HOMEWARD

Time flied like a sparrow, and an entire year had passed since the Skyfire Paradise was bathed in unparalleled bloodshed. Once indisputable ruler faced nigh-destruction, yet withstood the rampage of countless invaders. Yet, despite the massive loses it suffered, no one dared invade it. After all, knowledge that it was guarded by two Dragons alone was enough to deter nearly everyone to say nothing of the False God, the monkey and the Phoenix. Although painful, life never stopped to linger over the dead. Bit by bit, the people of the Kingdom collected the pieces of themselves and rose up from the ashes of the past, looking forward to the new future.

Heralding it forth were naturally its King and Queen – Thalia and Parsia – who cemented their rule firmly after their display during the war. That over-sized statue of a past memory turned into a ‘Legend of the Founder’, and kingly sentiments regarding him were all but erased. Although the Kingdom suffered greatly both in terms of lives as well as collapsed land, its core – the Tower and the Palace – remained, making them even more important to the prosperous Kingdom. Meanwhile, some of the Kingdoms sent envoys with numerous resources and people to help rebuild the grand capital city anew, speeding up the recovery even more.

After an entire year of time, the Capital restored its former glory. Streets were laid with shops and people, and chatter and noise never ceased. Its size expanded as it swallowed nearby mountainous regions, turning them into prosperous districts. One stark difference was the large, obsidian monument which was built around Lynne’s statue. Upon it, names of nearly eight million people were carved in perfect calligraphy. It was reinforced by countless formations to the point that even unceasing attacks of a hundred peak Grand Mages wouldn’t even scratch it. It was both a reminder as well as future fuel for all the residents of the Kingdom. Tragedy spawned a new mindset and birthed stronger people. It was so since the time immemorial, and it was no different today.

Currently, within the Throne Room of the Palace, Thalia and Parsia were sitting and calmly drinking tea while looking over piles of parchments and papers. Surrounding them were countless servants and guards, and even some other high personnel who would occasionally chime in with their opinions.

“… aah, paperwork is finally thinning out.” Thalia muttered while sighing.

“Isn’t is depressing that we consider this massive pile as ‘thinning out’?” Parsia asked, smiling bitterly.

“Think back to how it was when we first started,” Thalia said, snorting. “I swear, at one point it rivaled the number of books in the Tower.”

“Ha ha, you’re just imagining it.” Parsia replied while laughing, which prompted some others nearby to laugh as well.

“Your Highness, why don’t you rest if you’re tired?” an elderly man wearing rather lavish robes said with a smile. “We can take it over from here.”

“As if I’d trust your aging eyes, Merlin.” Thalia replied, smirking.

“… aii…”

“Ha ha, the Queen’s tongue is as sharp as ever, eh?”

“Eh, she wouldn’t be our Queen otherwise.”

“Oh, you guys shut up! You’re talking as if I’m some crude woman!” Thalia berated while smiling.

“Ah, we would never dare!”

“The Queen is holier than anyone else in the world!”

“Ah, your ass-licking skills still need some work…” Thalia said while shaking her head. “It’s alright. Dealing with papers is much easier than dealing with random envoys. Good god, even a year later, they’re still pouring in ceaselessly. We should just announce that both Dragons are dead and that the rest, I don’t know, drowned or something.”

“… what’s the difference, though?” Parsia asked, tilting his head.

“It’s… more impactful?” Thalia replied, tilting her head similarly.

“There’s a report of the uprising in the northern dwellings,” the distrusting-eyes Merlin said as he looked over the parchment he was reading. “Roughly two hundred men declaring independence.”

“Ah, good for them…” Thalia said, sighing; it’s not the first time it happened, and she was certain it won’t be the last. “Just dispatch Seventh Division and let them deal with it.”

“Understood.” Merlin said as he wrote something on the parchment before moving onto the next one.

And in such fashion, the day continued. Occasionally silence ruled as everyone focused on their own tasks, and when it became stuffy, they would chat for a little while to relax before resuming their work. Despite the fact that Thalia said that the paperwork was thinning out, when they were finished with one bulk, another one would arrive almost at the same time, as though preordained. In the end, though, it was boring but necessary work. Even a year later, they’re yet to properly deal with land distribution within the Capital as well as restoration of all the mines that were buried around the Capital due to the battle.

