Kezess Indrath

I sat in the throne room of my castle waiting for Windsom to report his findings in Dicathen. It has been two weeks since Agrona delivered his message informing me of my daughter's death, causing unrest among the Great Eight. As I pondered on how to deal with the Vritra I felt Windsom's personal Tempus Warp outside the castle and him making his way to me.

"Lord Indrath I apologize for the delay, something unexpected happened." He said while taking a knee in front of me.

"What did you find?"

"There were three great concentrations of aether in Dicathen other than the one caused by Lady Sylvia, one in the elven forest and two in the human kingdom, Xyrus and Etistin to be precise but I was not able to determine the cause."

"That is certainly unexpected, we will have to send someone to monitor these locations." What could have possibly caused such a concentration of aether to the point it couldn't be identified. And right after Sylvia's death as well, could this be Agrona's work? "What of our spies in Alacrya, have they said anything so far?"

"Yes, but I'm afraid that was the last message they'll send. According to them, Cadell returned empty handed and heavily injured. He reported that Lady Sylvia burst into amethyst and black flames when he got close."

I couldn't help but feel a bit of pride knowing my daughter fought until the very end. If only she had the strength to kill that Vritra mutt. "I see, that means my granddaughter is still somewhere, presumably safe, considering you haven't brought her with you."

"My apologies Lord Indrath, Lady Sylvia made it near impossible to track her down. All I was able to discover was that your granddaughter was entrusted to a lesser child, and I have reason to believe he also received Lady Sylvia's body and will."

"Explain."

"Along with traces of a distortion in space, there were remnants of a Vivum based art and a mixture of human and dragon mana."

My eyes widened at Windsom's words. What was she thinking giving a lesser, a child no less, not only her will but body as well. Is this lesser special in any way for her to make such a choice? I sat in silence pondering on what her actions meant and what to do moving forward.

"Windsom, go to Charon and tell him to monitor the areas you mentioned in Sapin and Elenoir. You are to focus on finding the lesser child and my grandaughter, when you do monitor them for a few weeks before reporting and should the need arise reveal yourself and keep them safe."

"Understood."

I motioned for him to leave. I need time to think on what to do with that child, perhaps bringing them to train for the upcoming war. But that can wait, I must inform Myre of what has happened.

As I made my way through the castle in search of my wife I found myself in the garden my mother used to tend to and later Sylvia. Memories of the time I spent with them in this place resurfaced. I simply walked aimlessly, reminiscing until the sound of footsteps came from behind and broke me out of my thoughts. I turned around to see Myre slowly approaching with a smile that didn't reach her eyes.

"I had a feeling you'd be here Kezess. Has Windsom returned?"

"He did, I only wish he had brought better news with him." I paused for a moment as I looked around the garden with its myriad of flowers from all over the world, some of them only existing in this place now. The atmosphere was heavy and dreary as a reminder of what was lost. "I'm sorry Myre, I wasn't able to protect her."

Myre's sad smile faded as she looked up with her eyes closed and a few tears escaped her. Pain scorched through me as we stood there in silence wallowing in our grief. After what felt like an eternity I spoke again.

"But I promise you the same fate won't befall our granddaughter. Windsom is looking for the lesser child who she has been entrusted to, as soon as he is able to report on her condition we can prepare to welcome her."

"At least not all is lost."Myre lowered her head and opened her eyes to meet mine as she spoke. "What about the lesser you spoke of, what do we know about him?"

"Not much I'm afraid. What we do know is that he carries Sylvia's will and received her body as well."

"Then our daughter still lives on in some way." She paused for a few seconds before continuing. "Do you think this child is the one Mordain spoke about? Her champion who would bring peace to this world."

"There is no way of knowing until we learn more. He described this champion as someone who could move through this world unbothered by its intent, someone who even Fate would bow down to."

"If the child is the one who Mordain described then I only hope Sylvia set him on the right path."

"I'm sure she did, you know she wouldn't give someone so much power if that being couldn't be trusted."

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Seris Vritra

I walked through the halls of Taegrin Caelum with Cylrit behind me after a meeting about Cadells failure in capturing Sylvia and her daughter. I knew Grey did something with aether when I woke up in my estate last week instead of the improvised room I had in Central Dominion, but that meeting confirmed it. He somehow reversed the flow time and managed to include me in whatever spell he used.

