Back at the castle, princess Clover, the twins, their father the king, Rose and Alice all arrived at the strategy room, they were greeted with smiles and a look of relief, princess Diamond whom was beside herself the entire time ran to her siblings and embraced each of them tightly with relief washing over her, they then went on to inform them of everything that happened to the point of princess Erica and Jericho saving them, and how they both went to confront the rest of the threat, which was mainly just Jace…
Soon after, the doors opened and a royal guard rushed in, bearing the first good news since this whole attack started, he informed them that Jace has retreated, and the men in the front lines are almost done whipping out the rest of the Lost and undead looking soldiers, this news made everyone's nerves relax for the very first time in two (2) days…
"prince Jericho and princess Erica really stopped Jace?" duke Konrad asked with a surprise tone…
"he really did, looks like I owe him a great deal… but, am not sure if it's alright to feel happy he saved me, I feel like going with Jace was the only way to redeem myself" king Leohart stated looking lost with worry, the others in the room went silent as no one knew what to say to change his mood.
Soon after, a distinguished looking self moving carriage arrived in front of the castle, stepping out of it was the Emperor of Kosuke, his highness Emperor Riko Kosuke, and to his horror and surprise, just as the cities he saw on his way to the castle, the castle itself was in the same horrible state, a guard came to greet him and lead him to the other rulers, when he arrived the other rulers were shocked to see him, they questioned why he took the risk and still made it to them, but king Riko wasn't in a good mood, he was upset he wasn't told how direr the situation was, and the fact he wasn't able to be of any assistance.
"forgive us your majesty Riko, we couldn't take that risk in letting you be here, it would cause another heavy disaster if harm came to you in our territory" Konrad responded to emperor Riko with an apologetic bow…
"but I see Gustavious here, wasn't it also dangerous for him?" Emperor Riko asked still a little upset…
"well, unlike you Riko we weren't able to quickly inform Gustavious of the situation, so he unknowingly made it here himself, am glad nothing tragic occurred" king Leohard explained….
"hmm… I see, there are still some stragglers in most of your cities, I will be assisting you in dealing with them at least, to make up for missing out of the main attack you needed reinforcement on… I will not be taking no for an answer" Emperor Riko requested, king Leohart smiled then thanked him, emperor Riko then signal one of his high generals that accompanied him to make preparation to assist Warmark in clearing up the rest….
"so, I need more details about everything that happened here, if you don't mind, I wasn't expecting your nation to be hit this hard by any means, what exactly happened here?" emperor Riko asked surprised and curious about how it was possible for Warmark of all nations to be hit this hard…
They went on to tell him everything, from how the attack took them by surprise, and how the enemies numbers were astronomical, and the worst part, Jace himself came to the capital, this Intel silences emperor Riko, as he wasn't expecting Jace to act this seriously this soon, it even frightened him a bit.
Looking around, he noticed everyone was present except the main reason for the summons Jericho, he asked about it…
"oh yes prince Jericho is here, it was thanks to him I and the second princess of our nation is sitting before you right now, he is out there fighting just to protect us" king Leohart stated with sadness in his tone, feeling responsible for the current relationship the two once very close brothers has…
"oh wow, so you've actually laid eyes on the Saint Prince of Menssai?" emperor Riko asked with a jumpy tone…
"well he was wearing a mask when he came to our rescue, but princess Erica informed us it was indeed Jericho, and the mask was to keep Jace in the dark of his return a bit longer" duke Konrad responded, princess Diamond looked a bit excited after what she just heard, cause she will finally learn more about this soul energy thing…
"Father, (they all turned their attention to princess Clover)… remember that Intel from Jericho about how the new generation will be able to manipulate soul energy?.. (she looked at the twins sitting beside her, which also caused the other to look at them in confusion)… well it is happening sooner than we anticipated, Ace and Spade are able to command that ability already" Princess Clover stated, the rest present was all blindsided by what they just heard, and couldn't react accordingly except one person who took it as a very pleasant surprise…
"ARE YOU SERIOUS TIO!!!…. DID THEY REALLY?… WHAT ABILITY WERE THEY CONTROLING?!" princess Diamond exclaimed with excitement in her tone, Clover looked at her sister with a stare of utter surprise before she answered…
"uh.. well.. it looked like Ace called upon the power of something close to a sonic wave, but it's a bit different… it is a wave of powerful invisible energy, it is also incredibly loud, just like the thunder we hear when we are having a storm, I'll have to research more on it to fully understand it's specifics… As for Spade, she was manipulating lightning, right before our very eyes… it was truly breathtaking" princess Clover explained, as Rose nods in agreement beside her…
"by the gods… we have to start making preparation for them, before they start getting hurt, or hurting the people around them" king Leohart stated still in shock, with the others nodding along as they each started snapping out of their surprise…
"as we are all here this is our chance to address that issue" king Gustavious adds…
"{so it has begun}" William thought.
