Kora followed Ruun out of his castle, and when she looked outside the gates, it was a completely different view.
The streets were filled with life, and there were no dragons or royal guards tormenting the people.
Ruun looked at that peaceful landscape, took a deep breath, and smelled the scent of the crops that grew around the outer castle rim.
"Kora, if everything goes according to plan, this time... The world's going to change."
Kora looked at him, surprised.
She never saw Ruun act like that.
He looked different, he looked...
"Master... Are you... Happy?"
Ruun turned towards Kora, stretched himself a little, and answered.
But when he answered, even his voice sounded less burdened to Kora.
"Well... The world's about to finally change, we're going to put some unknown deity in their place, and I am seeing my world's sky after a thousand years... My 'own' world's sky. Not the one in the world they left me with."
Kora's heart ached and she felt his glance over her.
She never saw him with any expression other than bored, angry, or threatening.
Happy was a very first.
And for some reason, she felt tears falling from her eyes, as she kept looking at her master, just watching the landscape of this world.
'His world.'
"I still don't understand why you love this world so much." Kora said, standing beside Ruun. "But I will protect it with all I got, if you love it so much, master."
"Good girl." Ruun said, patting Kora's head and fondling her hair. "But there's one thing that's been troubling me, ever since we arrived."
They started waling towards the main gate, in order to leave the castle, and, consequently, the realm.
"What's it, master?" Kora still had a light heart, after seeing Ruun with such an expression, but her heart suddenly felt heavier, when Ruun spoke.
"You lied to me."
"What?" Kora froze in her steps.
"When you were dragging Revan and the other heroes' bodies, so I could revive them, I noticed that, more than at me, the constellation was looking at you, surprised. Shocked, even." Ruun turned around to face her disciple. "I'll ask you just once, do you know her?"
Kora didn't feel any threatening pressure coming from her master, but she knew better than to flat-out lie to him.
After all, she already did it once, and it was time to correct that mistake.
"I do..." Kora said, hesitant. "She was the one who threw me in the Abyss."
"Are you related to her in some way?"
Kora froze again.
Why did Ruun have to know just the right questions to ask?
"Yes..."
Ruun fell silent, waiting.
"She's... She 'was'... My mother."
Ruun raised a brow, still looking in her eyes.
"And why did you hide it from me?"
Kora fell silent for a moment.
She knew he wasn't angry at her.
Was he?
He couldn't be, because if he was, he would've already killed her at least once.
Or made her feel a lot of pain.
And she understood quite a lot about pain.
But Kora was confused.
She wasn't afraid of him. If anything, she felt even closer to him than before.
"At first, when you told me your story, I was afraid that you... I don't know! Since you hated the Constellation so much, I thought you'd use me to hurt her, even though it would be useless... But then..."
Before Kora could finish speaking, she was taken aback bu Ruun's reaction.
She felt his arms around her, and her heart raced.
"Kid... You said it yourself, I'm evil, but I'm not bad. Also... I don't hurt children. Let alone my own, 'precious' disciple."
Ruun fondled her hair for a second, and then let go of the hug.
Kora, on the other hand, just stood there, daydreaming, her heart beating like a war drum.
Ruun looked at her, rolling his eyes, and said.
"Stop daydreaming, kid. We have things to do, and I still want to know why you mother threw you away like that. Seems like an interesting story."
Kora acquiesced, and retorted him.
"Okay, master. But, where are we going, exactly? I thought we had to see Theresa before we left."
"I already changed way too many things in the present for now, so I can't meet Theresa for a while. I gotta see how things unfold, find out what ritual they're going to use, and stop them."
Ruun gave it a pause, breathing deep.
"When we're successful, maybe we can go see her. Did you like her that much?"
"I HATE HER!" Kora's eyes went wide and she stomped the ground unconsciously, opening a reasonable crater on the ground.
Ruun just raised his brow, surprised by her reaction, and started walking again.
"Yeah, right." He giggled to himself. "To answer your question, we're going to visit the Inthyan Academy, in the continent of Osysa. I need to see if 'he' is still teaching there."
"Who is 'he', master?"
"He's the only human allowed to walk among the elves of Osysa, and the leader of my group of followers there."
"You... You have a group of followers?" Kora's jaw dropped, even though it was just as expected from her master.
"Yeah, the elves hate the humans because of a skirmish they have with the fairy people, which means that they just want to see the continent of Aluria, where we stand now, burn, along with Fäj, the home to the fairy people."
"Sounds interesting, but, why are we going to gather them? I mean, You're more than enough to find out whoever god 'they' are trying to summon, and slay them, right?"
As they walked, Ruun could see some faces looking at them from the windows of the scattered houses.
They still feared him.
'Well, it might take a while, anyways.'
"Sure, but I can't protect all five continents on my own 'while' searching for answers and killing my family, right?"
"Your family?"
"Yeah, my brothers who were brought back to do this ritual."
Kora's jaw dropped again.
"How did you...?"
"It's pretty obvious if you come to think of it, kid. The constellation said that I knew them, and the last clue she gave me, although it was a pretty aggressive one, was when she told me that I was going to die."
Kora raised her brow, confused.
"I died because I wasn't strong enough to survive on my own, back in my previous life. But what started everything, was my family. My brothers, to be more precise."
While they talked, one person still looked at them through a hole in a house's wall.