Chronicles of the Red Sovereign

I stood in front of Aunt Zaira’s office. It was a Friday and I was very surprised to know that she was home. Of course it did make me guilty since I was aware I was the reason she was working at home in the first place.

I gently knocked on the door and I heard her say that I come in. I gingerly opened the door and slowly walked towards her desk.

“How are you feeling?” she asked, not even looking up from her paperwork.

“I feel fine now.”

“Take a seat.”

“Thank you Aunt Zaira.”

I sat on the available seat and Aunt Zaira finally looked at me with a stoic expression. “So? Are you going to tell me what happened? Everyone I asked is vague about it and I’m pretty sure they didn’t mean to.”

-Aunt Zaira is still pretty intense. She’s the only person I still can’t handle.

I sighed deeply and steeled myself.

“Aunt Zaira, before I tell you what actually happened, will you answer a question of mine?”

“Sure. What is it?”

“Seven years ago, when you found me, what really happened?”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I might’ve remembered something from that day.” I swallowed the non-existent lump on my throat and stared at my adoptive aunt’s unblinking eyes.

“That’s a surprise. You never asked anything about it back then.” I didn’t answer and just continued looking at her. “But then again you lost your memories so we thought it would be better if you recall things at your own pace. Very well, seven years ago I was sent up north to investigate something and when we were on the way back, we found a village burnt to the ground with dead bodies in it.”

“And then?”

“And then, there was some bright light in the forest so I immediately left to investigate. When I got there I found you surrounded by wolves and they were about to maul you.”

Her statement matched the first thing I remembered when I found myself inside Luna’s body, but…

“Did you find anyone in the vicinity? Like for example, someone with yellow eyes?” I asked again, observing my aunt’s reaction but she looked as lost as me.

“No. There were only you, the wolves and the two dead bodies beside you. What’s wrong?”

“I told you I remembered something and I think it’s what really happened to me seven years ago before you rescued me.”

Aunt Zaira only raised an eyebrow. She was basically saying that I explain what I mean.

“I think you should tell me what happened before you got yourself admitted to the academy infirmary.”

“Fine.”

And so I told her about what happened that night. About how I sensed Freya in the western forest and then when I entered her mindscape where I met all of Freya’s personalities.

“So it’s really a D.I.D. case?” I nodded. “And did you just say you used a spell that let you enter her mind?”

“Yeah, but I made the spell by accident.”

“Nothing’s an accident especially when you tried to pursue it. I’d love to hear about that mind spell later. Continue.”

Although I was a lot confused and suspicious of her remarks, I continued my narration of what happened. I told her how I pulled Freya into my own mindscape and how we witnessed grotesque creatures, demons, kill everyone in the village. And finally, I told her about the yellow-eyed demon who tried to kill me and the celestial that was with him.

Of course, I did not mention how I was only a spectator who accidentally saw the memory and how I suddenly merged with the child-Luna.

“A demon and a celestial tried to kill you?”

“Yes.”

“That’s impossible. Demons and celestials are enemies! I mean the demon clan is like the downgraded version of the devils! They’re the celestial clan’s archenemies!”

“Not this one. And they said something about how I would become their greatest obstacle in the future.”

“And so they tried to kill you.”

“Yes. The celestial said I should be killed before I fulfil my destiny.”

I heard Aunt Zaira click her tongue and her jaw hardened. I noticed how she started playing with her quill, a habit I noticed whenever she was lost in her thoughts.

“The celestial clan is just another name for the deities that govern our world. How could one be working with demons?” she questioned and started biting the nail of her right thumb. The fingers on her left hand also started tapping the table which made me a little curious.

The action was quite familiar. I had someone really close to me when I was still a fox deity who had the same habit when she was thinking.

“Unless that celestial betrayed the gods and are in cahoots with the demons.”

“Obviously.”

“But why would they kill your entire village and tried to kill you?”

“I don’t know but I think it may have something to do about my future. About the destiny I'm supposed to fulfil.”

“Yow-e-sah.” she muttered.

“You’re doing it again auntie.” I pointed out.

“Doing what?”

“You’re speaking in another language I’m pretty sure doesn’t exist anywhere in the world.”

It was also another thing I noticed about Aunt Zaira. Whenever she was too absorbed in something, she would mutter in an unknown language I had never heard before, but I found it oddly familiar and I just couldn’t tell where I heard it before or what it meant.

“It means ‘interesting’, it’s Chinese.”

“I’ve never heard of Chinese. I don’t think it exists. Is it a dead language?”

Aunt Zaira only smirked. “Not really. Back to the topic at hand, that means the demons have been active way before the dungeon break just last summer.”

“Probably. How is that even possible? The demons were purged more than a hundred years ago!”

“That’s what we thought as well. We destroyed the demon king and sealed his army but the demon clan had been scattered all over Afasia after that. We had to do a purge to destroy all of them.”

“But what if you didn’t get everyone?” I questioned. “And some managed to hide and lay low for the last hundred years. For example, those helped by a traitorous member of the celestial clan.”

My mind drifted back to my former life. The day the demon clan rose into power and tried to take over Afasia matched the day my sister, Elthesia, was arrested for stealing a sacred fruit from the celestial gardens. Of course, I knew it was all a lie. My sister was too powerful and carefree to steal a sacred fruit which was supposed to increase one’s power tenfold.

“Luna.” I heard Aunt Zaira call. “Have you told anyone about it?”

“No, but Freya saw my memories so I’m not sure about her.”

“We better keep this wrapped up for now.”

“What? Why? The demon clan is humanity’s greatest foe! We can’t just ignore it if they’re already being active in the shadows!” I exclaimed.

“We don’t want everyone to panic. Even the information of who was behind the dungeon break last time is not released to many people. The emperor already asked us to shut our mouths and investigate about it secretly.”

“If the demons really are back, then humanity’s in danger once again.”

“I know you’re anxious and angry about what you remembered. But I have to remind you to calm down. Demons? They’re not as easy to handle as the monsters you used to deal with in the Celestine Territory. And worst of all, they’re creatures of high intelligence, so dealing with them is quite different and difficult."

“What am I supposed to do then? One already tried to kill me when I was just a child.”

“For now? Wait and become stronger. We need to investigate more and I don’t want you running to your death just because you wanted revenge on the demons.”

-She has a point. I can’t rush on things.

“Very well, but when the time comes and we have to face them, I want to be in the frontlines.” I told her.

“You’ll get your chance.”