The war room. This is where all the veterans and brightest mind that remained loyal to the late king gather and plot our next step in retaking the country. I entered the room and saw that I was last to arrive at the meeting. Nobles, high ranking paladins, knights and mages alike sat around the war table. Even though Kaizer is gone, they don't seem to be as cheerful as the soldiers who are partying outside. It is because we all know that even when Kaizer is gone, we still face an almost impossible road ahead of us.

As soon as we sat on the war table I shared to others my plan. "Thank you ladies and gentlemen for gathering here. I shall not beat around the bush. I propose that we should gather more men attack the enemy as soon as we can. With my brother gone the others should be in disarray. We must take advantage of the situation and press forward and reclaim the capital. Once the world knows that the traitor is no more, those who remain loyal to my father will rise up and stand against the generals and nobles who stood with Reginald."

Romulus quickly replied against my plan. "Pardon me for disagreeing Prince Arthur. But if you believe our enemy to be a snake where you cut the head and it dies, then you are sorely mistaken. The enemy is like a hydra, cut one head but others will remain." He looks at the eyes of the people gathered around as he addresses them "As all of you may know, a lot of heroes and generals bended their knees under Kaizer's banner. All of them competent and powerful in their own right. Denoven Strauss the Flame of Destruction, Vernaxus Bloodaxe High Chief of the North, Minerva Merryweather the Ice Queen and Esteban Lotheart also known as the human lightning bolt to name a few. All of them can't even be controlled by the previous King and only bended the knee to your brother after getting overpowered. I know them well, without Kaizer to hold their chains, they will sooner devour each other to take control of the power vacuum left by your brother's death and take the country for themselves. If we strike now they will have a common enemy to fight and band together to crush us first before they turn against each other." He explained.

"So what are we going to do? Wait with our thumbs on our asses while our countrymen suffers under their reign? We must strike while the iron is hot and take the capital just like the prince said. Loyal subjects of the king will come out and aid us in our just cause." Artemisia Creighton, one of the noble knights slammed her fist on the table, her face red with anger. Her father and brother were ones of the few nobles who stood against my brother in field of battle to avenge the fallen king. Both of them died when Reginald threw a large meteor unto their army. Ever since she vowed to avenge them.

"Let's not let our tempers get to our heads. All of us here would not let our countrymen suffer a second longer if we could. But look at us. Not only our army outnumbered, our enemy also have the experience and equipment advantage over us. Launching an attack right now would only mean suicide." Conrad one of the high mages interjected.

Banging her fist on the table once again Artemisia retorted "Look at you bunch of cowards. Earlier today we are all ready to lay down our lives just to kill the scum of the world Kaiser. But now that he is dead without costing us any casualties you cower at the thought of facing his lackeys?"

"Earlier today we had no chance of winning. We gathered here to have our last chance to spit in the face of Kaizer even at the cost of our lives. Tell me girl, do you really believe that our small army composed of the remnant of the main army and peasants have even the slightest chance of putting a scratch on that demon when an army of hundreds of thousands perished? You must know, for your father and brother died that time." Romulus stayed seated, clearly unaffected by Artemisia's outburst.

"Yeah they did die that day, but they faced their death with pride in order to avenge their slain king. They did not ran away like a coward I know." Artemisia's glared at Romulus.

"Girl you gone too far!" Face red with anger Romulus stood up and grabbed Artemisia's collar. "You know nothing of what we faced. You were not there" his face looks haunted by his memories. "Thousands of my brothers and sisters died in fiery inferno. From the start we stood no chance. Numbers don't mean horse shit in front of him. With a wave of his hands they died like ants…" His face red with anger he continued. "Do you think I would run away if I thought I could at least nick that bastard? No, I swallowed my pride and ran away to fight another day. I made the right decision. To perish for nothing or fight another day. I chose to fight for another chance of paying him back. You are not the only one who knows about grief. You are not the only one who sacrificed everything for this war. You are not the only one who lost someone in this war. So if you don't have shit to contribute to the conversation except for your stupid idea then you better shut your mouth before I shut them up for you little lady." After venting his anger he pushed Artemisia to her seat.

"Let us not bicker with ourselves ladies and gentlemen. All of us want nothing more than to free our country as soon as possible. But after hearing what he has to say, I must admit that Romulus is right. Even though I would like nothing more than to storm to the capital, we are indeed outmatched in every way possible." Seeing Artemisia and some of the members' sullen expression I continued. "I know how you feel. But we can't afford to lose this war. Not when we have come this far. If we have to wait to gather our strength, then so be it. Let the dogs fight over power, but we will be the ones who will be victorious in the end." Most of the people attending nods while the rest stood silent.

