Silence ruled over the battlefield. Where a colorful fight recently took place, now a mysterious woman stood tall and proud.
The woman had clothes more fitting of the tropics, covering herself only where it mattered. Her revealing attire was mostly purple, except for a metal helmet she carried with her rather than on her head.
Her looks were complemented by white lines on her brownish skin, making her look like she had been struck by lightning, and a body constitution that would make most men look weak.
Seemingly unbothered by the stares falling on her, the lady pointed towards the ground and gave a loud order.
"Leave this man alone and go!"
Unsure who she was referring to, the soldiers didn't budge, yet the looks on their faces made it clear that they didn't want to defy her.
"Oh my! Miss Thunder Representative! To what do I owe the honor?" a sly voice sounded from the crowd. Soon after, Aurelio made his appearance in front of the purple-dressed woman.
"Ha? Who are you?"
"…"
And the first thing Aurelio had to do was take a moment of silence.
"I find your way of speaking quite hurtful. While I am nothing compared to a representative, I consider myself quite a capable man worth noting. To think that the representatives have never heard of me…"
The lady added nothing new. She stood there and prompted the man to speak by showing him a confused expression.
"Ahem! Please call me Aurelio Marcelli! General of the army in front of you."
"Right… Nice to meet you… You can take your guy and go now."
"Why, I'm afraid that won't do, my dear lady. I find myself quite interested in that boy, actually."
"Look, I've come here just to stop this crazy dude," the woman said, pointing at Nayavu.
"I've already intervened more than I should have. If I change things too much, I'm in big trouble."
Even though she mentioned the word "trouble" her demeanor and her voice gave no sign of worry.
"However," the lady continued, her hair raising on end. "If you're the one to come at me, that's a whole other story~"
"Please calm down, almighty avatar of thunder! I know better than to get myself in fights I can't win. Hence why I know I could have easily silenced this crazed animal, so I see no reason for you to consider this a 'changed outcome' and save him. The outcome would have always been that we clean this filth."
"Hah! Is that what you think?"
"Pardon?"
"Don't get it twisted—you are the ones I've saved. I came here to prevent mass murder. That's all."
Surprise could be read in Aurelio's eyes as he listened to the representative's stern declaration, yet he didn't let that surprise slip through his voice.
"Dear lady, I'm starting to wonder if this is a prank prepared by the gods for me."
"No prank, boy. You were going to lose."
As the two clashed their gazes in a fight—trying to determine whose nerves were superior—a loud bleat resounded. With it, a stag came racing from the distance. Under everyone's confused gaze, the stag lifted Nayavu with his horns, threw him on his back, and ran away.
For about ten seconds, nobody said anything. Everyone stared at the running animal in disbelief.
"Pffft, AHAHAHA!" the representative laughed loudly. "That's not something you see every day!"
"You mean that's not part of your plan?" Aurelio asked.
"No way! That deer just came out of nowhere!" she said, holding her stomach.
"But I guess that's it from me then. Bye, guys! Don't you dare follow him!"
As she spoke, lightning struck the proudly winking lady and had her evaporate into thin air, leaving behind only an unconscious Giovanni.
"Sir! "We're prepared to follow!" a soldier said. He then turned back and prepared to give an order.
Only, before he could shout, a jet of water pierced the man's chest, making his limbs lose all strength as his shocked expression slammed in the dirt.
"A representative told us to stop!" Aurelio intervened, his loud, uncharacteristic scream making the others shake in their boots.
"We are to return to the camp! There are no sacred waters here!"
*****
As Nayavu slept, he dreamed of a young boy. He was of royal blood, yet he showed no gratefulness for it.
Next to the boy, there was a princess. The girl, although being slightly older than him, would always come to his mansion and try to get him to play with her. Of course she would. They had been friends since they were little. Why would anyone try to change such a peaceful day-to-day life?
As ironic as it is, the boy actually wanted things to change. He was a talented boy, someone who could have made a name for himself regardless of background. Maybe that's why he disliked his current life. He thought nobility held him back. He thought that growing up without worries would make him a weak man, so he wanted to change his life around.
No, he didn't really want change; he just wanted a thrill. In truth, the boy was just naive. He didn't know the true horrors of life. He thought adventurers never struggle. He thought living on your own was no harder than learning water spells.
