It doesn’t take very long before Kai is up to his feet again. Except for the gauze still plastered on his right forehead, he is all healthy. Yet the question still lingers for him and the others – why and how was he injured? Because that part of his memory is still missing, and Kai has no clue where to start if he wants the answers.

It is just gone; that missing piece is nowhere to be found, like it never existed.

Kai joins Alaina and the others, who are already comfortably chatting away in the centre room before he arrived. They were informed of to meet Trajan and two other people who are leading the rebellion.

“All good?” Lancaster asks when he spots Kai.

“Yeah. Only sleepy,” he replies, rubbing his eyes.

“You’ve already slept for more than twelve hours,” Alaina says.

But he doesn’t say anything against her statement, or make a snappy remark about it like he usually does. Instead, he only frowns.

Lloyd catches his detached mind. “Still trying to remember?”

Shrugging, Kai opens his mouth to answer, but a voice nearby snatches their attention.

“I’m glad to see you’re doing just fine.” Trajan stands in front of them, with another two men following him from behind. “You gave us quite a scare, fainting so suddenly in the middle of the night,” he adds, eyeing Kai with stern eyes – something Kai makes out to be more than just a firm, holding gaze, unlike Lancaster’s usual glare. He tenses.

Meanwhile, Lancaster steps forward, looking very eager and glad – something Alaina is pleased to see after a long time. He approaches one of the men behind Trajan, shaking his hand as they both exchange smiles, and immediately Alaina recognises the fact that they know each other.

“Your highness, this is Clyde,” Lancaster introduces, “Clyde, the Princess of Theia.”

“Unbelievable,” Clyde says, shaking Alaina’s hand. “It is a pleasure, your highness.”

But they are very surprised when they recognise the other man – Trevor the informant, back from the Lion’s Den.

“Trevor?” Lloyd questions.

Still wearing the hood, he simply nods, grinning. “Glad y’all made it all the way here.”

“You are a big part of this?” Rose wonders, circling him.

“Obviously.”

Kai, who doesn’t know Trevor like the others, raises an eyebrow in the corner, finding him shady. A very short moment later, his eyes draw back really quickly to the towering figure approaching him.

“You all right, kid? Get a little bit more iron in your diet, you might have anaemia,” Trajan says, putting a hand on his shoulder.

However reassuring and gentle Trajan might think that gesture is, Kai finds it threatening. He flings the tight grip off his shoulder, taking a few steps back with furrowed brows and a death glare. “I’m fine; don’t touch me.”

Trajan’s expression doesn’t change, and there is a moment of silence as they both just glare at each other – until Lloyd breaks it.

“Wait. General Trajan, you’re the one who found him and brought him into the medical wing?” he asks, noticing Trajan’s statement immediately.

“Indeed. Just what were you doing out of your room so late in the night?”

“I –”

“What do you mean ‘so late in the night’? You wouldn’t know if he actually fainted before dinner or something,” Lloyd interjects Kai, narrowing his eyes in suspicion at Trajan. Something about his statement is fishy, but Lloyd isn’t sure if he is simply too cautious and suspicious. Then again, Kai’s mystery still isn’t solved, so he can’t – and shouldn’t – take anything for granted.

Shifting ever so slightly only noticed by Kai and Lloyd who are currently closest to him, Trajan clarifies, “I was merely making an assumption, because the moment I found him was nearly dawn.”

But Kai knows more than that. It is true he was awake late in the night – he remembers it all too clearly: from staying up late to walking out of his room and towards the centre room. Yet it all stops somewhere there, when he circles the centre room for something. The next thing he knows, he’s already in bed with a head injury and a missing piece from his memory.

“You’re right,” Kai finally says, when the rest of the group seem to catch the tension between them, therefore joining them. He fakes a yawn, pretending to still be sleepy and hazy from the ‘faint’, then turns to Lloyd to avoid looking Trajan in the eye. “I was taking a walk before bed and… tripped. Fell, and passed out. Knocked my head in the process.”

When Kai is desperately trying to make eye contact with Lloyd in hopes of mentally telling him it’s suspicious but time to drop the subject anyway, Lloyd is busy eyeing Trajan’s unsuspecting, confident expression.

Maybe he’s only being too sensitive, but he catches the corner of Trajan’s lip curl; something about his little gestures, though unseen by the others, only increase Lloyd’s suspicion.

Despite being unsure of what is going on, he is confidently certain on one thing: Trajan is hiding something. Something about what happened with Kai.

Lloyd shakes it off, saving the questions for later, when he feels a hand on his shoulder.

