Arthur

"Wait, send you back like me? Tess, did you time travel?" How did she do it? Was there another staff? What about Cecilia? Was she the only one who came back with me or were there more people as well? If there were more, who were they?

My mind was overrun with thoughts like these, trying to figure out what Tess just said implied and how it would affect my plans until I heard her calling for me while shaking my body back and forth.

"Stop getting lost in thought you dummy. And yes, I did time travel thanks to someone called the Archivist."

"Are you okay now? What about Cecilia?" I couldn't help but worry.

"I'm fine and Cecilia is gone. I don't know how but the Archivist got rid of her." Immediately relief washed over me as she answered.

"That's good. What about your core and beast will? Did this Archivist send you back with them?" I asked, knowing we would have to find a way to deal with the corruption if that was the case.

"No, he only sent my soul and memories back." Maybe that's for the best since now I can look for a different will for Tess, one that wasn't touched by Agrona.

"I see. I'm glad you're here with me, I don't know if I could handle the waiting."

"Is that so? Maybe I should make you wait for me this time." She said in a teasing tone but continued before I could respond.

"Jokes aside, I know why it took you so long to confess. So much of what you did makes sense to me now. But it changes nothing between us, you're still the boy who saved without asking for nothing in return, the boy who was my first friend and was always there for me when I needed. For me you always were and always will be Arthur Leywin." She finished while bringing me into a hug.

I couldn't help but to start crying at her words. I knew I would have to tell her about my reincarnation some day, and the thought of her reacting like mom and dad terrified me. I wouldn't be able to keep going if that was the case, and lucky for me, it wasn't. I stayed crying in her arms for a while until I composed myself. I've been crying a lot these past few days.

"How did you find out about it? About Grey?" I asked as I pulled away from the hug.

"There really wasn't a lot for me to do other than to look at Cecilia's memories. But I only have her side of the story. I want to hear yours as well."

"Alright, you deserve to know and I was going to tell you someday. But that can wait until morning, it's pretty late and you're gonna need all the sleep you can get until we arrive in Zestier."

"Right, I guess I can wait a few more hours and I'm pretty tired still. Good night Art."

"Good night Tess." With that she immediately fell asleep next to me and I decided to get some sleep shut eye as well. I can experiment with my core later, right now I just want to enjoy moments like these while I can.

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As the morning arrived, Tess and I stayed outside the tent eating some of the rations that were left in my dimensional rune and I prepared myself to tell her what my life as Grey was like.

And so I began, from my earliest memories with headmaster Willbeck to the moment Nico arrived in the orphanage. I told her about how we used to rob rich houses to help the headmaster financially. The day Cecilia arrived, her outburst of ki, how we got close after I saved her. The day we were attacked and some men tried to kidnap Cecilia and how I killed one of them and how we saw the headmaster being carried away dead from the burning orphanage. At this point, tears started flowing from Tess's eyes.

I went on about the military academy I attended in the hopes of getting revenge by becoming king, how Vera saw my potential and took me under her wing. The time I was captured and tortured by the men who were after Cecilia. At the mention of that Tess grabbed by hand and gave a gentle squeeze.

As I continued the story of Grey, giving as much detail as I could, I arrived at the finals of The Crown Selection tournament. As I talked about the events of my fight with Cecilia, Tess was hugging me to stop my body from trembling. That day it wasn't just Cecilia who died, but Grey as well, and King Grey was born.

I then talked about my time as king and the things I did for my revenge, the countries I brought to their knees with nothing but a sword and the innocent people who died because of that.

"And that is the story of Grey. Of who I was before coming to this world."

"You went through so much, did so much for those two and they still choose to fight you." Her voice was shaky as she talked.

"Well, Nico thinks I killed Cecilia to become king and having Agrona messing around with his head definitely didn't help. As for Cecilia, I assume he did the same but much worse. She probaply didn't even have a chance to free herself."

"He did, but it didn't last more than a few months. By the time you encountered her in that arena she already had her memories back. That's why I don't get why she wanted to kill you."

"Who knows, maybe her mind was already lost at that point. But that doesn't matter anymore, I won't let Agrona bring her back this time."

"We won't. I won't let you fight alone anymore." I could see determination in her eyes more intense than I had ever seen from her.

