JURADS LAST HURRAH PT2

Kalen's pov

'It's called Rakeleheim'

I said to the old man in front of me, he looked down quietly before saying

"the one who waits for when you are at your weakest"

'so you've heard of it'

"I thought it was a myth"

the old man, no, Jurad had just finished explaining to me his backstory and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't pained, I had heard stories of the pirate Isles but some were so horrific I thought them nothing more than exaggerations yet here it sat, right in front of me was a by product of human malice, we were currently discussing the voice that had guided him all this while.After our fight he couldn't seem to hear it anymore, it was because he himself didn't know what he wanted he had practically made the gravest mistake anyone of the black empire could ever make, and that was laying his hands on me, Rakelehiem was said to mirror the soul over the last century he had dedicated himself to bringing back the empire and just now he had tried to kill his unquestionable sovereign, even though his previous plans had many negative elements to them not once did he plan to use force on the crown prince once he found him

"my leige"

'please call me Kalen, that was what my parents named me and I do not intend to forget that anytime soon'

I said

"so it's true, the capsule did affect your memories"

he spoke with a hint of pity

'not by much, at least right now but when I first got out the dissonance was intense rather than being cryogenically frozen it felt like I had been suspended in time my mind and body refused to accept that we were living over a century after my time simply because it didn't make sense but as I wandered the ruins of our castle our city and laid my eyes upon the once prosperous lands that had fallen to ruin it became easier to believe'

he lowered his head again and spoke

"I'm sorry, here I am bringing up my suffering while ignoring yours"

I pulled him up and spoke

'don't, your pain is far greater than mine'

tears welled up in his eyes as spoke

"I was such a fool, I risked everything only to end up here"

'you weren't, you were ignorant but that's not a crime, the demon that sleeps in all of us was simply able to claim you because it had done so many many times before'

my mind quickly went to the 4 fourth catastrophe of the black empire, something that happened a little over a decade before the fall, the world had entered the great depression and the empire was no exception to this, many of our people had set.out on cultivating the near impossible and when they failed many lost their will to live. And so it happened, mass suicides happened all over the empire including the capital where life was most prosperous and among the millions of claimants five of them were imperial princes, the Royal line was reduced to one successor, my father, he watched all his brothers die at their own hands, I informed Jurad of this and his eyes became a mix of shock and clarity, clearly he did not know of this

'the census committee stopped counting after 6 million for fear of depressing it subjects even more, you are the victim here but its up to you to let him win, whether or not he feels joy at the sight of our pain no one can tell, his existence can't even be confirmed by the most talented of researchers but rest assured those that understand are here and they will help you fight it'

he looked up at me and asked

"have you ever heard it your majesty"

to that I answered

'yes'

"may I ask when"

'two weeks ago, I had lost someone, someone special to me and in my guilt and rage I lost all reason so when i came across those who could be attributed with the most fault in the situation, I snapped amd that's when it spoke to me but it only said two words and nothing else, even now I know I shouldn't have listened'

"what did it say"

'kill them'

it was true, those were the only words I registered before I slaughtered guild of the third don before me, that was why I couldn't lecture this man, i was no better, I was just as foolish just as senseless and I let it show.

'you as asked me if I would help you'

I said, he looked probably wondering what I was going on about

'you asked if I would help you get revenge on this world for what it had done. Honestly, I didn't need to hear that voice to know what I wanted revenge was my first thought all those years ago and I worked towards it as well, luckily I was stopped early'

as I spoke my mind drifted to that night all those years ago the night when a silver haired man showed me that not everyone was deserving of my vengeance, that putting my abilities towards that would be a waste

'but now I know, there are other ways other things we can do, you and I hold the most important position in the world, if we put our hands together we can save our people, the empire is long gone but its people still live, the people who gave it life and we can help them, wherever the are whatever corner of the earth they are hiding at we just need to stretch out our hands to them'

"and what if they want vengeance, what if they're like me"

'what if they're like who you used to be, you moved past that, they can too'

I placed my hands in his shoulder and said

'with my help. Jurad Beltharix, Kalen of the blessed line of the Agnis empire asks you to swear aligence'

the words would have sounded tacky in any order situation asking him to swear loyalty to me in the name of the empire is something I normally wouldn't do not to mention that for the first time in over 10 years I had uttered my surname and it wasn't to the Felix or to the Kings it wasn't even to Lorain it was to someone who needed it more than them, he dropped on his knees and spoke

"you'd have me after all I tried to do"

'I'm grateful I could even meet you'

he began to cry and not sparingly he heaved huge sobs as he let streams of tears flow he did this for several minutes before managing to come to a halt and when he looked up there was a determination in his eyes that I'd never thought I see before it easily dwarfed his previous determination to kill me, I extended my hand in order to pull his up, he recieved it and once he was on his feet he spoke with a cripse clear voice

"I'm sorry my leige but I cannot do that"

I paused, no I was stuck, for some reason it felt like the entirety of my body was being held in place

"I truly do apologise for having to do this but I assure you you will recive no injury from this"

ge said with a small smile

"you are currently under the effects of an artifact that I used on you when we held hands this device gathers natural forces and attaches them to your body, as you are now every inch of your body is bearing the weight of no less than 1000 tons"

you bastard I wanted to scream but I couldn't and I shouldn't either, curse my luck thinking a condition he had for last century could be cured in under an hour, some part of me had already accepted death as he pulled out a dagger from inside my coat, but instead of turning it in me he did something else

"I'm sorry I truly am but, I can't accept your kindness, I am unworthy, my leige you truly did help me you truly showed me the error of my ways and due to that you allowed me to see into my guilt, my crimes are too much to ever be forgiven so once again I deeply apologise but I deserve punishment, punishment I can't ask you to give me so even though our time was short it seems we will still have to say farewell, goodbye my prin... no my emperor and I assure you I made this decision without asking that bastard"

he plunged his knife into his heart while I silently screamed, after a few seconds the forces contricting my body gave way as I dashed towards his dying body, I tried to mutter healing spells on him but he stopped me instead saying

"my leige do not waste your kindness on this one, before I go please you have to listen to me, there are several forces in this world that even you have to be weary of one's that are good ones that aren't ones that are hidden and the ones who directly orchestrated the fall of our homeland COUGH COUGH SFX"

'don't talk now'

I said with a threatening aura to my voice but to that he answered with a smile and a soft voice

"thank you for forgiving me"

he said as he placed a single finger on my forehead, as he did so streams of information began to flow into my head ones that made me want to laugh and some that made me want to cry and some that made my rage rise like a dragon who had his kin murdered in front of it, for the first time in my entire life I knew who my enemies were.