“Having trouble keeping your mind to the ground today?” Lancaster says from behind him.

“My mind is where it’s supposed to be.”

All of them are silenced instantly by a clap of hands.

“Your attention?” Trajan clears his throat. “We would like to discuss the plan we have so far.”

Clyde steps forward. “I haven’t introduced myself. I am Clyde, and I am very pleased to meet such an interesting bunch – you are all assets of the rebellion.”

“You know about us?” Rose asks, tip-toeing slightly as she’s worried of being unseen due to her height. She is sure they have not met the man before.

“Lancaster has told me all about you. We couldn’t have asked for a better alliance. First, with the Princess of Theia herself, she is a great enough icon to be a distracting figure for the public – your words alone can inspire, with or without your position as a princess; with your intelligence and brilliant strategies in battle, Lloyd, you can lead us to victory; Lancaster, I need not say more about your skills. Finally, Kai and Rose – you two are special, and your abilities will certainly prove useful in our fight for freedom.

“We do not know what the future holds, and I cannot guarantee your safety. But if you join us, you are as valuable as the men who fought back during the Great War, and as precious as all of the respective symbols of the seven kingdoms.”

“Sounds like war,” Rose says when Clyde finishes.

“Hopefully, it doesn’t come down to war,” Clyde says. “As of now, we are only planning for a great enough rebellion during the coming installation and ceremony. That way, with so many people and spoken thoughts through demonstration, it might change something for the better of the whole of Asteria.”

Those words remind Alaina of her father, his voice still burned at the back of her mind – fresh, as if he’d just said it yesterday. The memory makes her imagine the ghost of him standing right in front of her.

I have preparations to make for the upcoming installation for the new emperor, and for the ceremony for the official formation of Empire Asteria.

“What is the plan?” Alaina asks, trying to shake away the thoughts.

“Initially, it was meant to be merely a simple protest that I thought would be most efficient on the day of the installation and the ceremony itself,” Trajan begins. “Apparently, there are many more people who share the same view as us, hence the start of the gathering. Gradually, we came to this.” Trajan nods around the room proudly. “Now that we have stronger allies such as people like you, we are ambitious to make the rebellion something more. Something that will definitely change events for the better, something that will go down in history. Something that will save us all from the probable cruelty that is to come.”

“If we fail though, we may be wanted criminals,” Trevor adds. “On the run, away from the empire forever.”

They already expected this, though. Their journey here certainly wasn’t easy, and they have already far exceeded all warning signs.

“Well, what else is new? We’re already sort of ‘criminals’,” Lloyd chuckles.

“If we fall, we fall together.” Alaina slaps Lloyd’s hand, Rose fighting her way to do the same. Though reluctant, Lancaster joins them after repeated persuasion from Alaina. “And that includes you, too, Kai. You’re basically part of the group now.”

“I never said I want to part of your group.” He turns away, crossing his arms. “And certainly no touching!” he exclaims when Alaina approaches him, using his arms to block her away.

Alaina keeps a straight face as she stretches out her hands and reaches for his. “It’ll be fine if it’s through gloves, right?” she says, cupping one of his hands in both of hers fearlessly.

Even with the gloves, Kai feels he’s burning her. But it only takes a while before he realises he’s not burning her, but burning himself – in fact, he would blow up if this contact remains, but it isn’t about his power being out of control anymore. It is how the fire is resonating with his emotions.

“Still, the less touch the better,” he says, flushing and trying very hard not to look her in the eyes. He signals for his hand to move away from her warm grasp, but it doesn’t obey his mind no longer.

“That is certainly an improvement from ‘no touching’, firefly.”

“What?” Kai stammers, turning redder than before. “It’s still no touching. That’s only for when I have gloves.” He pulls his hand away finally, but Alaina never feels warmer.

“What are our roles?” Alaina asks again, changing the topic before Kai flushes even more than he does now already.

Trajan lifts his hand up to his chin as he thinks. “Of course, what Trevor said would be the worst possible outcome. But with your help, I highly doubt it will come down to war or us being criminals,” he says, nodding slowly. “Now, with capable people like you… we start with a bang.”

*****

Unfortunately, they are dismissed before anything else is announced or disclosed, with Trajan saying there are more to be discussed during dinner, along with the other rebels.

When everyone else leaves and go their separate ways, Kai and Lloyd stays behind, lingering around the centre room.

“I was here,” Kai says softly only audible to Lloyd, although he is sure no one else is around. He paces the room, a hand dragging along the old arching, circular wall along the room. “Late last night.”