Just then the door opened up again, lead by a royal guard, two individuals walked in, a man and a woman, as everyone turned to see who there were, those that recognized them were instantly surprised, while the others were curious, then everything changed when they heard who the man was…
"Jericho… it's really him, right before my eyes" king Leohart spoke as he saw the individuals that made their way inside, hearing that, emperor Riko was stun and was unable to say a word, king Gustavious had a smile of relief on his face, seeing his daughter and Jericho returned safely, William and Alice also looked very relieved, while princess Diamond couldn't resist having a good look at Jericho as it's the first time she was laying eyes on him…
"{so this is the famous Jericho… he looks exactly how I thought he would}" she thought with a smile, princess Clover face looked so bright upon seeing Jericho for the first time since she was ten years old.
Jericho and Erica both made their way to the center of the room, with Jericho introducing himself…
"it's an honor to be in the presence of such great rulers, I am Jericho Von Menssai, the former prince and heir of the Dynasty of Menssai, am sorry for the circumstance of our meeting today, what transpired here was utterly tragic and I truly sympathize with everyone in this great nation, I am here to assist with anything if you will have me, and also…(he lifted his head, Erica followed suit)… it's very good to see you again after all this years… uncle Leo... (he turned and locked eyes with princess Clover)… you too princess Clover, it's very good to see you again" Jericho concluded with a bright smile on his face, Clover frozen then she instantly turned red with joy and embarrassment, cause Jericho remembered her… King Leohart stood up from where he sat and made his way to Jericho, with a smile of his own, he throw his hands around Jericho, pulling him in for a very huge hug that carried all of his emotions with it…
"am so glad you are alright… so so glad" he said as he hugged him…
Jericho was surprised at first, but he smiled and hugged king Leohart back, everyone else in the room couldn't hold in their smiles after witnessing that exchange between them.
Soon after everyone had gotten over the surprise and adjusted, they were now able to talk about the aftermath of the attack from Jace.
King Leohart ordered for the damage reports, and the update of what was happening with the cleaning up of the rest of the invades in most of the cities.
They were informed that five (5) cities, including the capital, and three (3) villages were affected, the buildings were raised to the ground, brunt and flooded, and unfortunately they were too late to evacuate the citizens on time as it was a surprise attack, and cause of that, the amount of casualties suffered was astronomical.
About 9% of the citizens were killed in the capital alone, and about 41% of damage was done to the city, as it was hit the hardest…
While the other cities and the villages combined only suffered about 10% civilian casualties, and about 38% of the cities and villages combined were damaged … this was a very devastating news for king Leohart…
"all those innocent people… this is all my fault… how is the clean up mission going now?" king Leohart asked with a bitter feeling in his chest…
"it's going very well, thanks to the help from Righteous and the reinforcement from Kosuke, we are able to easily push back and take control of the situation, it will be rapped up by the end of the day tomorrow if we continue with this pace" the guard responded, a little good news in that chaos, but the pain of the amount of people lost can still be felt in the room…
"am truly so sorry uncle Leo… this is my fault, all this destruction is on me, not only cause of the fact that it was caused by my brother, but I made a huge mistake, I thought I had it under control, but I wasn't expect this amount of invades… am truly sorry" said Jericho with a sad apologetic tone…
"no Jericho… it is thanks to you that the situation wasn't worst than this, you saved us a great deal, I won't be sitting before you right now if you weren't here, and with that I owe you so much… as for the attack on our cities, it was on us, we should have been more prepared, we took too long in evacuating the people cause we thought we would be able to manage their numbers, but we were taken by surprise by how much they were... we will learn from this, but I wish it wasn't at the expense of so much tragedy" King Leohart responded, with a sigh of sadness…
"how is our army looking, were they that much affected?" duke Konrad asked…
"we lost about 15% of the royal guards including.. (pulse and whipped a tear from his face)… including our captain---"...….
