While the argument between Yaxun and Quetzal was happening, Luna was still running through the corridors crying when she bumped into someone.
"I'm so sorry." She didn't look at the person's face and immediately ran again.
However, before she could get away, she felt her arm being gently grabbed.
"Hey, what's wrong?"
"No-nothing!" With her eyes closed, feeling embarrassed to have to face a stranger's, she tried to break free.
"Luna, it's me, Sariel!"
Hearing this, the princess opened her eyes and saw the traveler, who looked at her with concern.
Before she realized it, the next thing she did was throw herself into his arms and cry.
"What happened? Why are you crying?" Sariel hugged her, giving her time to calm down.
"No-nothing..." she whimpered, regaining some composure.
"Who did this to your face? Was it Yaxun?"
When she heard this, Luna buried her face even deeper into the traveler's chest and didn't answer.
"So, it was him... Let's go to my room to see this, looks like it was pretty bad."
"Ok-okay..."
They both walked together, while Luna didn't let go of Sariel for even a second. She walked beside him on the right side and used his body to hide the mark on her face, so the traveler had to guide her so she wouldn't bump into anything again.
Along the way, she calmed down enough to stop her tears, when she finally noticed the pain on the left side of her face, which burned as if it were on fire, and stung with the slightest touch.
As soon as they reached the room, the princess sat down, and the traveler immediately examined her.
In addition to the redness, her cheek was so swollen that it looked like a squirrel carrying several nuts in its mouth.
When he saw that, Sariel carefully touched the area, which immediately drew a moan of pain from her.
"Ouch!"
"Sorry." He slowly moved his hand away from her face. "It was a hard hit; do you feel dizzy or have a headache?"
"No... just my face..."
"Did you faint or fall when you were hit?"
"No..."
"Really?" he was surprised. "A normal person would have collapsed instantly."
"I'm not a normal person, remember? I'm a murderer, a monster..."
The princess tried to stop her tears from falling again, but the pain she felt, both physical and emotional, made it a difficult task.
"What are you talking about? If you were really a monster like they say, you would have torn Yaxun to pieces." Sariel laughed softly. "And you wouldn't have run away crying like any ordinary girl would."
"But..."
"Besides, if I had been there, Yaxun wouldn't have gotten away with it. At the very least, he would have received a punch..."
"What? But he's the king!"
"So what? Nothing justifies a king assaulting a visitor to his kingdom."
"But you would be wrong to use violence too!"
"Then that proves that I'm a much bigger monster than you." Sariel gave a gentle and welcoming smile.
Luna thought about retorting and saying that was an exaggeration, but that comment made her calm down and even manage a small smile.
She had never received such kindness from someone she didn't know, so it warmed her cold and saddened heart.
"Well, let me heal this right away."
With that, Sariel's hand was lit in a soft, golden light. This glow was very reminiscent of the shield that had been in the arena.
The difference, however, was that the barrier of the arena was solid and resistant like a wall, even though it was made of the same golden light.
The traveler's light, on the other hand, seemed like a silk fabric, soft and smooth, despite oscillating as if it were liquid.
He brought his hand closer and touched Luna's face.
As soon as he touched her skin, the princess was surprised by a strange sensation. That golden light was comfortably cool and warm at the same time, and it didn't seem solid, liquid, or gaseous, but a mixture of all three.
The pain disappeared instantly, the swelling reduced to nothing, and the redness disappeared with it.
"Done."
Luna touched the area and felt no pain. Surprised by the effectiveness of that magic, she looked in a mirror near where she was sitting and saw her face completely normal and without any sign of aggression, not even a hint of redness or swelling.
"Wow... There's nothing here..." She touched her own cheek curiously and surprised.
"Hmm, actually there is something." Sariel approached.
"What?"
"A woman with the beauty of a Goddess..." He tried to cheer her up with a sincere compliment.
"You're just saying that to make me happy..." However, despite feeling better, Luna still had a very low opinion of herself.
Realizing that he couldn't cheer her up more than that, he gave up trying to make any comment.
"Well, we better go to sleep soon, you can have the bed, and I'll sleep on the floor."
"That's not necessary! I can ask for another room." Luna stood up abruptly.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes, thanks to you, I'm better now."
"Alright then, be careful."