“And?” Lloyd follows him, crossing his arms and giving a serious thought about it.

Kai’s hand falls limply to his side as he stops walking. “Nothing. I can’t remember.” Wincing at the sudden pain on his forehead, he grips the wall for support. There is a grey vision, and he nearly falls to the ground before Lloyd grabs him by the arm.

“Remember anything?”

“It happened somewhere here – I don’t know.”

“You won’t get that sort of wound by simply fainting,” Lloyd says. “That’s the suspicious part.” After helping Kai regain his balance, he adds, “General Trajan found you, correct? Did he specify where?”

Frowning, Kai replies, “no.” He brings his hand up to the wound covered by the gauze on his forehead, his fingers brushing it gently. “You’re right, though. This isn’t a mere bruise – in fact, it was bleeding.”

A sudden high pitched thrilling, piercing shriek travels from down a random corridor to their ears, sending chills running down their spine.

“What was that?” Kai asks, wincing as he covers his ears even after the sound is gone.

Lloyd sighs, not surprised at all after that one second of shock he felt. “Rose.”

Blinking, Kai stares at Lloyd, who has his line of sight glued down at the corridor opposite of them, where the sound had come from. “Wow.”

“What?”

“You recognise it’s her, just from that less than a second vague, ear deafening shriek from miles away.”

Only then does Lloyd takes his eyes away from the source of the shriek to meet Kai’s grinning face. “I recognise her voice – her screams. I’d know it’s her anywhere…” he trails off, embarrassed by Kai’s unblinking stare. “She tends to yell and scream a lot, I mean,” Lloyd clarifies, adjusting his glasses in an attempt to remain cool.

“Sure.” Kai supresses his laughter, but fails to and ends up giggling anyway. “Whatever. Go check if she’s fine.”

“I’ll see you at dinner,” Lloyd says briefly, before disappearing down the corridor.

When he is gone though, Kai isn’t alone. He is greeted by Trajan.

“How are you feeling?”

“Why do you keep asking?” Kai says, annoyance obvious in his tone. He scowls lightly at the sight of the man and backs away from him. Ignoring him, Kai quickens his steps, walking towards his room. But he barely makes it to the other end of the centre room before Trajan speaks again.

“I am merely concerned for your wellbeing.” Trajan approaches Kai who has stopped walking, placing a hand on his shoulder. “If you have any issues, I’ll always be willing to help. We are all part of a team. Speaking of which, if you somehow remember what happened to you, do let me know.”

“I’m fine, thanks.” Kai shakes Trajan’s hand off. “I don’t remember anything so far, and perhaps I never will. See you.”

With that, he jogs away quickly before Trajan can say anything else.

*****

Lloyd had heard it all.

Back when he was about to go to check on Rose, he stumbled in the wrong corridor and happened to hear the entirety of Kai and Trajan’s conversation when he’d returned.

Normally, he would feel guilty for eavesdropping. But this time, it’s different. Something he heard can’t seem to get out of his head.

Speaking of which, if you somehow remember what happened to you, do let me know.

When Kai first woke, the only people around him was Alaina, Lancaster, Rose, and Lloyd himself. Sure, General Trajan was the one who brought him into the medical wing when he’d found him injured, but Lloyd is certain he doesn’t know anything further – or does he?

The only thing Trajan knows, if Lloyd isn’t wrong, is that Kai fainted somewhere in the middle of the night. He’d presumed it was anaemia; but he doesn’t know the reason – or if he actually fainted, for that matter – why he was injured.

And Lloyd is sure Kai dislikes Trajan enough to stay away from him, much less tell him about anything.

The real question remains: why, and how does General Trajan know Kai doesn’t remember anything about it?

When Lloyd still has his mind busy running through thoughts, he barely notices someone walking directly in his way. But the other person doesn’t seem to notice him either, because they both walk directly into each other.

“Sorry – your highness?”

“Ah, Lloyd. You know, I –” Alaina bites her lip, hesitating. “I was just looking for you.”

“What is it?”

“There’s something bothering me, and I believe only you can help me. Well…” trailing off, she swallows whatever she was about to say.

Lloyd takes note of this. “Your highness, whatever concerns you have, I’ll always be your listener.”

Leaning against the wall of the narrow corridor, Alaina smiles. “Thanks, Lloyd.” She pulls him into the corner, too. “It’s just… a rebellion sounds like the start of a war. And what happens after a war? Systems change.”

Nodding, Lloyd urges her to go on.

