Chapter 3: What Could Have Been

A few hours later.

Harriet and Travis sat at the table nervously as food was served. "Is something the matter you two?" Mr. Gallavan asked as he took a drink of water.

"You see, father... He, uhm... He knows I'm a girl..." Harriet said. Immediately, Mr. Gallavan coughed as he choked down his water.

"How?" He asked as he regained his composure.

"He was walking in the halls earlier and I had walked out in my nightgown, he then put it together on his own." Harriet said. Mr. Gallavan nodded before turning his attention to Travis.

"Why were you walking around so early?" He asked.

"I'm used to waking up early, figured I might as well take a look around." Travis said blandly. Mr. Gallavan sighed.

"I assume this goes without saying, but this cannot get out, got it?" He asked. Travis nodded.

"She explained that much to me earlier. High society must be terrible." Travis said with an unnecessary comment at the end.

"I would not recommend going around saying that to people." Mr. Gallavan said.

"Yeah, that's fair." Travis said.

"Also, I recommend lowering the amount of low speech you use, instead of using contraction words, use the extended version, it is considered more proper." Mr. Gallavan advised.

"I take it Harry is still getting used to using proper speech as well, since she spends so much time in the city." Travis said. Mr. Gallavan nodded slightly as the last bit of food was prepared and placed on the table.

Throughout breakfast, Travis is corrected on table manners such as not slurping his food and keeping his elbows off the table, things that he is unused to avoiding. After breakfast, Mr. Gallavan and Travis entered into a carriage. Travis looked at Mr. Gallavan.

"So, what are you going to do about getting a successor from Harry?" He asked. Mr. Gallavan became serious.

"I have a few ideas." Mr. Gallavan said. Silence fell upon the carriage.

"So, why show such an apologetic side of yourself to my family in particular? I mean, it's not like I am the only person that Kel went after." Travis asked to break the silence. Mr. Gallavan's expression did not change.

"I have heard from many fortune tellers, but there is one I have gone to that has yet to be wrong. If all goes well, that streak will not be broken." Mr. Gallavan said.

"And how many fortunes have you received?" Travis asked.

"Enough to last a lifetime." Mr. Gallavan said.

"And these fortunes said something about a lowborn individual?" Travis asked.

"She had said there is a boy with red hair, he is lowborn and if nothing changes his current course, he will be dragged into a power struggle, used as nothing more than a tool for greed and corruption. I had asked her how to change the course of that boy's life, she said to approach his parents with a large sum, then, after they negotiate, go with whatever they ask for." Mr. Gallavan said.

"And you're thinking that I'm the boy she was referencing? Also, that doesn't explain how it was in your best interest." Travis said.

"Travis, we have just gotten through a revolution. The new king allowed the previous royal family to retain the title of royalty as well as their wealth, he practically welcomed them into his family. If things continue like this, we will fall right back into warfare. The more corruption there is within the government, the more danger everybody is in, including the ruling class." Mr. Gallavan said.

"That does make a certain amount of sense. Still, say that she wasn't referring to me and you were wrong, what happens?" Travis asked.

"I can only hope you are able to prevent the other from doing anything." Mr. Gallavan said.

'Me? So, he has more faith in me than he lets on. I should keep that in mind from now on.' Travis thought to himself. "I see." Travis said. The rest of the carriage ride was silent.

After a while, they reached the cathedral, it is a grand structure, roughly 1500 feet tall and 750 feet in width, it is a large creation. The windows have stained glass depicting what looks like several religious figures, and the stone is carved to be as fancy as possible.

'I've been here before, they didn't let me in because I am a lowborn individual.' Travis thought to himself as he entered the building with Mr. Gallavan. As they walked, a person came from the front of the room.

"Shaun, the appointment will be in ten minutes, we are glad that you have come to our cathedral once again for a baptism." The priestly individual said happily. "So, where is the one that will be baptized?" He asked as he looked around.

