The boy with no armor thought with surprise. "It was all a dream, right? So then... how does that boy have the same injury that I gave him?"
The armorless boy stared intensely at the boy who had his head smashed in, and he thought deeply. "I'm the one who gave him that injury! I'm the one who headbutted him! I'm the one who killed him! So it couldn't have all been a dream. If it was a dream, he would still be alive right now." He had a confused and saddened expression on his face as he thought. "But why would Sister lie to me and say that it was all just a dream? She has never lied to me before... So then why...? Why would she try to lie to me now...?"
Ismene smirked cruelly and said. "What's wrong, Little Brother? Why do you look so sad and confused?" She chuckled and said. "What are you thinking so deeply about? You don't believe me?"
The boy with dark silver hair said to Ismene. "Why would he believe you? You just lied to him and told him he came here with you! When he has been here since the Ceremony began and you arrived after he was already unconscious!"
The boy with no armor thought. "That's right. I remember." An image flashed in his head of Andreas headbutting him. He thought deeply. "He headbutted me and sent me here... That is why I know his name... It is why I remember what he looks like... If it was really all just a dream, would I really remember everything and everyone so clearly? And if it was really all just a dream, how come all these people seem to know who I am?" He had a confident expression on his face as he thought. "Sister is lying to me! She didn't bring me here! I didn't faint in the Throne Room!" His confident expression changed into a saddened expression as he thought. "So Sister really lied to me... But why...? She has never lied to me before... or were all those times back then... were all those lies, too...? Is this really the first time... Sister has lied to me...?"
The man wearing a complete set of crimson armor laughed mischievously as he said. "I'm disappointed, Ismene. I heard you had everyone in the Kingdom of Menelaos under your thumb. I heard you were a master manipulator that was using everyone around you to get rid of anyone who opposed you. You even used My Second to get rid of your mother earlier today, didn't you?"
The boy with no armor thought. "Master manipulator that uses everyone around her? She used Andreas to get rid of Mother?" He had a look of realization on his face as he thought. "So the reason Mother never showed up to the Ceremony... is because she was killed... by Sister and Andreas..." Tears began to well up in his eyes as he thought. "Mother... Mother is dead... They killed Mother...!"
*****
Minimus thought with surprise and fear. "She already killed Mother?! So, the day that she referred to was today?!"
A frightening memory appeared in his mind.
A boy with light brown hair and light red eyes ran through a dark hallway as fast as he could. He never looked behind him but clearly heard very fast footsteps behind him. Footsteps of a person chasing after him. He thought while scared. "She is going to catch me. I've never been able to outrun her before." He continued to run as fast as he could. As he continued running, he spotted a light up ahead and a figure carrying the light. The figure became more clear as the boy got closer.
The figure was a man who wore dark red armor with a silver trim around the edge. He had light green hair. On his left arm were two crossed blades that had been engraved into his armor. On the left side of the two crossed blades was a mask. By the bottom left of the mask were three crossed blades. Two were diagonal, and one was vertical.
The boy thought with relief as he ran toward the man who wore dark red armor with a silver trim around the edge. "He is the new guy! He can help me!" He yelled out as he continued to run. "Help!"
The man didn't respond to the boy's plea for help. His back was facing the boy as he looked at three men in front of him.
The three men in front of the man were all wearing dark red armor. They all had dark red helmets on, and all three of them were completely wasted. One was asleep in the middle of the hallway, and the other two were stumbling, laughing together. There were two crates next to the three men. One of the two crates was completely empty, and the other was half full. There were six bottles left in the half full crate. There were sixteen bottles on the ground scattered all over the hallway. The last two remaining bottles were in one of the hands of the two people stumbling around, laughing together.
The two men who were stumbling around, laughing together, noticed the King's Second Guardian.
The one on the left said joyfully. "New Boss!"
The one on the right had his left arm over the other's shoulder and squeezed him tightly as he said happily. "You don't call him new boss, you dolt! It's Lord Second!" He laughed happily.
The one on the left said. "Lord?" He laughed joyfully and said, "He ain't a Lord, you buffoon! He is His Majesty's Second!"
The boy with light brown hair and light red eyes who was running toward the King's Second Guardian yelled out as loud as he could. "Help me!"
The King's Second Guardian turned his head to look behind him.
The boy with light brown hair and light red eyes was about to sigh with relief as he watched the King's Second Guardian turn his head. But, right before he could, he suddenly felt a hand cover his mouth. He immediately disappeared from where he was.
The King's Second Guardian turned his head, but there was nothing behind him except for a dark empty hallway.