“I don’t know what will happen, even if we do succeed in refusing the emperor. I mean, the kings did agree on the proposal – and that includes my father. People would probably push the kings away, start another rebellion or something. What will happen to us then? I don’t think anyone’d want mindless kings as their ruler; even if the empire fails to form, something’s going to change. New kings, then? What will happen to me?”

What she’s said are all true, and honestly, Lloyd hasn’t given them a thought. But she’s right: there’s a risk, especially to royalty, and even to people like him who works in the palace. “Don’t worry about it. For now, all we need to know and all we do know is that the people decline the empire, still hoping to live separately. They’ll do all it takes to reject the formation of empire just to live their usual separate lives, so you need not worry. Because what’s a kingdom without a ruler? And there’s just no helping it; the seven kings must remain – who else, anyway – if they want to live separately as seven kingdoms forever. Besides, the kings are not evil rulers – people are rejecting the empire, not the kings. As long as we manage to refuse the empire completely, there’s really no helping it, is there? We people got the power.”

He gives her a reassuring smile, even if he’s slightly unsure on the inside. Placing a hand on her shoulder, he says, “please do not worry, your highness.”

Sighing, Alaina stands straight up again, away from the wall she was leaning on. “You’re right, Mr. Know-It-All royal advisor,” she states, mocking a bow dramatically as if they’re in a royal court.

She turns to leave, her mood lighter; her mind is no longer disturbed. Before taking another step out of the corridor though, she stops. “Oh, and Lloyd?”

“Anything else?”

“I’d still need you as a good friend with good advice, anywhere and anytime – royal or not.”

*****

When Alaina arrives at the dinner room full of long, old wooden tables packed with people, she finds Lloyd awkwardly trying his best – and obviously failing – to comfort Rose, who is sobbing by the table, ignoring the plate of food in front of her.

“What’s up?” she asks, taking a seat beside Rose.

Lloyd looks at Alaina pleadingly as Rose rubs her eyes and hugs Alaina to her side.

“It’s all gone! Gone!” she wails, earning looks from other people as Alaina tries to calm her down.

Just then, Kai arrives. He’s obviously heard Rose and came over to check. “What’s gone?”

When Rose lifts her face from Alaina, a look of perplexity takes over when she stares at Kai. “Did you take them? You took them!” She points at a confused Kai.

“Took what?” He resists the urge to pour the cup of water in his hands all over her.

“The Opuxes! They’re gone!” Rose nearly shouts, wiping the last of her tears from her eyes and cheeks. “You stole them, didn’t you?”

Kai slams the cup on the table, and silence dawns over as chattering people turn to look at them. Lloyd stands and tries to come between the fighting two, but Rose shoves him back forcefully into his seat. Alaina buries her face into her palms as she braces herself for what’s to come.

“Prove it.” Kai crosses his arms. “Oh, wait – you can’t. Because I didn’t steal them, flower girl. Why the heck would I want a bunch of glowing, translucent flowers?”

“But I had them yesterday! You were the last one who saw them with me back then, when you refused to thank the Opuxes for saving your life! After that night…”

Kai watches Rose as she finally begins to think rationally. She stares blankly back at him as she slowly retraces her words. Still not forgiving her for simply putting the blame on him, Kai opens his mouth, ready for insults to throw back at her, but Alaina yanks him down by his bandaged arm and makes him sit beside her so that she is in between the both of them.

When Kai turns to Rose, ignoring Alaina, she elbows him hard to ask him to drop the topic. “Shut up, she’s really upset,” she whispers.

“I’m the victim here!” he says, earning another painful jab at his side.

“She’ll come to her senses and apologise.” She holds up a palm to Kai when he is about to oppose, shutting him up. “Trust me.”

As the group falls silent, the tension in the crowd seems to do the opposite. The people around them start chattering normally again, no longer having their attentions on them. That’s a relief for both Alaina and Lloyd, as they wait for Rose to speak again.

Finally, she turns to Kai with her head hung low. With pink cheeks she says slowly, “sorry.”

“See, you –” Alaina eyes him angrily, and he stops immediately. “Have you checked your place properly? Maybe you’ve just misplaced them.”

Rose silently shakes her head. “I’ve checked everywhere; I count them every day, I’m careful not to lose a single one. Suddenly, they’re gone,” she says sadly, on the brink of tears once again. “And after all I went through to collect them all the way from the forest!”

“It’s all right,” says Lloyd quickly, “we can get them again.”

“Really?” Rose looks at him, beginning to beam. “You’d go with me?”

“Me? Back in that creepy forest? No way!”

“Are you scared, Lloyd?” Alaina asks quickly, urging him when she finds Rose’s mood dropping again.

