Riz woke up as Trevor, He saw around the and he was in the same room but it was hard to tell how much time had passed since then as the room had no windows.
He noticed the room was lit by some crystal based lights which probably seemed to run on some aura based technology as he could sense faint aura from them. He made a mental note to learn about aura based technology in this world.
"Looks like you are finally awake, congratulations on your breakthrough but do not attempt that stunt again in the future."
Riz nodded in agreement and asked, "So you said about escaping this place, how will we do that?"
Fiona gave a small chuckle and said, "looks like that won't be necessary now, You have merged with the Dragon's legacy so killing you will mean the legacy will be lost. We can use this to our advantage and keep you safe for the moment till Holy knight returns."
Just as Fiona finished there was a light knock on the door and then it opened to show a lady with an alluring figure and a golden mask which was adorned with some amazing designs that even gave the feeling or royalty and her colorful outfit with gold inlays was not straying from the royal vibe.
"I see you have woken up, His highness Mikael will like to see you."
Riz was at first apprehensive about this but Fiona communicated to her saying, "Don't worry, you just follow my instructions and you may even benefit from this."
Riz followed Fiona's words and followed the golden masked lady through an intricately designed hallway, even in his games Riz had not seen such a detailed work and everthing was in pristine condition with not even a single notch to blemish the walls or dust to indicate lack of care.
"She is Denise, Mikael brought her when she was just a kid and raised her to be a warrior renowed in all ardria. Some say she covers her beauty so as to not distract his opponents and from what I have seen they would not be wrong in thinking so. She indeed is beautiful enough to cause a man to skip a few heartbeats."
Fiona's praise got Riz very curious about the woman but he had no experience talking with females or anyone other than his mother.
When they reached the main court where mikael sat on the throne adorned to look like a dragon Riz could feel a very uncomfortable feeling from Fiona's soul, if he was to pin the feeling he would say she felt disgusted with Mikael at this point. "You should keep calm, focus more on getting me out of this mess."
He could feel Fiona's emotions calming down gradually as he approached the throne.
He felt a kick on the back of his knee's that made him kneel, it was Denise who said, "Know your manners, you kneel before the king of Ardria."
"Denise be gentle, He may lack in manners but he is still our guest." Said mikael with a smile on his face.
Even though the smile may have looked gentle even Riz could see that it had a sinister feeling to it.
Riz could even feel Fiona's anger boiling up a little as she could feel this was a show to let Trevor know his place to let him know that in the coming talks he is but an ant without any power.
"Riz, let me take over you body for this one." Said Fiona exterting a pressure inside which seemed like a prompt to take over his body.
"Only if you don't let your emotions make the best of you."
"Trust me, I know how to handle him better than anyone." said Fiona with confidence
Riz reluctantly gave away his control and immediately regretted it as Fiona got up and said, "You may be stronger than me but you are no king of mine. The throne you sit on belongs to me."
This statement immediately caused an uproar in the whole court as everyone present was shocked by the audacity of this kid.
"You dare speak like that in this court, You would be dead already if it wasn't beneath me to kill a junior like you."
"Then let me have his head father, He seems to think Garrison family is behind him but even the head of the family wouldn't dare speak like that in front of his highness Mikael."
"Young kids these days seem too hot blooded, surviving a war feels like victory to them."
Fiona looked around with a sneer on her face as she scoffed at the remarks from court and looked straight in the eyes of Mikael, "Do you think I am wrong? Isn't the one holding the dragon's legacy the one who should be crowned? Or is it that you have kept this a secret from these blabbering fools? Are you afraid of me?"
This statement created a chaotic silence in the court. The words 'Dragons legacy' were not to be taken lightly as they were the very foundation of this kingdom. But even more so than that they still expected Mikael to just behead the kid in the court for his impudence but no matter how long they waited there was no action.
Mikael chuckled and said with a smile, "Indeed you hold the dragon's legacy but it is only because you were near Foster mother when she passed away. In this world having treasure means nothing if you don't have the strength to keep it." He scoffed and said, "But you do have the tongue for it."
