Áz - The Battlefield

Consequences About Secrets

Despite the unconsciousness, she could feel a lot of pain, it was hurting every one of her muscles and bones so much that at every moment the only feeling she had was wanting it all to end.

— What's going on with Noell? Why does she seem to be suffering so much? Do something!!! — Illye asked, close to Noella.

Noella could hear the familiar voices, but the pain transmitted from her body to her mind prevented her from distinguishing anything being spoken. However, after a while she noticed that it wasn't just her body that ached, most of what was eating her mind seemed to come from within her existence as a whole.

— You still don't understand, girl? — There's no way for someone to just come back from the dead without paying an equivalent price. Complained the voice of someone else next to Noella. — I believe that at least you, who were there, also need to know this in part.

— Know what?! — Illye complained urgently.

In the middle of their conversation Noella finally started to understand something, she couldn't open her eyes yet but she could understand what was happening a little bit.

— We performed an unknown Ritual that is not allowed for our races. We linked our lives to each other so that we could return to the world of the living, everything she is feeling now I feel it too because we are interconnected...

At the end of these words Noella heard a sigh and with that all this pain began to disappear as if it were being pulled, that's what she noticed when she managed to think straight that she was still alive.

She was feeling melancholy without even knowing why, ignoring that feeling Noella forced herself to open her eyes.

Opening her eyes, what greeted her was her cousin's worried drowsiness. The girl wore a green dress decorated with drawings of tulips and had her hair held back by a barrette, now Illye seemed to be sleeping propped up on her bed while he waited for her to wake up. His left shoulder was bandaged, which showed that his wound still existed and that everything had been real, still... If they were in a room then how did they get out of there?

She remembered the conversation she was listening to before she woke up, it seemed to have just happened to her but if Illye was sleeping now then it had been a while since she'd heard that.

However, this was not the main case, a pair of violet eyes stared at her from a nearby chair, it seemed that that man already knew that she had woken up. Staring back at the unfamiliar man, Noella watched him from head to toe. He had black hair so long it had to be curled to wear around his neck as a scarf and a pale face exuding a cold, indifferent beauty, the black clothes made of feathers he wore gave him an inhuman feeling and staring at his sharp teeth Noella thought about the legends of the vampires who had disappeared from the continent since the Battlefield.

However, that wasn't the fact that caught her attention the most, from those violet eyes Noella noticed an irrefutable fact. She realized that this was the same man she had met in her dream, the same man she had performed a strange ritual with about dragons and life.

The two started to stare at each other for a minute, at which time Noella remembered that they kissed in that place and stared at his mouth without him noticing as she felt her heart beat slightly faster, that last thing made no sense to her because she was never someone who fall in love out of nowhere because she was always someone very rational with herself.

He felt it coming from her and laughed, understanding that apparently she still hadn't realized one of the meanings of feeling the same thing. In response he was just staring at her eyes thinking about something else, unlike her who had just woken up and there was a lot if you think about it, he's been watching her for hours and hours.

After facing each other he stared at the spot between her breasts for a few seconds.

— Not yet,. — He commented. — You haven't woken up as a lord yet, what's stopping you?

— What? I? A lord? — She answered without waiting for such a question, holding back the sudden urge to smack him in the face.

Rising from the chair where he was and approaching Noella while ignoring the girl who slept propped up beside him, the man simply held her hand.

— What do you think you're doing? — She asked seriously, ready to attack him, even though deep down she didn't really feel uncomfortable.

— I'm waiting... Don't you happen to remember anything, not even my name? —  He replied in a deadpan voice, finding it hard for her not to remember.

— Your name?... —  She asked herself, remembering what he had said in her dream.

Noella was silent, wanting to call his name and seemed to know what it was, but there was something that should be asked first.

— Who exactly are you? — Noella asked as she tried to get up slowly as her body still ached a little.

At that moment Illye who had fallen asleep slowly woke up with the movement of the sheets and looking up she could see Noella awake.

— Noell! — The girl shouted, grabbing her in a tight hug.

— Hey... Calm down. Calm. I'm fine... I think. — Noella responded to his sudden embrace, even though her body hurt a lot from such a hug.

