Ten minutes had passed since Tessia had entered the room. After they introduced themselves, no one spoke. Everyone sat in silence in the room. Only the sound of Boo's soft snoring could be heard. However, it did not disturb anyone. In fact, it was soothing and everyone present was glad not to be sitting in complete silence in the room. Nevertheless, the tension was palpable, everyone waited for Arthur to finally open his eyes and looked at him calmly. Only Ellie was still sleeping on the couch.
Then there was a knock at the door. No one responded. After a short time, the door was slowly opened and a guard, sensing the tension in the room, said in a low voice.
"Lady Seris, Lady Eralith, Commander Virion has asked me to bring you to him."
Tess was confused, she had just entered the room and didn't expect to hear from her grandfather so soon. Seris' face showed no emotion. She had put her hood back on just before the guard entered the room.
While Seris immediately headed for the door, Tess looked again at Arthur and then at Alice. Alice had not reacted and was still looking at Arthur. So Tess also stood up and slowly walked towards the door.
There were ten guards in front of the door.
The same guard who had entered the room said they were only here to escort the two to Virion. At first Tess was surprised, but then she realized that they were not here for her, but for Seris.
The guards were all veterans with years of combat experience. Five silver core and five yellow core mages, Tess noted. On Dicathen, this was an impressive group. She herself, as a white core mage and S class beast tamer would have no problems if it came to a fight, yet there were few who could stand up to the guards.
Tess looked at Seris. She had not noticed it before. Not until Seris moved, the way she moved, and the aura she was suppressing. Normal mages wouldn't notice the difference, but Tess wasn't normal. The power Seris radiated was not human, she felt endless power. "If she got angry, no one could ever stop her," Tess thought to herself and had to swallow.
Both left the room and closed the door behind them.
"Follow me, please," the guard said in a polite tone, not taking his eyes off Seris who was still hiding her face under a hood.
Silently, the two women and the guards walked to the room Tessia had left only 15 minutes ago.
The guard opened the door and they both entered.
Virion, still sitting alone in the room, looked at the two women with a serious expression.
"Commander Virion.", Seris began the conversation, "to begin with I want to thank you for letting Caera and me stay here in the castle." She removed her hood. Virion didn't react but Tess still hadn't gotten used to the sight and took a step back.
This gesture was not commented by anyone, knowing that Seris' sight was unusual for those who had not seen her before.
"Lady Seris," Virion replied in a serious tone, "first of all, we owe you and Caera a great debt of gratitude. Not only did you help in the fight against Agrona, but you also brought Arthur here. For that, I thank you not only on behalf of the continent, but also personally. Arthur has always been a part of the family for me. Thank you, once again."
Virion was completely honest here, it wasn't appropriate for a commander to speak like that to a former enemy but he didnt care.
Seris responded with a bow. "We also owe the boy a great deal."
Now Virion spoke up again. "However, you cannot stay in the castle for much longer. I know you can't go back to your continent, but our people have suffered greatly under the Vritra and we can't leave you here. But we will find a solution to the problem when we have time."
Tess hadn't thought about it and looked at Seris. Virion was right. Agrona and the Vritra were worshiped like gods. It was common knowledge that Seris had betrayed him and they would never be able to enter the continent again. Here, too, no one would welcome them. She honestly felt sorry for her.
"But that's a problem for later" Virion continued, "Tessia, I'm sorry I didn't tell you directly but we have a problem. Arthur is not the only reason I called you here. I didn't bring it up just now because you should see him again first, but the problem is serious and must not be put off any longer."
Tess looked with a puzzled face to her grandfather.
To her surprise, Seris began to speak. "Lady Eralith, I have already spoken to your grandfather about this before we came to the castle and explained everything to him. Nevertheless, you must know it too. You still remember the fight against Retainer Bilal, right?"
How could she forget that?
"Of course, I passed out after that and was unconscious for a week", she answered and didn't know why they came up with it in this place."
"Yes, that is what we told you, but it is not true. After you defeated Bilal, you were kidnapped and taken to Alacrya," this time it was Virion who continued the conversation.
Tess was confused and did not understand the situation. "What do you mean? I was in Alacrya? Why can't I remember that?"
