"So how do you know about what's happening to Cera? You said you've seen this before, but a person becoming the reincarnation of a god seems like a rare situation to me."
Sadako and Damien had been sitting on a tree that fell over while chatting about this and that. Evan was resting after he raised the Earth to create a huge dome like shelter from the falling snow. Now that Cera was unconscious they were all stuck at the valley between two enormous mountains during a blizzard.
"Well, that's a long story to tell you the truth. The short answer is that I witnessed my best friend get devoured by the memories of a god named Anubis."
"You're talking about Jesshira right? I had no idea you guys were so close…but, when you say devoured?"
"He was never the same person after he reincarnated as a god. I've barely even seen a flicker of the person I used to know ever since that happened…"
"That's terrifying…and also really sad…"
"That girl Cera…I'm afraid it will probably be something similar as well. Once this is over and Zeus takes over, that girl will probably never be the way you once knew her."
Sadako glanced at the scenery, she felt conflicted about who she should worry about more. Cera, who would soon become another person entirely, or Evan, who didn't even know that he's already lost his big sister.
"Tell me about him… Jesshira, the way you remember him."
She looked towards Damien, he was the kind of person that rarely showed emotions on his face but even she could tell he was surprised right then.
"There's an old legend that dates back to the very creation of our great Country of Vladd. It's said that there was a phoenix that watched over the first vampire clan, until then they had aimlessly traveled across the desert. They were the protectors of the humans that were too weak to fight and in turn the humans supplied those vampires with the blood they needed to survive. But that wasn't enough, the demons and vampires were constantly at war with each other. That was when the phoenix began protecting it's territory, the demons realized it's power thus the fighting was put to an end. The legend says this was all the result of the love between a vampire and the phoenix. Eventually a child was born from that love, but at the cost of the phoenix's power, after the birth of that child the phoenix was no longer immortal and thus died several years later. Though, the child was born with extraordinary gifts and became the new lord of his country. His bloodline became royalty and only the children of the phoenix could become a vampire lord in the country of Vladd."
"So then…you're a child of the phoenix?"
"No, I'm the first vampire lord in our history that wasn't from the phoenix bloodline."
"Really? Why is that?"
"The last lord was killed, and his only son was Jesshira. But he had no interest in being a vampire lord…well, he also had a lot on his plate at the time. I'm merely holding the title of 'lord' until Jesshira takes it for himself."
"I see…what kind of person was he before the reincarnation?"
"In essence, the exact opposite of who he is today. He was a pretty relaxed guy, always goofing off and trying to get out of work and studies…I would've never even met him if it weren't for our fateful encounter.
I was just a stupid kid, I snuck into the royal castle to see what it looked like. I remember stopping in the courtyard to look at the beautiful sight, millions upon millions of roses surrounded a memorial statue of the phoenix. It's supposed to be the actual grave of the creature that our society worships, so they don't take lightly to intruders. I was in awe until I heard people screaming at me, I got scared, ran away and hid under a podium.
That was when I saw another kid laying down reading. I was about to run off when he stopped me. 'They're chasing you too huh? What did you do' he asked in the most nonchalant way ever. After I explained what happened, he suddenly closed his book and looked at me. I'll never forget how fierce his eyes were as he asked why I even wanted to see the phoenix's memorial. I don't know why, but at the time I just decided to give him the most honest answer I could think of."
Damien's eyes wandered towards the sky as he recalled the memory. His skin was about as pale as the snow that surrounded him.
"What did you say to him?"
She leaned forward placing her chin into her hands, the icy white flakes were catching in her silky black hair all the while.
"That I was just bored and thought it would be fun. I didn't even think about what might happen if I got caught."
A faint smile crept up on his face for a mere instant.
"Well yeah, you were just a kid after all."
"But, apparently my answer caught him off guard because he just started laughing. The sound drew the vampire generals to the podium and I was taken into custody. They told Jesshira to go back to his studies and they were pretty furious with me. I would've probably been executed or exiled if it wasn't for Jesshira telling everyone that I was his friend and that he invited me to the castle and that I had just gotten lost... A complete lie of course, we had never even met before that moment. But it was convincing enough that I was let go at least.
After that though, we actually did become friends. Not a day went by that we weren't up to some shenanigans, and I also got the clearance to read books in the library. That was when I started to learn about magic and curses in fact."
"I see…that's an interesting story. I also loved to read the books in the library in the Castle of the kingdom of Flames as a kid."
"I browsed through those after we had taken Goliath's castle. There were mostly just books about different herbs and things throughout the wasteland. Interesting reads, but nowhere near as much information as the library in Vladd. I was a bit disappointed to be honest."
"Is that so? I wish I could spend some time in your country's library. I haven't been able to enjoy a good book in a long time."
"It's just too bad that our library no longer exists. It was burned to the ground by Goliath and his army along with everything else. Now my memories are all that's left."
"…"
Sadako was at a loss for words, until that moment she didn't come to grasp the devastation that her father had caused. From the bottom of her heart she just felt like crying.