CHAPTER 11 Suze's Legacy

The dining room was vast, just like the rest of the manor. The walls were adorned with ancient paintings depicting mysterious landscapes, and a crystal chandelier cast a soft light over a long, massive wooden table. Sumptuous dishes stretched the length of the table: roasted meats, fragrant vegetables, creamy sauces, fresh fruits, and a variety of still-warm breads. The room was filled with the delightful aromas of a carefully prepared meal.

Rena, famished, didn't need any encouragement. She quickly sat at her place and served herself without restraint, ignoring Shela's amused gaze. Lucas and Eliam also settled down, much more calmly, while Merick, already sitting at the head of the table, observed everything with calm.

Shela, true to herself, couldn't help but talk. "You know, that trip was totally epic! That moment when we crossed the bridge, Rena looked so lost! She looked like she was seeing ghosts!"

With her mouth full, Rena rolled her eyes but said nothing. She simply enjoyed the food before her, her stomach still growling after the exhausting day she had experienced.

Shela continued her monologue, launching into useless anecdotes about their past adventures. "And Lucas, honestly, you should've seen your face when Merick found out about your little mistake!" She burst out laughing, while Lucas shot her a dark look but kept silent.

As for Rena, she was elsewhere. Her thoughts were swirling. She had so many questions, but she couldn't seem to express them properly. Every time she tried to organize her mind, another question would arise. Who was she really? Why had her life taken such a strange turn? And most importantly, why her?

Lucas, sitting a few seats away, stole discreet glances at Rena. He couldn't stop thinking about the mistake he had made. He had believed Rena to be the Dark Seeker, a threat he had been tasked with eliminating. But he had been wrong. Rena wasn't an enemy; she was much more. Yet, this mistake still haunted him.

He thought back to his mission, entrusted to him by Merick months ago. "Watch the school. Find the Goddess. Protect her." Those words still echoed in his head. At the time, he had no idea who the Goddess was. He only knew a few clues: her parents were dead, and she lived among humans. When Madison had approached him, talking about her deceased father, a doctor, he had believed he had found her. Everything seemed to match. But he had been wrong.

And now, there was still another question hanging in the air: if Rena wasn't the Dark Seeker, then who was? He could still feel that malevolent presence at school, that shadow that always seemed to be lurking, invisible but oppressive.

Lost in his thoughts, Lucas jumped slightly when Eliam placed a hand on his shoulder. "Hey, are you okay? You've barely touched your food."

Lucas looked up and answered in a neutral tone: "Yeah, I'm fine. Thanks." But his expression betrayed his discomfort.

Merick chose this moment to break the silence. He turned toward Rena, who was still focused on her plate, and spoke in a calm voice: "Rena, how do you feel? Was the trip too exhausting?"

Rena looked up, her cheeks slightly flushed. She realized she had devoured her plate with almost animal-like hunger. Before she could answer, Shela burst out laughing. "It looks like she hasn't eaten in days! Seriously, Rena, are you sure you didn't swallow your plate too?"

Everyone, except Merick, burst out laughing. Rena, embarrassed but staying true to herself, replied with sarcasm: "Well, given the 'magical' trip, I'm compensating as best I can."

Merick, impassive, nodded before continuing in a serious tone. "It's time to answer your questions, Rena. I suppose you have many."

Rena looked him straight in the eyes. "You're right. And the first one is: why me? Why is all of this happening to me?"

Merick let out a small sigh, as if he were carrying the weight of a story he had told hundreds of times. He straightened up slightly and began:

"Centuries ago, humans lived in relative harmony. But over time, their hearts darkened. Hatred, jealousy, and violence began to corrupt their souls. That's when a man, Kalus, a power-hungry magician, discovered dark and forbidden magic. This magic, combined with his already corrupted heart, gave birth to an autonomous shadow, a fragment of himself. This entity, pure darkness, began infecting human hearts, amplifying their darkness and plunging the world into chaos."

Rena listened attentively, her eyebrows slightly furrowed.

