That night, Relon began searching for his twin sister to eat together; however, he couldn't find her. Then he went to his brother's quarters and asked:
"Brother, have you seen Lilla today?"
Morfrey, who was reading a scroll, replied:
"I thought she was at school with you!"
He helped Relon look for the princess's whereabouts, and gathered some guards for the search. A few hours later, a guard approached an old man who said he saw someone resembling the princess leaving the capital walls and heading west. Immediately Morfrey went to his father and informed him that Lilla had disappeared, and the emperor saw no other option but to mobilize the entire capital.
Realizing the great commotion that had arisen in the capital, Relon went to the Academy dormitory to ask Kal for help:
"Hey Kal, I need your help." - Relon asked.
"What happened Morin?" - Kal replied.
"My sister disappeared, we have to find her before my father's guards" - says Relon.
"But why would she run away? Was it because of the marriage you mentioned earlier?" - Kal asks.
"She never wanted to be used in this way, she must have run away." - Relon concludes.
"All right, let's go look for her" - Kal finishes.
Immediately Kal got ready and left with Relon to search.
The disappearance of Lilla had been reported to the entire imperial court. The emperor ordered that all resources be mobilized to find her.
Kal and Relon knew they had to act fast, before any clues went cold. They met in the academy dungeons, where few had access.
"We have to think like Lilla would think. Where would she go to escape a fate she didn't want?" - Kal asked.
Relon stroked his chin, pensive. "She has always been a free soul. She hated the rules of the court and dreamed of proving her worth. The Forest..."
Kal's eyes lit up. "Of course! She knows no one would dare pursue her there. Let's go now, before others get the same idea."
They took provisions and light weapons, wanting to be fast but prepared. They headed for the forest by the most hidden path possible.
Deep in the trees, they found some branches recently broken. They followed the trail to the abandoned city. There were signs of struggle there.
"She must have been captured!", said Relon, his fists clenched. Kal noticed footprints leading into a cabin.
"Let's go, she may be injured. We have to rescue my sister!" - said Relon with a look of rage.
Following the footprints, they entered the darkness of the cabin, searching for Lilla. Whoever had taken her would pay dearly...
When Kal and Relon arrived at the cabin, they saw that it was empty. There were no signs of Lilla or whoever may have taken her.
Relon kicked the door in frustration. "They must have left a long time ago! How did we lose the trail?"
Kal examined the ground. "Wait, I have an idea. Headmistress Suzannah taught me a tracking trick." He took a handful of soil and spoke magic words.
A faint silvery glow came from his hands and floated towards the outskirts of the cabin. It stopped and pointed north.
"I managed to pick up Lilla's residual magic in the soil. Let's follow the spell!"
Kal and Relon followed the magical trail for hours, delving deeper into the dense forest. As night fell, the trees seemed to close in around them in a threatening circle.
When dawn came, a fine rain fell, making vision even more difficult. But they would not give up. Suddenly, the silvery glow abruptly stopped.
"The tracking spell has ended..." said Kal, tense. They searched around, but it was impossible to see anything in the forest's dark.
"LILLA!" Relon shouted desperately, with no response but the wind through the trees.
It was then that they heard a mournful howl in the distance. They followed the sound, swords drawn, until reaching a marshy area on the forest outskirts. There they spotted a run-down wooden structure.
Cautiously, they climbed up and entered. The floor creaked under their feet. Inside, skeleton remains were everywhere. And a muffled sound came from below.
Descending a stone staircase, they found a damp dungeon. Lilla was tied up, unconscious in a corner. Relon realized she had been gravely injured and that their kidnappers were now undead...
Kal and Relon got into a battle stance, willing to do anything to get Lilla out of there, no matter the cost. The final rescue was now beginning.
The boys had brought some short swords, holding a real sword for the first time, Kal looked at Relon and said: "This is the first time I've held a real sword".
Kal noticed that Relon was trembling, maybe because he was afraid of the undead or maybe because he was afraid of not being enough to rescue his sister. Realizing he was shaky and apprehensive, young Kal just said:
"We'll get her out" - says Kal with a serene smile.
The undead advanced toward the boys who just waited in a battle stance. The undead that attacked Relon swung at him, but the boy leapt back, avoiding it, while the other still couldn't hit Kal. Relon brandished his sword toward the undead's legs and easily cut off its right leg, throwing it away. With the undead still on the ground, Relon also cut off one of its arms; Relon's movements were still rough, but it was clearly effortful, though he still had much to improve. After taking down his enemy, Prince Relon looked at Kal and saw the young man smiling while pulling the head off his enemy. Once again Kal's eyes shone a strong, clear yellow for Relon, clearly delighting in the fight.