Seeing the state Cadell was in means he is already preparing for the war while trying to keep the events leading up to it more or less the same, a smart move, and one that didn't clash with my plans. But there is one thing that worries me, Agrona is different from what I remember in this time period. He is more violent and on edge than ever before, while he hasn't shown any signs that he regressed as well, his new behavior will be problematic. I need to check what else changed and what remained the same. Starting with my dear apprentice.

"Cylrit, tell Highblood Denoir I will be paying them a visit later this week."

"As you wish Scythe Seris."

After another minute of walking I arrived at my room in this fortress and went inside while my retainer stood guard outside. Damn you Grey, you could have at least mentioned in passing you were planning to do this so we could have set a place and time to meet to plan, or at least a way to communicate. Maybe he has a way and thought it wasn't necessary to mention it. Yes, that has to be it, he wouldn't just time travel on impulse, since I came back as well he knows we'll need to think of a plan together to take on the Asura, I bet he is preparing to contact me right now.

(Meanwhile in Elenoir Arthur was enjoying a nice dinner date with Tessia without a care in the world)

I will trust Grey has that front covered and focus on doing my part here in Alacrya. It's a shame it will take an unknown amount of time to meet since I still need to get payback for what Regis did in the hot springs. Speaking of which.

"Cylrit, make sure we always have boiling tar in my manor ready to be used and get that aether suppressor device I talked about made." I asked from the inside of the room while preparing to take a nice and long bath to wash away the fatigue and stress Grey has caused.

"It will be done."

____________________________________________________

I was chatting with Corbett Denoir in his office while waiting for his wife Lenora to bring me Caera and Sevren. It was a frivolous conversation meant to only kill time. Soon there was a knock on the door.

"Come in Lenora." Said the highblood in a neutral tone.

"Apologies for the delay Scythe Seris, these two are quite the troublemakers." Lenora said with her head down.

"It's fine, that's how children should be. Now take a seat you three."

As they made their way to the couches I observed Caera closely to see if she was also included in the spell. Seeing how nervous and scared she looks makes me believe she wasn't but it's too early to draw a conclusion, maybe she is just acting to avoid looking suspicious.

"I'm sure you are curious as to why I am here so let me explain. I believe little Caera has quite the potential, so I would like to personally train and help manifest her blood. As for Sevren, I want him to train under my retainer, I heard talks about how you want to become an ascender so I wish to sponsor you in the endeavor. It will also help Caera as she will have a better point of comparison for her progress." I paused for a moment to let them absorb my words while taking a sip of tea. "So, what do you two think?"

"I think th-"

"I want to hear their opinion." I said cutting Lenora.

After a bit of thinking Sevren and Caera looked at each other and nodded.

"It would be our pleasure to be mentored by you Scythe Seris." Sevren said while bowing and Caera followed suit.

"Very well, I look forward to seeing how you two grow. I will come once a week and when possible Cylrit will come to bring you to my estate for your training." I looked at Caera to see she was still nervous but happy that she would be able to leave this place even if it was for short time.

"Thank you very much for giving such an opportunity for my children Scythe Seris, Highblood Denoir is in your debt." Corbett said with a slight bow.

"Now that the matter is settled I shall take my leave. Be prepared for the lessons you two, I won't make it easy just because you are young." I said with a devious smirk while leaving the office.

Once we were outside the manor Cylrit asked me.

"Do you think Caera was involved in the spell you talked about?"

"I don't think so. She showed none of the behavior she had in the future. Maybe Grey thought it was for the better to not send her back hoping I would do something for her. And I'm starting to agree with his decision, I can give her a much better childhood now that we met this early." I said with a smile as I thought about how I could improve little Caera's life. Keeping Sevren alive is the top priority for now so maybe I should spoil her a little.

"This Grey seems quite smart, enough so to be of help in taking down the snake."

"He is indeed, but he can be quite the idiot as well." I said as I remembered the way Caera talked about him when he first arrived here in Alacrya. "I just hope the fight doesn't cause so much damage this time. The aftermath gave me a lot of work." I felt a little irritated at Grey for leaving the task of organizing the entire population of the continent to me just to turn back time without so much as a warning.

But I suppose the punishment I have for Regis will make up for it. Just you wait, you mutt.

A/N: Double upload cause the last part was short. Hope you enjoy it.

Peace