— You're hurting her and yourself. — Commented the voice of the man with violet eyes who had already returned that chair closed his eyes. — Calm down if you don't want your two wounds to open.

Hearing such a comment Illye, who had ignored all the pain from the wounds coming from her shoulder and belly, groaned softly as he released her and walked away.

— That bad vampire! The worst thing is having to agree with him. — Illye replied a little angrily. — Noell are you sure you're okay? You were in a lot of pain before…

Illye then remembered what he had done hours ago and looked at him, suddenly she saw an urgency in his gaze that also made him shake his head. Noella didn't notice this interaction between the two as she was moving her numb limbs.

What he wanted to say to Illye was clear.

‘Do not say anything.’

— If you really want your wounds to heal, why don't you get to Phase 2 soon? — He said, closing his eyes and pretending that nothing happened with a clear irritation in his voice.

— You talk like it's easy, I want to see you have the courage to cut your hair that looks more like a palace rug it is so big. — Illye answered again sullenly, sighing and deciding to ignore him.

Listening to all this conversation Noella just thought they seemed better acquaintances for a long time, how long had she been sleeping for two strangers to reach such a state of pure boredom and disgust for each other? She herself didn't understand.

— How many days have I been here? Or rather... How do we get out of there? — She asked either of them.

After a few minutes and constant conflict between the two's answers, having Noella herself interfere to stop them, she got her answers about what happened. She had been unconscious for four days and Illye after waking up forced everyone to take her straight to Noella, since the man had been in that room since the beginning, he hadn't left there until now. The only interesting case to note with this... Is that the two were constantly fighting and the main reason seemed to be Noella herself.

Distressed, she slowly got up with Illye's support and left the room she was in in the Blue Temple of Azzaria.

The guards waiting outside went immediately to contact Cardinal Jord with the news that the last of the three had finally awakened. A meeting was to be held with the General of the City but curiously the day before they appeared in Azzaria the General himself left in a hurry for a meeting in the capital.

— Take your own time to understand what you've done. Your body will be much better if you fully inherit your authority. — Commented the man as he followed the two.

— Inherit... Authority? — She said without understanding. — Kama... Kamaell, do I have an Authority? — Asked him as he descended the stairs slowly saying that name being completely sure now of everything.

— You have it, now you need to understand what you have. — He replied, looking at the guards who followed them and ignoring the sharp look of the princess who seemed to want him to shut up. — Probably this little princess already knew that, she is almost inert inside her body waiting to be awakened, you are compatible with her power so you need to learn how to use them. Probably the reason is that you don't know what Authority you have.

— Shut up you damn vampire! Don't get involved in what you don't understand! You're just a strong-willed idiot who doesn't know anything! — Illye replied, annoyed.

— It's better to know nothing than to know and hide it. — He replied coldly. — Know that she almost died because she probably didn't know what she was capable of.

— You two! Stop now! — Noella intervened, already irritated. — I appreciate it, but this… I'll work it out later with Illye alone.

Hearing such words Illye felt that she had done something wrong, however it had been the king's explicit orders not to tell her what had happened in the previous case, but as what had happened in this one... She was no longer sure if she should really give it heeded that order, even if it was from his father.

— I wanted to tell you Noell… Sorry… I always wanted to tell you, but I wasn't allowed to say anything. — Replied Illye sadly while still supporting her.

— I don't care about that, I just hope you tell me whatever it is later. Now we have to get ready to go home. — Noella said calmly.

Actually Noella was angry that she hadn't told him a secret about herself, but considering she hadn't told Illye anything about the fact that they'd fallen into Aven'Nath she didn't feel entitled to say anything.

Thinking a little further, Noella realized that King Illias had probably done this on purpose, which led her to another curious fact. If she had been a Lord for some time, even in a completely inert state like what Kamaell had told her, then it could have been worse than now and the Shadow Assassins could have done worse. Who knows what it would be like if they found out that there wasn't just one Lord to be killed in the carriage? Noella seriously believed the assassins had been careful possibly hoping they had a hidden traveling Lord escort. If they knew about these other variables they might not even have the chance to throw themselves inside Aven'Nath.

The atmosphere between them grew silent as they made their way through the halls, Illye feeling terrible at the thought that she had betrayed Noella's trust and Noella herself silently thinking about King Illias' orders.