"WHAT!!??…. ARE YOU SAYING CAPTAIN SIRIUS IS DEAD!!!…. HOW DID IT HAPPENED?" Clover interrupted the guard, with a look of shock and sadness… the guard went on to explain how captain Sirius faced off against one of Jace Grand Four Generals, and sacrificed himself to give them a fighting chance…
"I warned him to be careful… I told him it wasn't perfect yet… to think he would actually used what I warned him against doing for our sake… I shouldn't have said anything to him.. (her eyes turning red)… he would have been here right now… what a fool" Clover broken with tears running down her face, as Sirius was like a second father to her, he was always with her, keeping her company, even if he understood nothing of what she was doing, he still shows so much interest so she would have someone to talk to before the arrival of Rose, even with that he never stopped visiting her when he was less busy… news of his death completely broke Clover, but she still managed to hold herself on the outside, while she was shattered on the inside… but Jericho and her sister princess Diamond noticed how hurt she felt and tried to calm her down, with princess Diamond hugging her and Jericho speaking…
"hey, princess Clover… I understand how you feel, but trust me, Sir. Sirius wouldn't want you to feel this way, he would always want you to be safe and happy… but am not saying you can't feel sad right now or angry, those emotions makes us human… but what I will say is do not let those emotions go to waste Princess, use it to fuel your goals and ambitions, and make Sir. Sirius feel proud that he was able to protect you… you are strong, I know you can do it, princess Clover" he said with a smile and a nod in the direction of Clover, his words, sounding so refined and oh so familiar, she realize truly Jericho hasn't changed at all, he knew exactly what to say, and in turn his words can move anyone, she smiled back at him as she composed herself…
"{oh wow… he got her feeling so much better with just his words… he even got me feeling I can do anything… so this is Jericho… I think I now understand why he has so much respect from my father and Tio}" princess Diamond thought as she stared with an impressed look on her face…
"so that was why he looked that injured when I saw him… hmm… Sir. Sirius was a true captain… it was thanks to him I was able to defeat that troublesome foe, he weakened him a great deal… that victory belongs to him, he was a fantastic captain, and should be celebrated" Erica adds, everyone in the room agreed as they nod along, the guard then continued his report…
"and as for the Silngers, we didn't lose too much, just about 6%, with just commander Vetra being the only one critically injured, but he is sable now" the guard concluded…
"okay… sigh… thank you for the report, you may leave.. (he bowed and left)… well am sure everyone here is tired with how eventful today has been, I believe we've earned a break… (sigh)… to our guest, you will be shown to you quarters, you can clean up there and relax then come back down for dinner later today, then tomorrow, we will officially begin our meeting, with the members of the court present… we will be keeping the citizen in the evacuation camp for a few more days while we access the rest of the damage done in the affected cities… that will be all" king Leohart concluded, both princess Clover and Diamond stood up and left with the twins and Rose following behind them… king Gustavious moved next, followed by Sir. William and Alice, then Emperor Riko stood and left accompanied by his aids, the room was now looking much more empty with just Jericho, Erica, Duke Konrad and king Leohart left, Jericho bowed once more and turned to leave, but king Leohart called him back to talk to him alone, with that Duke Konrad and Erica left the room, as Jericho and King Leohart remained inside…
"Jericho my dear, I cannot stretch how much I am relieved and ecstatic that you are alright and standing before me right now no less… about what happened to you and your father… (he stood up and got on the same level as Jericho)… I am truly sorry Jericho" he got on his knees to Jericho's surprise…
"YOUR HIGHNESS… YOU CAN'T DO THIS!!!… PLEASE STOP" Jericho exclaimed in shock as he tries to get king Leohart to stand up but nothing seem to be working…
"no let me finish… I know it's no excuse my boy, but I assure you, that wasn't me, it's all very blank to me, I only know because of what I was told, it was so devastating for me after finding out… it had been eating me inside for so long, I lost myself, and cause of that my nation suffered as I was not in the mindset to rule.… knowing I ended the life of my childhood best friend, practically my brother, and his son, whom I see as my own… it was truly devastating… there is nothing I can say to you right now that will make me feel forgiven, if am truly being honest I do not want forgiveness, I just want you to act on whatever emotions you have towards me, as only that will make me feel truly forgiven… please Jericho, it might be a selfish request after all I did to you… but please pardon my selfishness" king Leohart concluded still bowing as he completely submitted to Jericho, await whatever emotions Jericho is coming for him with, Jericho stared at king Leohart for a moment, then he got to his knees in front of him…
"uncle Leo… believe me, I harbor no resentment towards you, my feelings towards you hasn't changed in the slightest… yes it was truly tragic what happened that day, but I now know for a fact it was never on you… but I understand how you feel, and I know me saying this won't easily change how you've felt after all this years, so am going to request something of you… (king Leohart stared at Jericho with curiosity)… I want you to complete the task my father was working on before his death, I would have done that but, now I have a different mission so I can't focus on that myself… but you definitely can, I know he must have told you about it too, not everyone knows about his plans but am very confident you do, as he tells you everything... (smiles as he picks up king Leohart back on his feet)… am sure he will be so delighted to see his very good friend not only kept his dream alive, but saw it through to the end" Jericho concluded with a huge smile on his face, as king Leohart stared at him in awe, then a laugh was heard coming from king Leohart…
"{of course… his ambition, one of his greatest dreams… to change the dynamic of the world, and avoid conflict more than we ever have… forming a friendly and diplomatic relations with the residents of our neighboring continents… the Demonoids and Drakziels… (sigh)… of course}" king Leoheart thought, with a huge smile on his face, seeing that Jericho understood king Leohart had remembered and he too smiled…
"that will be perfect dear Jericho… but am not just doing this to atone for my transgressions, no… I also really support your father's views on that matter, and was prepared to assist him in anyway, but we didn't know how to begin… thank you Jericho, thank you so much, you do not know what you've just done for me, I feel so much lighter now… (sigh of relief)… and if you need my help in anyway I will always be there for you Jericho… always" king Leohart responded beaming blissfully, Jericho smiled and the both left the room together.