"Thanks Tess, it means a lot. And don't worry too much about getting stronger, I kinda have a plan for that, and not just for you but everyone we know, I just need to figure out a few more details. For now, I'll teach you how to form your mana core."

"Wait, I thought it had to form naturally." She tilted her head sideways in confusion.

"How do you think I awakened when I was three? Or how Lilia became a mage when both her parents weren't?" I said with a smirk.

"Right, it's you we are talking about, so what do I need to do?"

"It's simple really, you just need to meditate, after a while you should be able to sense the fragments of your mana core around your body. Once you can sense them, it's just a matter of bringing them to where the core should be. For you there should be a larger fragment there so use that as a guide."

And so Tess began the process of forming her core. After a few hours she was mentally fatigued, so we packed our tent and resumed the journey to the elven capital.

Our days went by quickly until we arrived, with Tess meditating a bit in the morning and before going to sleep while I studied my core. It seems the aether decided to start the assimilation process for me but in a different manner than usual, instead of letting the mana flow freely in my body, the aether was guiding it in chunks, one body part at time starting from my legs making the process much faster. I think it will take about a year and a half instead of three. Tess also told me how the Archivist got Agrona to send Cecilia and Nico to him so he could help Tess regain contol of her body.

Regis was unusually quiet during the trip, making only small talk with us. It looks like he is focused on something, but is keeping quiet about it. It's weird, but welcomed right now as it allowed me to focus on making plans for the future.

____________________________________________________

We were finally at the teleportation gate that would take us to Zestier. Tess was visibly nervous at the prospect of seeing her family again.

"Everything will be alright Tess." I said as I pulled her into a hug to calm her down.

"But how should I react? What if they think something is wrong with me?"

"Don't worry about it, as for how you should react, just be yourself. I'm sure you'll react the same way as the last time we went through this portal, you are my crybaby princess after all."

"You dummy." She said as she punched me in the arm. "But thanks, I think I'm ready now."

"Let's go then, you spent enough time away from your family."

Tess went to the tree that hid the portal and activated it with a chant. Now stood a large portal in front of us inside of the trunk. She held my hand and we went through.

On the other side was the city of Zestier, as beautiful as I remembered. But there was little time to admire it as the guards showed up and knelt in front of us.

"We welcome back the royal princess."

"You may rise." She said in a cold voice, but I could see the tears she was trying to hold back.

"Princess, we came as soon as we saw that the royal teleportation gate had been used. The king and queen are -"

"My baby! Tessia, you're okay! Oh, my baby!"

The family reunion went almost the same as last time, with the biggest difference being that I noticed Virion tried to check my core, only to make a confused expression. I wonder what he saw. And speaking of seeing, did no one notice the shadow wolf with purple flames next to me?

"Hey Regis, did you learn illusion magic or something? People tend to show some reaction at seeing you."

"I know, they're probably just too busy being happy that your girlfriend is back home to notice my majesticness so I'll let it slide this time."

After a few minutes of crying everyone calmed down.

"As the King of Elenoir, I must apologize for my unsightly appearance and behavior. But, more importantly, as Tessia's father, I wish to thank you for escorting my daughter back home safely. Please accompany us to our home so you may rest before you tell us what happened."

"Of course your majesty."

And so we started to make our way to the carriage waiting for us but not before Tess grabbed my hand to drag me to everyone's surprise.

Once at the castle I asked to explain what happened with me and Tess instead of resting so now we were in the dining room with Tess sitting next to me surprising her parents yet again while gramps only had a smirk on his face. I hate that I know what's going on in his head.

"Child. What did you say your name was?"

"Forgive me for the late introduction, Your Highness. My name is Arthur Leywin, and I come from a remote town in the kingdom of Sapin. A pleasure to make your acquaintance, King, Queen, Elder, and gentlemen." Can't have them thinking I'm a normal kid if I want this discussion to go smoothly.

"You seem much more mature than your age would indicate. Forgive me for assuming. I am Alduin Eralith; this is my wife, Merial Eralith, and my father, Virion Eralith. Now, please tell us what happened. We would like to hear your side of this."

With that I began retelling my journey and how I found myself in the Elshire forest.