Chapter 1116 The Past
"Your smile is giving me hope that what happened isn"t bad, but I can never be certain about her," said Arthur with concern that he did not hide, as his eyes gazed sideways, fearing for the worst. "In any case… I know her fate, I just wish that she did not suffer."
"I met her once during my travels to Alka, but I made sure to keep my distance, lest I alter the timeline," said Robert with a shake of his head. "I feared that my ignorant actions would collapse her plan to meet you."
"Her plan… to meet me?" asked Arthur with surprise, his eyes reflecting the lamplight in a perfect golden hue. His eyes darted toward the scholar, who carried a heartwarming smile.
"I did not reveal my knowledge about you or Earth, only pretending to be a temporal scholar whom she sought for advice. She wanted to calculate how much time she would need to wait until a certain day comes on Earth."
"A certain day?"
"What is the current date on Earth, if I may inquire?"
"November is almost over, so it should be around that time," said Arthur with uncertainty, confused about the reason this scholar asked him. "What day did she want to meet me?"
"December 31st, 2042," said the scholar with a smile. "She left you a message in the encrypted array that states you should wait until that day to meet her."
"My birthday," said Arthur with wide eyes, before tears shimmered in them as he could not hide his smile. "She remembered my birthday and wanted to meet me then."
"Have you decrypted the array, my king?"
"Only the first layer, where she mentioned the year," said Arthur with a grin as he stared down at the ripples in his tea, watching the twinkling lights coming from the ceiling. "I did not know it was a date for our meeting."
"We should start this story from the beginning, should we not?" muttered Robert as he poured himself another cup, taking a sip, and sighing. "I would not go into the details, because I think she would want to tell you about them."
"Just a general explanation would do," muttered Arthur while nodding, letting the scholar start telling a rather painful, but heartwarming story about the love of his life.
As Gala told Oriole in the ruins, Diana was struck by the knowledge and memories of their relationship. Since she had a shard that belonged to Arthur before her death in the alternate timeline, she inherited the full memories of their love.
This caused a sudden change in the blind princess, making her seek the witch and the two embarked on a journey where they met countless others. One by one, they found the people who had a good relationship with Arthur.
Solomon was their target, which was introduced to them by none other than the Knight of Courage, a woman who considered Arthur her true king after inheriting the memories.
King of Freda remembered Arthur as well, and felt grateful for the memories he has inherited. In the end, he realized the futility of his desires to revive his lover, Ruki, from the dead. Instead of cursing her with an eternal fate of suffering, he chose to believe Seika would allow him to see her.
The epiphanies did not only cause heartache or improve the knowledge of people, but also served as a warning against those scheming in the darkness. This was the reason that Solomon agreed to forsake his desires, because he learned that Ancient One, Kar, was deceiving him.
Arthur realized in retrospect that Kar should be the Sin of Gluttony, which has turned him into a vampire who devours humans for strength. If all calamities represent the sins, then gluttony would fit the lord of blood well.
Solomon allowed for the creation of Runera for that purpose, in preparation for the overtake of the capital that has been planned for by the calamity.
Robert did not go over the details, but he mentioned that the creation of the city was a lot harder without Arthur around. Rumi, the architect, did appear out of nowhere and offered his services, but the work was slower.
The greatest shock was that Paradis existed in this timeline as well, but not created by Oriole. Instead, it was created by earthlings who remembered Arthur from their memories. The moment that Runera appeared, they sought Diana to aid her as well.
Paradis had the runic knowledge necessary to accelerate the growth of the City of Runes, but things took a south turn when Kar gained an unexpected ally. The advantage given to Runera was their knowledge of their enemy, but it disappeared when someone from a different timeline joined Kar.
"An unexpected ally?" muttered Arthur with a frown before realizing who it could be. "You mean Seref Silvera, right?"
"Have you already foreseen it, my king?" asked Robert with surprise. "I thought it would be a great shock for you, given your relationship to him. Princess Dia knew him well, somehow, and even proclaimed he was the man who killed her mother."
"My father has the nasty habit of manipulating the past, present, and future," said Arthur without any emotions as he picked up his cup. He twirled the tea in his cup with a smile. "I think he is still a child, chasing silly dreams and seeking attention."
"That is one troublesome child, then," said Robert with a smile. "He gave us a big headache since he knew that Diana had the Isotox, which she obtained because of the witch, Gala. His aim was simple…"
"I can guess," interrupted Arthur as he raised the teaspoon and tapped it over the edge of his cup. "Using the Isotox, my father would have been able to merge the two worlds. Such a merge would change the entire timeline, and might force me to take matters into my own hands."
"That"s what we deduced too," nodded Robert with a grave expression. "We couldn"t allow him to tamper with the timeline that you worked hard to build, so we fought tooth and nail to prevent him from obtaining the Isotox."
"And this is how Runera appeared on Earth in this timeline," said Arthur with a sigh as he placed down his cup and rose from his seat. "Diana used the Isotox to save Runera and transport it to Earth. This made it impossible for Seref to reach the Isotox in time to affect the timeline."
"Furthermore, it gave us the time we needed to seal the Isotox inside the ruins, hiding it from the world. No one could unseal such complex arrays except for you, my king. This is the plan that Diana has reached."
"I know the rest, Robert," said Arthur as he walked toward the fireplace, throwing another log of wood into it. Flames erupted to devour the wood with hunger, throwing their warmth and rays at the man"s saddened face. "I know where Diana is."
"Then, do you know how Princess Diana managed to recover from her illness?" asked Robert, prompting Arthur to turn toward him. "Diana is a genius, my king."
"How did she overcome her contradicting abilities?"
"She used the Isotox."
Arthur stood there, rooted in place, before he slapped his forehead and began laughing. Robert was shocked as he stared at him burst into laughter that lasted for more than a few seconds.
"I never thought of such a use," said Arthur with a shake of his head. "If I were a little smarter, then I wouldn"t have needed Diana to sacrifice herself for me."
"You did not have the Isotox at that time, sir," said Robert as he rose. "Do not blame yourself. Greatest Harmony was necessary to reach this result because the Princess used it as a guideline for the Isotox. However, that also means…"
"The moment the Isotox is unsealed, it would kill her as well," said Arthur with a knowing smile. "I told you that I know that, Robert. I know that she is sealed within Runera alongside the Isotox, and is waiting for me there."
"But how, sir?" asked Robert with confusion. "You should not be aware of such knowledge, so please explain to me how you know such things."
"I met a fallen version of myself, an Arthur who has lost everything because he could not master his wrath," said Arthur with a shake of his head. "In his timeline, the Red Tower never appeared, so I never mastered wrath. I saved Diana in that timeline using the Isotox, but that made it lose its powers. The two worlds merged, and Gaia abandoned me."
"Gaia?"
"The being responsible for creation," explained Arthur before he sat down again. "Long story short, she doesn"t want the worlds to merge again. G.o.ds, monsters, calamities, and Nameless would descend to our world if that happened. It would kill countless people."
"I understand now," said Robert as he slumped in his chair, defeated. "I calculated everything to reach this result, but in the end, Seref outsmarted us. If Diana did not make that decision to seal herself alongside the Isotox, we would have never won against Seref."
"I understand, Robert. It was never your fault. Everything you have done was kindness from your heart, and I thank you for that."