This impasse was seen by Kamaell who was following the two, he didn't know exactly what was happening but there was something he had understood 

— We all have our secrets. Some of them are imposed by us while others are imposed on us through others with more power. — Kamaell intervened.

The two stopped and looked back, this unknown man was probably the one with the most secrets, yet he was the one who was there when they needed it most and had saved them.

— Now… I noticed something strange. — Illye said as she looked at him. — Because? Even though I know you're someone else and I honestly don't like your presence, when you speak I feel like…”

Coming to a strange conclusion, Illye spent a few seconds in silence. Everyone had stopped, even the guards who escorted them and pretended not to hear anything.

— Feels like I'm familiar to you, don't you? Think a little and you will understand. — He replied expressionlessly.

With that he didn't say anything else, although he intended to explain to this princess why they had priests and guards around and if there was one thing he was absolutely sure of, it was that no one could be trusted, not even his own shadow.

She didn't ask any more questions, they left everything in silence the rest of the way.

He didn't look like he was going to answer either, he simply remained silent.

From his actions Illye realized one thing, he wasn't acting very willingly and simply followed what they said and did. Considering how long he had been there, Illye thought he was lost. 

As they continued, they soon came across the door to the Cardinal's room.

The guard who guided them opened the door and asked them to enter, after the three entered the door was closed by the same guard and he along with another remained guarding the door from the outside.

— Looks like they're getting along really well…somehow. Well, we have a lot to discuss, sit down. — Said Cardinal Jord, still with that smile on his face, sitting in the chair behind the table at the back of that room.

There were two sofas on either side, Illye and Noella sat on one and Kamaell on the other, closing his eyes. Illye bristled at this, but said nothing.

— Are you ready to go home? — Asked the old man, rubbing his hands as if expecting something good from what was happening.

— Oh, Lord Jord. I'm sorry again for all I've caused… — Illye apologized as she noticed the whole scene she herself caused when she woke up in search of Noella, in this requirement she compared herself a little with a friend of hers who resided in the capital.

— Don't worry, you had a lot of problems there. All of you. — Jord replied with a smile on his face. 

In these last words, Jord, thinking deeply about something, looked at Kamaell.

— You are included too, Lord of the Vultures. — Concluded Jord, catching his attention.

Kamaell stopped his rest and stared into Jord's dark blue eyes.

— I guessed your Authority by having already met a Lord predecessor of yours, your Aura is very similar to hers. There's no way you can guess my Authority that easily, was it my clothes by chance? — Kamaell questioned him coldly.

— Before that, this predecessor of mine, do you know how she died? — Jord asked with sadness in his voice.

Kamaell, before answering, looked at Illye quickly without her noticing and shook his hands angrily.

— The usual, it was getting in the way of what 'they' wanted and was eliminated without them noticing. — He replied.

Jord thought for a while and had an idea of ​​what had happened.

— Aggron is the realm that has the most Lords with Bird Authorities on the mainland, after here comes the Green Kingdom and apart from these two there are almost no such types of Lords in other Kingdom. Since close to the time of the Empire there is no sign of any Lord of the Vultures, putting together the facts of Aven'Nath and his Authority I managed to come to this conclusion, you fell there around that time and only you were such a Lord all this time. — The Cardinal explained his conclusion seriously.

Kamaell accepted that it made sense, if Jord was a Lord a few hundred years old he was likely to know things that others don't usually know.

— I suggest you put on some common clothes or maybe the assassins will find out if they've come again, I'll order some clothes in the colors of the kingdom for you. — Said Jord, returning to his smile.

— You were read like a book. — Illye said, laughing at him.

— All this really explains a lot. — Noella concluded about everything Jord said.

Noella finally understood that she had linked her life to a person from another time and started to think about who he was and how he got down there.

— That makes some sense, for now I'll accept that explanation. — He replied not really indicating whether or not he believed in that.

Jord then got up from his chair and headed for the door.

— Come with me. I'm afraid they'll want to leave as early as tomorrow, so we have something to work out before I explain the state of the realm to you. There is one thing I have to show you. — Jord declared at last, waiting for them.