"So were set on what we are going to do. Gather strength and information for the time being, and when we are ready to strike we will hit them hard. Does anyone disagree? No? Then lets' start as soon as possible. General Romulus, you are assigned in gathering more men and train them for battle. Spymaster Alfaro, send word to your spies to gather more information about the movements of the enemy. Also you must spread the news of Kaizer's death and cause as much unrest within the enemy ranks as much as possible. Artemesia, you are assigned in gathering more supplies for our soldiers. The quartermaster have been reporting that we are low on food and drinks. We also need more weapons and armors for the people we recruit. If we want to win this war we need to be well fed and equipped. Everyone, I don't need to remind you. But please be discreet in your tasks. The enemy must not know what we are planning and especially where we are. That reminds me. Merida, send your scouts to find us another place we can use as our hideout in case this place get compromised." As I was about to close the meeting I felt a sudden surge of energy which lasted for only a split second.

"The surges are getting more frequent these days from the way it looks." Romulus said.

"Yeah, I noticed too. Pariston, how goes the investigation on this matter?" I asked Pariston, the head of the guards.

"I deeply apologize my prince. We still haven't found the cause of this phenomena. There seems to be no pattern on when and where the surges happen which makes it hard for us to uncover this mystery." Pariston replied, bowing his head in apology.

"Don't worry. This must be nothing more but a natural phenomenon. I was just curious. If you want I could send Eleazar to help you in this endeavor." My eyes wander around trying to look for the old man but it looks like he is not here. "By the way where is he?"

"I apologize again my prince. Master Eleazar went to his lab with the hero Cloud. He said he wants to unveil the secret of the void." This time Pariston kneeled as he explained what happened.

"No need to kneel down Pariston. Stand up for gods' sake. It is not your fault the old man is so fixated on learning everything under the Sun." That old man. Can't he control himself for a second and help me with planning before running away with the "Hero". I just hope he doesn't go overboard.

Ever since I got out of the void plains, I was starting to feel things that I have already forgotten. For example, back in the void I walked for what it feels like millennium and never get tired. But look at me now, getting winded after walking up few flights of stairs. Also for the first time in what felt like forever I feel hungry.

"I see… The body is kept in its optimal form even without food and rest as long as you're inside the Void, but as soon as you came to the material plain your body resumed its function and requires sustenance. Interesting." This man continues to ask question and read my memories as he writes down what he learned.

"Hey, could you just, you know, read my memories and be done with it? Why do you need me to answers your questions when there is an easy way to find what you are looking for?" I asked.

"Well to answer your question young man. In order for the mind reading magic to be more effective, I need to ask clear and concise questions to make your mind focus on the subject. Once you focus on my question, it makes it easier to parse through your memories. Even if it doesn't, your own interpretation on the subject also helps me with my research. It always help to hear things from other peoples' perspective." He answered. "After all, the Void is not a subject most people are comfortable to discuss, much less study."

"Why is that?" I try to sit still and not hit the guy as he pokes me with various things and checking for some kind of reaction.

"Oh nothing in particular." He said as he gets another apparatus in the tray. "Most of them just mysteriously disappear without a trace. Now sit still, I need a sample of your blood."

"What?" They disappeared? That is not disconcerting at all. I flinched a bit as the old man made a small deep cut on my finger and gathered my blood on a vial. After he got enough he put the vial aside and continued to watch me.

"Err… what are you doing?" I asked the old man as he contently looks at my wound.

He said nothing and I try to staunch the bleeding. After a few minutes I felt the pain of the wound fade as it closed up without a trace. It looks like he casted healing as even the pain from my earlier injury from the Prince's attack vanished.

He then wrote something down in his notes again. "So even your healing abilities are not working outside the Void. Very curious."

Healing what? What is he talking about? "What healing ability? I don't have those. I don't even have mana much less cast any form of magic."

He then mixed some of my blood with an unfamiliar liquid. "No reaction. Hmmm… what about this?" he is ignoring me as he used a different colored liquid and dropped some of my blood on it. The result was the same. He continued to ignore me as he continued more tests on my blood. I just sat there quietly and try to glean some information from his experiments. Alas even after almost an hour, I don't have a clue on what he is doing.

"Hmmm… nothing is working." The old man continued to ponder.

I was bored and my stomach is starting to rumble when the prince with a couple of guards burst through the door.

"So this is where you are Eleazar. I know that you are eager to uncover the mysteries of the Void but would it kill you to sit on the meeting first? We could've used your knowledge and expertise in forming a plan." He said. His tone is a bit irritated.

"Apologies my prince. I just couldn't help it. The information about the Void is already very limited due to the disappearance of those who study it. For a fountain of knowledge to pop out in front of us. How could I resist?" The old man bowed as he replied.

"That is why I am concerned about your safety old man. What if you yourself disappear from studying the Void? We need you if we want to win the war. I need you." The man put his hands on the old man's shoulder.