“I’m not scared!” Lloyd bites his lip, glancing from Alaina to Rose, who is furious and refuses to look at him now. “That’s… just the last place I would want to visit again.” He casts a look to Kai who is trying to supress his laughter.

“Then who will go with me, if you don’t?” Rose pouts.

“That’s right, Lloyd. Who will?” Alaina presses.

His face turning scarlet red due to all the pressure, he finally blurts, “all right, all right! Rose, we’ll go back for the Opuxes, happy?”

“And explore further into the mystical forest?” says Rose hopefully.

“Explore – but it’s…” he begins to object, but decides against it once Rose glares at him disappointedly. “Sure, explore. I’ll love some knowledge not only from books,” he adds uncertainly.

“Great! Promise?” Finally turning to him, Rose holds out her pinky finger. “To go back there with me for more adventures?”

Hesitantly, Lloyd hooks his pinky with hers. “Promise,” he mumbles softly, and Rose beams brighter than usual. He isn’t an outgoing one, but with all of them pressing in on him, he can’t seem to escape. “After everything’s over.”

“As long as you keep your promise,” Rose says, smiling widely. She nods, adding, “after everything’s over. That’s a promise.”

As the both of them continue to chatter away, talking about the future ‘fun’ adventures according to a very eager Rose, Lloyd gradually gains back his appetite to eat again after seeing Rose’s excitement and determination. He pushes the scary experience of the forest and the dark thought of going back there again aside for now, enjoying their chatter.

Lancaster and Clyde soon join them half way through, bringing news. They take a seat opposite of them.

“The installation and the ceremony for the new empire will take place in the Kingdom of Theia itself,” Clyde says. “But I trust your journey here is not in vain.”

“Of course not,” Lloyd says in disbelief, with an obvious mocking tone. “We nearly got burned alive near the tavern we so difficultly collected information about the rebellion –” he steals a glance at Kai, who is either not listening or just pretending Lloyd hasn’t said that, “taken into the dungeons of Caelus immediately upon arrival; entered the mystical forest late in the night, that dangerous place full of beasts and monstrous plants that nearly killed us all.” Upon finishing, he sighs, sitting back down. “That was a crazy journey.”

“I hope the one back is not similarly difficult,” Lancaster admits silently.

Clyde laughs. “It won’t be. The entire group shall be moving together.”

“When are we leaving?” Alaina asks, counting the days.

“Most likely tomorrow or the day after; the installation is drawing near, we’ll be camping out in the forest within a safe radius from Theia’s capital and enter before dawn on that day.”

Slightly nervous to be part of a rebellion in her very own kingdom and even more unprepared to see her father when she’ll be against him, Alaina only nods in reply.

“We will be splitting into groups,” Clyde begins to explain, “some for distraction. Some blending in with the crowd. Some directly intruding the ceremony, infiltrating as Caecilius Black’s men if possible. With that said, you five will most likely be splitting up, because you have different virtues to offer. General Trajan and I will be leading separate groups. General Trajan will discuss the plan with you after dinner, and brief you about what’s to be expected on that day.”

“Wait. You seem to have a lot of information regarding the installation and the ceremony – I mean, ‘what’s to be expected’, like the day’s agenda? How do you know that?” Lloyd asks, clearly surprised. None of them are royalty – except for Alaina, who left even before she’s involved. The same goes for Lancaster and himself, who works with royalty, but unfortunately isn’t involved. Lloyd is almost certain only the future emperor and the seven kings know the fullest of details, along with some trusted figures. If he hadn’t left, he would’ve probably be involved with it – but he’s part of the opposing team now.

“I still work with the King of Caelus,” Clyde replies. “But I only get so much answers. The real person who gathers all the information we require is Trevor.”

Standing up, Clyde leaves at the sight of General Trajan signalling for him. “We’ll talk more about it later. Have a good night’s rest, we may be leaving tomorrow.”

After he leaves, the table is now surprisingly quiet, all of them tired, but really occupied with thoughts of what’s to come and what’s going to happen.

“Let’s just hope we don’t start a war,” Rose says suddenly at the thought of such a great invasion.

The others say nothing, because deep down, they believe it does sound like war. If the empire doesn’t do anything to oppose the people’s thoughts and freedom or fight back, they might stand a chance – but that’s the best outcome they can imagine. Peace from a simple voice from the unhappy people.

But it isn’t so simple, because the rebellion is great enough to be an army itself, and they are going against all the kings and possibly a very powerful emperor.

If, by any chance, the rebellion does spark a war, it might be the second Great War of Asteria.