", Donnor cleared his throat, while awkwardly mixing the soup he and his men is preparing.

"Misunderstanding? A rain of arrows was just a misunderstanding?", Nicolas sat up, finally regaining some of his energy back. He was about to scold the old man about everything that's wrong with his argument when another knight came towards them, carrying someone.

Donnor disregarded Nicolas as horror filled his face, "What— What happened?", he quickly assisted the knight and prepared a flat surface to lay down the injured.

All is going well, not until the prince roared, "What the hell, are you doing here", Nicolas burst in anger again as he recognized the knight. "Didn't I told you that I'd kill you the next time we meet?"

"Ni— Nicolas?", Hunter exclaimed as the prince jumped and grabbed him by the collar, pinning him to the ground.

"Stop that Nicolas", Anton ordered while Donnor kept tending the other person. "He made great contributions in the last attack as a knight. He's also the reason that we managed to get here without delay"

"Asset my ass, have you forgotten what he did? He's the reason why Alisa died. Let me guess, you're the one who told them where I am, aren't you. I know I should have let you die in that cave. I should have killed you when I had the chance", Nicolas exclaimed.

"THAT ALISA IS STILL HERE", Anton also raised his voice. "Have you at least checked who he desperately carried here? he might have did a horrible thing in the past but he did all his best to atone for that", Anton tried convincing him as he took the last slurp in his soup.

Nicolas turned around and finally realized that the person was Alice, beaten up, and unconscious. "Are you telling me that that girl is Alisa? Are you screwing with me? I saw it with my own two eyes, SHE DIED, all because of this selfish moron", he pushed Hunter back to the ground once again and this time, it came with a punch, a generous amount at that.

Hunter could not do anything but defend his face with his arms. He had already accepted this possibility and he himself thinks there's nothing wrong with Nicolas's anger. The sin he committed was far more painful than any of the punches he receives.

Anton already had enough when he decided to stop the quarrel. As he was about to stand up, the girl grabbed him by the arm, assisted by Donnor as she greeted him weakly, "I see you're still as handsome as ever, Sir Wilver", before both of their attention was diverted towards the two boys.

Nicolas continued his frenzy, "The only reason he's here is that his guilt can't give him peace. Alisa… she was wrong to save you back there, we should have left you there, YOU SHOULD HAVE BEEN THE ONE WHO DIED. If Alisa is here I know she'll agree—"

"Not really, because I'm not blind", Alice uttered weakly, wiping her tears with a smile. It's a mere whisper but it was more than enough to bring Nicolas back to his senses.

With his fist stuck in midair, he slowly turned around. The phrase echoed on his head as he saw Alice crying. It reminded him of the time when Alisa desperately smiled as she tried stopping herself from crying over her scrapped knee.

Finally, the silhouette of the two came from a blur into a fixed image, "Let him go Nicolas, us saving him would be in vain if you kill him now"

After all the years of bottled-up grief, his tears finally streamed down. He knew that they are telling the truth but still, a part of him felt ashamed, guilty, and refuses to accept it. He stood up and ran off to the distance where he cried himself off, distancing himself as far from them as possible.

Finally, the emotions he lost that night came back for the first time in years. He felt his chest lighter as all that it carried started to lighten. There's an unexplainable pain in his chest, constricting in a different kind of feeling. It's as if the whole, the whole that he tried to mend for too long in order not to fall apart is slowly rebuilding itself. It's painful, excruciating, yet somehow, relieving.

Under the starry night sky, hiding under the shade of a tree on top of a small hill, Alice and Donnor found him, there we're no cries but his pain can be felt through his silence. It reverberates into the cold night breeze as a glimmer of blue light dust gently swoons over him, keeping him company through his agony. Donnor and Anton had already filled her with the news and she could only imagine how dreadful and powerless the boy is currently feeling.

"I can manage now, Uncle, thank you", she said, letting go of Donnor as he too went back to the cave.

Alice slowly approached the tree, the blue dust immediately tried to forbid her, but she only sighed. Closing her eyes, he took a deep breath, imagining her own soul scattered into the air. She opened her eyes to the majestic a majestic display, her soul joining the dust, dancing with the wind as she and Nicolas finally met eye to eye.

Nicolas tried to run away again, but his barrier could no longer stop her advance. Sulking on the other side of the trunk, he let her take the opposite space.

"Are you really Alisa?", "Are you really Nicolas?", they said in chorus.

"Yes", "Yes", they again said in a jinx.

"Aren't you angry or afraid with me?", Nicolas wiped his tears as the gentle breeze swayed the canopy.

"Why would I?", she circled the trunk and sat beside the boy.

"You've seen what I did, you've seen what I was capable off, and I— I almost killed you too, why wouldn't you get angry with me?"

"I'd admit, I was afraid. But those eyes of yours, I knew you were confused and now I understand why you acted that way. Whatever happened, I'm still your best friend, nothing can changed that. Besides, isn't all of this because of me? If only I had the courage to go back at Gregoria, you wouldn't have wandered this far. You wouldn't have gone for this quest of revenge"

"No, you have no fault in this. I left because I wanted to, I wanted to learn about this soul thing that's been haunting me since then. All the things I did, my decisions, all of it are the things I wanted to do"

Nicolas felt the sudden shift of emotions from their souls in the air. It pulses, it wavers, flow is disrupted as Alisa held him by the shoulder, "I'm sorry for your lost, Nicolas."

He faintly smiled, "Enough with that, let's talk about you first. How did you ended up here? How did you survived? Are you a ghost? Am I dead? How are you?"

Alisa could only laugh as the barrage of questions kept coming on her way, "One question at a time please", they could only laugh at each other.

