CHAPTER 320: Thank You For Everything

"But he was no longer Ardel way before that event."

Confusion befell them all.

"You remembered the event that took the life of a hundred of our exploring knights. And the one leading that was Ardel."

They slowly nodded after remembering.

It was an event two years before the tragedy.

Ardel lead an exploration team on another island but the island suddenly exploded and no one survived.

They lost hope until another land contacted them three months later that they found Ardel by their shore. He was a mess but was still alive.

It took him a whole year of recovery, good thing all his limbs are intact despite the gravity of the explosion.

But they should have known then, that such blessing was too good to be true. Because that is also the time that changes occured in him.

Drake cried kneeling down after hearing this.

"So he had been dead all along," he cried.

"He was," Saphira replied.

"It's unbelievable but seeing everything, it makes so much sense," he cried more.

"Then who was the one that we killed in Draco Empire?" Willow asked this time.

"A clone of his," she answered.

The moment she saw that person, she instantly knew he was not Ardel at all. Because Ardel was the dark lord.

"He had been attacking us emotionally from the get go, I presume he had done that in order to attack us severely, to the point of being unable to fight back."

"So after heaving a sigh of relief that we got Ardel's body back but then he would appear as the dark lord. Our world would surely start to collapse since we already have the sentiment that Ardel was never to blame about anything. That he was but the victim of Raynisha's rampage," Hunter continued.

Saphira nodded her head.

Once again they ended up being silent.

Too much to take in at once but at the very least, they felt closer to one another. They are able to break down another barrier that are separating them from one another.

More like from Saphira, who had been carrying all the secrets in such a petite body.

Hunter back hugged Saphira, "Thank you for everything."

His voice was sincere and gentle but it has the tinge of crying.

"Thank you for standing strong for us. Thank you for cherishing us. Thank you for protecting us."

He knew even though he had been talking about protecting her in the end, what did he do? Did he really protect her? Or was that just lip service from him?

Ridge and Felix walked over and joined the two of them.

"I'm sorry," both of them said.

Stormie and Nixon were hugging each other while Willow was back hugging Drake.

They were all apologizing to one another, all trying to understand each other's pain through their tears.

As they all hugged and cried and surely got even more connected to one another, Saphira felt her heart thump.

A different beat from its usual beating, it was as if something was being born.

Her reaction caught the attention of those who were hugging her.

"What's wrong?"

"That's it," she spoke.

"Now I understand why it felt like we were too weak against the dark lord," her eyes twinkled as she said this.

The others are already looking towards her.

"I get it now, so this was it all along-"

"Because you never tried to be with us!!!"

Their moment was stopped by the sudden vision, not just Saphira, Hunter, Qirin, Vermilion Bird and Lily saw, but instead all of them.

Somehow this vision appeared to all of their heads, shocking them to the core.

It was a scene of a group of six people begging to let them in, begging to only one person.

"Let us in Nathalia, please. Let us be a real support to you. Not just in fighting but in everything. Let us be there for you."

For the very first time, they heard her name.

The scene was short but it contained so much emotions.

The one called Nathalia simply stood there, her face still obscured.

The rest were the same, it seems that these memories are only meant to really be heard and not to have their faces be seen.

"Nathalia..."

Lily muttered.

"What's wrong?" Vermilion Bird asked her.

She shook her head, "No, it's nothing."

It was not nothing at all, because all the scenes had been having a strong impact on her from the get go.

And this scene in particular has the strongest one.

She couldn't understand it, she was but the guardian at this time...

Or was she the guardian back then as well?

Why can't she remember anything if that was the case?

The life of the predecessor wouldn't have been a mystery if those memories weren't appearing on them.

"Vermilion Bird, are you really not curious as to why we have no memory of Saphira's predecessor? She was once your host after all."

Vermilion Bird stared at her for a good while.

"I am and so is Saphira but since there is still something in front of us at the moment, she was trying not to think about it. But she also knew it has some importance since it was being shown to us. Most of all, you have not spoken about the payment a light ability user will have in the end, once they defeated the dark lord."

Lily looked away, she didn't expect that Vermilion Bird still remembered this point.

"I won't ask you. Because I can tell that you really don't know the answer."

Her head snapped at him.

"Don't be shock, I can tell that if you knew there should be signs here and there but there was none. It was a complete blank slate. Meaning we all have no idea just what it is that will happen to us after this."

Lily sighed when Vermilion Bird closed his eyes.

"What was that?" Stormie asked.

"A vision..."

"You mean the vision you guys always see?"

Saphira looked at Hunter and both of them nodded.