"I adopted him recently, so he is a bit older than most, but he is right here." Mr. Gallavan said as he placed his hand on Travis's head.

"I see, well, come along, we have much to do." The priest said. They followed him and after a few moments entered into a different room from the north. The room has four mirrors, one in each cardinal direction. A magical circle is drawn on the floor.

"I will assume that you have never been baptized." The priest said.

"That is correct." Travis said.

"Well, it is quite simple, you will stand in the center of the room and I will use magic to purify your soul, in the mirrors you will see different versions of yourself, desires, fears, temptations, even destiny can show up in the mirrors." The priest explained.

"I see." Travis said as he walked to the center of the room.

"Be prepared, the older you are, the more likely it becomes that the visions you see will be bad. Lastly, if you fail to resist any dark urges and things of the sort, you will be unpurified." The priest added before activating the magical circle.

'That would have been useful to know before you activated the circle.' Travis thought to himself. After a few moments, his reflections in the mirrors began to change and morph.

In the southern mirror, he is surrounded by women, the women seem quite infatuated with him and are wearing very little clothing. In the eastern mirror, he can see himself wearing armor, with a broadsword, seemingly ready to do anything and take on the world.

In the northern mirror, he is covered in blood and holding the body of his sister as he cries. For a split moment, Travis struggles to remain calm but quickly remembers what the priest said. In the western mirror, he is falling into some void, completely alone. His expression is that of a broken man who was cast aside.

After a few more moments, the mirrors change and he is now viewing different situations. "George, I do not remember things like this happening during my baptism." Shaun Gallavan said.

"That is because it is not supposed to." George the priest said.

Travis cycles back to the southern mirror, where he sees himself with Harriet, holding a child. He quickly turns to the western mirror, where he sees himself with a beastman woman, similarly to the last mirror, he is holding a child, the difference is that the child has the ears of an animal.

He turned to the northern mirror and suddenly he was teleported in a black void. 'Where am I?' Travis asked himself as he walked around. It only took a few seconds for the void to shift into a different location. A grassy field, he is with his sister, though it seems to be many years from now.

"I'm glad you decided to stay on that day." Rebecca said.

"There was no way I could leave you guys. I didn't have it in me." The older Travis said. Rebecca and the older Travis laughed. They continued speaking with each other for a few moments when suddenly the older Travis heard the faint galloping of several horses.

The younger Travis, which seemed to be non-existent in the world of the older Travis, was perplexed as to what was happening. The older Travis stood up and looked around, then quickly spotted a troop of cavalry sporting the banner of the royal family. Older Travis and Rebecca waited for them as they approached and the cavalry stopped to speak with them.

"We are looking for a boy named Travis, have you heard of him?" The knight asked.

"They're looking for you?" Rebecca asked. In that moment, both older and younger Travis had the same thought.

'Did you really have to tell them who I am?' They thought.

"I see, it is you. Well, we have an order from his royal majesty to get you at any cost, so come with us." The knight said as he eyed Rebecca. "Quite the beauty, a childhood friend?" The knight asked.

"She's my sister, and I'm not going with you guys, I'm fine as is." Older Travis said.

"I see, it would be a shame for such a beautiful young woman to be subjected to anything bad, wouldn't it?" The knight asked.

"What are you saying?" Travis asked.

"Bruce." The Knight said. Swiftly, another knight got off his horse and began walking towards Rebecca. Travis quickly moved to guard Rebecca. "Naive boy. Bruce, knock 'em out and tie up the girl." The knight said. Bruce quickly did so.

Suddenly, time skipped forward what seems to be about an hour. "Please, no! I-I'm not interested, please!" Rebecca screamed as Travis woke up and saw a knight without pants on in front of Rebecca, trying to stuff his dick into her mouth.

"I was told to keep watch of both of you and do whatever I want, now open up bitch!" The guard said. Rebecca moved her head to the side.