Fiona started laughing loudly which even caused Mikael to raise his brows.
"looks like the kid has lost his mind."
"He must have hit his head in the war, it would explain his foolish behavior."
"There is no point in talking with this insane man, we should just kill him and take the legacy."
Fiona suddenly stopped laughing and looked at the man that said with a wide smile, "You don't have the qualifications to touch a strand of hair on me." she spat on the floor as she finished her sentence.
Riz was already on the edge from this altercation but Fiona was constantly telling her internally let her finish this.
The man in court could not take this blatant disrespect and stood up drawing his sword.
Fiona at this time looked at Mikael saying with her expressions, You haven't noticed, have you.
With this look Mikael's eyes were left wide open as he found that the dragon's legacy had fused with this kid Trevor.
In a flint and flash everyone's eyes were left wide open as they saw Mikael holding the sword of the minister with his bare bloody hands, only inches away from Trevor's neck.
The whole court was drenched in silence and sweat at this point.
"Your highness, I am… I am sorry I resorted to violence in the court but this little devil forced my hand." Said the minister fumbling to find out why would Mikael defend this kid. But the rule of law only states to bow to the powerful and Mikael definitely had the right to do whatever he wanted.
Mikael ignored the minister and addressed Denise directly, "Take Trevor Garison to my chambers, I would like to have a personal chat with our guest here."
Denise followed the orders without hesitation and soon the court was devoid to two.
Everyone present there were confused at the turn of events. Was this kid secretly someone bigger than they thought? Was Trevor Garison just an alias? There was no other way they could think of Mikael defending Trevor. They all thought they should be weary when dealing with this kid in future.
"Whatever happened here should not go out of this court, is it understood?"
Everyone nodded in agreement making their suspicion even more solid that this Trevor Garison was no ordinary kid.
_____
Denise was standing at the door as Trevor was made to sit in a chair in the massive room that may even fit a giant it would seem.
Fiona had given the control back to Riz at this point and he was fiddling with the empty cup of water he had poured himself nervously while continuously minding Denise's presence.
Trevor was awkwardly smiling at Denise as her expression was hidden behind the golden mask but her eyes, lips and body language told clearly she had no expression to be looked at. It seemed like she was unfazed by the events that took place in the court but that made Trevor even more nervous, like the cold beautiful eyes that looked at him could end him at any moment.
Just then the door flung open breaking the awkward atmosphere as Mikael walked in.
Trevor got up but was pushed down into his seat by Mikael's hand on his shoulder.
Mikael took the seat to his opposite as he snapped his finger to release his aura. This skill isolated them from any sound outside.
"You can speak more freely here."
Trevor just smiled awkward as he wondered if he should apologize to save his life as Fiona again pressed to take over the body and Riz complied with ease.
"I want to make a deal. You will protect me till I am able to get ride of this legacy and in return you get the legacy."
Mikael without a hesitation said, "Deal."
"Wait, I am not done yet." said Fiona with a sinister smile, "I also want access to Dragon heart chamber, Celestial pond and Royal library of Ardria."
There was a small silence before Mikael said, "Ok you have my word but it only comes when you can tell me how you will pass the dragon's legacy. As I recall a deal always goes two ways. I don't want to create a powerful opponent for myself."
Fiona took the jug and filled water for herself as she leaned back and took a sip and said with a smile, "Don't worry, Like you said in this world the treasure belongs only to those who have the power to hold it. So I know I can't keep this legacy. It just so happens that the legacy says that when one reaches silver core they can the right to pass it on."
Mikael frowned to this as he said, "This could take years."
"Then you better make sure that I develop fast so in a way my demands work in your favor. The faster I purfiy my core the faster you can get what you want. Or you can try to kill me and take a chance at having nothing." said Fiona as she shrugged and chugged up all the water in the cup and slammed it on the table.
Mikael leaned back on his chair and starred at Trevor for a few moments before he broke into laughter.