Nayavu was amused at the boy. To someone who had finished his pilgrimage and proved that he could survive in much harsher situations, the thought of a noble Reman being devoured by his own silly wish seemed hilarious. If anything, Nayavu wanted to see the world slap him a couple of times to wake the boy up to reality.
When he saw the cute young lady confess to him and get rejected in the most clueless way, Nayavu felt annoyed. Why is it that some are blessed yet blind to their own gifts? Why is it that the boy had everything you could desire, while his fellow countrymen were ravaging the only place Nayavu could call home?
Yet when Nayavu saw the bandits sneak up on the two, he couldn't help but try to warn them. He shouted at them, but in vain. Things unfolded just like the young lad remembered.
Wait… This has happened before…
Slowly, it came back to him. The one he was looking at wasn't just any Reman boy—it was Leonard Leopold, or better said, it was 'him.'
Once again, 'he' had forgotten. 'He' had once been in Rema.
Of course… That's why I could speak their language!
It was a stupid omission on his side. Nayavu had gotten too hot-headed, and he forgot to put the pieces together. For Tiva, Tatanka, and the elders, it made sense to know some Reman, but Nayavu had no reason to speak the language.
"And I dared call myself an adult with this dull brain?…" his inner voice spoke to him, ashamed by his own lack of rationality.
The most obvious clue, or maybe the very reason he remembered this past life, only now stepped into the dream.
"Giovanni…"—or an older version of him.
The one who took Giulia away from 'him' now stood in front of Leo. The mercenary looked at the boy who begged and ignored his wish. Instead, he took the young girl away.
Nayavu ran after the man, but for some reason, he couldn't get closer. As he ran, he saw Giovanni take the princess to his personal caravan.
"No!" Nayavu shouted. He screamed louder and louder, balling his fists as he saw the man grab Giulia by the shoulders.
"Don't you dare!" he shouted, but the door started closing.
As he ran, the young man couldn't take his eyes from the scene in front of him. He wanted to, but his eyes were fixated. The last thing he saw through a small crack was the girl being thrown to the ground. The next moment, the door closed shut.
Finally reaching it, Nayavu rammed the wooden entrance. His force should have been enough to smash through it, yet the door didn't budge. No matter how many times he hit it, a dream was, in the end, only a dream. He couldn't see anything more than Leo, and perhaps, that was for the better.
Behind him, the Reman boy screamed and cried. It was a familiar moment. He had been through such things many times, so there was no need to look at it.
"Wait…" Nayavu said, realizing what an opportunity that was.
He turned his head in a flash. It was his chance to see the one who had taken his life. It was the perfect moment for a breakthrough.
But a dream only goes so far.
Behind the body cut in two, there only stood the shadow of what should have been a person. It had no face and no characteristics on display. It was all that Leo made out of his killer.
Once again, 'he' found himself powerless in the face of the unending curse. Once again, 'he' failed to find anything new.
"No, this is more than enough," Nayavu said as everything around him turned to dark nothing.
In fact, 'he' had gotten his hands on two more clues.
Next to Leo's body, there was somebody else. Also cut in two, there stood the giant basil he had fought against.
"If it wasn't that giant lizard, then it was someone much stronger," he concluded. "But who are they, and what do they want?"
A clue doesn't always solve the problem. Sometimes, it only creates more doubt. And doubt already filled the boy's heart plenty, for he couldn't set his mind away from the memories he was being taken through.
Sunken in deep thought, Nayavu pictured the madman that had taken everything from him twice. On one side, there stood a middle-aged man with plenty of facial hair and a body capable of lifting a horse. On the other side, there stood a young lieutenant who seemed to only now be starting his glow up. It was clear they were the same person, and the difference between them seemed to be about ten years.
"But he should be more than a hundred by now…" Nayavu said, looking at the older Giovanni.
"That doesn't make any sense…"
It was then that more trouble started.
Nayavu felt his breath run out. He tried to gasp for air, but water suddenly filled his lungs, and then surrounded him from every direction. With a terrified gaze, he coughed, and air bubbles left his throat.
He was drowning in his own dream.
He hated dying drowned, and preferred to avoid such outcomes, so Nayavu decided it was time to bail.
"Wake up!" he told himself, deciding 'he' had gathered enough information.
He was unsure where he would be when he woke up, but the boy decided to force open his eyes regardless. What he first saw was pure white—it was the sun, and the shadow of somebody covering it slowly took shape.