One year. Two years. Three years…

Time passed swiftly and that in a flash of a hazy blur. In a blink of an eye, five bloody years passed.

But time was a relative thing. Each being lived it in their own way. And that difference was even greater between mortal and divine.

If for mortal five years were enough time to change one life…for the divine, it was only the amount of time necessary to go from world to world.

In that way, Klaus and the trio arrived in Worldborn's world — Treehouse — in two years' time, and that was to let Eric, Rouge and Malrik get used to their new identities…Rue and Premier arrived in one of Soleil's worlds — Sunny — in five years, for the same reasons and because it was farther away.

Now came the consequences.

For Klaus, the situation was easily solved, as Orien himself knew the difficulty of finding stray people from leftovers of worlds. But understanding it didn't mean he was not disappointed and displeased by the outcome, yet there was nothing he could do.

Klaus promised to continue his research with more vigor and focus. Meanwhile, Eric, Rouge and Malrik were steadily getting used to living among elves and knowing more about them.

It was a weird feeling for them, to say the least. First, the elves had their own language they spoke among themselves. It was weird yet unique in its own way. Their language used an ancient tongue they called Lamiñ, where every word uttered didn't use the tongue. Only the lips.

The elves also had their own traditions and customs. Like, for example, at the start of each new month — the elves had only six of them — in their world, there was a Fête called Reconnaissance Fête, where they passed the morning in prayer towards The Progenitor Luelle, the midday was spent in forests hunting the beasts the progenitor allowed them to kill on that day, and the night was for them to cook and dance and drink and laugh.

Amidst the elves, both women and men hunted and cooked, there was no difference between them. Though, women were a little bit more privileged if one had a fine observant eye.

Maybe because their progenitor was female, or maybe because of other reasons…no one could tell.

The structure of power amidst the elves was also peculiar. Eric, Rouge and Malrik were still new, and their level of importance was still too low for them to know many things. All they knew was that they were under Klaus's command who, besides being Guardian of The Chosen One — Orien Luelle Worldborn — was also an Elderroot, a being of rather high rank in their hierarchy.

As for them, they were called Seedwood, important enough to raise an eyebrow when they were killed, but not enough for anyone to spend even the next second thinking about them.

For now, the trio stayed low, gathering information and planting their own seeds.

Yet, they were not the only ones.

If Klaus managed to avoid punishment for failing his task, Rue certainly did not escape retribution.

After traveling for five years in the void, letting Premier — who refused to change his name — get used to his Mercy affinity, they finally arrived in Sunny, one of the favorite worlds of Soleil.

Doubtlessly, the man asked where Justicia was and what happened. Soleil knew something was wrong based on how hard his mother beat him. She told him that Appolonia of BrightSky might have regained her memories. Something he still couldn't quite believe.

So he asked.

In front of those questions, Rue acted completely clueless. He said, with absolute certainty, that he didn't even get to meet Justicia, let alone Appolonia, and that he came back to him after finding a promising disciple along his travel who held the rare affinity of Mercy.

It was indeed a rare one, even among the Celestial. Scarce were those who held it, and even scarcer were those who managed to use the power without, somewhere along their path, drowning themselves in mercy until they forgot what mercy truly meant.

Soleil was doubtlessly intrigued, yet that didn't stop him from tying Rue to a blazing, searing crimson sun for an undecided amount of time and taking Premier for himself.

Premier ended up not being Rue's disciple, but Soleil's errand boy, as Soleil found him not worthy yet of his tutelage. Yet, the man kept Premier to himself, hiding him from everyone, sometimes giving him advice in the Mercy affinity.

That was the start of Premier's life under a tyrannical yet talented master who knew how to teach someone. For even with the errands he was doing…Premier found himself progressing in his Mercy affinity in a strange way.

And the more he did, the more he realized why there were little to no users of this affinity.

There was nothing more wretched than a merciful man in a merciless society.

And nothing more pitiful than a man who thought tyranny and domination a form of mercy.

And nothing more miserable than one who thought mercy was free.

Nothing was free. Everything had a price.

And if one was not ready to pay it, then surely another would. And that was where things got nasty.

Premier wondered why his father gave him this affinity, for he doubted he could live up to its potential and shoulder the burden it would give him.

Yet, even in doubt he was eager to learn. For there was something in Mercy essential to a Beast of End like him.

Thus, his path officially started.

One he had no idea where it would lead. But it was fine. His father knew. He didn't need to know.

He just had to walk the path.

