"Man you seriously can't escape a fight huh?" Aria asked as we rested at an inn that was in the village.
I chuckled softly then looked off into space. I could remember her face of hatred seeing a system wielder. I could explain the feeling, but it was like she was disgusted by people like us.
"What's on your mind, Claudio?" Addis asked and looked at me.
"When we fought she expressed how she thought my plan was to come to buy East Princess Springstone. She knew I was a System Wielder but I mean it's clear how." I said and looked at Dearie.
"Strange. I come here all the time and they have never had any resentment for System Wielders... although..." Addis said and closed his eyes.
As Addis said that, Aria and I looked at Addis. Addis knew he was caught red-handed in saying too much. He let out a soft sigh and got off the wall.
"I've already said too much. Claudio, it is within Yascha's Will to make you see the truth, but prepare for what you're gonna witness." Addis said.
Aria and I looked at the magic screen that Eva projected. Points where all System Wielders appeared on the map.
"You've already killed 3 of the 17 Arabella wants you to kill because they wield HDS Units. What they don't tell you are the other System Wielders that aren't on the radar. With an influx of System Wielders, that means Reverence Corps is growing stronger." Addis explained.
"How?" Aria asked.
"These System Wielders don't know that paying for these women is dangerous. Each Darling, when they sign up for a spot in Dearie Corps, they get a device implanted in them. When paying for these women, the chip activates and pours Wonder Energy inside them..." Addis explained.
"Strong emotions such as happiness, love, comfort, lust, ecstasy will make the Wonder Energy stronger but in turn excess Wonder Energy will kill them. That's where Nexus comes in." Eva added.
My heart thumped heavily hearing this and I immediately thought about Hannah and the others. Aria looked at me and saw the horror on my face. I looked at Dearie to confirm this.
Dearie looked at me and every event spent with me and my dates replayed in her mind as well. All the calculated Wonder Energy numbers flashed in her eyes. She grunted and flew backwards from me a bit.
"So I've been slowly killing Hannah and the others?" I asked.
"All information told is correct." Dearie said.
Addis looked at me and crossed his arms. "It's not the end of the world. You were only a VIP 1 so the increase of Wonder Energy wasn't that large. But now that your VIP is higher the amount of Wonder Energy generated is larger."
I looked at the screen and noticed the calculations. I held my head and grunted softly. Everything shown to me was a complete shock. I looked at Addis once again.
"I can't save the Darlings and Agents as it wasn't in my role to be the Savior they need. That role was placed for you." Addis said.
"But why? It's like Deja Vu, I've had this talk before and I keep ignoring it but why was I chosen?" I asked and looked at Addis. "Ask Yascha why I was chosen."
Addis stared at me and looked at Eva. Eva looked nervous and looked back at Addis. He sighed softly and scratched the back of his head.
"I don't know how to say this to you, but you know the truth and it's within the memory buried deep in the back of your mind. You keep avoiding it but you don't really believe you were born in Golden Rock right?" Addis asked.
"What exactly are you getting at?" I asked.
"The Accident." Addis said.
Those words echoed in my head and a few memories of my past flashed into my head. I closed my eyes and sighed softly. There was silence and that's how we knew the conversation was over. I decided to get ready to go to sleep and walked off.
___________________________
I laid on my bed and stared at the wall for a bit before closing my eyes. I drifted off to sleep and suddenly saw myself standing in first person view of my younger self with my mom.
"Claudio, come on we have to go sweetheart!" My mom said as she hurried to her car.
I looked around and grunted as I noticed exactly where I was. I hurried toward the car and got in then my mom drove off quickly. She was already hitting 70 in the neighborhood streets. The sense of overwhelming emotions hit me and I couldn't do anything but watch as my mom frantically drove down the roads. I looked around and noticed pins of Reverence Corps around the car then saw documents with my mom's name as the Subject.
I looked out the windows and noticed black feathers and my eyes widened. "Mom!"
"Hang tight!" My mom said as she drifted along a curve and sped down the highway. "We will get away from this hell...Restart at Golden Rock!~ We just have to survive 4 hours..."
I noticed a faint rainbow glow flowing around my mom and noticed how frantically she was breathing. She was scared...beyond scared. She was so scared that I couldn't explain the emotion. We were being hunted down. Hunted by what seemed to be cloaked figured with black wings.
"Get away from us! I don't want this anymore!" My mom screamed as she began to push 150 down the highway.
I watched my mom and the aura around her grew stronger until her eyes suddenly went lifeless. "Mom?! Mom!"
I looked at the road and my eyes widened when I noticed a semi truck nearing us.
Everything was black...Darkness and the cold was all I felt. I couldn't wake up until I felt a warm presence in front of me. I looked up and noticed him.
"Quite the survivor you are...a miracle surely.." Luke said.
I stared at him and every fiber of my body felt nothing but rage. His face...pissed me off. The words of Addis echoed in my head. Tears formed in my eyes as I looked at Luke with such hatred.