"I am honored that you are worried for me. Don't fret, I will be very careful in my endeavor." He answered.

"Haaahhh…" The prince exhaled in frustration. "I guess I couldn't persuade you to stop with this nonsense. But please put aside your research for now and help us with another mystery first. You can continue with experimenting with the "Hero" after you're done."

"Is this about the power surge earlier? Hmmm… it is indeed happening more frequent these days. Well if you wish for my help then you just have to do is ask, your Majesty, and it will be done." The old man bowed once more.

"Yes please do so Eleazar. While you're away, our "Hero" here will be put in one of the free cells in the prison for observation. Don't worry he will be well taken care off. After all he is the one who took down our enemy." He then glared at me with unconcealed animosity.

Come on guy. What do you want me to do? Let your brother kill me? Wait, don't answer that question. I don't feel Eleazar reading my mind right now but I do hope he is not.

The guards escorted me inside a cell in a tower overlooking the courtyard. There were other people in the other cells. I see one family with a father, mother and daughter inside one cell and a lone guy in the other.

Although I should feel bad that other people are captive here, I somewhat relieved that there are other people besides me here. I was stranded alone inside the Void for so long that I feel I am about to get crazy if I stayed alone for much longer.

When the guards left me inside the cell the father greeted me. "So they captured another stray huh. So where you from? Varo? Parmecia?"

"I'm sorry. I am not familiar of the places you just told me. I am not particularly from here." I answered. How the hell would I know? I just got here.

"So a southerner eh? Well it doesn't matter. We all just want to escape the war and unfortunately got captured for going near the fortress." He said bitterly as he hugs his wife and child.

So these people are just feeling away from the war but instead get dragged into it once again. The sight of them huddled together makes me long for home. With my own family instead of being locked up alone in some far away land. I was reminiscing of the past when I was with my family when I hear my stomach rumble.

The father chuckled when he heard my stomach. "Hungry?" he said and I nodded. "Figures. The guards sometimes forget that we are also human with needs before leaving us here locked up."

The young girl then walk towards me holding a fruit of some kind. "Here mister. I am already full and saving this if ever the guards forget to leave us food, but you can have it." She said as she handed me the fruit.

"Thanks little girl. You are so kind." I said as I get the food and patted her head.

"Yeah, that is our little angel." The man kissed the forehead of his daughter and carried her back to her mother. "Don't get used to it young man. That will be the first and last that you get some of our food. It will be your responsibility from now on to save your own food once the guards give us some."

"Yeah. Thanks so much. By the way, I didn't get your names. I am Cloud Alistair." I introduced myself.

"I am Vash Nielson, this is my wife Neera and my daughter—" his daughter interrupted him.

"I am Anna. Nice to meet you mister." The girl smiled.

"Yes you are. Our little sunshine." Neera hugged her daughter. "Were from Theslonia, domain of the Ice Queen, Countess Minerva Merryweather." There is a hint of resentment in her voice as her name leaves her mouth and her husband comforts her.

There must be something that Minerva did that caused this family distress. Although I am a bit curious, if they are not willing to tell the story themselves I won't dig any further. Not good to irk your fellow in mates.

"Will you guys shut up?! I am trying to sleep here!" the man from the other cell sat up shouted and curled back down again in his bed.

"Yeah sorry Mr. grouchy. We here you." Vash answered jokingly towards the man. "I would like to know more about you Cloud and hear some news about the outside. But you heard Mr. Grouchy over here and my little Anna also needs to sleep. It is already late."

I didn't even notice that the sun has already set outside as the inside of the tower is still bright with the glowing stones in the pillars. Knowing that is already late made my body realize that it is tired and I released a yawn.

Seeing that I don't even have a bed and needed to lie in the cold hard floor, Anna offered her blanket. "The night is cold here Mr. Cloud. Here take my blanket since you have none. I can just share with mother."

"Thank you angel." I said as I pat her head once more.

"I'm not angel. My name is Anna." She pouted.

"Yeah. I'm sorry Anna. Thank you. You remind me so much of my little sister." I smiled.

"Hey no taking advantage of my daughter you bastard." Vash said angrily.

"Of course sir. I wouldn't dare." I replied.

I then lie down on the floor. Wrapped inside a blanket. Even though my body is tired for the first time since forever, my mind races as I contemplate on my situation. What will happen to me especially when the leader of the people who captured me clearly hates my guts? How can I come back to my own world? If I am truly stuck here, how can I survive in this new world?

My mind continued to ponder on these things until I just gave up. No point in getting worked up with things I don't have any control of. I will just deal with things as they comes. Who knows, maybe this is all a dream and tomorrow I will wake up in my bed safe and sound.

Yeah, I wish.