Luna walked to the door and opened it.
"Sariel... Thank you..." With a small smile, she said goodbye to him and closed the door.
Luna, still in the same corridor, knocked on a door next to Sariel's room. Noticing that there was no answer, she opened it and went in.
It was a room like the traveler's that, although unoccupied, was well maintained and ready to be used.
The princess didn't hesitate and threw herself on the bed, needing a few minutes to calm her mind until she fell asleep.
In the morning, before the sun rose, she was woken up by Raymond. The group ate and got ready quickly, as they would be leaving soon.
As soon as they left the palace, they were greeted by guards who were bringing the group's horses, which had been well cared for throughout their stay.
The group headed for the gates to the north of the kingdom and found Yaxun holding the reins of a brown horse, while Quetzal was beside him, but several steps away and with a closed expression on her face.
When they got close enough, the king was the first to speak.
"I hope you enjoyed your stay in my kingdom." His voice had a forced cheerfulness. "I apologize for the unforeseen circumstances; I never expected the mountain to explode."
"What's this?" Aegreon referred to the horse, but kept an irritated look on Yaxun, which showed that he was still unsatisfied with the outcome of events.
"I noticed you were one horse short, so I wanted to help you with one of the best horses in my kingdom! His name is Chinhej."
Yaxun approached with the animal and offered it to Aegreon.
Chinhej had a shiny coat, and his muscles were very evident, showing that he was indeed a good animal.
Despite this, he became agitated when Yaxun pulled him close to the Pillar, trying to get away.
"Can you ride it?" Aegreon turned to Luna.
"I think so." Luna avoided looking at Yaxun and kept her head down.
"Oh, is it for her?"
"Yes, is there a problem?" The Pillar glared at the king with a cold fury.
"Oh... no-none..."
Chinhej approached Luna and lowered his head, asking for affection. The princess did not hesitate and petted him, awakening his cuddly behavior.
Even without exchanging a word, they connected immediately.
The king stepped back in silence, giving his daughter space to approach.
Quetzal approached Luna.
"I wish you would stay longer..."
"Don't worry, when everything is over, I'll come back to get to know you better." Luna replied with a smile.
Quetzal looked at her with a longing look for a while and then hugged her tightly.
"I'm sorry about yesterday!"
Yaxun's expression changed slightly at this sight, but he remained silent.
"It's okay, I'm better now. Sariel helped me."
Hearing this, Quetzal glanced at the traveler.
"I understand, I'm rooting for you!" She gave a big smile.
"What do you mean?"
"You'll understand someday." Quetzal, although she wanted to say more, stepped back. "See you later!"
"Hm, see you later!"
Then, Luna mounted Chinhej. As she had no experience with horseback riding, she asked him to just follow the rest of the group, and the animal neighed affirmatively.
With that, the group passed through the gates and finally left the kingdom.
"Goodbye! Be careful!" shouted Quetzal, whose voice became quieter as they moved away.
Sariel, Luna, and Raymond waved back, watching them become smaller and smaller in the distance.
Quetzal returned to the palace in silence when she could no longer see the visitors.
"My daughter..." Yaxun called.
However, she ignored him, quickened her pace, and headed to her room.
As soon as she arrived, she threw herself on the bed and stared at the ceiling with a worried expression. A whole day had passed since Pagui had disappeared, and no one had seen him yet.
As time passed, the sun gradually illuminated the room, which made her turn her face to the window. That's when she noticed an earthenware vase resting on it, an object that wasn't there when she left the room to say goodbye.
Curious, she got up and approached the vase. When she looked inside, she saw that it was full of ashes and with an Alteration Stone on top of them. Without understanding what it meant, she picked up the stone and activated it.
In the next moment, she felt countless memories that did not belong to her passing through her mind. It didn't take long to realize that they were from Sariel.
Just like Yaxun, she saw everything the traveler had done since the night he disappeared until the events on the mountain.
She watched everything with curiosity, but it wasn't enough that she finally saw the moment her friend, with whom she had basically grown up together, was cowardly killed and unable to defend himself.
From that moment on, tears ran like waterfalls from her eyes. However, even though she wished the memories would end soon to mourn his death, they continued without any sign of stopping.
She saw the moment the traveler stopped the eruption. He was in a kind of room in an ancient temple inside the volcano, a place she had no idea existed.