"I wonder if Kal is enjoying all this?" - the young prince thought anxiously to save his sister.
Relon quickly ran to rescue his sister and untied the bindings that held her prisoner. He carried her unconscious body out of that place, but as he left, the undead that Relon had battled grabbed his legs. But before it could hurt him, Kal in a leap also tore the head off the other undead and said:
"To kill undead for good, we must tear their heads from their bodies"
Kal was thinking that everything that had happened was too easy. "Things are very strange, I've fought Lilla before, she wouldn't be caught by two undead of this level".
Outside the ruins, the guards who had been searching for her arrived to help Relon and Kal take everyone back to the palace. After the arduous rescue, Kal and Relon brought Lilla back with the guards to the imperial court. The princess was recovering in her chambers, now out of danger.
A ceremony was held to celebrate her return. The emperor proudly spoke of the relief of having her back. But he said nothing about who had successfully led the rescue. Relon watched from afar, feeling the bitter taste of injustice. His father had not even looked him in the eye. And he already knew no credit would be given. When the celebration ended, Relon went to find Kal in the palace gardens. His demeanor revealed the dissatisfaction he felt.
"The hard work meant nothing to him," said his friend. "But we saved your sister. We should take pride in that."
Relon sighed. "My father will never recognize my worth. I had hoped to prove I am more than a mere fourth son, but nothing will change."
Kal put his hand on his shoulder. "Your worth is already proven to me, and to Lilla. What else matters?"
For a moment, his friend's words placated the pain. But nothing could take the taste of injustice from Relon's mouth. The dissatisfaction of being relegated to shadow would remain, secretly fueling his desire to prove himself.
After Kal returned to the academy dormitory, Morfrey went to where Relon was and hugged him tightly. "You saved our sister, I always knew what you were capable of. Even if Dad doesn't see it".
Relon, who until now had felt anger at not being able to get out of the shadows, just let himself be hugged by his brother and cried.
After leaving Relon, Morfrey headed to Lilla's chambers. Upon silently opening the door, he found his sister lying unconscious in her bed. He sat at her feet and observed her pale but serene face, relieved. He remembered when they were children, running through the palace gardens, how small they were and how their father the emperor and mother never gave them proper attention.
Tenderly, Morfrey brushed away some hair that had fallen over Lilla's face. "You have always been so untamed, little sister. Fighting for your freedom is what I've always admired about you."
He knew a soul like hers would never surrender to a fate imposed. He placed his hand over hers, cold. "Now rest. You are safe."
At that moment, Lilla parted her lips in a whisper. "Brother...where am I?"
Her older brother smiled gently. "At home sunflower. Now everything will be alright."
Lilla's eyes filled with tears, understanding how close she came to a terrible fate. Morfrey comforted her in his brotherly embrace, grateful for those who risked all to bring her back.
Silently, he prayed for the courage and kindness present that day to never fade from the land. And for Lilla to find, at last, freedom in her heart.
As Morfrey walked to his quarters, he heard alerts of intruders inside the Aquarion palace. Running there he saw well in the center of the great palace garden entrance, surrounded by guards a man in a large black cloak, a hood covering most of his face but not completely to hide a macabre skull mask the man wore. The man used strange magic, without even calling the name of magic emits a red mana charge that knocks down all the guards who were there.
Immediately, Morfrey taking off his shirt, gives a jump from the balcony he was seeing everything happen falling in front of the man.
"How dare you enter my palace?" - says Morfrey with a calm and determined look
"I came to get back what belongs to me!!" - says the man with a hoarse and shadowy voice
"Then you'll have to defeat me this time" - says Morfrey with a smile on his face.
Before the man could do anything, a blue light with golden touches shone in Morfrey's right hand, the light shone brighter and brighter until all the glow dissipated revealing a golden spear with ancient runes; then another light appears around Morfrey's chest forming a golden breastplate with blue details and a blue gem like a sapphire in the center.
"Wavebringer and Leviathan" - says Morfrey
Immediately the man recognizes them. They were the sacred millennia-old artifacts created for Morin, the last hero passed down from generation to generation until becoming the most sacred relic of the empire of Nannu and the great assertion of the right to rule of the Aquarion kings' family.
"Why are you wielding these artifacts?" - asks the man.
"I carry the flame of Aquarion, prepare to meet your end!" - affirms Morfrey.
The man banging his staff on the ground says:
"Profane magic of the 4th circle: Summoning a horde of undead"
Suddenly a large number of undead began to suddenly rise from the depths emerging outside. The man gives a loud laugh and says:
"Kill them my children!"