That was faith.

…

During these five years, the universe didn't stop moving, and now, in the deepest level of the Divine World of the Celestial, in a place reserved only for the greatest criminals…a strange and unexpected meeting was unfolding.

A woman was standing in front of a cell made of living darkness. A True darkness. Something as old as the universe and as dreadful as anything it had known.

Inside that cell, nothing could be seen except the swirling and whirling shadows.

Well, that was how it was supposed to be.

But two pairs of incandescent golden eyes — shaped like inverted pyramids — managed to cut through the darkness like blades, in order to look at the woman who was in fact Idalia Marigold of LightTorcheur.

She grinned, looked at her chained brother, her golden locks swaying left and right at each of her gestures, "It has been a while, brother, hasn't it?" She said, her gigantic and monstrous size standing tall like a beacon of light with her golden and white skin.

"A while, indeed, sister." Apollo answered with a surprising light tone, "How many eons again? Do me a favor and tell me. It's not a minor affair to mind the passing of time in this delightful prison of mine."

At his words, Idalia Marigold shook her head, golden locks swaying, "I would have believed eons with this annoying darkness would change you. But I guess not. Still not taking anything serious?"

"Should I?" Apollo laughed, "I am Apollo of BrightSky, Firstborn of the Light. Is there anything worth my seriousness in this universe?"

"I do wonder. And yet I am not complaining about this aspect of yours." Idalia grinned, then approached the bars of the cell and crouched down, her whole skin visible except only her breasts and private part.

Apollo stared.

"That's why you are here. And that's why your daughter is no more."

"My daughter?" Apollo laughed once more, "So you still cannot bear to admit it out loud?"

His golden eyes began to glow more brightly, "You are indeed a weird one, sister. You gave her birth, yet you refuse to acknowledge her as yours."

"Then why let her come to this universe?" He said, then chuckled, "Ah yes, despite everything, you still wanted something…a proof that what we lived was not a dream. You wanted a proof of our taboo."

He shook his head softly.

"Just as sadistic and perverse as ever."

"And now all of this for what?" He continued, "Me being sealed, making our daughter reincarnated into someone else…all only to mask the truth about our violation of the Celeste Law?"

"I thought you were touched by madness?"

Idalia Marigold sneered, "And go against Father's decrees?"

"Didn't you already do that?"

"In secret." She shot back, "And we did it together. After all, I cannot be pregnant by myself, dear brother. So that means if I go down, you also do."

"Isn't that why you allowed me to seal you?" Her voice turned into a whisper, too sweet for one of her station, for one of her attitude, "Because you love me too much to allow Father to punish me. Isn't it how it has always been?"

"Apollo protecting his little sister from everything. It was why I fell for you. It was why I wanted your child. It was why I was ready to violate our core law."

"But foolishness has limits, and I cannot bear the wrath of Father. Even you cannot. No one could, in fact. And if Appolonia had become the Throne Bearer, then Father would have cared enough to exit his seclusion to participate in the coronation and thus finally know the truth."

She paused, then slowly…

"So it was needed. A sacrifice was needed. For us, Apollo. For our reputation in the universe."

Apollo fell silent for a moment then laughed once more,

"I wonder, how is your husband faring with you?" He said, "How could anyone support a being like you?"

"Didn't you?" Idalia laughed madly. Her loud voice made the darkness snarl at her.

"I am Apollo, sister. I am different. No one will ever love you the way I do. And you will never love anyone else the way you loved me."

"And do not forget, I accept all of this…" Apollo's eyes slid toward the chains binding him, then, "…only because of that knowledge."

"What if I happen to love someone else?" She asked.

Apollo chuckled. Yet it was a cold and apathetic chuckle. The kind that could make a sun shudder as if caught a cold.

"You don't want to know the answer to that question." He whispered. "You are mine, Idalia Marigold of LightTorcheur. And all your acts are forgiven only because of that."

Idalia felt a shiver down her spine at his words. Then her lips curled into a crooked and lunatic smile…

"Then I shall remain yours."

Apollo's eyes regained their carefree light and,

"Now spill it out, why are you here?"

"Oh!" Idalia laughed, remembering her reason for coming here, "Your daughter woke up, dear brother. It's been five years, added to that."

She grinned madly,

"Isn't it a great news? Soon, the family would be whole. Though I am afraid…it won't happen."

They locked their golden eyes together,

"I don't want our secret to be known after all. So…."

She shrugged.

"She must forget once more."

—End of Chapter 395—

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