The walls had art that showed they were of origin from the Scorched Mountain, and there were some weapons and ceramic items.
Sariel was covered in ashes and surrounded by corpses wearing long black robes.
He carried Pagui gently in one arm. He looked for a vase and took the one Quetzal had found in her window.
Then, taking advantage of the historical significance of the mountain, he cremated Pagui and kept his ashes in that vase.
Cremating the dead was the way the people of that kingdom said goodbye to their loved ones, believing that fire was a sacred gift from Kura and that, through it, souls found their way to paradise.
However, the memories continued, until the moment Sariel and Yaxun talked in private. She saw everything, and even felt satisfied to see her father being deceived, although she didn't think it was enough punishment for what he did to Luna.
Then, the memories finally ceased.
Quetzal looked at the ashes, still with tears in her eyes.
She was confused by all the information, but her feelings of sorrow for her dead friend were as clear as the sunlight on her face.
She cried and sobbed for a long time, hugging the vase with her friend's remains the whole time.
"Pagui..." She looked inside the vase with her vision blurred by tears, which fell inside and slightly wetted the ashes.
It was at that moment that she noticed a small silver glow escaping from under the ashes.
Using her hands carefully to avoid spreading the ashes, she removed a Sealing Stone, very similar to the one that broke in her father's hands.
She already knew it was there because she saw the moment Sariel had placed it with Pagui's ashes, but she had almost forgotten, after all, seeing so many memories in such a short time had its side effects.
Quetzal looked at the stone and immediately understood why the traveler had entrusted it to her.
*****
A week after the group left the kingdom, Yaxun was at the ruins in the forest he saw in Sariel's memories with a small group of people.
Quetzal was also present. Since the group's departure, she hadn't spoken to him, so when she heard him ask to come along to see the ruins, he simply accepted with joy.
However, his daughter kept her distance from him.
The people present there were all generals of the kingdom and were using all their strength to try to break the secret passage that led to the Sanctuary where the traveler found the ruins of the Angels.
This was the fourth day in a row that they had been bombarding the sealed door for hours with Fire magic. Everything was done carefully, despite the violence, so as not to cause a forest fire.
It would be much easier to open that door with the Sealing Stone, but Sariel had deceived Yaxun and destroyed it.
However, the king did not give up and decided to open that door by force.
In the first moments, it seemed that no blow would damage it, however, after days of constant work, they managed to create a huge crack in the floor.
"Your Majesty, it's almost broken," one of the generals informed.
"Great, I'll give the final blow."
The king approached the construction, which was already reduced to ashes, except for the floor. Due to the impacts, all the stone constructions around it had also collapsed.
Wrapping his hands in an intense red flame, he raised them above his head and punched the floor with all his might.
That blow had the weight of a mountain and, combined with the fire, completely destroyed the floor, causing a column of fire to rise into the sky and a cloud of dust to spread through the area.
When the dust settled, he found himself facing a staircase that descended and disappeared into the darkness.
"HA! Let's see what's in here that you wanted to hide from me so much!"
The king and his daughter descended the stairs together. As it was dark, he created a small ball of fire in his hand and used it to light the way.
After some time, he reached the end with a smile on his face.
He was happy to have defeated Sariel, even though the traveler had played dirty, so he would read every page he found there.
However, the place was completely empty.
There was no page, book, or even trash there.
"What? How?"
Unable to believe what he saw, he scoured the entire place looking for any evidence, all in vain.
There was no doubt, he had been deceived again by Sariel.
"FUCK!" He punched the wall hard, which proved to be ignorant of his fury.
He wondered how that had happened. In Sariel's memories, he had run away from there and went straight to the mountain, there was no time to clean up the place.
And even if he had done it when they left, how would he have gotten in without having the Sealing Stone to open the door? The door was intact when they arrived, so he didn't go in there again.
All the memories seemed legitimate, and the traveler didn't even have time to forge false memories.
Unless most of what he showed was true, except for that small piece. In fact, mixing a small lie in the middle of many truths would help to make the lie quite believable.
"Damn it..."
All this time, Quetzal watched her father in silence and with a mysterious look. Yaxun didn't notice, and much later he would realize that his lack of attention would be a mistake.