Faxul had almost no recollection of the fight.
He had been driven by a singular motivation to vanquish the fake Daneel in front of him, and this driving force had been so strong that he had ignored everything else in the process.
At his disposal were the blackholes, which came naturally whenever he wished for them to appear, and the terrifying might in his body that made him believe that he could end anything as long as he hit it enough.
So, it was all a blur of repeatedly flying after his opponent and punching him, following which he had been whisked away once again after seeing that he had succeeded.
He had a.s.sumed that killing the fake Daneel would have allowed him to get out of whatever this was, but, clearly, he had been wrong.
Yet, Faxul wasn"t as panicked as before.
The victory before made him believe that what he was up against could be defeated. It bolstered his confidence, and, in turn, strenghthened the bastion that had enabled him to begin the fight in the first place.
So, when he once again regained control of his body, he braced himself for the next attack.
No matter how terrifying or gruesome it was, he was confident that he would be able to endure and not give up.
Yet…before he opened his eyes, itself, he could feel that something was wrong.
Faint music was playing somewhere near him, and as he recognised the tune, his heart skipped a beat.
It was the tune that his father had always sung to him before he slept.
In fact, he remembered his grandfather commenting that he would fall asleep, without fail, whenever that tune was sung.
Also, his head was resting on something very soft, and warm sunlight could be felt on his face.
As he opened his eyes, his gaze fell upon the face of a woman, who was looking in a direction while singing that tune.
His head was in her lap, and he was wearing a soft fabric that felt very comfortale.
As he looked around, he saw branches filled with lush, green leaves above them, through which streamed the sunlight that was. .h.i.tting his cheeks.
As she felt him move, the woman looked down, and that was when he clearly saw her face.
She had exquisite features and dark hair, and her eyes held so much love as she looked at him that he wondered whether he had transmigrated into someone else"s body.
However, when she spoke, that question was answered.
"Faxul, you"re up? I thought you would sleep longer. Heavens know how hard you worked last night, when you had to dispel those Axelorians."
Hearing this and not knowing what to say, he sat up and looked around before noticing that they were in the large balcony of his Royal quarters, which was also meant to be a resting place for the Protector Raven.
His eyes immediately shot to a little kid to the left, who had a wide smile on his face while he chased a Black Raven.
"Jexal, honey, come here. Your father is awake."
"J-Jexal?", Faxul asked.
That was the name of his father.
"I thought you weren"t fine with calling him Jessie? Your father"s name is a mouthful, you know. And besides, that style of naming went out of fas.h.i.+on a long time ago."
Faxul was too busy staring at the kid who walked over.
He looked very similar to him, and as the kid came forward and hugged his leg, asking to be picked up, Faxul did so, and a feeling well up inside him that he couldn"t explain.
This…was his son?!
He had prepared for all kinds of torture and deceit. Yet, why was he being shown this?
Walking forward, he gazed out at the Kingdom, and as he did so, many things appeared in his mind.
In this world, the Black Raven Kingdom was the leading force, and they were respected by all the other forces.
There was no looming threat, and the people were happy and content.
His wife was pregnant with another child, and he was a Champion who would hand over the throne to his firstborn and travel the world with his loving wife.
In other words…it was a perfect world- one that anyone would want to live in, when compared to the real one.
Yet…he knew that it wasn"t real.
As soon as this thought appeared in his head, everything…froze.
And from behind him, he heard a deep, ancient voice, which said, "This…is the future you could have, if you wish. In this future, there is no risk of the people of this continent dying. In this future, you will be the most powerful on this continent, and you will even leave behind a legacy which will be respected for aeons to come. In this future, you will be happy- happier than you ever were in the real world. And most importantly, in this future, you will have no regrets. All you need to do…is agree. Just agree to give up on the real world and stay here, and you will forget all about it, and not even know that there is a different one out these. All this will be yours, and it will be real…for you. What do you say, young man? Will you accept this offer that I make from the kindness in my heart? Or do you still wish to devour this old man and return to that world where your death surely awaits?"
As Faxul turned around, he saw a hunched man wearing a dense cloak make of Raven feathers.
He had a long beard and wrinkled skin that made him look as if he had born over a century ago, and he even his voice had contained that hint of age.
At that moment, everything that had happened so far became clear to Faxul.
Setting down his "son" who had become like a statue, exactly like the surroundings, Faxul walked forward to stand in front of the old man.
Past, present, and future.
With everything revealed to him, he realised that it was time for the final decision.