Luke stared at me and laughed softly. He looked down on me and smirked. "Why do you look at me with such hate in your soul? I saved you."
"No you didn't..." I said and felt the biggest lump in my throat.
"Stand up, son." Luke said.
I stayed silent and my body shook with anger. I lowered my head and grit my teeth. "I'm not your son...You killed my mom...that aura around her body felt the exact same as yours..."
Luke laughed and watched me stand up. "How do you figure that..?"
"Because my aura feels the exact same as yours. The man my mom married...the man who was wrongfully killed, was not my father. You are...and you are the CEO of Reverence Corps.." I said and my silver aura surrounded my body.
Luke laughed and put on his mask then spread his wings. "About time you figured, Son."
I grunted and let out my anger with a yelled then my aura surged powerfully around my body. I propelled myself toward Luke and went for a punch, but he blocked with a laugh. I kept going for attacks filled with Wrath with each strike.
"Yes! Yes! More, more of that rage!" Luke laughed as he blocked each of my attacks.
I bellowed and combined two Light Blasts together and fired a massive beam of light at Luke. An explosion followed as the beam hit him. I panted and noticed a rush of darkness come toward me. I grunted and suddenly I was standing in nothingness.
"Even in your dreams, you can't win. I took you in, gave you life. Made your home Golden Rock. Taught you everything you know, even granted you a spot in Dearie Corps. You are my favorite son for a reason. You are a true Miracle..." Luke laughed.
I noticed a massive serpent around me and my eyes widened. I groaned as the serpent squeezed my body. I couldn't break out no matter what I did. The more I struggled the tighter the bind became. The last thing I heard was Luke, my father, laughing before losing consciousness.
______________________________
"Claudio?! Claudio wake up!" Aria said then shook me.
I sat up quickly and panted heavily. I grunted as I felt my left arm burning. I looked on my arm and noticed a Wrath Symbol on my arm. Addis noticed it as well and crossed his arms.
"A Divine Sin. I didn't know Omega could grant them separately." Addis said.
I stared at my hands and noticed how much I was shaking. I got out of bed and immediately hurried off to get some water then Aria screamed a bit as she looked at my back. I stopped and looked back and noticed Aria's expression.
"You were attacked. You were attacked by Phantoms." Addis said and looked at the wound. "A pretty strong Phantom as well.."
I looked down and vividly remembered my dream, but couldn't figure out the location. I walked off and closed my eyes. Dearie hurried after me.
"What's up with him?" Aria asked.
"Well aside from being attacked by a Phantom...he probably had an eye opener. It does take more then one Dream to see the full vision. Give him some space, he'll come around." Addis said.
Aria nodded and sighed softly then looked around to see if anything is amiss. The phenomenon was strange to her so she conducted her own investigation.
I changed out of my tattered clothes and Dearie made a new attire appear on me. I walked out of the inn and wandered off. Dearie knew something was wrong and flew in front of me to stop me.
I stopped walking and looked at Dearie. "What..?"
Dearie held her arms behind her back. "Wanna talk about it..?"
I looked at Dearie and looked off into the distance. I nodded and walked off. We walked together and I explained to Dearie everything that happened in my dream.
"Originally...He did take me in but I didn't know he was my father. I spent years of my life believing this man was good and when I went back and looked around, everything became so much more clear." I said.
"Luke Rose is your biological father...and he killed your mother. Do you know where this took place?" Dearie asked.
"No...." I answered.
Dearie looked at me then noticed Detre and Madris ahead. They both looked at me and noticed I looked drained.
"Whoa, woke up on the wrong side of the bed huh." Madris said.
I stared at Madris with an indifferent expression. "Funny.."
"What's the matter?" Detre asked.
"Nothing that concerns you." I said.
Detre and Madris looked at each other and shrugged. Dearie calmed me down by rubbing my back.
"Anyway, the Princess's Bodyguard wishes to speak with you at the Royal Courtyard so gather your buddies and come with us." Detre said.
"Why?" I asked.
"Well, taking you've kicked both of our asses, the Bodyguard directly challenges you to a duel." Madris said.
"First of all, you two attacked us first...but if this bodyguard wants to get blown away as well I'll happily destroy them..." I said. "More training for me so I can kill Luke Rose."
Dearie stared at me and grew concerned about my sanity levels. She noticed faint signs of Wonder Energy around my body.
"I wouldn't underestimate Lady Verin if I were you. She's really strong, the second strongest Elven Mage in Oakridge." Detre said.
I scoffed and turned away. "We'll be ready."
Detre and Madris watched me walk off. Madris crossed her arms and sighed softly.
"You felt that too, right?" Madris asked.
"You're asking me if I felt that? I saw it. That dark energy...yeah something is amiss and I know it." Detre said.
I walked back toward the inn with thoughts of my next steps with my priority being to defeat the East Princess's Bodyguard. Dearie could see the Wrath within me and grew even more concerned.