Blake’s voice was trembling as he kneeled in front of the thousands of cats that looked at him with utmost scrutiny. He couldn’t make a sound decision. After all, he didn’t have much information about the being in front of him. The only things he knew were the name and title of the being. And just that information seeped a viscous terror in his heart that he couldn’t get rid of.

Goddess of Insight, The Second Star. Shiera Gilven.

A Star. Just that word was enough for the enemies to wish for death and the allies to gain hope. Their whims moved the world in the direction they desired. The Stars were the utmost pinnacle of humanity, children by mana itself, as they protected the world and eradicated evil, in their respective eras. All Six Stars were called Gods for a reason. Moreover, The second and fifth Star were beings shrouded in mystery and only their names and monikers were known to the world. So, Blake kept kneeling, waiting for the answer as he couldn’t formulate a plan in his mind.

“What is your name child?” All the cats opened their mouths and yet again, only one voice entered Blake’s ears. Blake hurriedly straightened his back and replied as politely as he could, “This lowly one is called Blake Elmare, oh Goddess. I wasn’t aware that this holy place is your burial ground. I apologise deeply.”

“Only answer the questions that I have asked, Blake Elmare. So, tell me why do you have the smell of Little Fourth on you? Was it really a coincidence that you ended up here?”

The red eyes in the middle of the foreheads of the innumerable cats shone, as if scrutinizing Blake’s soul. Blake shivered as the eyes of the cats fell upon him. He gulped his saliva as he bowed his head and proceeded to answer.

“I was once blessed by the vestige of Goddess of Knowledge.”

The cats didn’t speak for a moment as if lost in thought. They all nodded in sync, as if agreeing to their inner proposition and only spoke after a few moments.

“I see…. You can go. Take care in the future. Issoneya doesn’t welcome outsiders.”

Blake’s heart skipped a beat. The word Issoneya hit his mind like a bell being rung after years. He felt elated at this moment. After all, they had been searching for Issoneya for a long time now. The vestige of Fourth Star had given him a mission when Sirius was born. And It was now fulfilled. The mythical castle of Issoneya still existed and it was being protected by the vestige of The Second Star.

Blake got up from his kneeling position and bowed deeply. He picked up Mehr and Sirius, both of whom seemed to be unconscious. Blake bowed again and started leaving. The cats spoke again, and just the one voice met with Blake’s ears.

“Tell something to Little Fourth for me. Tell her not to influence the flow of the world. We, the old Stars are all dead and live this borrowed life in the form of vestiges. Let the current child of mana handle things on his own. Tell Little Fourth to rest now and not to sully her brilliance.”

Blake nodded and disappeared into the darkness of the forest soon. The cats stayed there, looking in the direction that Blake had gone to. The cats all sighed as they shook their heads gently.

“Those two children…. And I can also feel a third one. Little Fourth was a given, but I wonder why mana would make such a decision. Sigh.”

The cats turned around as the darkness engulfed them entirely. The forest went as silent as it was before and dread settled in again. No sound escaped this dreary forest and only a subtle chill remained.

*****************

*Mehr’s POV*

The man with blonde hair and blue eyes stood on the podium, his right hand wielding a great spear and his voice containing confidence to topple the world. Thousands of army men stood below, with great respect in their heart and burning bloodlust in their eyes as they listened to the man’s words. The war was imminent. Repulsiveness came over me as I watched my past self standing up there, with a confident face and stone heart and I wanted to run and stop him. I wanted to scream and kill my old self so as not to experience the things that occurred. However, I knew that everything here was a lie. This time had passed and nothing I did would change that fact. I glanced at the other people standing on the stage.

A young man with hair the colour of sky, was looking at everything with calm eyes. A woman, too beautiful to describe with words, stood beside the man. Rage burned in my eyes as soon as I saw the woman smiling. Everything started because of her.

That fucking bitch!!

“History will remember this day as we write its pages with the blood of our enemy! Those cynical bastards will beg on their knees when we raze their home to the ground!”

My past self spoke while raising his voice that shook the sky. The army thumped their foot resulting in small quakes that travelled far.

“The fight will begin to bring about the peace that has been snatched away from us! The barbarians sully this land of ours with their filthy presence! THIS IS NOT A WAR!!”

“THIS IS RETRIBUTION THAT WE BRING UPON THEM. DO NOT CEASE YOUR STEPS AS YOU MOW THEM DOWN FOR THAT IS THE RIGHT DEED. EXTERMINATE THEIR BLOODLINE AND LET THE PEACE BE EVERLASTING!”

“RAISE YOUR WEAPONS, OH MEN OF HONOUR! LET THE SKY BE THE WITNESS OF THIS GLORIOUS DAY WHEN THE BEAUTIFUL FUTURE OF THE WORLD WAS DECIDED.”

The feet of the army thumped ever louder as the morale raised to indescribable high. The air had gotten hot and the breathing of these disciplined men became heavy as they waited to get the command to move and kill.

And yet every word that my past self spoke, stabbed in my heart in the form of regret. I abhorred being here and just wanted to run away. My eyes had started to get hot and I could feel my heart burning faster. The rest of the speech came in muffled noises as the scene in front of me buzzed past and the darkness engulfed me again. Wishes and prayers escaped my mouth as I begged to go back to Sirius. I did not want to remember this life anymore. The failure of a person that I was and the lowly decisions I took had only stopped haunting me far into this new life. I did not want to go back to my past self.

Light embraced me yet again as my eyes slowly got used to it. This time I wasn’t watching my past self from the side, but I was in my past body. The only colour that greeted my eyes was red and as soon as a fraction of the scene came to my sight, I closed my eyes tightly. My breathing became ragged as I remembered this moment. My heart was fraught with pain and I could feel a lump in my throat. That's when all the sensory feeling came to my body and I could feel that my left hand was holding something. I already knew what it was and I did not want to open my eyes. And yet they opened, gradually, on their own.

No, please. Please.

My heart cried as my eyes slowly fell upon the headless body that was lying in front me and its head was held in my left hand. The spear that my right hand wielded had gone through the dead man’ heart. My eyes turned towards the head I was holding and the guilt and self-hate rushed to attack my mind. The blue eyes of the decapitated head were still looking at me, with hate and disappointment. I heard the gate behind me open abruptly and the voice of the woman, too beautiful to describe with words, was heard.

“M-M-Mehr? You killed your own father?”