A New Chapter

"I agree... But I have enough power to go for Sting Operations to no end, but I don't want to go with them... Something feels off with them like they are directly under Old Man Pond, but they seem to have that hateful look towards him..." replied Raiyen.

The two other Mages looked at each other with raised eyebrows before staring at Raiyen again.

"I think that's just in your head, Raiyen. They work together as a team... Especially Gillian and Old Man Pond... They are blood brothers who founded the Congregation together."

"No... The Great Noble War ended with the Valkyrie slaughtering her brother at ground zero of the battlefield... But, I don't trust the phrase, 'blood is thicker than water' since the full thing is 'the blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb.' So I wouldn't be too sure..."

The conversation ended there as Raiyen was called to attend a meeting with the Board, something he had feared since he didn't like meeting the Mages, as mentioned above. However, Old Man Pond assured the poor Time Boy that he wasn't going to be participating as a Board member.

Raiyen was only there to guard the meeting as it would be the most significant meeting they would have ever held.

"We called for this meeting because we have decided to make plans for the next month's allocation of tasks throughout the Five Domains..." boomed the Old Commander.

After a few months, the Congregation welcomed its first Valkyrie into the ranks, but it was known to be only a rumor since the day after the tryouts, the Valkyrie vanished from the group. Her Elemental Signatures were gone. But that was also when Gillian and Ysabeau started being more withdrawn.

One thing led to another, resulting in the group's fall, and Old Man Pond vanished from the face of the world. Baldwin was being sacked from the Board for rampaging in the streets of Albion.

Raiyen had been thrown into Teuton to settle things before finding that the Congregation had collapsed. Since his only base was gone, Raiyen thought to live a mundane life as a village boy.

But that was never to be since Raiyen was a Time Mage... And that's when, one fine day, he was tasked to hunt down a girl who was the friend of the suspected witch of Urnsfield. As a result, Abigail Noble was the first child to be sent to the stake for Magecraft, shocking the Mages.

And Abi had a friend that was noted to have powers as well but had vanished from the Urnsfield and was sighted in the thick forests of the Campania. So that's where Raiyen would be headed, and he would meet the love of his life, crouching at a grave with a blanket of stars.

Seeing the scene again stirred something within the Time Mage's heart as he watched the young days of the Old Chapel and the first sighting of how powerful a Valkyrie could be. That bright, cheerful smile was what Raiyen fought to protect, and he will do so to the very end.

The area changed scenes quickly, brushing by the training days and fun times while creating the Five Kings. Finally, however, the scene halted at one of the worst memories Raiyen could ever recall; the day that Ashley died, killed by the Valkyrie's twin brother.

The screams of pain and sadness were still echoing in his mind as straight after that, Mavislin never returned to the happy girl she once was. Instead, she became more somber and focused on becoming a better leader as the head of the Barren Pillars.

Ysabeau was worried, but Gillian assured her that all was fine. Baldwin was proud of the little girl as Mavislin took up tasks and responsibilities, even requesting the Angry Man to hand over the affairs of the Five Kings to her to manage.

Z felt she was advancing too fast but couldn't complain since she had completed the significant training with him. Unlike Raiyen, Mavislin had completed the around-the-world training with Z in under a month. The fastest anyone had completed that training session.

But Raiyen felt that Mavislin had changed and was using work to cope with the loss of her friend. No longer does the Valkyrie yearn for adventure or fun. Instead, the Missions she went on were for the benefit of the Arks and none of her interest. And that broke Raiyen's heart.

"I never had a favorite color as I've always looked at the world in a grey hue with occasional splatter of red for blood. However, the moment I laid eyes on that little Valkyrie... I could see the world in various colors. She made me see the world again, and she made me see her world."