The hundred or so undead that were there fiercely invested against Morfrey who remained calm. The undead kept accumulating more and more around Morfrey and pressing and approaching to attack. On the other hand, the man was sure that no man could win against a hundred undead; however, he heard a loud bang and as if walking on water Morfrey simply moved forward causing all the undead that were there to be reaped and broken into many pieces.
"You still don't understand!" - says Morfrey amid the pieces of bodies that were falling.
"The empire of Nannu has many extremely powerful men, families with magics so unique that angels and demons would fight to have them, mages and warriors who would be able to shake an entire kingdom"
"But me... I WILL BE THE EMPEROR OF THEM ALL" - spoke Morfrey with a strong blue glow in his eyes.
"No, it is not my father who controls the waters of this empire, the blood of the last hero runs stronger in my veins"
"I will not be emperor because I am his son!"
"I will be emperor, because among all these vast empires... I AM THE STRONGEST" - Morfrey concludes attacking the man and tearing off the arm that held the staff.
Morfrey's attack with the spear emanated a blue energy like a wave tearing off an arm from the man who jumps back gushing blood everywhere. The man was shaken by Morfrey's blow.
"I couldn't even see when he attacked me, there were just blue lights like a great wave" - thinks the man.
Morfrey continued walking towards the man to deliver the killing blow, when suddenly the man begins to forcefully swallow his throat, until he begins to vomit a red stone on the ground.
"This will not be my end!" - says the man with his face dirty with vomit.
After the stone fell to the ground, the man begins to say some strange words in the dead black tongue, extinct for so long. Suddenly the stone begins to emit a dull glow and a red explosion like blood blows out of the stone creating a kind of cocoon. Morfrey, who before was laughing and calm, changed his expression after hearing the words spoken by the man.
"He was speaking the ancient black tongue? This is more serious than I imagined"
Morfrey fixed his eyes on the cocoon of blood that was opening until the man shouts:
"Behold my masterpiece"
From the middle of the cocoon, a girl with the same appearance as Lilla emerged, she looked exactly the same as her, but her eyes were not blue but a red eye without pupils like a bloodball. Morfrey was paralyzed by what he saw and as the guards recovered from the earlier blow, a red bloodsword appeared in the false Lilla's hands. Morfrey immediately ordered the guards to move away, but before they could, the false Lilla cut two of those running in half.
"I couldn't see her movement" - thought Morfrey with his eyes wide.
Seeing that Morfrey was scared, the man picks up his staff that was on the ground and says:
"Profane magic of the 5th circle: Bloody Valkyrie"
After saying this, a cloak of blood appeared on the false Lilla and the bloodsword she wielded became even larger.
"I was right, with a great amount of hero's blood, this magic became even stronger."
"Go my Valkyrie, seize this empire for yourself!!" - concludes the man with another loud laugh followed by a terrifying laugh.
After some time, the emperor, Relon and others from the court arrived to see what was happening. Seeing that his brother had fought a creature that looked like Lilla, Relon was very scared; Aster and the empress took shelter in a safe place. The emperor shouts:
"Call more men to help my son!!!
While Morfrey fought ardently, the man had managed to flee from there. The real Lilla, who was in her chambers, hearing everything that was happening outside, making a great effort got up and slowly went to the site. Morfrey and the false Lilla fought intensely to the point where those there couldn't keep up, Relon took the initiative to go down there to help his brother, but before he could do anything, his father the emperor said:
"You won't go down, you're weak, you'll just get in your brother's way!"
Relon, worried and furious shouts:
"Are you going to let him die?"
The two exchanged blows ceaselessly until Lilla appeared where everyone was. Strangely, when the false Lilla saw the real one, her target that was previously Morfrey changed and she immediately ferociously attacked Lilla who was weak and frail. Before she could hit Lilla who was defenseless, Morfrey got in front and received a blow from the bloody sword between his ribs. However, the heir to the empire held the bloody sword with his left hand, cutting himself even more, but stopping the false Lilla. Morfrey put the tip of his spear in the false Lilla's heart and said:
"Legendary Skill: Poseidon"
A gigantic wave of mana flowed, completely disintegrating the false Lilla, the skill was so grandiose that the mana flow created a huge wave that was thrown upwards and while Morfrey fell extremely injured to the ground, the mana flow that flew now fell like crystal drops of water over all who were there. The emperor and Relon rushed in desperation to help Morfrey, while Lilla remained stunned by everything she had witnessed still being very weak. All the capital's guards were mobilized and even with a whole night of searching they could not find the trail of the man.