"Seeing this, the Goddess Suze decided to intervene. She chose to incarnate herself in a human, a woman with a heart and shadow perfectly pure. With her host, she formed a circle of seven Guardians, each marked by a sacred tattoo, a symbol of their unbreakable bond with her. Together, they succeeded in imprisoning the darkness, along with Kalus, in a realm of eternal darkness."

Merick paused, observing the reactions around the table.

"But," he continued, "that wasn't the end. About two hundred years ago, an event changed everything. Kalus had a son, Arkanos, a being as dark and dangerous as his father. Arkanos swore to free Kalus and the imprisoned shadows. Since then, he has been seeking a way to break the seal that holds them."

Rena raised a hand, looking skeptical. "Wait… Two hundred years? Who can live that long? And this Arkanos, how is he still alive?"

Merick replied calmly: "In this world, the laws of time are different. Those who live here can reach six hundred years or more. Their aging is slowed by the magic that permeates these lands. Only those who choose to live in the human world are subject to time."

Rena shook her head, incredulous. "This sounds like a fairy tale… But again, what does this have to do with me?"

Merick looked at her with unusual softness. "Everything, Rena. Everything is linked to you and your lineage. The first human chosen by Suze to be her host was your grandmother, Mona. This connection has been passed down from generation to generation, all the way to you."

Rena frowned, leaning forward slightly. "Wait... Mona was my grandmother? How does that make sense? And what about my father? Why did he leave this world?"

Merick's face darkened, and his voice lowered slightly. "Years ago, your father, Eron, made the decision to leave this world. He had fallen deeply in love with a woman and, after a heated argument with his own father, he fled with her to the human world."

Rena's eyes widened. "How do you know all this?"

Merick avoided her gaze, his expression unreadable. "That is a story for another time," he said evasively before quickly shifting the subject. "What's important now is understanding the seals. The realm where Kalus and the shadows were imprisoned was locked with seals created by Suze, Mona, and the Guardians. The key to these seals was Suze's magic, along with the Key of Seven."

Rena tilted her head. "What is the Key of Seven?"

"It is a key forged by the first seven Guardians, using their combined magic," Merick explained.

Lucas, silent until now, finally spoke up. "And where is this key?"

Merick sighed deeply. "It was entrusted to Eron, Rena's father, for safekeeping."

Shela, confused, interjected. "But then why have shadows suddenly been released? We saw them when we escaped the party."

Merick's expression grew somber. "The first seal was broken," he said sadly. "It happened because of the Key of Seven and the burst of energy from Rena's powers during her moment of anger at the party. This energy allowed some shadows to escape, though not all of them. But if Arkanos and the dark shadows manage to get to Rena, they could use her to open the second seal."

Rena's face turned pale. The flood of complex information overwhelmed her. Her parents were gone—her aunt Rose had told her as much. No bodies had ever been found. And now she was learning that her father had held the Key of Seven. It had to be Arkanos who killed them for the key.

Her mood shifted suddenly. Tears welled up in her eyes, and anger, frustration, and sorrow overtook her. She stood abruptly and stormed out of the room, heading to her bedroom in tears.

Lucas made a move to follow her, but Merick raised a hand, signaling him to let her be. "She needs time," he said softly.

Rena had locked herself in her room, her back pressed against the door, tears streaming freely down her cheeks. She stayed there for a while, her breathing uneven under the weight of the revelations she had just learned. Her mind was spinning, overwhelmed by chaotic and uncontrollable thoughts.

She closed her eyes, trying to calm herself, and in the silence of the room, memories of her parents resurfaced.

She pictured her father, Eron, sitting at the edge of her bed, his warm smile always lighting up the room. He loved telling her fairy tales before she fell asleep, his voice full of life, breathing soul into the stories. She remembered how he always ended his tales the same way, looking into her eyes with an unusual seriousness despite his light tone.

**"No matter what happens, Rena, you must always be brave,"** he would say, gently tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. **"Courage isn't about not being afraid; it's about facing that fear and doing what's right despite it."**

She remembered laughing back then, thinking his words were just another life lesson among many. But now, as she clung to those memories, they took on a whole new meaning—deeper, heavier.

The tears flowed even harder. Rena hugged her knees to her chest, whispering softly: **"Dad, if only you were still here…"**