Xuan"s words plunged the entire room into silence, as no one could really believe what they were hearing.
They all knew that the one she was referring to, as no a.n.a.lysis of the Order would be complete without speaking about this ill.u.s.trious person who had such a considerable following that she was once even suspected to have planned a coup.
Robert was the only one who was slightly puzzled, as he was not privy to information regarding the Order, of which all of the others were a part. What he didn"t know was that Daneel had had all of the others take a very extensive survey of all of the Heroes in the Order, and this was when they had found out that this woman was one of those who seldom spoke in any of the gatherings, but was a very respected individual who was so powerful that she could tackle multiple Heroes at the same level as her without even breaking a sweat, unless they were also as extremely talented as her.
Daneel was also completely perplexed, even though he had guessed that this might be the case ever since he had found out about the tale of how Xuan had been tricked into not exposing the prophecy that she had seen regarding the advent of the Church using the lost Kingdom of Axelor.
Acting with haste, he checked the list of the people who had fallen for his trap, and although there were a sizeable number of Heroes, no one as strong as this had been exposed.
Now that this information was out in the open, though… It changed a lot of things.
The first thing that Daneel did was teleport all of them away from where they were. He trusted the formations he had placed around the kingdom, but still, it was always better to be safe than sorry.
A few seconds later, they were in the depths of the Endless Sea at a location that was definitely hidden even from the likes of the Church and the TriCobra sect.
Looking around at the vast, empty city around them, Xuan was quite shocked, but she still turned in Daneel"s direction as soon as he spoke.
"How do you know this, Xuan? I thought I knew everything regarding how you were tricked by your best friend, but it seems that some things have been hidden from me… Do elaborate. And do not feel scared of these people- I trust them with my life."
Daneel said that last part as he saw Xuan glancing at all of those present. She had known them before she had been thrust into that abyss of torture, but she hadn"t really been familiar with them. Daneel"s words put her at ease, though, but still, she decided to keep her gaze on him while she spoke.
Where Eloise was stall and slender, Xuan had more of a pet.i.te body while still being amply blessed through either the grace of what she"d inherited from her parents, or the transformation that one went through when they became a Champion. So, compared to the rest of them, she seemed like a small and weak being, and even though Daneel knew that she had a lioness"s heart, right now, he felt worried as she had recovered from something that should have consumed her long ago.
Thankfully, it seemed that she had so much more strength than he had given her credit for, as Xuan was able to speak in a firm voice.
"Yes, even I thought that that was all there was to it, but I now remember that during my… Time spent imprisoned, I was once visited by a woman who was hiding her ident.i.ty. She came when I was pretending to be asleep. Although she might have believed that she had hidden herself perfectly, I was able to guess who she was because of the lines on her palm- there were just too many days that I spent staring at them when I was just a child, after being rescued from that village of h.e.l.l which almost killed me. It was both her and the current head of the G.o.ddess"s Sanctum who nursed me back to a state where I was ready to begin a new life, and during that time, I spent most of my days crying and still fearing all of the things that the villagers had threatened me with every time I gave a prophecy which came true. The head became my mother. And she…became my grandmother. Often, they would have to hold me for long periods of time, and they did so while showing such love and affection that I decided that I would pay them back for everything they had done to me no matter what. Yet, now, I believe that there might have been a different motive for everything, as I can remember clearly what she said:
"Make sure not to kill her- but be sure to break her down completely. It doesn"t matter even if she becomes a blubbering mess- in the Mainland, I heard that arrogant seers are purposefully tortured to that state so that they will just become receptors of prophecies. It is supposed to be a delicate art, though, and one runs the risk of going too far, but I trust your skills- when we go there, you might even gain an opportunity to be paid heavily for this task. For now, keep me updated. All those years of pretending to care about her finally came to this…if I had known, I wouldn"t have bothered with that farce of controlling those village idiots to chase her into our arms."
"I remember it all word for word now, including the chuckle that echoed in the room while I bit my tongue and felt it bleed as it was all I could do to pretend that I was still asleep. Still, somehow, my captor found out that I had heard it all, and she actively tried to make me forget the entire encounter. If I had not been rescued, I"m sure that she would have succeeded, but with my mind healed… This memory has been revealed to me. I… Still can"t believe it myself, but I have no choice: I thought I had found a new family, but all along, I was just being u-used…"
Xuan held on throughout the entire explanation, but toward the end, she couldn"t stop the emotions from affecting her anymore.
Hearing her voice begin to break, both Daneel and Eloise rushed forward, but even before they could reach her, she ran in the direction of the closest room.
Closing the door behind her, she completely broke down, sobbing and clutching at herself due to the knowledge that her whole life had been a lie.
Outside, she could hear Daneel and the others talking, and a moment later, she felt a wave of elementary particles scan her while paying special attention to her mind.
Knowing what he was afraid of, Xuan managed to gather a semblance of normalcy to send a message.
"Give me some time, I"ll be fine."
She knew that she could be at his bosom right now, being comforted in that place which had felt so perfect before that she had wished she could stay forever and ever. In fact, it was then that she felt the healing truly reach its final stage, and without that moment when all of them had honestly embraced their feelings and allowed her to know that what she had dreamed of was, indeed, true, she might have slipped back into another slumber now as this shock was unlike any other she had had to endure so far.
Perhaps…it was her own mind which had also hidden this information from her, as what it represented was just too horrifying to even think of.
She still remembered her childhood vividly, even though she had actively blocked it out as much as possible over all these years.
Now, when she went over it with the information she knew, it became blatantly obvious.
She had always thought that a prophecy about the only milk-giving cow of the village dying had been the straw that broke the camel"s back. That incident had turned the entire village against her, and they had all actively begun to threaten to kill her unless she stopped.
In fact, that was the least of their threats…she remembered far nastier ones from groups of boys who seemed to be everywhere, and once, she even remembered a housewife who had been kind to her before suddenly change mid-sentence and turn an offer to house her for the night into a promise that she would not wake up the next morning if she even came close.
One by one, incidents like those had broken down her will until she had begun to pray that she would at least live until the next day. Being just 7 years old, all she had felt was a desire to live and be free to explore the world that fascinated her so, and she also remembered that her mother, who had died in that village when she had been just 3, had made her promise that she would never give up.
She had chalked it all up to the bad omens that she always gave, but now…it was painfully clear that it had started after a single point, which must be when the machinations of that old hag had begun.
All of it, all of it…had been just an act to make her pledge herself to the G.o.ddess"s, which she had done without hesitation.
Had her "mother" been in on it, too? What would have happened if she hadn"t gotten that prophecy that had to be stopped? What had they planned for her?
She needed answers, and more than anything…the desire for revenge began to form in her mind.
All of the pain started to turn into anger, and it was all directed at a single person.
As her face began to be filled with wrath, though, the one who had saved her suddenly appeared in the room.
Seeing him, ordinarily, all of the emotions that had become clear during the torture would have filled her mind, and just the fact that she could be in front of him would have been a cause for joy.
Now, though…her heart and mind were too full of rage.
The King seemed to understand this, as he simply asked, "What do you want to do?"
That was enough to know that she would have his support, and that made Xuan feel relieved.
Without any more hesitation, she embraced all of the anger, and as she gave the answer, even the King felt a chill up his spine.
"Until now, they"ve only seen the Xuan who was grateful for being saved. Now…they will see the G.o.ddess of Wrath and Rightful Fury. I know how to kill that Hero. Trust me, Daneel, and I will show you that I am worthy to stand side by side with you until the end of time."