Like the old times of their youth. "First of all, I'm fine, more than alright knowing that you're alive", her voice faltered as she looked down, her hair hiding her face, sobbing as tears kept pouring down her cheeks, "I— I resented myself every waking day, thinking that you died because of me, because of my weakness…"

Nicolas patted her head as she finally look up. He gently smiled at her before combing her hair towards the back of her ear before clipping them in place, "This is a treasure and no equivalence in gold would make me give it up, but I was wrong, it's the owner that I cherished the most. It's alright now, Alisa, I'm back"

Alisa caged her in an embraced. "Thank you"

"Your welcome, but please spill the tea to me first", he laughed, holding her by the cheeks and squishing her face. After a little more banter, they finally recollected themselves, Alisa rested his head to his shoulder as they watched the stars above.

"Remember my father? they said he died on the war after we were born, but that night, he saved me like a flash of lighting. I'm too weak to move but I know how fast he was when he saved me".

"Alvor?", Nicolas held his head trying to fight off a headache.

"Yes, turns out, our ancestors are from Yggdryas and because of these abilities he also had, going back to us would be dangerous", she added. "About that, Hunter, that bastard out of all people has it as well, and guess what his soul reflects as".

"What?"

"A shield"

"Shield? but shield wielders are—", Nicolas looked at her in disbelief.

"Unbelievable right? Far from the selfish person that pushed me for his own safety, although its thanks to him I'm right here with you", Alisa held his hand.

Nicolas returned the gesture by holding her tighter, a sting on his head hitting is worsening the headache, "Have you forgiven him?"

"As if", Alisa laughed. "I was beaten up badly by Meriane. All I could do was to wait for death as she thrusted her blade towards me. It was hopeless that I even imagined my corpse being eaten by animals and what's left as fertilizer for the trees but then he came. He saved me, but that does not mean I can finally forgive him".

"I do owe him one then", Nicolas sighed. "So many interesting things happened since I left Gregoria. I hope mother would be prepared to listen to all my stories, and I also hope that father could also forgive me".

Alisa sat properly up and faced him with worry, "But Nicolas—"

"Could you believe how I almost died of hunger? Mother would be totally angry with me when I get back", he laughed but tears streamed down his cheek.

"But Nicolas they're—", Alisa even more worried finally held him by the shoulder.

"And just today, I jumped off a waterfall. Mother would be really furious…", he continued laughing, the headache felt like crushing his head as his eyes became indisposed.

"NICOLAS", Alisa shook him, "SNAP OUT OF IT", he held him by the sides of his head as she desperately called for his name.

Nicolas saw his reflection in Alisa's eyes and his laughter gradually shifted to wails of sorrow, "It's my fault isn't it", he uttered, "It was all my fault… IT WAS MY FAULT"

"No, no don't say that. What's happening to you", Alisa said shaking him again.

"IT WAS ALL MY FAULT. I SHOULDN'T HAVE LEFT. I COULD HAVE DEFENDED THEM IF I HADN'T LEFT", he pushed Alisa away before grabbing his head and pulling his hair, feeling the headache worsening.

The gentle light of thus surrounding them turned into a violent tempest, a destructive tornado that's mercilessly swaying the tree and the grass. Faint fragments of the boy's memory flooded Alisa's brain, "Nicolas, listen to me please"

"YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND. If only I did not leave, they would still be alive. It was my fault, that incident, all of those I killed, It was my fault, EVERYTHING"

"You're hurting yourself", Alisa exclaimed before caging Nicolas in an embrace. "It's not your fault, it was never your fault, please, stop, please", she kept repeating trying to drown Nicolas's destructive thoughts.

"MY FAULT, if I only knew that that would be our last conversation then I should have stayed", he kept saying, "I should have hugged mother, I should have forgave father, I— I should have been a better son"

"Look at me Nicolas, look at me", Alisa forced him to up, "It was not your fault", she locked her eyes with him. "I know you've had a hard time, all this time, on your own. You did what you think was right, you did nothing wrong"

"YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND"

"SHUT UP, I can feel your pain, hell I can even see your memories, both painful and good", Alisa yelled back, "There is no use regretting the choices you have made in the past whether it's right or wrong. What matters now is that you learn from them and you keep moving forward", she once again caged him in an embrace, this time even tighter, preventing him to once again pulling his hair.

She wrestled him to the ground and pinning him there. She had no idea how long it took, but she kept at it until finally, the storm passed. It calmed Nicolas for a bit and his tantrum lessened into a sob.

They both lied down on the grass alone in the starry night. The moon watched them through its rays as it went pass the tree's canopy. There, peacefully, they reconciled for all the things that happened, all the things they missed, regrets, thoughts, and feelings.

Despite the conflicts they had fought for, it was indeed peaceful.

It did not take long for the morning to come, basking them both with radiance and warmth. Alisa opened her eyes to see Nicolas still fast asleep. She fixed her hair and took off the hair clip, adoring it with a smile, knowing that it is a testament of their friendship.

"And perhaps something more", she thought as she remembered the time they shared while fishing. No words could explain how she felt then, she could not explain why she felt it back then, but now, she has a clear idea.

"It's already morning, sleepy head", she tapped him by the chest but she got no response. "Hey… stop messing around, this is not funny", she pushed him but again, he gave no response, not even a grunt or complaint.

Worry finally ate her up when the worst scenarios filled her mind. She placed her head on his chest and listened to his beating heart, placed their foreheads together but fever is out of the question. Breathing, injury, broken bone, she examined all the possible reason he won't wake up, but as hopelessness started to cause her panic, she had no other choice but to carry the limp, unconscious boy, back to Anton and the others.