However, their by-the-books routine day was suddenly interrupted halfway through by something that hadn’t occurred ever since the day Thalia ascended the throne. A set of hurried footsteps alongside metallic clashing echoed throughout the Throne Room, causing those who were currently focused on their tasks to frown. A few moments later, hurried and flustered guard suddenly appeared in front of everyone before suddenly slipping and falling headfirst onto the floor. However, even that didn’t curb his ‘enthusiasm’ as he hurriedly leapt back onto his feet. Seeing the angry looks of everyone present, he knew that if he didn’t speak quickly he’d be beheaded.

“It-it-it’s alive!!!!” despite the fact that his brain was working endlessly to properly summarize his experience, only a rather odd and incomprehensible sentence came out, causing everyone to frown even deeper.

“… it’s alive?” Thalia, though, remained calm as she finally had a proper excuse to pull her head away from the papers. “What’s alive? Speak properly?”

“Why are you being polite with him, Your Highness?” one of the elders said in a deep tone. “Just strip him of the official position and throw him into a dungeon to serve as an example.”

“Aii, even if he’s gone crazy, he knew what would happen if he just stormed in here,” Parsia said, defusing the situation somewhat. “So? What’s alive, young lad?”

“… w-what’s alive?” the guard muttered.

“Yes.”

“T-the-the statue is alive!!! It’s alive!!!” Thalia thought that there was no way she’d grow even more confused after the ‘It’s alive’ comment, but she was just proven wrong.

“The statue?” even Parsia frowned right now. “What statue?! Did you hit your head or something?!”

“…” the guard firmly shook his head. “N-no, it’s alive!! It’s seriously alive!! The statue! I-I don’t know how, but it’s alive!”

“What are you--” as Thalia grew impatient and spoke in threatening voice, another set of footsteps interrupted her.

However, unlike guard’s, this pair was much more nonchalant and calm, completely unhurried as though the person was seeing the Palace as a tourist attraction. The rhythm of the footsteps was even and calm, yet carried strange, untraceable pressure that couldn’t be quantified into words. Unlike when they heard the hurried footsteps of the guard, nobody frowned. Somehow, the sound of footsteps was like a calming music to their ears, dispersing not only the negative emotions, but also the fatigue that they didn’t even know they suffered from.

Soon, a shadow was cast from in-between the pillars as it slowly approached the round table where they were seated. Guard had long since dropped onto his knees and thanked all the gods he could name that he wasn’t seeing things. Meanwhile, Thalia and Parsia felt strange sense of familiarity, yet also distance, with the sound of the footsteps. However, all their doubts were quickly dispelled as they laid their eyes on the source.

A simply – or even beggarly – dressed man came into the view. He had hair whiter than snow, tied up messily into a crane-shaped bun at the backside. His facial features were sharp, as though chiseled, and the gaze of his azure-dyed eyes was penetrating. Within them one couldn’t find any traces of innocence or youth, or even sagely wisdom, but something much grander and transcendent. He wore a slight, faint smile as his eyes met everyone’s, while his hands remained in the pockets of shabby-looking black pants. His torso was covered by a simple, ragged white shirt with sleeves rolled up to his elbow, while his feet were hidden with simple sandals.

Yet, despite his beggar-like appearance, no sound of anger, displeasure, or mockery came from anyone. Rather, no one dared utter a sound. Before them laid an image they had long since carved into their memory. Even though it’s only been a few years since he actually left, it felt much longer all things considered. Majority believed that he had long since died, and that only remnant of him was the bronze statue in the Palace’s courtyard, and memories of those who had once witnessed his absolute prowess.

Still, the youth from their memories, and a man before them differed greatly. Whether it was the appearance or the air about him, it screamed that they were two different people. However, that playful smile remained the same. One stark difference was that, the Lynne of before ruled over Mana wherever he went. He exuded pressure that can only be submitted to, while the Lynne of now lacked that. He was far more ethereal, as though he wasn’t even there, or as though he was part of the entire world rather than a separate entity. One felt that if they didn’t focus their attention on him, they wouldn’t even be able to see him.

Poor guard, seeing the expressions of everyone else and the silence which ruled, sighed in relief as he realized that he hadn’t gone crazy. That is, unless every single upper member of the Kingdom had gone crazy at the same time, which would spell disaster for the Kingdom. However, that didn’t matter to him. As he glanced back at the spitting image of the statue, or at least far more refined and alive version of it, he felt something within his soul stir, as though he was gazing at a being that had surpassed the fabric of reality itself.

“Yo,” however, despite everyone’s stunned expressions, and clear turmoil occurring within their eyes, Lynne spoke casually, as though he had walked into a bar, and not the greatest Kingdom in the realm. “Love what you did to the place.” today marked the return of a man many thought dead.