In his mind, he compared the two worlds.
One with danger and regret, and one with nothing but happiness.
He was sure that if he agreed, the old man would stay true to his words: he would forget everything else, and live out his life in this world.
That would mean that he wouldn"t have any more responsibilities, to his friend or to his people.
No more debts.
No more sadness.
He had to say that for the slightest moment, he was tempted.
But only for a moment.
Could he really turn his back on everything just so that he could have a happy life?
h.e.l.l, no.
If he was that kind of person, he would have perished in the first test, itself.
Along with this thought, Faxul also understood what he was supposed to take away from these experiences.
With a smile, as he gave his answer, he realised that each of these steps had let him discover himself.
And now…he was completely clear regarding who he was.
"By showing me the past, you made me come face to face with all the demons that have always plagued me.
By using the present, you showed me what I could use to change my fate.
And by letting me witness this future, you showed me what I should work towards, and why I should never lose hope.
What I am…is a rebel.
Fate keeps trying to step down on me, but I rebel against it.
A rebel who uses everything in his disposal to achieve what he wants.
If I am always cognizant of what I have recieved, and if I always endeavour to pay it back, why should I feel that I am unworthy?
No! I am worthy, because I choose to never bow down and accept.
And no matter how much more power I may be bestowed with, now, or in the future, I shall never doubt myself.
All I shall do is use everything I have, and do my best to get what I want.
Thank you."
The last two words came involuntarily, as Faxul felt that it was only right that he thank someone who had helped him so much.
Indeed, if he hadn"t gone through this at this point, he was pretty sure that someone would definitely have used it against him in the future, or that not finding himself would surely have led to disasters with catastrophic consequences.
As soon as the old man heard him, a wise smile spread across his face.
Raising a hand, he laid it on Faxul"s shoulder.
Faxul felt no animosity from the man. No, in fact, all he felt was pride.
"Good. You are one of the few who have understood that the goal of the Baptism was never to try and deprive you humans of our power. No, all we G.o.dbeasts ever wanted was that only those who knew themselves, and would thus never be misled by others, be the ones who inherited our bloodlines. After all, it is not ours, alone, to h.o.a.rd. It is our duty to pa.s.s it on, and we just wished that we could ensure that those who can call upon it are not unsure, and hence, unbefitting of our glory. I don"t care what you do with the power. But whatever you do, do so with your held head high, and with full confidence in yourself. Good luck, young man."
As soon as the last word left the old man"s mouth, he turned into a mist that surrounded Faxul"s body and then…entered it.
As it did so, he suddenly felt like something…had clicked into place.
As he opened his eyes and felt the stone ground beneath him, he felt more comfortable in this body than ever.
It was almost as if…it was his own, instead of one he was using because his own had been destroyed.
Yes! That was exactly what it was.
As Daneel saw his friend open his eyes and stand up, he couldn"t help but notice that something was different.
"Young King, you really do surround yourself with the best of people! A perfect Baptism! He will go very, very far! In fact, he may even become the strongest one on this continent!"
Hearing this, Daneel felt happy, but he also remembered his decision before to get a bloodline for himself.
"Hehe, just hold my gla.s.s of wine."
He felt like saying this, but at this moment, he was just really proud of Faxul.
He could already tell what the difference was.
It was as if Faxul had always been carrying a mountain on his shoulders which made him feel burdened.
Now, that mountain was gone.
What remained was a man who looked like one who might truly deserve the role of a King.
A King…of a calibre befitting one whom Daneel could trust and rely on.
Yet, before he could walk forward, he collapsed, once again.
"Don"t worry, Young King. He"s just drained. Some rest will get him back to normal."
With a nod and a smile, Daneel deposited Faxul in a bed in the Palace, before convening an immediate meeting.
Right now, he could tell that he had no time to waste. He wanted to break the third seal as soon as possible, which meant that he needed a stimulus to openly take command of the other forces under his command.
Also, he had to do something to proceed on the Race.
Daneel had already devised a plan to accomplish both of these things, and more, in one go.
Right now, he realized that this was the best opportunity to implement it.
Of course, when he spoke in the meeting which comprised of the other members of the Council of Nine Sovereigns except for Faxul, everyone looked at him as if he were mad.
"So…the plan is simple. First, the Black Raven Kingdom will have a falling out with us and join Axelor. After that, some…things will happen, and in the end, I will openly be in charge of the Black Raven Kingdom, we will know all the intentions of Axelor, and I"ll also obtain something I want from that crazy King. How does that sound?"