"Tessia," Virion continued, he wouldn't call her Tessia if it wasn't about a serious matter, "Agrona has conducted experiments on humans. He has managed to bring the consciousness of people from other worlds into this world. In this case, he used you as a vessel for it. I know it's hard to believe, I didn't believe it myself but I'll try to keep it short now. After you arrived in Alacrya you were no longer yourself, your body was taken over by another person."
Virion decided not to mention that Arthur was also a reincarnation and also didn't mention Nico.
Tess was speechless.
"Another consciousness in my body? How is that even possible?" she asked anyway. She felt like her reaction wasn't quite right in that situation.
"We don't know the details, only that Agrona somehow made it happen," Virion said.
"Why would he do that?", Tess still couldn't believe what just happened. It was just too much.
She had been standing next to Seris since she entered the room, but now she had to sit down. Her head was spinning and she could not think clearly.
"Lady Eralith, ...", Tess interrupted Seris who was about to speak.. "Just call me Tessia, I can't hear Lady anymore."
"Okay, so it will be Tessia. Actually we have met before." Tess now remembered what she thought about Seris when she saw her the first time. She felt like they had met before. "Reincarnations bring incredible powers to this world and Agrona's plan was to use those powers for himself," Seris said.
"But then why am I back here and how did I escape from Alacrya and Agrona?" asked Tessia, still unable to believe it.
"Arthur rescued you with our help and brought you back to Dicathen. Agrona could not control your powers and suppressed your other consciousness. He imprisoned you after he discovered this. Agrona was able to manipulate thoughts and so he sealed your powers that were bound to your consciousness. I will keep everything as short as possible. There is no reason to drag the conversation."
"Arthur saved me? Again?" Tess sighed, she thought she had become strong and wouldn't need Arthur's help anymore but he had saved her again. Now she can't even remember.
Confusion and now wounded pride. Tess closed her eyes as she sat in the chair and thought. Seris and Virion were silent.
"What now?" asked Tess after a brief pause.
"Honestly, we don't know. Agrona sealed your other consciousness, but after he died we don't know what will happen to you," Virion answered with a serious face.
"Why? Why is this happening to me? I thought it was finally over!" as Tess' emotions came through and she now knew roughly what happened she felt something she hadn't felt in a long time. Anger.
Her fist, augmented in mana by a white core mage, hit the table. It wasn't just the table that shattered into a thousand pieces from her blow. A crater formed under her blow, and the entire castle felt the shock. Even though the room was surrounded by a sound barrier, it couldn't hold back that sound.
The door flew open. Immediately, a dozen guards rushed into the room. The guards, not knowing where the shock came from, pointed their weapons at Seris. Seris did not move.
"Stop!" shouted Virion who almost fell to the ground from the shock and vibration, "Get out! Immediately!"
The atmosphere in the room was tense. The guards did not move. Not knowing what had happened.
Only another "Get out of here" from Virion, this time in a calm but serious voice, made the guards move slowly back to the door, still with their weapons raised. Shock was written all over their faces. They had not seen Seris without a hood covering her face this time. Her obsidian horns were a shock to anyone who saw them for the first time.
"Commander Virion...", a guard, with a mid-silver core, who were considered absolutely elite on Dicathen, stopped in the doorway. Unsure if he should really leave the room.
"It's fine. We don't have any problems here." Virion said, this time with a normal voice.
The guard looked once again at the room and all the faces. He twitched when he looked into Seris' eyes, but then he left the room and closed the door behind him.
Tess, still keeping her face to the ground said after a short while. "I'm sorry." She wasn't angry anymore but had tears in her eyes.
Virion said in a gentle voice, "Tess, you have nothing to be sorry for. Anyone would react like that. We don't know what will happen now. When I first talked to Seris about it, we thought it was most likely that the other personality had disappeared. However, we also agreed that we had to tell you the whole story."
Tess nodded.
Virion averted his eyes from Tess, this time inspecting the room. There was nothing left of the table, a crater in the floor, even the walls were cracked and documents were scattered all over the place.
"Well, I might need another room," he couldn't help but smile.