"No!" She yelled.

"Fine, I'll pleasure myself with other parts of your body!" The guard said as he ripped her dress and took off her panties.

"W-wait!" Older Travis said.

"Hehe, look what we've got 'ere, an older brother who finally woke up, and just in time to watch his sister get defiled." The guard said as he positioned Rebecca to take his dick. "Ready?" He asked Travis.

"No-no! Don't, please!" Travis begged him not to do anything to his sister.

"Go!" The guard said as he laughed and inserted his dick. Rebecca began crying as she stifled her moans.

"Rebecca..." Older Travis said as he processed what just happened. Younger Travis covered his mouth as he fell to the ground, his mind still trying to process what happened earlier.

The guard wrapped his hand around her breast which is a nice C cup and began to fondle her. Suddenly, Travis was pulled back to the baptism as he fell to the ground. His eyes filled with shock and horror as he took heavy breaths, he didn't move.

"Travis, you alright?" Shaun asked as he walked over to Travis. "What happened?" Shaun asked.

"Th-they... Rebecca... I-I..." Travis attempted to coherently put what he just saw into words but was unable to as a tear began to fall down his cheek.

"Tell me later, right now you are a mess." Shaun said. "George, what are the results?" He asked.

"R-right." George said as he fumbled a bit, then walked over to Travis. He used some sort of magic. "He seems to have passed..." George said with a hint of confusion.

"Right, we will go to Henry in a few moments, I think he needs some time to process whatever it is that happened." Shaun said as he lifted Travis to his feet.

"Right." George said as he attempted to understand what happened. Travis, with some help, walked out of the baptism room and sat on the cathedral bench closest to the stage. After a few minutes, Travis calmed down a bit.

"You think you can go and get your status?" Shaun asked. Travis nodded slowly, then stood up. "Alright, let us go." He said. Travis followed Shaun into another room.

The room is rather bland, with a stand in the center of the room holding a glass orb and a small table next to it with some iron plates on it.

"Oh, Shaun, I was wondering when you'd show, baptisms shouldn't take that long." Henry said.

"It was not the baptism that took so long, he needed a break." Shaun responded as he pointed to Travis who is moving rather slowly.

"Yes, I suppose that does happen to some people, especially when they get baptized at his age." Henry said. "Anyway, please place your hand on this ball, it will then output onto the iron plate and allow both me and you to view your status." Henry said. Travis did as he was told and placed his hand on the orb.

After a few moments, the orb began to glow various colors for a few seconds, then the iron plate on the top of the pile began to glow as words were inscribed on the plate.

After the plate stopped glowing, Henry picked it up and analyzed the status. "Oh, quite the talented kid you got there, Shaun." Henry said as he handed the plate over to Shaun. To Shaun, the plate is empty. "I would recommend letting him take some time before looking at the status, I'll let him tell you what's on it." Henry explained. Shaun nodded.

"We will take our leave, I once again thank the church for the services it provides." Shaun said. Shaun lead Travis outside and they entered the carriage again. After a few minutes of riding in the carriage, Shaun looked at Travis with a serious expression. "I want you to tell me what you saw." He said.

Travis did not respond immediately but slowly looked up. "Something terrible." He said simply. Shaun sighed.

"I guess that is the best that I will get for now..." He said as he looked out the window. "I want you to look at your status tomorrow morning and tell us what is on it at lunch, breakfast if possible." Shaun said. Travis nodded lightly, not fully paying attention to the conversation at hand.

After a while, they reached the estate and disembarked from the carriage. "Kyle, take Travis to his room with this iron plate, he needs to rest." Shaun said as he handed the elderly butler Kyle the iron plate.

"Yes, my lord." Kyle said as he did what he was instructed to do. After a few hours, Travis began to fully process what he had seen.

'I should... I should just sleep, I'll process it better that way...' He thought to himself as he laid down and closed his eyes.