The ethereal voice of the Seraphim touched Veritas soul directly. It was like the silvery bell from before only the difference was this felt more impactful and dangerous. Furthermore, upon learning of his true name, Veritas felt his entire existence shatter.
Yet his unwavering will had kept him from losing himself. After all, once he had lost his own identity, his Soul would be uncontrollable, turning Veritas into a vile creature.
It was explained by his father as the Soul taking control of the spiritual and physical aspects of the body. Once an individual loses their sense of self, the soul would then begin to subconsciously force the body to go under physical changes.
Veritas did not want this to happen, as would any person. Losing yourself and turning into a different being was not in everyone's dreams. Veritas himself saw countless Pathbearers from the Knights of his kingdom to lose their identity and turn into vile creatures. The knights of Elrod had to subjugate their own comrades.
Those that have lost their own sense of self are called the Unanchored.
Moving on, Veritas felt very powerless in this situation. He had no escape and no way to win against the Seraphim of Gold. He could only hold his existence all together with all his will.
"Veritas, child.. Dost thou wish to seek the truth of this fallen city?"
It took all his will for Veritas to respond to the Seraphim.
"Y-Yes.."
"Then use thine Path and behold through mine own memories."
Veritas was confused by the sudden words of the Seraphim. He did not even know what his Path was let alone use it!
"O, ancient Seraphim-"
Veritas staggered at the mention of the majestic being yet he continued further.
"I do not know what my Path is or what it could do.."
Veritas felt that the Seraphim was perplexed due to the long pause between Veritas' words and the Seraphim's reply. After an intense and awkward pause, the Seraphim's majestic voice resounded across the room once again.
"Dost thou really?"
"I do not.."
"Quite the peculiarity."
After the exchange, an awkward silence existed once more in the air. The Seraphim seemed to be pondering at the oddity of the situation.
"Pray thee child, may thy expound the method by which thou entered into the memory of a man from the Golden Tower?
"I-"
Veritas did not know how he had seen the memories of Duncan. Maybe it was due to his sheer respect for the man? It was unlikely..
"I.. do not know of it myself.."
"I see.."
At a loss for words, the Seraphim turned silent, Veritas felt the pressure lighten and he was not on the brink of losing himself anymore. Veritas did not dare to gaze upon the Seraphim once more, he felt that the moment he did, he would instantly lose control.
After a long lingering silence had ensued, the Seraphim questioned Veritas once more.
"Tis is hard to grasp, for as long as a holy being such as myself have dwelled upon this city, never have I encountered an oddity such as thee."
Veritas did not know how to respond to Seraphim's thoughts. If he had truly unlocked a Path already, wouldn't it show on his runes?
He tried to remember the situation that had happened before, it was so sudden that he had not been able to analyze how it happened. First, he felt sheer amounts of respect towards Duncan and then suddenly he was transported to Duncan's memories. It was as if an untouched power deep inside of him had suddenly activated.
"Then, we shall seek into thine untouched strength."
'He can read my thoughts?!'
"Indeed, child.. For everything of brilliance belongs to mine, and thine mind is of brilliance itself."
The Seraphim of Gold suddenly reached his hands towards Veritas, immediately shifting the atmosphere of the room. Veritas was suddenly taken back as if he had been punched in the gut. He ran out of breath and constantly gasped for air.
Then, Veritas' vision was fading, reality seemed to have mixed with the incorporeal world. His vision seemed to be getting darker and darker. Until, he had finally fainted from the pressure caused by the Seraphim.
Aurelium gazed upon the fainted body of Veritas, the Seraphim of Gold's eyes were filled with vigor. He seemed curious about the mysterious power that Veritas had. He suspected that it was something related to the child's path.
"Show me thy untouched power.. Prince of Elrod."
Aurelium sat down the luxurious coffin inside the room and stared at it with interest. He caressed the coffin and hummed a soothing tune.
*
Veritas was met with another familiar sight.
Seeing that humans are everywhere in the vicinity, Veritas knew that he was in another vision, similar to Duncan's. Only this time, he was not inside the spacious tower anymore - he was now at the heart of the city before it was turned into gold.
He looked around the surroundings and saw the once destroyed buildings now standing with grace. The houses and buildings, populated by the citizens of the city, were full of life. One could tell that they have been taken care of and built properly.