"I like you kid, you are ambitious and know where your priorities should be." He got up tapped at Trevor's shoulder and said, "You are smart but you better not be over smart." He pointed at the door and said, "You can go now, I will send someone to your house to keep you safe."
Fiona got up and was about to leave but stood at the doorway. "I want this girl to be my body guard." said Fiona pointing at Denise.
Denise who had shown no expression till now showed a surprising change and said in an angry tone, "No way I would guar…"
"Then so be it, Denise will pick you up for school tomorrow, you will now be going to seven eves school of magic."
Fiona gave a surprise expression as she looked back at Mikael, "So much love for a stranger you barely know?"
"Only the best for my favorite junior.'' Said Mikael with his uncomfortably somber smile.
After Riz left and Denise followed some time later Mikael sat down on the chair again and said, "Do you believe in what he said uncle?"
A head grew out of Mikael's shoulder, It was a grotesque face with four eyes and pointy ears and more teeth than a what a human mouth would be able to hold. "Even if he is lying there is nothing to worry in a silver core mage. We have waited for hundreds of years, there is nothing wrong in playing the game safe when it is in our favour."
____
Now that Riz was back to being Trevor he was walking fast with an anxious pace. "Why would you ask for Denise as my body guard ? She seems more eager to kill me than Mikael."
"You should be thanking me, You will have a beauty following you around. Other than that Denise is being so loyal makes her very predictable and even Mikael will have more trust in her so less eyes on us."
Fiona was surely think 5 steps ahead of him thought Riz, He would never have thought about how there will be more eyes on him if it was someone Mikael didn't trust fully but with Denise Mikael will have full trust on her
"What is so special about seven eves magic school." asked Riz as he remembered Fiona's reaction when Mikael said he was going to send him to that school.
"Seven eves is the most famous magic school in Ardria. Only the best of the best in the country go to that school, it also happens to be funded by the crown and hence under direct supervision of the crown. He wants to keep you as close to him as possible."
As Riz thought Fiona was always thinking ahead and there was a lot he could learn from her and her cautious yet meticulous behavior.
He now was finally free from the castle and would now be going to the Garison family house where he would meet his parents.
He did not know how to feel or react to this so he kept it to himself and cleared his mind to face the situations as they came leaving the complicated things to Fiona for now.
_____
Riz got out of a chariot that was pulled by ostrich like birds. He was standing in front of Garison family estate which was a already like a small town in itself.
As soon as he got close to the gate it was flung open, which even seemed to surprise the guards.
Riz saw a lady who seemed to be unkempt but otherwise she would look absolutely beautiful. Her skin like a clean marble seemed to be polluted by the streaks of tears but they failed to hide her beauty by even an inch.
She came running into Trevor and hugged her as she cried her heart out in his embrace.
She started hitting him on the chest she poured her heart out with shrilling cries of pain. For some reason even though Riz had no idea who this woman was he felt a connection with her. Without knowing even his eyes were dripping wet.
"Why did you join the war without telling us, What is something happened to you? Was everything that we gave you not enough? If you wanted money you could have just told me, I would have given you everything you wanted."
Trevor saw a man with a cold expression getting out of the gate and coming towards him. The lady moved away as this man stood in from of him and looked at him with this same cold expression for a moment.
"Sigh, at least you are safe." The man tidied him up and redid his messed up hair, "You are to meet the family head right away, remember no matter what happens do not argue. Just accept whatever punishment they give you. You really messed up badly this time son but you don't have to worry, until this Ansell and his Elsa are sent to grave nobody can touch a hair on their son's body."
He then hugged by his father as they guided him into the estate.
He missed everything beautiful and grand in the estate as his mess of a mind processed the jumble of feelings in his heart as he saw so much love in the eyes of these people for him. For a second he was jealous of Trevor and wished it was really him.
Even though he had mother with him always taking care of him she was never so expressive but he remembered the day he left the facility and how mother's expression were as she told him goodbye.
He really wished he could live that moment once again just to hug her mother once. He even wonder what was her mother's name or if she even had one. Even though her looks could be augmented he never felt like she was anything less than beautiful.
_____