After a few hours pass, Erica, Alice and Sir.Williams all regrouped in Jericho's room before dinner, changed and freshened up as they are set to go have dinner with king Leoheart, they sat on the couch in the room, while Jericho remained standing as they went over what happened.
Alice went over what had happened when she escorted commander Vetra to go get princess Clover, and described her research room as something out of this world, also describing her as a very amazing person, but apologizing to Erica as she noticed princess Clover was in fact exactly how Erica described her to be, they all shared a laugh at that moment before she moved on and talked about their encounter with Pyon, Alice described him as completely evil with zero sympathy for anyone, and also how incredibly powerful he was even when he looked to be severely injured, with a sigh of relief, she went on to thank Erica for saving them once again… then she moved on to talk about how the young twins awakened to their abilities right before her eyes, giving them more details than they got previously, she described it as being very intense and surprising, and also the soul energy she sensed within them was stunning, as it was almost as much as the one she possesses, Jericho and the other stared with an impressed look on their face…
"it was a day not only filled with tragedy but also filled with surprises" Alice concluded…
"I hear what you said, you did very well Alice… (sigh)… I on the other hand almost got Erica killed cause of my weakness" Jericho complained with a depressed sigh, the others exchanged worried looks, and try cheering up Jericho before asking him for more details.
Jericho went on to explain how he froze upon seeing his brother, and cause of that, how he almost let Erica died, he expressed how utterly ashamed he feels thinking about it now…
"Jericho, it was honestly expected if am truly being honest with you… (he looked at Sir.William as he spoke)… he is your brother after all, your only surviving family, to be honest if seeing him for the first time after all this while didn't affect you in anyway, I would truly be scared and worried about you… heck I might even have you arrested cause I wouldn't trust you anymore" Sir.William explained, feeling a bit of relief, but the ladies was totally surprised by how he said it…
"WILLY!!! / SIR WILLIAM!!!" they both exclaimed at the same time…
"what!!!… am only stating the truth" Sir.William responded nonchalantly, seeing their reaction to something that was eating him up all day, Jericho couldn't hold in his smiles as he laughed hard, they all stopped their bickering and turned to seeing the smile on Jericho's face, which in turn made them them smile too…
"I guess you are right Sir. William" Jericho agreed with a laugh, Sir. William shrugged then replied…
"of course I am"...
"thank you all so much… I promise I won't falter next time, I will protect all of you, just as you all protect me" Jericho stated with conviction and a smile, which they all returned to him…
"so… how did your conversation with his highness Leohart go?" Erica curiously inquired, Jericho smiled thinking about it before he answered…
"uncle Leo hasn't changed, and I was so happy to see that… but he was hugely hurt and affected by the death of my father, and I dare say he looked much more miserable than I did… the guilt in his soul was too powerful, I just know nothing I would say to him would make him forgive himself, or even accept my forgiveness, he only wanted retribution… so I tasked him to help me see out one of my father's greatest dreams for the world, as I won't be able to focus on that for now… and thank the gods that did the trick… I was glad he felt better, cause he really deserves it" Jericho explained, concluding with a smile, which the rest of them shared with him…
"am glad you also healed too Jericho" Erica added with a smile…
"and also… uh… how do I put this… I think I have a new ability" Jericho reviled to their surprise…
"oh come on man… give us a break, just how powerful is enough for you Jericho… (depressed sigh)… and you haven't learned the concept of restraint yet… looks like I have my work cut out for me" Sir. William stated with a depressed tone…
"so what ability is it?" Erica excitedly asked…
"well when we were confronting Jace, it was like I could hear your thoughts… well not like I hear it word for word, it was like I connected with your emotions and understood what you were thinking through that… not sure am explaining it correctly but that's the best I can do" Jericho tried explaining…
"I see… it's like something telepathic" Alice adds in understanding…
"yes… but not so much that I out right hear what you are saying… I will just have to investigate more about it once we return… {this might be the ability lord Desmos said I would soon awaken to, I have to go see him once we returned}" Jericho responded, and concluding in his thoughts…
Judt then a knock was heard on their door from a maid informing them their dinner is ready and their presences is needed, they acknowledged the call and prepared to go down for dinner, ending their conversation.