His heart grew even more sorrowful at the thought that this was all going to be destroyed soon.
He walked inside the streets and noticed that no one knew of his existence, or rather they could not see him. He was like a ghost in this vision, or a spectator if you could say.
Thus, without the restrictions of authority, Veritas made his way to the city hall. In the horizon, the building resembled a castle, it was built with delicate craftsmanship that one could admire the creativity and thought put into it.
He saw the various guards, standing near the gates and patrolling near the castle. The castle could be described as elegant.. however it was not as elegant as the castle back in Elrod. It had better aesthetics but the overall size and mightiness of the castle could not be compared to Elrod.
After entering the castle grounds and seeing the landscape inside of it, Veritas noticed the lack of people guarding it. As a distinguished prince of a kingdom, he knew that many guards patrolled every corner of the insides of a castle.
However, there was close to none that could be seen here. There were fewer than 10 people inside - and amongst those people were the standing guard beside doors and entrances.
'Strange..'
Veritas could only find it strange, however he disregarded it and headed inside the castle. Although he had seemed like a ghost, Veritas still needed to walk.
So, traversing through the long fields had been quite nostalgic. Before his rite of passage, Veritas very frequently spent his time basking under the sunlight inside the fields of the castle.
It had been 6 long months before he returned to his Kingdom. Furthermore, once he had returned, he was immediately sent to the castle in order to unlock his Path. That took a negative turn very quickly and unlocking his Path turned out to be a great hurdle.
He had been sent to lands unknown to him after all..
It had not even been a day since he lost his Soul!
However, in that time period, he managed to retrieve it back and learn more pieces in history. This unfamiliar land had also served as a training ground for him, putting his strength and intellect to the test.
After thinking about everything that he had been through, Veritas realized that he had arrived at the entrance of the castle.
Thus he entered the mighty structure of the city. Seeing as no one seemed to see him, Veritas walked in with confidence.
Once inside, Veritas saw the pleasing beauty of the royalty. He had long been exposed to such beauty yet his curious mind always wanted to see more.
It was exquisite, the marble pillars were all filled with unique patterns. The ornaments that lied inside the castle had been quite appealing too! He looked around everywhere and saw the beauty that royalty had to offer.
However, he was not here for pleasantries, he had been here to learn more of the truth.
So, he had to search for the king, Veritas quickly made his way to the King's chambers, hoping to see the figure that ruled this city. Yet the king was not there, so Veritas searched further inside the castle.
He had not found the King anywhere so the last place that he had to go to was the throne room. It was situated within the outer walls of the castle.
As Veritas arrived, he felt a familiar presence inside the castle's throne room. Ignoring the feeling of familiarity, Veritas very quickly opened the doors and entered.
What awaited him was a sight that he had already experienced. Although not similar in nature, its familiarity had been prevalent. Veritas once again saw the Seraphim however.. it had 4 wings instead of 6.
Veritas felt that he was going to fall on his knees once more, but that moment never came to be. Veritas gazed upon the Seraphim and analyzed his stature.
He had long light golden hair that stretched behind his back. He had been wearing a long white robe, and his 4 wings were seen to have popped out behind them.
Upon gazing on the Seraphim's eyes, Veritas noticed that it had been a shade of pure gold. Almost as if it was made out of gold itself.
He noticed that the man was standing near the throne, and in that throne sat a man with royal garments wearing a golden crown with gems of rubies and diamonds atop of it.
His hair was deep black and his crystal blue eyes gazed at the Seraphim that was standing near him, the king seemed to look unamused by the existence of the Seraphim.
Then, the Seraphim slowly opened his mouth and his majestic voice resounded all over the throne room.
"O! Great King of Solaurum, Tis holy being hast descended from the heavens to tell thee of a foretold future. The weavers of fate hath foretold of the destruction of thine city. Although thou must rest easy, for tis holy being hast come for thine salvation."
The unamused king now piqued an interest towards the Seraphim's remarks. Then he very lightly replied to the Seraphim.
"Your eminence has come to save us from destruction.. Please do tell the steps that I must take in order to save my people."
The Seraphim had been pleased by the king's remarks. Then he revealed his plan to the King of Solaurum. Veritas eavesdropped carefully in order to learn of the truth.
"Thou must build four spires that pierce the heavens! Only then would thy people be saved!"
His majestic voice echoed across the throne room.