"So the reason why Benjamin is so hard to kill... was because he is also the child of the most powerful Valkyrie?" asked Ysabeau, her voice trembling.
"Unfortunately, yes. Though he would have killed us all if he was a normal Valkyrie," answered Mavislin, with a glimmer of remorse.
Had she found out that her twin wasn't acting like a normal Valkyrie, then the whole Husks problem wouldn't have surfaced. She would still be living in Valokia with her family like the Great Noble War never happened.
"What do you mean by normal?" asked Bryan, interested in the newfound words he was learning.
"A normal Valkyrie is what I am. Abnormal is what my twin is. Like you've mentioned, Valkyries are creatures of Pure Light. But my twin, well, you've met him firsthand. He is of the opposite of us, he is a creature of Pure Darkness," replied the young Valkyrie, recalling the days.
The days were filled with life and joy. Where everyone smiled and played together. Where they roamed the skies to no end. Where they laughed and unleashed every spell they knew. Valokia was grand, even by Akhatenanian standards.
She closed her eyes as she tried digging deeper into her old memories. Those that she locked away in fear that it would affect her in her present state. But now, she needed that information to face her current opponent.
She had nearly forgotten how old she was, ever since she locked her old memories away. She wasn't a child anymore, she was in her early teens. But only an adult Valkyrie can use the Fifth spell without a problem.
"But you mentioned that each Valkyrie has their own Elements to use as well? Maybe your brother was using the Dark Element?" questioned Bryan.
"Yes, but at least we possess the Element of Light first. He, on the other hand, could only use the Dark Element. From the beginning to the current form now, he had always used the Dark Element. But it was only when those experimenters injected a serum that he changed."
"Changed?"
"You fought the Husks, right? You should know that the Husks didn't come from a planet. Once they injected some sort of serum into my twin, he went completely insane. He went on a rampage, killing those that stood in his path. I was scared," explained Mavislin.
Her hands trembled uncontrollably as old memories poured in. That night, the sky turned fiery red. The Gladiators had been away when the disaster struck the hardest. Her parents had already died, at the hands of their own son.
Mavislin had been out, playing with some friends. She had defied her mother's orders to stay at home since the Empress had business to attend to. Since Mavislin could not control her powers, she wasn't allowed to play with others.
Despite that, she was a stubborn child and went off to play. You can't stop children from living their childhoods. Let them have fun, let them get hurt... It is the only way for them to learn and enjoy the joys of being a kid. Whine a bit, laugh a lot. That's what being a child is.
And no one would've guessed that defying her mother's orders would be the one thing that saved her from her brother. Bryan gripped his boss's shivering hands. Mavislin took a deep breath and continued.
"He destroyed the facility. After the serum, whatever he touched became the first recorded Corruption Element. His Aura did not change but his Elemental Power skyrocketed. He surpassed the Sun Pillars, the team that defended Valokia. And then, he killed our parents."
"I'm starting to see an ongoing pattern for this round of events," whispered Ysabeau, still deep in thought.
The Bahamut's side of things was slightly different. From what she was told, Benjamin was born with the Corruption Element. And that ever since he learned about the existence of other planets, he made the other Valkyries into Husks to destroy the other worlds.
But from the mouth of his twin, he sounded like a child forced into a monster. With no one to turn to, not even his own family. He didn't willingly set out to destroy worlds, he couldn't control it. If he was still sane, one would highly doubt that he would commit such atrocious acts.
Her heart broke at the image of child thrown into chaos.
"Pattern?" asked Bryan, tilting his head.
"Nothing, just a whimsical thought. Mavislin, you may continue if you are alright," cooed Ysabeau, gently patting her adopted daughter's head.
"I'm fine. Anyway, everything he touched afterward became Corrupted. That included other Valkyries. The first generation of the Husks was fallen Valkyries. The first few who got affected did not know and went off doing the daily tasks. And when one went to another planet."